Having continued to steer E. S. E., with a fine gale at N. N. W., till daylight next morning, on seeing no land to the E., I gave orders to steer S., being at this time in the latitude of 56° 33ʹ S., longitude 31° 10ʹ W. The weather continued clear, and gave us an opportunity to observe several distances of the sun and moon for the correcting our longitude, which at noon was 31° 4ʹ W., the latitude observed 57° 38ʹ S. We continued to steer to the S. till the 27th at noon, at which time we were in the latitude of 59° 46ʹ S., and had so thick a fog that we could not see a ship’s length. It being no longer safe to sail before the wind, as we were to expect soon to fall in with ice, I therefore hauled to the E., having a gentle breeze at N. N. E. Soon after, the fog clearing away, we resumed our course to the S. till four o’clock, when it returned again as thick as ever, and made it necessary for us to haul upon a wind. I now reckoned we were in latitude 60° S., and farther I did not intend to go, unless I observed some certain signs of soon meeting with land; for it would not have been prudent in me to have spent my time in penetrating to the south, when it was at least as probable that a large tract of land might be found near Cape Circumcision. Besides, I was tired of these high southern latitudes, where nothing was to be found but ice and thick fogs. We had now a long hollow swell from the W., a strong indication that there was no land in that direction; so that I think I may venture to assert that the extensive coast, laid down in Mr. Dalrymple’s chart of the ocean between Africa and America, and the Gulph of Saint Sebastian, do not exist. At seven o’clock in the evening, the fog receding from us a little, gave us a sight of an ice-island, several penguins and some snow peterels; we sounded, but found no ground at one hundred and forty fathoms. The fog soon returning, we spent the night in making boards over that space which we had, in some degree, made ourselves acquainted with in the day. At eight in the morning of the 28th, we stood to the E., with a gentle gale at N.; the weather began to clear up, and we found the sea strewed with large and small ice; several penguins, snow peterels, and other birds were seen, and some whales. Soon after we had sun-shine, but the air was cold; the mercury in the thermometer stood generally at thirty-five, but at noon it was at 37°; the latitude by observation was 60° 4ʹ S., longitude 29° 23ʹ W.