Further Observations 



And the Return of the Ship 



At 12 meridian (noon) on February 7, 1821, Captain Davis took a sight and 

 figured his latitude as 64° 01' south. He had made an error of several minutes on 

 his observation on January 31, and a similar error here would have placed him 

 more to the north; on the other hand, he may have been further south. He now 

 headed the Cecilia "up a Large Bay, the Land high and covered intirely with 

 snow. . . ."; the weather now became foggy and the wind came around to the 

 north and east. Davis tacked the schooner, standing offshore as the wind in- 

 creased to a gale. 



The little exploring schooner Cecilia was in an uncomfortable position late 

 in the afternoon on February 7. Captain Davis reefed the mainsail and noted 

 "strong gales at ENE . . . attended with Snow and a heavy Sea." He "Concluded 

 to make the Best of our way for the Ship." The fact that the Cecilia was in 

 Hughes Bay all during this time definitely places her on the southwestern side of 

 Cape Charles (Cape Sterneck), on the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, and 

 east by north of Two Hummocks Island. The east-northeast gale gave him a 

 chance to work to the west, and out of danger. 



This becomes clearer by following the course which Captain Davis set during 

 the next twenty-four hours. His entry for February 8 (civil time) began at 

 12 midnight and tells of the schooner being under double-reefed sails, with a 

 strong northeast gale and snow and a heavy sea. At 3 o'clock in the morning 

 the gale moderated and the reefs were shaken out. At 8 o'clock (a.m.) it cleared 

 away and Captain Davis got his first bearings. He reported them, thus: 



". . . we saw Castle Rock bearing NNW and the Middle of President 

 [Snow] Island North ..." 



In order for the Cecilia to have been in this position she must have been to 

 the southeast of Low Island and northwest of Hoseason Island. As Captain 

 Davis did not then record sighting it, the hazy weather must have shut in from 

 the west. He does mention Low Island some time later the same day. "At 9 

 A.M. the wind backned to the ENE" (the log records) and increased to a strong 

 gale: "At Meridian Strong gales heavy Sea and Thick Snow." 



The course of the Cecilia could not have been much to the east and north 

 due to the wind direction. At 8 p.m. (February 8), the weather clearing, and 



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