Volume Xiv Part 11 (2/2)

On the 16th, at seven in the morning, the wind having veered round to S.E., we tacked and stretched to N.E., being at this time in the lat.i.tude of 47 7', longitude 173 W. In this situation we had a great swell from N.E.[2]

The wind continued at S.E. and S.S.E., blew fresh at intervals, and was attended with sometimes fair, and at other times rainy weather, till the 20th, on which day, being in the lat.i.tude of 44 30', longitude 165 45'

W., the wind s.h.i.+fted to the west, blew a gentle gale, and was attended with fair weather. With this we steered E. by N., E. by S., and E., till the 23d at noon, when, being in the lat.i.tude of 44 38' S., longitude 161 27' W., we had a few hours calm. The calm was succeeded by a wind at east, with which we stood to the north. The wind increased and blew in squalls, attended with rain, which at last brought us under our courses; and at two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, we were obliged to lie-to under the foresail, having a very hard gale from E.N.E., and a great sea from the same direction.[3]

At seven o'clock in the morning of the 25th, the gale being more moderate, we made sail under the courses, and in the afternoon set the top-sails close-reefed. At midnight, the wind having veered more to the north, we tacked and stretched to the S.E., being at this time in the lat.i.tude of 42 53' S., longitude 163 20' W.

We continued to stretch to the S.E., with a fresh gale and fair weather, till four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, when we stood again to the N.E., till midnight between the 27th and 28th. Then we had a few hours calm, which was succeeded by faint breezes from the west. At this time we were in the lat.i.tude of 42 32', longitude 161 15' W. The wind remained not long at west, before it veered back to the E. by the N., and kept between the S.E. and N.E., but never blew strong.

On July 2d, being in the lat.i.tude of 53 3', longitude 156 17' W., we had again a calm, which brought the wind back to the west; but it was of no longer continuance than before. For the next day it returned to the E. and S.E., blew fresh at times, and by squalls, with rain.

On the 7th, being in the lat.i.tude of 41 22', longitude 156 12' W., we had two hours calm; in which time Mr Wales went on board the Adventure to compare the watches, and they were found to agree, allowing for the difference of their rates of going: A probable, if not a certain proof, that they had gone well since we had been in this sea.

The calm was succeeded by a wind from the south; between which point and the N.W., it continued for the six succeeding days, but never blew strong.

It was, however, attended with a great hollow swell from the S.W. and W., a sure indication that no large land was near in those directions. We now steered east, inclining to the south, and on the 10th, in the lat.i.tude of 43 39', longitude 144 43' W., the variation was found, by several azimuths, to be more than 3 E., but the next morning it was found to be 4 5' 30”, and in the afternoon, 5 56' E. The same day, at noon, we were in the lat.i.tude of 43 44', longitude 141 56' W.

At nine o'clock in the morning of the 12th, the longitude was observed as follows, viz.

Self 1st set 139 47' 15”

Ditto, 2d set 140 7 30 Mr Wales 1st set 141 22 15 Mr Wales 2d set 140 10 0 Mr Clerke 140 56 45 Mr Gilbert 140 2 0 -------------- Mean 140 24 17-1/2 West.

This differed from my reckoning only 2 1/2. The next morning, in the lat.i.tude of 43 3', longitude 139 20' W., we had several lunar observations, which were consonant to those made the day before, allowing for the s.h.i.+p's run in the time. In the afternoon we had, for a few hours, variable light airs next to a calm; after which we got a wind from the N.E., blowing fresh and in squalls, attended with dark gloomy weather, and some rain.

We stretched to the S.E. till five o'clock in the afternoon on the 14th, at which time, being in the lat.i.tude of 43 15', longitude 137 39' W., we tacked and stood to the north under our courses, having a very hard gale with heavy squalls, attended with rain, till near noon the next day, when it ended in a calm. At this time we were in the lat.i.tude of 42 39', longitude 137 58' W. In the evening, the calm was succeeded by a breeze from S.W., which soon after increased to a fresh gale; and fixing at S.S.W, with it we steered N.E. 1/2 E. in the lat.i.tude of 41 25', longitude 135 58' W., we saw floating in the sea a billet of wood, which seemed to be covered with barnacles; so that there was no judging how long it might have been there, or from whence or how far it had come.

We continued to steer N.E. 1/2 E., before a very strong gale which blew in squalls, attended with showers of rain and hail, and a very high sea from the same quarter, till noon, on the 17th. Being then in the lat.i.tude of 39 44', longitude 133 32' W., which was a degree and a half farther east than I intended to run; nearly in the middle between my track to the north in 1769, and the return to the south in the same year, and seeing no signs of land, I steered north-easterly, with a view of exploring that part of the sea lying between the two tracks just mentioned, down as low as the lat.i.tude of 27, a s.p.a.ce that had not been visited by any preceding navigator that I knew of.[4]

On the 19th, being in the lat.i.tude of 36 34', longitude 133 7' W., we steered N. 1/2 W., having still the advantage of a hard gale at south, which the next day veered to S.E. and E., blew hard and by squalls, attended with rain and thick hazy weather. This continued till the evening of the 21st, when the gale abated, the weather cleared up, and the wind backed to the S. and S.E.

We were now in the lat.i.tude of 32 30', longitude 133 40' W., from this situation we steered N.N.W. till noon the next day, when we steered a point more to the west; being at this time in the lat.i.tude of 31 6', longitude 134 12' W. The weather was now so warm, that it was necessary to put on lighter clothes; the mercury in the thermometer at noon rose to 63. It had never been lower than 46, and seldom higher than 54, at the same time of the day, since we left New Zealand.[5]

This day was remarkable by our not seeing a single bird. Not one had pa.s.sed since we left the land, without seeing some of the following birds, viz.

albatrosses, sheerwaters, pintadoes, blue peterels, and Port Egmont hens.

But these frequent every part of the Southern Ocean in the higher lat.i.tudes: Not a bird, nor any other thing, was seen that could induce us to think that we had ever been in the neighbourhood of any land.

The wind kept veering round from the S. by the W. to N.N.W., with which we stretched north till noon the next day, when, being in the lat.i.tude of 29 22', we tacked and stretched to the westward. The wind soon increased to a very hard gale, attended with rain, and blew in such heavy squalls as to split the most of our sails. This weather continued till the morning of the 25th, when the wind became more moderate, and veered to N.W. and W.N.W., with which we steered and stretched to N.E., being at that time in the lat.i.tude of 29 51', longitude 130 28' W. In the afternoon the sky cleared up, and the weather became fair and settled. We now met the first tropic bird we had seen in this sea.

On the 26th, in the afternoon, being in the lat.i.tude of 28 44', we had several observations of the sun and moon, which gave the longitude 135 30'

W. My reckoning at the same time was 135 27', and I had no occasion to correct it since I left the land. We continued to stretch to the north, with light breezes from the westward, till noon, the next day, when we were stopped by a calm; our lat.i.tude at this time being 27 53', longitude 135 17' W. In the evening, the calm was succeeded by a breeze from the N. and N.W., with which we plied to the N.

On the 29th I sent on board the Adventure to enquire into the state of her crew, having heard that they were sickly; and this I now found was but too true. Her cook was dead, and about twenty of her best men were down in the scurvy and flux. At this time _we_ had only three men on the sick list, and only one of them attacked with the scurvy. Several more, however, began to shew symptoms of it, and were accordingly put upon the wort, marmalade of carrots, rob of lemons and oranges.

I know not how to account for the scurvy raging more in the one s.h.i.+p than the other, unless it was owing to the crew of the Adventure being more s...o...b..tic when they arrived in New Zealand than we were, and to their eating few or no vegetables while they lay in Queen Charlotte's Sound, partly for want of knowing the right sorts, and partly because it was a new diet, which alone was sufficient for seamen to reject it. To introduce any new article of food among seamen, let it be ever so much for their good, requires both the example and authority of a commander; without both, of which it will be dropt before the people are sensible of the benefits resulting from it. Were it necessary, I could name fifty instances in support of this remark. Many of my people, officers as well seamen, at first disliked celery, scurvy-gra.s.s, &c., being boiled in the peas and wheat; and some refused to eat it. But, as this had no effect on my conduct, this obstinate kind of prejudice by little and little wore off; they began to like it as well as the others; and now, I believe, there was hardly a man in the s.h.i.+p that did not attribute our being so free from the scurvy, to the beer and vegetables we made use of at New Zealand. After this I seldom found it necessary to order any of my people to gather vegetables, whenever we came where any were to be got, and if scarce, happy was he who could lay hold on them first. I appointed one of my seamen to be cook of the Adventure, and wrote to Captain Furneaux, desiring him to make use of every method in his power to stop the spreading of the disease amongst his people, and proposing such as I thought might tend towards it.

But I afterwards found all this unnecessary, as every method had been used they could think of.[6]

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