The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World, Vol. III. Being the First of the Second VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World, Vol. III. Being the First of the Second Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
The next morning, being the 17th, we succeeded better; for falling in
with a quantity of loose ice, we hoisted out two boats, and by noon got
on board as much as we could manage. We then made sail for the east,
with a gentle breeze northerly, attended with snow and sleet, which
froze to the rigging as it fell. At this time we were in the latitude of
64° 41ʹ S. longitude 155° 44ʹ W. The ice we took up proved to be none of
the best, being chiefly composed of frozen snow, on which account it was
porous, and had imbibed a good deal of salt water; but this drained off
after lying a while on deck, and the water then yielded was fresh. We
continued to stretch to the east, with a piercing cold northerly wind,
attended with a thick fog, snow, and sleet, that decorated all our
rigging with icicles. We were hourly meeting with some of the large ice
islands, which in these high latitudes render navigation so very
dangerous: at seven in the evening, falling in with a cluster of them,
we narrowly escaped running aboard of one, and with difficulty wore
clear of the others. We stood back to the west till ten o’clock, at
which time the fog cleared away, and we resumed our course to the east.
At noon the next day, we were in the latitude of 64° 49ʹ S., longitude
149° 19ʹ W. Some time after our longitude, by observed distance of the
sun and moon, was 149° 19ʹ W.; by Mr. Kendal’s watch, 148° 36ʹ; and by
my reckoning, 148° 43ʹ, latitude 64° 48ʹ S.
The clear weather and the wind veering to north-west tempted me to steer
south, which course we continued till seven in the morning of the 20th,
when the wind changing to north-east, and the sky becoming clouded, we
hauled up south-east. In the afternoon the wind increased to a strong
gale, attended with a thick fog, snow, sleet, and rain, which
constitutes the very worst of weather. Our rigging at this time was so
loaded with ice that we had enough to do to get our top-sails down to
double the reef. At seven o’clock in the evening, in the longitude of
147° 46ʹ, we came the second time within the antarctic or polar circle,
continuing our course to the south-east till six o’clock the next
morning. At that time, being in the latitude of 67° 5ʹ S., all at once
we got in among a cluster of very large ice islands, and a vast quantity
of loose pieces; and, as the fog was exceedingly thick, it was with the
utmost difficulty we wore clear of them. This done, we stood to the
north-west till noon, when the fog being somewhat dissipated, we resumed
our course again to the south-east. The ice islands we met with in the
morning were very high and rugged, forming at their tops many peaks,
whereas the most of those we had seen before were flat at top, and not
so high, though many of them were between two and three hundred feet in
height, and between two and three miles in circuit, with perpendicular
cliffs or sides, astonishing to behold. Most of our winged companions
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