156 



Heavy gale. Ice and snow. 



ANTARCTIC CRUISE. 



Health of the crew. 



the northward, in consequence of making the bar- 

 rier ahead. Sea-lions were seen on the ice. They 

 continued to follow the barrier, which trended 

 north-north-east; the compasses were very sluggish. 

 On the 26th and 27th the weather became bad, 

 with the wind to the northward and westward, 

 accompanied by a heavy fall of snow : in the 

 evening of the latter day, the wind hauled to the 

 southward and westward, and brought clear 

 weather. The 28th passed with clear weather, 

 and several seals were about them. 



The 29th was thick and snowy, with a north-east 

 wind ; passed through quantities of drift-ice, and 

 by 2 h 30 m it had become so thick as to render a 

 continuance of their course perilous; at 7 F-M. they 

 again made the solid barrier, when it was blowing 

 a stiff gale ; at 9 h 30 m discovered the ice ahead, 

 and on both beams ; wore round to the northward 

 and eastward, to retrace their steps ; it was not 

 long before they discovered a chain of ice-islands 

 ahead, apparently connected by solid ice ; about 

 midnight a passage was discovered between two 

 icebergs, through which they passed. It was now 

 blowing a heavy gale, and having gained the open 

 sea, they attempted to reef the foresail, but were 

 unequal to the task (four of the men being on the 

 sick-list), and were compelled to lay-to under the 

 whole sail, which caused the vessel to labour very 

 much, as well as to leak a great deal, and endan- 

 gered her safety by making her fly into the wind, 

 and get a sternboard in a high sea. 



On the 30th, in the morning, the gale abated, 

 and the weather became more pleasant than they 

 had experienced for a number of days. They had 

 reached the longitude of 150 16' E., latitude 65 

 15' S. On this day they again passed into blue 

 water. 



31st January was thick with snow; a north wind 

 and heavy sea. 



1st of February, they were running among ice, 

 until they sighted the barrier, when they again 

 hauled to the northward; a moderate gale blowing, 

 with thick weather and a heavy sea, they were 

 obliged to heave-to. 



On the 2nd and 3rd, they were coasting the ice. 

 In the afternoon of the 3rd they again had bad 

 weather, which made it necessary to bring to; sur- 

 rounded by bergs and drift-ice ; the latter, in case 

 of striking, would have seriously injured the ten- 

 der. The icebergs seen on these days, had the 

 appearance of recent formation ; the tops flat, the 

 sides perpendicular, and not worn by the action of 

 the sea. 



On the 4th, the gale continued, and the sea had 

 risen to an extraordinary height ; the weather was 

 so thick that an iceberg could not be seen further 

 than twice the length of the vessel. The tender 

 was under too much sail, which caused her to 

 labour dreadfully, in consequence of which she 

 leaked 'in such a manner as to make it necessary 

 to keep the pumps going almost continually. 

 When they were stopped for a short time to rest 

 the men, the water increased so as to reach the 

 cabin-floor : the water came through the seams 

 forward in such quantities as to wet every bed and 

 article of clothing on the berth-deck. This was a 

 great addition to the labour and discomfort of the 

 crew, now reduced by sickness to four men, and 

 the strength of these much impaired by previous 

 sickness, excessive labour, and almost constant ex- 



posure. To relieve their situation as much as 

 possible, Lieutenant Pinkney ordered them to make 

 use of the cabin in common with the officers. To 

 ease the pitching of the vessel, a quantity of coal 

 was shifted aft ; but although this was a partial 

 relief, yet as she had too much sail on her, which 

 they had been unable to reduce at the commence- 

 ment of the gale, it was not sufficient to make her 

 easy. 



On the 6th, the gale began to abate, when the 

 crew, through one of their number, presented a 

 communication to Lieutenant Pinkney, of which 

 the following is a copy. 



(COPY.) 



We, the undersigned, the crew of the schooner 

 Flying-Fish, wish to let you know that we are in a 

 most deplorable condition : the bed-clothes are all 

 wet; we have no place to lie down in ; we have not 

 had a dry stitch of clothes for seven days ; four of 

 our number are very sick; and we, the few remain- 

 ing number, can hold out no longer; we hope you 

 will take it into consideration, and relieve us from 

 what must terminate in our death. 



(Signed) A. MURRAY. THOMAS DARLING. 

 JOHN ANDERSON. JAMES DANIELS. 

 F. BEALE. JOSEPH. 



JAMES DARLING. JOHN H. WEAVER. 

 To LIEUTENANT PINKNEY, 



U. S. Schooner Flying-Fish. 



On the receipt of this appeal, Lieutenant Pinkney 

 addressed an order to the officers^ a copy of which 

 follows. 



U. S. Schooner Flying-Fish, 

 Lat. 66 S., long. 143 E., Feb. 5th, 1840. 



GENTLEMEN, You will furnish me with your 

 opinion, and the reasons which induced that opinion, 

 of the propriety of any longer endeavouring to 

 accomplish that part of the accompanying order, 

 which refers to penetrating to the south. 

 I am, respectfully, &c. 



R. F. PINKNEY, 

 Lieutenant-Commandant. 

 To ACTING MASTER GEORGE T. SINCLAIR. 

 PASSED MIDSHIPMAN WILLIAM MAY. 

 PASSED MIDSHIPMAN GEORGE W. HARRISON. 



(COPY OF REPLY.) 



U. S. Schooner Flying-Fish, 

 Lat. 66 S., long. 143 E., Feb. 5th, 1840. 



SIR, Agreeably to your order of this date, we, 

 the undersigned officers, have to express our most 

 thorough conviction, that the condition of this 

 vessel's crew, and the vessel, loudly demand an im- 

 mediate return to milder latitudes. 



The causes of this opinion are these: that the 

 crew of this vessel, consisting of fifteen persons 

 (four officers and eleven men), even if well, are 

 entirely inadequate to her safe management ; but 

 five are now confined to sick beds (one a servant), 

 one of them is in a very critical state of health, and 

 three others dragging out upon duty, complaining, 

 and under medical treatment. Out of four, nomi- 

 nally performing duty, one of them, the cook, is 

 totally unfit to a turn at the helm, and another 

 cannot be trusted without the closest watching; 

 indeed, so deficient in force are we, that in the 

 gale of yesterday and the day before, and on a 

 previous occasion, when it became extremely 



