THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS. 47 



I venture to say land of considerable extent — to the south. I believe, 

 nevertheless, that the greater part of this southern continent ought 

 to lie within the Polar Circle, where the sea is so encumbered with ice 

 as to be unapproachable. The danger run in surveying a coast in 

 these unknown seas is so great, that I dare say no one will venture 

 to go farther than I have, and that the land that lies to the south 

 will always remain unknown. The fogs are there too dense; the 

 snow-storms and tempests too frequent ; the cold too severe ; all the 

 dangers of navigation too numerous. The appearance of the coast is 

 the most horrible that can be imagined. The country is condemned 

 by Nature to remain unvisited by the sun, and buried under eternal 

 hoar frost. After this report, I believe that we shall hear no more of 

 searches for a southern continent." This description of these desolate 

 regions, to which the great navigator might have applied the words 

 of Pliny, " Pars mundi a natura damnata et densa mersa caligine," 

 only excited the courage of his successors. In our days, several 

 expeditions have been fitted out for the express survey of regions 

 which may be characterised as the abode of cold, silence, and death. 

 In 1833 a free passage opened itself into the Antarctic Sea. A 

 Scottish whaling ship, commanded by James Weddell, entered the 

 pack ice, and penetrated it in pursuit of seals ; but having, by chance, 

 found the sea open on his course, he forced his way up to 74"^ south 

 latitude, and under 34*^ of longitude ; but the season was too advanced 

 for further investigation, and he and his crew retraced their steps. 

 The voyage of Captain Weddell caused a great sensation, and sug- 

 gested the possibility of more serious expeditions. Twelve years later 

 three great expeditions were fitted out : one, under Dumont D'Urville, 

 of the French Marine ; an American expedition, under Captain 

 Wilkes, of the United States Navy ; and an English expedition, under 

 Sir James Clark Ross. 



Dumont D'Urville, who perished so miserably in the railway 

 catastrophe at Versailles in 1842, passed the Straits of Magellan on 

 the 9th of January, 1838, having under his command the two cor- 

 vettes Astrolabe and Zclee. He expected to find it as Weddell had 

 described, and that, after passing the first icy barrier, he should find 

 an open sea before him. But he was soon compelled to renounce 

 this hope. The floating icebergs became more and more closely 

 packed and dangerous. The southern icebergs do not appear to 

 circulate in straits and channels already formed, like those of the 

 North Pole, but form enormous detached blocks which hug the land. 

 Sometimes in shallow water they form belts parallel to the base of 

 the cliffs, intersected by a small number of sinuous narrow channels. 



