INTRODUCTION 



After surveying in the Pacific they were to proceed to 

 Sydney and then the instructions proceeded, " you will 

 make a second attempt to penetrate within the Antarctic 

 region, south of Van Diemen's Land, and as far west as 

 longitude 45° East or to Enderhy's Land, making your 

 rendezvous on your return at Kerguelen's Land." Very 

 stringent orders, dated August 11, 1838, were given to 

 Wilkes not to allow any one connected with the ex- 

 pedition to furnish any other persons " with copies of any 

 journal, charts, plan, memorandum, specimen, drawing, 

 painting or information" concerning the objects and 

 proceedings of the expedition or as to discoveries made. 

 The ships were not fortified for ice navigation ; they were 

 not even in sound seaworthy condition; the stores were 

 inadequate and of bad quality; the crews and unhappily 

 some of the officers were disaffected, disliking their com- 

 mander, and making things very uncomfortable for him. 

 The attempt to navigate Weddell Sea proved abortive; 

 on the side of Bellingshausen Sea one ship reached 68° 

 and another 70° South, but saw nothing except ice. 



At Sydney Wilkes was most unhappy; his equipment 

 was criticised with more justice than mercy by his colonial 

 visitors, and in his narrative he says plainly that he was 

 obliged " to agree with them that we were unwise to 

 attempt such service in ordinary cruising vessels ; we had 

 been ordered to go and that was enough: and go we 

 should." And they went. On January 16, 1840, land 

 was sighted by three of the ships in longitudes about 

 158° East, apparently just on or south of the Antarctic 

 Circle. The ships sailed westwards as best they could 

 along the edge of the pack; sometimes along the face 

 of a barrier of great ice-cliffs, ignorant of the fact that 

 Balleny had been there the year before, but very anxious 

 that they should anticipate any discoveries on the part of 

 the French squadron then in those waters. On January 



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