76 cook's second voyage march, 



were clear of it all. In the evening the wind abated, 

 and veered to S.W., but the weather did not clear 

 up till the next morning ; when we were able to 

 carry all our sails, and met with but very few islands 

 of ice to impede us. Probably the late gale had 

 destroyed a great number of them. Such a very 

 large hollow sea had continued to accompany the 

 wind, as it veered from E. to S.W., that I was cer- 

 tain no land of considerable extent could lie within 

 100 or 150 leagues of our situation between these 

 two points. 



The mean height of the thermometer at noon, for 

 some days past, was about 35 ; which is something 

 higher than it usually was, in the same latitude, about 

 a month or five weeks before, consequently the air 

 was something warmer. While the weather was 

 really warm, the gales were not only stronger, but 

 more frequent ; with almost continual misty, dirty, 

 wet weather. The very animals we had on board 

 felt its effects. A sow having in the morning far- 

 rowed nine pigs, every one of them was killed by 

 the cold, before four o'clock in the afternoon, not- 

 withstanding all the care we could take of them. 

 From the same cause, myself, as well as several of 

 my people, had fingers and toes chilblained. Such 

 is the summer weather we enjoyed. 



The wind continued unsettled, veering from the 

 south to the west, and blew a fresh gale till the even- 

 ing. Then it fell little wind ; and, soon after, a 

 breeze sprung up at north ; which quickly veered to 

 N. E. and N. E. by E., attended with a thick fog, 

 snow, sleet, and rain. With this wind and weather, 

 we kept on to the S. E. till four o'clock in the after- 

 noon of the next day, being the 1st of March, when 

 it fell calm - 9 which continued for near twenty-four 

 hours. We were now in the latitude of 60 S& 

 south, longitude 107 54/ ; and had a prodigious high 

 swell from the S. W., and, at the same time, another 

 from the S. or S. S. E. The dashing of the one wave 



