v i SUMMARY OF TH E VOYAGE.
point, whence the real object of the voyage, namely that which included South Polar
Discovery, would commence. On the 6th of April 1840 we quitted Simon’s Bay,
and first entered a cold and inhospitable latitude (42° S.) on the 17th of the same
m on th ; then, only four days after, holding a westward course, we passed to the
south of Marion’s Island, formed of flat terraces of black volcanic rock and cone-shaped
mountains, often of a reddish tinge, and towering to a considerable height. Here occurred
the first botanical phfenomenon, the Macrocystis pyrifera (a remarkable gigantic
seaweed), being exceedingly abundant. The ships were hove to between Marion’s and
Prince Edward’s Islands, with the view to going ashore the following day ; but during
the night a heavy gale arose which drove them far to the westward, thus disappointing
the hopes which had been formed of collecting objects o f natural history on an island
never previously explored by any scientific individual.
On the 28th, after a succession o f storms, the Crozet Islands were gained : this
group lies far to the westward of the position that had been assigned to it, namely in
lat. 47J° S. and long. 4 6 ^ 8 ° E . ; and here the same disappointment awaited us, for after
being blown off, and again on the 1st of May beating up to Possession, the most eastern
of the cluster, the threatening appearance o f the weather forbade any attempt to
land. The Crozet Islands are all volcanic, and of the wildest and most rocky a sp e c t;
the harbours are very few, and some of the islands are entirely inaccessible. The
mountains rise in peaks and cones to an elevation of 4 0 0 0 -5 0 0 0 feet, exhibiting patches
of perpetual snow on the summits, while dense fogs frequently envelope their bases,
borne from the sea, to such an elevation, that the highest points alone are visible. To
all appearance the vegetation is equally scanty and stunted as that which Kerguelen’s
Island afterwards afforded, and the questions which were put to a party o f miserable
sealers who came off to the ship, elicited no satisfactory information as to whether the
valuable "Cabbage" of the latter island also inhabits the Crozet group. Scudding before
heavy westerly gales, on the 6th of May a remarkable conical rock, called Bligh’s Cap,
was descried ; it lies off the north-west extremity of Kerguelen’s Island ; but thick
weather prevented Sir James Ross from making the land, from which the ships were
again driven to a distance of 150 miles and obliged to beat back, finally casting anchor
in Christmas Harbour, on the 12th of May 1840.
At Kerguelen’s Island, all the plants that had been originally detected by the illus-
SUMMARY OF TH E VOYAGE. yii
tnous Cook were gathered during the two and a half winter months that the “ Erebus
and Terror” staid there, together with many other species, a remarkable proof o f the
uniformity of the climate, and the comparative mildness of the winter season. The ships
left Kerguelen’s Island on the 20th of July, and arrived in the river Derwent, Van
Diemen’s Island, on the 16th of August 1840.
On the 12th o f November 1840, we quitted Hobarton for our first voyage to the
South Pole, during which the only places visited which yielded many plants were
Lord Auckland s Islands, lat, 5 0 j° S., long. 166° E., where we arrived after a week’s
sail from the last-mentioned coast, and staid there during the spring months o f that
latitude, and Campbell’s Island, in lat. 5 2 i° S., long. 169° E. Quitting that island
again on the 17th of December, the ships finally sailed for an entirely unexplored region
of discovery. The Macrocystis and D ’Vrvillaia were found in large vegetating floating
patches, nearly as far south as any open water remained free o f bergs, in lat. 61° S. The
vessels entered the pack-ice in lat, 68° S., long. 175°.
During this voyage the vast extent of continent, since called “ Victoria Land,”
was discovered*, together with the active volcano “ Mount Erebus,” the extinct one
“ Mount Terror,” and that icy barrier, which, running east and west, in the parallel of
78° S., prevents all farther progress towards the polef. Two small islets were landed
upon : one in lat. 71° 49' S ., long. 170° 52' E. ; the other, Franklin Island, in lat. 76° S.
and long. 168° 59' E. ; but neither of these spots presented the slightest trace o f vegetation.
On the return voyage the Macrocystis again occurred, floating as usual in immense
masses, in lat. 51° 10' S., and long. 137° E.
The expedition returned to Hobarton. Van Diemen’s Island, late in the autumn
(of that latitude), April 7th, 1841 ; on the 7th of July again started from Van Diemen’s
Island, and after a short visit to Sydney, cast anchor in the Bay of Islands, New
Zealand, August I8th, 1841, where we remained three months. This time was spent
in collecting materials for a Flora of New Zealand, in which object we received great
assistance from Mr. Colenso and many other gentlemen, by means o f whose zealous
cooperation our collections were rendered extremely valuable.
The second exploring voyage was commenced on the 15th of November 1841. It
had been Captain Ross’s intention to land on Chatham Island, in lat. 44° S. and 176°
* F i* Chart. t F i* Vignette.