December *nS about the Ihip, but very few birds; iflanda of ice in
;----»----1 plenty, and a fwell from W. N. W.
Friday 31. On the 31ft, little wind from the weftward; fair and clear
weather, which afforded an opportunity to air the' fpare
fails, and to clean and fmoke the fhip between decks. At
noon our latitude was 59° 40' S., longitude 135.0 11' Weft.
Our obfervation to-day gave us reafon to conjecture that we
had a Southerly current. Indeed, this was no more than
what might reafonably be fuppofed, to account for fuch
huge maffes of ice being brought from the South. In the
afternoon we had a few hours calm, fucceeded by a breeze
from the Eaft, which enabled us to refume our N. W. by N.
courfe.
,77+. January ift, the wind remained not long at Eaft, but veer-
Satmday^. ed round by the South to Weft; blewfrefti; attended with
fnow ihowers. In the evening, being in the latitude of
58° 39' S., we palled two illands of ice; after which we faw
no more till we flood again to the South.
Sunday 2. At live o’clock in the morning on the 2d, it fell calm: being
at this time in the latitude of 58° 2', longitude 1370 12'. The
calm being fucceeded by a breeze at Eaft, we fleered N. W.
by W. My reafon for fleering this courfe was to explore
part of the great fpace of fea between us and our track to
the South.
Monday 3. On the gd, at noon, being in latitude 5 6 ° 4 6 ', longitude
I39° 4i'> the weather became fair, and the wind veered to
S. W. About this time we faw a few fmall Divers (as we
call them) of the peterel tribe, which we judged to be fuch
as are ufually feen near land, efpecially in the bays, and on
the
m
the coaft of New Zealand. I cannot tell what to think of '774- January.
thefe birds. Had there been more of them, I Ihould have -p-----
been ready enough to believe that we were, at this time, not r 3
very far from land; as I never faw one fo far from known
land before. Probably thefe few had been drawn thus far
by fome fhoal of filh; for fuch were certainly about us, by
the vaft number of blue peterels, albatroffes, and fuch other
birds as are ufually feen in the great ocean ; all'or mod pf
whom left us before night. Two or three piece? of fea-
weed were alfo feen; but thefe appearecTold and decayed.-
At eight o’clock in the evening, being in thelatitude of 56^'
Si, longitude 140°'$1' Weft, the wind fixing in the'Weltern
board, obliged us to fleer North-Eafterly, and laid me under
the neceflity of leaving unexplored a fpace of the fea to the
Weft, containing near 40° of longitude, and half that in latitude.
Had the wind continued favourable, I intended to
have run 15 or 20 degrees of longitude more to the Weft
in the latitude we were then in, and back again to the Eaft
in the latitude of 50°. This route would have fo interfered
the fpace above mentioned, as hardly to have left room for
the bare fuppofition of any land lying-there. Indeed, as it
was, we have little reafon to believe that there is; but rather
the contrary, from the great hollow fwell we had had, for
feveral days, from the W. and N. W. though the wind had
blown from a contrary direction great part of the time;
which is a great fign we had not been covered by any land
between "thefe two points.
While we were in the high latitudes,, many of our people
were attacked with a flight fever, occafioned by colds. It
happily yielded to the fimpleft remedies ; was generally removed