Star.
London, England, 1825-10-21 00:00:00

ANTARCTIC EXPEDIFION.

At a time when public attenti in is so earnestly di-
rected to the progress of discovery, it may be interesting
to notice some important facts regarding the Antarctic
Seas, which have recently been brooght to light by
private enterprise. While the splendidly equipped expe-
dition under Captain Parry was exploring the inhospi-
table legions within the Arctic Circle, and Europe might
be said to be impatiently waiting the result, two small
vessels, fitted out on mercantile speculation, were navi-
gating a sea, hitherto unknown, at the other extremity
of the globe. On the 17th of September, 1822, the
brig Jane, of Leith, 160 tons, and twenty two men,
commanded by Mr. James Weddell, master in the
Royal Navy, and the cutter Beanfoy, of London, sixty-
five tons, and thirteen men, commanded by Mr. Mat-
thew Brisbane, both provisioned for two years, sailed
from the Downs on a sailing adventure in the Southern
Hemisphere. James Mitchell, Esq. qi London, and John
Strachan. Esq. of Edinburgh, were co-owners with Mr.
Weddell ; and to these Gentlemen no small share of praise
is due, for their liberal and enlightened conduct in
making private emolument subservient to public utilitlP.
On the 7th of November the vessels crossed the equator ;
on the 7th January, 1823, ice islands were seen, and on
the 11th they made the South 'Orkneys, which, on his
return from a voyage made the preceding year, Mr.
Weddell h id reported to the Commissioners foi the
Navy. After ascertaining that no land existed between
the South Orkneys, and the point of coast termed Sand-
wich Land, Mr. Weddell, early in February, proceeded
farther South, determined to prosecute a search beyond
the tracks of former navigators, On the 6:11 and 7th,
in 1at.64 deg. 15 min. long. SO deg. 4.6 min. they passed
many ice islands, some of which were of an enormous
size. One was thickly incorporated with black earth,
and had apparently been disengaged from land covered
with soil to a considerable depth. On the 14th, in lat.
68 deg. 28 min. long. 29 deg. 43 min. 15 sec. ice islands
were so numerous as almost to obsti uct the passage of
the vessels. On the Oth the water appeared dis-
coloured, but the lead found no bottom. The weather
became foggy, and it was only during clear intervals,
whirl) were very short, that they could bear up to the
sArthward. They were accompanied by all the birds
common in these latitudes, particularly blue peterels,
and by numbers of finned and hump-backed whales.
On the 18th, latitude by observation, 72 deg. 38 min.
‘, not a particle of ice of any description was to be
s.:en," and the we ober was mild and serene. On the
20th the wind biew freshly from the south, and the at-
mosphe. e became very clear, but no land was in view—
let- 70 deg. 15 min. long. 54 deg. 16 min. 45 e:. Here
Mr. N% eddell, taking into consideration the lateness of
the season, and the length of his homewa si voyage,
which included a thousand miles of sea strewed
with ice islands, resolved to take advantage of the
favourable breeze and return. He named this hitherto

unvisited part of the ocean king George the Fourth's
'Sea. The Jane and Beaufoy wintered at the Falkland
Islands, and arrived at Falmouth after an absence
of nearly two years.
These particulars, gathered chiefly from Mr. Wed
dell's account of his voyage, prove that open navigation
exists beyond the ice islands which opposed a barrier to
Captain Co:.lt, and that unless land inters,. nes beyond
the 74th parallel, a navigable sea probably r.xteirds even
to the South Pole. It is to be hoped, that Government
will, without loss of time, follow up this interesting dis-
covery by at least attempting to explore the new sea.—
The enterprise and talent which Mr. Weddell has dis-
played, and the extensive infarmati in which lr may he
suppoleJ to have acqnired respecting the S lath S-io,
in two prctrac:ed vofa :es, point him out as a person
eminently qualdi-d to accompany any expedition eqtfie).-
ped for this 1)i:2-rose. Like Scoresby in the A?ctic
he has she,. n 11.'w much may he achi-2ved by 'dual
ability ; and he has also given _a guarairee, that, w:th
the o! dissary advantages wl;ich the Adniiralty provides
in such c•:ses, he would riot only rref i .usly discharge
the difficult dirties of a Co.nnianclzr, but g e.i• I y rtten.;
.)u: knowledge . 1 thf:Ant arctic reginns.—Ldiu.t,bservel.