444 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. 
black spot. Thus there still remained more than one among us who 
doubted its existence. However, at midday all doubt vanished. A boat 
from the Zélée, which came to visit us, announced that Jand had been 
seen by those on board ever since the evening before. Less sceptical 
than ourselves, all the officers of the Zélée were already persuaded of 
the reality of this discovery. Unfortunately an unbroken calm pre- 
vented us from approaching it to make the matter certain. Nevertheless, 
joy reigned on board; henceforth the success of our enterprise was 
assured ; for the expedition could report in any case the discovery of a 
new land. 
The day was entirely devoted to the sports of the crew. Although 
we had not yet reached the polar circle, our men did not wait for that 
to produce the Antarctic sovereign on the bridge. They represented, as 
usual, all kinds of strange scenes; there was a show of mummers, a 
sermon, and a banquet. The whole closed with dancing and singing. 
The entire crew were cheery and full of fun. Indeed, since leaving 
Hobart Town, our men had rarely enjoyed more flourishing health. 
Numerous sea-birds surrounded us; we saw a great number of penguins 
floundering about in the water, and several fur seals, but not a single 
one of those giant petrels which we had found in such abundance on 
the icebergs (glaces) during our first circumpolar expedition ; they used 
to come, when our corvettes were hemmed in the ice, and fight under our 
very eyes for the remains of the seals killed by our hunters. We picked 
up on the surface of the sea a long whitish girdle of most singular 
appearance. It was more than 2 metres long, round, and uniform. Later 
we found it was formed by an agglomeration of molluscs; we found 
similar girdles later on, but shorter. 
Jan, 21.—Ever since we had recognised land we were impatiently 
awaiting a wind which should enable us to approach; at last, at 3 a.m., 
it rose in the §.8.E., but it was so light that we hardly made one knot. 
As we approached nearer we distinctly saw crevasses on the ice crust 
which covered the earth, giving it a very uniform grey tint. Here and 
there we saw deep ravines hollowed out by the water which arose from 
the melting of the snow; but the details of the coast were hidden from 
us by the islands of floating ice which, in all probability, had but lately 
been detached. 
At last the wind settled in the 8.8.E., and we began to advance 
rapidly; but the nearer we came the more numerous and menacing 
became the icé-islands. Soon they really became an alarming mass, 
divided by narrow, winding channels. Nevertheless, I did not hesitate 
to steer towards it. At 8 o’cluck we were so shut in by these floating 
masses that I feared every minute to see our corvettes dashed to pieces 
on them. We were by no means free from danger, for the sea produced 
around these masses considerable eddies, which could not fail to bring 
a ship to destruction if she were for a moment sheltered from the wind 
