The great Antarctic expedition commanded by Sir James Ross had magnetic research and not geography for its immediate object. It originated with Colonel Sabine, who read a paper on terrestrial magnetism at the meeting of the British Association at Newcastle in August, 1838, which led to a deputation being nominated to approach the Government. The deficiency in our knowledge of terrestrial magnetism in the southern hemisphere, it was considered, should be supplied by observations of magnetic direction and intensity in high southern latitudes between the meridians of New Holland191 and Cape Horn, and Her Majesty’s Government was urged to appoint a naval expedition expressly directed to that object.
Lord Melbourne acceded to the request, and Sir James Ross received his commission to command the expedition on the 8th April, 1839. The Erebus, a bomb vessel of 370 tons, strongly built and with a capacious hold, was selected for Sir James Ross, and the Terror, of 340 tons, a similar vessel which had been thoroughly repaired after her disastrous voyage with Sir George Back, was chosen for Ross’s second in command, Commander Crozier. The complement of each ship amounted to 64 persons.
The officers were not only thoroughly efficient; there were among them men who were distinguished in their profession and whose record is worthy of remembrance. Sir James Ross was by far the most experienced Arctic officer then living. He had passed through no less than nine Arctic winters and seventeen navigable seasons, was the most eminent magnetic observer next to Sabine, an admirable collector, and an unequalled navigator. Crozier was his old friend and messmate in the Arctic regions, and was also a practised magnetic observer.
The first Lieutenants were worthy to serve under such men. Lieutenant Bird of the Erebus, son of the Rev. Godfrey Bird, Rector of Little Witham, was a distinguished Arctic officer, highly thought of by Parry as well as by Ross. Knowing his work thoroughly he was steady, reliable, and calm in moments of danger. As a midshipman he had seen service at the blockade of Brest and the battle of Algiers. Archibald M’Murdo of the Terror, grandson of Major M’Murdo, the friend of the poet Burns, was an officer of more than ordinary ability, whose brother Sir Herbert was equally distinguished as a soldier, and as the right hand of Sir Charles Napier in Sind. Archibald served in the Blonde with Sir Edmund Lyons in the operations against the Turks in the Morea, and later in the Alligator under Captain Lambert in the East Indies and New Zealand. He was promoted in 1836 for his intrepidity and skill in recovering a crew of wrecked whalers from the clutches of the Maoris. He served in the disastrous voyage of the Terror with Sir George Back, who had a very high opinion of his capacity, and he was first Lieutenant of that ship until ill health obliged him to return home. He afterwards commanded the Contest on the coast of Africa, became a Rear-Admiral, and died in December, 1875.
Of the other Lieutenants John Sibbald was a steady, capable officer, and Wood a good surveyor. Phillips of the Terror, a very active enthusiastic officer, was a good seaman, and a man of ability and sound sense. He afterwards showed those qualities in the Arctic regions under Sir John Ross, when I knew him well.
Of the Mates, Oakley was a good observer and a useful young officer, and Alexander Smith was well known to Sir James Ross, having served under him in Davis Strait, on board the Cove. Moore was a young officer endowed with no ordinary ability, energy, and tact. He commanded the Pagoda afterwards, when she was sent south to complete some of Ross’s magnetic work. In command of the Plover he made a boat voyage to Cape Barrow; he became a Rear Admiral, Fellow of the Royal Society, and Governor of the Falkland Islands 1855–62. He died in 1870.
Dr McCormick and Dr Robertson undertook the geology and zoology. McCormick, enthusiastic, energetic, and tireless, had been Assistant-Surgeon in the Hecla with Sir Edward Parry. Afterwards he commanded a boat to examine the western side of Wellington Channel in 1852 during the Franklin search. In his old age Dr McCormick published an interesting narrative of his three polar voyages, and was quite indefatigable in helping and advising us when we were fitting out for the search expedition in 1850. Dr Robertson of the Terror was equally hard working, but not so excitable and sensitive. He was afterwards Surgeon of the Enterprise with Sir James Ross in the first Franklin search expedition.
Of the Assistant-Surgeons, Sir Joseph Hooker, though then a very young man, was already a skilled botanist. He was a most valuable member of the expedition, and his future eminence had some of its roots within the Antarctic circle. His colleague Dr Lyall of the Terror, a zealous botanist, was a scientific student of rare ability and had a distinguished career. He was afterwards naturalist of the Acheron, New Zealand surveying ship from 1847 to 1852, then surgeon of the Pembroke during the Russian war, and afterwards of the Plumper, surveying ship in the North Pacific. He was surgeon of the Assistance in the Arctic expedition of 1852–54, and made a valuable collection of plants in Wellington Channel. Dr Lyall, after a very useful career, died as a Deputy Inspector, on the 25th February, 1895.
Mr Tucker, Master of the Erebus, was a very capable and efficient officer, afterwards Staff Commander and a useful member of the Thames Conservancy Board. Mr Cotter was Master of the Terror. Henry Yule, the second Master of the Erebus, was a good surveyor and continued his service in that capacity on the Home Survey. John Davis, second Master of the Terror, was an officer of much ability, a good surveyor, and an excellent artist. He had previously served under Captain FitzRoy on board the Beagle in Magellan’s Strait. He executed the charts and drawings for Sir James Ross, for which he received the special thanks of the Hydrographer. Afterwards he was employed as a surveyor in the Fox with Sir Allen Young in 1862, and Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer from 1863 to 1876. His most interesting letter to his sister in 1843 was printed in 1891. Retired as Staff Captain in 1876, he was the author, jointly with his son, of the Azimuth Tables. Captain Davis died on the 30th January, 1877.
Mr Hallett, Purser of the Erebus, had previously been with Sir James Ross in the Cove in 1836. He afterwards served on the coast of Africa, where he died. George Moubray, the clerk in charge of the Terror, was thought so highly of that he received the very responsible appointment of Naval Agent and Storekeeper at Constantinople during the Crimean war, and was afterwards Storekeeper at Malta for some time, retiring as a Paymaster-in-Chief with the Greenwich pension. The gunner of the Erebus must not be left out, as he was a very exceptional character and had very wide Arctic experience. Thomas Abernethy, born at Peterhead in 1802, was an experienced seaman when he joined the Fury in Parry’s third Arctic expedition in 1824, and was very active and useful in all the work at Fury Beach. He was with Parry again in 1827, and second mate of the Victory with the Rosses during the Boothian expedition 1829–33. When the boatswain of the Erebus fell overboard in a heavy sea on the voyage out and was drowned, Abernethy and Oakley commanded the two boats that were lowered for his rescue. Oakley’s boat was struck by a sea which knocked four of the crew out of her. Abernethy, whose boat was again alongside ready to be hoisted up, immediately pushed off and succeeded in saving the crew of Oakley’s boat from their perilous position. Abernethy was a splendid seaman. He served again with Sir James Ross in the Enterprise, and finally with old Sir John Ross in the Felix. He died at Peterhead on April 13th, 1860192.
With this exceptionally distinguished staff and two well-equipped and strongly built ships, Sir James Ross sailed from the Thames on his great enterprise on the 30th September, 1839. After visiting and exploring Kerguelen Island, the expedition arrived at Tasmania on August 16th, 1840. Sir John Franklin was then Governor, and gave every assistance in his power. The chief thing was the erection of an observatory for synchronous observations. Sir John selected the site and, with convict labour, the building, with its pillars carried down to the bed rock, was erected in nine days. Sir John named it Rossbank. Lieutenant Kay, R.N., was placed in charge, with two Mates named Dayman and Scott as assistants. Kay, who was a Fellow of the Royal Society, had served in the Chanticleer with Captain Foster, and in the Rainbow with Sir John Franklin. The magnetic observations of the expedition were under the immediate superintendence of Commander Crozier, and were continued uninterruptedly every hour throughout the day and night193.
Sir James Ross heard of the voyages of Dumont D’Urville and Wilkes, and received advice from the latter about the best places he had seen for entering the ice. But Sir James had no intention of shaping a course in their direction. Captain Balleny had been much further south than either of them, having attained a latitude of 69° S., finding an open sea. Sir James, therefore, resolved to proceed on Balleny’s meridian, about 170° E.
On November 13th, 1840, the expedition sailed, Sir John Franklin remaining on board the Erebus until she reached the mouth of the Derwent, when he returned in his tender. Sir James Ross touched at Auckland Island and Campbell Island, and on January 1st the Antarctic Circle was crossed, and the warm clothing supplied by the Admiralty was served out. Passing a great many icebergs with a strong breeze from the N.W., the main pack was reached on the 5th, and Sir James resolved to put the bows of the two old sailing ships straight on to it and force his way through. The pack is always closest and most difficult to penetrate at the edge, and more open inside. After about an hour’s hard bumping, and receiving several heavy blows, the outer edge was forced, and the inside ice was found to be much lighter and more scattered than it appeared to be when viewed from a distance. During the following days the ships were bored through the pack, steering south for the supposed position of the magnetic pole.
They had been six days in the pack when, on January 10th, in the middle watch, Lieutenant Wood reported that land was distinctly visible right ahead. It rose in lofty peaks, but was still very distant. They were in 71° 15′ S. Next day they were fairly close to the land, the northern point of which was named Cape Adare. Soundings were obtained in 160 fathoms. The mountains, crowned with snowy peaks, attained a height of from 7000 to 10,000 ft. They were named the Admiralty Range, and the peaks were called after the then Lords of the Admiralty. The principal peak, nearly 10,000 feet high, was, however, named after Sir Edward Sabine, who was with Ross in two Arctic voyages.
Here the variation was 44° and the dip 86°, which according to Sir James Ross’s calculation placed the magnetic pole in 76° S. and 1450 26′ E., or about 500 miles inland194.
With some difficulty Ross, Crozier, and several officers landed on a small island near the coast, covered with penguins, in 71° 56′ S. and 171° 7′ E., giving it the name of Possession Island. In very bad and stormy weather a further range of lofty mountains came in sight whose peaks were named after friends of the Royal Society and the British Association, while an island received the name of Coulman, and its northern point Cape Anne, the name of Sir James’s fiancée.
On the 27th January the ships were in sight of another island which was named after Sir John Franklin. The two captains with several officers went on shore in two boats. There was a heavy surf beating on the rocks but Ross and a few others effected a landing. Hooker, however, fell into the sea, and was nearly drowned before he could be hauled into the boat, more dead than alive from the intense cold. His condition made it necessary to return to the ship as soon as possible, Ross having collected several specimens of rock. The island is in 76° 8′ S., and is 12 miles long by 6 broad.
On the same day the ships sighted a mountain 12,400 ft. high, emitting flame and smoke in great profusion. Sir James Ross named it Mount Erebus, and an extinct volcano to the eastward 10,900 ft. high, Mount Terror. A small round island, which had been in sight all the morning, was called Beaufort Island.
Ross and his officers were astonished at the sight of a mighty ice cliff 100 feet high, with a uniform level summit, stretching away to the eastward from the peninsula or island of the volcanoes. It was a bitter disappointment, as they hoped to have gone much further south. As the ships approached the volcanoes two capes were recognised and named after Crozier and Bird, Sir James Ross taking the opportunity of expressing his affectionate regard for his two old Arctic messmates, who were giving him such invaluable help. The bay formed by the island of volcanoes was called after M’Murdo, the first Lieutenant of the Terror, “a compliment that his zeal and skill well merited.” The ice cliffs were higher than the masthead, so that little could be seen, but some peaks were made out, rising above the line of cliffs, and looking more distant than they really were owing to the haze. These Ross named the Parry mountains, after his revered old commander with whom he had served in all but one of his Arctic voyages. The peaks were really the tops of islands at the back of the volcanoes, but the mistake was natural, indeed inevitable under the circumstances.
When within three or four miles of the great ice barrier, Sir James Ross altered course to the eastward to ascertain its extent. Mount Erebus was then emitting smoke and flames in great volume, affording a grand spectacle. Good progress was made in sailing along the ice barrier but no rent or fissure could be seen throughout its whole extent. On the 29th, after sailing along the barrier for a hundred miles, the ships being in 77° 47′ S., it was still seen stretching away to the east. The soundings showed that the outer edge of the ice was not resting on the ground. Bad weather came on with much snow, and the barrier was only seen at intervals as they continued their course to the east. Ross wrote of the barrier as a “mighty and wonderful object, far beyond anything we could have thought of or conceived.” The furthest south of the two ships was in 78° 5′ S.
On the 13th February Ross gave up any attempt to go further along the barrier and resolved to steer for the magnetic pole and seek for a harbour in which to winter. The course was set for Franklin Island. On the 16th Mount Erebus was again sighted, and there was a splendid view of the whole line of coast. A great number of whales of two kinds were visible. Upon the cape ahead of the ships was conferred the name of Professor Gauss of Göttingen “who has done more than any other philosopher of the present day to advance the science of terrestrial magnetism.” The range of mountains which Ross considered to be the seat of the magnetic pole was called after Prince Albert.
The course was now northward along the coast. Two capes named after Captain Washington, the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, and Captain Johnson, R.N., were seen to enclose a bay which was called after Lieutenant Wood of the Erebus195. On February 20th the breeze freshened to a gale and next day they were off Cape Adare. Rounding this, the northern coast was reached, the furthest point seen being Cape North. The line of coast presented perpendicular ice cliffs, and no landing was possible. The course was therefore set to the N.W., and on the 2nd March land was seen ahead appearing like two islands, but really peaks of one of the Balleny Islands. On the 6th April, 1841, the Erebus and Terror arrived in the Derwent river, Tasmania.