The Voyage of Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic Seas, 1819-1821 by Frank Debenham

Author:Frank Debenham [Debenham, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Modern, 19th Century
ISBN: 9781317012481
Google: -2QF-TjYrOoC
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

VOL 1 PLATE IX

VOL 1 PLATE X

On the previous evening, as an experiment, I poured some sea water in a small tub to see if it would freeze in that temperature and hoisted the tub on a stay; in the evening we had 7° F. of frost; at midnight we had 6° F. of frost; at 6.0 a.m. we had 9° F. and the water froze. When this ice was removed from the tub and allowed to melt, the water from it was fresh. There can be no doubt that the ice which we found in Lat. 69° was formed and much increased by snow, besides which the perpetual moisture which spreads over the ice freezes and by this continuous action forms the large masses. If now, in Lat. 69° in the summer season, we had 9° F. of frost, it is probable that, when the sun ceases to warm these parts, the quantity of floating ice masses must increase twofold with the more intense cold. That day the sun did not even appear, so, as on the previous day, we had no opportunity of taking observations. At midday we had 6° F. of frost. After dinner, having invited Mr Lazarev to come on board, I informed him that, in the course of our projected farther voyage to the Lord Auckland Islands, I was determined to make another attempt to’go southwards in Long. 60° E., and then for safety to return northward in order to visit the Auckland Islands. Mr Lazarev reported that, if our voyage were to be continued, he would find himself entirely without wood. For some little time this shortage had also made itself felt on the Vostok, and therefore I decided to take measures to avoid having to resort to breaking up our water or wine barrels for firewood.

At 8.0 p.m., as we were passing close to a large flat-topped iceberg, we hove to and fired ten shots at the middle of the mass, but were unable to break off a sufficient quantity of ice to fill the barrels, so we ceased drifting and continued on our former course. In the evening Mr Lazarev and the two officers who had accompanied him returned to the Mirnyi. A number of different kinds of petrels flew round the ship, and a great many whales were swimming about in the neighbourhood and spouting. There were even more whales near the ice. At midnight the temperature was 3° F. below freezing. Although the ice was a long way off, we nevertheless observed a reflected light from it not unlike the light at dawn;1 from time to time snow fell. At 6.0 a.m., when the wind shifted to east-north-east, we found that by turning to the south-east it was possible to gain a little in longitude, and then to push on to higher latitudes. I therefore steered a course S. 27° E. At 4.0 p.m. we again met continuous ice consisting of small horizontal blocks of ice. In the midst of them seven large icebergs with flat surfaces were wedged in.

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