Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'of being permitted to plant the flag of my country on both the mag-
strated that this would be an extremely hazardous enterprise. The
ships, therefore, retraced their route, keeping as close as possible to
Victoria Land to fill in gaps in the chart they had made on their out-
ward journey. It was now late February and the brief polar summer
was fading. Snow storms were frequent. The temperature fell stead-
ily. The ice-floes were solidifying. Several times
Erebus
and
Terror
came close to being trapped. And there was another apparent haz-
ard:
. . . we made all sail to the N.E., on account of the wind having in-
creased to a gale from E.S.E., placing our ships in a very critical situ-
ation; for on the chart which Lieutenant Wilkes was so good as to send
me . . . is laid down a range of mountainous land extending about
sixty miles in a S.W. and N.E. direction; its centre being in lat. 65° 40′,
and long. 165°E., with the eastern extreme of the barrier in 167½°E.,
and thus presenting a formidable lee shore in our present position. We
were therefore in a state of considerable anxiety and uncertainty for
some hours as to whether the ships could weather the land and barri-
er.
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