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CHAPTER XII.
On the morning of the 17th of December we sailed 1842.
Dec. 17.from Port Louis, upon our third visit to the antarctic regions, selecting the meridian of 55° W., where I was in expectation of meeting with a continuation of Louis Philippe's Land, and hoped, by following the coast line to the south-eastward, keeping between the land and pack, to combine the survey of its shores with the attainment of a high latitude; but, determined, in the event of meeting with any insuperable obstruction, to relinquish our attempt in that quarter, and endeavour to follow the track of Weddell, by which he reached the latitude of 74° 15′ S., three degrees further than any preceding navigator, where we had every reason, from his account, to expect we should find a clear sea, and considerably extend the limits of his daring researches.
