140 SOUTHERN CRUISE. 
pinnacles, very much worn by the sea. The surf was too great to 
attempt a landing for the purpose of procuring specimens. As we 
closed in with the land we lowered a boat and tried the current, which 
was found setting to the north-northwest, two fathoms per hour. 
At 6 p. m. we had several ice islands in sight, Cape Melville 
bearing south by east (true). We now had light winds from the 
south-southwest. 
The north foreland of King George's Island was in sight, and 
found to be well placed on the charts. The appearance of all this 
land is volcanic ; it is from eight hundred to one thousand feet high. 
The upper part is covered and the valleys filled with snow of great 
depth. Before night we had several other islands in sight, with 
many bergs and much drift ice. 
On the 2d, at daylight, we made O'Brien's and Aspland's Islands, 
to the eastward, with many ice islands, some of a tabular form, and 
from half a mile to a mile in length. The temperature of the water 
was 34°. Through the fog and mist, we got a sight of Bridgeman's 
Island, and stood for it, with the intention of landing on it. The fog 
cleared off as we approached it, and we could perceive distinctly the 
smoke issuing from its sides. We made it in latitude 62° 06' S., and 
longitude 57° 10' W. I determined to land, although the fog was 
hovering in the horizon around us, and ordered a boat to be prepared. 
While in the act of getting ready, in less than ten minutes, we were 
enveloped in a fog so dense, that we could not see three lengths of the 
brig. We were now a short distance from and under the lee of the 
island, and perceived a strong sulphureous smell. We waited for 
some time, in hopes of its clearing, but we were disappointed, and I 
therefore deemed it advisable to proceed under short sail, feeling our 
way to the southward, with the expectations, every moment, of en- 
countering icebergs. 
This island is about six hundred feet high, and of the shape of a 
flattened dome. The sea was quite smooth, but the long swell was 
heard dashing against it and the icebergs as we passed them. 
^ On the 3d of March, we filled away at daylight, and stood for 
Palmer's Land. The birds now had very much increased, Cape 
pigeons, with the gray and black petrel, and occasionally penguins, 
swimming about us in all directions, uttering their discordant 
screams. All seemed astonished at encountering so unusual an 
object as a vessel in these frozen seas. At 6 h 30' we made land, 
which I took to be Mount Hope, the eastern point of Palmer's Land! 
