A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions/Volume 1/Chapter 3
Entrance of Christmas Harbour, Kerguelen Island. Page 39.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
We weighed on the morning of the 6th, and as we 1840.
April 6.stood out of Simon's Bay the "Melville" manned her rigging, and gave us three encouraging cheers, which we as cordially returned. Light baffling airs from the S.E. delayed us, but just before dark we succeeded in clearing the breakers of the "Bellows" rock, by about a quarter of a mile.
The Terror was obliged to make another tack, so we shortened sail to wait for her; but, soon after midnight, the wind changed suddenly, and the weather became so dark and thick, with violent squalls and much thunder and lightning, that we parted company, and at daylight, not seeing her, we pursued our course alone towards Prince Edward Islands, where I was desirous of landing to obtain observations.
We found the temperature of the surface of the sea to increase rapidly after leaving Cape Point, where, as well as in Simon's Bay, it was at 58°; half a mile from the Cape it was at 58°.5; at 8h. p.m., within a quarter of a mile of the "Bellows," it was 59°; at 9h. p.m., only two miles and a half further to the south, it was up to 64°; at which time we were probably in much deeper water: at midnight it was 66°, as was also that of the air; and from which it did not afterwards differ materially, showing that we had got to the southward of the cold water current that runs along the west, and perhaps the south, coast of Africa.
It is evident, therefore, that this current does not come down directly from the south, as it only extends to seven or eight miles from the Cape, and beyond that distance we have to descend to more than six hundred fathoms before we can find water of so low a temperature as 43°.5. It may be that if the whole body of the sea is moving from east to west, as some suppose, that in passing over the shoal bank off Cape Aguilhas, the waters belonging to a greater depth, and of consequently a colder temperature, may thus be brought near to the surface; but at ninety and one hundred and twenty miles to the S.E. of the Cape, and near the edge of the bank, we found the temperature at seventy-seven fathoms 55°.2, and at one hundred fathoms 54°; so that the current which runs close along the shore must be of a much lower temperature if that of the west coast is supplied from this source. I will continue to notice in detail all that came within our observation bearing upon this question, or that may assist the further investigation of these strange and unexplained currents. The frequent changes in their direction, their various velocities, and the broad belts of cold water we passed through, are all separately deserving of more attention of the navigator than we had time to bestow on them; and a more strict inquiry into their causes might prove highly advantageous to ships passing the Cape, by pointing out the best parallel in which to profit most by them, or, in stormy weather, how to avoid them.
After blowing from almost every point of the compass the wind settled in the north, and in order to get clear of the Aguilhas bank, on which we found a harassing jobble of a sea, we ran before it to the southward until midnight, when a calm of several hours' continuance was succeeded by a light southerly wind. At 1 p.m., when eighty-four April 8.miles S. by E. from the Cape, we had no soundings with six hundred fathoms. In trying the temperature of the sea, at various depths, we unfortunately lost two of our self-registering thermometers by the line breaking, which is the reason that these experiments were afterwards less frequently made than might have been desirable in the course of our voyage to Van Diemen's Land.
The southerly wind obliged us to stand to the eastward, and the whole of this and the following day we experienced a heavy swell, indicative of a past gale; but this, about midnight of the 9th, April 9.was changed into a short, irregular, breaking sea, which we considered to be probably occasioned by our falling down upon the western edge of the Aguilhas bank, for it continued throughout the night, and the next day we found ourselves in seventy-seven fathoms; some pieces of dead coral and broken shells came up with the lead. Both yesterday and to-day we passed through many long lines of brown-coloured animalculæ: they were about five or six feet broad and several miles in length, lying in the direction of the wind: on examination they proved to consist of a species of gregarious mollusca, the animals having no organic connection together; but there were always two fixed points of contact, and they moved simultaneously in wavy lines.
Besides these we found many kinds of curious marine animals amongst the long leaves of the floating sea-weed (Macrocystis pyrifera) that abounds in every part of this ocean. The gigantic albatross (Diomedea exulans) was seen in great numbers, and many of them taken by means of a fishing-line, as were also some of the prettily speckled Cape pigeon (Procellaria capensis), and several other kinds of petrel, which in these regions seem to take the place of the beautiful varieties of gulls which inhabit our northern seas.
April 11.This morning the wind shifting to the S.E. we wore and stood to the southward, being still on the Aguilhas bank. In the afternoon we obtained soundings in one hundred and twenty-five fathoms, dark sand and shells; but after sailing seven miles on that course we could not reach the ground with three hundred and twenty fathoms of line: thus marking the southern limits of this extraordinary and extensive bank in the longitude of 21° 20′ E. to be between the latitudes of 36° 37′ and 36° 44′ S., and about a hundred and thirty miles from the Cape whose name it bears.
April 12.To-day the temperature of the air was up to 74°, that of the sea was 69°.
Although we were not above forty miles from yesterday's position, we had no soundings with six hundred fathoms, so suddenly does the depth of water increase, to the south, upon leaving the bank.
The variation of the compass was observed to April 13.have increased to 30° W. It fell calm towards midnight, and by our observations at noon we found that we had been carried away by a current above thirty miles to the southward of our supposed position, and the following day, to the south-westward, above fifty April 14.miles. We had some rain during the night, and flashes of lightning were seen to the south-eastward. Steering in that direction we approached the storm, and shortly got into the midst of the heaviest rain I ever witnessed. It came down literally in sheets of water, accompanied by very violent squalls from various quarters, alternately with perfect, but almost momentary, calms. The temperature of the rain which fell being 61° brought down that of the air from 67° to 64°, whilst the surface of the sea rose to 73°.5 from 71°.
Heavy thunder and the most vivid lightning occurred during this great fall of water, which lasted without intermission for more than ten hours, and it required the utmost vigilance in the officers and crew to manœuvre the ship during the rapid changes both in the strength and direction of the wind, and the extraordinary bubbling of the sea produced by these fierce contending gusts. But before noon it blew fresh from the eastward, gradually veering round to the northward, and in the evening increased to a strong north-westerly breeze, with so heavy and irregular a sea that we spent the night in great anxiety, and in momentary expectation that our boats would be washed away by some of the broken waves that fell on board, or, that from the frequent shocks the ship sustained when the seas struck her, we should lose some of the masts, although we had taken every precaution to secure them. This dangerous commotion we attributed to the current by which for several days we had been carried to the south-westward, but which had during the last day changed its course to the north-westward, and which was running at the extraordinary rate of sixty-eight miles per diem, or nearly three miles an hour, in direct opposition to the wind.
April 15.The temperature of the surface of the sea fell so rapidly from 73° to 61°, that I concluded we were approaching a body of ice, and some indications in the sky favoured this belief. We did not however see any, and before midnight the temperature had again risen to 67°, so that, if its fall were occasioned by ice, we had probably passed it in the dark.
April 16.At noon we were in lat. 41° 24′ S. and long. 25° E., and detected another change in the current, it having carried us N. 75 E., twenty-two miles during the last twenty-four hours; and again we found a gradual depression in the temperature of the sea from 68° at 1h. a.m. to 58° at noon, without any other cause than that of the air falling to 52° as the wind shifted to the southward.
We were now south of that stream, which, taking the direction of the Natal coast, is known to extend far out to sea; and had got into a counter current, setting to the eastward at the rate, on an average of several days, of about a mile an hour. We had no soundings to-day with six-hundred fathoms, the temperature at that depth being 43°.8.
In the course of the past week a change of thirty degrees of temperature, both of the air and of the sea, took place, which, to those who had passed the previous months in a tropical climate, was likely to be productive of serious injury to their health, unless carefully guarded against. This alteration of climate in so short a time was at first very sensibly felt, and it was necessary to issue positive regulations about the clothing of our people, amongst whom severe colds were beginning to make their appearance.
Running before a strong westerly wind, and April 21.rapidly nearing Prince Edward's Island, from which at noon we were distant only about twenty miles, we were not surprised to see many penguins; but the weather was so hazy, that we could not perceive the land until we found ourselves within two or three miles of its southern point. Sailing close along its south-eastern side, and at about one mile south of the East Cape, we sounded in eighty-six fathoms, fine sand, coral, and corallines. This line of coast is composed of black, perpendicular, volcanic cliffs, much worn away by the action of the waves. We observed two or three conical hillocks, like the small craters of a volcano, of a deep red colour, whether arising from an oxide of iron, or vegetable matter, we could not discern. The South Cape has a perpendicular face, the termination of a long terrace-like projection from the foot of the hills. The mountains in the centre of the island rise to a considerable height; but their summits being enveloped in mist, we could not determine their elevation, although we could see they were partially covered with snow. We imagined we could distinguish small trees, still of this there is considerable doubt: Captain Cook, although at a much greater distance, asserts that he saw trees and shrubs, but he was assuredly mistaken. Long lines of sea-weed extended two or three miles from the shore beyond the East Cape, whilst strong eddies of tide, occasioned probably by their meeting at this point, seeming to indicate concealed dangers, and darkness now coming on, we hauled off for the night, having first seen a small cove a short distance to the northward, where we hoped to be able to land the next morning. This part of the coast was populated by vast numbers of penguins, in groups of many thousands each, and other kinds of sea-birds were abundant. Some seals that were playing in the surf about the small detached rocks were pronounced to be of the fur species (Arctocephalus Falklandicus), by those well acquainted with them: it is not improbable that on the western coast some of their haunts, or, as the sealers term them, "rookeries," might be found.
The soundings during the night were very irregular. A dredge put overboard for a short time in ninety-five fathoms, at about five or six miles east of the island, came up quite full of a small white coral, and between thirty and forty different kinds of marine animals, corallines, flustræ, and sponges. At daylight in the morning we found that we had been carried so far to leeward by a strong tide, or more probably a current, and so heavy a swell prevailed from the westward, the forerunner of the coming gale, that I reluctantly gave up my intention of landing, rather than lose any more time in hopeless endeavours, and bore away for the Crozets. There did not seem to be any bay along the northeastern or south-eastern coast where a ship could find anchorage, unless it be just to the northward of the East Cape, where we supposed we saw a small sandy beach between two extensive patches of sea-weed; nor did Commander Crozier see any as he passed along the north shore the next day, in the Terror. He mentioned a remarkable detached tower-shaped rock, at some distance off the North Cape. This promontory he found by good observation to be in lat. 46° 53′ S. and long. 37° 33′ E., agreeing very nearly with Cook in the latitude, but differing considerably in the longitude. In the Erebus we were unfortunate in not getting observations near the southern part of the island: nor could we approach the smaller north-eastern island sufficiently near to see any creeks or bays; but I was afterwards told that sealers sometimes anchor at a place called Cave Bay, on its east side, in lat. 46° 40′ S. with the N.E. point bearing N.E. by E.; the Cave, W.N.W; and Mary's Point, S.W. ½ S. in eight to ten fathoms water. The larger island, though discovered by a French navigator in 1772, was named by Captain Cook, some years afterwards, Prince Edward's Island, in honour of the late Duke of Kent, the father of our most gracious Queen.
April 22.The westerly gale continued throughout the 22d and 23d, but early on the 24th it veered to the north, and increased to a violent storm, with its usual accompaniment of heavy rain, fortunately of only a few hours' duration, for the heavy cross sea the change of wind occasioned washed away our hammock nettings, and swept several things off our decks: towards evening the wind moderated, and backed round to the westward. During this run we passed many large patches of sea-weed, which had probably been torn from the shores of Prince Edward's Island, and as we did not see any as we approached it from the westward, it would seem to show that a westerly current prevails in these parts of the ocean, although, from the accordance of the dead reckoning with our observations, it is probably of inconsiderable strength.
April 25.A comparatively fine day: we continued to pass many large patches of sea-weed, and although arrived near the position on our charts of Crozet's group of islands, we could see nothing of them, and I should have lost much time in the search, had I not, fortunately, before leaving the Cape of Good Hope, obtained a more accurate account of their situation from a merchant of Cape Town, at whose request I undertook to convey some provisions to Possession, or to East Island, for a party of seamen employed there in the capture of the sea elephant (Morunga Elephantina).
Land was seen at daylight this morning, bearing April 26.E. by S. at the distance of ten miles. It proved to be Penguin, or Inaccessible Island, and well deserves either of the names it bears, for it was literally covered with penguins on all the ledges of its rugged shores, nor could we any where see a point on which it would be possible to land. Like all other volcanic islands, its summits terminate in curiously shaped pinnacles, and not the smallest appearance of vegetation was perceptible. The great quantities of sea-weed and numerous waterfowl we met with would have given us timely notice of our approach to land.
"Pig Island" of the sealers was soon afterwards seen to the northward. It is the westernmost island of the group, and presented a much more agreeable aspect, but the weather being unfavourable, and its eastern, or lee side, having many dangerous reefs and detached rocks off it, we did not venture nearer than two or three leagues; but after passing close to Inaccessible Island, we shaped a course for the southern extreme of Possession Island, which we had been informed extended as far as the 47th degree of latitude.
During the night the wind increased to a strong breeze from the westward, with thick weather, and we were obliged to carry a heavy press of sail to clear the land under our lee, which we had scarcely accomplished when a south-westerly gale came on.
April 27.Although still very foggy at times, we were enabled to bear away at 10 a.m., and having passed over the assigned position of Possession Island, we saw the land at 5 p.m. through the haze, five or six miles distant, but daylight was now almost gone; we nevertheless stood towards it, until darkness closed the scene, when the ship was hauled off for the night.
April 28.The morning was more clear, when, as the day broke, between six and seven o'clock, we perceived the lofty mountains of East Island four or five leagues directly to windward of us, so much had we been carried to the eastward during the night. The whole day was spent in beating up against the current and strong westerly breeze, and at sunset we were still several miles from the shore.
I could not but regret this serious loss of time, but having appointed Possession Island our first rendezvous, until the end of this month, in case of parting from the Terror, I wished to communicate with one or other of the sealing parties, to ascertain whether they had seen her off the islands. I was still more anxious to land the provisions which I had on board for the winter stock of those people who might have been in much want of them. We therefore continued beating to windward all night, April 29.and at daylight, the fog having cleared away, we had a good view of this perfect mountain mass of volcanic land; its shores bold and precipitous with many projecting rocks, which seem to have been formed by the unceasing action of the waves cutting away the softer parts, and with the exception of a single beach of some extent, on the north-east part of the island, affording no place where either a habitation could be built, or a boat land.
This beach appearing to us the only favourable spot for the sealing party, we fired several guns as we stood close in to the shore, and by these means attracted their notice, for we soon afterwards observed with our glasses a large fire on the east side of the bay, which the people had made to point out to us their location. We were still too far to leeward for them to venture off to us, and after beating to windward until 2 p.m., when just as we could have fetched into the bay, the wind suddenly increased to a strong gale, and the violent gusts that rushed along the almost perpendicular coast line, raising the spoondrift in clouds over us, reduced us to a close-reefed main-topsail and storm staysails, under which, when within half a mile of the shore, we wore and stood off again, seeing the utter hopelessness of communicating with the party until the return of more moderate weather.
We were greatly disappointed at being thus defeated; but these frequent repulses only made us more determined to do our utmost to effect the objects we had in view: and although we were driven by the gale and current far away to leeward, yet, towards evening, when it abated, we began to maintain our ground, and, by carrying a heavy press of sail throughout the night, we found ourselves the April 30.next morning several miles to windward of East Island, and had Possession Island distinctly in sight on our weather bow. Knowing the greater facility of communicating with this land by reason of the shelter its extent affords from the strong westerly gales that blow almost continually except at this period of the year, and as the larger establishment of sealers was on this island, I preferred beating up to it as the weather was fine and we were making good way, rather than run down to the leeward party at the risk of being again unable to land at their station.
Soon after noon it fell quite calm; and, after firing a few guns, we observed a white flag hoisted on a pole by the party in America Bay: we were, at this time, about five miles from the shore and directly between Possession and East Islands; the weather was still too unsettled for a boat to come off to us. While lying becalmed in this passage we obtained soundings in eighty-five fathoms, on a bank of sand, shells, and corallines. At dusk, on a breeze springing up from the north-west, we stood off to sea for the night.
May 1.It blew hard from the north-westward with so dense a haze that it was only during a partial clearing, and when within four miles of Dark Head we had a glimpse of the high perforated rock that stands out more than a mile from the coast to the westward, and is an unerring mark, by which the Cape may always be distinguished:—as we bore away close along the shore we got into smooth water, but, passing "Windy Bay," the squalls that came down the valley compelled us to lower our topsails and keep them down until we had passed the opening.
The remarkable "Red Crag," near which the flag had been displayed yesterday, came in sight and guided us to America Bay, where we saw the party on the beach launching their boat. Mr. Hickley, their leader, came on board, and he, as well as his boat's crew, looked more like Esquimaux than civilized beings, but filthier far in their dress and persons than any I had ever before seen. Their clothes were literally soaked in oil and smelt most offensively; they wore boots of penguins' skins with the feathers turned inwards. They told us that the weather had been so tempestuous that until yesterday they had not been able to launch a boat for five weeks; they had therefore been very unsuccessful at the Sea Elephant fishery, and were disappointed to find that they were not to be removed to "Pig Island" for the winter; which they describe as being so overrun with these animals, that, to use their own words, "you can hardly land for them." The breed was left there by Captain Distance, in 1834, and in less than six years have increased in an almost incredible manner, although great numbers are every May 1.year killed by the sealers, not only for present subsistence, but salted down for supplies on their voyages to and from the Cape. Some goats had been landed from an American ship some years ago on Possession Island, and were also thriving on the long coarse grass with which it abounds, but still maintained their domestic state, under the protection of the sealers. The party consisted in all of eleven men, one of whom had been on the island for three years: they seemed to have no wish to return to the Cape of Good Hope and were quite contented, having plenty of food. The tongue, flippers, and part of the carcase of the Sea Elephant are eaten by them, and they get a great abundance of a species of rock-fish (probably a Cottus or Notothenia), about the size of a small haddock, with a very large head, which they preserve by drying upon the rocks. The eggs of sea-birds in the breeding season may be collected by boat loads, and are said to be excellent food, particularly that of the albatross, which averages above a pound in weight, and the young birds, when first taken from the nest, are described by them as being quite delicious: it is possible, however, they may have acquired the Esquimaux taste as well as their habits. They described the soil as being good, but they have never planted potatoes or other vegetable, although they have no doubt of their thriving here as the temperature is never very low. Wild ducks are so numerous in a lake on the top of the Ked Crag that dogs, trained for the purpose, get them any number whenever they are wanted.
They had no plan of the island, and their information on this subject was vague and unsatisfactory; May 1.they stated it to be twenty miles long and ten broad; having three bays on its east side, in which ships may anchor, but the western coast is quite unapproachable by ships of any size, on account of the heavy swell that constantly rolls in upon its shores: a boat belonging to this party and all the crew were lately lost there, whilst in search of sea elephants.
In America Bay, Lively Bay, and Ship Bay, vessels at anchor are well protected from the prevailing winds, but must leave the two latter immediately on the springing up of an easterly breeze, as America Bay is the only one where there is room for a ship to beat out. These winds are said to be of rare occurrence, so much so that the French frigate Heroine, which was sent in 1834 to survey this group of islands, remained the whole period of her stay, above five weeks, moored in Ship Bay; since then, however, two English whalers were wrecked in the same bay, by trying to ride out an easterly gale.
Mr. Hickley told us that there was every indication of an easterly wind, which is more frequent just at this time of the year, and the height of the barometer seemed to confirm his opinion, or I should have anchored for a few hours to have examined the bay; but convinced from the nature of its formation that it could be of no use as a magnetic station, and, being anxious to rejoin the Terror as soon as possible at our next rendezvous, we bore May 1.away with the intention of laying down as much of the coast line of the island as we could before dark.
Like the rest of the group it is evidently of igneous origin; near the tops of some of the hills we could perceive short basaltic columns, and two or three appearances of extinct craters: the coast is high and precipitous at the north end and singularly stratified; along its eastern shore it is more broken into small bays, and we observed several cataracts issuing from the more extensive green patches upon the hill-sides, and dashing over the black cliffs into the sea beneath.
The remarkable "Dark Head," at the northern extreme of the island, is in lat. 46° 19′ S., long. 51° 53′ E.; the southern point is in lat. 46° 28′ S., and long. 51° 56′ E.; the variation of the compass 35° 13′ W. The centre of East Island is in lat. 46° 27′ S., and long. 52° 14′ E.
These results, though sufficient for all the purposes of navigation, were not obtained with exactness, owing to the unfavourable state of the weather for observations.
Leaving the south end of Possession Island at 4 p.m. we steered close along the southern coast of East Island. Though not more than three or four miles in diameter its loftiest pinnacles attain a height of at least four thousand feet, and the precipices of its shores in some places rise several hundred feet perpendicularly from the sea. Nearly every cape has its detached rock extending off it, from half a mile to two miles: one of these near Bull Bay lies still further off, and being considerably May 1.inclined, in one point of view, resembles a ship under a press of sail; hence its appellation, "Ship Rock." Another, near the south-eastern extreme, is called "Church Rock," from another fancied similarity; but the most remarkable of them all is the perforated rock to the westward of the North Cape of Possession Island, through which we were told a small vessel might sail.
Favoured by a strong north-westerly breeze we advanced rapidly towards Kerguelen Island. On the morning of the 3d, when in lat. 47° 17′ S., May 3.long. 58° 50′ E., the first piece of Antarctic ice was seen by us, though so small as scarcely to deserve the name of an ice-berg, being not more than twenty feet high and evidently fast dissolving, yet it was sufficiently solid to injure seriously any vessel that might run against it. We passed several beds of floating sea-weed, and were accompanied on our course by many of the great albatross, and the large dark petrel, and still more numerously by the speckled Cape pigeon and stormy petrel, of two or three different kinds. These birds added a degree of cheerfulness to our solitary wanderings, which contrasted strongly with the dreary and unvarying stillness of the tropical region, where not a sea-bird is to be seen, except only in the vicinity of its few scattered islets, which is the more remarkable where the ocean abounds so plentifully with creatures fit for their food.
May 5.A sperm whale, a seal, and a shoal of porpoises were seen. Blowing a strong breeze, almost a gale, from the north-west, with thick weather, and at 5 p.m., being within twenty miles of an islet called "Bligh's Cap" by Cook, we rounded-to, under closereefed topsails, to wait for daylight and clearer weather to make the land. At 7h. 30m. p.m. we struck soundings in one hundred and fifteen fathoms, on a bank of fine black sand and small stones; and, during the night, the depth varied from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty-five fathoms.
May 6It was nearly nine o'clock the next morning before the weather cleared up so as to admit of our running for the islet, and before noon it again became so thick that we could not see more than two or three miles; yet such was our confidence in the accuracy of the positions assigned by our great navigator to all the places he discovered or visited, that we unhesitatingly pursued our course, and at a quarter past twelve the high and apparently inaccessible little rock was seen directly ahead of us; we passed very close by it, steering for Cape François of Kerguelen Island. When we had run the distance to within half a mile, the fog was so dense that we could scarcely see twice the length of the ship, and darkness coming on, we were obliged to haul off for the night, under easy sail. The soundings were in from seventy to eighty fathoms, rocky bottom; and in the morning Cape François was in sight five or six miles on our weather bow, but the wind had by that time freshened considerably, and the sea running high, we May 7.were unable to maintain our ground; so that, although we carried a heavy press of sail throughout the day and night, we found that we were drifted away twenty miles to leeward of the Cape when day broke the next morning.
We beat back in the course of the day, and at May 8.11 p.m. hove to, within two miles of our port, awaiting daylight to enter it: again we were disappointed. It was beautiful weather at midnight, with very little wind, and a perfectly smooth sea; so suddenly, however, do gales come on in these stormy regions, that in less than three hours it blew so hard as to reduce us to close-reefed topsails, and a heavy sea arising, we were driven away from the land. The storm, which increased in fury, continued to blow violently the next day, and until nine the following morning, when it began to moderate, and we again made sail as the wind gradually abated. The remainder of this, and the whole of May 9, 10.the next day, were occupied in regaining the land, and in obtaining a connected series of soundings on a bank of black sand and rock, which we found to extend above a hundred miles from the Cape. The discovery of this great bank, so likely to be of important advantage to the numerous vessels that occasionally visit the dangerous shores of this island, by warning them of their approach to the land, could not fail to remove every feeling of regret at the delay and fatigue to which we had been exposed. I have called it on the chart the "Erebus Bank;" and a dangerous reef of rocks, E. by S. from Cape François, distant between fifteen and sixteen miles, upon which the sea broke violently, received the name of "Terror Reef." The position and extent of this reef were accurately determined by Captain Crozier and the officers of the Terror; and together with such surveys as we were able to make during our stay in this neighbourhood, and such information as I have been able to obtain from the Hydrographic Office, by the permission of Captain Beaufort, serve as the foundation of a general plan of the island; but much remains yet to be done, and carefully minute examination will be necessary before any thing like an accurate map of the numerous harbours, reefs, rocks, and other dangers, can be accomplished.
Many sperm whales were seen during the several days we were beating about upon the Erebus Bank, and large flocks of sea-birds hovered over the patches of sea-weed we met with, whether floating detached, or still fixed to the rocks.
May 12.This morning being close in with the remarkable "Arched Rock" which forms the south cape of Christmas Harbour, and favoured with moderate weather we got fairly between the heads soon after noon; the wind, however, was directly against us, and rapidly increasing in strength, threatened to drive us out once more to sea. As we reached the narrows, which form the inner harbour, so violent were the squalls, and so contracted the channel (not quite one third of a mile), that we were beating for three hours without losing or gaining a ship's length; darkness coming on put an end to the laborious struggle, and compelled us, at six o'clock, to anchor in twenty-three fathoms, fine sand and stones. Although not exactly where we desired to be, we were thankful to have found so good an anchorage, for it almost immediately began to blow a complete gale, which lasted the whole night.
The Terror arrived the next morning, but, owing May 13.to the unsettled state of the weather, it was not until the 15th that we could warp up to the head of the harbour, and secure the ships in positions convenient for easy and frequent communication with the shore. The remainder of this and the whole of the following day were occupied in getting the ship to rights, and landing the observatories.
The 17th, being Sunday, our people had a day of May 17.rest after their labours. I may here mention that it was our invariable practice every Sunday to read the Church service, and generally a short sermon afterwards; and it is remarkable how very seldom during the whole period of our voyage, that either the severity of the weather, or the circumstances of the expedition, were such as to interfere with the performance of this duty. Few could have had more convincing assurances of the providential interpositions of a merciful God, and I do believe there was not an individual in either of the ships, who did not regret when we were unavoidably prevented assembling for the purpose of offering up our prayers and thanksgivings to our Almighty Guide and Protector.