We continued to steer to the south, inclining to the east, till the 18th, when we stood to the south-west with the wind at south-east, being at this time in the latitude of 61° 9ʹ S., longitude 116° 7ʹ W. At ten o’clock in the evening, it fell calm, which continued till two the next morning, when a breeze sprung up at north, which soon after increased to a fresh gale and fixed at N. E. With this we steered south till noon, on the 20th, when, being now in the latitude of 62° 34ʹ S., longitude 116° 24ʹ W., we were again becalmed.
In this situation we had two ice islands in sight, one of which seemed to be as large as any we had seen. It could not be less than two hundred feet in height, and terminated in a peak not unlike the cupola of St. Paul’s church. At this time, we had a great westerly swell, which made it improbable that any land should lie between us and the meridian of 1331⁄2°, which was our longitude under the latitude we were now in, when we stood to the north. In all this route, we had not seen the least thing that could induce us to think we were ever in the neighbourhood of any land. We had, indeed, frequently seen pieces of sea-weed; but this, I am well assured, is no sign of the vicinity of land; for weed is seen in every part of the ocean. After a few hours’ calm, we got a wind from S. E., but it was very unsettled, and attended with thick snow showers; at length it fixed at S. by E., and we stretched to the east. The wind blew fresh, was piercing cold, and attended with snow and sleet.
On the 22d, being in the latitude of 62° 5ʹ S., longitude 112° 24ʹ W., we saw an ice-island, an antarctic peterel, several blue peterels, and some other known birds; but no one thing that gave us the least hopes of finding land.
On the 23d, at noon, we were in the latitude of 62° 22ʹ S., longitude 110° 24ʹ. In the afternoon, we passed an ice-island. The wind, which blew fresh, continued to veer to the west; and at eight o’clock the next morning, it was to the north of west, when I steered S. by W. and S. S. W. At this time we were in the latitude of 63° 20ʹ S., longitude 108° 7ʹ W. and had a great sea from S. W. We continued this course till noon the next day, the 25th, when we steered due south. Our latitude, at this time, was 65° 24ʹ S., longitude 109° 31ʹ W.; the wind was at north; the weather mild and not unpleasant; and not a bit of ice in view. This we thought a little extraordinary; as it was but a month before, and not quite two hundred leagues to the east, that we were, in a manner, blocked up with large islands of ice, in this very latitude. Saw a single pintadoe peterel, some blue peterels, and a few brown albatrosses. In the evening, being under the same meridian, and in the latitude of 65° 44ʹ S., the variation was 19° 27ʹ E.; but the next morning, in the latitude of 66° 20ʹ S., longitude the same as before, it was only 18° 20ʹ E.: probably the mean between the two, is the nearest the truth. At this time, we had nine small islands in sight; and soon after, we came, the third time, within the antarctic polar circle, in the longitude of 109° 31ʹ W. About noon, seeing the appearance of land to the S. E., we immediately trimmed our sails and stood towards it. Soon after it disappeared, but we did not give it up till eight o’clock the next morning, when we were well assured that it was nothing but clouds, or a fog-bank; and then we resumed our course to the south, with a gentle breeze at N. E. attended with a thick fog, snow, and sleet.
We now began to meet with ice islands more frequently than before; and, in the latitude of 69° 38ʹ S., longitude 108° 12ʹ W., we fell in with a field of loose ice. As we began to be in want of water, I hoisted out two boats and took up as much as yielded about ten tons. This was cold work; but it was now familiar to us. As soon as we had done, we hoisted in the boats, and afterwards made short boards over that part of the sea we had, in some measure, made ourselves acquainted with. For we had now so thick a fog that we could not see two hundred yards round us; and as we knew not the extent of the loose ice, I durst not steer to the south till we had clear weather. Thus we spent the night, or rather that part of the twenty-four hours which answered to night; for we had no darkness but what was occasioned by fogs.
At four o’clock in the morning of the 29th, the fog began to clear away; and the day becoming clear and serene, we again steered to the south with a gentle gale at N. E. and N. N. E. The variation was found to be 22° 41ʹ E. This was in the latitude of 69° 45ʹ S., longitude 108° 5ʹ W.; and, in the afternoon, being in the same longitude, and in the latitude of 70° 23ʹ S., it was 24° 81ʹ E. Soon after, the sky became clouded, and the air very cold. We continued our course to the south, and passed a piece of weed covered with barnacles, which a brown albatross was picking off. At ten o’clock, we passed a very large ice-island; it was not less than three or four miles in circuit. Several more being seen ahead, and the weather becoming foggy, we hauled the wind to the northward; but in less than two hours, the weather cleared up, and we again stood south.
On the 30th, at four o’clock in the morning, we perceived the clouds, over the horizon to the south, to be of an unusual snow-white brightness, which we knew denounced our approach to field-ice. Soon after, it was seen from the top-mast head; and at eight o’clock, we were close to its edge. It extended east and west, far beyond the reach of our sight. In the situation we were in, just the southern half of our horizon was illuminated, by the rays of light reflected from the ice, to a considerable height. Ninety-seven ice-hills were distinctly seen within the field, besides those on the outside; many of them very large, and looking like a ridge of mountains, rising one above another till they were lost in the clouds. The outer, or northern edge of this immense field, was composed of loose or broken ice close packed together; so that it was not possible for any thing to enter it. This was about a mile broad; within which was solid ice in one continued compact body. It was rather low and flat, (except the hills,) but seemed to increase in height, as you traced it to the south; in which direction it extended beyond our sight. Such mountains of ice as these, were, I believe, never seen in the Greenland seas; at least, not that I ever heard or read of; so that we cannot draw a comparison between the ice here, and there. It must be allowed that these prodigious ice-mountains must add such additional weight to the ice-fields which inclose them, as cannot but make a great difference between the navigating this icy sea and that of Greenland.
I will not say it was impossible any where to get farther to the south; but the attempting it would have been a dangerous and rash enterprise; and what, I believe, no man in my situation would have thought of. It was, indeed, my opinion, as well as the opinion of most on board, that this ice extended quite to the pole, or, perhaps, joined to some land, to which it had been fixed from the earliest time; and that it is here, that is to the south of this parallel, where all the ice we find scattered up and down to the north, is first formed, and afterwards broken off by gales of wind, or other causes, and brought to the north by the currents, which we always found to set in that direction in the high latitudes. As we drew near this ice, some penguins were heard, but none seen; and but few other birds, or any other thing, that could induce us to think any land was near. And yet I think there must be some to the south behind this ice; but if there is, it can afford no better retreat for birds, or any other animals, than the ice itself, with which it must be wholly covered. I, who had ambition not only to go farther than any one had been before, but as far as it was possible for man to go, was not sorry at meeting with this interruption; as it, in some measure, relieved us; at least shortened the dangers and hardships inseparable from the navigation of the southern polar regions. Since, therefore, we could not proceed one inch farther to the south, no other reason need be assigned for my tacking, and standing back to the north; being at this time in the latitude of 71° 10ʹ S., longitude, 106° 54ʹ W.
It was happy for us that the weather was clear when we fell in with this ice, and that we discovered it so soon as we did; for we had no sooner tacked than we were involved in a thick fog. The wind was at east, and blew a fresh breeze; so that we were able to return back over that space we had already made ourselves acquainted with. At noon, the mercury in the thermometer stood at 321⁄2°, and we found the air exceedingly cold. The thick fog continuing with showers of snow, gave a coat of ice to our rigging of near an inch thick. In the afternoon of the next day, the fog cleared away at intervals; but the weather was cloudy and gloomy, and the air excessively cold; however, the sea within our horizon was clear of ice.
We continued to stand to the north with the wind easterly till the afternoon, on the 1st of February, when, falling in with some loose ice which had broken from an island to windward, we hoisted out two boats, and having taken some on board, resumed our course to the north and north-east with gentle breezes from the south-east, attended sometimes with fair weather, and at other times with snow and sleet. On the 4th we were in the latitude of 65° 42ʹ S., longitude 99° 44ʹ. The next day the wind was very unsettled both in strength and position, and attended with snow and sleet. At length on the 6th, after a few hours’ calm, we got a breeze at south, which soon after freshened, fixed at west south-west, and was attended with snow and sleet.