THE EFFECT OF POLAR ICE ON THE WEATHER. 189 



and of a glimpse of the " midnight sun," and of the glorious 

 effects of the "Aurora Australis," possibly some sport in 

 sealing, &c., photography of Antarctic land and ice, and 

 the being the first to renavigate seas not visited for nearly 

 seventy years. 



Details of the extent to which the Antarctic Circle may 

 be followed need not, as yet, be considered. Dumont 

 d'Urville passed along about 250 miles of it, calms much 

 impeding his progress (in sailing vessels) ; from his furthest 

 to where it was touched by H.M.S. " Challenger " in 1874, 

 is 50° of longitude, equal to about 1400 miles, practically 

 unexplored; the early navigators, before Dumont d'Urville, 

 being debarred from approaching, under sail, lands which 

 they sighted from a distance. 



Should this proposal evoke any interest in the necessary 

 quarters, a future opportunity will be taken of publicly 

 illustrating, from the log of the "Astrolabe" (Dumont 

 d'Urville), the daily experiences and traverses of that 

 navigator, in the Antarctic Ocean (between 16th and 31st 

 January, 1840), after passing through the belt of westerly 

 winds in the lower latitudes of the Great Southern Ocean, 

 which appear to justify the assertion that, under steam 

 and equally favorable conditions, it may be considered as 

 a " Picnic Excursion." 



