southward, reaching Rio Janeiro late in November. In January, 1839, they
halted at Orange Harbor, Terra del Fuego, and made it their base of
operations. On the 25th of February Lieutenant Wilkes, in the
_Porpoise_, accompanied by the _Sea Gull_, started for the South Pole.
On the 1st of March considerable ice and snow were encountered and an
island sighted, but the men could not land because of the surf. The next
day the Ashland Islands were discovered and soon after the two vessels
reached Palmersland. The following is the account of Lieutenant Wilkes:

"It was a day of great excitement to all, for we had ice of all kinds to
encounter, from the iceberg of huge quadrangular shape, with its
stratified appearance, to the sunken and deceptive masses that were
difficult to perceive before they were under the bow. I have rarely seen
a finer sight. The sea was literally studded with these beautiful
masses, some of pure white, others showing all shades of the opal,
others emerald green and occasionally, here and there, some of deep
black. Our situation was critical, but the weather favored us for a few
hours. On clearing these dangers we kept off to the south and west under
all sail, and at 9 P.M. we counted eight large islands. Afterward the
weather became so thick with mist and fog as to render it necessary to
lie to till daylight, before which time we had a heavy snowstorm. A
strong gale now set in from the southwest; the deck of the brig was
covered with ice and snow and the weather became exceedingly damp and
cold. The men were suffering not only from want of sufficient room but
from the inadequacy of the clothing."

Naturally the further south they penetrated the greater became their
danger from the increasing fields of ice and icebergs. The _Peacock_ and
_Flying Fish_ left Orange Harbor on the same day with the _Porpoise_ and
_Sea Gull_. They were separated by a gale and the _Peacock_ was