Dense fog. 



SOUTHERN CRUISE. 



Fall in with the Flying-Fish. 

 Heavy snow. Floating ice. 



31 



were in sight, and at night they had a beautiful dis- 

 play of the aurora australis, extending from south- 

 south-west to east. The rays were of many colours, 

 radiating towards the zenith, and reaching an alti- 

 tude of 30. Several brilliant meteors were also 

 observed. 



Hot coffee was now served to the crew at mid- 

 night, or at relieving of the watch, which proved 

 exceedingly acceptable. The temperature of the 

 air had fallen to 22, and of the water to 28. 



On the 19th they had another display of the au- 

 rora, and it exhibited a peculiar effect. In the 

 southern quarter there was an appearance of a 

 dense cloud, resembling a shadow cast upon the 

 sky, and forming an arch, about 10 in altitude. 

 Above this were seen coruscations of light, render- 

 ing all objects around the ship visible. From be- 

 hind this cloud, diverging rays frequently shot up 

 to an altitude of from 25 to 45. These appear- 

 ances continued until day dawned. The night was 

 remarkably fine, and many shooting stars were ob- 

 served. The barometer stood at 29 '77 in. During 

 the afternoon of this day, a fog-bank was perceived 

 in the south-western quarter, and they were a 

 short time afterwards completely enveloped in a 

 fog so dense and thick, that they could not see 

 twice the length of the ship. Fortunately, before it 

 closed in, they were enabled to get good bearings 

 of the different icebergs in sight, and particularly 

 of those which closely surrounded them. 



On the 20th, they had moderate weather, with 

 fogs. They had now reached the longitude of 

 90 W., latitude 68 S., and obtained a sight of the 

 icy barrier. The fog becoming dense, they were 

 obliged to heave the ship to; the sea being smooth, 

 they took the opportunity to sound with the deep- 

 sea line, with the apparatus for temperature. The 

 line being of copper wire, they succeeded in getting 

 out eight hundred fathoms of it; but when they 

 began to reel it up, it parted, and the whole was 

 lost. The noise of the sea beating on the icebergs 

 was frequently heard close aboard, and several 

 loud sounds resembling thunder, which they im- 

 puted to the breaking asunder and turning over of 

 large icebergs. 



During the whole of the 21st they could not ven- 

 ture to run, in consequence of the dense fog, which 

 lasted all day, with the exception of about an hour. 

 Mr. Peale having shot one of the petrels, of the 

 same kind as seen the day before, a boat was 

 lowered to pick it up, of which advantage was taken 

 to try the current. It was found setting one- 

 third of a mile per hour to the north-west-by- 

 west. 



On the 23rd it partly cleared, and the fog having 

 been succeeded by a snow-storm, the wind hauled 

 to the west, with a heavy bank of clouds in that 

 quarter. The barometer showed no indication of a 

 gale; the weather turned out thick, and prevented 

 them from seeing any distance. They had some 

 severe squalls, accompanied with snow. On the 

 24th, the wind hauling to the northward and west- 

 ward, brought snow and thick weather, with some 

 heavy squalls. Many icebergs were met with, 

 which were fortunately avoided. A sharp look- 

 out was kept for them, and the ship put in 

 readiness to perform any manoeuvre that might 

 be desirable. Some of the icebergs were two 

 hundred feet above the surface of the water, 

 and of a pinnacle shape. The snow continued 



to fall fast, rendering the ship uncomfortably 

 wet. 



On the 25th, the fog continued until near meri- 

 dian. Many birds were seen about the ship, and 

 many fin-back whales. They obtained a meridian 

 observation, the first for the last six days, and 

 found themselves in the latitude of 68 S., longi- 

 tude 97 58' W. Here, in the evening, to their 

 great joy, they fell in with the tender Flying-Fish. 

 On her near approach, all hands were turned up, 

 and gave her three hearty cheers. Lieutenant 

 Walker came on board, and reported to Captain 

 Hudson that he had visited all the appointed ren- 

 dezvous in hopes of falling in with the Peacock, 

 but without success, having encountered very 

 severe and boisterous weather. On the 18th they 

 left the fourth rendezvous, having passed the 17th 

 in its vicinity. They then turned towards the 

 south for Cook's Ne Plus Ultra, and continued 

 their way to the southward. The weather was at 

 times very thick, the ice-islands became numerous, 

 and they occasionally passed a little floating ice. 

 On the 18th the ice became abundant, and floated 

 in large masses around them. At 4 A.M. the water 

 was much discoloured, and some of the ice also 

 having the appearance of being but lately detached 

 from the land. They obtained a cast of the lead, 

 but found no bottom at one hundred fathoms. At 

 eight o'clock the fog lifted, and discovered, to the 

 amazement of all, a wall of ice from fifteen to 

 twenty feet high, extending east and west as far as 

 the eye could reach, and spreading out into a vast 

 and seemingly boundless field to the south. Their 

 latitude at this time was about 67 30' S., longitude 

 105 W. The weather becoming thick, they stood 

 to the northward, and soon ran into blue water. 



On the 21st, at 7 A.M., they saw the ice extend- 

 ing in broken i-anges from south-by-east to north- 

 east, and the sea extending round to the westward. 

 At eight o'clock the water was again much dis- 

 coloured, and many large icebergs were around. 

 At meridian their latitude was 68 41' S., longitude 

 103 34' W., when they again stood to the south- 

 ward, running among the ice-islands with a fair 

 wind, flattering themselves that they should before 

 noon of the next day get further south than Cook 

 had. In this, however, they were disappointed; 

 for the weather became thick, and they were in 

 consequence obliged to heave-to. 



On the morning of the 23rd of March, their lati- 

 tude was 70 S., longitude 100 16' W. The wea- 

 ther proved clear. In the afternoon they again 

 stood to the southward and eastward for three 

 hours, when they observed the appearance of land, 

 and discovered large masses of ice and numerous 

 icebergs. At midnight the southern horizon was 

 beautifully illuminated with the aurora australis. 



On the 24th they had a heavy fall of snow; 

 passed many icebergs, and large quantities of 

 floating ice ; got suddenly into large fields of 

 packed and broken ice, extending as far as the eye 

 could reach, in all directions, which, with the ac- 

 cumulation of snow, appeared to be rapidly becom- 

 ing solid. They lost no time in forcing their way 

 out. All on board were of opinion, that within a 

 short time after they cleared it, it became a firm 

 field of ice. The latitude observed was 69 06' S., 

 longitude 96 50' W. 



Having on two occasions narrowly escaped being 

 closed in by the ice, Lieutenant Walker had de- 



