CHAPTER VII.
Heads of what has been done in the Voyage; with some Conjectures concerning the Formation of Ice-Islands; and an Account of our Proceedings till our Arrival at the Cape of Good Hope.
1775 February
I had now made the circuit of the southern ocean in a high latitude, and traversed it in such a manner as to leave not the least room for the possibility of there being a continent, unless near the Pole, and out of the reach of navigation. By twice visiting the tropical sea, I had not only settled the situation of some old discoveries, but made there many new ones, and left, I conceive, very little more to be done even in that part. Thus I flatter myself, that the intention of the voyage has, in every respect, been fully answered; the southern hemisphere sufficiently explored, and a final end put to the searching after a southern continent, which has, at times, ingrossed the attention of some of the maritime powers, for near two centuries past, and been a favourite theory amongst the geographers of all ages.
That there may be a continent, or large tract of land, near the Pole, I will not deny; on the contrary I am of opinion there is; and it is probable that we have seen a part of it. The excessive cold, the many islands and vast floats of ice, all tend to prove that there must be land to the south; and for my persuasion that this southern land must lie, or extend, farthest to the north opposite to the southern Atlantic and Indian oceans, I have already assigned some reasons; to which I may add the greater degree of cold experienced by us in these seas, than in the southern Pacific ocean under the same parallels of latitude.
In this last ocean, the mercury in the thermometer seldom fell so low as the freezing point, till we were in 60° and upwards; whereas in the others, it fell as low in the latitude of 54°. This was certainly owing to there being a greater quantity of ice, and to its extending farther to the north, in these two seas than in the south Pacific; and if ice be first formed at, or near land, of which I have no doubt, it will follow that the land also extends farther north.
The formation or coagulation of ice-islands has not, to my knowledge, been thoroughly investigated. Some have supposed them to be formed by the freezing of the water at the mouths of large rivers, or great cataracts, where they accumulate till they are broken off by their own weight. My observations will not allow me to acquiesce in this opinion; because we never found any of the ice which we took up incorporated with earth, or any of its produce, as I think it must have been, had it been coagulated in land-waters. It is a doubt with me, whether there be any rivers in these countries. It is certain, that we saw not a river, or stream of water, on all the coast of Georgia, nor on any of the southern lands. Nor did we ever see a stream of water run from any of the ice-islands. How are we then to suppose that there are large rivers? The valleys are covered, many fathoms deep, with everlasting snow; and, at the sea, they terminate in icy cliffs of vast height. It is here where the ice-islands are formed; not from streams of water, but from consolidated snow and sleet, which is almost continually falling or drifting down from the mountains, especially in the winter, when the frost must be intense. During that season, the ice-cliffs must so accumulate as to fill up all the bays, be they ever so large. This is a fact which cannot be doubted, as we have seen it so in summer. These cliffs accumulate by continual falls of snow, and what drifts from the mountains, till they are no longer able to support their own weight; and then large pieces break off, which we call ice-islands. Such as have a flat even surface, must be of the ice formed in the bays, and before the flat vallies; the others, which have a tapering unequal surface, must be formed on, or under, the side of a coast composed of pointed rocks and precipices, or some such uneven surface. For we cannot suppose that snow alone, as it falls, can form, on a plain surface, such as the sea, such a variety of high peaks and hills, as we saw on many of the ice-isles. It is certainly more reasonable to believe that they are formed on a coast whose surface is something similar to theirs. I have observed that all the ice-islands of any extent, and before they begin to break to pieces, are terminated by perpendicular cliffs of clear ice or frozen snow, always on one or more sides, but most generally all round. Many, and those of the largest size, which had a hilly and spiral surface, shewed a perpendicular cliff, or side, from the summit of the highest peak down to its base. This to me was a convincing proof, that these, as well as the flat isles, must have broken off from substances like themselves, that is, from some large tract of ice.
When I consider the vast quantity of ice we saw, and the vicinity of the places to the Pole where it is formed, and where the degrees of longitude are very small, I am led to believe that these ice-cliffs extend a good way into the sea, in some parts, especially in such as are sheltered from the violence of the winds. It may even be doubted if ever the wind is violent in the very high latitudes. And that the sea will freeze over, or the snow that falls upon it, which amounts to the same thing, we have instances in the northern hemisphere. The Baltic, the Gulph of St Laurence, the Straits of Belle-Isle, and many other equally large seas, are frequently frozen over in winter. Nor is this at all extraordinary, for we have found the degree of cold at the surface of the sea, even in summer, to be two degrees below the freezing point; consequently nothing kept it from freezing but the salt it contains, and the agitation of its surface. Whenever this last ceaseth in winter, when the frost is set in, and there comes a fall of snow, it will freeze on the surface as it falls, and in a few days, or perhaps in one night, form such a sheet of ice as will not be easily broken up. Thus a foundation will be laid for it to accumulate to any thickness by falls of snow, without its being at all necessary for the sea-water to freeze. It may be by this means these vast floats of low ice we find in the spring of the year are formed, and which, after they break up, are carried by the currents to the north. For, from all the observations I have been able to make, the currents every where, in the high latitudes, set to the north, or to the N.E. or N.W.; but we have very seldom found them considerable.
If this imperfect account of the formation of these extraordinary floating islands of ice, which is written wholly from my own observations, does not convey some useful hints to an abler pen, it will, however, convey some idea of the lands where they are formed: Lands doomed by Nature to perpetual frigidness; never to feel the warmth of the sun's rays; whose horrible and savage aspect I have not words to describe. Such are the lands we have discovered; what then may we expect those to be which lie still farther to the south? For we may reasonably suppose that we have seen the best, as lying most to the north. If any one should have resolution and perseverance to clear up this point by proceeding farther than I have done, I shall not envy him the honour of the discovery; but I will be bold to say, that the world will not be benefited by it.
I had, at this time, some thoughts of revisiting the place where the French discovery is said to lie. But then I considered that, if they had really made this discovery, the end would be as fully answered as if I had done it myself. We know it can only be an island; and if we may judge from the degree of cold we found in that latitude, it cannot be a fertile one. Besides, this would have kept me two months longer at sea, and in a tempestuous latitude, which we were not in a condition to struggle with. Our sails and rigging were so much worn, that something was giving way every hour; and we had nothing left either to repair or to replace them. Our provisions were in a state of decay, and consequently afforded little nourishment, and we had been a long time without refreshments. My people, indeed, were yet healthy, and would have cheerfully gone wherever I had thought proper to lead them; but I dreaded the scurvy laying hold of them at a time when we had nothing left to remove it. I must say farther, that it would have been cruel in me to have continued the fatigues and hardships they were continually exposed to, longer than was absolutely necessary. Their behaviour, throughout the whole voyage, merited every indulgence which it was in my power to give them. Animated by the conduct of the officers, they shewed themselves capable of surmounting every difficulty and danger which came in their way, and never once looked either upon the one or the other, as being at all heightened, by our separation from our consort the Adventure.