1841.
The northerly wind had brought with it a remarkable elevation of the temperature of the air, the thermometer rising to 40° at noon. We were at this time in latitude 66° 30′ S., and had, therefore, not yet crossed the Antarctic Circle; and during the last week we had not made more than thirty miles of southing, in the longitude of 156° 19′ W.: the magnetic dip 80° 26′ S., and the variation 25° 36′ W.
Dec. 31.The calm, with thick fog and snow, continued throughout the day, and our ships remained fast to the piece of ice between them; we could perceive by the bergs we were drifting very slowly to the southward, and the year closed upon us under as unpromising appearances as can be imagined. During the day many seals and white petrel, a few of the gigantic petrel, one entirely white, and a pair of the rapacious Skua gull, were seen.
We took advantage of the opportunity which this unlooked-for detention afforded us of obtaining a careful comparison of the magnetic instruments of the two ships, and were gratified to find they maintained their usual exactness of accordance.
Experiments in the temperature and specific gravity of the ocean, at various and considerable depths, were also made; and as they gave occupation to our crew, so they served, in some measure, to relieve the tedious and wearisome hours of our imprisonment and inactivity. The pack in which we were involved consisted, for the most part, of heavy floe ice, which had been much broken