As there appeared to be more probability of success being won on this voyage, the ships proceeded to explore the seas in the neighbourhood of these new lands; but a repetition of the trials and difficulties met in the previous year brought the hopes to nought. Whichever way they sailed they encountered ice, either in massive bergs, or lines of cliffs, miles in length. On February 6, 1775, the cold hostility of the region daunted even the brave heart of Captain Cook. He decided to turn back, writing in his log: "The risk one runs in exploring a coast in these unknown and icy seas is so great, that I can be bold enough to say that no man will ever venture further than I have done, and that the lands which lie to the south will never be explored." Modern achievement in the Antarctic regions forms a curious commentary on this outspoken opinion of so intrepid an explorer as the man who laid the great island-continent of Australia open for the colonisation of the British. But for the time being the opinion ranked sufficiently with the authorities to put an end to all attempts to solve the mystery of the Antarctic. Years passed without anything being done to penetrate into the unknown, until, in 1819, Captain William Smith, commanding the brig _William_, on a voyage from Monte Video to Valparaiso, was driven as far to the south as 62° 30', in which latitude and longitude 60° W. he discovered a group of islands and named them the South Shetlands. The discovery was reported to the commander of H.M.S. _Andromache_, who at once sailed to the locality and further explored the islands. These were found to be a scattered group lying between 61° and 63° S., consisting of twelve fairly large isles, and a number of small rocky islets. Several of the isles were mountainous, and one peak was observed which was estimated to be 2500 feet high. Beyond this brief expedition nothing was done by the Navy, but during the next few years a considerable amount of knowledge was gained by whaling captains who penetrated further to the south. Amongst others, Powell, in 1821, discovered land to the south of the South Shetlands, naming it Trinity Land; while Palmer, an American skipper, sailed along a coast to which he gave the name Palmer's Land. A Russian navigator, Bellinghausen, exploring to the south and west of the South Shetlands, located Alexander's Land, still more to the south than Palmer's Land.