33' C.below 0 deg.).

What could be the cause of this fall, since we were at the height of the southern summer?
The crew were obliged to resume their woollen clothing, which they had left off a month previously.

The schooner, however, was sailing before the wind, and these first cold blasts were less keenly felt.

Yet we recognized the necessity of reaching our goal as soon as possible.

To linger in this region or to expose ourselves to the danger of wintering out would be to tempt Providence! Captain Len Guy tested the direction of the current by heavy lead lines, and discovered that it was beginning to deviate from its former course.
"Whether it is a continent," said he, "that lies before us, or whether it is an island, we have at present no means of determining.
If it be a continent, we must conclude that the current has an issue towards the south-east." "And it is quite possible," I replied, "that the solid part of the Antarctic region may be reduced to a mere polar mound.