i 3 o SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
though the track of Bellingshausen's ships is laid down 
on the South Polar charts. 
This track alone is very instructive, for though it 
shows that Cook's highest latitude was not equalled by 
a degree and a quarter, it shows also that the Vostok and 
Mirni sailed over 242 degrees of longitude south of 6o° S., 
of which 41 degrees of longitude were within the Antarc- 
tic circle ; while the Resolution and Adventure made only 
125 degrees south of 6o° S., and 24 degrees south of the 
circle. Not only so, but Bellingshausen's care in cross- 
ing all the great gaps left by his predecessor demon- 
strated beyond any doubt the existence of a continuous 
open sea south of the parallel of 6o°. 
On his return Bellingshausen wrote a full account of 
the voyage which was not published for several years 
and then only in Russian. He continued to serve in 
the navy and rose to the rank of Admiral in 1831. Eight 
years later he received the onerous appointment of Port 
Captain and Governor of Cronstadt, the impregnable 
fortress that guards the entrance to the Neva. In that 
town he died in 1852, and there his memory is perpetuated 
by a bronze bust set on a granite pedestal in one of the 
tree-lined avenues. 
