The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-07-25
FROM THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION
UNITED STATES Snir ViNcENNEs,
March 10, 1870.

Mafcu ~, lcfu.
SIN: have the honor 10 report that, having
completed our outfits and observations al sidney,
n s, W. the exploring squadron under my COM
mand, composed Of this ship, the Peacock, Por-
poise and FLYING Fish, sailed in company on
The 24th of December, with my instructions TO
proceed south as far as practicable, and cruise
within the Arctic ocean. Copies of the instruc-
lions were forwarded to you with my despatch
No. 81.
We continued in company until the first of
January, when we parted company with the
FLYING Fish and with the Peacock in fog on
the third.
i then steered, with the Porpoise in company,
for our first rendezvous, Macqualn's Island and
from thence to Emerald Island, our second rem
devious, having passed over the supposed local.
" of the latter in long l62 deg. 80 Minis f.. lat.
81 deg Is Minis. S. without seeing land or meet
ing with the Peacock or Flying Fish
On the 10th of January, being in lat 81 dogs.
S, we fell in with the first ice lands, and con
tnued steering 10 the southwark among many
icebergs, which compelled us to change our
course frequently 10 avoid them
On the 18th we run into bay of field ice in
long. i6l degs SO MINIS E. and lat 81 dogs | /
mins s., presenting perfect barrier TO our pro-
gress further south; heavy fog ensuing, during
which we parted company with the Porpoise,
her commander having directions to follow my
written instructions In tnat event.
! had determined to leave each vessel To act
independently believing il would tend TO give,
if possible, a greater degree of emulation TO US
all and being well satisfied that owing TO the
ice and thick weather, il would be impossible to
continue long in company, deemed It pretera
bic to hazard the event of accident. rather than
embarrass our operations.
therefore submit the details Of the proceed
ings Of this ship as they will, without doubt,
~. AZ tI,n
vessels of the squadron, the reports from which
will tend TO verify our operations.
After an unsuccessful attempt tc penetrate
through the ice, on the 18th Of January we pro
ceeded to the westward working along with
head winds and fogs, and on the 10th we fell in
with the Peacock in long. 81 dogs. AZ MINIS. F..
lat. 50 degs. 26 Minis 5.
On the morning Of the 10Th Of January we
saw land to the south and east, with many indi-
cations Of being in its vicinity, such as penguin
seal, and the discoloraton of the WATER but the
mpenetrabe barrier of ice prevented our nearer
approach to it, and the same day we again saw
the Peacockto the south and west. We We're in
long. l0l dogs. q Minis. f., and LAT. &C dogs. 20
INNS. 5.
On the I'D we fell in with large clusters and
bodies of ice, and innumerabe ice islands, and
until The 18th were in large bay formed by ice,
examining the different points in hopes of et-
tectlng an entrance to the South, but were dis
appointed. We here reached the latitude of
~ dogs. min. in longitude l47 dogs. 80 min.
+. beng the iurhest south we penetrated. APP
pearances of distant land were seen in the east
ward and westward, but all points except the
one we entered presente and impenetrable
barrier. We here filed up our water tanks with
Ice taken from an iceberg alongside the ship
w e made our magnetic observations on the
ice The dipping needles gave 81 deg, 80 min
Tor the dip, and our azimuh compass was so
sluggish on the ice, that, on being apitated. and
bearings taken again, it gave nearly three points
difference; the variation being II deg IS min.
r. few days afterwards, about one hundred
miles further to the west, we had no variation.
and thence il rapidly increased in westerly va
rlaton rom which am OF opinion that when
n the zee bay we could not have been very far
from the South magnetic pole. This bay |
named Disappointment Bay, as il seemed to put
an end to all our hopes of further progress SOUTH
On the 9th, we fell in with the Porpose, in
longitude ! II deg. 90 min. f. and latitude So
deg. "a min. 5. and parted company shortly af-
forwards.
On the 2Sh at noon, after thirteen repulses
We reached longitude 40 deg. 30 min. and Iati
Jude 90 deg. 80 min s. where we again disco
Nered land bearing south, having run over 40
miles thickly studded with icebergs The same
evening we had heavy gale from the south
west, with snow, hail, and thick weather which
trndtred our situation very dangerous and com
p9hrd Us To retrace our steps by the route which
We had entered. During this gale, we were
unable To see the distance of a fourth of mile,
constantly passing near icebergs which sur
rounded us, and rendering it necessary to keep
all hands on deck. On the morning Of the Goth
'he gale abated and we returned by the same
route to reach the land, when the dangers we
encountered among the ice the preceding night.
aud our prOvldential escape wpre ev;dent IA
III
We run towards the land about 50 miles,
Nh'4 We reached a small bay, pointed by high
''flh'' and black volcanic rocks, with about 60
,hl'S " coast IN sight, extending to a great dis
'h'r towards the southwark in high mountain
Gus land
loe breeze freshened to strong gale. which
l,.''.''d ON landing, and compelled us to run
~, wv sounding in thirty iathoms water and
Nl,N'n iWo hours afterwards the ship was again
~ 20 hel storm sails, with a heavy gale
~" me southwark with snow. sleet and
neaVy sea- continuing IS hours, and if possible
'u'e dangerous than that of the 2sth and 2g,h
ivy g ne large number of ice islands around
"llrr which | received reports from the
'"ui'9 officers. representing the exhausted
H." ~ me crew and condition Of the shin Of
""ch lhe following are extracts
The medical officers on duty reported under
aa'e o. the 3lst January, that "'The number
upon 'he sick list this morning is fifteen most