134 
CRUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
dredging and sounding frequently with good results. 
From this time the icebergs became very numerous, 
and great was the excitement on board as we passed 
these novel sights. The rich cobalt blue tints blend- 
ing into the white of the ice produced a very fine 
effect. The weather was very fine, and each day 
now we continued to meet icebergs of all shapes and 
sizes, some apparently much worn by the sea into 
cavities and great fissures, as if they were ready to 
split asunder ; others of tabular form, with heavy 
surf breaking up their perpendicular sides. Sailing 
on, we pass much loose ice, evidently fragments of 
broken-up icebergs; and a beautiful white petrel, 
Procellaria glacius , was seen for the first time. From 
this we were led to believe we were in the vicinity 
of large masses of ice, for it is known that these 
birds never wander far from the main pack. 
Feb. 13 th . — The weather became hazy, with occa- 
sional snow-storms. Many large icebergs in sight, 
some of which are of magnificent dimensions, nearly 
a mile in length, and from 150 to 200 feet in height, 
with sides perfectly smooth as if they had been 
chiselled ; others again exhibited lofty pinnacles, 
with sides and ends of many-coloured tints, leading 
into deep caverns open to the swell of the sea. 
At noon to-day we were within 120 miles of the 
Antarctic Circle. Continuing our course until mid- 
night, we found ourselves in a fog, close to an 
extensive area of brash ice, extending far away in a 
