ch. xlvi] Captain Cook — Bellingshausen 395 
by Kendall on Harrison's principle 1 . This was the first 
British Antarctic Expedition. 
On November 22nd, 1772, the expedition left the 
Cape with the object of examining the edge of the ice 
between that meridian and that of New Zealand. The 
course was south, the two vessels keeping company, and 
after some very severe weather the first iceberg was 
sighted on the 10th December in Lat. 50 0 20' 3" and 
2° east of the Cape. On the 14th, after passing many 
icebergs, the edge of the pack ice was reached. The 
17th January, 1773, was a memorable day, for in the 
forenoon the Antarctic Circle was crossed for the first 
time in the history of civilised man, in 39 0 35' E. The 
latitude at noon was 66° 36' 30" S., and in the evening 
30 icebergs were in sight, and much sailing ice. Captain 
Cook perseveringly continued to examine the edge of the 
ice for many days, until on March 26th, 1773, after being 
122 days at sea and sailing over 3660 leagues, but never 
once sighting land, Dusky Bay in New Zealand was 
reached. 
Tahiti and other islands were then visited, and on 
November 26th, 1773, the Resolution left New Zealand to 
resume her Antarctic work. On December 14th she was 
among icebergs and loose ice in 64 0 55' S. and 163 0 20' W. 
Captain Cook continued his course to the south and on 
the 20th December crossed the Antarctic Circle for the 
second time, surrounded by icebergs and loose pack, 
with very thick weather. On the 26th the sea was dotted 
with more than 300 bergs. A closely-packed mass of 
ice, extending east and west as far as could be seen, was 
reached on the 30th January, 1774. Captain Cook 
counted 97 ice hills within the pack, many of them very 
large, and looking like a ridge of mountains rising one 
above another until they were lost in the clouds. Cook 
adds that a mile within the pack there was solid ice in 
one continuous compact body, rather low and flat, but 
seeming to increase in height as it was traced to the 
south, in which direction it extended beyond their sight. 
The latitude was 71 0 10' S., longitude 106 0 54' W. 
Cook did not believe that it would have been im- 
1 This chronometer is now in the museum of the United Service 
Institution. 
