A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1Cook, James
History
A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1
Cook, James
Antarctica; Oceania -- Discovery and exploration -- Early works to 1800; Voyages around the world -- Early works to 1800
Notwithstanding so little was to be expected in that quarter, we continued
to stand to the south till three o'clock in the morning of the 12th, when
we were stopped by a calm; being then in the latitude of 58 deg. 56' S.,
longitude 131 deg. 26' E. After a few hours calm, a breeze sprung up at west,
with which we steered east. The S.S.E. swell having gone down, was
succeeded by another from N.W. by W. The weather continued mild all this
day, and the mercury rose to 39-1/2. In the evening it fell calm, and
continued so till three o'clock in the morning of the 13th, when we got the
wind at E. and S.E., a fresh breeze attended with snow and sleet. In the
afternoon it became fair, and the wind veered round to the S. and S.S.W. In
the evening, being in the latitude of 58 deg. 59', longitude 134 deg., the weather
was so clear in the horizon, that we could see many leagues round us. We
had but little wind during the night, some showers of snow, and a very
sharp frost. As the day broke, the wind freshened at S.E. and S.S.E.; and
soon after, the sky cleared up, and the weather became clear and serene;
but the air continued cold, and the mercury in the thermometer rose only
one degree above the freezing point.
The clear weather gave Mr Wales an opportunity to get some observations of
the sun and moon. Their results reduced to noon, when the latitude was 58 deg.
22' S., gave us 136 deg. 22' E. longitude. Mr Kendal's watch at the same time
gave 134 deg. 42'; and that of Mr Arnold the same. This was the first and only
time they pointed out the same longitude since we left England. The
greatest difference, however, between them, since we left the Cape, had not
much exceeded two degrees.
The moderate, and I might almost say, pleasant weather, we had, at times,
for the last two or three days, made me wish I had been a few degrees of
latitude farther south; and even tempted me to incline our course that way.
But we soon had weather which convinced us that we were full far enough;
and that the time was approaching, when these seas were not to be navigated
without enduring intense cold; which, by the bye, we were pretty well used
to. In the afternoon, the serenity of the sky was presently obscured: The
wind veered round by the S.W. to W., and blew in hard squalls, attended
with thick and heavy showers of hail and snow, which continually covered
our decks, sails, and rigging, till five o'clock in the evening of the
15th. At this time, the wind abated, and shifted to S.E.; the sky cleared
up; and the evening was so serene and clear, that we could see many leagues
round us; the horizon being the only boundary to our sight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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