December. water to ta^e it UP 5 and by that means killed a pengu in
which weighed i 14 pounds. The white bird was of the
peterel tribe; the bill, which is rather fhort, is of a colour
between black and dark blue; and their legs and feet are
blue. I believe them to be the fame .fort of birds that
Bouvet mentions to have feen, when he was off Cape Cir-
cumcifion.
We continued our wefterly courfe till eight o’clock in the
evening, when we fleered N. W. the point on which I reckoned
the above-mentioned Cape to bear. At midnight we fell in
with loofe ice, which ISon after obliged us to tack, and
ftretch to the fouthward. At half an hour part two o’clock
Thurfday 31. in the morning of the 31ft, we flood for it again, thinking
to take fome on board; but this was found impracticable.
For the wind, which had been at N. E., now veered to S. E.,
and increafing to a frefh gale, brought with it fuch a fea
as made it very dangerous for the fhips to remain among
the ice. The danger was yet farther increafed, by difcover-
ing an immenfe field to the North, extending from N. E. by
E. to S. W. by W. farther than the eye could reach. As we
were not above two or three miles from this, and furrounded
by loofe ice, there was no time to deliberate. We prefently
wore; got our tacks on board; hauled to the South ; and
foon got clear; but not before we had received feveral hard
knocks from the loofe pieces, which were of the largeft
fort, and among which we faw a feal. In the afternoon the
wind increafed in fuch a manner, as to oblige us to hand
the top-fails, and ftrike top-gallant-yards. • At eight o’clock
we tacked and flood to the Eaft till midnight; when, being
in the latitude of 6o° si' South, longitude 130 32' Eaft, we
flood again to the Weft.
Next
Next day, towards noon, the gale abated ; fo that we could .'773-
carry clofe-reefed top-fails. But the weather continued thick «-— -
and hasty, with fleet and fnow, which froze on the rigging 1 ay ’•
as it fell, and ornamented the whole with icicles; the
mercury in the thermometer being generally below the
freezing point. This weather continued till near noon the
next day; at which time we were in the latitude of 590 12' Saturt,s>- 2-
South; longitude 90 45' Eaft; and here we faw fome penguins.
The wind had now veered to the Weft, and was fo moderate,
that we could bear two reefs out of the top-fails. In the
afternoon, we were favoured with a fight of the moon, whofe
face we-had feen but once fince we left the Cape of Good Hope.
By this a judgment may be formed of the fort of weather
we had had fince we left that place. We did not fail to feize
the opportunity to make feveral obfervations of the fun and
moon. The longitude deduced from them was 90 34' 30"
Eaft. Mr. Kendal’s watch, at the fame time, giving io° 6'
Eaft; and the latitude was 58° 53' 30" South.
This longitude is nearly the fame that is affigned to Cape
Circumcifion; and at the going down of the fun we were
about ninety-five leagues to the fouth of the latitude it is
faid to lie in. At this time the weather was fo clear that we
might have feen land at fourteen or fifteen leagues diftance.
It is therefore very probable, that what Bouvet took for
land, was nothing but mountains of ice, furrounded by
loofe or field ice. We ourfelves were undoubtedly deceived
by the ice hills, the day we firft fell in with the field ice. Nor
was it an improbable conjefture, that that ice joined to land.
The probability was however now greatly-leflened, if not entirely
fet afide. For the fpace between the northern edge of
the ice, along which we failed, and our roure to the weft,
F 8 when