A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions/Volume 2/Chapter 8
Tussac Grass of Falkland Islands. Page 270.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
The magnificent range of stupendous bergs which 1842
March 1.had occasioned us so much uneasiness during the night, was again seen this morning, extending in an unbroken chain to the northward as far as the eye could discern from the mast-head, and joining on with that large cluster through which we had been so mercifully guided during the storm and thick fog of the 11th of February, when on our way to the southward. The pack edge was observed stretching several miles to the westward of the bergs, and terminating in a point which we rounded at 1 p.m. It consisted of an accumulation of the heaviest masses of ice I ever remember to have seen, of a deep blue colour, and much worn and rounded by the action of the sea. Several hundred seals were plunging and splashing about off the point, and two or three that were on the ice, appeared with much difficulty to maintain their hold as the waves broke over them. From this point the ice trended away to the eastward, but the long line of bergs obliged us to pursue a north easterly course. At noon our latitude was 69° 52′ S., longitude 180°; the magnetic dip 83° 36′ S., and the variation had decreased to 33° 7′ E.
It was a fine night and having passed the chain of bergs, we were enabled to resume a more easterly course. Some faint coruscations of the Aurora Australis were seen near the zenith at 1 a.m. for only a few minutes.
March 2.It blew a moderate breeze from the south eastward, and the day was fine; the sun occasionally appeared, but was more generally obscured by clouds and thick snow showers. The sea was remarked to have assumed its oceanic light blue colour, from which we inferred that the ferruginous animalculæ, which give a dirty brownish tint to the waters of the southern ocean, prefer the temperature which obtains in the vicinity of the pack; for here, as in the arctic regions, our approach to any great body of ice was invariably indicated by the change of colour of the sea. Large flocks of the blue petrel and Cape pigeons were seen, and the cry of the penguin was frequently heard.
March 3.It was calm during the night, and until 7 a.m., when. a breeze sprang up from the northward, and the forenoon being fine, we all greatly enjoyed the rise of temperature of the air from 23° to 36° which had occurred in less than two days, whilst that of the surface of the sea had risen to 33°.
At noon our latitude was 67° 28′ S., longitude 174° 27′ W.; the magnetic dip 82°.18′, and the variation 26° E.: in the afternoon we tried for, but did not obtain, soundings with 600 fathoms; the temperature at that depth was 38°; at 450 fathoms, 37°.5; at 300 fathoms, 35°.5; and at 150 fathoms, 34°.2: the specific gravity of the surface water 1.0276 at 33°. A current was found setting S. 30° E., at the rate of six miles per diem.
Dense clouds rising in the north, sending forth frequent squalls and snow showers, warned us of the approach of an inclement night for which we made all the necessary preparations. We had seen only two icebergs during the day; and considering that we were far enough to the northward of the thick of them, we did not hesitate to run during the night, although the constantly falling snow prevented our seeing beyond a very short distance, and the night was also extremely dark.
The expected gale came on soon after midnight, March 4.and gradually increased in strength until noon, when it blew with great violence. The barometer at that time was 28.162 inches, but began to rise soon afterwards, when the wind suddenly shifted from N.E. to N.W., and abated, the sea as rapidly going down, and the weather turning out beautifully fine in time to relieve us from the anxieties attendant on the eight hours of darkness to which the nights had now lengthened. Throughout the remainder of this and the early part of the following day we experienced March 5.variable but moderate winds, and at noon were in latitude 67° 8′ S., longitude 171° 38′ W., the continued depression of the barometer, notwithstanding the moderate weather, surprised us so much that I suspected it had met with an accident. I therefore made the signal to the Terror to compare barometers, and was gratified to find my apprehensions were groundless, the two instruments indicating very nearly the same amount of pressure; the Terror's being 28.485 inches, and that of the Erebus 28.478 inches. At 7 p.m., we're-crossed the antarctic circle after an interval of sixty-four days that we had been to the southward of it. The event was celebrated with much rejoicing.
March 7.On the 7th we met with the first specimen of the vegetable kingdom in latitude 64° S., several small pieces of seaweed being seen during the day; March 8.and on the afternoon of the 8th, when in latitude 62° 15′ S., and longitude 163° 50′ W., we tried the current, and found it setting N. 59° E., at the rate of seven miles and a half daily. The temperature of the sea at 600 fathoms was 39°; at 450 fathoms, 38°.5; at 300 fathoms, 37°.2; at 150 fathoms, 35°.5; and at 100 fathoms, 32°.2; that of the surface being 35°. We were astonished to find the minimum index of all the thermometers standing at 30°.8, from which it would appear that there was a cold stratum of water of that temperature, between the surface and one hundred fathoms.
March 9.Having on the afternoon of the 9th reached the latitude of 60° 20′ S., and intending to keep near the parallel of 60°, for the purpose of visiting the supposed position of the second focus of greater magnetic intensity, as well as of shortening our distance to Cape Horn, by maintaining a high latitude, we altered our course to true east, the wind from the southward favouring our intentions.
During the next three days we made rapid progress to the eastward, experiencing strong southerly winds and severe weather, but we met only four or five bergs during a run of several hundred miles, and began to think we had got to the northward of their latitude. On the afternoon of March 12.the 12th, however, several were seen during thick weather, and whilst we were running, under all the sail we could carry, to a strong north westerly breeze. In the evening the wind increased so much, and the snow showers became so incessant, that we were obliged to proceed under more moderate sail. Numerous small pieces of ice were also met with, warning us of the presence of bergs, concealed by the thickly falling snow: before midnight I directed the topsails to be close-reefed, and every arrangement made for rounding to until daylight, deeming it too hazardous to run any longer: our people had hardly completed these operations when a large berg was seen ahead, and quite close to us; the ship was immediately hauled to the wind on the port tack, with the expectation of being able to weather it; but just at this moment the Terror was observed running down upon us, under her top-sails and foresail; and as it was impossible for her to clear both the berg and the Erebus, collision was inevitable. We instantly hove all aback to diminish the violence of the shock; but the concussion when she struck us was such as to throw almost every one off his feet; our bowsprit, foretopmast, and other smaller spars, were carried away; and the ships hanging together, entangled by their rigging, and dashing against each other with fearful violence, were falling down upon the weather face of the lofty berg under our lee, against which the waves were breaking and foaming to near the summit of its perpendicular cliffs. Sometimes she rose high above us, almost exposing her keel to view, and again descended as we in our turn rose to the top of the wave, threatening to bury her beneath us, whilst the crashing of the breaking upperworks and boats increased the horror of the scene. Providentially they gradually forged past each other, and separated before we drifted down amongst the foaming breakers, and we had the gratification of seeing her clear the end of the berg, and of feeling that she was safe. But she left us completely disabled; the wreck of the spars so encumbered the lower yards, that we were unable to make sail, so as to get headway on the ship; nor had we room to wear round, being by this time so close to the berg that the waves, when they struck against it, threw back their sprays into the ship. The only way left to us to extricate ourselves from this awful and appalling situation was by resorting to the hazardous expedient of a sternboard, which nothing could justify during such a gale and with so high a sea running, but to avert the danger which every moment threatened us of being dashed to pieces. The heavy rolling of the vessel, and the probability of the masts giving way each time the lower yard-arms struck against the cliffs, which were towering high above our mastheads, rendered it a service of extreme danger to loose the main-sail; but no sooner was the order given, than the daring spirit of the British seaman manifested itself—the men ran up the rigging with as much alacrity as on any ordinary occasion; and although more than once driven off the yard, they after a short time succeeded in loosing the sail. Amidst the roar of the wind and sea, it was difficult both to hear and to execute the orders that were given, so that it was three quarters of an hour before we could get the yards braced bye, and the main tack hauled on board sharp aback—an expedient that perhaps had never before been resorted to by seamen in such weather: but it had the desired effect; the ship gathered stern-way, plunging her stern into the sea, washing away the gig and quarter boats, and with her lower yard-arms scraping the rugged face of the berg, we in a few minutes reached its western termination; the "under tow," as it is called, or the reaction of the water from its vertical cliffs, alone preventing us being driven to atoms against it. No sooner had we cleared it, than another was seen directly astern of us, against which we were running; and the difficulty now was to get the ship's head turned round and pointed fairly through between the two bergs, the breadth of the intervening space not exceeding three times her own breadth; this, however, we happily accomplished; and in a few minutes after getting before the wind, she dashed through the narrow channel, between two perpendicular walls of ice, and the foaming breakers which stretched across it, and the next moment we were in smooth water under its lee.
The Terror's light was immediately seen and answered; she had rounded to, waiting for us, and the painful state of suspense her people must have endured as to our fate could not have been much less than our own; for the necessity of constant and energetic action to meet the momentarily varying circumstances of our situation, left us no time to reflect on our imminent danger.
We hove to on the port tack, under the lee of the berg, which now afforded us invaluable protection from the fury of the storm, which was still raging above and around us; and commenced clearing away the wreck of the broken spars, saving as much of the rigging as possible, whilst a party were engaged preparing others to replace them.
As soon as day broke we had the gratification of learning that the Terror had only lost two or three small spars, and had not suffered any serious damage; the signal of "all's well," which we hoisted before there was light enough for them to see it, and kept flying until it was answered, served to relieve their minds as speedily as possible of any remaining anxiety on our account.
A cluster of bergs was seen to windward, 
Whilst our ship lay rolling amidst the foam and spray to windward of the berg, a beautiful phenomenon presented itself, worthy of notice, as tending to afford some information on the causes of the exhibition of auroral light. The infrequency of the appearance of this meteor, during the present season, had much surprised us; and therefore, to observe its bright light, forming a range of vertical beams along the top of the icy cliff, marking and partaking of all the irregularities of its figure, was the more remarkable, and would seem to suggest that some connection existed, in the exhibition of this light, with the vaporous mist thrown upwards by the dashing of the waves against the berg, and that it was in some degree produced by electrical action taking place between it and the colder atmosphere surrounding the berg. We may here also trace some analogy between this phenomenon and those appearances of the Aurora Borealis, witnessed in Scotland by the Rev. James Farquharson, minister of the Parish of Alford, and described by him in the Transactions of the Royal Society.
March 13.At 8 a.m. we bore away before the gale, which was still blowing from the westward, under close reefed maintop-sail and foresail. If during the hour of extreme peril I had occasion to admire the cool bravery of our officers and crew, so had I now no less cause to appreciate and praise the diligence and alacrity with which they set to work to repair the damage we had sustained; and although again compelled by circumstances to continue our labour almost uninterruptedly throughout the Sabbath day, we did not fail assembling together in the forenoon to offer up our thanksgivings and praises to Almighty God, for the renewed instance of His guidance and protection which we had so recently experienced.
A portion of the crew were engaged fitting the rigging, whilst the carpenters were making a bowsprit out of the handmast, and a party was employed clearing the forehold to get at the leak, which we suspected to be in some part of the starboard bow, where we received the first shock, and where the whole of the upper works with the timbers and cathead were broken away level with the deck. The best bower anchor was found suspended about three feet below the water line, by its palms being driven between seven and eight inches into the solid wood, and remained fixed there without any other fastening to the ship, with the flukes uppermost, as may be seen in the annexed drawing by Mr. Davis, second master of the Terror: this we considered most likely to have occasioned the leak which, though at present of no amount to cause alarm, was a source of uneasiness until the extent of the injury from which it arose was determined. After some hours' examination, it proved to be only in the upperworks, and was stopped without any difficulty.
At noon we were in latitude 60° S., and longitude 143° 48′ W., the wind still blowing strong from the westward, but gradually abating in the afternoon as it drew round to the northward. The high sea that was running hindered our operations; but we were, nevertheless, enabled to finish the jury-bowsprit, get it into its place, and secure it, with all its gear and rigging properly set up, before night. We had passed several icebergs during the day, and this, connected with our recent accident, occasioned us to run with more carefulness during the first few hours of darkness, and at midnight, several bergs and numerous fragments being met with, we rounded to until daylight.
The breeze having freshened from the westward, March 14.we bore away before it at 5 a.m., and were able, in addition to our sail of yesterday, to set the port lower studding-sail. We passed a great many bergs in the course of the day; but the wind having veered to the southward by noon, we had clear weather, and could therefore run without danger, though under more moderate sail throughout the night, during which only three or four bergs were seen.
March 15.Our broken spars and rigging having been replaced, we made all sail when daylight appeared, steering directly for the supposed position of the focus of greater magnetic intensity, which I had not relinquished my intention of visiting. From the necessity of keeping the ship exactly before the wind for the last two or three days, we had run sixty miles to the northward of it, we were now, however, in a condition to regain the parallel of 60° of south latitude.
Favoured by clear nights, we pursued our course at a moderate pace; and during the continuance of daylight pressed all the sail on the ships they could carry; for as we were yet between two and three thousand miles distant from the Falkland Islands, we were compelled to hazard a little rather than prolong our voyage so much by rounding to during the lengthened period of darkness.
March 18.At daybreak on the morning of the 18th we had reached the desired spot in latitude 60° S., and longitude 125° W.; and although it was blowing fresh from the westward, and the gale of the preceding day had occasioned so heavy a swell that our ship rolled and tossed about considerably, yet we obtained numerous magnetic observations, which, if not so accordant as they would probably have been under more favourable circumstances, the results proved sufficiently satisfactory; and if they have not tended to confirm the theory which brought us to this spot, they, when combined with others, will enable philosophers to determine whether, as in the northern magnetic latitudes, there be two foci of greater magnetic intensity, or whether it be not confined to one spot in the Antarctic regions, and that not very distant from the southern magnetic pole, which I rather apprehend to be fact. The means of ascertaining this important question in magnetic science, however, are now abundantly provided, and its determination will probably prove to be one of the more interesting results of our observations.
We had now no other object to divert us from a direct course round Cape Horn to the Falkland Islands, where I proposed to pass the winter, and thoroughly repair our ships, in readiness to make a third attempt to carry our magnetic researches into a high southern latitude, when the proper season for that purpose should arrive.
Impelled by strong westerly gales, we generally ran from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty miles daily, when the nights were so clear as to admit of our running, although much hindered by the bower anchor, which we were unable to remove. It was, however, washed away, by a heavy sea which struck the ship during a gale on the 18th (the palms being broken off and March 18.left sticking in the ship's side), after having been carried in that extraordinary position above five hundred miles.
During the 19th and 20th, it blew a violent March 20.storm of forty hours' duration, which obliged us to heave to under the close-reefed main-topsail during the night, as we were amongst a great many bergs; the high sea running tried the rigging of our jury spars, and occasioned us a night of much anxiety.
At daylight we bore away before the gale, the sea heavy, our ships scudding well, seldom shipping any water; for, although from their construction they sailed slowly, they possessed the advantage of being admirable sea boats, whether lying to or running before a storm. Our position at noon, by observation, was latitude 59° 21′ S., longitude 114° 57′ W. By steering more to the northward, we might have got out of the region of icebergs; but we preferred keeping as far south as we prudently might, both for the advantage of shortening the distance, and obtaining magnetic observations.
The gale abated soon after noon, and we enjoyed the beautiful evening that followed: aided by the feeble light of the moon during the early part of the night, and the clear starlight after midnight, we continued our course.
{{left sidenote|March 21.}At 2 a.m. we passed very close by a small berg, the white foam of the sea dashing over it rendering it conspicuous against the dark sky beyond.
At noon we were in latitude 59° 9′ S., and longitude 111° 18′ W., the magnetic dip 71° 41′ S., and the variation 20° 52′ E. The temperature of the sea, which had been warmer than the air for some days past, rose to 41.5, that of the air being 38°. The sea was observed, also, to be of a clear light blue colour. The sooty albatross, the only bird seen lately, was in considerable numbers.
It was a fine clear evening, but we still looked in vain for the aurora australis: last year, at this period of the season, in nearly the same latitude, and about one hundred degrees of longitude to the westward, we had splendid exhibitions of it almost every night; from which it would seem that its occurrence in some degree depends upon local causes, which, therefore, its total absence in this part of the southern ocean may assist in explaining.
A moderate breeze from south-west, we hove to March 23.at 1.30 p.m., in latitude 58° 36′ S., and longitude 104° 40′ W., and tried for, but without obtaining, soundings, with 600 fathoms of line: the temperature at that depth was 40°; at 450 fathoms, 40°.5; at 300 fathoms, 40°.8; at 150 fathoms, 40°.7; at 100 fathoms, 40°.8; at 50 fathoms, 40°.8; and, at the surface, 41°; that of the air being 32°. The specific gravity throughout being 1.0277 at 43°.5 of temperature. These experiments show that we were very nearly on the line of uniform temperature, which here appears to be about a degree higher than we have found it in other parts of the ocean, and also rather further to the southward.
Many black-backed albatross, and a few stormy and blue petrel were seen, as were also two penguins, although we were more than a thousand miles from the nearest land.
March 27.Favoured by westerly breezes and fine weather, we made good progress during the next few days, without anything occurring worthy of remark, and at noon the 27th were in latitude 59° 02′ S., and longitude 87° 21′ W. The magnetic dip had diminished to 67°.30 S., and the variation was 26° 28′ E., our distance from Cape Horn rather exceeding 600 miles. During a violent hail squall this morning some of the balls which fell measured nearly two inches in circumference. The Skua gull, stormy and gigantic petrel, a few sooty albatross, and a large company of bottle-nosed whales were seen during the day.
March 28.The weather being fine the next day, and the water smooth, we made some experiments on the temperature of the sea; those of the 23d having given a different result from what we had expected, and had found in other parts of the southern ocean. The thermometers employed were again compared with the standard, and, as the temperature of the sea and air was nearly the same, the observations were made altogether under still more favourable circumstances, and again the same anomalous result was obtained; for, at 600 fathoms, it was 40°; at 450 fathoms, 40°.5; at 300 fathoms, 40°.8; at 150 fathoms, 40°.8; at the surface, 42°; the air being at 40°: our position at this time was latitude 58° 55′ S., longitude 83° 16′ W. These experiments were repeated on the 29th and 30th with precisely similar results, so that we must come to the conclusion, either, that the line of uniform temperature of the ocean in these meridians is nearly half a degree higher temperature than at the places we had previously crossed, or that some inexplicable change to that amount had taken place in our standard thermometer, and which the comparison with the several other thermometers gave me some reason to suppose had occurred. The annexed abstract from the meteorological journal of the Erebus will furnish every information respecting the climate of these regions during the month of March. The mean position of the mercury in the barometer in the higher latitudes of the Antarctic regions was nearly an inch lower than in other parts of the world, and constitutes a most remarkable and interesting phenomenon in terrestrial physics, which I shall have occasion to notice more fully hereafter.
ABSTRACT OF THE METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL KEPT ON BOARD HER MAJESTY'S SHIP EREBUS.—MARCH, 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 | 69 | 52 | 180 | 00 | 27 | 24 | 26.1 | 29 | 26.5 | 13 |
| 2 | 68 | 04 | 176 | 35 | 31 | 26.5 | 29 | 31 | 28 | 28* |
| 3 | 67 | 28 | 174 | 27 | 37.5 | 30 | 32.3 | 32.6 | 32 | 28 |
| 4 | 67 | 30 | 171 | 47 | 33 | 31 | 31.8 | 317 | 31 | 31* |
| 5 | 67 | 08 | 171 | 38 | 34 | 29 | 31.1 | 32.2 | 32 | 28.5 |
| 6 | 65 | 06 | 167 | 39 | 39 | 28.5 | 32.1 | 32.9 | 32.5 | 24 |
| 7 | 63 | 30 | 165 | 38 | 32.5 | 29 | 30.5 | 33.6 | 30.5 | 22 |
| 8 | 62 | 16 | 163 | 50 | 34.5 | 29.8 | 32 | 34.6 | 31.5 | 24 |
| 9 | 60 | 57 | 160 | 49 | 34.5 | 32 | 33 | 35.9 | 32 | 24 |
| 10 | 60 | 18 | 156 | 07 | 34 | 30 | 32.5 | 35.5 | 31 | 26 |
| 11 | 60 | 18 | 151 | 32 | 37 | 33.5 | 35.7 | 34.8 | 36 | 36* |
| 12 | 60 | 12 | 147 | 25 | 38 | 34.5 | 35.9 | 34.9 | 35 | 32 |
| 13 | 60 | 00 | 143 | 48 | 39 | 35 | 36.4 | 35.1 | 36 | 32 |
| 14 | 59 | 23 | 141 | 27 | 38 | 35.7 | 36.8 | 35.8 | 36 | 35 |
| 15 | 58 | 50 | 137 | 26 | 40.2 | 357 | 37.8 | 37.2 | 37 | 33.5 |
| 16 | 59 | 01 | 132 | 28 | 38.8 | 37 | 37.8 | 37.6 | 37 | 31 |
| 17 | 59 | 39 | 127 | 12 | 39 | 36 | 37 | 36.6 | 38 | 37 |
| 18 | 60 | 21 | 122 | 50 | 40 | 36.5 | 38.1 | 38.2 | 38 | 34.5 |
| 19 | 60 | 02 | 118 | 55 | 39 | 35 | 36.6 | 38.6 | 37 | 29 |
| 20 | 59 | 21 | 114 | 57 | 40.2 | 35.5 | 36.8 | 39.3 | 37 | 37* |
| 21 | 59 | 09 | 111 | 08 | 38 | 35 | 37 | 40.4 | 35 | 35* |
| 22 | 58 | 28 | 108 | 00 | 38 | 33 | 34.8 | 40.4 | 34 | 28.5 |
| 23 | 58 | 36 | 104 | 48 | 33.5 | 31 | 32.2 | 40.4 | 33 | 23 |
| 24 | 58 | 51 | 101 | 26 | 39 | 34 | 36.2 | 41.2 | 36 | 24 |
| 25 | 58 | 56 | 96 | 08 | 41.7 | 38 | 39 | 41.3 | 40 | 30.5 |
| 26 | 59 | 02 | 91 | 30 | 41 | 35 | 38.1 | 41.8 | 38 | 34.5 |
| 27 | 59 | 02 | 87 | 21 | 40.5 | 35.5 | 36.9 | 41.7 | 36 | 31 |
| 28 | 58 | 55 | 83 | 28 | 40 | 35 | 36.6 | 41.9 | 36 | 32 |
| 29 | 58 | 22 | 79 | 50 | 44.2 | 35.5 | 37.8 | 42.2 | 33.5 | 25 |
| 30 | 58 | 28 | 77 | 28 | 46.5 | 37 | 41.9 | 42.8 | 38 | 34 |
| 31 | 58 | 34 | 74 | 20 | 42 | 38 | 40.2 | 42.6 | 40.5 | 31.5 |
| 46.5 | 24 | 35.91 | 37.22 | |||||||
ABSTRACT OF THE METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL KEPT ON BOARD HER MAJESTY'S SHIP EREBUS.—MARCH, 1842.
| Day. | Barometer. | Winds. | Weather. | |||||||||
| Max. | Min. | Mean. | Direction. | Force. | ||||||||
| Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | ||||||||||
| 1 | 28.731 | 28.562 | 28.640 | Easterly. | 4 | a.m. 4 b.c. p.m. 2 b.c.g.p.s. |
||||||
| 2 | .724 | .631 | .659 | East. | 4 | 3 b.c.p.s. | ||||||
| 3 | .702 | .554 | .642 | Northerly. | a.m. 1 p.m. 4 |
3 b.c.g. 0 q.p.s. |
||||||
| 4 | .547 | .178 | .345 | N.N.E. | a.m. 8 p.m. 5 |
0 q.p.s. 3 b.c. |
||||||
| 5 | .489 | .363 | .407 | S.Westerly | a.m. 2 p.m. 5 |
2 b.c.g.p.s. | ||||||
| 6 | .570 | .423 | .468 | a.m. W. by N. p.m. Southerly |
4 2 |
5 b.c.q. 2 b.c.g.m. |
||||||
| 7 | .694 | .596 | .651 | S.S.W. | 3 | 0 g.p.s. | ||||||
| 8 | .813 | .644 | .712 | Southerly | 2 | 3 b.c.g. | ||||||
| 9 | 29.060 | .817 | .927 | Southerly | 3 | 3 b.c.g.p.s. | ||||||
| 10 | .352 | 29.075 | 29.219 | a.m. S.S.E. p.m. W.S.W. |
4 | 3 b.c.g.p.s. | ||||||
| 11 | .373 | 28.779 | 28.970 | S. Westerly | 7 | a.m. 0 q.r. p.m. 3 b.c.q.s. |
||||||
| 12 | .488 | 29.050 | 29.279 | N.N.W. | a.m. 2 p.m. 5 |
2 b.c.g.m. 0 d.s.m. |
||||||
| 13 | .475 | .160 | .330 | S. Westerly | 5 | 3 b.c.q.p.s. | ||||||
| 14 | .720 | .094 | .335 | S.W. | 5 | a.m. 0 d.g. p.m. 3 b.c.p.s. |
||||||
| 15 | .884 | .738 | .820 | West | 5 | 2 b.c.g. | ||||||
| 16 | .932 | .794 | .848 | W.S.W. | a.m. 5 p.m. 4 |
1 b.c.p.r.s. 3 b.c.d.g. |
||||||
| 17 | .764 | .461 | .591 | W. by S. | 6 | 0 q.r. | ||||||
| 18 | .701 | .018 | .476 | a.m. S. Westly. p.m. Westerly |
5 6 |
2 b.c.g. 0 g.r. |
||||||
| 19 | .103 | 28.827 | 28.995 | S.W. | 9 | 3 b.c.q.r.s. | ||||||
| 20 | 28.950 | .797 | .882 | a.m. S.W. p.m. South |
9 5 |
2 b.c.q.s. 4 b.c.p.s. |
||||||
| 21 | 29.188 | .905 | 29.028 | S.E. | a.m. 4 p.m. 5 |
0 g.q.p.s. | ||||||
| 22 | .277 | 29.170 | .239 | a.m. S.S.E. p.m. S. by W. |
5 3 |
1 b.c.g.p.s. 3 b.c.p.s. |
||||||
| 23 | .188 | 28.893 | .026 | South | 3 | 2 b.c.g.p.s. | ||||||
| 24 | .216 | .991 | .130 | a.m. South p.m. W.S.W. |
4 | a.m. 3 b.c.q.s. p.m. 0 g.p.s. |
||||||
| 25 | 28.993 | .882 | 28.928 | S.W. | 6 | a.m. 0 g.q.r. p.m. 2 b.c.ph |
||||||
| 26 | .886 | .601 | .684 | W.S.W. | 3 | 0 g.q.p.r.s. | ||||||
| 27 | .634 | .569 | .600 | W.S.W. | 4 | 3 b.c.p.q.h. | ||||||
| 28 | .949 | .646 | .773 | Westerly | 3 | 3 b.c.p.q.h.s | ||||||
| 29 | 29.071 | .963 | 29.037 | a.m. S.S.W. p.m. N.W. |
3 | a.m. 4 b.c. p.m. 4 b.c.p.q.s. |
||||||
| 30 | 0.025 | .625 | 28.868 | N.N.W. | 3 | 0 g.p.r. | ||||||
| 31 | 28.595 | .367 | .443 | a.m. N.W. p.m. W.S.W. |
5 3 |
3 b.c.q.r. 3 b.c.q.s. |
||||||
| 29.932 | 28.178 | 28.9662 | 4.30 | |||||||||
At 8 p.m. we passed due south of Diego Ramirez rocks, at about twenty-two miles distance; and having run till midnight, we hove to, and tried for, but did not obtain, soundings, with two hundred fathoms of line. We now hauled up N. by E. for April 2.Cape Horn, which I wished to sight at daylight; but the wind suddenly shifted to the N.N.E., and frustrated my intention, compelling us to stand to south-eastward, as the rapidly-falling barometer and threatening aspect of the sky gave us notice of a storm: this came on before noon, at which time we were in latitude 57° 25'′ S., longitude 67° 36′ W., Diego Ramirez rocks bearing N. 33° W., distant sixty-seven miles.
As the gale increased, we close-reefed the topsails, and were in the act of reefing the courses at 2 p.m., when James Angelly, quarter-master, fell from the mainyard overboard: the life-buoy being instantly let go, he swam to and got upon it with apparent ease, so that we now considered him safe. Although there was too high a sea running for any boat to live, yet Mr. Oakley and Mr. Abernethy, with their accustomed boldness and humanity, were in one of the cutters ready to make the attempt: I was obliged to order them out of the boat, for the sea was at this time breaking over the ship in such a manner as to make it evident that the cutter would have instantly filled, whilst, by making a short tack, we could fetch to windward of the buoy, and pick him up without any difficulty; we therefore made all sail on the ship, and stood towards him: but just as we got within two hundred yards, the wind headed, and obliged us to pass to leeward, so near, however, as to assure us of being able to fetch well to windward, after a short board. He was seated firmly on the buoy, with his arm round the pole, but had not lashed himself to it with the cords provided for that purpose, probably from being stunned or stupified by striking against the ship's side as he fell overboard. In a quarter of an hour we again stood towards him, with the buoy broad upon our lee bow; but, to our inexpressible grief, our unfortunate shipmate had disappeared from it. We dropped down upon it so exactly, that we could take hold of it with a boat-hook; and, had he been able to have held on four or five minutes longer than he did, his life would have been saved; but it pleased God to order it otherwise. This melancholy event cast a gloom over all his companions, by whom he was much esteemed, as well as greatly respected by his superiors.
In the evening the gale abated, and gradually drawing round to the south-west, enabled us to resume our course to the north-east during the April 3.night; and next morning, being to the eastward of the Diego Ramirez rocks and other islets, many patches of seaweed were met with, the water fowl were also very numerous; besides those of the usual kinds, we observed a chionis, different from that we found at Kerguelen Island, and therefore probably a new species.
At noon, our observations placed us in latitude 56° 41′, longitude 65° 9′ W.; and during the two days we were rounding Cape Horn, we had been carried thirty miles to the north-east by a current. Beaucheiie Island, which we were now steering for, bore N. 41° E. 319 miles.
At 5 p.m. a brig was seen under close-reefed topsails and balanced mainsail, standing to the southward: her appearance created no small sensation, being the first vessel we had seen since our departure from New Zealand more than four months before. It was blowing too hard to communicate, but we hauled up two or three points to run close past her, showing a light, which she answered. We carried a press of sail during the night, and advanced rapidly on our course, being once more fairly on the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
Blowing a strong breeze from the westward, with April 4.frequent squalls and showers of rain, we derived advantage from being under the lee of Staten Island, which we passed at a distance of about fifty miles, but without seeing it, owing to the haziness of the atmosphere. At 6 a.m. we crossed a strong tide ripple, or meeting of currents, along which many beds of the beautiful macrocystis were collected together; and the colour of the ocean changed at once from a clear blue to an olive green.
At 8 p.m., when in latitude 53° 59′ S., and longitude 60° 47′ W., some bottles were thrown overboard, each containing a request that whoever found it would forward the enclosed paper to the secretary of the Admiralty, with the locality and date, in order to determine the set of the current in the vicinity of Cape Horn. It was my practice occasionally throughout the voyage to throw over several bottles at the same spot, made to float with different degrees of buoyancy, by loading them with unequal weights of fine dry sand; the deepest of these would of course be more influenced by the current than the prevailing wind; the lightest, on the contrary, would be carried forward on its course more by the wind than the current; those floating at intermediate depths would serve to show more nearly the joint effects of both. The vicinity of Cape Horn was considered by me an eligible locality for one of these experiments; and I mention it more especially here on account of one of the bottles having been found near Cape Liptrap, in the neighbourhood of Port Philip, Australia, about the middle of September, 1845. The notice of the circumstance, which was first published in the Port Philip Herald, was copied into the Scotsman, from which paper of the 26th August, 1846, the interesting particulars of the course and distance the bottle had drifted have been extracted and placed in the appendix. The editor observes: "That the motion of the bottle must have been eastward, and assuming that it had newly reached the strand, when discovered, it had passed from the vicinity of Cape Horn to Port Philip, a distance of nine thousand miles, in three years and a half. But it could not be supposed that its course was exactly straight; and, if we add a thousand miles for detours, it follows that the current which carried it moved at the rate of eight miles per day."
As no mention was made of any sand being in the bottle when found, it was doubtless the lightest of the five which I threw overboard this evening, and had been hurried forward on its course by the strong westerly winds which blow in the parallel of latitude it had traversed, with much greater force, and with almost equal constancy, as do the trade winds of the equatorial regions in the opposite direction. The bottle in its course will have travelled nearly along the track of our ships in 1840, past the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands, on our way to Van Diemen's Land, where we found, on an average, a daily current of fifteen miles carrying us to the eastward during the months of April, July, and August.[1] It would be most interesting to ascertain what had become of the other bottles that were thrown overboard at the same time with that found near Cape Liptrap.
The wind veered to the southward during the night, and moderated considerably before daylight the next morning. At 5 a.m. Beauchêne Island April 5.was seen bearing N.N.E., directly a-head of us, and, the weather being fine, we sailed close past it. Even this desolate rock was an object of interest to us, after having been out of sight of land for a period of one hundred and thirty-six days.
At noon, the Sea Lion Islands were visible from the maintop with the long reef of rocks and breakers to the eastward of them. The wind fell light in the course of the afternoon, and before midnight it was perfectly calm. We were in soundings all April 6.night varying from thirty-five to sixty fathoms, very irregularly, on a bottom of coarse sand and shells. At 5 a.m. a breeze sprang up from the eastward, against which we had to beat for several hours before we could weather Cape Pembroke, the extreme point of East Falkland Island. At 2 p.m. we rounded the Seal rocks, which lie off the Cape, and bore away for Port Louis. By this time the wind had freshened from the north-east, and the fog soon afterwards came over so thick that we could not see above a quarter of a mile before us; but, guided by Captain Fitzroy's excellent chart, we ran up Berkeley Sound, without hesitation, and were fortunate in hitting the narrow entrance of Port Louis, in which we anchored soon after 5 p.m. in five fathoms, nearly opposite the settlement; but without having been seen by any of the inhabitants, owing to the thick fog which prevailed.
Mr. Hallett, the purser, was sent on shore to procure a supply of fresh beef and vegetables, with which he returned in less than an hour; and although we were all greatly disappointed at our letters from England not having yet arrived, we had the high gratification of learning, that Commander Crozier, Lieutenant Bird, Mr. Smith, mate, and Mr. Mowbray, clerk in charge of the Terror, had been promoted on the day my report reached the Admiralty of our first season's operations in the southern regions—an event which gave much pleasure to all their companions, by whom they were deservedly esteemed, and there was great rejoicing on the happy occasion.
As the services of these officers were indispensable to the expedition, I appointed Commander Bird as additional commander of the Erebus, and Lieutenant Smith into the vacancy thus occasioned; Mr. Mowbray was at the same time appointed purser of the Terror; all of which appointments were subsequently confirmed by the Admiralty.
Mr. Hallett acquainted me that Lieutenant Moody of the Royal Engineers was at present Lieutenant-Governor of the settlement, having arrived so recently as January last, and succeeded Lieutenant Tyssen, commander of Her Majesty's ketch, Sparrow, who up to that period had been in charge of the Falkland Islands.
- ↑ See Vol. 1. p.97., and Appendix, p. 333.