228 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
Gull off Cape Horn. Next day the Peacock dropped out 
of sight, and as the current and wind were unfavourable, 
Wilkes decided not to visit the first rendezvous at Mac- 
quarie Island but to push on to the second, Emerald Isle, 
or its supposed locality. Here neither ships nor island 
were to be seen, and on the ioth, the first ice was met 
with in 61° S. and 162° 30' E. Two days later the Por- 
poise vanished from the flag-ship in a fog, and the Vin- 
cennes pursued her way alone to the westward amongst 
floating bergs along the edge of a close ice-pack in 64°. 
On the 15th of January the Peacock and Porpoise 
met, and on the 16th they came up with the Vincennes 
in 1 57 0 46' E. longitude, but the latitude is not stated in 
Wilkes’s narrative, though from his chart it is seen to be 
about 66° S. The sea was much discoloured, but a 
sounding with 230 fathoms of line from the Vincennes 
failed to reach the bottom; the Peacock found a depth 
of 850 fathoms close to the ice. On this day appearances 
believed to be land were seen from all three ships, and 
the fact was sworn to subsequently in court. Wilkes 
Ringcold’s Knoll. 
(From the Narrative of the U. S. Exploring Expedition.) 
published the accompanying sketch, which he made of 
what he himself saw and named Ringgold’s Knoll; but 
it is not stated whether the sketch was made at the time 
or from memory. He says : 
