416 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



reached the parallel of 71° 30' S. on the 5th March 1843, where he met an impenetrable 

 pack. 



Of the other explorers Bellingshausen reached within a few miles of the 70th parallel 

 on three occasions, viz., on the meridians of 2° W., 77" W., and 93° W. D'Urville's 

 highest latitude was 66° 30' S. on the meridian of 140° .E, and Wilkes just reached the 

 70th parallel on the meridian of 100° W. The highest latitude reached by Morrell was 

 70° 14' S., in March 1823, on the meridian of 40° W., by Foster 63° 45' S. on the 

 meridian of 62° W., by Biscoe 69° 20' S. on the meridian of 13° E., and by Balleny 69° 

 S. in 172° E. 



It must be borne in mind that none of the ships despatched for southern exploration 

 were properly fortified except those of Sir James Ross, and that, therefore, they were 

 not justified in attempting to sail through a close pack as Ross did on each occasion when 

 he penetrated to the 78th parallel. 



Nearly all the Antarctic voyagers have discovered land south of the 60th parallel. 

 Cook, as before observed, probably met with land in 71° S. 107° W. Bellingshausen 

 discovered the islands of Alexander and Peter the Great ; D'Urville discovered Adelie Land ; 

 Wilkes discovered land extending from the 100th to the 160th meridian of east longitude, 

 and between the parallels of 65° and 67° S. Ross discovered Victoria Land, extending from 

 the 70th to the 78th parallel and between the meridians of 160° and 171° east longitude. 

 Smith and Bransfield discovered the South Shetlands, Powell the South Orkneys, Biscoe 

 Enderby's Land, and Balleny the Balleny Islands and Sabine Land. Weddell and 

 Morrell did not discover any land, and Foster only visited the South Shetlands for 

 scientific experiments. Although so many of these bold navigators have seen land, and 

 numbers of them have visited the islands immediately south of Cape Horn, viz.. the 

 South Shetlands, South Orkneys, &c, which appear to be accessible nearly every season, 

 Ross and D'Urville are the only explorers who have actually landed on any portion of the 

 Antarctic regions proper, that is on land south of the Antarctic Circle. Wilkes, Biscoe, 

 and Balleny never succeeded in reaching the shore, although Wilkes could not have been 

 far from it when in the " Vincennes " he struck soundings in 30 fathoms in Pincis Bay. 

 Neither Ross nor D'Urville remained longer on shore than was sufficient to enable them 

 to gather specimens of the rocks, &c, for the nature of the coast, and the numerous ice- 

 bergs, precluded the possibility of the vessels anchoring, so that a quick return was 

 necessary to avoid being separated by one of the frequent fogs or short, sharp gales that 

 prevail in the Antarctic seas. All explorers agree in describing the Antarctic land as 

 being icebound; sometimes a line of icy cliffs 150 to 200 feet in height runs along the 

 coast, rendering hopeless any attempt to obtain a footing on the shore, whilst in other 

 places a solid mass of land ice, which is not more than 5 or 6 feet above the surface, and, 

 therefore, probably not more than 50 feet in thickness, stretches a considerable distance 

 into the sea. 



