On the 17th the wind continued veering by little and little to the south, till midnight, when it fixed at S. W. Being at this time in the latitude of 54° 20ʹ S., longitude 6° 33ʹ east, I steered east, having a prodigious high sea from the south, which assured us no land was near in that direction.
In the morning of the 18th it ceased to snow; the weather became fair and clear; and we found the variation to be 13° 44ʹ west. At noon we were in the latitude of 54° 25ʹ, longitude 8° 46ʹ east. I thought this a good latitude to keep in, to look for Cape Circumcision; because, if the land had ever so little extent in the direction of north and south, we could not miss seeing it, as the northern point is said to lie in 54°. We had yet a great swell from the south, so that I was now well assured it could only be an island; and it was of no consequence which side we fell in with. In the evening Mr. Wales made several observations of the moon, and stars Regulus and Spica; the mean results, at four o’clock, when the observations were made, for finding the time by the watch, gave 9° 15ʹ 20ʺ east longitude. The watch at the same time gave 9° 36ʹ 45ʺ. Soon after the variation was found to be 13° 10ʹ west. It is nearly in this situation that Mr. Bouvet had 1° east. I cannot suppose that the variation has altered so much since that time; but rather think he had made some mistake in his observations. That there could be none in ours was certain, from the uniformity for some time past. Besides, we found 12° 8ʹ west, variation, nearly under this meridian, in January, 1773. During the night the wind veered round by the N. W. to N. N. E., and blew a fresh gale.
At eight in the morning of the 19th, we saw the appearance of land in the direction of E. by S. or that of our course; but it proved a mere fog-bank, and soon after dispersed. We continued to steer E. by S. and S. E. till seven o’clock in the evening, when, being in the latitude of 54° 42ʹ S., longitude 13° 3ʹ E., and the wind having veered to N. E., we tacked and stood to N. W. under close-reefed top-sails and courses; having a very strong gale, attended with snow showers.
At four o’clock next morning, being in the latitude of 54° 30ʹ S., longitude 12° 33ʹ E., we tacked, and stretched to N. E., with a fresh gale at S. W., attended with snow-showers and sleet. At noon, being in the latitude of 54° 8ʹ S., longitude 12° 59ʹ E., with a fresh gale at W. by N. and tolerably clear weather, we steered E. till ten o’clock in the evening, when we brought to, lest we might pass any land in the night, of which we however had not the least signs.
At day-break, having made sail, we bore away east, and at noon observed in latitude 54° 16ʹ S., longitude 16° 13ʹ E., which is 5° to the east of the longitude in which Cape Circumcision is said to lie; so that we began to think there was no such land in existence. I however continued to steer east, inclining a little to the south, till four o’clock in the afternoon of the next day, when we were in latitude of 54° 24ʹ S., longitude 19° 18ʹ E.
We had now run down thirteen degrees of longitude, in the very latitude assigned for Bouvet’s Land; I was therefore well assured that what he had seen could be nothing but an island of ice; for, if it had been land, it is hardly possible we could have missed it, though it were ever so small. Besides, from the time of leaving the southern lands, we had not met with the least signs of any other. But even suppose we had, it would have been no proof of the existence of Cape Circumcision; for I am well assured that neither seals, nor penguins, nor any of the oceanic birds, are indubitable signs of the vicinity of land. I will allow that they are found on the coasts of all these southern lands; but are they not also to be found in all parts of the southern ocean? There are, however, some oceanic or aquatic birds which point out the vicinity of land; especially shags, which seldom go out of sight of it; and gannets, boobies, and men of war birds, I believe, seldom go very far out to sea.
As we were now no more than two degrees of longitude from our route to the south, when we left the Cape of Good Hope, it was to no purpose to proceed any further to the east under this parallel, knowing that no land could be there. But an opportunity now offering of clearing up some doubts of our having seen land farther to the south, I steered S. E. to get into the situation in which it was supposed to lie.
We continued this course till four o’clock the next morning, and then S. E. by E. and E. S. E. till eight in the evening, at which time we were in the latitude of 55° 25ʹ S., longitude 23° 22ʹ E., both deduced from observations made the same day; for, in the morning, the sky was clear at intervals, and afforded an opportunity to observe several distances of the sun and moon, which we had not been able to do for some time past, having had a constant succession of bad weather.
Having now run over the place where the land was supposed to lie, without seeing the least signs of any, it was no longer to be doubted but that the ice-islands had deceived us as well as Mr. Bouvet. The wind by this time having veered to the north, and increased to a perfect storm, attended as usual with snow and sleet, we handed the top-sails, and hauled up E. N. E. under the courses. During the night the wind abated, and veered to N. W., which enabled us to steer more to the north, having no business farther south.