Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 1.djvu/392

294 the position of the mountains said to have been seen by Lieutenant Ringgold; and it is therefore probable that when he became acquainted with Balleny's discovery he had some doubts of the existence of these mountains, and removed them from his original chart, but omitted to do so in the copy of it which he sent to me. This is the only way I can account for the mistake; for at the time he sent me the chart I knew that he had authentic information of the true place of the Balleny Islands; as, on my arrival at Sydney, I was told by Mr. Leay, the late colonial secretary, and also by his son, Mr. W. S. Leay, that, meeting Lieutenant Wilkes soon after his return from the antarctic cruise, they told him of Balleny's discovery. He seemed to doubt their statement; but the next day they called upon him, and placed in his hands No. 629 of the "Athenæum," published in November, 1839, and pointed out to him the account there given of the discovery: on reading which, in their presence, he exclaimed, "Then all our labour has been in vain."

The following is a copy of the paragraph alluded to:—"In July, 1838, two small vessels belonging to Messrs. Enderby and other merchants sailed from London on a voyage to the South Seas, with special instructions to push as far as possible to the southward in search of land. Touching at Amsterdam Island, Chalky Bay, in New Zealand, and Campbell's Islands, the vessels proceeded to the southward, and reached their extreme south latitude 69° in 172° 11′ E. longitude, full two hundred