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
At this time we were in the latitude of 50° 14ʹ S., longitude 95° 18ʹ W.
Some birds being about the ship, we took the advantage of the calm to
put a boat in the water, and shot several birds on which we feasted the
next day. One of these birds was of that sort which has been so often
mentioned in this journal, under the name of Port-Egmont hens. They are
of the gull kind, about the size of a raven, with a dark brown plumage,
except the under side of each wing, where there are some white feathers.
The rest of the birds were albatrosses and sheer-waters.
After a few hours’ calm, having got a breeze at north-west, we made a
stretch to the south-west for twenty-four hours; in which route we saw a
piece of wood, a bunch of weed, and a diving peterel. The wind having
veered more to the west, made us tack and stretch to the north till noon
on the 14th, at which time we were in the latitude of 49° 32ʹ S.,
longitude 95° 11ʹ W. We had now calms and light breezes succeeding each
other, till the next morning, when the wind freshened at
west-north-west, and was attended with a thick fog and drizzling rain
the three following days, during which time we stretched to the north,
inclining to the east, and crossed my track to Otaheite in 1769. I did
intend to have kept more to the west, but the strong winds from that
direction put it out of my power.
On the 18th, the wind veered to south-west, and blew very fresh, but was
attended with clear weather, which gave us an opportunity to ascertain
our longitude by several lunar observations made by Messrs. Wales,
Clerke, Gilbert, and Smith. The mean result of all was 94° 19ʹ 30ʺ W.;
Mr. Kendal’s watch, at the same time, gave 94° 46ʹ W.; our latitude was
43° 53ʹ S. The wind continued not long at south-west, before it veered
back to west and west-north-west.
As we advanced to the north, we felt a most sensible change in the
weather. The 20th, at noon, we were in the latitude of 39° 58ʹ S.,
longitude 94° 37ʹ W. The day was clear and pleasant; and, I may say, the
only summer’s day we had had since we left New Zealand. The mercury in
the thermometer rose to 66.
We still continued to steer to the north, as the wind remained in the
old quarter; and the next day, at noon, we were in the latitude 37° 54ʹ
S., which was the same that Juan Fernandez’s discovery is said to lie
in. We, however, had not the least signs of any land lying in our
neighbourhood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account