Antarctic Continent . 
41 
Davy. Never have the reasoning of man and the action 
of nature appeared to concur more harmoniously towards 
the establishment of a truth. The access of water to the 
ignited metallic bases of alkalies and earths, by which 
that great natural philosopher explained volcanic convul¬ 
sions—these vapours—these gases—their expansive force 
—all this is here traced by the striking effects which 
surround the inquirer. An imagination fond of piercing 
into the abyss of conjecture finds here a vast field for its 
speculations on the origin, duration, and possible results 
of the continued action of this gigantic volcano. Reason, 
alas! can only admit in sobriety of what the inductive 
method allows, and, arrested at every step, must be con¬ 
tent to wonder and admire, and to say with the ancient, 
“ Sapientia hujus mundi stultitia est.” 
Art. V. A few General Remarks on the Antarctic 
Continent , discovered by Captains Ross and Crosier . 
By J. Robertson, M.D., H.M.S. Terror . 
On the 11th January, 1841, at half-past two A.M., the 
expedition under Captains Ross and Crozier, being then 
in latitude 71° south, longitude 171° east, first discovered 
land in the Antarctic regions. 
The land was distant about seventy miles when first 
seen, though supposed at the time to be not more than 
forty or fifty miles off. This deception was chiefly owing 
to an almost constant mirage, similar to that in the 
Arctic sea, and to the clearness of the sun’s rays, reflected 
from the glittering icy summits of the stupendous coast 
before us. 
The weather being fair, with a moderate westerly 
breeze (the temperature of the air being 30°, and of the 
sea-water 32°), this day proved throughout most cheering 
