1779- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 229 



north-west to east, we tacked, and the wind coming 

 round to the westward, stood on to the eastward, 

 along its edge, till eleven at night. At that time a 

 very thick fog coming on, and the water shoaling to 

 nineteen fathoms, we hauled our wind to the south. 

 The variation observed this day was 31° 20' E. It is 

 remarkable, that though we saw no sea-horses on the 

 body of the ice, yet they were in herds, and in greater 

 numbers on the detached fragments, than we had 

 ever observed before. About nine in the evening, a 

 white bear was seen swimming close by the Dis- 

 covery ; it afterward made to the ice, on which were 

 also two others. 



On the 19th, at one in the morning, the weather 

 clearing up, we again steered to the north-east, till 

 two, when we were a second time so completely 

 embayed, that there was no opening left, but to the 

 south ; to which quarter we accordingly directed our 

 course, returning through a remarkably smooth 

 water, and with very favourable weather, by the same 

 way we had come in. We were never able to pene- 

 trate farther north than at this time, when our 

 latitude was 70° S3' ; and this was five leagues short 

 of the point to which we advanced last season. We 

 held on to the south south-west, with light winds 

 from the north-west, by the edge of the main ice, 

 which lay on our left hand, and stretched between us 

 and the continent of America. Our latitude, by ob- 

 servation at noon, was 70° ll', our longitude i960 15', 

 and the depth of water sixteen fathoms. From this 

 circumstance, we judged that the Icy Cape was now 

 only at seven or eight leagues' distance ; but, though 

 the weather was in general clear, it was at the same 

 time hazy in the horizon ; so that we could not ex- 

 pect to see it. 



In the afternoon, we saw two white bears in the 

 water, to which we immediately gave chase in the 

 jolly boat, and had the good fortune to kill them 



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