374 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL, 
west,* and had the appearance of being 3000 feet in height, forming a 
sort of amphitheatre, looking grey and dark, and divided into two 
distinct ridges or elevations throughout its entire extent, the whole being 
covered with snow. As there was no probability of getting nearer to 
itin this quarter, they stood out of the bay, which was about twenty 
miles deep, to proceed to the westward, hoping to get an opportunity 
to approach the object more closely on the other side. 
We had a beautiful and unusual sight presented to us this night: 
the sun and moon both appeared above the horizon at the same time, 
and each throwing its light abroad. The latter was nearly full. The 
former illuminated the icebergs and distant continent with his deep 
golden rays; while the latter, in the opposite horizon, tinged with 
silvery light the clouds in its immediate neighbourhood. There now 
being no doubt in any mind of the discovery of land, it gave an ex- 
citing interest to the cruise, that appeared to set aside all thought of 
fatigue, and to make every one willing to encounter any difficulty to 
effect a landing. 
20th.—This day, on board the Peacock, they witnessed a sea-fight 
between a whale and one of its many enemies. The sea was quite 
smooth, and offered the best possible view of the whole combat. First, 
at a distance from the ship, a whale was seen floundering in a most 
extraordinary way, lashing the smooth sea into a perfect foam, and 
endeavouring apparently to extricate himself from some annoyance. As 
he approached the ship, the struggle continuing and becoming more 
violent, it was perceived that a fish, apparently about 20 feet long, held 
him by the jaw, his contortions, spouting, and throes, all betokening the 
agony of the huge monster. The whale now threw himself at full 
length from the water with open mouth, his pursuer still hanging to 
the jaw, the blood issuing from the wound and dyeing the sea to a dis- 
tance around; but all his flounderings were of noavail; his pertinacious 
enemy still maintained his hold, and was evidently getting the advan- 
tage of him. Much alarm seemed to be felt by the many other whales 
around. These “killers,” as they are called, are of a brownish colour on 
the back and white on the belly, with a long dorsal fin. Such was the 
turbulence with which they passed, that a good view could not be had 
of them to make out more nearly the description. These fish attack a 
whale in the same way as dogs bait a bull, and worry him to death 
They are armed with strong sharp teeth, and generally seize the whale 
by the lower jaw. It is said that the only part of them they eat is the 
tongue. The whalers give some marvellous accounts of these killers, 
and of their immense strength, among them, that they have been known 
to drag a whale away from several boats which were towing it to the 
ship. 
There was a great quantity of animalcule in the water, and some 
* Sketches of this land will be seen in the atlas on the chart of Antarctic Continent. 
