when fouth of it, no where exceeded ioo leagues; and in
fome places not 60. But a view of the chart will bell explain
this. The clear weather continued no longer than
three o clock the next morning ; when it was fucceeded by
a thick fog, fleet, and fnow. The wind alfo veered to N. E,,
and blew a freffi gale, with which we flood to S. E. It in-
creafed in fuch a manner, that before noon we were
brought under clofe-reefed top-fails. The wind continued
to veer to the north; at laft fixed at N. W., and was attended
with intervals of clear weather.
Monday 4. Our courfe was Eaft, B North, till noon the next day,
when we were in the latitude of 590 2' South, and nearly
under the fame meridian as we were when we fell in with
the laft field of ice, five days before: fo that had it remained
in the fame fituation, we muft now have been in
the middle of it. Whereas we did not fo much as fee any.
We cannot fuppofe that fo large a float of ice as this was,
could be deftroyed in fo fhort a time. It therefore muft
have drifted to the northward ; and this makes it probable
that there is no land under this meridian, between the latitude
of 55° and 59°, where we had fuppofed fome to lie, as.
mentioned above.
As we were now only failing over a part of the fea where-
we had been before, I directed the courfe E. S. E. in order
to get more to the fouth. We had the advantage of a freffi
gale, and the difadvantage of a thick fog; much fnow and
fleet, which, as ufual, froze on our rigging as it fell; fo
that every rope was covered with the fineft tranfparent ice I
ever faw. This afforded an agreeable fight enough to the
eye, but conveyed to the mind an idea of coldnefs, much
greater than it really was: for the weather was rather
milder than it had been for fome time paft, and the fea
lefs
'773*
January,
Sunday 3.
lefs incumbered with ice. But the worft was, the ice fo
clogged the rigging, fails and blocks, as to make them exceedingly
bad to handle. Our people, however, furmounted
thofe difficulties with a Heady perfeverance, and withftood
this intenfe cold much better than I expedted.
>773-
January.
Monday 4,
We continued to fleer to the E. S. E., with a freffi gale
at N. W., attended with fnow and fleet, till the 8tb, when Friday s.
We were in the latitude of 6i° 12' South, longitude 310'
47' Eaft. In the afternoon we paffed more ice iflands than
we had feen for feveral days. Indeed they were now fo
familiar to us, that they were often paffed unnoticed; but
more generally unfeen on account of the thick weather.
At nine o’clock in the evening, we came to one, which had
a quantity of loofe ice about it. As the wind was moderate,
and the weather tolerably fair, we ffiortened fail, and flood
on and off, with a view of taking fome on board on the
return of light. But, at four o’clock in the morning, find- Saturday 9.
ing ourfelves to leeward of this ice, we bore down to an
ifland to leeward of us; there being about it fome loofe
ice, part of which we faw break off. There we brought
to; hoifted out three boats; and, in about five or fix hours,
took up as much ice as yielded fifteen tons of good freffi
water. The pieces we took up were hard, and folid as a
rock; fome of them were fo large, that we were obliged
to break them with pick-axes, before they could be taken
into the boats.
The fait water which adhered to the ice, was fo trifling
as not to be tailed, and, after it had lain on deck a ffiort
time, entirely drained off; and the water which the ice
yielded, was perfectly fweet and well-tailed. Part of the
ice we broke in pieces, and put into calks;. fome we melted
in.