, for, on account of the proximity to the magnetic pole,
the directive force of the needle was so slight that very large local
variations were experienced.

The longitude of Wilkes's Knox Land was now approaching. With the
exception of Adelie Land, the account by Wilkes concerning Knox Land
is more convincing than any other of his statements relating to new
Antarctic land. If they had not already disembarked, we had hoped to
land the western party in that neighbourhood. It was, therefore,
most disappointing when impenetrable ice blocked the way, before
Wilkes's "farthest south" in that locality had been reached. Three
determined efforts were made to find a weak spot, but each time the
'Aurora' was forced to retreat, and the third time was extricated
only with great difficulty. In latitude 65 degrees 5' S. longitude 107
degrees 20' E., a sounding of three hundred fathoms was made on a rocky
bottom. This sounding pointed to the probability of land within sixty
miles.

Repulsed from his attack on the pack, Captain Davis set out westward
towards the charted position of Termination Land, and in following the
trend of the ice was forced a long way to the north.

At 7.40 A.M., February 8, in foggy weather, the ice-cliff of floating
shelf-ice was met. This was disposed so as to point in a north-westerly
direction and it was late in the day before the ship doubled its
northern end. Here the sounding wire ran out for eight hundred and
fifty fathoms without reaching bottom. Following the wall towards the
south-south-east, it was interesting at 5.30 P.M. to find a sounding of
one hundred and ten fathoms in latitude 64 degrees 45'. A line of large
grounded bergs and massive floe-ice was observed ahead trailing away
from the ice-wall towards the north-west.

On plotting the observations, it became apparent that the shelf-ice was
in the form of a prolonged tongue some seven miles in breadth. As it
occupied the position of the "Termination Land" which has appeared on
some charts, (after Wilkes) it was named Termination Ice-Tongue.

A blizzard sprang up, and, after it had been safely weathered in the
lee of some grounded bergs, the 'Aurora' moved off on the afternoon of
February 11. The horizon was obscured by mist, as she pursued a tortuous
track amongst bergs and scattered lumps of heavy floe. Gradually the sea
became more open, and by noon on February 12 the water had deepened
to two hundred and thirty-five fathoms. Good progres