reported doubtful land in 122 degrees E. longitude,
approximately. Dr. H. R. Mill says: "Although the name of the cutter
'Sabrina' has been given to an appearance of land at this point, we
cannot look upon its discovery as proved by the vague reference made by
the explorers."

On January 1, 1840, Dumont D'Urville sailed southward from Hobart in
command of two corvettes, the 'Astrolabe' and the 'Zelee'. Without much
obstruction from floating ice, he came within sight of the Antarctic
coast, thenceforth known as Adelie Land. The expedition did not set
foot on the mainland, but on an adjacent island. They remained in the
vicinity of the coast for a few days, when a gale sprang up which was
hazardously weathered on the windward side of the pack-ice. The ships
then cruised along the face of flat-topped ice-cliffs, of the type known
as barrier-ice or shelf-ice, which were taken to be connected with
land and named Cote Clarie. As will be seen later, Cote Clarie does not
exist.

Dr. H. R. Mill sums up the work done by the French expedition during its
eleven days' sojourn in the vicinity of the Antarctic coast:

"D'Urville's discoveries of land were of but little account. He twice
traced out considerable stretches of a solid barrier of ice, and at one
point saw and landed upon rocks in front of it; but he could only give
the vaguest account of what lay behind the barrier."

Wilkes of the American expedition proceeded south from Sydney at the
close of 1839. His vessels were the 'Vincennes', a sloop of war of seven
hundred and eighty tons, the 'Peacock', another sloop of six hundred and
fifty tons, the 'Porpoise', a gun-brig of two hundred and thirty tons
and a tender, the 'Flying Fish' of ninety-six tons. The scientists
of the expedition were precluded from joining in this part of the
programme, and were left behind in Sydney. Wilkes himself was loud in
his denunciation both of the ships and of the stores, though they had
been specially assembled by the naval department. The ships were in
Antarctic waters for a period of forty-two days, most of the time
separated by gales, during which the crews showed great skill in
navigating their ill-fitted crafts and suffered great hardships.

Land was reported almost daily, but, unfortunately, subsequent
exploration has shown that most of the landfalls do not exist. Several
soundings made by Wilkes were indicative of the approach to land, but
he must have frequently mistaken for it di