143 Filler's Bay — Another ffile. ANTARCTIC CRUISE. Rctwrt af the medical officer*. 



bay in longitude UO 3 2* 30" E., latitude Cf^ 4.V 

 S. ; and, now that aJL wore convince*! of its exist- 

 ence, I gave the laud the name of the Antarctic 

 Continent. Some of the officers pointed out the 

 appearance of smoke, as if from a volcano, but 

 I was of opinion that this was nothing but the 

 snow-drift, caused by the heavy squalls. There 

 was loo much wind at this time to Lick ; I there- 

 fore had recourse to luffing the vessel up in Un- 

 wind, and wore her short round on her heel. At 

 the same time we sounded, and found a hard 

 bottom at the depth Of no more than thirty ! 

 fathoms. I have railed this bay Piner's liny, 

 after the signal quarter-master of that name. It 

 was impossible to lower a boat, or to remain 

 longer ; indeed, I felt it imperative on mo to clear 

 its confined space before the floating ice might 

 close it up. 



At 10 1 ' 30 m wc had gone round, and in an hour 

 more we cleared the bay. At noon the wind had 

 increased to a gale, and by one o'clock, p. x., we 

 were reduced tn storm sails, with our top* gallant 

 yards on deck. The barometer had again declined 

 rapidly, proving a true indicator, but giving lit Up 

 or no warning. To run the gauntlet again among 

 the icehergs was out of the question, for a lar^e 

 quantity of field- ice would have to be passed 

 through, which must have done us considerable 

 damage, if it did not entirely disable us. The clear 

 space we occupied was retained until five or six 

 o'clock, when 1 found the floc-ice was coming down 

 upon us ; 1 then determined to lay the ship for a 

 fair drift through the chnnriel I had observed in 

 the morning, and which I had every reason to 

 believe, from the wind (south-east) blowing di- 

 rectly through it, would n- -t be obstructed until 

 the floe-ice came down, ft was a consolation to 

 know that if we were compelled to drift, wr> should 

 do so faster than the ie* ; 1 therefore thought it as 

 well to avoid it as long a* possible. Another rea- 

 son determined me to delay the drifting to the 

 latest moment; I did not believe that the extent of 

 the channel we had seen in the morning was more 

 than ten miles in extent, and at the rate we drifted, 

 the end of it would be reached long before the gale 

 was over. This, like the former gale, was an old- 

 fashioned snow-storm. All the canvas we could 

 allow to it at one time was a close-reefed mum-top- 

 sail and fore-stornj-stayeail. It blew tremendously, 

 ami the sea we experienced was a short disagree- 

 able one, but nothing to be compared to that which 

 accompanied the first pule. From the shortness 

 of the sea, I inferred that we had some current. 

 This slate of thing* continued for several hours, 

 dining which we every moment expected to reach 

 the end of our channel. Since the last gale, the 

 whole crew, officers and men, hail been put in 

 watch and watch, ready for an instantaneous rail, 

 and prepared for rapid movements. The snow was 

 of the same sleety or cutting character as thai of 

 the previous day, and seemed as if armed with 

 sharp icicles or needles. 



The 3lst brought no moderation of the weather. 

 At 1 a.m., a group of ice-islands was reported, and 

 shortly afterwards field-iec close under mir lee. 

 We wore ship instantly, and just avoided coining 

 in contact with the latter. Sail wns immediately 

 made on the ship, and the scene of the former galo 

 again g[»ne through, with this exception, that we 

 were now passing [<> and fro among icebergs imme- 



diately to windward of the harrier, and each tack 

 brought us nearer to it. Between 4 nnd 6 a a., 

 our space whs becoming confined, and there was i 

 no abatement of the gale ; t therefore, us it had 

 cleared sufficiently to enable us to see a quarter of 

 & mile, determined to bear up and run off north- 

 north-west for a clear sea. In doing this we passed 

 icebergs of all dimensions and heavy floe-ice. By 

 8 h 30 we had run thirty miles, when, finding a 

 more open sea, 1 judged we had partially cleared 

 the ice. At noon the gate still continued. The 

 lowest reading of the barometer during this gale 

 was 28-59 in. 



After lusting thirly hours, the gale, at 6 r,M., 

 begun to moderat« a little, when we again made 

 sail to the southward. I now felt inclined to seek 

 Piner's Bay again, in order to effect a landing. 

 This would have been a great personal gratifica- 

 tion ; but tlie bay was sixty miles distant, so that 

 to revisit it would occupy time that was now pre- 

 cious; nnd feeling satisfied that a great extent of 

 land wholly unknown lay to the westward, I 

 deemed it my duty to proceed to its discovery, 

 not doubting that if my opinions nf its existence 

 were correct, a place equally feasible for landing 

 would he found. Another subject nlso presented 

 itself, which, for a time, caused me some anxiety, 

 and which I confess was not only unexpected by 

 me, but directly at variance with my own observa- 

 tions on the condition of my crew. As I feel com- 

 pelled to give a complete detail of our proceedings, 

 I must now revert to this subject. 



The following report of the medical officers of 

 the ship was made to me on the day of its date : — 



U. S. ship Viucennes, 

 At sea, January 31st, 1840. 



Sir, — It becomes our duty, as medical officers of 

 this ship, to report to yon in writing the condition 

 of the crew at the present time. 



Tho number upon the list this morning is fifteen: 

 most of these rases are consequent upon the extreme 

 hardships and exposure they have undergone during 

 ihe last gales of wind, when the ship has been Hur- 

 rounded with ice. 



This number ts not large, but it is necessary to 

 state, that tho general health of the crew, in our 

 opinion, in decidedly affected, and that under ordi- 

 nary circumstances the list would he very much 

 increased, as the men under the present exigencies, 

 actuated by a laudable desire to do their duly to the 

 last, refrain from presenting themselves a>j appli- 

 cants for the list. 



Under these circumstances, we feel ourselves 

 obliged to report that, in our opinion, a few days 

 more of such exposure as they have already under- 

 gone, would reduce the number of the crew by 

 sickness to snch an extent as to hazard the safety 

 of the ship and the Jives of all on hoard. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 

 (Signed) J. L. Fox, 



J. S. Whittle, 

 To Charles Wilkes, Esq. Assistant-surgeons. 

 Commanding exploring expedition. 



Although my own opinion, as I have stated, 

 differed from that expressed in the report, I deemed 

 it iny duty to ask the opinion of the ward-room 

 officers, and also, in order to procure additional 

 i medical advice, restored to duty Acting- Surgeon 



