jce-iflands, and a fea ftrewed with loofe ice. The weather
too was become thick and hazy, attended with drizzling rain
and fleet, which made it the more dangerous to ftand in
among the ice. For this reafon we tacked and flood back
to the Weft, with the wind at North. The ice-iflands, Which
at this time furrounded us, were nearly all of equal height,
and Ihewed a flat even furface; but they were of various extent,
feme being two or three miles in circuit. The loofe ice'
was what had broken from thefe ifles.
Next morning, the wind falling and veering to S. W., we
fleered N. E.; but. this courfe was foon intercepted by numerous
ice-iflands ; and, having but very little wind, we were
obliged to fleer fuch courfes as carried us the cleared; of
them; fo that we hardly made any advance-, one way or
other during the whole day. Abundance o f whales and penguins
were about us,all the time ; and the weather fair, but
dark and gloomy.
At midnight the wind began to frefhen at N. N. E., with
which we flood to N. W., till fix in the morning of the 30th,
when the wind veering to N. N. W., we tacked and flood to
N. E., and foon after failed through a good deal of loofe ice,
and pafled two large iflands. Except a fhort interval of clear
weather about nine o’clock, it was continually foggy, with
either fleet or fnow.' At noon we were, by our reckoning, in
the latitude of 590 30' S., longitude 29° 34' Weft.
Continuing to ftand to N. E. with a frefli breeze at N. N. W.,
at two o’clock, we pafled one of the largeft ice-iflands we had
feen in the voyage, and feme time after pafled two others,
which were much fmaller. Weather ftill foggy, with fleet;
and the wind continued at N. by W., with which we flood to
N. E., over a fea ftrewed with ice.
7 .
At half an hour paft fix next morning, as we were Handing
N. N. E. with the wind at Weft, the fog very fortunately
clearing away a little, we difcovered land a-head, three or
four miles diftant. On this we hauled the wind to the North;
but finding we could not weather the land on this tack, we
foon after tacked in one hundred and feventy-five fathoms
water, three miles from the Ihore, and about half a league
from feme breakers. The weather then cleared up a little
more, and gave us a tolerably good fight of the land. That
which we -had fallen in with proved three rocky iflots of con-
fiderable hight. The outermoft terminated in a lofty peak
like a fugar-Joaf, and obtained the name of Freezeland Peak,
after the man who firft difcovered it. Latitude 59° S. longitude
270 Weft. Behind this Peak, that is to the eaft of it, appeared
an elevated coaft, whofe lofty fnow-clad fummits
were feen above the' clouds. It extended from N. by E. to
E.S. E., and I called it Cape Briftol, in honour of the noble
family of Hervey. At the fame time another elevated coaft
appeared in fight, bearing S. W. by S., and at noon it extended
from S. E. to S. S. W. from four to eight leagues
diftant; at this time the obferved latitude was 59° 13' 30" S.,
longitude 270 45' Weft. I called this land Southern Thule,
becaufe it is the moft fouthern land that has ever yet been
difcovered. It Ihews a furface of vaft height, and is every
where covered with fnow. ■ Some thought they faw land in
the fpace between Thule and Cape Briftol. It is more than
probable that thefe two lands are connected, and that this
fpace is a deep bay, which I called Forfter’s Bay.
. At one o’clock, finding that we could not weather Thule,
we tacked and flood to the North, and at four, Freezeland
Peak bore Eaft, diftant three or four leagues. Soon after, it
V ol. II. G g fell