A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions/Volume 2/Chapter 6
Mode of pushing through the Pack during a Fog.Page 167.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
Notwithstanding the inauspicious circumstances in which we were placed, the arrival of the new 1842
Jan. 1.year was hailed by us all with the same feelings of confident hope and cheerfulness which had animated our exertions throughout the last season's operations in these regions: and although we had found the pack to extend much farther to the northward than on the former occasion, and were at this time beset in so dense a portion of it, that not the least hole of water could be seen amongst it, presenting to our view an apparently impenetrable mass, as far as the eye could discern from the mastheads of our ships, yet we were encouraged to hope that the clear water was at no great distance to the southward of us; for we found the ice in which r e were enclosed continue to move to the northward before every southerly breeze: it must therefore have left clear water at the place it originally occupied, and from which it was drifting. We had already advanced two hundred and fifty miles through the pack; arid from its breadth last season, not much exceeding two hundred miles, we could not but expect to be soon released, and enabled to renew our exploration at the point of the barrier where we had left off last year. Our observations to-day at noon placed us in latitude 66° 32′ S., longitude 156° 28′ W., we therefore crossed the Antarctic circle this season on the same day that we did last year, and forty degrees of longitude, or about fourteen hundred miles to the eastward.
A complete suit of warm clothing was issued to our crews, as a new year's gift, and the customary double allowance of provisions and spirits was served out to them. As the state of the ice prevented our making any attempt to proceed, we remained moored to the large floe piece we had hold of, and the day was spent by our people in the enjoyment of various amusing games on the ice, which their ingenuity invented, and which was finally wound up by a grand fancy ball, of a novel and original character, in which all the officers bore a part, and added much to the merriment and fun which all seemed greatly to enjoy; indeed, if our friends in England could have witnessed the scene, they would have thought, what I am sure was truly the case, that we were a very happy party.
The pack continued so close, that we could make no way through it; but found by our observations we had been carried a few miles to the southward on the second, and again back to the northward,Jan. 3. and to-day at noon our latitude was 66° 34′ S., and longitude 156° 22′ W. The temperature of the sea was found to be 39.6° at one thousand and fifty fathoms, whilst at the surface it was only 28°. It was also tried at intermediate depths, at intervals of one hundred and fifty fathoms, and found progressively to increase from the surface to the greatest depth.
On the next day the wind changed to the southward,Jan. 4. and freshened to a strong gale; we found ourselves drifting with the pack fast back to the northward, so that at noon on the 5th our latitudeJan. 5. was 66º 15′ S. All this day we continued to drift along with the ice; but towards midnight we observed some holes of water opening out amongst it to the southward, and the wind changing to the eastward soon after noon, we cast off from the floe,Jan. 6. and regained eight or ten miles of our lost ground before we were again stopped by the close pack, which extended to the southward. We kept the ships free by beating about in the largest hole of water we could find, but not without much difficulty, owing to thick snow coming on, and preventing our seeing to any distance.
Early the next day the breeze freshened rapidly,Jan. 7. and a gale came on from the westward, but it only lasted about twelve hours, and was followed by a strong southerly breeze. During the gale our ships received some very heavy blows, but I was anxious to prevent them getting beset; and although the labour of tacking or wearing every quarter of an hour, with our decks and rigging encumbered with ice and snow, was great, and required the unceasing exertions of the officers and crew, the work was continued with cheerfulness and alacrity throughout this and the two following days; whilst a southerly gale which succeeded, blew without intermission during the whole of the 8th and 9th, sweeping us away back to the northward with the pack, in spite of all our efforts to maintain our southing.
Jan. 10.The 10th was a comparatively fine day, and the wind being moderate from the southward, we were able to regain some of the ground we had lost, but at noon had the mortification to find ourselves in latitude 65º 59′. The ice had spread more out in the afternoon, and we passed a great quantity, or rather allowed it to drift past us; for although, according to our reckoning, we had made at least twenty miles, by beating to windward amongst the ice, we found by our observations at Jan. 11.noon the next day, that instead of having increased our latitude, we were actually a mile to the northward of our position of yesterday. We had, however, the consolation of knowing that we should have twenty miles less of the pack to pass through before reaching the clear water, which must have opened out to the southward.
During the last few days we saw many of the great penguins, and several of them were caught and brought on board alive; indeed it was a very difficult matter to kill them, and a most cruel operation, until we resorted to hydrocyanic acid, of which a table spoonful effectually accomplished the purpose in less than a minute. These enormous birds varied in weight from sixty to seventy-five pounds. The largest was killed by the Terror's people, and weighed seventy-eight pounds. They are remarkably stupid and allow you to approach them so near as to strike them on the head with a bludgeon, and sometimes, if knocked off the ice into the water, they will almost immediately leap upon it again as if to attack you, but without the smallest means either of offence or defence. They were first discovered during Captain Cook's voyage to these regions, and the beautiful unpublished drawing of Forster the naturalist, has supplied the only figures and accounts which have been given to the public, both by British and foreign writers on natural history. Mr. Gray has, therefore, named it in the zoology of our voyage, Aptenodytes Forsteri, of which we were fortunate in bringing the first perfect specimens to England. Some of these were preserved entire in casks of strong pickle, that the physiologist and comparative anatomist might have an opportunity of thoroughly examining the structure of this wonderful creature. Its principal food consists of various species of cancri and other crustaceous animals; and in its stomach we frequently found from two to ten pounds' weight of pebbles, consisting of granite, quartz, and trappeari rocks. Its capture afforded great amusement to our people, for when alarmed and endeavouring to escape, it makes its way over deep snow faster than they could follow it: by lying down on its belly and impelling itself by its powerful feet, it slides along upon the surface of the snow at a great pace, steadying itself by extending its fin-like wingsJan. 11. which alternately touch the ground on the side opposite to the propelling leg. The most successful of our hunters were Mr. Oakley and Mr. Abernethy, as they were also in the capture of the seals which we met with in no great numbers. These were of three kinds: the largest of them is of great size, measuring in length nearly twelve feet, and six feet in circumference, but varying very much in weight according to the condition of the animal; the heaviest we killed weighed eight hundred and fifty pounds, and yielded upwards of sixteen gallons of oil. In the stomach of one which we caught we found twenty-eight pounds weight of fish. With the single exception of a single specimen of a Sphyræna, they all belonged to a species of the new genus discovered at Kerguelen Island, and named Notothenia by Dr. Richardson.[1] They were in various stages of decomposition: some few, which appeared to have been only just taken, furnished subjects for preservation, and of which careful drawings were made by Dr. Hooker. The average length of this fish, so interesting from the high latitude it inhabits, was six and a half inches, and its weight two and a half ounces; there must therefore have been nearly two hundred individuals contained in the stomach of this seal. As it proved to be a species distinct from those we found at Kerguelen Island, it has been named Notothenia Phocæ, from the circumstances in which it was first found.
They occupy the place of the Merlangus Polaris and Ophidium Parryii of the arctic seas, the latter of which they much resemble; like them they conceal themselves from the persecutions of their enemies in the small cracks and cavities of the pack ice, and may be seen when driven from shelter by the ship striking and passing over their protecting pieces of ice.[2] The seals and petrels are their chief enemies, whilst they, in their turn, live upon the smaller cancri and limacinæ. Thus we behold, in these regions, where the vegetable kingdom, which constitutes the support of animal life in milder climates, has no representative, a chain of animal existences, maintained by each preying upon that next below it in the order of created beings, and all eventually nourished and sustained by the minute infusorial animalcula which we found filling the ocean with an conceivable multitude of the minutest forms of organic life.
There is considerable variety in the colour of each of the three species of seals, from a dark gray, beautifully marbled with spots and stripes of a much deeper colour, to almost uniform white, depending, doubtless, in a great degree upon the age of the individual.
The largest-sized seal is less numerous than the smaller species, and is armed with enormous tusks, fully as large and strong as those of the polar bear, to which also the shape of the head bears a very strong resemblance. It should be attacked with caution; for, although awkward and unwieldly on the ice, it has both the inclination and the means of inflicting severe wounds, and is, therefore, a formidable creature to engage.
The middle-sized seal, called the sea leopard, and the white antarctic seal, may be easily knocked on the head without the smallest personal danger; from the severely wounded state in which we found some of the males, having long and deep gashes along their sides and backs, from which in a few instances the blood was still flowing, they must have fierce battles with each other at this period of the year.
They are, however, not in sufficient numbers to induce our merchants to send to these regions after them; had it been our sole object we might have taken twenty or thirty every day; but, as on an average the largest yield only sixteen, the only ten, and the smallest not more than five gallons of oil, their skins also being of but little value, it would not prove a very profitable speculation unless a place could be found where they congregate together in far greater numbers. The whales which we saw here, though of large size, were by no means so numerous as we found them in other parts of the antarctic regions.
In the forenoon, the wind falling light and theJan. 11. hole of water in which we had been working having become too small for us to sail about in any longer, we made the ships fast to the largest piece of ice we could find, mooring it between them. As the wind prevailed from the southward, the whole body of the pack still drifted to the northward as we could perceive by the larger bergs, which, not being so easily affected by the wind, moved at a much slower pace. Cape pigeons and white petrels were the only birds we saw to-day, except a flock of tern flying to the southwestward.
Early in the morning we observed the ice opening,Jan. 12. so we cast off, and, aided by a light southeasterly wind, made way to the south-westward, in which direction we rejoiced to observe the sky much darker than we had before seen it, and which we believed to be hanging over a large space of water. At noon we were in lat. 65º 54′ S., long. 156º 30′ W. Our boats were kept ahead, towing through the openings in the ice, and preventing the ships striking against the heavier pieces of ice, there not being sufficient wind to navigate amongst it without their assistance. In the evening the wind increased, and veering to the N. E., rendered this laborious work no longer necessary, and we steered towards the dark water sky, which we hoped was to lead us through this tedious pack, in which we had now been involved four weeks of the precious period of the brief summer of these regions. The strong gales of last year were of more advantage to us than the light easterly breezes and comparatively fine weather we had enjoyed this season; it was therefore not unfrequent to hear the unusual wish expressed for a gale of wind to arise, by which alone could we expect the dense pack to be dispersed and our liberation effected.
Jan. 13.Boring our way through the pack under all sail during the night, we found at noon that we had gained nearly twenty miles of southing: but at this time we were again stopped by the ice becoming too close for us; we accordingly availed ourselves of a small clear space, in which to keep the ships free, so as to be ready to make the best of the first opening that appeared. To break through an intervening belt of ice required some hours hard labour with poles and warps, and was no sooner accomplished than the wind freshened suddenly from the eastward, and greatly increased the size of the hole, so that we could dodge about in it under easy sail, and watch the effects of the breeze upon the pack which surrounded us.
We remained shut up in this hole of water the whole of the next day, without being able toJan. 14. perceive the smallest change in the ice, which would admit of our advancing to the southward; there was considerable motion amongst it, and we observed by the bergs that the whole body was drifting to the northward. We were visited by the various kinds of birds I have so often enumerated; and, in addition to those, a stormy and three dusky petrels were seen, as was also an individual of the gigantic kind, entirely white, and at first mistaken for a new bird.
The hole in which we were confined becomingJan. 15. too small, being not more than half a mile in diameter, for our ships to keep under sail in, without the probability of their coming into collision, rendered it necessary to make fast to a large floe piece we found convenient for our purpose, and during the day we employed our people filling the empty water tanks with ice, and other useful operations.
The pack remained perfectly close in every direction,Jan. 16. without the smallest hole of water to be seen amongst it; but still the dark water sky to the southward remained in encouraging strength, As the wind was blowing from the southward, we drifted back with the pack to the northward, and at noon we were in latitude 65º 48′ S., and longitude 157º 36′ W. All the circumstances being favourable for the purpose, I went on the ice to make magnetic observations in the evening, chiefly with the view of ascertaining whether the corrections we applied to those taken on board our ship remained unchanged, and if not, to afford the means of deducing accurate corrections.
There was a gentle swell from the westward, which kept the instruments in motion, not sufficient, however, to vitiate the observations in the slightest degree; and the wind having died away, so that a perfect calm prevailed, an extensive and satisfactory series was obtained, which gave equally satisfactory results: the magnetic dip was found to be 79º 39′.5 S., and the variation 25º 15′ East.
Jan. 17.During the night the swell from the westward greatly increased, and the pack being quite close and heavy, our ships sustained at times some severe blows from the ice, while the rapidly descending barometer warned us of an approaching gale.
Towards the evening the sea had gained such a height, that our eight-inch hawsers were not strong enough to hold us to the heavy floe—snapping one after the other so fast that we had scarcely time to replace them with ropes of larger size; the wind had increased to a gale from the north-eastward, and blew violently throughout the night and during the forenoon of the next day, but it had the effect of subduing the westerly swell, and of driving us towards the south-west water.
Jan. 18.A dense fog prevailed, and the snow, which fell thickly, was converted into rain by the temperature of the air rising to 34º in the afternoon, and the wind had greatly moderated by 5 30 p.m., when we observed a very large berg close under our lee. All sail was immediately set upon both ships, and we cleared this danger by only a few feet, the spanker boom of the Erebus touching it as we were driven past its western end; the sea was breaking against its perpendicular face with so much violence that some of the spray fell on board the ships.
To prevent the ships separating during the fog, it was necessary to keep fast to the heavy piece of ice which we had between them as a fender, and, with a reduced amount of sail on them, we made some way through the pack: as we advanced in this novel mode to the southwest, we found the ice became more open, and the westerly swell increasing as the wind veered to the N. W. at midnight, we found it impossible any longer to hold on by the floe piece. All our hawsers breaking in succession, we madeJan. 19. sail on the ships, and kept company during the thick fog by firing guns, and, by means of the usual signals: under the shelter of a berg of nearly a mile in diameter, we dodged about during the whole day, waiting for clear weather, that we might select the best leads through the dispersing pack; but at 9 p.m. the wind suddenly freshened to a violent gale from the northward, compelling us to reduce our sails to a close reefed main-top-sail and storm stay-sails: the sea quickly rising to a fearful height, breaking over the loftiest bergs, we were any longer to hold our ground, but were driven into the heavy pack under our lee. Soon after midnight our ships were involved in an ocean of rolling fragments of ice, hard as floating rocks of granite, which were dashed against them by the waves with so much violence that their masts quivered as if they would fall at every successive blow; and the destruction of the ships seemed inevitable from the tremendous shocks they received. By backing and filling the sails, we endeavoured to avoid collision with the larger masses; but this was not always possible: in the early part of the storm, the rudder of the Erebus was so much damaged as to be no longer of any use; and about the same time I was informed by signal that the Terror's was completely destroyed, and nearly torn away from the stern-post. We had hoped that, as we drifted deeper into the pack, we should get beyond the reach of the tempest; but in this we were mistaken. Hour passed away after hour without the least mitigation of the awful circumstances in which we were placed. Indeed, there seemed to be but little probability of our ships holding together much longer, so frequent and violent were the shocks they sustained. The loud crashing noise of the straining and working of the timbers and decks, as she was driven against some of the heavier pieces, which all the activity and exertions of our people could not prevent, 
London, J. Murray, Albermarle Street.
The storm gained its height at 2 p.m., when the barometer stood at 28.40 inches, and after that time began to rise. Although we had been forced many miles deeper into the pack, we could not perceive that the swell had at all subsided, our ships still rolling and groaning amidst the heavy fragments of crushing bergs, over which the ocean rolled its mountainous waves, throwing huge masses one upon another, and then again burying them deep beneath its foaming waters, dashing and grinding them together with fearful violence. The awful grandeur of such a scene can neither be imagined nor described, far less can the feelings of those who witnessed it be understood. Each of us secured our hold, waiting the issue with resignation to the will of Him who alone could preserve us, and bring us safely through this extreme danger; watching with breathless anxiety the effect of each succeeding collision, and the vibrations of the tottering masts, expecting every moment to see them give way without our having the power to make an effort to save them.
Although the force of the wind had somewhat diminished by 4 p.m., yet the squalls came on with unabated violence, laying the ship over on her broadside, and threatening to blow the storm sails to pieces: fortunately they were quite new, or they never could have withstood such terrific gusts. At this time the Terror was so close to us, that when she rose to the top of one wave, the Erebus was on the top of that next to leeward of her; the deep chasm between them filled with heavy rolling masses; and as the ships descended into the hollow between the waves, the main-topsail yard of each could be seen just level with the crest of the intervening wave, from the deck of the other: from this some idea may be formed of the height of the waves, as well as of the perilous situation of our ships. The night now began to draw in, and cast its gloomy mantle over the appalling scene, rendering our condition, if possible, more hopeless and helpless than before; but at midnight, the snow, which had been falling thickly for several hours, cleared away, as the wind suddenly shifted to the westward, and the swell began to subside; and although the shocks our ships still sustained were such that must have destroyed any ordinary vessel in less than five minutes, yet they were feeble compared with those to which we had been exposed, and our minds became more at ease for their ultimate safety.
During the darkness of night and the thick weather we had been carried through a chain of bergsJan 21 which were seen in the morning considerably to windward, and which served to keep off the heavy pressure of the pack, so that we found the ice much more open, and I was enabled to make my way in one of our boats to the Terror, about whose condition I was most anxious, for I was aware that her damages were of a much more serious nature than those of the Erebus, notwithstanding the skilful and seamanlike manner in which she had been managed, and by which she maintained her appointed station throughout the gale.
I found that her rudder was completely broken to pieces, and the fastenings to the stern-post so much strained and twisted, that it would be very difficult to get the spare rudder, with which we were fortunately provided, fitted so as to be useful, and could only be done, if at all, under very favourable circumstances. The other damages she had sustained were of less consequence; and it was as great a satisfaction as it has ever since been a source of astonishment to us to find that, after so many hours of constant and violent thumping, both the vessels were nearly as tight as they were before the gale. We can only ascribe this to the admirable manner in which they had been fortified for the service, and to our having their holds so stowed as to form a solid mass throughout.
I was much gratified to learn from Commander Crozier, that the conduct of the officers and crew was most admirable; and certainly it is hardly possible to conceive a situation in which calmness and firmness were more necessary, or, I believe, more generally displayed.
The swell was now fast subsiding, the wind having changed to the S.W., and moderated to a fresh breeze with clear weather. On my return to the Erebus, we made more sail, and forced our way as far as we could into the thickest part of the pack, where, of course, we should find less motion; and, early in the afternoon, we got hold of a large floe piece, which we moored securely between our crippled ships; for without the aid of their rudders we found them too unmanageable to attempt to push through to the open water, whilst the ice to which we had attached them afforded facilities for their examination and repair, which could only have been accomplished in smooth water.
All hands that could assist the carpenters were now set to work, whilst as many as could be spared were sent below to get some rest, which all greatly needed, in order that a few might be refreshed and strengthened for any occasion that might require their further exertions. As we lay closely beset in the now almost motionless pack, our decks presented a scene of unusual character. The shattered rudder being hoisted on board, the carpenters and their assistants were employed, setting 1842. it straight, cutting away the splinters, and replacing the parts that had been torn away, whilst the armourers at the forge were engaged making bolts and hoops to bind all firmly together, and, by the unceasing labour of the officers and artificers, the Erebus's rudder was ready for shipping again before midnight.
The Terror's, as I have before said, was so completely destroyed as to oblige us to resort to her spare rudder, which was put together in less than an hour; but the ice was so closely pressed around us, that we could not see the nature of the damage the gudgeons had sustained, and which, being so far under water, were likely to present the greatest difficulty to getting her rudder so effectually secured as to render it practicable to pursue our way to the southward; and during the whole of the next day, the pressure of the pack stillJan. 22. preventing our making any attempt to ship the rudders we had in readiness, all the artificers of both ships were employed making a spare rudder for the Terror, so as to provide against any future contingency. A cross-beam with two or three oak davits, added to those which the Terror could spare, afforded ample materials for this necessary work, and gave useful occupation to all hands.
The wind from the S.S.W. was all this time driving us with the pack back to the northward, and at noon we were in latitude 66º 39′ S., and longitude 156º 42′ W., so that after having exhausted five weeks of the best part of the season of navigation in what appeared to be, at this time, a fruitless attempt to get through this formidable pack, we found ourselves driven back to nearly the same spot we were at three weeks before. With only a brief period of the season remaining, our ships much strained, and some doubt on our minds as to the sufficiency of the rudders we had not yet tried, our prospects were by no means cheering; we had reason, however, to be thankful that we might still be enabled to go forward in the execution of the important duties with which we were charged.
By the evening the main pieces of the Terror's spare rudder were bolted together, and nothing but the filling pieces, and securing the braces and pintles was wanting to make it complete. But the labour of our people, particularly the carpenters and blacksmiths, had been almost incessant; I therefore directed that all work should be suspended after ten p.m., that they might get some rest, and resume their labours at an early hour the next morning, on which, although it was the Sabbath-day, I felt the necessity of departing from our practice of ceasing from work on that day, to complete a measure so essential to the safety of our ships.
Jan. 23.The wind continued moderate from the N.E., the weather, though gloomy, was favourable to 1842. our purpose, and we were again drifting in the desired direction. In the course of reading the usual church service in the morning, we offered up our most heartfelt thanksgivings to God for his merciful and wonderful preservation of us when we were in extreme peril, who had showed us the terrible things and wonders of the great deep, from which we might learn our own weakness, and his power and readiness to help all those that call upon and trust in Him, whose mercy is over all his works, but had been most especially manifested to us; and we implored a continuance of His blessing on all our future exertions.
In the evening, the ice slackened around our ship so much as to admit of our trying the anxious experiment of shipping the rudder, which we had the satisfaction of accomplishing without much difficulty; and, although the circumstances were not sufficiently favourable to do any thing with the Terror's, yet it was a relief to our minds to have one of the ships again in a condition, if necessary, to aid her more crippled companion.
The port or lee side of the Erebus, which hadJan. 24. suffered most severely from grinding and striking against the ice, received our first attention: cutting away the splinters, and smoothening the surface as low down as we could by heeling the ship over to starboard, and then replacing, so far as we were able, the strong protecting metal plates that had been torn away: we were, nevertheless, greatly surprised at the unimportant extent of the damage.
After many fruitless attempts, and frequent alterations of the Terror's rudder, by much perseverance, and the patient ingenuity of her commander and senior lieutenant, it was firmly secured to the stern post by the evening of this day. The wind was blowing fresh from the N.E., and as we drifted to the S.W. again, we began to feel the effects of a westerly swell, which set in undulating motion the densely close pack by which we were surrounded. Our necessary works of repair were now drawing towards completion, and both the ships being again in a state of efficiency, we made all sail on them in the evening, so as to bore our way to the southward before the fresh northerly breeze that was blowing, but without casting off from our friendly floe.
Jan. 25.The wind fell light early this morning, and a thick fog, with small rain, prevented our seeing beyond two or three miles. The pack was so close, that although we kept all sail upon both ships, they did not draw a-head more than twice their own length in an hour; but of course the whole body was drifting to the southward, and, judging from the rate at which we passed the bergs, we estimated our drift at about twelve to fourteen miles in the twenty-four hours. This mode of dead reckoning placed us at noon in lat. 66° 51′ S., 1842. long. 157° 13′, for we had had no observations for several days past, and it was a circumstance of general remark how seldom we had seen the sun during our long and harassing detention in this dense and extensive pack.
ABSTRACT OF THE METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL KEPT ON BOARD HER MAJESTY'S SHIP EREBUS.—JANUARY, 1842.
| Day. | Position at Noon. | Temperature of the Air in Shade. | Mean Tempera- ture of Sea at Surface. |
Temp. at 9 a.m. | ||||||
| Lat. S. | Long. W. | Max | Min. | Mean. | Air in Shade |
Dew point. | ||||
| ° | ′ | ° | ′ | ° | ° | ° | ° | |||
| 1 | 66 | 32 | 156 | 28 | 38 | 27.5 | 32.3 | 28.2 | 34.5° | 32° |
| 2 | 66 | 36 | 156 | 28 | 40.5 | 27 | 32.0 | 27.9 | 30.5 | 26 |
| 3 | 66 | 34 | 156 | 22 | 35.5 | 27 | 31.1 | 28.0 | 31 | 26.5 |
| 4 | 66 | 34 | 156 | 13 | 34.5 | 26 | 30.1 | 28.2 | 34 | 34† |
| 5 | 66 | 15 | 156 | 22 | 39 | 26.5 | 31.2 | 28.6 | 30 | 24 |
| 6 | 66 | 08 | 155 | 57 | 35.5 | 27.5 | 30.4 | 29.1 | 33 | 33† |
| 7 | 66 | 13 | 155 | 41 | 31.8 | 27 | 30.1 | 28.6 | 31 | 31† |
| 8 | 66 | 12 | 155 | 27 | 35 | 25 | 29.3 | 28.9 | 33 | 32 |
| 9 | 66 | 04 | 155 | 42 | 31.5 | 24.5 | 28.0 | 28.3 | 27 | 22 |
| 10 | 65 | 59 | 155 | 50 | 38.5 | 25 | 30.4 | 28.8 | 28 | 23 |
| 11 | 65 | 58 | 156 | 16 | 35.5 | 25 | 29.5 | 28.5 | 29 | 21 |
| 12 | 65 | 64 | 156 | 30 | 34 | 26 | 29.8 | 29.2 | 30.5 | 27.5 |
| 13 | 66 | 11 | 156 | 57 | 36 | 27.5 | 30.8 | 28.5 | 32.5 | 26 |
| 14 | 66 | 06 | 157 | 12 | 32 | 24.5 | 27.6 | 28.0 | 29.5 | 23 |
| 15 | 66 | 02 | 157 | 30 | 28 | 24.5 | 26.2 | 27.8 | 28 | 28† |
| 16 | 65 | 48 | 157 | 36 | 40 | 25.5 | 32.3 | 28.5 | 33 | 28.5 |
| 17 | 65 | 53 | 157 | 59 | 36.5 | 27 | 30.5 | 28.3 | 32.5 | 24 |
| 18 | 66 | 11 | 158 | 20 | 34 | 27.5 | 31.3 | 28.1 | 31.5 | 31.5† |
| 19 | 66 | 18 | 158 | 38 | 38 | 31 | 33.3 | 28.4 | 35 | 35† |
| 20 | 66 | 36 | 159 | 39 | 35 | 30 | 32.4 | 28.0 | 34 | 34† |
| 21 | 66 | 49 | 157 | 19 | 34 | 27 | 30.2 | 28.0 | 32 | 31.5 |
| 22 | 66 | 39 | 156 | 62 | 30 | 24.6 | 27.7 | 27.8 | 29.5 | 22 |
| 23 | 66 | 37 | 156 | 41 | 34 | 24 | 28.2 | 27.9 | 30 | 23 |
| 24 | 66 | 43 | 157 | 12 | 36.5 | 27.5 | 31.1 | 27.9 | 32 | 27.5 |
| 25 | 66 | 51 | 157 | 13 | 37 | 29 | 33.0 | 28.0 | 33 | 33 |
| 26 | 67 | 13 | 156 | 51 | 36 | 29.5 | 32.2 | 28.1 | 33 | 33† |
| 27 | 67 | 28 | 156 | 28 | 34 | 30 | 31.0 | 28.0 | 32.5 | 32.5 |
| 28 | 67 | 39 | 155 | 59 | 37.5 | 28 | 31.8 | 28.5 | 32.5 | 32 |
| 29 | 67 | 31 | 156 | 02 | 29.5 | 26.5 | 28.4 | 28.0 | 30 | 30† |
| 30 | 67 | 21 | 156 | 17 | 34 | 28.5 | 30.5 | 28.1 | 31 | 31† |
| 31 | 67 | 21 | 157 | 51 | 39 | 28.2 | 31.7 | 28.1 | 32.5 | 32.5† |
| 40.5 | 24 | 30.46 | 28.3 | |||||||
† Deposit of rain, or snow, or fog.
ABSTRACT OF THE METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL KEPT ON BOARD HER MAJESTY'S SHIP EREBUS.—JANUARY, 1842.
| Day. | Barometer. | Winds. | Weather. | |||||||||
| Max. | Min. | Mean. | Direction. | Force. | ||||||||
| Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | ||||||||||
| 1 | 29.461 | 29.158 | 29.315 | E. by N. | 1 | 2 b. cgp.s.* | ||||||
| 2 | .741 | .466 | .608 | Easterly | 1 | 0 c. | ||||||
| 3 | .768 | .550 | .797 | W.S.W. | 2 | 0 m.c.p.s. | ||||||
| 4 | .533 | .358 | .435 | a.m. Westerly p.m. Southerly |
3 | a.m. 0 g.s. p.m. 5 b.c. | ||||||
| 5 | .461 | .357 | .432 | S. Westerly | 4 | 3 b.c.p.s. | ||||||
| 6 | .321 | .039 | .155 | a.m. W.S.W p.m. E.S.E. |
2 | a.m. 0 g.m.s. p.m. 0 g. | ||||||
| 7 | 28.972 | 28.496 | 28.650 | Westerly | a.m. 4 p.m. 6 |
0 q.m.s. | ||||||
| 8 | .762 | .476 | .587 | a.m. Westerly p.m. S.S.E. |
2 4 |
0 g.t. 0 g.m. |
||||||
| 9 | 29.198 | .764 | .968 | S. by E. | 5 | a.m. 5 b.c.q. p.m. 4 b.c.p.s. | ||||||
| 10 | .559 | 29.210 | 29.416 | a.m. S.S.W. p.m. S. by E. |
3 2 |
6 b.c. | ||||||
| 11 | .589 | .556 | .572 | S. Easterly | 1 | 4 b.c. | ||||||
| 12 | .576 | .537 | .558 | a.m. S.S.E. p.m. E.N.E. |
1 | a.m. c. p.m. g. | ||||||
| 13 | .545 | .374 | .456 | Easterly | 2 | 0 g.p.s. | ||||||
| 14 | .365 | .262 | .310 | E.S.E. | 3 | 0 g.p.s. | ||||||
| 15 | .489 | .263 | .343 | S.S.E. | 3 | 0 g.m. | ||||||
| 16 | .531 | .465 | .505 | Southerly | a.m. 2 p.m. 1 |
0 g. 3 b.c.g. |
||||||
| 17 | .475 | .170 | .334 | N.E. | 3 | 1 b.c.g.q. | ||||||
| 18 | .163 | 28.949 | .040 | Northerly | 5 | 0 g.q.p.s. | ||||||
| 19 | .221 | .904 | .088 | a.m. N.W. p.m. N.N.E. |
3 4 |
0 f.d. | ||||||
| 20 | 28.885 | .413 | 28.597 | N.W. | 10 | 0 q.s. | ||||||
| 21 | 29.004 | .776 | .941 | S.W. by W. | a.m. 5 p.m. 3 |
0 g.s. 2 b.c.g. |
||||||
| 22 | .396 | 29.018 | 29.208 | Southerly | a.m. 6 p.m. 3 |
0 g. | ||||||
| 23 | .490 | .421 | .465 | a.m. Easterly p.m. N.E. |
1 2 |
0 g. | ||||||
| 24 | .494 | .450 | .476 | N.N.E. | 4 | 0 g. | ||||||
| 25 | .500 | .326 | .444 | N.N.W. | 3 | 0 f.r. | ||||||
| 26 | .306 | 28.971 | .101 | N. Westerly | 5 | 0 q.d. | ||||||
| 27 | 28.987 | .794 | 28.888 | N. Westerly | 3 | 0 g.p.s. | ||||||
| 28 | .846 | .800 | .821 | a.m. W.N.W. p.m. Southerly |
1 | a.m. 0 g.s. p.m. 2 b.c.g. | ||||||
| 29 | .809 | .711 | .754 | S.E. by S. | 5 | 0 q.s. | ||||||
| 30 | .889 | .710 | .786 | E.S.E. | 3 | 0 s. | ||||||
| 31 | 29.199 | .923 | 29.044 | S.E. by E. | 1 | 0 s. | ||||||
| 29.768 | 28.413 | 29.196 | 3.1 | |||||||||
* For explanation of these symbols, see Appendix to Vol. I.
- ↑ Zoology of the Voyage of the Erebus and Terror, Part II. p. 8.
- ↑ The Sphyræna was in too mutilated a state to determine its specific characteristics; its head, although broken into numerous fragments, proved to be identical with one which the master of a whaler found on the beach at New Zealand, but we could not ascertain to what fish it belonged. It is considered by Dr. Richardson to be of the genus Alepisaurus, but differing from the A. ferox which inhabits the coasts of the island of Madeira. It is, nevertheless, a most ferocious looking fish; and, although we are unable to supply a description sufficient for its specific distinction, there is no doubt of its being an entirely new species. Its long narrow body measured twenty-eight inches in length.