i i6 A VUY A G & ROUND THE WORLD.
•m- ■ tent ficfeways at their upper extremity, arid though in moft;
February* |. -r* v •£ -
refpects fimilar to the northern lights faarov» forea/»; ot our
Aemifphere, yet differed from them, in being always of
a wHitifh colour, whereas ours affume various tints, efpe-
e'iaffy thoife of a fiery, and purple hue. The ftars were fome-
timcs hid by, and fometimes faintly to be feen through the.
filbftance of tliefe fouthern lights,: (aurora aujtralis)) which-
have hitherto, as far as I- can find, efcaped: the notice of
voyagers. The Iky was generally clear when they appeared,
and the air flrarp and cold, the thermometef Handing
at the freezing point.
On the 2.4th, being in about 62 degrees fouth latitude,,
we fell in once more with a folid field of ice,, which
confined our progrefs to the fouth, very much to
the fatisfaction of every body on board. We had now
been long at fea, without receiving any refrelhment ; the
favorable feafon for making difeoveries towards the frozen
zone, drew to an end; the weather daily became more-
fharp, a n d uncomfortable, and prefaged a dreadful winter
in thefefeas ; and, laftly, the nights lengthened apace, and
made our navigation more dangerous than it had hitherto
been. I t was therefore very natural; that our people, ex-
haufted by fatigues and the want of wholefome food, fhould
wifh for a place of refrelhment, and rejoice to leave a part
of the world, where they could not expect to meet with it.
march. We continued however from this day till the 17 th of March
WedHCta. , 7. , 0
A’ V O Y A G E ROUND THE WORLD. | | |
to run to the eaftward, between 61 0 and 58° of fouth la- mIrcL
titude, during which time we had a great fhare of eafterly
winds, which commonly brought fogs, and rains with
them, and repeatedly expofed us to the moft imminent
danger of being wrecked againft huge iflands of ice. The
fhapes of thefe large frozen maffes, were frequency Angularly
ruinous, and fo far picturefque enough ; among ,
them we palled one of a great fize, with a hollow in the :
middle, refembling a grotto or cavern, which was pierced
through,, and admitted the light from the other fide. Some
had the appearance of a fpire or fteeple; and many others
gave full fcope to our imagination, which compared them
to feveral known objects, by that means attempting to overcome
the tedioufnefs of our cruize, which the fight of
birds, porpeffes, feals, and whales, now too familiar to
our eyes, could not prevent from falling heavily upon us.
Notwithftanding our- excellent prefervatives,. efpecially the •
four-krout,, feveral of our people had now ftrong fymp-
toms of fea-feurvy, fuch as bad gums, difficult breathing,
livid blotches, eruptions; contracted limbs; and greenifh ,
greafy filaments in the urine. Wort was therefore preferibed
to them, and thofe who were the moft: affected drank five
pints of it per day ; the contracted limbs were bathed in
it, and the warm grains applied to them. By this means
we fucceeded to mitigate, and in fome individuals entirely
to remove the fymptoms of this horrid difeafe. The rigours