INTRODUCTION X1X 
The next day he ‘‘ saw some white birds about the size of 
pigeons, with blackish bills and feet. I never saw any such 
before.” 1 These must have been Snowy Petrel. Passing 
through many bergs, where he notices how the albatross 
left them and penguins appeared, he was brought up by 
thick pack ice along which he coasted. Under the sup- 
position that this ice was formed in bays and rivers Cook 
was led to believe that land was not far distant. Incident- 
ally he remarks that in order to enable his men to sup- 
port the colder weather he “caused the sleeves of their 
jackets (which were so short as to expose their arms) to be 
lengthened with baize; and had a cap made for each man 
of the same stuff, together with canvas ; which proved of 
great service to them.” ? 
For more than a month Cook sailedthe Southern Ocean, 
always among bergs and often among pack. The weather 
was consistently bad and generally thick; he mentions 
that he had only seen the moon once since leaving the 
Cape. 
It was on Sunday, January 17, 1773, that the Antarctic 
Circle was crossed for the first time, in longitude 39° 35’ 
E. After proceeding to latitude 67° 15’ S. he was stopped 
by an immense field of pack. From this point he turned 
back and made his way to New Zealand. 
Leaving New Zealand at the end of 1773 without his 
second ship, the Adventure, from which he had been 
parted, he judged from the great swell that ‘‘there can be 
no land to the southward, under the meridian of New Zea- 
land, but what must lie very far to the south.” In latitude 
62° 10’ S. he sighted the first ice island on December 12, 
and was stopped by thick pack ice three days later. On the 
2oth he again crossed the Antarctic Circle in longitude 
147° 46’ W.and penetrated in this neighbourhood toa lati- 
tude of 67° 31’ S. Here he found a drift towards the 
north-east. 
On January 26, 1774, in longitude 109° 31’ W., he 
crossed the Antarctic Circle for the third time, after meeting 
no pack and only a few icebergs. In latitude 71° 10’ S. he 
1 Cook, A Voyage towards the South Pole, vol. i. p. 23. 2 Tbid. p. 28. 
