2l6 COOK'S SECOND VOYAGE FEB. 



six, then tacked, and stood to the north, under dou- 

 ble-reefed top-sails and courses, having a very fresh 

 gale, attended with snow and sleet, which fixed to the 

 masts and rigging as it fell, and coated the whole 

 with ice. 



On the 17th the wind continued veering by little 

 and little to the south, till midnight, when it fixed 

 at S. W. Being at this time in the latitude of 54° 20' 

 S., longitude 6° 33' east, I steered east, having a pro- 

 digious high sea from the south, which assured us no 

 land was near in that direction. 



In the morning of the 18th it ceased to snow ; the 

 weather became fair and clear ; and we found the 

 variation to be 13° 44' west. At noon we were in the 

 latitude of 54° 25', longitude 8° 46' east. I thought 

 this a good latitude to keep in, to look for Cape Cir- 

 cumcision ; because, if the land had ever so little 

 extent in the direction of north and south, we could 

 not miss seeing it, as the northern point is said to lie 

 in 54°. We had yet a great swell from the south, so 

 that I was now well assured it could only be an 

 island ; and it was of no consequence which side we 

 fell in with. In the evening Mr. Wales made seve- 

 ral observations of the moon, and stars Regulus and 

 Spica ; the mean results, at four o'clock, when the 

 observations were made, for finding the time by the 

 w T atch, gave 9° 15' 20" east longitude. The watch 

 at the same time gave 9° 3d' 45". Soon after the va- 

 riation was found to be 18° 10' west. It is nearly in 

 this situation that Mr. Bouvet had 1° east. I cannot 

 suppose that the variation has altered so much since 

 that time ; but rather think he had made some mis- 

 take in his observations. That there could be none 

 in ours was certain, from the uniformity for some 

 time past. Besides, we found 12° 8' west, variation, 

 nearly under this meridian, in January, 1773. During 

 the night the wind veered round by the N. W. to 

 N. N. E., and blew a fresh gale. 



At eight in the morning of the 19th, we saw the 



