Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/226

198 which kept the crew constantly employed with axes, breaking it away; and from their exposure to the inclemency of the weather, several of them suffered severely. A remarkable circumstance occurred on board the Terror during this storm, which may help to convey a better idea of the intensity of the cold we experienced than the mere reference to the state of the thermometer. Whilst her people were engaged chopping away the thick coat of ice from her bows, which had been formed by the freezing of a portion of each wave that she plunged into, a small fish was found in the mass; it must have been dashed against the ship, and instantly frozen fast. It was carefully removed for the purpose of preservation, a sketch of it made, and its dimensions taken by Dr. Robertson, but it was unfortunately seized upon and devoured by a cat. Dr. Richardson observes, "that the sketch is not sufficiently detailed to show either the number or nature of the gill and fin rays, or whether the skin was scaly or not, so that even the order to which the fish belongs is uncertain, and we have introduced a copy of the design, merely to preserve a memorial of what appears to be a novel form, discovered under such peculiar circumstances." It was rather more than six inches in length.

In the evening the gale abated and veered to the northward, which enabled us to make more