Chap. VII.]
THE GREAT ICY BARRIER IN SIGHT.
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sail and resume our southerly course; early the next morning we began to meet with numerousFeb. 22. pieces of heavy ice, and afterwards streams more or less compact, through which we were obliged to force the ships. Several bergs of the table-top form and of large size were also seen.
At noon we were in latitude 76º 42′ S. and longitude 165º 50′ W., the magnetic dip 85º 40′, and the variation 82º 46′ E. A piece of ice was seen bearing a black rock, apparently about six feet in diameter; and at 6 a.m. we hove to, and obtained soundings in one hundred and ninety fathoms, green mud and small black stones; hence we inferred, that the numerous lofty bergs by which we were surrounded had grounded on this bank after their detachment from the place of their formation. The great barrier was seen from the masthead just before midnight, the weather being fine and the breeze moderate from the northward; but as it was blowing directly on to the barrier, we were obliged to approach it with caution, for a moreFeb. 23. dangerous lee shore could not be imagined. As soon, therefore, as we got within five or six miles of its vertical cliffs, we hauled to the eastward, in order to continue its examination, and with the hope of being able to turn its eastern extremity and then attain a much higher latitude. But the young ice which we had observed thickening rapidly under the severe temperature became so strong that we could hardly make any way through it, and were ultimately compelled to haul off to the
