Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/412

368 ship. Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon Captain Crozier and his officers, for the seamanlike manner in which the Terror was conducted and maintained her station throughout these severe gales; and the vigilance, activity, and cool courage displayed by Commander Bird, and the rest of my companions, deserve the expression of my high admiration.

By daylight the next morning the wind had veered to the E.S.E., but the heavy swell occasioned by the N.E. gale prevented our making such good way in that direction as we otherwise should have done. At noon our latitude was 69° 38′ S., longitude 15° 43′ W.

The whole of the rest of the day and during the night the storm still raged, and kept us anxiously on the look out to avoid the bergs; and it can never cease to be a source of wonder and gratitude that we escaped running against them.

We kept under easy sail during the night; but as soon as day broke we set all that the ships could carry, steering to the north-east. The wind moderated towards noon, and the fine day which followed was one of real enjoyment, after the almost uninterrupted succession of gales and thick weather we had experienced during the past week.

At 9 a remarkable ray of light was seen between two dark clouds; it was mentioned in the log-book as a stationary beam of Aurora Australis, bearing west, and inclined in an angle of about 45° to the southward. It was seen frequently