Critlcat iltiuttemi. 



2 a Adequacy aflhc men's clotliltig. 



SOUTHERN CRUISE. 



Cape Betihnra.— Straits of L* Malic, 07 

 Good Success Boy. " | 



vcred three small islets, and gave thorn the name 

 uf the Adventure Islets; whiles hcyoud, and above 

 all, nine two high mountains, one of which was 

 Mount Hope. I place the eastern extremity of 

 Palmer's Land, or Mount Hope, in longitude &7 J 

 W W., latitude 63° 25' S. 



The whole area wa» atmlded with icebergs, which 

 it now became necessary to get clear of, if possi- 

 ble, before night Bet in. 



1 1 was a day of great excitement to all, for we 

 had ice of all kind?* and descriptions to encounter, 

 from the iceberg of huge quadrangular shape, 

 with its stratified appearance, to the sunken and 

 deceptive tna-s, that it was difficult to jierccive 

 before it was under the bow. < hir situation was 

 critical, hut the weather favoured us for a few 

 hours. <hi clearing these dangers, wo kept off to 

 the southward and westward, under all sail, and at 

 8 i\M. we counted eighty large ice-islands in bight. 

 Afterwanls it became so thick with mist and fog, 

 as to render it necessary to lay-to till daylight, 

 before which time we hud a heavy snow-storm. 

 The temperature «f the water hnd fallen to 2l\ ; 

 air 28°. At one hundred fathoms depth wo fountl 

 the former 29*. A Btrong gale now set in from 

 the southward and westward. The brig's deck 

 was e-overed with ice and snow, nnd the weather 

 became excessively damp and cold. The men were 

 suffering, not only from want of sufficient room to 

 accommodate the numbers in the vessel, but from 

 the iuodequncy of the clothing with which they had 

 been supplied. Although purchased by tho go- 

 vernment at great expense, it was found to be 

 entirely unworthy the service, and inferior in every 

 way to tire samples exhibited. This was the case 

 with all tho articles of this description that were 

 provided for tho expedition. Not having been 

 able to satisfy myself to whom the blame is to be 

 attributed, contractors or inspectors, I hesitate to 

 give their names publicity. The deception is in 

 my opinion to be attributed to both. 



On the 5th of March the gale had increased. 

 The tender Sea-Gull being in close company, both 

 vessels were in imminent danger. At 3 a.m. we 

 narrowly escaped several icebergs. At 4 A.M. it 

 blew a very heavy gale from the south -west; the 

 temperature of the air fell to 21% and that of the 

 water was 2$>°; tire ice formed rapidly on the deck, 

 a ml covered the rigging, so much as to render it 

 difficult to werk either the brig or schooner; 

 dangers beset us in every direction, and it required 

 all the watchfulness we were possessed of to avoid 

 them. 



From the slate of the weather, (he lateness of 

 the season, and the difficulty of seeing around us, 

 not only during the several hours of the night, but 

 even in the day-time, the constant fogs and mist in 

 which we had been for several hours every day 

 enveloped, rendered our exertions abortive, and 

 precluded the possibility of doing any thing more 

 than to attend to the sailing of the vessels. These 

 reasons determined me to give up the endeavour 

 to proceed further south, feeling convinced that the 

 season for such explorations had gone by. I 

 therefore ordered the Sea-Gull to return to (►range 

 Harbour, well knowing that her situation was much 

 worse than our own ; directing her to touch at 

 Deception Island on the way, while we proceeded to 

 the northward to examine some of the other islands. 



When wo bore away, I had the intention of 



passing towards the assigned situation of the 

 Aurora Isles, but I found the crew so much en- 

 feebled by their constant exposure, whilst some of 

 them were affected with incipient scurvy, that I 

 concluded it was better to return lo Orange llar- 

 bour as souir as possible. 



We continued under easy sail, enveloped in 

 fogs, and falling in repeate dly with icebergs close 

 aboard, from which at limes we escaped with diffi- 

 culty. 



On the Gth of March tho wind shifted to the 

 northward, with snow. 



On the 7th, while making all way to thu north- 

 ward, the fog lifted, and high land was reported 

 within a short distance of us. A few moments 

 more, an 1 we should have been wrecked. This 

 proved to be Elephant Island. We found from its 

 position that wo hnd been set upwards of fifty 

 miles to the eastward, in the last four days, by the 

 current. We passed to leeward of it. Tho sea 

 was too high to attempt a landing. Irr the after- 

 noon it cleared, ami from our observations we 

 found Cape Delshnm, its eastern point, well placed. 

 We passed between it ami Corn wall is Island. The 

 Seal Rocks were also seen and observe d upon. 



We now stood to the northward, ami on the 

 Uith we were off the Straits of Le Maire, where I 

 again tried the deep-sea temperature, with a wire 

 sounding-lino, which parted at three hundred and 

 forty fathoms, and we lost the apparatus. J then 

 made a second experiment, with a line of rope four 

 hundred fathoms in length. The temperature of 

 tho surface was 44 \ of tho water below "AT". This 

 was about sixty miles to the eastward of the- place 

 where I had sounded before, on the 15lh of Feb* 

 ruary, when passing around Capo Horn in the 

 Vincennea, 



March 17th, we had light winds from the east- 

 ward, and a smooth sea, with delightful weather. 

 There was, however, a heavy bank of cumuli to 

 tho south-westward, and after a few hours' calm, 

 the wind camo from that quarter, and began to 

 blow frc9h, accompanied with heavy squalls. We 

 did not succeed that night in reaching New Island, 

 where it was my intention to have anchored and 

 rode out the gale. We in couscejueiice found our- 

 selves the next morning thirty miles to the east- 

 ward of our position on tho previous evening, liav. 

 iug drifted at tho rate of three miles an hour, 

 From appearances 1 inferred that the gale had set 

 in for Bcveral days; 1 therefore determined lo 

 make for Good Success Bay, arrd await the break- 

 ing up of the storm, being satisfied we could make 

 little progress to the westward during it? continu- 

 ance. 



We anchored in the bay early in the afternoon, 

 when we twk eiur bouts and went en shore for a 

 few hours. There was but little surf when we 

 lauded, but it rapidly increased, and one of the 

 boats in attempting to pass through it fdled, and 

 after several ineffectual attempts, did not succeed 

 in getting off. A boat was sent to assist, but re- 

 turned with a report that no relief could be ren- 

 dered them, and that they had determined to 

 remain until morning. 



In the morning the surf had very much in- 

 creased. The sea setting in the bay rendered our 

 situation uncomfortable, and somew hat dangerous, 

 as we were exposed te» tho force of it ami the wiud, 

 w hich had hauled lo the south-east. 



