A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 15: Forming A Complete History Of The Origin And Progress Of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce, By Sea And Land, From The Earliest Ages To The Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 15: Forming A Complete History Of The Origin And Progress Of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce, By Sea And Land, From The Earliest Ages To The Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
At midnight the wind began to freshen at N.N.E., with which we stood to
the N.W., till six in the morning of the 30th, when the wind veering to
N.N.W., we tacked and stood to N.E., and soon after sailed through a
good deal of loose ice, and passed two large islands. Except a short
interval of clear weather about nine o'clock, it was continually foggy,
with either sleet or snow. At noon we were, by our reckoning, in the
latitude of 59° 3O' S., longitude 29° 24' W.
Continuing to stand to N.E. with a fresh breeze at N.N.W., at two
o'clock, we passed one of the largest ice-islands we had seen in the
voyage, and some time after passed two others, which were much smaller;
Weather still foggy, with sleet: And the wind continued at N. by W.,
with which we stood to N.E., over a sea strewed with ice.
At half an hour past six next morning, as we were standing N.N.E. with
the wind at west, the fog very fortunately clearing away a little, we
discovered land ahead, three or four miles distant. On this we hauled
the wind to the north; but finding we could not weather the land on this
tack, we soon after tacked in one hundred and seventy-five fathoms
water, three miles from the shore, and about half a league from some
breakers. The weather then cleared up a little more, and gave us a
tolerably good sight of the land. That which we had fallen in with
proved three rocky islets of considerable height. The outermost
terminated in a lofty peak like a sugar-loaf, and obtained the name of
Freezeland Peak, after the man who first discovered it. Latitude 59° S.,
longitude 27° W. Behind this peak, that is to the east of it, appeared
an elevated coast, whose lofty snow-clad summits were seen above the
clouds. It extended from N. by E. to E.S.E., and I called it Cape
Bristol, in honour of the noble family of Hervey. At the same time
another elevated coast appeared in sight, bearing S.W. by S., and at
noon it extended from S.E. to S.S.W., from four to eight leagues
distant; at this time the observed latitude was 59° 13' 30" S.,
longitude 27° 45' W. I called this land Southern Thule, because it is
the most southern land that has ever yet been discovered. It shews a
surface of vast height, and is every where covered with snow. Some
thought they saw land in the space between Thule and Cape Bristol. It is
more than probable that these two lands are connected, and that this
space is a deep bay, which I called Forster's Bay.
At one o'clock, finding that we could not weather Thule, we tacked and
stood to the north, and at four, Freezeland Peak bore east, distant
three or four leagues. Soon after, it fell little wind, and we were left
to the mercy of a great westerly swell, which set right upon the shore.
We sounded, but a line of two hundred fathoms found no bottom.
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