CAPTAIN CARTERET ' S VOYAGE
We continued our fearch till Wednefday the 17th o f June,
when, in latitude 28° S., longitude 112° W. we faw many
Wc e ’ I7‘ fea birds, which flew in flocks, and fbme rock weed, which
made me conjedlure that w e were approaching, or had palled
by fome land. At this time the wind blew hard from the
northward, which made a great fea, but we had'notwith-
ftanding long rolling billows from the fouthward, fo that
whatever land was in that quarter, could be only fmall
rocky iflands; and I am inclined to believe that i f there was
land at all it was to the northward, polBbly it might be
Roggewein’s eaftern ifland, which he has placed in latitude
27 °S . and-which fome geographers’ have fuppofed to be
about feven hundred leagues diftant from the continent o f
South America, i f indeed any credit is to be given to his
account.
It was now the depth o f winter in thefe parts, and we had
hard gales and high feas that frequently brought us under
our courfes and low fails: the winds were alfo variable, and
though we were near the tropic, the weather was dark,
hazy, and cojd, with frequent thunder and lightning,
fleet and rain. The fun was above the horizon about ten
hours in the four and twenty, but we frequently palled
many days together without feeing h im ; and the weather
was fo thick, that when he was below the horizon the
darknefs was dreadful: the gloominefs o f the weather was
indeed not only a difagreeable but a moft dangerous cir-
cuihftance, as we were often long without being able to>
make an obfervation, and were, notwithftanding, obliged to
carry all the fail we could fpread, day and night, our Ihip
being fo bad a failer, and our voyage fo long, to prevent
our perilhing by hunger, which, with all its concomitant
horrors, would otherwife be inevitable.
340
17*27'
June.
We