72 



THE ANTARCTIC. 



After wasting a number of days in trying to find a 

 passage through the pack-ice, he sighted Cape Dundas, 

 the easternmost point of the South Orkneys, on the 26th 

 of January. He followed the north coast of the island 

 group till the 29th of January, and then steered north as far 

 as latitude 58 45' S. Meeting with but little ice, he again 

 turned south. This was on the 1st of February, but after 

 two days the increasing quantity of ice filled him with 

 dread, and on the 4th of February he had practically again 

 reached the pack-ice in latitude 62° 20' S. and longitude 

 $j° 8' W. For several days D'Urville this time tried to 



Ice Structure in the South Orkney Islands (after Dumont d'Urville). 



break through the ice, then he gave up every further 

 attempt and turned round to the west — more or less 

 persuaded that Weddell's account was an invention. On 

 the 20th of February he again came in sight of the South 

 Orkney Islands, and he landed on Saddle Island ; on the 

 25th of February Elephant and Clarence Islands were 

 passed on the south, and on the 26th Bridgeman Island, 

 which is a small volcanic island, and was just then in active 

 eruption. 



Since it was not D'Urville's object more nearly to 



