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172 their task. They were laden with specimens broken from the living rock. These were granites of various hues. They brought, besides, some penguins, which seemed of a different species from those which they had noticed in their first visit to the ice-fields. They had seen no other trace of any organized being belonging to either the animal or vegetable kingdom. From the aspect of these rocks, no one on board retained the slightest doubt as to the nature of the formidable barrier which closed all further progress against the ships.

Captain D'Urville was desirous of still continuing to skirt the land, which stretched indefinitely to the west; but the ice began to close, and when they were sufficiently near to it, they perceived that the icebergs were held together by a floe of ice which seemed to stretch from the land in a northerly direction. This unexpected barrier they strove to double; but, after every tack, it presented itself anew, and seemed to envelop them in long windings. No other resource was then left than to work between the land and the shoal, in the hope of freeing themselves from the difficulties in which they had become involved. Twenty-four hours later, after two long reaches, they were yet on the edge of the shoal, which seemed still to run north-east, as far as the eye could extend. Hitherto, it had been merely an affair of patience and vigilance; for, after all, under ordinary circumstances, they could always reckon on at least returning by the way they had come. But the weather, which for four days had been unvaryingly fine, suddenly changed. The sky was, in all directions, overcast; the wind rapidly freshened,