128 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
Tsar who had rescued Russia from its frigid isolation and 
thrown the world open to his country. The sea was 
much discoloured, and the other indications of land 
familiar to Antarctic voyagers were present in abundance 
so that Bellingshausen was convinced that he was on the 
threshold of some more important discovery ; “ the land 
must come ” he wrote. 
Keeping as far south as possible, close on the edge of 
a heavy pack, Bellingshausen held to the east and 
on January 28th, another high land came into view; this 
time a coast of considerable extent with a well marked 
cape, the position of which was fixed as 68° 43' S., and 
73° 10' W. The weather was fortunately fine, in fact 
it was the most beautiful day of the whole Antarctic 
voyage, and the air was so clear that although the ships 
could not approach within 40 miles of the land, it could 
be seen distinctly and some parts appeared free from 
snow. The land seemed to extend a long distance 
toward the southwest, and it was named Alexander I. 
Land, after the reigning Tsar. 
It was impossible to follow up the discovery. The in- 
sistent pressure of the ice forced the ships back to the 
northwest, and when an easterly course could be resumed 
they crossed the circle northward in 76° W. on January 
31st, after having sailed within the Antarctic circle for a 
fortnight over a continuous stretch of 28 degrees of 
longitude, an unprecedented achievement. From this 
point the Russian ships made straight for the South Shet- 
land islands in order to see whether there was any con- 
nection between them and the “ conjectured Antarctic 
Continent. Land was seen on February 4th, and identi- 
fied as the South Shetlands. Bellingshausen sailed along 
the south of the group and gave many Russian or at 
