1773- was with the .utmoft difficulty we wore clear of them. December.
<----.--- > This done, we flood to the N. W. till noon, when, the fog
being fomewhat diffipated, we refumed our courfe again to
the S. E. The ice iflands we met with in the morning were
very high and rugged, forming at their tops many peaks;
-whereas the moft of thofe we had feen before, were'flat at
top, and not fo high ; though manyof them were between
two and three hundred feet in height, and between two and
three miles in circuit, with perpendicular cliffs or fides,
• aflomfhing to behold. Moft of our winged companions had
now left us ; the grey albatroffes only remained ; and, in-
ftead of the other birds, we were vifited by a few antarftic
peterels.
Wednef. 2z, The 22d we fleered E. S. E. with a frefh gale at North,
blowing in fqualls, one of which took hold of the mizzen
top-fail, tore it all to rags, and rendered it, for . ever after,
ufelefs. At fix o’clock in the morning, the wind veering
toward the Weft, our courfe was Eaft, northerly. At this
time we were in the latitude of 67° 31', the higheft we had
yet been in, longitude 142° 54' Weft. -
Thurfday 23. We continued our courfe to the E. by N. till noon the
23d, when being in the latitude of 67° 12', longitude 1386 0',
we fleered S. E .; having then twenty-three ice iflands iii
fight, from off the deck, and twice that number, from the
maft-head; and yet we could not fee above two or three
miles round us. At four o’clock in the afternoon, in the
latitude of 67° so', longitude 1370 12', we fell in with fuch a
quantity of field, or loofe ice, as covered the fea in the
whole extent from South to Eaft, and was fo thick and clofe
as wholly to obftrudt our paffage. At this time,- the wind
being pretty moderate, and the fea fmooth, we brought to,
at
at the outer edge of the ice, hoifted out two boats and fent
them to take fome up. In the iqean time, we laid hold of
feveral large pieces along-fide, and got them on board with
our tackle. The taking up ice proved fuch cold work, that
it was eight o’clock by the time the boats had made two
trips; when we hoifted them in, and made fail to the Weft,
under double-reefed top-fails and courfes, with a ftrong gale
at North, attended with fnow and fleet, which froze to the
rigging as it fell, making the ropes like wires, and the fails
like boards or plates of metal. The fhivers alfo were frozen
fo fall in the blocks, that it required our utmoft efforts to
get a top-fail down and up ; the cold fo intenfe as hardly to
-be endured; the whole fea, in a manner, covered with ice;
a hard gale, and a thick fog.
Thurfday 23«
Under all thefe unfavourable circumftances, it was natural
for me to think of returning more to the North; feeing
no probability of finding any land here, nor a poffibility
of getting farther South. And to have proceeded to the
Eaft in this latitude, mnft have been wrong, not only on
account of the ice, but becaufe we muft have left a vaft fpace
of fea to the North unexplored ; a fpace of 240 of latitude ;
in which a large track of land might have lain. Whether
fuch a fuppofition was well-grounded, could only be determined
by vifiting thofe parts.
While we were taking up ice, we got two of the antardlic
peterels fo often mentioned, by which our conjectures were
confirmed of their being of the peterel tribe. They are
about the fize of a large pigeon ; the feathers of the head,
back, and part of the upper fide of the wings, are of a light
brown ; the belly, and under fide of the wings, white ; the
tail feathers are alfo white, but tipped with brown: at the
V ol. I. L I fame
I