206 cook's SECOND VOYAGE JAN. 



Next morning, the wind falling and veering to 

 S.W., we steered N.E., but this course was soon in- 

 tercepted by numerous ice-islands ; and, having but 

 very little wind, we were obliged to steer such 

 courses as carried us the clearest of them ; so that we 

 hardly made any advance, one way or other, during 

 the whole day. Abundance of whales and penguins 

 were about us all the time ; and the weather fair, but 

 dark and gloomy. 



At midnight the wind began to freshen at N.N.E., 

 with which we stood to N.W. till six in the morning 

 of the 30th, when the wind veering to N.N. W., we 

 tacked and stood to N.E., and soon after sailed 

 through a good deal of loose ice, and passed two 

 large islands. Except a short interval of clear 

 weather about nine o'clock, it was continually foggy, 

 with either sleet or snow. At noon we were, by our 

 reckoning, in the latitude of 59° 30' S., longitude 

 29° 24/ W. 



Continuing to stand to N. E., with a fresh breeze at 

 N.N.W., at two o'clock, we passed one of the largest 

 ice-islands we had seen in the voyage, and some time 

 after passed two others, which were much smaller. 

 Weather still foggy, with sleet ; and the wind con- 

 tinued at N. by W., with which we stood to N. E. 

 over a sea strewed with ice. 



At half an hour past six in the morning, as we 

 were standing N.N.E. with the wind at W., the fog 

 very fortunately clearing away a little, we discovered 

 land a-head, three or four miles distant. On this we 

 hauled the wind to the N., but finding we could not 

 weather the land on this tack, we soon after tacked 

 in one hundred and seventy-five fathoms water, three 

 miles from the shore, and about half a league from 

 some breakers. The weather then cleared up a 

 little more, and gave us a tolerably good sight of the 

 land. That which we had fallen in with proved 

 three rocky islets of considerable height. The outer- 

 most terminated in a lofty peak like a sugar-loafi and 



