being the first who saw
them.

CHAPTER VI.

_ Proceedings after leaving the Isle of Georgia, with an Account of the
Discovery of Sandwich Land; with some Reasons for there being Land about
the South Pole_.

1775 January

On the 25th, we steered E.S.E., with a fresh gale at N.N.E., attended
with foggy weather, till towards the evening, when the sky becoming
clear, we found the variation to be 9 deg. 26' E., being at this time in the
latitude of 56 deg. 16' S., longitude 32 deg. 9' W.

Having continued to steer E.S.E., with a fine gale at N.N.W., till
day-light next morning, on seeing no land to the east, I gave orders to
steer south, being at this time in the latitude of 56 deg. 33' S., longitude
31 deg. 10' W. The weather continued clear, and gave us an opportunity to
observe several distances of the sun and moon for the correcting our
longitude, which at noon was 31 deg. 4' W., the latitude observed 57 deg. 38' S.
We continued to steer to the south till the 27th, at noon, at which time
we were in the latitude of 59 deg. 46' S., and had so thick a fog that we
could not see a ship's length. It being no longer safe to sail before
the wind, as we were to expect soon to fall in with ice, I therefore
hauled to the east, having a gentle breeze at N.N.E. Soon after the fog
clearing away, we resumed our course to the south till four o'clock,
when it returned again as thick as ever, and made it necessary for us to
haul upon a wind.

I now reckoned we were in latitude 60 deg. S., and farther I did not intend
to go, unless I observed some certain signs of soon meeting with land.
For it would not have been prudent in me to have spent my time in
penetrating to the south, when it was at least as probable that a large
tract of land might be found near Cape Circumcision. Besides, I was
tired of these high southern latitudes, where nothing was to be found
but ice and thick fogs. We had now a long hollow swell from the west, a
strong indication that there was no land in that direction; so that I
think I may venture to assert that the extensive coast, laid down in Mr
Dalrymple's chart of the ocean between Africa and America, and the Gulph
of St Sebastian, do not exist.

At seven o'clock in the evening, the fog receding from us a little, gave
us a sight of an ice island, several penguins and some snow peterels; we
sounded, but found no ground at one hundred and forty fathoms. The fog
soon returning, we spent the night in making bo