As we met with little ice, I stood to the
south, close hauled; and at six o'clock in the evening, being in the
latitude of 64 deg. 56' S., longitude 39 deg. 35' E. I found the variation by
Gregory's compass to be 26 deg. 41' W. At this time the motion of the ship was
so great that I could by no means observe with any of Dr Knight's
compasses.
As the wind remained invariably fixed at E. and E. by S., I continued to
stand to the south; and on the 17th, between eleven and twelve o'clock, we
crossed the Antarctic Circle in the longitude of 39 deg. 35' E., for at noon we
were by observation in the latitude of 66 deg. 36' 30" S. The weather was now
become tolerably clear, so that we could see several leagues round us; and
yet we had only seen one island of ice since the morning. But about four
p.m. as we were steering to the south, we observed the whole sea in a
manner covered with ice, from the direction of S.E., round by the S. to W.
In this space, thirty-eight ice islands, great and small, were seen,
besides loose ice in abundance, so that we were obliged to luff for one
piece, and bear up for another, and as we continued to advance to the
south, it increased in such a manner, that at three quarters past six
o'clock, being then in the latitude of 67 deg.
