ISO SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
resolved to keep on his voyage towards the east with- 
out more delay. The weather turned dazzlingly clear; 
but no land revealed itself, and the field-ice spread 
smooth and solid before the ships. They struggled 
through the pack and drift-ice along its edge, making 
only twelve miles on their course in a whole day, and 
never at rest for an hour from the ceaseless tacking and 
shifting of course to clear the dangerous ice-masses. 
The absence of life was remarkable, neither seals nor 
penguins were to be seen, and only a few petrels re- 
deemed the scene from utter desolation. It was the 
seventeenth of January, 1831, before the parallel of 
6o° S. was crossed in 70 0 W., almost at the same point 
where Bellingshausen crossed it eleven years before. The 
edge of the pack was now turned and a clear sea lay to 
the south, with only a few icebergs in sight, and a tem- 
perature of 35 0 in the air. On the 22nd, the Antarctic 
circle was crossed in i° E. So far the edge of the pack 
had been similar in outline, though about a hundred miles 
farther to the north and east than Bellingshausen had 
found it ; but from this point to 50° E., Biscoe was able 
to sail for five weeks within or on the circle, often far 
to the south of the track which the ice had permitted 
the Russian ships to follow. The farthest south reached 
was 69° S. in io° 43' E., on January 28th. All this time 
the ship was pressing as closely on the ice-floes as she 
could with safety; the wind held mostly from easterly 
points, giving Biscoe “ a beating passage of it,” and in- 
commoding him very much; and many anxious hours 
were spent by all on board. The incidents are very 
calmly treated by the captain, but even he must occasion- 
ally have felt a thrill. For instance, one day: 
“ At 6 p. m., while standing to the southward, we sud- 
