round a promontory in 64° 40’ S. lat. and 132° 20’ W. long., 
- naming this part of the coast Clairie Land. Shortly after 
this the expedition turned northwards, a number of the 
men having been lost through illness. Dr. Neumayer 
seems to think that the French constitution is not at all 
well adapted for expeditions of this kind. 
On February 25, 1839, four ships, under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Wilkes, set out from Orange Harbour 
in Terra del Fuego, for the purpose of exploring 
these southern seas. The season was, however, too far 
advanced to admit of much being accomplished, though 
one of the ships, the Flying Fush, under Lieutenant 
Walker, penetrated as far southas the 7oth degree of 
latitude in 100° 16’ W. long., and that at the end of March. 
This in itself is a fact of some interest and value, that 
so latein the season a point was reached as far south as 
_ Cook and Bellinghausen attained to, two months earlier. 
On December 27 of the same year the squadron left 
Sydney, again for the south. Two of the ships, the 
Flying Fish and the Peacock, were soon compelled to 
return on account of injuries, so that there were only 
the two vessels, the Vincennes and the Porfoise, left to 
_ pursue their discoveries. On January 39, 1840, in 
- 140° 2’ 30” E. long., and 66° 45’ S. lat., Wilkes saw for the 
first time clearly and distinctly the land standing out of 
_ the mist; to this he gave the name of “ Antarctic Conti- 
nent.” Five days previously the Vincennes reached its 
farthest south point, 67° in 147° 30’ E. long., where it was 
hard bestead by the ice. Indeed both vessels during 
their course along the coast had constantly to fight with 
_ theice, and were frequently in the greatest danger of 
being crushed. Wilkes found the coast girt by a wall of 
"ice, 150 to 200 ft. high, behind which rose the mountains 
to a height of 3,000 ft. He advanced thus to 98° E. long., 
and hoped on February 17 to be in a position to reach 
the point in this quarter to which Cook had come in 
1773 ; but the ice-wall compelled him to turn to the north- 
east, quite away from the desired point. After he had 
had to give up all hope of being able to penetrate farther 
west, and returned to Sydney. 
The expedition under Wilkes had travelled over a 
stretch of 1,500 miles along the margin of the ice, and 
frequently in sight of land. Even if through their labours 
the continuity of the land through its whole extent was 
by no means proved, yet the extension of Balleny’s dis- 
covery in connection with that of D’Urville’s considerably 
increased the probability of the existence of a great mass 
of land in these regions. Moreover, the observations 
made by Wilkes and his officers are of the highest value 
to science. It has been latterly disputed to whom be- 
‘longs the merit of having first discovered the Antarctic 
- Continent, both French and Americans claiming it each 
for themselves. But in the present state of our know- 
ledge we must characterise such a dispute as perfectly 
objectless, for Balleny two years earlier had discovered 
his Sabrina Land, and had seen the coast at other points ; 
therefore to him, if, indeed, an Antarctic Continent of the 
extent indicated by Wilkes exists, the honour of discover- 
ing it must be ascribed. 
The researches initiated by Gauss and the Géttingen 
Society into the nature of the magnetism of the earth had 
given rise to a number of undertakings which had for 
NATURE 
followed the wall of ice to 62° S. lat. and 100° E, long., he’ 
63 
their object to assist inquiry in this direction. From the 
southern hemisphere trustworthy data were altogether 
wanting, and on this account the British Government 
resolved to send an expedition to the magnetic South 
Pole, and that moreover, under the leadership of Captain 
James Ross, who had spent the greatest part of his earlier 
youth in the North Polar regions, and already in the year 
1831 had discovered the magnetic North Pole. The re- 
sults of his expedition, therefore, are incomparably rich 
and valuable. 
After some preparatory cruising, the two ships, the 
well-known Erebus and Terror, well appointed for their 
work, set out from Hobarton on November 12, 1840, 
directing their course southwards, after a brief visit 
to Campbell Island. On December 27 the first ice was 
seen in 63° 20'S, lat., and 176° 30’ E. long., and on 
January 1, 1841, the Polar circle was passed in 170° E, 
long., where the ships first encountered the pack-ice, 
Sir James, after careful consideration, determined to 
endeavour to penetrate the inner masses of pack-ice 
which, by the two previous voyagers, had only been 
skirted, and on the oth, in 69° 15’ S. lat, and 
176° 15’ E. long., came out into open sea. On the 
11th land was discovéred in 71° 15’ S, lat., the moun- 
tains of which, covered with perpetual snow and ice, 
reared themselves high into the air. The highest of these 
was named after Sir Edward Sabine, who for more than 
half a century, says Dr. Neumayer, has devoted his 
energies to researches in physical geography in all regions 
and in all parts of the earth, and who has largely added 
to our knowledge, especially of terrestrial magnetism, 
The whole land, which Ross followed to nearly 79° S, 
lat., he named South Vitoria Land, and an active volcano, 
12,400 feet high, which he discovered on January 28, he 
named Mount Erebus. The name of the Zerror was 
given to an extinct volcano, somewhat higher than the 
other, lying farther to the east. On the same day it was 
found that farther advance was impracticable, as the ex- 
plorers found themselves suddenly face to face with an 
immense wall of ice, from 150 to 200 feet high, exactly 
similar to that which had been seen by D’Urville, Wilkes, 
and others. In the far distance over this wall they 
descried mountain peaks of great height and covered with 
ice : Ross named them after Parry. 
In the vain attempt to reach the end of the ice-wall 
or find an opening in which the ship could pass the 
winter, they gained, on February 2, in 173° E. long., their 
greatest south latitude of 78° 4’. The rest of the month 
Ross spent in the further exploration partly of the 
southern sea and partly of the coast of the newly dis- 
covered Victoria Land from Franklin Island to the North 
Cape, when he turned his course to the west in 70° 40’ S, lat. 
In 68° S, lat. and 165° E, long, was seen a series of what 
seemed either islands or mountain peaks belonging to the 
continent, and farther on were seen the islands discovered 
by Balleny. Ross found that the land placed by Wilkes 
on his chart under 65° 4o’ S. lat. and 165° E. long., in 
reality did not exist. As about the beginning of March the 
young ice began rapidly to form, Captain Ross determined 
to return northwards. On the return voyage, magnetic 
researches of the highest value were made. More espe- 
cially was determined the position of the line of non- 
deflection of the compass. 
