Bin ——————— We have read with much interest the recent accou of Captain Ross’s proceedings, and we-admire the reso- lution and fortitude with which he encountered and over- came the formidable dangers and difficulties which op- posed his progress, and which had, apparently, com- pletely stopped both the French and the American paige. teve- sr Great and glorious as have been the military ac ments of the British navy, they will not be looked upon} by posterity with more admiration than the extensive discoveries which have distinguished it in the present age.—Science and civilization, and British power, have been promoted as effectually, and as permanently, by the discoveries of Cook, and Parry, and Ross, and many others, as by the Héroie deeds uf Howe, St. Vincent, and Nelson, afid their glorious companions. ‘I'he ‘Admiralty ehave'always most liberally and patriotically encouraged “those voyages of discovery: and in so doing they have consulted the honour of the nation, avd honour is the _ most valuable of all national possessions... | << The Erebus and Terror discovery ships sailed from “Bagland about eighteen months ago, under the conm and ~ of Captain James Clark Ross and Commander Crozier. their main and astensible object being to ascertain the trae position of the South Magnetic Pole, and the explo- * ration of the Antarctic Regions, of which a very imper- _. fect knowledge has hitherto been obtained ; but a series of magnetic observations were also directed to be made ‘at different stations on their route, and the first of which “being at Madeira, they put in there and stopped several days. They then proceeded to St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope, at which places they fitted up obscrvato- ries, and left officers of sufficient scientific acquirements *"to superintend them. be : Kerguelen Island was the next spot they visited, where, . and at Sabrina, further observations on the magnet were made, and they arrived safe at Hobartown, Van Die- “man’s Lard, about the middle of Iast August. There. Capt. Ross met his old friend, Sir John Franklin, the (governor, from whom he received every possible atten- ‘tion and assistance ; and there also having erected an « fitted up an observatory, they proceeded on their voyage about the 26ih of October, that being the date of their last letters, at which time they were on the eve of their ~ departure. —— Extract of a letter from Captain Ross of her Majesty's: -0 ship Erebus, dated at Hobartowh. Van Dieman’s ~ ° Land, 7th April, 1841. : Under all circumstances, it appeared to me that it would condace more to the advancement of that branch ‘of science, for which this expedition has been more spe- cially sent-forth, as well as for the extention of our geo- “, graphical knowledge of the Antarctic regions, to endea- -. our to penetrate to the southward, on about. the 170th _ degree of east longitude, by which the isodynamic oval, and the’ point exactly between the two foci of greater magnetic intensity might be passed over and determined, » and directly between the tracts of the Russian navigator, Bellingshausen, and our own Capt. James Cook, and af- ~ ter entering the Antarctic circle, to steer south-westerly towards the Pole, rather than attempt to approach it © directly from the north on the unsuccessful footsteps of _ my predecessors. . Accordingly, on leaving Auckland Islands on the “Wu of December, we proceeded to the southward, touching for a few days at Campbell Island, for magne- tic purposes, and after passing amongst many icebergs pack-edge, and entered on the Antarctic circle on the Ist of January, 1841. Bee This pack presented none of those formidable cha- racters which E had been Jed to expect from the ac- ~*eounts of the’ Americans and French; but the circum- * stances Were sufliciently unfavorable to deter me from en- tering it at this time, and a gale from the northward in- -terrupted our operations for three or four days. On the 5th of January) we 'sgain made the pack ~ about 103 miles to eastward, in latitude 66 deg. 45 min. _.&., and longitude 174 deg. 16 min. E.: and.although the , wind was blowing directly on it, with a high sea ran- _, ping, we succeeded in entering it without either of the ». ships sustaining any injury; and after penetrating a few miles we were enabled to make our way to the south- ward with comparitive ease and safety. tr On the following three or four days our progress was rendered more difficult and tedious, by thick fogs, light winds, a heavy swell, and almost constant snow showers; but a strong water sky to the south-rast, which was seen at every interval of clear weather, encouraged us to per- severe in that direction,and on the morning of the 9th, after sailing more than 200 miles through this pack, we _ gained a perfectly clear sea, and bore away south-west towards the Magnetic Pole. . , On the morning of the Lith of January, when in lat. 70 deg. 41 min. S., and longitude 172 deg. 36 min., land , Was discovered at the distance, as it afterwards proved, of nearly a hundred miles directly in the course we were steering, and therefore directly between us and the Pole. | Although this circumstance was viewed at the time with considerable regret, as being likely to defeat one ofthe more: important objects of the expedition, yet it restored to England the honor of the discovery of the southernmost known land, which had been nobly won and for more than twenty years possessed by Russia. » Continuing our course towards this land for many i hours, we seemed scarcely to approach it ; it rose in lof- _ ty mountain peaks of from 2 to 12,000 feet in heicht »» perfectly covered with eternal snow; the glaciers that » descended from the mountain summits projected many a miles into the ocean, and presented a perpendicular face "of lofty cliffs. As we neared the land, some exposed Patches of rock appeared ; and steering towards a small ay for the purpose of a landing, we found the shore so -. thickly lined for some miles with,bergs and pack ice ,/ andwith a heavy swell dashing against it, we were obli- ged to abandon our purpose, and steer towards a more ~~ promising looking point to ‘the south, off which we ob- served several small islands; and on the morning of the 12th, I landed, accompanied by Commander Crozier and a number of the officers of each ship,-and took pos- ._ Session of the country in the name of her most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. : 5 § . The island.on which we landed: is composed wholly of - igneous rocks, numerous specimens of which, with other imbedded minerals, were procured : it is in latitude 71 3 aes 56 min.'S., and longitude 171 deg. 7 min. E. Observing that the east coast, of the main land trend- As ed to the southward, whilst the north shore took a north- _sowesterly direction, I was led to hope that by penetrating to the south as far as practicable it might be possible to pass beyond the Magnetic Pole, which our combined observations placed in 76 deg. nearly ; and thence, by steering westward, complete its circumnavigation, | We “accordingly pursued our course along. this magnifi- i 6 Rob day that he could feeb certain of being the Judge Gridley :eserved the: question » witt with the right to the Atto niey Genieral nee on the latter day of this week should he to x so. He then mide a brief and approp pate jurors empannelled, reminding them of th ledg b lity resting on them, of their sworn ¢ td grounds of-bias or prejudice on the qu mis: ofthem would be called on to decide, to wor! influence them by rumortrs ard indire liar as otherwise. He directed them, should an mea so to approach one or moré of them, to coin the Court, by whom the offence. woul (he, sete :