334 THE VOYAGE OF IT.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



passed at 4 p.m. in a rain squall, and the ship then steamed into Accessible Bay, looking 

 for Betsy Cove, which was entered at 6 p.m. The cove looked very small, but letting go 

 an anchor in 9 fathoms in the middle of the entrance, with the east cliff of Elizabeth 

 Head shut in behind the northeast point of the harbour, and veering three shackles of 

 cable the ship just swung clear of the kelp that lines the shore, the stern being in 6 fathoms. 



On the 9th, early in the morning, the boom boats were got out, and at 8 a.m. the 

 surveying and exploring parties left the ship. The weather was cloudy and unfavour- 

 able, and on the tops of the hills the wind was fresh and very cold ; no astronomical 

 observations could be obtained, but angles were taken from Elizabeth Head, Mount 

 Campbell, Cape Anne, and a flat-topped hill inshore ; the distant peaks were, however, 

 clouded over all day. 



On the 10th January the weather was much more favourable, and equal altitudes and 

 circummeridians were obtained at Elizabeth Head. A base was measured by sound 

 between the Bocks of Despair and the observing station, and angles obtained at several 

 prominent points. Table Mountain was not seen from Mount Campbell, as the weather 

 was misty, but the high ranges to the southward culminating in Mount Wyville Thomson 

 could be distinguished, as well as the glacier on Mount Richards to the westward. 



Sunday the 11th was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, with a light breeze, more like 

 a May day in England than the foggy weather of the Southern Ocean. The ship's com- 

 pany were allowed a run on shore to stretch their legs for the first time since leaving 

 the Cape, and the number of ducks shot by the officers and naturalists was sufficient to 

 provide for all hands. 



On the 12th, at 4 a.m., the barometer, which had been high and gradually falling, 

 began to do so rapidly, going down 0"25 inch between 4 and 6 a.m. At this time, 

 although the weather was gloomy and foggy, with drizzling rain, there was but little 

 wind, but shortly after 6 a.m. a sudden squall from N.E. came down, swinging the ship 

 across the cove, and sending a nasty swell into Accessible Bay. The cove was too narrow 

 to allow more than the three shackles of cable that were out to be veered, so that it was 

 necessary to lay a hawser out to the north shore, and let go the second anchor under foot 

 as a precaution. Had the anchor dragged or the cable parted, the ship would certainly 

 have grounded, as the cove was so small that the stern was but a few feet from the coast ; 

 fortunately, the holding ground was good, and the wind shifted gradually to the westward 

 and cleared up by 10 a.m., when in order to swing in less room the vessel was moored. 

 This would have been done before had a breeze from the northeast been expected, 

 but as strong winds were only expected from the westward, and seeing there was plenty 

 of room with westerly winds, it was considered superfluous to do so until experience taught 

 the necessity of taking this precaution. The weather in the afternoon was sufficiently 

 fine to allow the survey to be proceeded with, and at 6 p.m. there was not a cloud in the 

 sky. The barometer continued falling till 9 a.m., after which it again rose, but slowly. 



