On the voyage towards the North, one of those accidents occurred to the _Terror_ which, fortunately for the welfare of sailors, are not possible nowadays. The bobstay of the bowsprit was smashed by coming in contact with a mass of floating ice. At the time the temperature was such that the bows of the vessel, as well as the bowsprit and its rigging, were all covered with ice, which the men had to be continually trying to keep clear. With the ship pitching to a heavy head sea, this was by no means easy, yet it was simple compared to the work of repairing the damaged bobstay. The men carrying out this work had to be slung over the bows, and every time the ship pitched, they were plunged into the freezing water, often being entirely immersed. The temperature of the sea at the time was twelve degrees below freezing, and two hours were occupied in effecting the repairs, man after man going over the bows to take the places of those who were literally frozen out. The commander, with pardonable pride, commented upon the pluck and hardy determination of his men in carrying out this arduous task. As they sailed to their winter quarters in an easterly course, they passed the locality where the ships of the American expedition had reported a discovery of land forming part of the great Antarctic continent. A sharp lookout was kept for it, but no indications were seen, and, when the two ships sailed over the spot where the continent was supposed to exist, the conclusion was forced upon the leaders that the Americans had been misled, as they had themselves on more than one occasion, into regarding the combination of ice and cloud as land. So suggestive of land did this combination often appear, that it was only by the most careful and critical observation that similar mistakes were not to be recorded against the _Erebus_ and _Terror_. Early in April they arrived at Tasmania, leaving that colony in the following July for New Zealand, where they stayed until December, when they sailed once more to the Antarctic. It was the intention of Ross to sail to the South along the 146th meridian of west longitude, but the existence of heavy pack ice proved an effectual obstacle to their progress. The ships became involved in the pack, and only managed to force their way clear by the beginning of February. This meant a great loss of valuable time, for they were only able to reach 76° 42' S. latitude before they had to return. They sighted the great barrier of ice lying to the south, with what appeared to be high mountains, snow covered, rising behind. As no definite observations could be made to demonstrate whether the heights were mountains or only the summit of the Antarctic ice-cap, the discovery was not claimed as being new land.