56 British Antarctic Expedition. 
I knew there would probably be much and heavy 
ice about Balleny which might cause a delay in the 
progress of the Southern Cross. To me it seems clear 
that it was Balleny which Captain Wilkes saw, and 
while underrating his distance from this group, he 
judged it to be a new land discovered. 
After we had entered the ice I let some four 
“TT GREW COLDER.” 
pigeons fly, with messages and a number on a ring, 
placed on their legs. Two of these came back after 
three days’ absence; the fourth, the strongest of the 
lot I let go, remained away for a week, then it came 
back in a very low condition, and I had to kill it. 
It was an anxious but interesting moment in the 
crow's nest as I watched the vessel as she rose on the 
swelling ocean and dashed in among the grinding 
ice-blocks. Trembling and shaking she trod her way 
