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him from his purpose, had he persisted in his reselution, and made a meal of the fish, it is most probable that it would have cost him his life; for a dog who ate of the entrails, lay several days in such exquisite torments, that he was at last thrown overboard to put an end to his misery. A few days after, a porpoise was struck with a harpoon, and a boat being hoisted out, it was killed with five musket shot. It was a female, six feet long; its dugs were full of milk, it being a viviparous animal, of the class that suckle their young, and of the kind which the naturalists call Dolphin of the Ancients, and which differs from the other kind of porpoise in the head and jaw, having them long and pointed. This fish had eighty-eight teeth in each jaw; it was cut up and distributed to the ship's company: its colour was not inviting, being almost black; but the haslet and lean flesh were considered as a feast; the latter was a little liverish, but had not the least fishy taste. It was eaten roasted, boiled and fried, having been first soaked in warm water. In their situation, little art was necessary to make any thing that was fresh palatable.

It might be supposed, that the hardships and dangers which had been endured, together with the important geographichal knowledge which had been acquired, would have induced this great navigator, now that he had quitted the South Sea, to rest from his labours, and to have sought his native country by the most direct route. But he, like Cæsar, thinking nothing done, whilst any thing remained undone, was still intent on farther researches, and resolved to traverse the Atlantic Ocean, between the 50th and 60th degrees of latitude, from the meridian of Cape Horn to that of the Cape of

Good Hope, in which he spent upwards of three months. That the officers and men quietly acquiesced in this farther extension of their toils and perils, deprived of the two essentials to the enjoyment of life, nourishing food and human intercourse -that amidst the chaotic scenes which yet detained them, a general spirit of discontent, and a strong propensity to mutiny did not prevail-prove, that their great leader possessed that elevation of mind and insinuating manner, which effectually control the most boisterous spirits, and make the heaviest and the longest sufferings supportable, merely by his partaking in them, and cheerfully undergoing them.

CHAP. III.

Captain Cook's cruise in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, with an

account of the lands discovered in that sea.

HAVING spent eighteen days on the coast of Terra del Fuego, during which time captain Cook accurately explored Staten Island, he quitted it on the 4th of January 1775, sailing south-eastward, in order to pass a third summer season to the south ward. On leaving Staten Island, he observes that it is amazing to see how different animals, which inhabit this little spot, are mutually reconciled. They seem to have entered into a league not to disturb each other's tranquillity. The sea-lions oc cupy most of the sea-coast; the sea-bears take up their abode in the island; the shags have posts in the highest cliffs; the penguins fix their quarters where there is the most easy communication to and from the sea; and the other birds choose more retired stations. We have seen all these animals mix

together, like domestic cattle and poultry in a farmyard, without one attempting to molest the other: nay, I have often observed the eagles and vultures sitting on the hills among the shags, without either the old or young of the latter being disturbed by their presence. It may be asked how these birds of prey live? I suppose on the carcases of seals and birds, which die by various causes, and probably in no small numbers, as they are so numerous.

The first object of this cruise was, to discover an extensive coast laid down by Mr. Dalrymple, in his chart, in which is the gulph of St. Sebastian; afterwards it was designed farther to explore the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. This coast had been laid down between 40° and 53' west longitude, in the latitude of 54° and 58' south, but no such land was met with; and captain Furneaux, in the Adventure, the year before passed across that part where the eastern and western shores are laid down, without seeing land. It appears, therefore, that either this gulf does not exist, or that it is not rightly laid down, either in the English or French charts. On the 14th of January, being in latitude 53° 56' south, longitude 39° 24' west, land was discovered; its mountains appeared of a vast height, covered with snow and ice, in most places quite to the water's edge: towards the south end several low islands were seen, which appeared to have some verdure upon them, and were, therefore, called the Green Islands. This land, which was at first supposed to be part of a great continent, was found at length to be an island of seventy leagues in circuit, between the latitudes of 53° 57', and 54° 57′, and longitude 38° 13′ and 35° 34′ west, extending southeast by east, and north-west by west, and is thirty

one leagues long in that direction; its greatest breadth is about ten leagues. It seemed to abound with bays and harbours, which the vast quantities of ice render inaccessible the greatest part of the year. This large island received the name of Southern Georgia. Captain Cook landed in a bay on the northern side of this island, which he called Possession Bay: here he displayed his colours in three different places, and took possession of this country in his majesty's name, under a discharge of small arms. Two rocky islands are situated on the north end, one of which was named Willis's Island, from the person who discovered it; it is a craggy cliff, nearly perpendicular, which contained the nests of many thousand shags. The other received the name of Bird Island, from the innumerable flocks of birds of all sorts that were seen upon it, from the largest albatrosses down to the least peterels. Several porpoises and seals were likewise observed, which probably came to breed on these inhospitable shores. The head of the bay, as well as two places on each side, were terminated by perpendicular ice-cliffs of considerable height, such as is found in the harbour of Spitsbergen, in the northern hemisphere. Pieces were continually breaking off and floating out to sea, and a great fall happened whilst they were in the bay, which made a noise like cannon. The other parts of the country were not less savage and horrible. The wild rocks raised their lofty summits till they were lost in the clouds; and valleys lay covered with snow. Not a tree was to be seen, nor a shrub even big enough to make a tooth-pick. The only vegetation observed was a strong bladed grass, growing in tufts, wild burnet, and a plant like moss, which sprung from the rocks. Seals or sea-bears

were pretty numerous. Among them was a huge animal, of the same kind with the sea-lions described in lord Anson's voyage: a midshipman shot it through the head while it lay asleep. It was all over of a dark grey colour, with a slight olive cast, something like the seals in the northern hemisphere: it likewise resembled those animals in the shape of its forefeet, and the want of external ears; its nose projected far beyond the mouth, and it had a loose wrinkled skin: this animal was about thirteen feet long. Here was found a flock of about twenty penguins, of a much greater size than any before seen, being thirty-nine inches long, and weighing forty pounds. The seals and penguins killed here were very acceptable food to the whole crew; for any kind of fresh meat was eagerly coveted. "For my own part," says captain Cook, "I was now, for the first time, heartily tired of salt meat of every kind; and though the flesh of the penguins could scarcely vie with bullock's liver, it being fresh was sufficient to make it go down." Even the climate of Terra del Fuego, though lying more to the southward, is mild with respect to that of Georgia, the difference in the thermometer being observed to be at least ten degrees. Besides being uninhabitable, South Georgia does not appear to contain a single article for which it might be visited occasionally by European ships. Not a river or stream of fresh water was seen on the whole coast.

Captain Cook left the southern part of this island on the 26th of January, and steered east-south-east until he arrived in latitude 60 degrees, further than which he did not intend to go, unless he observed some certain signs of meeting with land. These high southern latitudes, where nothing was to be

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