THE SOUTHERN ICE-FIELDS 109 



In spite of the rigours of the climate and the 

 fearful desolation of these parts, Christmas was 

 celebrated with plentiful libations — an apotheo- 

 sis of drink, but a spark of cheerfulness in the 

 very hard life of these sailors, oblivious for the 

 moment of death, which stalked around. 



Despairing of ever being able to sail round 

 the expanse of ice which seemed to extend east- 

 ward and westward to infinity. Cook resolved to 

 explore the land discovered by Bouvet. He 

 went to the locality described by the French 

 sailor as the position of Cape Circumcision, but 

 in spite of a clear atmosphere he could see noth- 

 ing, and concluded that Bouvet ''had been mis- 

 taken, and had seen only mountains of ice, sur- 

 rounded by ice-floes or floating bergs." (This 

 land was definitely located by a German ship 

 in 1898.) 



On February 8th the Adventure, which, until 

 then, had remained quite close to the Resolution, 

 did not reply to a signal. Cook, fearing that she 

 might have mistaken her course, waited for two 

 days. He fired his guns and lighted flares at 

 night. The Adventure did not appear. Cook 

 had appointed, as a rendezvous in case of sepa- 

 ration. Queen Charlotte Sound in New Zealand. 

 He was therefore not too greatly concerned, and 

 continued to explore these Antarctic regions try- 



