>775* greater diftaricé from land, Wfe now diTcovefed' that tté
January. P , t , ? ■ , , , , ,
had very providentially efeaped being Wrecked oh the
land, by making the circuit of it without knotting it, Wé
put about inftantly after this difcovéry, and flood off and
on all 3ay, as well as thè next, bëcâufe the fame kind of
thick fog, with frequent intervals- of calm weather continued.
In the evening however, thé fog cleared for a
little while, and gave us a fair view, both of the Ifle df
'Georgia, and of the fmaller one round Which we had
failed. We found the latter of an ineonfiderable fize, arid
furrounded with other broken rocks the whole dangerous
group was therefore named Gierke s rocks, and lies in 55 J.
m m l * Î and 34«? W. Early bn the tte dirtfred our
courfe to the eaftward, a n d afterwards, fomewhat foutherly,.
in order to make another run towards the fduth before we
returned into milder climates.
It has "been fuppofed, that all parts of this globe, including
thofe which are barren and drbary in the high eft
degrèe, are fit to become the abode o f inéû. Before we
arrived at this Ifland of Georgia, we had nothing to oppofe
to this opinion, fince even the wintery fhores Of Tierra del:
Fuego were inhabited by human beings, who were ftill one
ftep removed from brutes. But the climate of Tierra del
Fuego is mild with refpedl to that of Georgia, the difference
in the thermometer which we obferved, being at leaft ten
degrees. It has befides the advantage of producing a,
quantity
quantity of Chtubbery and wood, fufficient to fupply the
wants of the natives, who are by that means enabled to reft
fheltered from the inclemencies of the air, and to light fires,
which give them warmth, and may ferve to make their food
eatable and wholefome. As New Georgia is wholly deftitute
of wood, and of any other combufiible to ferve as a fee*
cedaneum, I apprehend it would be impoffible for any race,
of men to live upon it, though they fhould, inftead of the
ftupidity of the Pefferais, be poffeffed of the ingenuity of
Europeans. The fummers of this new ifland are rigoroufly
gold, the thermometer having never rifen ten degrees above
the freezing point, during our flay on the coaft ; and though
we have reafon to fuppofe, that the winters are not colder
in the fame proportion as in our hemifphere, yet it is
probable there Will be at leaft a difference of twenty or
thirty degrees. This I think is fufficient to kill any men
who may furvive the fummer there, fuppofing them provided
with no other defence than that which the country
affords. But South Georgia, befides being uninhabitable,
does not appear to contain any Angle article, for which it
might be vifited occafionally by European Hups. Seals,.
and fea-lions, 6f which the blubber is accounted an article
of commerce, are much more numerous on the defart coafts
of South America, the Falkland, and the New Year’s Iflands,
where they may likewife be obtained at a much fmaller
rifk. If the northern ocean fhould ever be cleared of
whales,
»775-
Ja n u a r y *