March.] PRACTICABILITY OF REACHING THE SOUTH POLE. 67 



forty-four. In this situation I found the variation to be 14° 27' easterly, 

 per azimuth. 



I have several times passed within the antarctic circle, on different 

 meridians, and have uniformly found the temperature both of the air and 

 the water to become more and more mild the farther I advanced beyond 

 the sixty-fifth degree of south latitude, and that the variation decreases 

 in the same proportion. While north of this latitude, say between 

 sixty and sixty-five south, we frequently had great difficulty in finding 

 a passage for the vessel, between the immense and almost innumerable 

 ice-islands, some of which were from one to two miles in circumference, 

 and more than five hundred feet above the surface of the water ! 

 When it is considered that they have always about three-fifths of their 

 bulk under water, some idea may be formed of their enormous mag- 

 nitude. We have several times come so near them, when the weather 

 was so thick and hazy that we could not see twice the length of the 

 vessel, that nothing prevented our striking but a timely application of 

 the sweeps to bear us off. It was always our endeavour to keep at a 

 respectful distance ; for they are sometimes so nicely balanced, that, 

 should a very large piece become detached from below, the whole mass 

 above water, being thus rendered top-heavy, would instantly capsize, 

 and plunge beneath the surface ; when wo to the vessel that lies in 

 its way. Even at the distance of one hundred yards, ships have been 

 lost by the vast waves and whirls occasioned by these rolling moun- 

 tains. 



But there is no evil, perhaps, which is not accompanied with some 

 redeeming quality. The shelter which is sometimes afforded by these 

 dangerous friends has preserved vessels from injury, if not ruin, during 

 a gale of wind ; especially as the sea is never rough where the ice- 

 islands are sufficiently numerous to break the force of the waves. 



I regret extremely that circumstances would not permit me to pro- 

 ceed farther south, when I was in lat. 70° 14' S., on Friday, the 14th 

 day of March, 1823 ; as I should then have been able, without the 

 least doubt, to penetrate as far as the eighty-fifth degree of south 

 latitude. But situated as I then was, without fuel, and with not suffi- 

 cient water to last twenty days, — destitute of the various nautical and 

 mathematical instruments requisite for such an enterprise, and without 

 the aid of such scientific gentlemen as discovery ships should always 

 be supplied with ; taking all these things into consideration, I felt my- 

 self compelled to abandon, for the present, the glorious attempt to 

 make a bold advance directly to the south pole. The way was open 

 before me, clear and unobstructed ; the temperature of the air and 

 water mild ; the weather pleasant ; the wind fair. Under such tempting 

 auspices, it was with painful reluctance that I relinquished the idea, 

 and deferred the attempt for a subsequent voyage. The anguish of 

 my regret, however, was much alleviated by the hope that on my return 

 to the United States, an appeal to the government of my country for 

 countenance and assistance in this (if successful) magnificent en- 

 terprise would not be made in vain. To the only free nation on earth 

 should belong the glory of exploring a spot of the globe which is the 

 ne plus ultra of latitude, where all the degrees of longitude are merged 



4 



