236 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
a narrow passage between two bergs suddenly appeared 
and she shot into the treacherous calm of the narrow 
way, her sails almost thrown aback by the eddy winds 
from the wall of ice, and the roar of the storm stilled 
by the distance. The suspense was terrible, but the 
spirits of the captain rose as he heard the howling of the 
tempest once more and emerged into the furious sea 
from the imminence of a terrible death. By 4 p. m. 
the gale was over, the wind blew from the southwest, 
and the ship was in 140° E., 63° 30' S. Wilkes at once 
started retracing his track to the southward, once more 
hopeful of reaching the land. The sun rose on the 30th 
of January and shone brilliantly on a sea beset with ice- 
islands and bergs of all sizes through which the ship 
pursued her way easily under full sail, her crew amazed 
beyond measure to see the labyrinth of ice through which 
they had rushed before the storm unharmed in the dark- 
ness. 
The wind quickly freshened and the ship ran into a 
clear space at the rate of nine or ten knots, finding her- 
self in a bay partly enclosed by ice and partly by rocks, 
to which the ship approached within half a mile. The 
land was seen rising beyond the rocks and the barrier 
to a height of about 3000 feet, and could be distinctly 
seen extending fully sixty miles from east to west. The 
position was 66° 45' S., 140° 2' E., and soundings gave 
a depth of only 30 fathoms. The wind had risen again to 
the force of a gale and it was impossible to lower a boat. 
Now that all on board were convinced of its existence, 
Wilkes gave to the land the name of The Antarctic Con- 
tinent, and to the indentation in which they were that of 
Piners Bay, after the signal quartermaster. This was 
the land which D tTrville also discovered. 
