At two o'clock in the morning of the 20th we made sail to S.W. round Cooper's Island. It is a rock of considerable height, about five miles in circuit, and one mile from the main. At this isle the main coast takes a S.W. direction for the space of four or five leagues to a point, which I called Cape Disappointment. Off that are three small isles, the southernmost of which is green, low, and flat, and lies one league from the cape.
As we advanced to S.W. land opened, off this point, in the direction of N. 60° W., and nine leagues beyond it. It proved an island quite detached from the main, and obtained the name of Pickersgill Island, after my third officer. Soon after a point of the main, beyond this island, came in sight, in the direction of N. 55° W., which exactly united the coast at the very point we had seen, and taken the bearing of, the day we first came in with it, and proved to a demonstration that this land, which we had taken for part of a great continent, was no more than an island of seventy leagues in circuit.
Who would have thought that an island of no greater extent than this, situated between the latitude of 54° and 55°, should, in the very height of summer, be in a manner wholly covered, many fathoms deep, with frozen snow, but more especially the S.W. coast? The very sides and craggy summits of the lofty mountains were cased with snow and ice; but the quantity which lay in the valleys is incredible; and at the bottom of the bays the coast was terminated by a wall of ice of considerable height. It can hardly be doubted that a great deal of ice is formed here in the water, which in the spring is broken off, and dispersed over the sea; but this island cannot produce the ten-thousandth part of what we saw; so that either there must be more land, or the ice is formed without it. These reflections led me to think that the land we had seen the preceding day might belong to an extensive track, and I still had hopes of discovering a continent. I must confess the disappointment I now met with did not affect me much; for, to judge of the bulk by the sample, it would not be worth the discovery.
I called this island the isle of Georgia, in honour of his majesty. It is situated, between the latitudes of 53° 57' and 54° 57' S.; and between 38° 13' and 35° 34' west longitude. It extends S.E. by E. and N.W. by W., and is thirty-one leagues long in that direction; and its greatest breadth is about ten leagues. It seems to abound with bays and harbours, the N.E. coast especially; but the vast quantity of ice must render them inaccessible the greatest part of the year; or, at least, it must be dangerous lying in them, on account of the breaking up of the ice cliffs.
It is remarkable that we did not see a river, or stream of fresh water, on the whole coast. I think it highly probable that there are no perennial springs in the country; and that the interior parts, as being much elevated, never enjoy heat enough to melt the snow in such quantities as to produce a river, or stream, of water. The coast alone receives warmth sufficient to melt the snow, and this only on the N.E. side; for the other, besides being exposed to the cold south winds, is, in a great degree, deprived of the sun's rays, by the uncommon height of the mountains.
It was from a persuasion that the sea-coast of a land situated in the latitude of 54°, could not, in the very height of summer, be wholly covered with snow, that I supposed Bouvet's discovery to be large islands of ice. But after I had seen this land, I no longer hesitated about the existence of Cape Circumcision; nor did I doubt that I should find more land than I should have time to explore. With these ideas I quitted this coast, and directed my course to the E.S.E. for the land we had seen the preceding day.
The wind was very variable till noon, when it fixed at N.N.E., and blew a gentle gale; but it increased in such a manner, that, before three o'clock, we were reduced to our two courses, and obliged to strike top-gallant yards. We were very fortunate in getting clear of the land, before this gale overtook us; it being hard to say what might have been the consequence had it come on while we were on the north coast. This storm was of short duration; for, at eight o'clock it began to abate; and at midnight it was little wind. We then took the opportunity to sound, but found no bottom with a line of an hundred and eighty fathoms.
Next day the storm was succeeded by a thick fog, attended with rain; the wind veered to N.W., and, at five in the morning, it fell calm, which continued till eight; and then we got a breeze southerly, with which we stood to the east till three in the afternoon. The weather then coming somewhat clear, we made sail, and steered north in search of land; but, at half-past six, we were again involved in a thick mist, which made it necessary to haul the wind, and spend the night in making short boards.
We had variable light airs next to a calm, and thick foggy weather, till half-past seven o'clock in the evening of the 22d, when we got a fine breeze at north, and the weather was so clear that we could see two or three leagues round us. We seized the opportunity, and steered to west; judging we were to the east of the land. After running ten miles to the west, the weather again became foggy, and we hauled the wind, and spent the night under top-sails.
Next morning at six o'clock, the fog clearing away, so that we could see three or four miles, I took the opportunity to steer again to the west, with the wind at east, a fresh breeze; but two hours after, a thick fog once more obliged us to haul the wind to the south. At eleven o'clock, a short interval of clear weather gave us view of three or four rocky islets extending from S.E. to E.N.E., two or three miles distant; but we did not see the Sugar-Loaf Peak beforementioned. Indeed, two or three miles was the extent of our horizon.