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
Between eight in the morning of the 26th and noon the next day, we fell
in among several islands of ice; from whence such vast quantities had
broken, as to cover the sea all round us, and render sailing rather
dangerous. However, by noon, we were clear of it all. In the evening the
wind abated, and veered to S. W., but the weather did not clear up till
the next morning; when we were able to carry all our sails, and met with
but very few islands of ice to impede us. Probably the late gale had
destroyed a great number of them. Such a very large hollow sea had
continued to accompany the wind, as it veered from E. to S. W., that I
was certain no land of considerable extent could lie within 100 or 150
leagues of our situation between these two points.
The mean height of the thermometer at noon, for some days past, was
about 35; which is something higher than it usually was, in the same
latitude, about a month or five weeks before, consequently the air was
something warmer. While the weather was really _warm_, the gales were
not only stronger, but more frequent; with almost continual misty,
dirty, wet weather. The very animals we had on board felt its effects. A
sow having in the morning farrowed nine pigs, every one of them was
killed by the cold, before four o’clock in the afternoon,
notwithstanding all the care we could take of them. From the same cause,
myself, as well as several of my people, had fingers and toes
chilblained. Such is the summer weather we enjoyed.
The wind continued unsettled, veering from the south to the west, and
blew a fresh gale till the evening. Then it fell little wind; and, soon
after, a breeze sprung up at north; which quickly veered to N. E. and
N. E. by E., attended with a thick fog, snow, sleet, and rain. With this
wind and weather, we kept on to the S. E. till four o’clock in the
afternoon of the next day, being the 1st of March, when it fell calm;
which continued for near twenty-four hours. We were now in the latitude
of 60° 36ʹ south, longitude 107° 54ʹ; and had a prodigious high swell
from the S. W., and, at the same time, another from the S. or S. S. E.
The dashing of the one wave against the other, made the ship both roll
and pitch exceedingly; but, at length, the N. W. swell prevailed. The
calm continued till noon the next day, when it was succeeded by a gentle
breeze from S. E., which afterwards increased, and veered to S. W. With
this we steered N. E. by E., and E. by N., under all the sail we could
set.
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