NAUTICAL ITEMS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9336, 29 January 1892, Page 1

NAUTICAL ITEMS.

Recent arrivals at Melbourne report passing through large fields of ice in the Southern Ocean, notably the ship Persian Empire and Norwegian barque Magnet. The Persian Empire first mot .the ice on December 12, and for the two following days was in the midst of it, the position being lat. « g-i?i autl lons lOde St 0 m '°S E- No tower tlian 14 Hugo icebergs were sighted to commence with, and several of these were in dangerous prOxi-nlAy. to-, th. c vessel- The lav«est of these bergs' was SaOft in height, and about four miles and aomJ* 1? Ol. l>cwn^eroneo. Its satellites muged from 240 ft to 170 ft in height, and from three to two miles- in circumference. In addition to these towering and aimless wanderers from the Antarctic regions, there were extensive fields of loose drift ice, and careful, cautious navigation was again requisite. An anxious look-out was kept, and there was a good deal of give and take . in dodging the fragmentary ice. Captain Reinecke, of the Magnat, mentions that on December 12, in lat. 44deg S., long, lldeg & , dim and indistinct substances, believed to be ico, were floating about at no great distance. Daylight was anxiously waited for, and the icebergs came with it. During the course of the day five very large ones were passed, and the largest of them, as measured by the sextant, was 500 ft in height and about one mile and a-half in diameter trom W. to X Numerous fragments of drift ice ?£°i i Slzo of a slli P>B mill were also passed that day, and three more well-defined large iceocrgs were passed on the night of December 13. Ine last of this glacial archipelago was seen on December 14 in lat. 45deg S., and long. 18deg E it comprised three islets, each about 40ft in height and any quantity of loose debris floating amongst and abont them. This, according to Captain Keinecke, appears to be a very dangerous form in which the ice difficulty presents itself, for on a dark night these smaller icebergs can scarcely be discerned soon enough to steer clear of them. The larger icebergs, on the other hand, can be seen at a, reasonable distance off. One was observed looming up at 11 p.m. right ahead, and it was passed at midnight. The ship at the time was going from eight to nine knots. On no occasion was the temperature of the sea much affected by the approach of ice, but the readings of the thermometer were very irregular. While traversm the Southern Ocean a brilliant Aurora Australia was observed at midnight on December 5.