A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder | Page 5

the middle of the antarctic summer, was from 38 to 58 degrees Fahr.
In order to get rid of these dangerous islands we stood south and west, and at length
found ourselves in south latitude 65 degrees, longitude 60 degrees east. We were
fortunate enough not to find any ice, although we were within fifteen hundred miles of
the South Pole, and far within that impenetrable icy barrier which, in 1773, had arrested
the progress of Captain Cook. Here the wind failed us, and we lay becalmed and drifting.
The sea was open all around us, except to the southeast, where there was a low line along
the horizon terminating in a lofty promontory; but though it looked like land we took it
for ice. All around us whales and grampuses were gambolling and spouting in vast
numbers. The weather was remarkably fine and clear.
For two or three days the calm continued, and we drifted along helplessly, until at length
we found ourselves within a few miles of the promontory above mentioned. It looked like
land, and seemed to be a rocky island rising from the depths of the sea. It was, however,
all covered with ice and snow, and from this there extended eastward as far as the eye
could reach an interminable line of ice, but toward the southwest the sea seemed open to
navigation. The promontory was very singular in shape, rising up to a peak which was at
least a thousand feet in height, and forming a striking object, easily discovered and
readily identified by any future explorer. We named it, after our ship, Trevelyan Peak,
and then felt anxious to lose sight of it forever. But the calm continued, and at length we
drifted in close enough to see immense flocks of seals dotting the ice at the foot of the
peak.
Upon this I proposed to Agnew, the second mate, that we should go ashore, shoot some
seals, and bring them back. This was partly for the excitement of the hunt, and partly for
the honor of landing in a place never before trodden by the foot of man. Captain Bennet
made some objections, but he was old and cautious, and we were young and venturesome,
so we laughed away his scruples and set forth. We did not take any of the crew, owing to
the captain's objections. He said that if we chose to throw away our own lives he could
not help it, but that he would positively refuse to allow a single man to go with us. We
thought this refusal an excess of caution amounting to positive cowardice, but were
unable to change his mind. The distance was not great, the adventure was attractive, and
so the captain's gig was lowered, and in this Agnew and I rowed ashore. We took with us
a double-barrelled rifle apiece, and also a pistol. Agnew took a glass.
We rowed for about three miles, and reached the edge of the ice, which extended far out
from the promontory. Here we landed, and secured the boat by means of a small
grappling-iron, which we thrust into the ice. We then walked toward the promontory for
about a mile, and here we found a multitude of seals. These animals were so fearless that

they made not the slightest movement as we came up, but stared at us in an indifferent
way. We killed two or three, and then debated whether to go to the promontory or not.
Agnew was eager to go, so as to touch the actual rock; but I was satisfied with what we
had done, and was now desirous of returning. In the midst of this I felt a flake of snow on
my cheek. I started and looked up. To my great surprise I saw that the sky had changed
since I had last noticed it. When we left the ship it was clear and blue, but now it was
overspread with dark, leaden-colored clouds, and the snow-flakes that had fallen were
ominous of evil. A snow-storm here, in the vicinity of the ice, was too serious a thing to
be disregarded. But one course now remained, and that was an immediate return to the
ship.
Each of us seized a seal and dragged it after us to the boat. We reached it and flung them
in. Just at that moment a gun sounded over the water. It was from the ship--the signal of
alarm--the summons from the captain for our return. We saw now that she had been
drifting since we left her, and had moved southwest several miles. The row back
promised to be far harder than the pull ashore, and, what was worse, the wind was
coming up, the sea was rising, and the snow was thickening. Neither