124 THE ANTARCTIC. 



their native harbour for the whale fisheries in the 

 waters indicated. Two of the ships carried thorough 

 and scientifically trained medical men, Charles W. 

 Donald, on board the Active, and W. S. Bruce, on 

 board the Balena, both amply provided with scientific 

 instruments by Leigh Smith, the eminent Arctic navi- 

 gator, and the Maecenas of polar exploration. Burn 

 Murdoch, the artist, also embarked on board the Balena. 

 The vessels first sailed for the Falkland Islands, quitting 

 them again at the beginning of December, and hunting 

 for whales, but without adequate success. Their course 

 was constantly east and south and south-east after leaving 

 Joinville Island and Louis- Philippe Land. The only 

 addition to previously ascertained topographical know- 

 ledge made by this expedition was the verification of the 

 chart, made by Ross, of the southern outlines of Joinville 

 Island, and of the channel, thirty miles long and from 

 two and a half to five miles wide, separating the island 

 from the mainland. Captain Robertson of the Active 

 circumnavigated the whole island by means of this 

 channel, which was tolerably free from ice, and named 

 it Dundee Island. The channel he called Firth of 

 Tay in its broader half extending in a south-easterly 

 direction, the narrower south-western end receiving the 

 name of Active Sound. The coast lines of the Erebus 

 and Terror Gulf were also more accurately laid down 

 than had been possible to Ross. Dr. Donald also 

 effected a landing in Active Sound on the shore of 

 Joinville Island. On the whole, the condition of the 

 ice seems to have been highly favourable, but the main 

 object of the voyage prevented any thorough investiga- 

 tion of the land, clearly proving that a whaling expedition 

 cannot be utilised as a voyage of modern exploration. 

 The meteorological observations made during this voyage 

 were so far valuable that they established the facts that 

 in this Antarctic region south and south-east winds 



