land ahead. At first it showed itself like a simple line, low, light, and uncertain; but gradually it defined itself, and presented a novel spectacle to the eager eyes of the officers and crew. They were close under a terrible perpendicular wall of ice, perfectly flat on the summit, and rising about a hundred and thirty feet above the waves. Not the slightest projection broke its irregularity throughout the sixty miles which they traversed this day. Meanwhile, though sailing close under this wall of ice, the lead gave no soundings at 160 fathoms. Touching the nature of this enormous wall, opinions were divided. Some held it to be merely a huge mass of compacted ice, independent of any land; while others maintained that this formidable girdle served at least as a covering or crust to some solid base, whether of earth, or rocks, or of scattered shoals, projected in advance of a great land. All their researches failed to find a break in this great barrier which appeared to surround the greater portion of the Antarctic Polar Circle, so as to present itself, at nearly all points, to the mariner who is bold enough and fortunate enough to penetrate the region of storms which ordinarily engirdles it. Wearied with their efforts, and anxious for the crew, whose health began again to be affected by the hardships of the voyage, Captain D'Urville at length bade a final adieu to these wild and inhospitable seas, and turned his course northward for Hobart Town, where they arrived without incident or difficulty.
