F>8 COOK'S SECOND VOYAGE FEB* 



having a prodigious high sea from W. N. W., not- 

 withstanding the height of the gale was from N. by W. 

 At three o'clock the next morning, the gale abating, 

 we made sail, and continued to ply to the west till 

 ten o'clock in the morning of the sixth. 



At this time being in the latitude of 48 6' South, 

 longitude 58 22' East, the wind seemingly fixed at 

 W. N. W., and seeing no signs of meeting with land, 

 I gave over plying, and bore away east a little 

 southerly : being satisfied, that if there is any land 

 hereabout, it can only be an isle of no great extent. 

 And it was just as probable I might have found it to 

 the east as west. 



While we were plying about here, we took every 

 opportunity to observe the variation of the compass, 

 and found it to be from 27 50', to 30 26' West. 

 Probably the mean of the two extremes, viz. 29 4' 

 is the nearest the truth, as it nearly agrees with the 

 variation observed on board the Adventure. In 

 making these observations, we found that, when the 

 sun was on the starboard side of the ship, the vari- 

 ation was the least $ and when on the larboard side, 

 the greatest. This was not the first time we had 

 made this observation, without being able to account 

 for it. At four o'clock in the morning of the 7th, 

 I made the Adventure's signal to keep at the distance 

 of four miles on my starboard beam ; and continued 

 to steer E. S. E. This being a fine day, I had all 

 our men's bedding and cloaths spread on deck to air, 

 and the ship cleaned and smoked betwixt decks. At 

 noon I steered a point more to the south, being 

 then in the latitude of 48 49' south, longitude 

 61 48' east. At six o'clock in the evening, I called 

 in the Adventure; and at the same time took 

 several azimuths, which gave the variation 31 28' 

 west. These observations could not be taken with 

 the greatest accuracy, on account of the rolling of 

 the ship, occasioned by a very high westerly swell. 

 The preceding evening, three Port Egmont hens 



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