A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1

by James Cook

Being now in the latitude of 49° 13' S., without having the least signs of land, I wore and stood again to the eastward, and soon after spoke with Captain Furneaux. He told me that he thought the land was to the N.W. of us,; as he had, at one time, observed the sea to be smooth when the wind blew in that direction. Athough this was not conformable to the remarks we had made on the sea, I resolved to clear up the point, if the wind would admit of my getting to the west in any reasonable time.

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 3d, being in the latitude of 48° 56' S. longitude 60° 47' E., and upwards of 8° to the east of the meridian of the Mauritius, I began to despair of finding land to the east; and as the wind had now veered to the north, resolved to search for it to the west. I accordingly tacked and stood to the west with a fresh gale. This increased in such a manner, that, before night, we were reduced to our two courses; and, at last, obliged to lie-to under the fore-sails, having a prodigious high sea from W.N.W., notwithstanding the height of the gale was from N. by W. At three o'clock the next morning, the gale abating, we made sail, and continued to ply to the west till ten o'clock in the morning of the 6th.

At this time, being in the latitude of 48° 6' S., longitude 58° 22' E., the wind seemingly fixed at W.N.W., and seeing no signs of meeting with land, I gave over plying, and bore away east a little southerly: Being satisfied, that if there is any land hereabout, it can only be an isle of no great extent. And it was just as probable I might have found it to the E. as to the W.

While we were plying about here we took every opportunity to observe the variation of the compass, and found it to be from 27° 50' to 30° 26' W. Probably the mean of the two extremes, viz. 29° 4', is the nearest the truth, as it nearly agrees with the variation observed on board the Adventure. In making these observations, we found that, when the sun was on the larboard side of the ship, the variation was the least; and when on the starboard side, the greatest. This was not the first time we had made this observation, without being able to account for it. At four o'clock in the morning of the 7th, I made the Adventure's signal to keep at the distance of four miles on my starboard beam; and continued to steer E.S.E. This being a fine day, I had all our men's bedding and clothes spread on deck to air; and the ship cleaned and smoked betwixt decks. At noon I steered a point more to the south, being then in the latitude of 45° 49' S., longitude 61° 48' E. At six o'clock in the evening, I called in the Adventure; and at the same time took several azimuths, which gave the variation 31° 28'.W. These observations could not be taken with the greatest accuracy, on account of the rolling of the ship, occasioned by a very high westerly swell.

The preceding evening, three Port Egmont hens were seen; this morning another appeared. In the evening, and several times in the night, penguins were heard; and, at daylight in the morning of the 8th, several of these were seen; and divers of two sorts, seemingly such as are usually met with on the coast of England. This occasioned us to sound, but we found no ground with a line of 210 fathoms. Our latitude now was 49° 53' S., and longitude 63° 39' E. This was at eight o'clock. By this time the wind had veered round by the N.E. to E., blew a brisk gale, and was attended with hazy weather, which soon after turned to a thick fog; and, at the same tine, the wind shifted to N.E.

I continued to keep the wind on the larboard tack, and to fire a gun every hour till noon; when I made the signal to tack, and tacked accordingly. But, as neither this signal, nor any of the former, was answered by the Adventure, we had but too much reason to think that a separation had taken place; though we were at a loss to tell how it had been effected. I had directed Captain Furneaux, in case he was separated from me, to cruise three days in the place where he last saw me. I therefore continued making short boards, and firing half-hour guns, till the 9th in the afternoon, when, the weather having cleared up, we could see several leagues round us, and found that the Adventure was not within the limits of our horizon. At this time we were about two or three leagues to the eastward of the situation we were in when we last saw her; and were standing to the westward with a very strong gale at N.N.W., accompanied with a great sea from the same direction. This, together, with an increase of wind, obliged us to lie-to till eight o'clock the next morning, during which time we saw nothing of the Adventure, notwithstanding the weather was pretty clear, and we had kept firing guns, and burning false fires, all night. I therefore gave over looking for her, made sail, and steered S.E., with a very fresh gale at W. by N., accompanied with a high sea from the same direction.

While we were beating about here; we frequently saw penguins and divers, which made us conjecture the land was not far off; but in what direction it was not possible for us to tell. As we advanced to the south, we lost the penguins, and most of the divers; and, as usual, met with abundance of albatrosses, blue peterels, sheer-waters, &c.

The 11th, at noon, and in the latitude of 51° 15' S., longitude 67° 20' E., we again met with penguins: and saw an egg bird, which we also look upon to be a sign of the vicinity of land. I continued to steer to the S.E., with a fresh gale in the north-west quarter, attended with a long hollow swell, and frequent showers of rain, hail, and snow. The 12th, in the morning, being in the latitude of 52° 32' S., longitude 69° 47' E., the variation was 31° 38' W. In the evening, in the latitude of 53° 7' S., longitude 70° 50' E., it was 32° 33'; and, the next morning, in the latitude of 53° 37' S., longitude 72° 10', it was 33° 8' W. Thus far we had continually a great number of penguins about the ship, which seemed to be different from those we had seen near the ice; being smaller, with reddish bills and brownish heads. The meeting with so many of these birds, gave us some hopes of finding land, and occasioned various conjectures about its situation. The great westerly swell, which still continued, made it improbable that land of any considerable extent lay to the west. Nor was it very probable that any lay to the north; as we were only about 160 leagues to the south of Tasman's track in 1642; and I conjectured that Captain Furneaux would explore this place; which accordingly happened. In the evening we saw a Port Egmont hen, which flew away in the direction of N.E. by E., and the next morning a seal was seen; but no penguins. In the evening, being in the latitude of 55° 49' S., longitude 75° 52' E., the variation was 34° 48' W., and, in the evening of the 15th, in latitude 57° 2' S., longitude 79° 56' E., it was 38° W. Five seals were seen this day, and a few penguins; which occasioned us to sound, without finding any bottom, with a line of 150 fathoms.

At day-light in the morning of the 16th, we saw an island of ice to the northward; for which we steered, in order to take some on board; but the wind shifting to that direction, hindered us from putting this in execution. At this time we were in the latitude of 57° 8' S., longitude 80° 59' E., and had two islands of ice in sight. This morning we saw one penguin, which appeared to be of the same sort which we had formerly seen near the ice. But we had now been so often deceived by these birds, that we could no longer look upon them, nor indeed upon any other oceanic birds, which frequent high latitudes, as sure signs of the vicinity of land.

The wind continued not long at north, but veered to E. by N.E., and blew a gentle gale, with which we stood to the southward; having frequent showers of sleet and snow. But, in the night, we had fair weather, and a clear serene sky; and, between midnight and three o'clock in the morning, lights were seen in the heavens, similar to those in the northern hemisphere, known by the name of Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights; but I never heard of the Aurora Australia been seen before. The officer of the watch observed that it sometimes broke out in spiral rays, and in a circular form; then its light was very strong, and its appearance beautiful. He could not perceive it had any particular direction; for it appeared, at various times, in different parts of the heavens, and diffused its light throughout the whole atmosphere.