158 | Bibliography. 
two large ice-islands, which in fair weather we should not have dared 
to venture through. The suspense endured while making our way 
through them was intense, but of short duration; and my spirits rose, 
as I heard the whistling of the gale grow louder and louder before us 
as we emerged from the passage. We had escaped an awful death 
and were again tempest-tost. 
“« We encountered many similar dangers at night. At half past 4 A. M., 
I found we had reached the small open space laid down on my chart, 
and at 5-o’clock I hove to the ship. I had been under intense excite- 
ment and had not been off the deck for nine hours, and was now thank- 
ful to the Providence that had guided, watched over and preserved us. 
Until 7 A. M., all hands were on deck, when there was some appear- 
ance of the weather moderating and they were piped down. By noon 
we felt satisfied that the gale was over, and that we had escaped, 
although it was difficult to realize a sense of security, when the perils 
we had just passed through were so fresh in our minds and others still 
impending.” 
On the morning of the 30th, which was very fine, the Vincennes 
again made for the icy barrier, through a smooth sea, with the land ful- 
ly in sight and the encouraging hope that they might reach it. Still so 
many icebergs were in view, that a straight line drawn in any direction 
would have cut a dozen of them in the same number of miles, and the 
wonder of all was excited, that they could ever have passed through 
them unharmed. 
With all sail set, they soon reached water that was clear quite to the 
shores or icy barrier, along which they coasted and were impelled 
at the rate of nine or ten miles an hour. They were ina bay formed 
partly by rocks and partly by stranded ice islands, extending about five 
miles northward of their position. The gale increased and the space 
was so narrow that they could not reduce their canvass before it was 
necessary to come about. 
‘Tn this way we approached within half a mile of the dark volcanic 
rocks, which appeared on both sides of us, and saw the land gradually 
rising beyond the ice to the height of 3000 feet and entirely covered 
with snow. It could be distinctly seen extending to the E. and W. of our 
position fully 60 miles. I made the bay in lat 66° 5’ S.; and now that 
all were convinced of its existence, I gave the land the name of the 
Antarctic Continent. We found a hard bottom at 30 fathoms.” 
A gale now came on in the form of a snow storm with sharp icicles 
piercing like needles, and it was necessary to clear the bay, as it was 
out of the question to run the gauntlet again among the icebergs. It 
blew tremendously, with a short sea implying a current. 
ch a Eee 
