the circumstances were sufficiently unfavorable to deter me from entering it at this time, and a gale from the northward interrupted our operations for three or four days.

"On the 5th of January, we again made the pack about 100 miles to eastward in latitude 66° 45' S., and longitude 174° 16′ E.; and although the wind was blowing directly on it, with a high sea running, we succeeded in entering it without either of the ships sustaining any injury; and after penetrating a few miles we were enabled to make our way to the southward with comparative ease and safety.

"On the following three or four days our progress was rendered more difficult and tedious, by thick fogs, light winds, a heavy swell, and almost constant snow-showers; but a strong water sky to the south-east, which was seen at every interval of clear weather, encouraged us to persevere in that direction, and on the morning of the 9th, after sailing more than 200 miles through this pack, we gained a perfectly clear sea, and bore away south-west towards the Magnetic Pole.

"On the morning of the 11th of January, when in latitude 70° 41' S., and longitude 172° 36', land was discovered at the distance, as it afterwards proved, of nearly a hundred miles directly in the course we were steering, and therefore directly between us and the Pole.

Although this circumstance was viewed at the time with considerable regret, as being likely to defeat one of the more important objects of the expedition, yet, it restored to England the honor of the discovery of the southernmost known land, which had been nobly won, and for more than twenty years possessed by Russia.

As we

"Continuing our course towards this land for many hours, we seemed scarcely to approach it, it rose in lofty mountainous peaks of from 9 to 12,000 feet in height, perfectly covered with eternal snow; the glaciers that descended from the mountain summit projected many miles into the ocean, and presented a perpendicular face of lofty cliffs. neared the land, some exposed patches of rock appeared; and steering towards a small bay for the purpose of effecting a landing, we found the shore so thickly lined for some miles with bergs and pack ice, and with a heavy swell dashing against it, we were obliged to abandon our purpose, and steer towards a more promising looking point to the south, off which we observed several small islands; and on the morning of the 12th, I landed, accompanied by Commander Crozier and a number of the officers of each ship, 'and took possession of the country in the name of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.

"The island on which we landed is composed wholly of igneous rocks, numerous specimens of which, with other imbedded minerals were procured it is in latitude 71° 56′ S., and longitude 171° 7′ E.

"Observing that the east coast of the main land trended to the southward, whilst the north shore took a north-westerly direction, I was led to hope that by penetrating to the south as far as practicable it might be possible to pass beyond the Magnetic Pole, which our combined observations placed in 76° nearly; and thence, by steering westward, complete its circumnavigation. We accordingly pursued our course along this magnificent land, and on the 23rd of January, we reached 74° 15′ S., the highest southern latitude that had ever been attained by

any preceding navigators, and that by our own countryman, Capt. J. Weddell.

"Although greatly impeded by strong southerly gales, thick fogs, constant snow storms, we continued the examination of the coast to the southward, and on the 27th we again landed on an island in latitude 76° 8' S., and longitude 168° 12′ E., composed, as on the former occasion, entirely of igneous rocks.

"Still steering to the southward, early the next morning, a mountain of 12,400 feet above the level of the sea, was seen emitting flame and smoke in splendid profusion.

"This magnificent volcano received the name of Mount Erebus. It is in latitude 77° 32′ S., and longitude 167° 0′ E.

"An extinct crater to the eastward of Mount Erebus, of somewhat less elevation, was called Mount Terror.

"The mainland preserved its southerly trending, and we continued to follow it until, in the afternoon, when close in with the land, our our further progress in that direction was prevented by a barrier of ice, stretching away from a projecting cape of the coast, directly to the E.S.E.

"This extraordinary barrier presented a perpendicular face of at least 150 feet, rising, of course, far above the mast-heads of our ships, and completely concealing from our view everything beyond it, except only the tops of a range of very lofty mountains in a S.S.E. direction, and in latitude 79° south.

"Pursuing the examination of this splendid barrier to the eastward, we reached the latitude of 78° 4' S., the highest we were at any time able to attain, on the 2nd of February; and having on the 9th traced its continuity to the longitude of 191° 23' in latitude 78° S., a distance of more than 300 miles, our further progress was prevented by a heavy pack, pressed closely against the barrier; and the narrow lane of water, by means of which we had penetrated thus far, became so completely covered by rapidly forming ice, that nothing but the strong breeze with which we were favoured enabled us to retrace our steps. When at a distance of less than half a mile from its lofty icy cliffs, we had soundings with 318 fathoms, on a bed of soft blue mud.

With a temperature of 20° below the freezing point, we found the ice to form so rapidly on the surface, that any further examination of the barrier in so extremely severe a period of the season being impracticable, we stood away to the westward for the purpose of making another attempt to approach the Magnetic Pole, and again reached its latitude 76° S., on the 15th of February, and although we found that much of the heavy ice had drifted away since our former attempt, and its place, in a great measure, supplied by recent ice, yet, we made some way through it, and got a few miles nearer to that Pole than we had before been able to accomplish, when the heavy pack again frustrated all our efforts, completely filling the space of fifteen or sixteen miles between us and the shore. We were this time in latitude 76° 12′ S., and longitude 164°, the dip being 88° 40', and variation 109° 24′ E. We were, of course, 160 miles from the magnetic Pole.

"Had it been possible to have approached any part of this coast, and to have found a place of security for the ships, we might have travelled this short distance over the land, but this proved to be utterly impracticable, and although our hopes of complete attainment have not been realized, it is some satisfaction to feel assured, that we have approached the magnetic Pole more nearly by some hundreds of miles than any of our predecessors, and from the multitude of observations that have been made in both ships, and in so many different directions from it, its position can be determined with nearly as much accuracy as if we had actually reached the spot itself.

"It had ever been an object of anxious desire with us to find a harbour for the ships, so as to enable us to make simultaneous observations with the numerous observations that would be at work on the important term-day of the 28th of February, as well for other scientific purposes, but every part of the coast where indentations appeared, and where harbours on other shores usually occur, we found so perfectly filled with perennial ice of many hundred feet in thickness, that all our endeavours to find a place of shelter for our vessels were quite unavailing.

"Having now completed all that it appeared to me possible to accomplish in so high a latitude, at so advanced a period of the season, and desirous to obtain as much information as possible of the extent and form of the coast we had discovered, as also to guide, in some measure, our future operations, I bore away on the 18th of February for the north part of this land, and which by favor of a strong southerly gale, we reached on the morning of the 21st.

"We again endeavoured to effect a landing on this part of the coast, and were again defeated in our attempt by the heavy pack which extended for many miles from the shore, and rendered it impossible.

"For several days we continued to examine the coast to the westward, tracing the pack edge along, until on the 25th of February we found the land abruptly to terminate in latitude 70° 40′ S., and longitude 165° E., trending considerably to the southward of west, and presenting to our view an immense space occupied by the newly-formed ice, and so covered by recent snow, as to present the appearance of one unbroken mass, and defying every attempt to penetrate it.

"The great southern land we have discovered, and whose continuity we have traced from nearly 70th to the 79th degree of latitude, I am desirous to distinguish by the name of our Most Gracious Sovereigu Queen Victoria."

DESCRIPTION OF HER MAJESTY'S SHIP TRAFALGAR.

SHE is a perfect man-of-war; has good space between her ports on every deck, clear of hanging chocks to the beams against the side, having no projections or obstructions in the way of fighting the guns; has great space on her orlop deck, the beams being continued all fore and aft, with a good flush three-inch flat, presenting at her sides a strong trussed figure, beautifully arranged with wood and iron, each standing in a different direction, the materials being so distributed as