Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 1.djvu/407

] avoided the bergs and heavy ice we were sailing amongst.

As we were now approaching the meridian of the pole indicated by M. Gauss's theory, although in a somewhat lower latitude, such magnetic observations as depended not on the weather were made in uninterrupted succession, and the variation of the compass was observed whenever the sun was to be seen between the clouds which covered the sky nearly the whole day. At noon we were in lat. 64° 20′ S., long. 148° 45′ E., dip 84° 27′ S., var. 15° 45′ E.: standing to the S.W. under all sail, direct for the point we were seeking, we made the heavy pack edge at 8, and bore away along it to the westward, through streams of young ice and loose pieces from the pack; the sky was overcast, but there was sufficient light from the moon to enable us to run without hazard during the night.

At seven the next morning, when in lat. 65° 15′ S., and long. 144° 53′ E., and therefore only forty-five miles north of the spot, our observations gave a dip of 85° 5′, but the variation could not be observed, owing to the clouded state of the sky, between the evening of the 19th, when in lat. 64° 24′, and long. 148° 27′ E., it amounted to 16° 41′ E., and the evening of the 20th, in lat. 65° 4′, and long. 142° 49′, when it was 12° 37′ E.; the main pack prevented our nearer approach to the interesting point, but our observations perfectly corroborate those we