268 cook's second voyage jan. 



in the latitude of 63 20' S., longitude 108 7' W. 

 and had a great sea from S. W. We continued 

 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 latiude of 65 44' S., the variation 

 was 1 9 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 

 the third time, within the antartic polar circle, in the 

 longitude of L09 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 fog-bank; 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 fre- 

 quently 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 



