- E. [10] "The Officers And Passengers Entered Upon This Second Cruise Under Several Difficulties, Which Did Not Exist Before.

They had now no livestock to be compared to that which they took from the Cape of Good Hope;

And the little store of provisions, which had supplied their table with variety in preference to that of the common sailor, was now so far consumed, that they were nearly upon a level, especially as the seamen were inured to that way of life, by constant habit, almost from their infancy; and the others had never experienced it before. The hope of meeting with new lands was vanished, the topics of common conversation were exhausted, the cruise to the south could not present any thing new, but appeared in all its chilling horrors before us, and the absence of our consort doubled every danger. We had enjoyed a few agreeable days between the tropics, we had feasted as well as the produce of various islands would permit, and we had been entertained with the novelty of many objects among different nations; but according to the common vicissitudes of fortune, this agreeable moment was to be replaced by a long period of fogs and frosty weather, of fasting, and of tedious uniformity. If any thing alleviated the dreariness of the prospect, with a great part of our shipmates, it was the hope of completing the circle round the South Pole, in a high latitude, during the next inhospitable summer, and of returning to England within the space of eight months. This hope contributed to animate the spirits of our people during the greatest part of our continuance in bad weather; but in the end it vanished like a dream, and the only thought which could make them amends, was the certainty of passing another season among the happy islands in the torrid zone." - G.F.

SECTION VI.

Route of the Ship from New Zealand in Search of a Continent; with an Account of the various Obstructions met with from the Ice, and the Methods pursued to explore the Southern Pacific Ocean.

AT eight o'clock in the evening of the 26th, we took our departure from Cape Palliser, and steered to the south, inclining to the east, having a favourable gale from the N.W. and S.W. We daily saw some rock-weeds, seals, Port Egmont hens, albatrosses, pintadoes, and other peterels; and on the 2d of December, being in the latitude of 48 deg. 23' south, longitude 179 deg. 16' west, we saw a number of red-billed penguins, which remained about us for several days. On the 5th, being in the latitude 50 deg. 17' south, longitude 179 deg. 40' east, the variation was 18 deg. 25' east. At half an hour past eight o'clock the next evening, we reckoned ourselves antipodes to our friends in London, consequently as far removed from them as possible.[1]

On the 8th, being in the latitude 55 deg. 39', longitude 178 deg. 53' west, we ceased to see penguins and seals, and concluded that those we had seen, retired to the southern parts of New Zealand, whenever it was necessary for them to be at land. We had now a strong gale at N.W., and a great swell from S.W. This swell we got as soon as the south point of New Zealand came in that direction; and as we had had no wind from that quarter the six preceding days, but, on the contrary, it had been at east, north, and N.W., I conclude there can be no land to the southward, under the meridian of New Zealand, but what must lie very far to the south. The two following days we had very stormy weather, sleet and snow, winds between the north and south- west.

The 11th the storm abated, and the weather clearing up, we found the latitude to be 61 deg. 15' south, longitude 173 deg. 4' W. This fine weather was of short duration; in the evening, the wind increased to a strong gale at S. W., blew in squalls, attended with thick snow showers, hail, and sleet. The mercury in the thermometer fell to thirty-two; consequently the weather was very cold, and seemed to indicate that ice was not far off.[2]

At four o'clock the next morning, being in the latitude of 62 deg. 10' south, longitude 172 deg. west, we saw the first ice island, 11 deg. 1/2 farther south than the first ice we saw the preceding year after leaving the Cape of Good Hope. At the time we saw this ice, we also saw an antarctic peterel, some grey albatrosses, and our old companions pintadoes and blue peterels. The wind kept veering from S.W. by the N.W. to N.N.E. for the most part a fresh gale, attended with a thick haze and snow; on which account we steered to the S.E. and E., keeping the wind always on the beam, that it might be in our power to return back nearly on the same track, should our course have been interrupted by any danger whatever. For some days we had a great sea from the N.W. and S.W., so that it is not probable there can be any land near, between these two points.

We fell in with several large islands on the 14th, and about noon, with a quantity of loose ice, through which we sailed. Latitude 64 deg. 55' south, longitude 163 deg. 20' west. Grey albatrosses, blue peterels, pintadoes, and fulmers, were seen. As we advanced to the S.E. by E. with a fresh gale at west, we found the number of ice islands increase fast upon us. Between noon and eight in the evening we saw but two; but before four o'clock in the morning of the 15th, we had passed seventeen, besides a quantity of loose ice which we ran through. At six o'clock, we were obliged to haul to the N.E., in order to clear an immense field that lay to the south and S. E. The ice, in most part of it, lay close packed together; in other places, there appeared partitions in the field, and a clear sea beyond it.

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