30' E.; having about two hours before
seen three or four penguins. Finding here a good quantity of loose ice, I
ordered two boats out, and sent them to take some on board. While this was
doing, the island, which was not less than half a mile in circuit, and
three or four hundred feet high above the surface of the sea, turned nearly
bottom up. Its height, by this circumstance, was neither increased nor
diminished apparently. As soon as we had got on board as much ice as we
could dispose of, we hoisted in the boats, and made sail to the S.E., with
a gentle breeze at N. by E., attended with showers of snow, and dark gloomy
weather. At this time we had but few ice islands in sight, but, the next
day, seldom less than twenty or thirty were seen at once.
The wind gradually veered to the east; and, at last, fixing at E. by S.,
blew a fresh gale. With this we stood to the south, till eight o'clock in
the evening of the 23d; at which time we were in the latitude of 61 deg. 52'
S., longitude 95 deg. 2' E. We now tacked and spent the night, which was
exceedingly stormy, thick, and hazy, with sleet and snow, in making short
boards. Surrounded on every side with danger, it was natural for us to wish
for day-light. This, when it came, served only to increase our
apprehensions, by exhibiting to our view those huge mountains of ice, which
in the night we had passed without seeing.
These unfavourable circumstances, together with dark nights, at this
advanced season of the year, quite discouraged me from putting in execution
a resolution I had taken of crossing the Antarctic Circle once more.
Accordingly, at four o'clock in the morning, we stood to the north, with a
very hard gale at E.S.E., accompanied with snow and sleet, and a very high
sea from the same point, which made great destruction among the ice
islands. This circumstance, far from being of any advantage to us, greatly
increased the number of pieces we had to avoid. The large pieces which
break from the ice islands, are much more dangerous than the islands
themselves. The latter are so high out of water, that we can generally see
them, unless the weather be very thick and dark, before we are very near
them. Whereas the others cannot be seen in the night, till they are under
the ship's bows. These dangers were, however, now become so familiar to us,
that the apprehensions they caused were never of long duration; and were,
in some measure, compensated both by the seasonable supplies of fresh water
these ice islands afforded us, (without which we must have been greatly
distressed,) and also by their very romantic appearance, greatly heightened
by the foaming and dashing of the waves into the curious holes and caverns
which are formed in many of them; the whole exhibiting a view which at once
filled the mind with admiration and horror, and can only be described by
the hand of an able painter.[3]
Towards the evening the gale abated, and in the night we had two or three
hours calm. This was succeeded by a light breeze at west, with which we
steered east, under all the sail we could set, meeting with many ice
islands.
This night we saw a Port Egmont hen; and next morning, being the 25th,
another. We had lately seen but few birds; and those were albatrosses,
sheer-waters, and blue peterels. It is remarkable that we did not see one
of either the white or Antarctic peterels, since we came last amongst the
ice. Notwithstanding the wind kept at W. and N.W. all day, we had a very
high sea from the east, by which we concluded that no land could be near in
that direction. In the evening, being in the latitude 60 deg. 51', longitude
95 deg. 41' E., the variation was 43 deg. 6' W., and the next morning, being the
26th, having advanced about a degree and a half more to the east, it was
41 deg. 30', both being determined by several azimuths.
We had fair weather all the afternoon, but the wind was unsettled, veering
round by the north to the east. With this we stood to the S.E. and E., till
three o'clock in the afternoon; when, being in the latitude of 61 deg. 21' S.,
longitude 97 deg. 7', we tacked and stood to the northward and eastward as the
wind kept veering to the south. This, in the evening, increased to a strong
gale, blew in squalls, attended with snow and sleet, and thick hazy
weather, which soon brought us under our close-reefed top-sails.
Between eight in the morning of the 26th, and noon the next day, we fell in
among several islands of ice; from whence such vast quantities had broken
as to cover the sea all round us, and render sailing 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 not clear up till the next morning,
when we were able to carry all our sails, and met with but very few islands
of ice to impede us. Probably the late gale had destroyed a great number of
them. Such a very large hollow sea had continued to accompany the wind as
it veered from E. to S.W. that I was certain no land of considerable extent
could lie within 100 or 150 leagues of our situation between these two
points.
The mean height of the thermometer at noon, for some days past, was at
about 35, which is something higher than it usually was in the same
latitude about a month or five weeks before, consequently the air was
something warmer.
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