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234
THE GREAT PENGUINS.
[Chap. VIII.
1841
and amongst numerous bergs to the eastward; at noon we were in lat. 77° S., and long. 192° 15′ E., when the ice appearing more open, with smooth water, we began to beat up to the southward to endeavour to close the barrier: many seals and penguins were seen on the ice. At 8 p.m. we had reached lat. 77° 18′ and long. 193°, where we found the ice so close in every direction that we were unable to proceed any further, and were obliged to dodge about in a hole of water two or three miles in diameter to wait for a favourable change. We obtained soundings in two hundred and seventy fathoms, muddy bottom, at four o'clock the next Feb. 5.morning. The ice was so closely packed to the eastward and southward that we could make no way in either direction, so we continued beating about in the small hole of water in which we were shut up by the closing of the ice. We saw several of the large penguins, and three were brought on board: they were very powerful birds, and we had some difficulty in killing them: each of the two larger weighed sixty-six pounds, and the smallest fifty-seven pounds: their flesh is very dark, and of a rank fishy flavour. In the evening we made fast with warps to a heavy floe piece, and employed all hands in collecting ice to replenish our water, which was now getting rather short. Two seals were also captured to furnish us with oil for the winter. We cast off again at 10 p.m., having taken on board a sufficient quantity of ice, and stood out through a narrow opening we had watched forming
