316 ANTARCTIC CRUISE. 



green. They hove-to, for the double purpose of getting a cast of the 

 lead, and of lowering the boats to carry the instruments to a small 

 iceberg, on which it was possible to land for the purpose of making 

 mao-netic observations. A line of one thousand four hundred fathoms 



O 



was prepared to sound, and to the lead was attached the cylinder 

 with Six's thermometer ; the wind being fresh, several leads at 

 different distances were attached to the line; they were not aware 

 that the lead-line had touched bottom, until they began to haul in, 

 when it was found that the lead bent on at five hundred fathoms was 

 filled with blue and slate-coloured mud. Attached to the lead also 

 was a piece of stone, and a fresh bruise on it, as though the lead had 

 struck heavily on rock. The remainder of the line had evidently 

 lain on the bottom, as the copper cylinder was covered with mud, and 

 the water inside of it was quite muddy. They then beat up a short 

 distance to windward, and again sounded, when, with the line 

 hanging vertically, bottom was reached at three hundred and twenty 

 fathoms ; the matter brought up was slate-coloured mud. The tem- 

 perature of the water at the surface was 32°, and at the above depth 

 27 J°, being a decrease of 4^°. 



The boats now returned, and on approaching the ship the per- 

 sons in them were much startled by hearing the crew cheer ship in 

 consequence of finding soundings. This was a natural burst of joy, 

 on obtaining this unquestionable proof that what they saw was indeed 

 the land ; a circumstance that, while it left no doubt, if any had 

 existed, in the mind of any one on board the Peacock, that what they 

 had previously seen was truly terra firma, furnished a proof that 

 cannot be gainsaid, even by those disposed to dispute the evidence of 

 sight, unsupported by so decisive a fact. Mr. Eld and Mr. Stuart, 

 in the boats, succeeded in getting observations, and the mean dip by 

 the needles was 86° 16'. 



Mr. Eld's boat succeeded in taking a king-penguin of enormous 

 size, viz. : from tip of tail to the bill, forty-five inches ; across the flip- 

 pers, thirty-seven inches ; and the circumference of the body, thirty- 

 three inches. He was taken after a truly sailor-like fashion, by 

 knocking him down. The bird remained quite unmoved on their 

 approach, or rather showed a disposition to come forward to greet 

 them. A blow with the boat-hook, however, stunned him, and before 

 his recovery he was well secured. He showed, on coming to himself, 

 much resentment at the treatment he had received, not only by fight- 

 ing, but by an inordinate noise. He was in due time preserved as 



