1773- ing the 26th, having advanced^ about a degree and a half
i ebr,“ary‘j more to the Eaft, it was 410 30'; both being determined by
Friday 26. feverai azimuths.
We had fair weather all the afternoon; but the wind was
■ unfettled, veering round by the North to the Eaft. With
this, we.ftood to the S. E. and E., till three o’clock in the
afternoon; when, being in the latitude of 61° 21' South,
longitude 97° 7', we tacked and flood to the northward and
eaftward as the wind kept veering to the South. This, in
the evening, increafed to a ftrong gale, blew in fqualls, attended
with fnow and fleet, and thick hazy weather, which
foon brought us under our clofe-reefed top-fails;
Saturday 17. Between eight in the morning of the 26th, and noon the
next day, we fell in among feveral iflands of ice; from-
whence fuch vaft quantities had broken as to cover the fea
all round us, and render failing .rather dangerous. However,
by noon, we were clear of it all. In the evening the
wind abated, and veered to S. W.; but the weather did nor
Sunday 28. clear up till the next morning; when we were able to carryall
our fails, and met with but very few iflands of ice to impede
us. Probably the late gale had deftroyed a great
number of them. Such a very large hollow fea had continued
to accompany the wind as it veered from Eaft to S. W.,
that I was certain no land of confiderable extent could lie
within 100 or 150 leagues of our fituation between thefe
two points.
The mean height of the thermometer at noon, for fome
days paft, was at about 35; which is fomething higher than
it ufually was in the fame latitude about a month or five
weeks before, confequently the air was- fomething warmer.
While the weather was really warm, the gales were not only
ftronger,
•ftronger, but more frequent; with almoft continual, mifty,
dirtv, wet weather. The very animals we had on board felt >—
, Sunday 28.
its effe&s. A fow having in the morning farrowed nine •
pigs, every one of them was killed by the cold before four
o ’clock in the afternoon, notwithftanding all the care w;e
could take of them. From the fame caufe, myfelf as well
as feveral of my people, had fingers and toes chilblained.
Such is the fummer weather we enjoyed.
The wind continued unfettled, veering from the South to
the Weft, and blew a frejh gale till the evening. Then it
fell little wind; and, foon after, a breeze fprung up at
North; which quickly veered to N. E. and N. E. by E., attended
with a thick fog, fnow, fleet, and rain. With this
wind and weather, we kept on to the S. E., till four o’clock
in the afternoon of the next day, being the ift of March, M0nda^'.
when it fell calm; which continued for near twenty-four
hours. We were now in the latitude of 60° 36' South, longitude
107° 34'; and had a prodigious high fwell from the
S. W.; and, at the fame time, another from the South or
S. S. E. The dafhing of the one wave againft the other,
made the fhip both roll and pitch exceedingly; but, at
length," the N- W. fwell prevailed. The calm continued till
noon the next day, when it was fucceeded by a gentle Tu«flay:2,
breeze from S. E.; which afterwards increafed and veered
to S. W. With this we fleered N. E. by E. and E. by N. under
all the-fail we could fet.
In the afternoon of the 3d, being in latitude 6o° 13', longi- vvednef. 3.
tude 1 io° 18', the variation was 390 4' Weft. But the obfer-
vations by which this was determined, were none of the
beft; being obliged to make ufe of fuch as we could get,
during the very few and fliort intervals when the fun ap-
1 3 peared.