118 



WHITE WATER — ^tCEBERGS. 



Dec. 



We passed through a space of sea,* many miles in extent, 

 where the water was of a very much lighter colour than usual ; 

 not of a light-green or muddy hue, such as one sees near land, 

 but of a milky white tint. Being in soundings, one naturally 

 attributed such a change of colour to some peculiarity in the 

 ground ; but I have since thought differently, and am now 

 inclined to believe that the light-coloured water came from a 

 distance, in one of those great, though slow-moving currents, 

 which sweep past the Falkland Islands, and thence northwards : 

 but to what cause its unusual whiteness is to be attributed, I 

 know not. The dissolution of a huge iceberg, or of many ice- 

 bergs, might alter the colour, and certainly would change the 

 temperature of a considerable body of water ; but in this case, 

 a thermometer immersed in the sea did not indicate a degree 

 lower than that of the previous or following day. During the 

 three days, our soundings varied only from fifty to sixty 

 fathoms. The lead certainly brought up fine grey sand while 

 the water was light-coloured, and dark sand at other times ; 

 but I can hardly think that so decided a change— diflerent from 

 any I noticed elsewhere — could have been caused in fifty fathoms 

 water by so small an alteration in the quality of the bottom. 



Icebergs have been seen in latitude 40° S., and near the lon^ 

 gitude of 50° W. ; perhaps they are sometimes carried nearer 

 the coast, in which case they would ground, and melt away. 



I suspect that some of the rocks, so often, yet so fruitlessly, 

 sought for — and instead of which many persons have supposed 

 dead whales, wrecks, or large trees, were seen — may have been 

 icebergs, against and upon which sea- weed, drift-wood, or other 

 substances, may have lodged temporarily, causing a rock-like 

 appearance. In this way, perhaps, arose the report of a rock 

 said to have been seen by Lieutenant Burdwood ; of the Aigle 

 and Ariel rocks — and even of those islets sought for ineffec- 

 tually by Weddell, a few degrees eastward of the Falkland 

 Islands. -f- 



* Lat. 46° S. Lon^. 63° W. 



t On this subject there are a few more remarks, under the head — Cur- 

 rents of the ocean, — in the last chapter but one. 



