Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 1.djvu/339

] bergs and loose pieces of ice during the early part of the next day, and were frequently obliged to bear away to clear them. In the afternoon the storm began to abate, and on the weather clearing up for a short time, we found ourselves in a more open space.

I now became convinced of the necessity of at once relinquishing any attempt to penetrate to the eastward, and of deferring the further examination of the barrier to the following season; and the wind having shifted to the eastward, we bore away before it for the purpose of making another attempt to reach the magnetic pole, and of seeking a harbour in its vicinity in which we might pass the winter.

Thick fog and constant snow, which prevailed during the remainder of this and greater part of the following day, obliged us to run under moderate sail, to prevent the ships separating, and to be in readiness to avoid any danger that might suddenly arise; we, however, were in a perfectly clear sea, not a single piece of ice to be seen during the whole time, and the temperature of the air had risen to the freezing point.

At noon we were in lat. 76° 22′ S., long. 178° 16′ E.; the dip had again increased to 87° as we approached the pole, now distant from us about three hundred and sixty miles, and the variation being 91°, showed us we were very nearly in its latitude: we continued, therefore, to steer direct south by compass. The mildness of the day, notwithstanding the constant snow, was much enjoyed by us,