ot a tree was to be seen, nor even
a shrub big enough to make a toothpick. The only vegetation met with
was a coarse, strong-bladed grass, growing in tufts, wild burnet, and a
plant like moss, which sprang from the rocks.

Seals or sea-bears were pretty numerous, and so were penguins; some very
large, weighing from twenty-nine to thirty-eight pounds, were brought on
board. At first it was hoped that the land now discovered was part of a
great continent, but by going partly round it it was discovered to be an
island of about seventy leagues in circuit, and the name of the Isle of
Georgia was given to it. It seemed to answer very little purpose, for
though the island lies between the latitudes of 54 degrees and 55
degrees, the whole coast was a mass of ice and snow even in the middle
of summer. "The disappointment I felt did not, I must confess, affect
me much," says Cook, "for to judge of the bulk by the sample, it would
not be worth the discovery." Various other islets and rocks were seen,
when, believing that no other discovery of importance would be made
thereabouts, on January 25 the Resolution continued her course, steering
east-south-east.

On the 31st several islands and a considerable extent of land were
discovered, to which the name of Sandwich Land, or Southern Thule, was
given, as it was the most southern land then known. It showed a surface
of great height, everywhere covered with snow. While the Resolution was
close in with this coast, the wind fell, and left her to the mercy of a
great westerly swell, which set right upon the shore. A line of two
hundred fathoms found no bottom. The weather became hazy; the coast
could not be seen. A most fearful wreck now seemed inevitable, when the
fog cleared away, and a point (Cape Bristol) appeared, bearing
east-south-east, beyond which no land could be seen. This discovery
relieved the explorers from the dread of being carried by the swell on
to one of the most horrible coasts in the world. After undergoing this
and similar fearful risks, it was scarcely necessary for Cook to make
any apology for leaving this inhospitable region, and proceeding in
search of the long-sought-for Cape Circumcision. He sailed over and
round the spot where it was said to lie, and became thoroughly convinced
that no cape, indeed no land, lies thereabouts. He was soon sure that
if there was land it would only be a small island, from the long
southerly swell which was found in