336 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
close to the same position, and the islands were inde- 
pendently discovered more than once before they ap- 
peared on the chart. Many vessels encountered great 
danger from the floating ice and the contrary winds ex- 
perienced south of 6o° S., and it was found before long 
that the quickest passage was not to be made by the 
shortest route. Ships now take a composite course, find- 
ing it more economical to sail a longer distance in the 
clear seas and favourable winds between 40° and 50° S. 
than to run the risk of long nights, floating ice and con- 
trary winds that beset the shortest track. 
While these things were being discovered Maury felt 
the need for a more detailed knowledge of the Antarctic 
seas and especially of Antarctic weather, so that the sail- 
ing directions could be amplified and corrected, and he 
gradually came to the conclusion that the time was ripe 
for the resumption of Antarctic exploration. He had 
been successful in securing international cooperation 
in the study of maritime meteorology and knowing what 
could be done by voluntary association he felt that the 
exploration of the Antarctic was too great a work for any 
nation to undertake single-handed, though this also he 
attempted to bring about. In the winter of i860 he 
visited England and read a paper to the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society on the Physical Geography of the Sea 
in connection with an Antarctic Expedition. He urged 
that the Admiralty should take the matter up in the in- 
terests of navigation. Many comfortable words were 
spoken in the discussion which followed. Captain Maury 
was assured of the high esteem in which he was held, he 
was reminded of the immense services he had rendered 
to all seafarers, and the President said that a British 
expedition towards the South Pole would be “ as much 
