well Gardiner
was steering onward towards a haven designated in degrees and minutes,
while the other craft was most probably left to wander in uncertainty in
that remote and stormy ocean. Our hero thought there was now very little
likelihood of his again falling in with his late consort, and this so much
the more, because the islands he sought were not laid down in the vicinity
of any other known land, and were consequently out of the usual track of
the sealers. This last circumstance was fully appreciated by our young
navigator, and gave him confidence of possessing its treasures to himself,
could he only find the place where nature had hid them.

When the sun went down in that vast waste of water which lies to the
southward of this continent, the little Sea Lion had fairly lost sight of
land, and was riding over the long southwestern ground-swell like a gull
that holds its way steadily towards its nest. For many hours her course
had not varied half a point, being as near as possible to south-southwest,
which kept her a little off the wind. No sooner, however, did night come
to shut in the view, than Roswell Gardiner went aft to the man at the
helm, and ordered him to steer to the southward, as near as the breeze
would conveniently allow. This was a material change in the direction of
the vessel, and, should the present breeze stand, would probably place
her, by the return of light, a good distance to the eastward of the point
she would otherwise have reached. Hitherto, it had been Roswell's aim to
drop his consort; but, now it was dark, and so much time had already
passed and been improved since the other schooner was last seen, he
believed he might venture to steer in the precise direction he desired to
go. The season is so short in those seas, that every hour is precious, and
no more variation from a real object could be permitted than circumstances
imperiously required. It was now generally understood that the craft was
making the best of her way towards her destined sealing-ground.

Independently of the discoveries of the regular explorers, a great deal
of information has been obtained from the sealers themselves within the
present century, touching the antarctic seas. It is thought that many a
headland, and various islands, that have contributed their shares in
procuring the _accolades_ for different European navigators, were known to
the adventurers from Stonington and other by-ports of this country, long
before