58' W. In the evening, the calm was succeeded by a breeze
from S.W., which soon after increased to a fresh gale; and fixing at S.S.W,
with it we steered N.E. 1/2 E. in the latitude of 41 deg. 25', longitude 135 deg.
58' W., we saw floating in the sea a billet of wood, which seemed to be
covered with barnacles; so that there was no judging how long it might have
been there, or from whence or how far it had come.
We continued to steer N.E. 1/2 E., before a very strong gale which blew in
squalls, attended with showers of rain and hail, and a very high sea from
the same quarter, till noon, on the 17th. Being then in the latitude of 39 deg.
44', longitude 133 deg. 32' W., which was a degree and a half farther east than
I intended to run; nearly in the middle between my track to the north in
1769, and the return to the south in the same year, and seeing no signs of
land, I steered north-easterly, with a view of exploring that part of the
sea lying between the two tracks just mentioned, down as low as the
latitude of 27 deg., a space that had not been visited by any preceding
navigator that I knew of.[4]
On the 19th, being in the latitude of 36 deg. 34', longitude 133 deg. 7' W., we
steered N. 1/2 W., having still the advantage of a hard gale at south,
which the next day veered to S.E. and E., blew hard and by squalls,
attended with rain and thick hazy weather. This continued till the evening
of the 21st, when the gale abated, the weather cleared up, and the wind
backed to the S. and S.E.
We were now in the latitude of 32 deg. 30', longitude 133 deg. 40' W., from this
situation we steered N.N.W. till noon the next day, when we steered a point
more to the west; being at this time in the latitude of 31 deg. 6', longitude
134 deg. 12' W. The weather was now so warm, that it was necessary to put on
lighter clothes; the mercury in the thermometer at noon rose to 63. It had
never been lower than 46, and seldom higher than 54, at the same time of
the day, since we left New Zealand.[5]
This day was remarkable by our not seeing a single bird. Not one had passed
since we left the land, without seeing some of the following birds, viz.
albatrosses, sheerwaters, pintadoes, blue peterels, and Port Egmont hens.
But these frequent every part of the Southern Ocean in the higher
latitudes: Not a bird, nor any other thing, was seen that could induce us
to think that we had ever been in the neighbourhood of any land.
The wind kept veering round from the S. by the W. to N.N.W., with which we
stretched north till noon the next day, when, being in the latitude of 29 deg.
22', we tacked and stretched to the westward. The wind soon increased to a
very hard gale, attended with rain, and blew in such heavy squalls as to
split the most of our sails. This weather continued till the morning of the
25th, when the wind became more moderate, and veered to N.W. and W.N.W.,
with which we steered and stretched to N.E., being at that time in the
latitude of 29 deg. 51', longitude 130 deg. 28' W. In the afternoon the sky cleared
up, and the weather became fair and settled. We now met the first tropic
bird we had seen in this sea.
On the 26th, in the afternoon, being in the latitude of 28 deg. 44', we had
several observations of the sun and moon, which gave the longitude 135 deg. 30'
W. My reckoning at the same time was 135 deg. 27', and I had no occasion to
correct it since I left the land. We continued to stretch to the north,
with light breezes from the westward, till noon, the next day, when we were
stopped by a calm; our latitude at this time being 27 deg. 53', longitude 135 deg.
17' W. In the evening, the calm was succeeded by a breeze from the N. and
N.W., with which we plied to the N.
On the 29th I sent on board the Adventure to enquire into the state of her
crew, having heard that they were sickly; and this I now found was but too
true. Her cook was dead, and about twenty of her best men were down in the
scurvy and flux. At this time we had only three men on the sick list, and
only one of them attacked with the scurvy. Several more, however, began to
shew symptoms of it, and were accordingly put upon the wort, marmalade of
carrots, rob of lemons and oranges.
I know not how to account for the scurvy raging more in the one ship than
the other, unless it was owing to the crew of the Adventure being more
scorbutic when they arrived in New Zealand than we were, and to their
eating few or no vegetables while they lay in Queen Charlotte's Sound,
partly for want of knowing the right sorts, and partly because it was a new
diet, which alone was sufficient for seamen to reject it. To introduce any
new article of food among seamen, let it be ever so much for their good,
requires both the example and authority of a commander; without both, of
which it will be dropt before the people are sensible of the benefits
resulting from it. Were it necessary, I could name fifty instances in
support of this remark. Many of my people, officers as well seamen, at
first disliked celery, scurvy-grass, &c., being boiled in the peas and
wheat; and some refused to eat it.
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