HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 



43 



as a continuation of the coast line, Cook steered to the 

 south-west in order to make search for a possible con- 

 tinent in the central region of the South Atlantic. In 

 longitude 31° W., he directed his course due south, and 

 on the 17th of January sighted an iceberg in latitude 

 6o° S. This was soon succeeded by several others and 

 by loose field-ice, and as the number of the icebergs 

 increased, Cook preferred again retreating to the north- 

 east. On the 31st of January land was seen, which 

 proved to be a group of lofty rocky and snow-clad 

 islands. On penetrating farther north, more islands 



, ... .. .,. ...■-.. -r- 



Possession Bay, South Georgia (after Cook). 



appeared, and in the distance a mountainous coast, to 

 which Cook gave the name of Southern Thule. A 

 nearer approach to the land, or rather to the chain of 

 islands — as it was afterwards proved to be by Bellings- 

 hausen — was rendered impossible by the dense masses 

 of ice by which the islands were surrounded. Cook was 

 therefore compelled to rest satisfied with astronomically 

 determining the situation of the islands while steering 

 north. The whole group, so far as Cook discovered 

 them, lying between latitude 57 and 59° S., and under 



