At day-break on the 16th, we bore away N.E., with a light breeze at west, which, at noon, was succeeded by a calm and fair weather. Our latitude at this time was 55° 26' S., longitude 5° 52' E., in which situation we had a great swell from the southward, but no ice in sight. At one o'clock in the p.m., a breeze springing up at E.N.E., we stood to S.E. till six, then tacked, and stood to the north, under double-reefed top-sails and courses, having a very fresh gale attended with snow and sleet, which fixed to the masts and rigging as it fell, and coated the whole with ice.
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° 20' S., longitude 6° 33' 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 18° 44' west. At noon we were in the latitude of 54° 25', longitude 8° 46' 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° 15' 20" east longitude. The watch at the same time gave 9° 36' 45". Soon after the variation was found to be 13° 10' 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° 8' 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° 42' S., longitude 13° 3' E., and the wind having veered to N.E., we tacked and stood to N.W. under close-reefed topsails and courses; having a very strong gale attended with snow-showers.
At four o'clock next morning, being in the latitude of 54° 30' S., longitude 12° 33'. east, 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° 8' S., longitude 12° 59' E., with a fresh gale at W. by N., and tolerably clear weather, we steered east 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 E., and at noon observed in latitude 54° 16' S., longitude 16° 13' east, 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 54° 24' S., longitude 19° 18' east.
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 front our route to the south, when we left the Cape of Good Hope, it was to no purpose to proceed any farther 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° 25' S., longitude 23° 22' east, 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.