NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 401 



On the 17th, at 3 a.m., the vessel stood to the eastward, close hauled on the 

 starboard tack. At 4 a.m. there were two icebergs in sight, at 8 a.m. one, and at noon 

 none. At 4 p.m. a small berg was passed, after which the vessel appeared to be to the 

 northward of the chain. It is fortunate that the number of icebergs diminishes so rapidly 

 from the pack ice ; on running to the southward only seventeen icebergs were passed in 

 200 miles, and then the ship ran into a chain of them within 15 or 20 miles of the edge 

 of the pack. Cook and Wilkes remark the same peculiarity. On the previous evening 

 the vessel ran quite out of the chain of bergs, and during the night never more than two 

 were in sight at one time. A fresh breeze was blowing with cloudy, gloomy weather and 

 occasional snow squalls all day, the limit of vision being two to three miles, the wind 

 shifting gradually to S.E. and S. (true), the barometer standing fairly steady at 28'639 

 inches, temperature of the air 29 0, 7, of the surface water 32° # 5, the sea a dirty green colour; 

 towards evening the weather cleared so that the ship was enabled to stand on all night, 

 there being few bergs in sight. Position at noon, lat. 65° 5' S., long. 78° 55' E. 



On the 18th at daylight three bergs were in sight, and at 4 a.m., five. At 6.40 a.m. 

 the pack ice was seen to the southward, with a quantity of stream ice off it, and from 

 7 a.m. until noon the ship was passing through this stream ice. At noon the vessel 

 passed out of the stream ice, but the pack remained in sight until nearly 4 p.m., and 

 numerous bergs were visible, twenty being counted at 2 p.m. This pack ice was quite 

 close, no lanes of water through it being seen from the masthead. At 4 p.m. the pack 

 was lost sight of astern. At 8 p.m. the ship hove to for the night in consequence of a 

 heavy snowstorm obscuring the view. The weather during the day was fine until 8 p.m. 

 with a S.S.W. wind (true), the barometer rising slowly and steadily from 28"704to 28'879 

 inches, mean temperature of air 25°"6, of surface water 30°'8. Position at noon, 

 lat. 64° 44' S., long. 83° 26' E. The minimum thermometer fell to 22°. The atmo- 

 sphere was rather misty round the horizon, the upper parts of some of the distant bergs 

 being capped with mist, but the sun broke through the clouds occasionally. Close to 

 the pack the surface temperature was 27° to 29°, at a little distance from it 32° to 

 33°. The stream ice, through which the ship passed in the forenoon, consisted of lumps 

 of water ice some 20 to 30 feet in diameter with snow on their upper sides ; the vessel 

 came into collision with a piece now and then which gave her a good bump. 



On the 19th, at 2 a.m., sail was again made and the ship stood to the eastward, but 

 the wind having died away by 8 a.m. steam was got up and a sounding and serial tem- 

 peratures were taken in 1800 fathoms, blue mud, Station 154, in lat. 64° 37' S., 

 long. 85° 49' E. (see Sheet 23). The serial temperatures gave much the same result as 

 on the 14th, the temperature falling to 29° at 50 fathoms, and remaining at that to 200 

 fathoms, afterwards rising to 33° at 300 fathoms. At noon sail was made on the port 

 tack to a light easterly breeze, but at 4 p.m., there being many icebergs in sight, the ship 

 tacked and stood to the northward to get into a clearer sea before dark, and at 10.30 p.m. 



(nark, chall. exp. — vol. i. — 1884.) 51 



