Part 8 (1/2)
”At 1.30 A.M. on the 23rd the pack-ice was seen to trend to the south-west. After steaming west for twenty-five miles, we stood south in longitude 182 degrees 30' E, shortly afterwards pa.s.sing over the charted position of Cote Clarie. The water here was clear of pack-ice, but studded with bergs of immense size. The great barrier which the French s.h.i.+ps followed in 1840 had vanished. A collection of huge bergs was the sole remnant to mark its former position.
”At 10 A.M., having pa.s.sed to the south of the charted position of D'Urville's Cote Clarie, we altered course to S. 10 degrees E. true.
Good observations placed us at noon in lat.i.tude 65 degrees 2' S. and 132 degrees 26' E. A sounding on sand and small stones was taken in one hundred and sixty fathoms. We sailed over the charted position of land east of Wilkes's Cape Carr in clear weather.
”At 5.30 P.M. land was sighted to the southward--snowy highlands similar to those of Adelie Land but greater in elevation.
”After sounding in one hundred and fifty-six fathoms on mud, the s.h.i.+p stood directly towards the land until 9 P.M. The distance to the nearest point was estimated at twenty miles; heavy floe-ice extending from our position, lat.i.tude 65 degrees 45' S. and longitude 132 degrees 40' E., right up to the sh.o.r.e. Another sounding realized two hundred and thirty fathoms, on sand and small stones. Some open water was seen to the south-east, but an attempt to force a pa.s.sage in that direction was frustrated.
”At 3 A.M. on the 24th we were about twelve miles from the nearest point of the coast, and further progress became impossible. The southern slopes were seamed with numerous creva.s.ses, but at a distance the precise nature of the sh.o.r.es could not be accurately determined.”
To this country, which had never before been seen, was given the name of Wilkes's Land; as it is only just to commemorate the American Exploring Expedition on the Continent which its leader believed he had discovered in these seas and which he would have found had Fortune favoured him with a fair return for his heroic endeavours.
”We steered round on a north-westerly course, and at noon on January 24 were slightly to the north of our position at 5.30 A.M. on the 23rd.
A sounding reached one hundred and seventy fathoms and a muddy bottom.
Environing us were enormous bergs of every kind, one hundred and eighty to two hundred feet in height. During the afternoon a westerly course was maintained in clear water until 4 P.M., when the course was altered to S. 30 degrees W., in the hope of winning through to the land visible on the southern horizon.”
[TEXT ILl.u.s.tRATION]
s.h.i.+p's tracks in the vicinity of Totten's Land and North's Land
At 8 P.M. the sky was very clear to the southward, and the land could be traced to a great distance until it faded in the south-west. But the s.h.i.+p had come up with the solid floe-ice once more, and had to give way and steam along its edge. This floating breakwater held us off and frustrated all attempts to reach the goal which we sought.
”The next four days was a period of violent gales and heavy seas which drove the s.h.i.+p some distance to the north. Nothing was visible through swirling clouds of snow. The 'Aurora' behaved admirably, as she invariably does in heavy weather. The main pack was encountered on January 29, but foggy weather prevailed. It was not until noon on January 31 that the atmosphere was sufficiently clear to obtain good observations. The s.h.i.+p was by this time in the midst of heavy floe in the vicinity of longitude 119 degrees E., and again the course had swung round to south. We had soon pa.s.sed to the south of Balleny's Sabrina Land without any indication of its existence. Considering the doubtful character of the statements justifying its appearance on the chart, it is not surprising that we did not verify them.
”At 11 A.M. the floes were found too heavy for further advance. The s.h.i.+p was made fast to a big one and a large quant.i.ty of ice was taken on board to replenish the fresh-water supply. A tank of two hundred gallons' capacity, heated within by a steam coil from the engineroom, stood on the p.o.o.p deck. Into this ice was continuously fed, flowing away as it melted into the main tanks in the bottom of the s.h.i.+p.
”At noon the weather was clear, but nothing could be discerned in the south except a faint blue line on the horizon. It may have been a 'lead'
of water, an effect of mirage, or even land-ice--in any case we could not approach it.”
The position as indicated by the noon observations placed the s.h.i.+p within seven miles of a portion of Totten's High Land in Wilkes's charts. As high land would have been visible at a great distance, it is clear that Totten's High Land either does not exist or is situated a considerable distance from its charted location. A sounding was made in three hundred and forty fathoms.
[TEXT ILl.u.s.tRATION]
s.h.i.+p's track in the vicinity of Knox Land and Budd Land
Towards evening the 'Aurora' turned back to open water and cruised along the pack-ice. A sounding next day showed nine hundred and twenty-seven fathoms.
It was about this time that a marked improvement was noted in the compa.s.s. Ever since the first approach to Adelie Land it had been found unreliable, for, on account of the proximity to the magnetic pole, the directive force of the needle was so slight that very large local variations were experienced.
The longitude of Wilkes's Knox Land was now approaching. With the exception of Adelie Land, the account by Wilkes concerning Knox Land is more convincing than any other of his statements relating to new Antarctic land. If they had not already disembarked, we had hoped to land the western party in that neighbourhood. It was, therefore, most disappointing when impenetrable ice blocked the way, before Wilkes's ”farthest south” in that locality had been reached. Three determined efforts were made to find a weak spot, but each time the 'Aurora' was forced to retreat, and the third time was extricated only with great difficulty. In lat.i.tude 65 degrees 5' S. longitude 107 degrees 20' E., a sounding of three hundred fathoms was made on a rocky bottom. This sounding pointed to the probability of land within sixty miles.
Repulsed from his attack on the pack, Captain Davis set out westward towards the charted position of Termination Land, and in following the trend of the ice was forced a long way to the north.
At 7.40 A.M., February 8, in foggy weather, the ice-cliff of floating shelf-ice was met. This was disposed so as to point in a north-westerly direction and it was late in the day before the s.h.i.+p doubled its northern end. Here the sounding wire ran out for eight hundred and fifty fathoms without reaching bottom. Following the wall towards the south-south-east, it was interesting at 5.30 P.M. to find a sounding of one hundred and ten fathoms in lat.i.tude 64 degrees 45'. A line of large grounded bergs and ma.s.sive floe-ice was observed ahead trailing away from the ice-wall towards the north-west.
On plotting the observations, it became apparent that the shelf-ice was in the form of a prolonged tongue some seven miles in breadth. As it occupied the position of the ”Termination Land” which has appeared on some charts, (after Wilkes) it was named Termination Ice-Tongue.
A blizzard sprang up, and, after it had been safely weathered in the lee of some grounded bergs, the 'Aurora' moved off on the afternoon of February 11. The horizon was obscured by mist, as she pursued a tortuous track amongst bergs and scattered lumps of heavy floe. Gradually the sea became more open, and by noon on February 12 the water had deepened to two hundred and thirty-five fathoms. Good progress was made to the south; the vessel dodging icebergs and detached floes.