274 cook's SECOND VOYAGE FEB. 



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' 

 $., 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 IT W. We had now calms and light 

 breezes succeeding each other, till the next morning, 

 when the wind freshened at west-north-west, 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 longi- 

 tude by several lunar observations made by Messrs. 



