Feb. 19.Mount Erebus was in sight until 3 30 a.m. at a distance of fifty leagues, and would probably have been seen at a greater distance had not some clouds passed over it at that time.
At noon we were in lat. 75° 3′ S. long., 168° 40′ E., Cape Washington and Mount Melbourne bearing (true) N.W. by W. In the afternoon we got much closer to the shore, and observed a deep bay formed between Cape Washington and another fine bold cape, which I named Cape Johnson, after Captain Edward John Johnson of the Royal Navy. The bay between Cape Johnson and Cape Washington was called Wood's Bay, after the third lieutenant of the Erebus, whilst the north extreme cape received that of the second lieutenant, now Commander John Sibbald. Late in the evening we observed the land ice extending from Cape Sibbald to the north extreme of Coulman Island, which obliged us to stand out to the north-east to clear it; at the same time some islets were seen that had not before been noticed, to which I applied the name of Lieutenant Kay, director of the Rossbank observatory at Van Diemen's Land, and third lieutenant of the Terror.
Feb. 20.Soon after midnight the breeze freshened to a gale. As we stood out of the bight to the eastward, we passed through a great quantity of newly formed ice, and amongst heavy pieces of pack ice; and it was not until 9 a.m. we got clear of it, when having rounded Cape Anne, at a few miles' distance, we again bore away before the gale under