68 i FORMATION OF ICEBERGS. [1823. 



into a single point, and where the sun appears to revolve in a horizontal 

 circle. But this splendid hope has since been lost in the gloom of dis- 

 appointment ! The vassals of some petty despot may one day place 

 this precious jewel of discovery in the diadem of their royal master. 

 Would to heaven it might be set among the stars of our national 

 banner ! 



Had the English navigator Captain Weddell* been properly pre- 

 pared with all the necessary mathematical and nautical apparatus for 

 approaching the south pole, there is no doubt that this important dis- 

 covery would have been accomplished by him in the year 1822, when 

 he proceeded one hundred and eighty-five miles farther south than any 

 other navigator had ever done before him ; he having reached the lat- 

 itude of 74° 15' S. ; while Captain Cook's most southern latitude was 

 only 71° 10' S., and my own 70° 14' S. Nothing but a deficiency of 

 articles which are indispensably necessary for the purpose prevented 

 Captain Weddell's accomplishing this much-desired object ; when the 

 people of our enlightened age would have had laid open to them the 

 mysteries of the south pole — mysteries which have been concealed from 

 man since the Almighty first " laid the foundations of the earth." 



I have no doubt that the British government, ever foremost to en- 

 courage genius and reward merit, will yet give my much esteemed 

 and worthy friend Captain Weddell another opportunity of distin- 

 guishing himself with the command of an expedition towards the south 

 pole. 



To return from this digression. — The ice which sometimes obstructs 

 the navigation of the antarctic seas appears to be of two kinds ; the 

 one being from fresh, and the other from salt water. The hard, solid, 

 and perfect icebergs are the gradual productions of years, — perhaps 

 of centuries. In these inhospitable regions, wherever the snow finds 

 a resting-place in winter, there it must accumulate until the ensuing 

 summer, when it will begin to dissolve beneath the influence of the sun's 

 direct rays, which are shed upon every side of it in the course of 

 twenty-four hours. Streams and rivulets are the necessary conse- 

 quence, which collect along the indented shores, and in the deep bays. 

 There this snow-water soon freezes, and every successive year supplies 

 an additional investing crust, until, after the lapse of perhaps several cen- 

 turies, the icy mass rises at last to the size of a mountain, and becomes 

 an iceberg. The melting of the snow which is afterward deposited 

 on such immense blocks, likewise contributes to their growth ; and, by 

 filling up the crevices, it renders the whole berg compact and uniform. 



At the same time, the principle of destruction has already com- 

 menced its operation. The constant agitation of the sea gradually 

 wears and undermines the base of the icy eminence ; till at length, by 

 the action of its own accumulated weight, having grown to near one 

 thousand feet in height, it is torn from its frozen chains, and precipitated 

 into the ocean. When thus launched afloat, it is like an island in the 



* Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, whom I have before mentioned in the previous 

 chapter, as seeking for the Aurora Islands, in 1822 : a most excellent officer, and a highly worthy 

 man : justly extolled as an active, correct, and enterprising navigator. Being familiar with danger 

 in its most appalling form, every emergency finds him cool, steady, and undaunted. He is, in short, 

 at once an honour to his country and to human nature. I speak with confidence, for I know him. 



