396 Miscellanies. 



within two hours afterwards the ship was again reduced to her storm 

 sails, with a heavy gale from the southward, with snow, sleet, and a 

 heavy sea, contitming thirty-six hours, and if possible more dangerous 

 than that of the 28th and 29th, owing to the large number of ice islands 

 around us; after which I received reports from the medical officers, rep- 

 resenting the exhausted state of the crew and condition of the ship, of 

 which the following are extracts : 



The medical officer on duty, reported, under date of the 31st January, 

 that " the number on the sick list this morning is fifteen ; most of these 

 cases are consequent upon the extreme hardship and exposure they have 

 undergone during the last gales of wind, when the ship has been sur- 

 rounded with ice. The number is not large, but it is necessary to state 

 that the general health of the crew is, in our opinion, decidedly affected, 

 and that under ordinary circumstances the list would be very much in- 

 creased, while the men, under the present exigencies, actuated by a laud- 

 able desire to do their duty to the last, refrain from presenting themselves 

 as applicants for the list. 



" Under the.se circumstances we feel ourselves obliged to report, in our 

 opinion, a few days more of such exposure as they have already under- 

 gone, would reduce the number of the crew, by sickness, to such an ex- 

 tent as to hazard the safety of the ship and the lives of all on board." 



After which, the surgeon, being restored to duty, reported to me as 

 follows : 



" I respectfully report that, in my opinion, the health of the crew is 

 materially affected by the severe fatigue, want of sleep, and exposure to 

 the weather, to which they have lately been subjected ; that a continu- 

 ance of these hardships, even for a very short period, will entirely dis- 

 qualify a great number of men for their duty, and that the necessary at- 

 tention to the health of the crew and their future efficiency and useful- 

 ness, demands the immediate return of the ship to a milder climate." 



Deeming it my duty, however, to persevere, I decided to continue, and 

 steered again for the land, which we had named the Antarctic Continent. 



We reached it on the 2nd of February, about sixty miles to the west- 

 ward of the point first visited, where we found the coast lined with solid, 

 perpendicular ice cliffs, preventing the possibility of landing, and the 

 same mountains trending to the westward. From thence we proceeded 

 to the westward along the ice barrier, which appeared to make from the 

 land, until the third, when we again encountered a severe gale from the 

 southeast, with thick weather and snow until the 7th of February, when 

 it cleared up sufficiently to allow us to see our way clear, and we again 

 approached the perpendicular barrier of ice, similar to that which we had 

 previously seen as attached to the land ; the same land being in sight at a 

 great distance. We stood along the barrier, about seventy miles to the 

 westward, when it suddenly trended to the southward, and our further pro- 



