The eyes were of a blood red, and larger
      than those of the Arctic bear, the snout also more rounded,
      rather resembling the snout of the bulldog. The meat was tender,
      but excessively rank and fishy, although the men devoured it with
      avidity, and declared it excellent eating. Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, when the man at the
      masthead gave the joyful shout of “land on the starboard bow!”
      All hands were now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up
      very opportunely from the northward and eastward, we were soon
      close in with the coast. It proved to be a low rocky islet, of
      about a league in circumference, and altogether destitute of
      vegetation, if we except a species of prickly pear. In
      approaching it from the northward, a singular ledge of rock is
      seen projecting into the sea, and bearing a strong resemblance to
      corded bales of cotton. Around this ledge to the westward is a
      small bay, at the bottom of which our boats effected a convenient
      landing. It did not take us long to explore every portion of the island,
      but, with one exception, we found nothing worthy of our
      observation. In the southern extremity, we picked up near the
      shore, half buried in a pile of loose stones, a piece of wood,
      which seemed to have formed the prow of a canoe. There had been
      evidently some attempt at carving upon it, and Captain Guy
      fancied that he made out the figure of a tortoise, but the
      resemblance did not strike me very forcibly. Besides this prow,
      if such it were, we found no other token that any living creature
      had ever been here before. Around the coast we discovered
      occasional small floes of ice—but these were very few. The exact
      situation of the islet (to which Captain Guy gave the name of
      Bennet’s Islet, in honour of his partner in the ownership of the
      schooner) is 82 degrees 50’ S. latitude, 42 degrees 20’ W.
      longitude. We had now advanced to the southward more than eight degrees
      farther than any previous navigators, and the sea still lay
      perfectly open before us. We found, too, that the variation
      uniformly decreased as we proceeded, and, what was still more
      surprising, that the temperature of the air, and latterly of the
      water, became milder. The weather might even be called pleasant,
      and we had a steady but very gentle breeze always from some
      northern point of the compass. The sky was usually clear, with
      now and then a slight appearance of thin vapour in the southern
      horizon—this, however, was invariably of brief duration. Two
      difficulties alone presented themselves to our view; we were
      getting short of fuel, and symptoms of scurvy had occurred among
      several of the crew. These considerations began to impress upon
      Captain Guy the necessity of returning, and he spoke of it
      frequently. For my own part, confident as I was of soon arriving
      at land of some description upon the course we were pursuing, and
      having every reason to believe, from present appearances, that we
      should not find it the sterile soil met with in the higher Arctic
      latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the expediency of
      persevering, at least for a few days longer, in the direction we
      were now holding. So tempting an opportunity of solving the great
      problem in regard to an Antarctic continent had never yet been
      afforded to man, and I confess that I felt myself bursting with
      indignation at the timid and ill-timed suggestions of our
      commander. I believe, indeed, that what I could not refrain from
      saying to him on this head had the effect of inducing him to push
      on. While, therefore, I cannot but lament the most unfortunate
      and bloody events which immediately arose from my advice, I must
      still be allowed to feel some degree of gratification at having
      been instrumental, however remotely, in opening to the eye of
      science one of the most intensely exciting secrets which has ever
      engrossed its attention. CHAPTER 18


      January 18.—This morning {*4} we continued to the southward, with
      the same pleasant weather as before. The sea was entirely smooth,
      the air tolerably warm and from the northeast, the temperature of
      the water fifty-three. We now again got our sounding-gear in
      order, and, with a hundred and fifty fathoms of line, found the
      current setting toward the pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This constant tendency to the southward, both in the wind and
      current, caused some degree of speculation, and even of alarm, in
      different quarters of the schooner, and I saw distinctly that no
      little impression had been made upon the mind of Captain Guy. He
      was exceedingly sensitive to ridicule, however, and I finally
      succeeded in laughing him out of his apprehensions. The variation
      was now very trivial. In the course of the day we saw several
      large whales of the right species, and innumerable flights of the
      albatross passed over the vessel. We also picked up a bush, full
      of red berries, like those of the hawthorn, and the carcass of a
      singular-looking land-animal. It was three feet in length, and
      but six inches in height, with four very short legs, the feet
      armed with long claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling
      coral in substance. The body was covered with a straight silky
      hair, perfectly white. The tail was peaked like that of a rat,
      and about a foot and a half long. The head resembled a cat’s,
      with the exception of the ears—these were flopped like the ears
      of a dog. The teeth were of the same brilliant scarlet as the
      claws. January 19.—To-day, being in latitude 83 degrees 20’, longitude
      43 degrees 5’ W. (the sea being of an extraordinarily dark
      colour), we again saw land from the masthead, and, upon a closer
      scrutiny, found it to be one of a group of very large islands. The shore was precipitous, and the interior seemed to be well
      wooded, a circumstance which occasioned us great joy. In about
      four hours from our first discovering the land we came to anchor
      in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, a league from the coast, as a high
      surf, with strong ripples here and there, rendered a nearer
      approach of doubtful expediency. The two largest boats were now
      ordered out, and a party, well armed (among whom were Peters and
      myself), proceeded to look for an opening in the reef which
      appeared to encircle the island. After searching about for some
      time, we discovered an inlet, which we were entering, when we saw
      four large canoes put off from the shore, filled with men who
      seemed to be well armed.