Dangerous as it is to sail among these floating rocks (if I may be allowed to call them so) in a thick fog, this, however, is preferable to being entangled with immense fields of ice under the same circumstances. The great danger to be apprehended in this latter case, is the getting fast in the ice; a situation which would be exceedingly alarming. I had two men on board that had been in the Greenland trade; the one of them in a ship that lay nine weeks, and the other in one that lay six weeks, fast in this kind of ice; which they called packed ice. What they call field ice is thicker; and the whole field, be it ever so large, consists of one piece. Whereas this which I call field ice, from its immense extent, consists of many pieces of various sizes, both in thickness and surface, from 30 or 40 feet square to 3 or 4; packed close together; and in places heaped one upon another. This, I am of opinion, would be found too hard for a ship’s side, that is not properly armed against it. How long it may have lain, or will lie here, is a point not easily determined. Such ice is found in the Greenland seas all the summer long; and I think it cannot be colder there in the summer, than it is here. Be this as it may, we certainly had no thaw; on the contrary, the mercury in Fahrenheit’s thermometer kept generally below the freezing point, although it was the middle of summer.
It is a general opinion, that the ice I have been speaking of is formed in bays and rivers. Under this supposition, we were led to believe that land was not far distant; and that it even lay to the southward behind the ice, which alone hindered us from approaching to it. Therefore, as we had now sailed above 30 leagues along the edge of the ice, without finding a passage to the south, I determined to run 30 or 40 leagues to the east, afterwards endeavour to get to the southwards, and, if I met with no land, or other impediment, to get behind the ice, and put the matter out of all manner of dispute. With this view, we kept standing to the N. W. with the wind at N. E. and N., thick foggy weather, with sleet and snow, till six in the evening, when the wind veered to N. W. and we tacked and stood to the eastward, meeting with many islands of ice of different magnitudes, and some loose pieces: the thermometer from 30 to 34; weather very hazy, with sleet and snow, and more sensibly colder than the thermometer seemed to point out, in so much that the whole crew complained. In order to enable them to support this weather the better, I caused the sleeves of their jackets (which were so short as to expose their arms) to be lengthened with baize; and had a cap made for each man of the same stuff, together with canvass; which proved of great service to them.
Some of our people beginning to have symptoms of the scurvy, the surgeons began to give them fresh wort every day, made from the malt we had on board for that purpose. One man in particular was highly scorbutic; and yet he had been taking of the rob of lemon and orange for some time, without being benefited thereby. On the other hand, Captain Furneaux told me, that he had two men who, though far gone in this disease, were now in a manner entirely cured of it.
We continued standing to the eastward till eight o’clock in the morning of the 21st; when, being in the latitude of 53° 50ʹ, and longitude 29° 24ʹ east, we hauled to the south with the wind at west, a fresh gale and hazy, with snow. In the evening the wind fell, and the weather cleared up, so as that we could see a few leagues round us; being in the latitude of 54° 43ʹ south, longitude 29° 30ʹ east.
At ten o’clock, seeing many islands of ice ahead, and the weather coming on foggy, with snow, we wore and stood to the northward, till three in the morning, when we stood again to the south. At eight, the weather cleared up, and the wind came to W. S. W. with which we made all the sail we could to the south; having never less than ten or twelve islands of ice in sight.
Next day we had the wind at S. W. and S. S. W. a gentle gale, with now and then showers of snow and hail. In the morning, being in the latitude of 55° 20ʹ south, and longitude 31° 30ʹ east, we hoisted out a boat to see if there was any current; but found none. Mr. Forster, who went in the boat, shot some of the small grey birds before mentioned, which were of the peterel tribe, and about the size of a small pigeon. Their back, and upper side of their wings, their feet and bills, are of a blue grey colour. Their bellies, and under side of their wings, are white, a little tinged with blue. The upper side of their quill feathers is a dark blue tinged with black. A streak is formed by feathers nearly of this colour along the upper parts of the wings, and crossing the back a little above the tail. The end of the tail feathers is also of the same colour. Their bills are much broader than any I have seen of the same tribe; and their tongues are remarkably broad. These blue peterels, as I shall call them, are seen no where but in the southern hemisphere, from about the latitude of 28°, and upwards. Thermometer at 33° in the open air, at 32 in the sea at the surface, and at 341⁄2 when drawn, and 61⁄2 minutes in drawing up from 100 fathoms below it, where it had been 16 minutes.
On the 24th, the wind blew from N. W. to N. E. a gentle gale, fair and cloudy. At noon we were by observation in the latitude of 56° 31ʹ south, and longitude 31° 19ʹ east, the thermometer at 35. And being near an island of ice which was about 50 feet high, and 400 fathoms in circuit, I sent the master in the jolly-boat to see if any water run from it. He soon returned with an account, that there was not one drop, or any other appearances of thaw. In the evening, we sailed through several floats or fields of loose ice, lying in the direction of S. E. and N. W., at the same time we had continually several islands of the same composition in sight.
On the 25th, the wind veering round from the N. E. by the east to south, it blew a gentle gale; with which we stood to the W. S. W. and at noon were in the latitude of 57° 50ʹ south, and longitude 29° 32ʹ east. The weather was fair and cloudy; the air sharp and cold, attended with a hard frost. And, although this was the middle of summer with us, I much question if the day was colder in any part of England. The wind continued at south, blew a fresh gale, fair and cloudy weather, till near noon the next day, when we had clear sunshine, and found ourselves, by observation, in the latitude of 58° 31ʹ south longitude, 26° 57ʹ east.
In the course of the last twenty-four hours, we passed through several fields of broken loose ice. They were in general narrow, but of a considerable length, in the direction of N. W. and S. E. The ice was so close in one, that it would hardly admit the ship through it. The pieces were flat, from four to six or eight inches thick, and appeared of that sort of ice which is generally formed in bays or rivers. Others again were different; the pieces forming various honey-combed branches, exactly like coral rocks, and exhibiting such a variety of figures as can hardly be conceived.
We supposed this ice to have broke from the main field we had lately left; and which I was determined to get to the south of, or behind, if possible, in order to satisfy myself, whether or no it joined to any land, as had been conjectured. With this view, I kept on to the westward, with a gentle gale at south and S. S. W., and soon after six o’clock in the evening, we saw some penguins, which occasioned us to sound; but we found no ground with 150 fathoms.