130 THE ANTARCTIC. 



September, and sailed past Macquarie Island without 

 meeting any whales, to the Campbell Island, where a 

 landing was made. In the beginning of November the 

 first icebergs were seen, and on the 6th a vast mass of 

 ice was sighted in latitude 58° 14/ S. and longitude 162° 

 35' E., which extended from east to north-west for a 

 distance of from forty-five to sixty-five miles. It was 

 impossible to determine whether this was a continuous 

 mass or only a chain of closely -wedged icebergs. On 

 the same day it was discovered that the ship's screw was 

 out of order, and it was, therefore, necessary to return to 

 Port Chalmers (Dunedin on the southern island of New 

 Zealand), which was reached on the 18th of November 

 A fresh start was made south after leaving Stewart Island 

 on the 28th of November, and on the 7th of December 

 the Antarctic again reached the edge of the pack-ice. On 

 the next day the vessel was forced into the ice in latitude 

 62° 45' S. and longitude 171° 30' E., and came in sight 

 of the Balleny Isles on the 14th of December, where the 

 pack-ice proved to be impenetrable even for the steamer, 

 which was, indeed, quite closed in. After a thirty-eight 

 days' course through the pack-ice, open water was reached 

 on the 14th of January, 1895, in latitude 69° 55' S. and 

 longitude 177° 50' E., and on the 16th Cape Adare was 

 already in sight. On the 18th the Antarctic first cruised 

 along the coast to the north-west, then to the south, 

 where it was possible for Borchgrevingk to effect a 

 landing on Possession Island, and to make as accurate 

 an investigation as his short stay allowed. The most 

 interesting find made here was that of a lichen, the 

 southernmost land plant yet known. The voyage was now 

 continued till on the 22nd of January, in latitude 74° S. 

 and longitude 171° 15' E., the most southern point was 

 reached near the southern extremity of Coulman Island. 

 It would, doubtless, have been possible to penetrate still 

 farther south without difficulty, but as no whales were to 



