James Clark Ross

“ As we pulled round the island in the boat, we passed a beautiful little recess in the prismatic columns of basalt, presenting a miniature resemblance to Fingal's Cave in Staffa. The spot on which we effected a landing was ice-girt, between which and the foot of the hill a colony of penguins (a new species) had formed a rookery, and were busily engaged rearing their young. They were in such countless multitudes, that it was with difficulty we could make our way through them; and their clamour baffled all description. The young were covered with down, but no eggs were found. ”

“ Cape Horn stood boldly forth to the S.E., and the surface of the vast ocean was spread out beneath me to the south. Whilst surveying the scene around me, the solitude of which was broken only by the Polyborus or Fuegian Hawk hovering overhead, my eye suddenly rested upon half a score of the dusky forms of the Fuegians, wending along one of their tracks in the valley beneath in single file, in the direction of their wigwam, at Joachim's Cove; returning in all probability from an excursion in search of limpets along the ledges of rocks bounding the coast. ”

“ Hooker visited these falls, the day was bright, and he was much struck with the great difference of temperature, as measured by the feelings, on descending from the plain, where he stood exposed to the full force of the sun's rays, into the damp woods from which they are entirely excluded; he also described a phenomenon, which, though common to waterfalls, here produces a remarkable effect; when the sun shines brightly a beautiful rainbow of intensely brilliant colours, spans the dark abyss, mingling its bright hues with the rich foliage of the encircling banks. ”

“ It presented an extraordinary appearance, gradually increasing in height, as we got nearer to it, and proving at length to be a perpendicular cliff of ice, between one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet above the level of the sea, perfectly flat and level at the top, and without any fissures or promontories on its even seaward face. What was beyond it we could not imagine; for being much higher than our mast-head, we could not see any thing except the summit of a lofty range of mountains extending to the southward as far as the seventy-ninth degree of latitude. ”

“ We were now within half a mile of the range of bergs. The roar of the surf, which extended each way as far as we could see, and the crashing of the ice, fell upon the ear with fearful distinctness, whilst the frequently averted eye as immediately returned to contemplate the awful destruction that threatened in one short hour to close the world and all its hopes and joys and sorrows upon us for ever. ”

“ On crossing the Antarctic circle on the new year's day, the White Petrel (Procellaria nivea) , the sure harbinger of ice, first made its appearance; it is the most elegant and beautiful species of all the petrels, and delights to be in the vicinity of ice; for during the summer season it is scarcely ever seen north of the Antarctic circle. It will often, after gracefully skimming the surface of the ocean in search of shrimps and small fishes, elevate its flight, and amuse itself in making rapid circles round the ship. ”

“ During several long rides into the country, I have always found the Tussock flourishing most vigorously in spots exposed to the sea, and on soil unfit for any other plant, viz. the rankest peat bog, black or red. It is wonderful to observe the beaten footpaths of the wild cattle and horses, marked like a foot-track across fields in England, extending for miles over barren moor land, but always terminating in some point or peninsula covered with this favourite fodder, amid which one is almost certain to meet with solitary old bulls, or perhaps a herd of cattle ”

“ Towards noon the breeze freshened to a gale, and we scudded before it, under treble reefed top-sails and fore-sail, at a rapid rate, passing many fragments of broken up bergs, half concealed by bay ice, and the constantly falling snow which prevented our seeing to any considerable distance; we were, however, compelled to run whilst the gale lasted, lest if the wind should fall light, we should be unable to force our way through the streams of young ice. ”

“ With much to delight the eye, and an extraordinary amount of new species to occupy the mind, there is here a want of any of those trees or shrubs to which the voyager has been accustomed in the north; and one cannot help feeling, how much a greater pleasure it would be to find new kinds of the pine, the birch, willow, or the oak, than those remarkable trees which have no allies in the northern hemisphere, and the mention of which, suggesting no familiar form to compare them with at home, can interest few but the professed botanist. ”

“ I, however, had no reason to regret passing the night in the woods, as I not only succeeded in shooting some pigeons, but it afforded me a fine opportunity in my favourite pursuit, ornithology, for observing the habits, and making myself acquainted with the notes of the various species of the feathered tribe. The bottom of the ravine, on the margin of which I passed the night, was brilliantly illumined by phosphorescent particles, which glittered like so many glow-worms, or fire flies, in the decaying wood. ”

“ For eight hours we had been gradually drifting towards what to human eyes appeared inevitable destruction: the high waves and deep rolling of our ships rendered towing with the boats impossible, and our situation the more painful and embarrassing from our inability to make any effort to avoid the dreadful calamity that seemed to await us.
In moments like these comfort and peace of mind could only be obtained by casting our cares upon that Almighty Power which had already so often interposed to save us when human skill was wholly unavailing. ”

“ Still, however, we were not entirely free from anxiety; the wind blowing a strong breeze, directly on to the pack, obliged us to keep a heavy press of sail on the ships to prevent their being again driven down upon it. The thick-falling snow limiting our view to a distance of half a mile, we were uncertain of the result for some hours; but, on the weather clearing up, we had the satisfaction of finding ourselves in an almost perfectly clear sea, a few heavy straggling pieces, and two or three small bergs being the only ice in sight. ”

“ The stem or trunk attaches itself by clasping fibres to the rocks, always beyond high- water mark: it attains a height of eight or ten feet and the thickness of a man's thigh: it branches upwards; and the ends of the branches give out leaves two or three feet long, and barely three inches broad, which, when in the water, hang down like the boughs of a willow. In many places the plant is so copious that it forms a submerged forest. On looking down from a boat through the transparent water where it grows, nothing but a mass of green foliage can be seen. ”

“ We were still too far to leeward for them to venture off to us, and after beating to windward until 2 p.m., when just as we could have fetched into the bay, the wind suddenly increased to a strong gale, and the violent gusts that rushed along the almost perpendicular coast line, raising the spoondrift in clouds over us, reduced us to a close-reefed main-topsail and storm staysails, under which, when within half a mile of the shore, we wore and stood off again, seeing the utter hopelessness of communicating with the party until the return of more moderate weather. ”

“ Fortunately, the gale was driving the pack before it, at about the same rate that we were dropping down upon it. We wore and stood to the eastward, under all the sail we could possibly carry; our masts, though aided by additional supports, quivered to every sea that broke over the ship, and the sprays freezing as they fell upon the rigging and decks, rendered it difficult to work the ropes, while the extreme darkness of the night kept us in continual apprehension of collision with some of the bergs which at times it seemed almost impossible to avoid. ”

“ Soon after noon it fell quite calm; and, after firing a few guns, we observed a white flag hoisted on a pole by the party in America Bay: we were, at this time, about five miles from the shore and directly between Possession and East Islands; the weather was still too unsettled for a boat to come off to us. While lying becalmed in this passage we obtained soundings in eighty-five fathoms, on a bank of sand, shells, and corallines. At dusk, on a breeze springing up from the north-west, we stood off to sea for the night. ”

“ Nothing could be more satisfactory than the perfect accordance of our observations in a determination of so much importance: nor could it fail to be of more than ordinary interest to me to witness the needle thus affected; having some years previously, when at the north magnetic pole, seen it in a directly vertical position: nor was it unnatural, when we saw the south pole of the needle beginning to point below the horizon, to indulge the hope that ere long we might be permitted again to see it in a similar position at the south magnetic pole of the earth. ”

“ I regretted extremely that it was not in my power to see more of the present condition and resources of the colony: the constant attendance at the observatory, and the unfavourable weather, prevented my making any excursions into the country, or indeed seeing either the town or public buildings to advantage.
The first appearance of the colony impresses the mind with wonder and admiration; and it seems hardly possible to imagine that little more than fifty years have elapsed since a "howling wilderness" occupied the place on which this great metropolis of a future empire now stands. ”

“ In the afternoon we passed the entrance of Port Arthur, one of the best harbours in Van Diemen's Land. It is situated between Cape Raoul and Cape Pillar; and, although a dense mist concealed these two remarkable capes from our view, we occasionally caught a glimpse of the lofty basaltic columns of Cape Pillar, which we passed at a few miles' distance, just before dark. The wind being fresh from the northward, we felt the effects of a heavy irregular sea as we stood to the eastward during the night, when we got from under the lee of the land. ”

“ Again, the Tussock-grass field, when fully established, must not be grazed indiscriminately by cattle. These creatures and the pigs have already diminished its abundance in the Falklands; for, after devouring the foliage, they eat down the stumps of the culms, greedily following them into the heart of the mass of roots from which they spring, for the sake of the white core just described; the rain-water lodges in the cavity thus formed, and decay so surely follows, that I have seen nearly half a mile of Tussock-grass plants entirely destroyed by no other means. ”

“ Wrenched from their attachment to the rocks and washed ashore, these sea-weeds become twisted together by rolling in the heavy surf, till they form enormous vegetable cables, much thicker than the human body, and several hundred feet in length. In some parts, the beach is so cumbered with these masses that walking becomes quite laborious; the pedestrian sinks frequently to the knees in the decaying heaps, and animal substance being also caught up, as in a net, the traveller's progress is rendered both offensive and tedious. ”

“ Indeed, after being a short time in this charming country, it is difficult to feel that we are at the farthest distant point of the earth from our own loved land; and wherever we went, the hearty welcome and liberal hospitality with which we were received, seemed to strengthen, in no small degree, the impression of resemblance to our own happy island, except that in this the necessities of travellers being so much greater, offers a proportionally wider field for the exercise of these generous sentiments and conduct. ”

“ At the time I sent my letter to Captain Ross, I did not know the English discoverer's name; but whether the English discovery was so marked or not, is of but little consequence, for Captain Ross knew of Bellamy's discovery before he left England, and therefore must have seen at once the longitude and latitude of that on the tracing were almost identically the same with those of Bellamy's; and I am satisfied that the only erroneous conclusion Captain Ross could have been led into by it, was, that I had verified Bellamy's discovery. ”

“ The bay we had entered was formed by a projecting peninsula of ice, terminated by a cape one hundred and seventy feet high; but at the narrow isthmus which connected it to the great barrier it was not more than fifty feet high, affording us the only opportunity we had of seeing its upper surface from our mast-heads: it appeared to be quite smooth, and conveyed to the mind the idea of an immense plain of frosted silver. Gigantic icicles depended from every projecting point of its perpendicular cliffs, proving that it sometimes thaws, which otherwise we could not have believed ”

“ A dredge put overboard for a short time in ninety-five fathoms, at about five or six miles east of the island, came up quite full of a small white coral, and between thirty and forty different kinds of marine animals, corallines, flustræ, and sponges. At daylight in the morning we found that we had been carried so far to leeward by a strong tide, or more probably a current, and so heavy a swell prevailed from the westward, the forerunner of the coming gale, that I reluctantly gave up my intention of landing, rather than lose any more time in hopeless endeavours, and bore away for the Crozets. ”

“ 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 ”