When they had got thoroughly clear of all signs of ice, Cook once again turned south, and by 26th December had worked down as far as 50 degrees 31 minutes South, 26 degrees 57 minutes East, where, though surrounded by large masses of floating ice, they steered to the west, leaving the main ice field to the north of them. Gradually working down to 60 degrees South in the longitude given for Cape Circumcision, and being some ninety-five leagues further south, with no signs of land, Cook concluded that M. Bouvet must have been deceived by the ice. (Bouvet Island was discovered by the German Deep Sea Discovery ship Valdivia on 25th November 1898. The position was fixed as 54 degrees 26.4 minutes South, 3 degrees 24.2 minutes ??South, and not 54 degrees South, 11 degrees 20 East, as given to Cook, which will account for his want of success in his search for it.) Here Mr. Wales was enabled to get a sight of the moon for the second time since leaving the Cape of Good Hope, and, taking several observations, fixed the position of the ship with tolerable accuracy. Changing the course to East-South-East, very foggy weather was encountered, accompanied by great cold, which coated the rigging with ice, rendering it very pretty to the eye but difficult and unpleasant to work. Cook says that, though this suggested very intense cold to the mind, in reality the thermometer was rather higher than it had been, and the sea was far less encumbered with ice. Taking large blocks of ice on board it was found that, when the sea water was drained off, they provided perfectly fresh water on melting, thus removing a great weight from Cook's shoulders, and he determined on venturing further to the southward. On 17th January 1773 they crossed the Antarctic Circle in longitude 39 degrees 35 minutes East, and at noon their latitude, by observation, was 66 degrees 36 minutes 30 seconds South, the sea being free from ice. However, in the evening they found themselves completely blocked by an enormous field, extending, as far as the eye could reach, from the south-east round to the west; and as the summer was nearly over, Cook decided it was unwise to attempt anything further southwards, and ordered a retreat to the north. Again making for the land claimed to have been discovered by the French, he spent some days searching for it, but nothing was seen except some floating weed and a few birds that are supposed never to get far away from land. On 8th February a brisk gale sprang up, accompanied by very hazy weather, thickening into fog, and the two vessels separated. The Resolution cruised about, firing guns and burning flares, but no response was heard, and when the weather cleared up, the Adventure was not to be seen. Poor Mr. Forster was dreadfully scared when he realised the two ships had parted company; he says that none of the crew "ever looked around the ocean without expressing concern on seeing our ship alone on this vast and unexplored expanse." He seems