■ December t^at wc to luff for one, and bear up for another. One
v— r— ' we were very near falling aboard of; and if it had happened,
Wednef. 15. . r r 7
this circumstance would never have been related. Thefe
difficulties, together with the improbability of finding land
farther South, and the impoffibility of exploring it, on account
of the ice, if we fhould find any, determined me to
get more to the North. At the time we laft tacked, we
were in the longitude of 15-90 20' Weft, and in the latitude
of 66° 0' S. Several penguins were feen on fome of the
ice iflands, and a few antardac peterels on the wing.
We continued to ftand to the North, with a frefh gale at
Weft, attended with thick fnow fhowers, till eight o’clock in
the evening, when the wind abated, the Iky began to clear
Thurfday 16. up, and at fix o’clock in the morning of the 16th it felt calm.
Four hours after, it was fucceeded by a breeze at N. E. with
which we ftretched to the S. E., having thick hazy weather,
with fnow fhowers, and all our rigging coated with ice. In
the evening we attempted to take fome up out of the fea, but
were obliged-to defift; the fea running too high, and the
pieces being fo large, that it was dangerous for the boat to
come near them.
Friday 17. The next morning, being the 17th, we fucceeded better;
for, falling in with a quantity of loofe ice, we hoifted out
two boats ; and, by noon, got on board as much as we could
manage. We then made fail for the Eaft, with a' gentle
breeze northerly, attended with fnow and fleet, which froze
to the rigging as it fell. At this time we were in the latitude
of 64° 41' South, longitude 155° 44' Weft. The ice we
took up proved to be none of the beft, being chiefly competed
of frozen fnow; on which account it was porpus, and
had imbibed a good deal of fait water; but this drained off,
1 after
AND ROUND THE WORLD.
fter lying a while on deck, and the water then yielded was
frefh. We continued to ftretch to the Eaft, with a piercing
cold northerly wind, attended with a thick fog, fnow, and
fleet, that decorated all our rigging with icicles. We were
hourly meeting with fome of the large ice iflands, which,
in thefe high latitudes, render navigation fo very dangerous
: at feven in the evening, falling in with a clufter of
255
Friday 17.
them, we narrowly efcaped running aboard of one, and,
with difficulty, wore clear of the others. We flood back to
the Weft till ten o’clock; at which time the fog cleared
away, and we refumed our courfe to the Eaft. At noon, the
next day, we were in the latitude of 64° 49' S., longitude S a tu r d a y 1 8 ;
1490 19' Weft. Some time after, our longitude, by obferved
diftance of the fun and moon, was 149° 19' Weft; by Mr.
Kendal’s watch 148° 36'; and, by my reckoning, 148° 43',
latitude 64° 48' South.
The clear weather, and the wind, veering to N. Wi,
tempted me to fleer South ; which courfe we continued till
feven in the morning of the 20th, when the wind changing Monday so;
to N. E. and the Iky becoming clouded, we hauled up S. E.
In the afternoon the wind increafed to a ftrong gale, attended
with a thick fog, fnow, fleet,, and rain, which conftitutes the
very worft of weather. Our rigging, at this time, was fo
loaded with ice that we had enough to do, to get our top-
fails down, to double the reef. At feven o’clock in the evening,
in the longitude of 1470 46', we came, the fecond time;
within the antarftic or polar circle, continuing our courfe
to the S. E. till fix o’clock the next morning. At that time, TueHaysu
being in the latitude of 67° 5', South, all at once we got- in
among a clufter of very large ice iflands, and a vail quantity
of loofe pieces; and, as the fog was exceedingly thick, it
was