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weather off Cape Horn, was driven so far south that he 

 reached some ice-bound islands, where he saw immense 

 numbers of whales and seals. His story was not believed at 

 the time, but it is now generally conceded that he actually 

 did cross the Antarctic Circle. 



When New Holland was first discovered it was supposed 

 to form part of the Antarctic Continent, and was so 

 delineated upon the maps until 1642, when Tasman proved 

 it to be an island. The area of the supposed continent 

 having been thus reduced, it was delineated as extending as 

 far north as Kerguelen. In 1773, Cook, sailing on a westerly 

 line, passed far to the south of Kerguelen ; and in 1775 he 

 penetrated to 71° 8., exploring between 175° and 98° W. longi- 

 tude. Cook made a complete circuit of the Southern Ocean, 

 several times crossing the Antarctic Circle, thus proving that 

 if any continent existed it must be looked for inside the 

 circle. It is worthy of note, as exemplifying the diffeience 

 in seasons, that Cook reached his highest point, his " ne plus 

 ultra," as he called it, without entering the ice. We shall 

 see that subsequent explorers passed through hundreds of 

 miles of ice before reaching the same latitude. 



In the beginning of the 18th. century American whale and 

 seal fishermen, operating in the vicinity of the Falkland 

 Islands, sailing south, re discovered the islands reported by 

 Gerritz. 



In 1819 an expedition was sent out by Eussia, under 

 Bellinghausen, with the avowed intention of reaching the 

 South Pole. They sailed south on the meridian of Green- 

 wich, and reached lat. 69° 25' S. ; subsequently they reached 

 69° 31', and then gave up the attempt, having failed to reach 

 as high a latitude as Cook. They discovered Peter the First 

 Island and Alexander Land. 



In 1823 Captain Weddell, of Leith, with two small vessels 

 — one of 160 tons, the other of 60 tons — sailed from the 

 South Shetlands on a whaling voyage, and, finding the sea 

 open, penetrated to 74° 15' — a remarkable performance for 

 such small vessels, and one that has never since been equalled 

 in that portion of the Southern Seas. Weddell, besides being 

 a daring navigator, seems to have been a skilful fisherman, 

 for during the few seasons he was in South Georgia he 

 obtained 20,000 tons of sea elephant oil and several cargoes 

 of fur sealskins, which he afterwards took to China and sold 

 at a dollar a skin. Weddell's performance eclipsed Cook's, 

 and is second only to Ross's. 



In 1830 the Messrs. Enderby, of London, despatched Cap- 

 tain Biscoe on a whaling voyage to the Southern Seas, when 

 he discovered Enderby's Land, Adelaide Island, and Graham's 

 Land. In 1839 the Enderbys sent out Captain Balleny with. 



