338 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. 
mid-channel are 35, 25, 22, 18, 15, and a short cable’s length from the 
beach 8 and 9 fathoms. The cutter Sabrina at one time rode close to 
the beach at the top of the harbour, and had 3 fathoms under the stern. 
The ground is good. The passage between Garden Island and the main 
is merely a boat passage, and full of rocks. There is not a vestige of 
a hut in Port Chalky. Preservation Bay, to the southward, is a pic- 
turesque spot, full of islands and covered with wood: the beauty of the 
scenery can hardly be described, but anchoring places are difficult to 
find, the water is so deep. The soil is good; most garden-roots and 
seeds grow well, and rye-grass admirably. The plans of Chalky Bay 
and harbour are good, with the exceptions already mentioned; there 
are no inhabitants on this part of the island; the ground being covered 
with wood produces myriads of flies of a very poisonous deseription ; the 
bite of a mosquito is not to be compared to it for severity and effect ; it 
is a small black fly with a deep blue tinge. I saw no wild animals except 
rats. The tide here rises about 6 feet, and it is high water at full and 
change at 11 o’clock.” 
Jan. 7, 1839.—Sailed for the southward; on the 11th anchored in 
Perseverance Harbour, Campbell Island, where, by a curious coinci- 
dence, they met with Mr. John Biscoe, R.N., in command of the Emma, 
on a sealing voyage. On the 17th again made sail to the south- 
eastward; on the 19th, in lat. 54°, with the weather calm and fine, 
the Aurora Australis was very brilliant. On the 23rd, in lat. 59° 16’, 
long. 173° 20' E. of Greenwich, the indications of the vicinity of land, 
as large quantities of seaweed, divers, mutton-birds, etc., were so strong, 
that, the weather being very thick, the vessels were hove to. On the 
following day they passed the branch of a tree, but as it cleared neither 
land nor ice were in sight, and they continued standing to the §.S.E. 
till the 27th, when in lat. 63° 37’, long. 176° 30' E., they crossed Captain 
Bellingshausen’s route of the Russian corvette, the Vostok, in December, 
1820, and here saw their first iceberg. Continuing to the southward, 
over the very spot where compact ice had forced the Russian navigator 
to alter his course to the eastward, the vessels, on the 28th, reached their 
extreme eastern longitude, namely, 178° 13’ E.; and on the following 
evening, in the parallel of 66° 40', and long. 177° 50', the variation 
observed by azimuth was 28° E. At this time field-ice bounded their 
southern horizon, and numerous large icebergs were in sight. At sun- 
set on the 30th, in lat. 67° and long. 176°, the variation observed by 
amplitude was found to be 33° 25'E. They were now surrounded by 
icebergs and small drift-ice; the wind during the last week had been 
constantly from the westward, varying from N.W. to 8.W. 
At noon, on the 1st of February, the sun broke out and the weather 
cleared—latitude by observation 68° 45'. At this time no ice was in 
sight from the mast-head, and they stood to the southward with a fresh 
breeze till 3 p.m., when they found themselves near the edge of a large 
