THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN. 



393 



In 1829, the "Chanticleer," Captain Forster, was sent to ISTew Shetland for 

 the purpose of making magnetic and other physical observations, and remained 

 for several months at Deception Island, which was selected as a station from its 

 affording the best harbor in South Shetland. 



Though these islands are situated at about the same distance from the pole 

 as the Faroe Islands which boast of numerous flocks of sheep, and where the 

 sea never freezes, yet, when the " Chanticleer " approached Deception Island, on 

 January 5 (a month corresponding to our July), so many icebergs were scatter- 

 ed about, that Forster counted at one time no fewer than eighty-one. A gale 

 having arisen, accompanied by a thick fog, great care was needed to avoid run- 

 ning foul of these floating cliffs. After entering the harbor — a work of no 

 slight difficulty, from the violence of the wind — the fogs were so frequent that, 

 for the first ten days, neither sun nor stars were seen ; and it was withal so raw 

 and cold, that Lieutenant Kendal, to whom we owe a short narrative of the expe- 

 dition, did not recollect having suffered more at any time in the Arctic regions, 

 even at the lowest range of the thermometer. In this desolate land, frozen water 

 becomes an integral portion of the soil ; for this volcanic island is composed 

 chiefly of alternate layers of ashes and ice, as if the snow of each winter, during 

 a series of years, had been prevented from melting in the following summer, by 

 the ejection of cinders and ashes from some part where volcanic action still goes 

 on. Early in March (the September of the north) the freezing over of the cove 

 in which the ship was secured gave warning that it was high time for her to 

 quit this desolate port. With much difficulty and severe labor, from the fury 

 of the gales, they managed to get away, and we may fully credit Lieutenant 

 Kendal's assertion, that it was a day of rejoicing to all on board when the 

 shores of Deception faded from their view. 



In 1775 Cook, on his second voyage, discovered the large island of South 

 Georgia, situated in latitude 54° and 55°, a situation corresponding to that 

 of Scarborough or Durham. But what a difference in the climate, for " we saw 

 not a river or stream of water," says the great navigator, " on all the coast of 

 Georgia. The head of the bay, as well as two places on each side, was termi- 

 nated by perpendicular icebergs of considerable height. Pieces were continu- 

 ally breaking off and floating out to sea, and a great fall happened while we 

 were in the bay, which made a noise like a cannon. The inner parts of the 

 country were not less savage and horrible. The wild rocks raised their lofty 

 summits tiff they were lost in the clouds, and the valley lay covered with ever- 

 lasting snow. Not a tree was to be seen, not a shrub even big enough to make 

 a toothpick. The only vegetation was a coarse strong-bladed grass growing 

 in tufts, wild burnet, and a plant like moss, which sprang from the rocks. The 

 lands, or rather rocks, bordering on the sea-coast were not covered with snow 

 like the inland parts, but all the vegetation we could see on the clear places was 

 the grass above mentioned. ' To find scenes of a similar wintry desolation, we 

 must travel in the north as far as Nova Zembla or Spitzbergen, which are 20° 

 or 24° nearer to the pole ! 



Thus the influence of the cold Antarctic waters extends far within the tem- 

 perate zone. We can trace their chilling effects in Kerguelen Land (50° S. 



