March.] 



NEW SOUTH GREENLAND. 



69 



sea ; till driven to the northward by the wind and currents, a milder 

 temperature of air and water gradually and insensibly melts it into 

 its primitive element, either in the Pacific, South Atlantic, or Southern 

 Indian Ocean. 



March 15th. — After relinquishing for this season the idea of an 

 attempt to reach the south pole, we tacked about, and stood to the north 

 and west. On Saturday, March 15th, at 2 P. M., land was seen from 

 the masthead, bearing west, distant three leagues. At this time the 

 wind had hauled to the south-west, and at half-past 4 P. M. we were 

 close in with the eastern coast of the body of land to which Captain 

 Johnson had given the name of New South Greenland. At six P. M. 

 the wind hauled off the land, when we tacked and stood to the south, 

 along the coast, which runs about south-by-east ; our boats being out, 

 and searching the shore for seals until 9 P. M., when they returned to 

 the schooner. 



March \6th. — On the following morning, Sunday, the 16th, the boats 

 continued their search, the vessel following or keeping abreast of them, 

 about two miles from the land, until the next day, at 4 P. M., when 

 we were in lat. 67° 52' S. long. 48° 11' W. ; at which time we took a 

 fresh breeze from the south, attended with light snow-squalls. Varia- 

 tion per azimuth at 9 A. M. 16° 4' easterly. The coast here tended 

 about S.E. by S., and we thought we could discern some of the moun- 

 tains of snow, about seventy-five miles to the southward. 



Under the circumstances before mentioned, being without wood, on 

 a short allowance of water, and the season far advanced, it was judged 

 imprudent to proceed farther south ; although I felt very anxious (being 

 now in an open sea) to ascertain the extent of this land towards the 

 south. We therefore tacked about, and stood to the north. 



March \9tL — On Wednesday, the 19th, we were close in with the 

 north cape of New South Greenland ; lat. 62° 41' S., long. 47° 21' W. 

 by dead reckoning, not having had an observation for three days ; coast 

 tending to the south, and S. by W. This land abounds with oceanic 

 birds of every description ; we also saw about three thousand sea-ele- 

 phants, and one hundred and fifty sea-dogs and leopards. 



In this place, I think it proper to remark, that every spot I have vis- 

 ited beyond the sixtieth degree in these high south latitudes, is entirely 

 destitute of soil or vegetation ; but rising in vast mountains, or columns 

 of impenetrable rocks, ice, and snow. I would also further state, what 

 is my firm conviction, that ice-islands are never formed except in bays 

 and other recesses of the land ; and that even field-ice is never pro- 

 duced in deep water, or on a rough sea. The necessary inference, 

 therefore, is this : — If there be no more land to the south than that 

 with which we are already acquainted, the antarctic seas must be 

 much less obstructed by ice than is generally supposed ; and that a 

 clear sea is open for voyages of discovery, even to the south pole. 



The existence of ice-fields, at a vast distance in the antarctic regions, 

 whether accompanied by ice-islands or not, may frequently be ascer- 

 tained by their reflection on the verge of the horizon, in a stratum of 

 local whiteness. This appearance is occasioned by the rays of light 

 striking the surface of the ice obliquely ; and such as the angle of in- 



