we are somewhat astonished that any unfair use should have been made of Captain Wilkes' chart, which was transmitted to Capt. Ross with the kindest intentions. Captain Wilkes, yielding to his generous impulses, and "desirous," as he expresses it himself in his letter to Capt. Ross, "to make some return for the liberal assistance and great interest evinced by the learned societies and distinguished men of Great Britain, to promote and aid this our first undertaking in the great cause of science and usefulness,"-wrote to him from the Bay of Islands, in New-Zealand, on the 5th April, 1840, giving him a full account of the Antarctic cruise of our squadron, including the course of the winds and currents, the magnetic observations, and every circumstance connected with it, that could be useful, accompanied by a chart of his track and discoveries. This full and frank communication, made for the sole purpose of promoting the great objects of both expeditions, was never acknowledged, and the only notice the writer had of its having been received, was, the publication of Capt. Ross' extraordinary assertion, that he had sailed over the spot where Capt. Wilkes had indicated land on the chart he sent him. This, we take leave to say, is sheer nonsense. There is not a passed-midshipman in our squadron who would have committed so gross an error. It appears, that Capt. Ross mistook for an indication of land, a line drawn on the chart to connect the land supposed to have been discovered by Bellamy, with that discovered by our expedition. We are surprised that this mistake should have been made by the English navigator, because the tracks of the several vessels of our squadron were laid down on the same chart, clearly showing that this line made no part of our discoveries. The French geographers say, that the best answer Capt. Wilkes could have given, would have been the publication of the chart itself, with exact indications of the portions of land seen by each vessel. This is now before the public, in the Atlas which accompanies these volumes. The French and English navigators had greatly the advantage of us in this particular. A map of the discoveries made by Admiral Dumont D'Urville, in Jan., 1840, was published by his government in June of the same year. Those of Capt. Ross, made in January, 1841, were published in the same manner in July of that year. While the chart exhibiting the discoveries of our expedition in January, 1840, for which we claim priority, was not submitted to the

public until four years after. This is owing to the circumstance of our Executive not being empowered to incur any expense without the authority of law.

It is to be regretted that this contingency had not been provided for, in order that the claims of our squadron might have been brought before the world at the same time with those of rival expeditions. We venture to hope that a map of the Pacific, including all our discoveries and surveys, will shortly be published for the use of our ships trading in that

ocean.

It is impossible to read the portion of the narrative containing an account of the Antarctic cruise, without being struck with the intrepidity, hardihood and skill displayed by the commanders, officers and men of our squadron, throughout the whole of this arduous duty. They encountered, for the first time, the difficulties and dangers attending this navigation, amidst floating ice, in a stormy sea, and in vessels badly prepared for such service.

The Vincennes was kept in these latitudes as long as there existed the least chance of landing on the continent discovered by the expedition, or of tracing its limits further west. The captain, although much harrassed by unremitting attention to the safety of his ship, refused to yield to the opinion of the medical and other officers of the ship, that it was necessary to seek a milder latitude on account of the exhausted condition of the crew; and remained three weeks longer anxiously striving to land on the new continent, and to proceed far enough west to connect it with the discoveries of Capt. Cook. After tracing the new continent for a distance of fifteen hundred miles, he was compelled by adverse winds and successive storms to abandon the enterprise, and bear away to the north.

The following account of one of the gales encountered by the Vincennes during this cruise, while it offers a striking example of the hazards and hardships to which they were at times subjected, exhibits a good specimen of the author's style:

"At 8 P. M. it began to blow very hard, with a violent snow storm circumscribing our view, and rendering it impossible to see more than two ship's-lengths ahead. The cold was severe, and every spray that touched the ship was immediately converted into ice. 9 P. M., the barometer still falling, and the gale increasing, we reduced sail to close-reefed fore and main-topsails, reefed foresail and

At

trysails, under which we passed numerous icebergs, some to windward, and some to leeward of us. At 10h. 30m., we found ourselves thickly beset with them, and had many narrow escapes. The excitement became intense. It required a constant change of helm to avoid those close aboard; and we were compelled to press the ship with canvass, in order to escape them by keeping her to windward. We thus passed close along their weather sides, and distinctly heard the roar of the surf dashing against them. We had from time to time glimpses of their obscure outline, appearing as though immediately above us. After many escapes, I found the ship so covered with ice, and the watch so powerless in managing her, that a little after midnight on the 29th I had all hands called.

"The gale at this moment was awful. We found we were passing large masses of drift ice, and ice islands became more numerous. At a little after 1 o'clock it was terrific, and the sea was now so heavy that I was obliged to reduce sail still further; the fore and maintopsails were clewed up,-the former was furled, but the latter being a new sail, much difficulty was found in securing it. Several of the best men were completely exhausted with cold, fatigue and excitement, and were sent below. This added to our anxieties, and but little hope remained to me of escaping. I felt that neither prudence nor foresight could avail in protecting the ship and crew. All that could be done was to be prepared for any emergency, by keeping every one at his station.

"We were swiftly dashing on, for I felt it necessary to keep the ship under rapid way through the water, to enable her to steer and work quickly. Suddenly, many voices cried out 'Ice ahead!'-then 'on the weather bow-and again, 'on the lee bow and abeam! All hope of escape seemed in a moment to vanish. Return we could not, as large ice-islands had just been passed to leeward; so we dashed on, expecting every moment the crash. The ship, in an instant, from having her lee guns under water, rose upright; and so close were we passing to leeward of one of these huge islands, that our trysails were almost thrown aback by the eddy wind; the helm was put up to pay the ship off, but the proximity of those under our lee bade me keep my course. All was now still, except the distant roar of the wild storm, that was raging before, behind and above us. The sea was in great agitation, and both officers and men were in the highest degree excited. The ship continued her way, and as we proceeded a glimmering of hope arose, for we had accidentally hit upon a clear passage between two large ice islands, which, in fine weather, we should not have dared venture through. The suspense endured while making our way between them was intense, but of short duration; and my spirits rose as I heard the whistling of the gale grow louder and louder before us, as we emerged from the passage. We had escaped an awful death, and were again tempest-tost."

The cruise of the Peacock was terminated by having the rudder knocked off in a rough encounter with an ice island. By this accident the ship was placed in imminent danger, from which it was rescued by the skilful manoeuvres of its

gallant commander. He succeeded, by the aid of his brave officers and men, with the use of the sails and ice-anchors, in working the vessel through an intricate channel beset with floe-ice, and icebergs sometimes thumping violently against, and at other times wedged between them.

The circumstances attending the accident and escape, are well told. We read the account with intense interest, and held our breath when the boat employed on the hazardous duty of planting the ice-anchors got jammed between two icebergs on returning to the ship. Its escape from this peril was almost miraculous. Nor, when the Peacock had reached the open sea, and the rudder was again hung, were the dangers of the cruise over. There yet remained some thousands of miles of stormy ocean to be traversed in a crippled and leaky ship, and we followed the track of this ill-fated vessel with some anxiety, to the hospitable harbour at Sydney.

The Porpoise was, perhaps, the best suited of all the vessels of the squadron for this service, and the account of its cruise, as given in the narrative, will be read with great interest.

On the 14th of February, having reached a few degrees beyond his instructions, that is to say, longitude 100° E., latitude 64° 15',-Lieut. Commandant Ringold commenced his return east, coasting along the barrier, and on the 24th put the brig's head north. On the 5th of March he made the Auckland Islands, and on the 7th anchored in Sarah's Bosom, where a supply of wood and water was taken on board. This island is much frequented by whaling ships, for the purpose of refitting and awaiting there the whaling season-April and May. The Porpoise fell in with one of our vessels employed in this trade, the master of which stated that there were one hundred whale ships cruising in the neighboring seas.

The cruise of the tender Flying Fish was one of the most arduous. This vessel was altogether too small and too weak for such a service, and the crew suffered incredible hardships. They were so reduced by fatigue and sickness, that they could not muster sufficient force to reef the foresail in a heavy gale, and had to lay to under the whole sail, which caused the vessel to labour badly and to leak like a seive. After reaching the longitude of 139° 45′ east, and latitude 61 S., Lieutenant Commandant Pinckney very properly

yielded to the opinion of his officers, and returning north, brought his little bark in safety to New-Zealand.

The tenders Sea Gull and Flying Fish were well adapted to the surveying service, and the latter proved very useful among the islands and on the coast; but they were entirely unfit to encounter the stormy seas of high latitudes. The Sea Gull, with all on board, was totally lost off Cape Horn, and the Flying Fish nearly shared the same fate in the tremendous seas and heavy gales of the Antarctic region.

It will not be uninteresting to give a rapid sketch of the discoveries made in the Antarctic sea, since the departure of our squadron in 1839. The English fitted out an expedition for the especial object of making magnetic observations. It consisted of the Erebus and Terror, and was under the direction of Capt. James Ross, so well known for his magnetic observations during the progress of the expedition in 1831, under his uncle Sir John Ross, which determined the Northern Magnetic Pole. On the 1st of January, 1841, he reached the icy barrier, of which he says: "This barrier did not present any of those formidable obstacles which we would have been led to expect from the accounts of the Americans and French."

It did not occur to the captain that different seasons may produce different effects in this region. In his second attempt, 1842, he found the icy barrier much more formidable, yet he leaves this slur upon the reputation of rival navigators, whom he thus indirectly accuses of exaggerating the difficulties they encountered. After several unsuccessful attempts, he entered the ice, and running through it for a distance of two hundred miles, gained the open sea, and directed his course for the magnetic pole. The 11th of January, land was discovered in latitude 70° 41' south, longitude 170° 36' east, its lofty peaks being visible at a great distance, rising from nine to twelve thousand feet in height; the glaciers which descended from these elevations projected some miles into the sea. On the 12th Capt. Ross, accompanied by Commander Crozier, landed on this volcanic island, situated in 71° 56' south latitude, and 168° 47' east longitude. In the hope of getting round this land to the south, and thus reaching the magnetic pole, he coasted along it as closely as possible, notwithstanding the violent gales of wind, the dense fogs, and continued snow storms. On the 27th he landed on a second island, in latitude 76° 8' S.,