I now came to a resolution to proceed to the north, and to spend the ensuing winter within the tropic, if I met with no employment before I came there. I was now well satisfied no continent was to be found in this ocean, but what must lie so far to the south as to be wholly inaccessible on account of ice; and that if one should be found in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, it would be necessary to have the whole summer before us to explore it. On the other hand, upon a supposition that there is no land there, we undoubtedly might have reached the Cape of Good Hope by April, and so have put an end to the expedition, so far as it related to the finding a continent; which indeed was the first object of the voyage. But for me at this time to have quitted this Southern Pacific Ocean, with a good ship expressly sent out on discoveries, a healthy crew, and not in want either of stores or of provisions, would have been betraying not only a want of perseverance, but of judgment, in supposing the South Pacific Ocean to have been so well explored, that nothing remained to be done in it. This, however, was not my opinion; for, although I had proved there was no continent but what must lie far to the south, there remained, nevertheless, room for very large islands in places wholly unexamined: and many of those which were formerly discovered, are but imperfectly explored, and their situations as imperfectly known. I was besides of opinion, that my remaining in this sea some time longer, would be productive of improvements in navigation and geography, as well as other sciences. I had several times communicated my thoughts on this subject to Captain Furneaux; but as it then wholly depended on what we might meet with to the south, I could not give it in orders without running the risk of drawing us from the main object.
Since now nothing had happened to prevent me from carrying these views into execution, my intention was first to go in search of the land, said to have been discovered by Juan Fernandez, above a century ago, in about the latitude of 38°; if I should fail in finding this land, then to go in search of Easter Island or Davis’s Land, whose situation was known with so little certainty that the attempts lately made to find it had miscarried. I next intended to get within the tropic, and then proceed to the west, touching at, and settling the situations of such islands as we might meet with till we arrived at Otaheite, where it was necessary I should stop to look for the Adventure. I had also thoughts of running as far west as the Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo, discovered by Quiros, and which M. de Bougainville calls the Great Cyclades. Quiros speaks of this land as being large, or lying in the neighbourhood of large lands; and as this was a point which Bougainville had neither confirmed nor refuted, I thought it was worth clearing up. From this land my design was to steer to the south, and so back to the east, between the latitudes of 50° and 60°; intending if possible to be the length of Cape Horn in November next, when we should have the best part of the summer before us to explore the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Great as this design appeared to be, I, however, thought it possible to be executed; and when I came to communicate it to the officers, I had the satisfaction to find, that they all heartily concurred in it. I should not do these gentlemen justice if I did not take some opportunity to declare, that they always showed the utmost readiness to carry into execution, in the most effectual manner, every measure I thought proper to take. Under such circumstances, it is hardly necessary to say that the seamen were always obedient and alert; and, on this occasion, they were so far from wishing the voyage at an end, that they rejoiced at the prospect of its being prolonged another year, and of soon enjoying the benefits of a milder climate.
I now steered north inclining to the east, and in the evening we were overtaken by a furious storm at west south-west, attended with snow and sleet. It came so suddenly upon us, that before we could take in our sails, two old top-sails, which we had bent to the yards, were blown to pieces, and the other sails much damaged. The gale lasted without the least intermission till the next morning, when it began to abate; it, however, continued to blow very fresh till noon on the 12th, when it ended in a calm.
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.
The next day, at noon, we were in latitude 36° 10ʹ S., longitude 94° 56ʹ W. Soon after, the wind veered to south-south-east, and enabled us to steer west-south-west, which I thought the most probable direction to find the land of which we were in search; and yet I had no hopes of succeeding, as we had a large hollow swell from the same point. We, however, continued this course till the 25th, when, the wind having veered again round to the westward, I gave it up, and stood away to the north, in order to get into the latitude of Easter Island; our latitude at this time was 37° 52ʹ, longitude 101° 10ʹ W.
I was now well assured that the discovery of Juan Fernandez, if any such was ever made, can be nothing but a small island; there being hardly room for a large land, as will fully appear by the tracks of Captain Wallis, Bougainville, of the Endeavour, and this of the Resolution. Whoever wants to see an account of the discovery in question, will meet with it in Mr. Dalrymple’s Collection of Voyages to the South Seas. This gentleman places it under the meridian of 90°, where I think it cannot be; for M. de Bougainville seems to have run down under that meridian, and we had now examined the latitude in which it is said to lie, from the meridian of 94° to 101°. It is not probable it can lie to the east of 90°; because if it did, it must have been seen at one time or other by ships bound from the northern to the southern parts of America. Mr. Pengré, in a little treatise concerning the transit of Venus published in 1768, gives some account of land having been discovered by the Spaniards in 1714, in the latitude of 38°, and 550 leagues from the coast of Chili, which is in the longitude of 110° or 111° W., and within a degree or two of my track in the Endeavour; so that this can hardly be its situation. In short, the only probable situation it can have must be about the meridian of 106° or 108° W.; and then it can only be a small isle, as I have already observed.