in the neighbourhood of any land. We had, indeed, frequently seen pieces of sea-weed; but this, I am well assured, is no sign of the vicinity of land; for weed is seen in every part of the ocean. After a few hours' calm, we got a wind from S.E., but it was very unsettled, and attended with thick snow showers; at length it fixed at S. by E. and we stretched to the east. The wind blew fresh, was piercing cold, and attended with snow and sleet. On the 22d, being in the lati

tude of 62° 5' S., longitude 112° 24' W., we saw an ice island, an antarctic peterel, several blue peterels, and some other known birds; but no one thing that gave us the least hopes of finding land.

On the 23d, at noon, we were in the latitude of 62° 22' S., longitude 110° 24'. In the afternoon, we passed an ice island. The wind, which blew fresh, continued to veer to the west; and at eight o'clock the next morning, it was to the north of west, when I steered S. by W. and S. S. W. this time we were in the latitude of 63° 20′ S., longitude 108° 7' W., and had a great sea from S.W. We continued

At

BLUE PETEREL.

this course till noon the next day, the 25th, when we steered due south. Our latitude, at this time, was 65° 24′ S., longitude 109° 31' W.; the wind was at north; the weather mild and not unpleasant; and not a bit of ice in view. This we thought a little extraordinary; as it was but a month before, and not quite two hundred leagues to the east, that we were, in a manner, blocked up with large islands of ice, in this very latitude. Saw a single pintadoe peterel, some blue peterels, and a few brown albatrosses. In the evening, being under the same meridian, and in the latitude of 65° 44′ S., the variation was 19° 27' E.; but the next morning, in the latitude of 66° 20' S., longitude the same as before, it was only 18° 20' E.: probably the mean between the two is the nearest the truth. At this time, we had nine small islands in sight; and soon after, we came, the third time, within the antarctic polar circle, in the longitude of 109° 31′ W. About noon, seeing the appearance of land to the S.E., we immediately trimmed our sails and stood towards it. Soon after it disappeared, but we did not give it up till eight o'clock the next morning, when we were well assured that it was nothing but clouds, or a fogbank; and then we resumed our course to the south, with a gentle breeze at N.E. attended with a thick fog, snow, and sleet.

We now began to meet with ice islands more frequently than before; and, in the latitude of 69° 38' S., longitude 108° 12' W., we fell in with a field of loose ice. As we began to be in want of water, I hoisted out two boats and took up as much as yielded about ten tons. This was cold work; but it was now familiar to us. As soon as we had done, we hoisted in the boats, and afterwards made short boards over that part of the sea we had, in some measure, made ourselves acquainted with. For we had now so thick a fog that we could not see two hundred yards round us; and as we knew not the extent of the loose ice, I durst not steer to the south till we had clear weather. Thus we spent the night, or rather that part of the twenty-four hours which answered to night; for we had no darkness but what was occasioned by fogs.

At four o'clock in the morning of the 29th, the fog began to clear away; and the day becoming clear and serene, we again steered to the south with a gentle gale at N.E. and

N.N.E. The variation was found to be 22° 41′ E. This was in the latitude of 69° 45′ S., longitude 108° 5' W.; and, in the afternoon, being in the same longitude, and in the latitude of 70° 23' S., it was 24° 81' E. Soon after, the sky became clouded, and the air very cold. We continued our course to the south, and passed a piece of weed covered with barnacles, which a brown albatross was picking off. At ten o'clock, we passed a very large ice-island; it was not less than three or four miles in circuit. Several more being seen ahead, and the weather becoming foggy, we hauled the wind to the northward; but in less than two hours, the weather cleared up, and we again stood south.

On the 30th, at four o'clock in the morning, we perceived the clouds, over the horizon to the south, to be of an unusual snow-white brightness, which we knew announced our approach to field-ice. Soon after, it was seen from the topmast head; and at eight o'clock, we were close to its edge. It extended east and west, far beyond the reach of our sight. In the situation we were in, just the southern half of our horizon was illuminated, by the rays of light reflected from the ice, to a considerable height. Ninety-seven ice-hills were distinctly seen within the field, besides those on the outside; many of them very large, and looking like a ridge of mountains, rising one above another till they were lost in the clouds. The outer, or northern edge of this immense field, was composed of loose or broken ice close packed together; so that it was not possible for anything to enter it. This was about a mile broad; within which was solid ice in one continued compact body. It was rather low and flat, (except the hills,) but seemed to increase in height, as you traced it to the south; in which direction it extended beyond our sight. Such mountains of ice as these were, I believe, never seen in the Greenland seas; at least, not that I ever heard or read of; so that we cannot draw a comparison between the ice here, and there. It must be allowed that these prodigious ice mountains must add such additional weight to the icefields which inclose them, as cannot but make a great difference between the navigating this icy sea and that of Greenland.

I will not say it was impossible anywhere to get farther to the south; but the attempting it would have been a dangerous and rash enterprise, and what, I believe, no man in my situation would have thought of. It was, indeed, my opinion, as well as the opinion of most on board, that this ice extended quite to the pole, or, perhaps, joined to some land, to which it had been fixed from the earliest time; and that it is here, that is, to the south of this parallel, where all the ice we find scattered up and down to the north is first formed, and afterwards broken off by gales of wind, or other causes, and brought to the north by the currents, which we always found to set in that direction in the high latitudes. As we drew near this ice, some penguins were heard, but none seen; and but few other birds, or any other thing, that could induce us to think any land was near. And yet I think there must be some to the south behind this ice; but if there is, it can afford no better retreat for birds, or any other animals, than the ice itself, with which it must be wholly covered. I, who had ambition not only to go farther than any one had been before, but as far as it was possible for man to go, was not sorry at meeting with this interruption; as it, in some measure, relieved us; at least, shortened the dangers and hardships inseparable from the navigation of the southern polar regions. Since, therefore, we could not proceed one inch farther to the south, no other reason need be assigned for my tacking, and standing back to the north; being at this time in the latitude of 71° 10' S., longitude 106" 54′ W.

It was happy for us that the weather was clear when we fell in with this ice, and that we discovered it so soon as we did; for we had no sooner tacked than we were involved in a thick fog. The wind was at east, and blew a fresh breeze; so that we were able to return back over that space we had already made ourselves acquainted with. At noon the mercury in the thermometer stood at 32°, and we found the air exceedingly cold. The thick fog continuing with showers of snow, gave a coat of ice to our rigging of near an inch thick. In the afternoon of the next day the fog cleared away at intervals; but the weather was cloudy and gloomy, and the air excessively cold; however, the sea within our horizon was clear of ice.

We continued to stand to the north with the wind easterly till the afternoon, on the 1st of February, when, falling in with some loose ice which had broken from an island to wind

ward, we hoisted out two boats, and having taken some on board, resumed our course to the north and north-east with gentle breezes from the south-east, attended sometimes with fair weather, and at other times with snow and sleet. On the 4th we were in the latitude of 65° 42′ S., longitude 99° 44'. The next day the wind was very unsettled both in strength and position, and attended with snow and sleet. At length on the 6th, after a few hours' calm, we got a breeze at south, which soon after freshened, fixed at west south-west, and was attended with snow and sleet.

I now came to a resolution to proceed to the north, and to spend the ensuing winter within the tropic, if I met with no employment before I came there. I was now well satisfied no continent was to be found in this ocean, but what must lie so far to the south as to be wholly inaccessible on account of ice; and that if one should be found in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, it would be necessary to have the whole summer before us to explore it. On the other hand, upon a supposition that there is no land there, we undoubtedly might have reached the Cape of Good Hope by April, and so have put an end to the expedition, so far as it related to the finding a continent; which indeed was the first object of the voyage. But for me at this time to have quitted this Southern Pacific Ocean, with a good ship expressly sent out on discoveries, a healthy crew, and not in want either of stores or of provisions, would have been betraying not only a want of perseverance, but of judgment, in supposing the South Pacific Ocean to have been so well explored, that nothing remained to be done in it. This, however, was not my opinion; for although I had proved there was no continent but what must lie far to the south, there remained, nevertheless, room for very large islands in places wholly unexamined: and many of those which were formerly discovered are but imperfectly explored, and their situations as imperfectly known. I was besides of opinion that my remaining in this sea some time longer would be productive of improvements in navigation and geography, as well as other sciences. I had several times communicated my thoughts on this subject to Captain Furneaux; but as it then wholly depended on what we might meet with to the south, I could not give it in orders without running the risk of drawing us from the main object.

Since now nothing had happened to prevent me from carrying these views into execution, my intention was first to go in search of the land, said to have been discovered by Juan Fernandez, above a century ago, in about the latitude of 38°; if I should fail in finding this land, then to go in search of Easter Island or Davis's Land, whose situation was known with so little certainty that the attempts lately made to find it had miscarried. I next intended to get within the tropic, and then proceed to the west, touching at, and settling the situations of such islands as we might meet with till we arrived at Otaheite, where it was necessary I should stop to look for the Adventure. I had also thoughts of running as far west as the Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo, discovered by Quiros, and which M. de Bougainville calls the Great Cyclades. Quiros speaks of this land as being large, or lying in the neighbourhood of large lands; and as this was a point which Bougainville had neither confirmed nor refuted, I thought it was worth clearing up. From this land my design was to steer to the south, and so back to the east, between the latitudes of 50° and 60°; intending if possible to be the length of Cape Horn in November next, when we should have the best part of the summer before us to explore the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Great as this design appeared to be, I, however, thought it possible to be executed; and when I came to communicate it to the officers, I had the satisfaction to find that they all heartily concurred in it. I should not do these gentlemen justice, if I did not take some opportunity to declare that they always showed the utmost readiness to carry into execution, in the most effectual manner, every measure I thought proper to take. Under such circumstances, it is hardly necessary to say that the seamen were always obedient and alert; and, on this occasion, they were so far from wishing the voyage at an end, that they rejoiced at the prospect of its being prolonged another year, and of soon enjoying the benefits of a milder climate.

I now steered north, inclining to the east, and in the evening we were overtaken by a furious storm at west-south-west, attended with snow and sleet. It came so suddenly upon us, that before we could take in our sails, two old top-sails, which we had bent to the yards,

were blown to pieces, and the other sails much damaged. The gale lasted, without the least intermission, till the next morning, when it began to abate; it however continued to blow very fresh till noon on the 12th, when it ended in a calm. At this time we were in the latitude of 50° 14′ S., longitude 95° 18′ W. Some birds being about the ship, we took the advantage of the calm to put a boat in the water, and shot several birds, on which we feasted the next day. One of these birds was of that sort which has been so often mentioned in this journal, under the name of Port-Egmont hens. They are of the gull kind, about the size of a raven, with a dark brown plumage, except the under side of each wing, where there are some white feathers. The rest of the birds were albatrosses and sheer waters. After a few hours' calm, having got a breeze at north-west, we made a stretch to the south-west for twenty-four hours; in which route we saw a piece of wood, a bunch of weed, and a diving peterel. The wind having veered more to the west, made us tack and stretch to the north till noon on the 14th, at which time we were in the latitude of 49° 32′ S., longitude 95° 11' W. We had now calms and light breezes succeeding each other till the next morning, when the wind freshened at W.N.W., and was attended with a thick fog and drizzling rain the three following days, during which time we stretched to the north, inclining to the east, and crossed my track to Otaheite in 1769. I did intend to have kept more to the west; but the strong winds from that direction put it out of my power.

On the 18th the wind veered to south-west, and blew very fresh, but was attended with clear weather, which gave us an opportunity to ascertain our longitude by several lunar observations made by Messrs. Wales, Clerke, Gilbert, and Smith. The mean result of all was 94° 19′ 30′′ W.; Mr. Kendal's watch, at the same time, gave 94° 46′ W.; our latitude was 43° 53′ S. The wind continued not long at south-west before it veered back to west and west-north-west. As we advanced to the north we felt a most sensible change in the weather. The 20th, at noon, we were in the latitude of 39° 58′ S., longitude 94° 37′ W. The day was clear and pleasant, and I may say the only summer's day we had had since we left New Zealand. The mercury in the thermometer rose to 66.

We still continued to steer to the north, as the wind remained in the old quarter; and the next day, at noon, we were in the latitude 37° 54′ S., which was the same that Juan Fernandez's discovery is said to lie in. We, however, had not the least signs of any land lying in our neighbourhood. The next day at noon we were in latitude 36° 10′ S., longitude 94° 56′ W. Soon after, the wind veered to south-south-east, and enabled us to steer westsouth-west, which I thought the most probable direction to find the land of which we were in search; and yet I had no hopes of succeeding, as we had a large hollow swell from the same point. We, however, continued this course till the 25th, when the wind having veered again round to the westward, I gave it up, and stood away to the north, in order to get into the latitude of Easter Island; our latitude at this time was 37° 52′, longitude 101° 10' W.

I was now well assured that the discovery of Juan Fernandez, if any such was ever made, can be nothing but a small island; there being hardly room for a large land, as will fully appear by the tracks of Captain Wallis, Bougainville, of the Endeavour, and this of the Resolution. Whoever wants to see an account of the discovery in question, will meet with it in Mr. Dalrymple's Collection of Voyages to the South Seas. This gentleman places it under the meridian of 90°, where I think it cannot be; for M. de Bougainville seems to have run down under that meridian, and we had now examined the latitude in which it is said to lie, from the meridian of 94° to 101°. It is not probable it can lie to the east of 90°; because if it did, it must have been seen at one time or other by ships bound from the northern to the southern parts of America. Mr. Pengré, in a little treatise concerning the transit of Venus, published in 1768, gives some account of land having been discovered by the Spaniards in 1714, in the latitude of 38°, and 550 leagues from the coast of Chili, which is in the longitude of 110° or 111° W., and within a degree or two of my track in the Endeavour; so that this can hardly be its situation. In short, the only probable situation it can have must be about the meridian of 106° or 108° W.; and then it can only be a small isle, as I have already observed.

I was now taken ill of the bilious colic, which was so violent as to confine me to my bed;

so that the management of the ship was left to Mr. Cooper, the first officer, who conducted her very much to my satisfaction. It was several days before the most dangerous symptoms of my disorder were removed; during which time Mr. Patten, the surgeon, was to me not only a skilful physician, but an affectionate nurse; and I should ill deserve the care he bestowed on me, if I did not make this public acknowledgment. When I began to recover, a favourite dog belonging to Mr. Forster fell a sacrifice to my tender stomach. We had no other fresh meat whatever on board; and I could eat of this flesh, as well as broth made of it, when I could taste nothing else. Thus I received nourishment and strength from food which would have made most people in Europe sick; so true it is, that necessity is governed by no law.

On the 28th, in the latitude of 33° 7 S., longitude 102° 33′ W., we began to see flyingfish, egg-birds, and noddies, which are said not to go above sixty or eighty leagues from land; but of this we have no certainty. No one yet knows to what distance any of the oceanic birds go to sea; for my own part, I do not believe there is one in the whole tribe that can be relied on, in pointing out the vicinity of land.

In the latitude of 30° 30′ S., longitude 101° 45′ W., we began to see men-of-war birds. In the latitude of 29° 44', longitude 100° 45′ W., we had a calm for near two days together, during which time the heat was intolerable; but what ought to be remarked, was a very great swell from the south-west. On the 6th of March, the calm was succeeded by an easterly wind, with which we steered north-west till noon the 8th, when, being in the latitude of 27° 4' S., longitude 103° 58′ W., we steered west, meeting every day with great numbers of birds, such as men-of-war, tropic and egg birds, noddies, sheerwaters, &c.; and once we passed several pieces of sponge, and a small dried leaf not unlike a bay one. Soon after, we saw a sea-snake, in every respect like those we had before seen at the tropical islands. We also saw plenty of fish; but were such bad fishers, that we caught only four albacores, which were very acceptable, to me especially, who was just recovering from my late illness.

CHAPTER VII.-SEQUEL OF THE PASSAGE FROM NEW ZEALAND TO EASTER ISLAND, AND TRANSACTIONS THERE, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF AN EXPEDITION TO DISCOVER THE INLAND PART OF THE COUNTRY, AND A DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE SURPRISING GIGANTIC STATUES FOUND IN THE ISLAND.

AT eight o'clock in the morning on the 11th, land was seen, from the mast-head, bearing west, and at noon from the deck, extending from W. N. to W. by S. about twelve leagues distant. I made no doubt that this was Davis's Land, or Easter Island, as its appearance from this situation corresponded very well with Wafer's account; and we expected to have seen the low sandy isle that Davis fell in with, which would have been a confirmation; but in this we were disappointed. At seven o'clock in the evening, the island bore from N. 62° W. to N. 87° W., about five leagues distant; in which situation we sounded, without finding ground, with a line of a hundred and forty fathoms. Here we spent the night, having alternately light airs and calms, till ten o'clock the next morning, when a breeze sprung up at west-south-west. With this we stretched in for the land; and, by the help of our glass, discovered people, and some of those colossian statues or idols mentioned by the authors of Roggewein's Voyage.* At four o'clock in the afternoon, we were half a league south-south-east, and north-north-west of the north-east point of the island; and, on sounding, found thirty-five fathoms, a dark sandy bottom. I now tacked and endeavoured to get into what appeared to be a bay, on the west side of the point, or south-east side of the island; but before this could be accomplished, night came upon us, and we stood on and off under the land till the next morning, having soundings from seventy-five to a hundred and ten fathoms, the same bottom as before.

On the 13th, about eight o'clock in the morning, the wind, which had been variable most part of the night, fixed at south-east and blew in squalls, accompanied with rain, but it was

*See Dalrymple's Collection of Voyages, vol. ii.