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25 January 1769
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James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia
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1769
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25 January 1769
Wednesday 25th of Janry Winds from the South to the WNW, the first part fresh gales and squally with some rain, middle little wind with hail and rain, latter, fresh gales and hazey with showers of rain at 8 PM the Island of Evouts N.W. distt 3 or 4 Miles - Variation pr morning Amplitude 21°..16' East. At 8 AM the Souther most low point of land seen yesterday boare So 74° Wt and a remarkable Peeked Hill to the Southward of it S.W. and soon after we discoverd that the land which we took yesterday to be apart of the main or an Island, was three Islands which I take ^to be Hermites, at Noon the south point of the Southermost Island bore NWBW distt 3 Leagues, having then 55 fathom Peble stones; this Point is pretty high and compared ^consists of Peeked craggy rocks and not far from it lay several others high above water; it lies in the Latitude of 55°.53' South and SW 26 Leagues from Strait La Mair, and by some on board thought to be Cape Horn, but I was of another oppinion and with good reason because we saw land to the southward of it about 3 or 4 Leagues it appeared not unlike and Island with a very high round hummock upon it: this I believe to be Cape Horn for after we had stood to the Southward about 3 Leagues the weather clear'd up for about a 1/4 of an hour which gave us a sight of this land bearing then WSW but we could see no land either to the Southward or Westward of it, and therefore conclude that it must be the Cape, but whether it be an Island of it self, apart of the Souther most of Hermites Islands or a part of Terra del Fuego I am not able to determine however this is of very little concequence to Navigation, I only wished to have been certain whether or no it was the Southermost Land on or near to Terra del Fuego, but the thick Foggy weather, and the westerly winds which carried us from the land prevented me from satisfying My curiosity in this point; but from its Latitude and the reasons before given I think it must, and if so it must be Cape Horn and lies in the Latitude of 55°..59' South and Longitude 68°..13' - West from the Meridian of Greenwich, beeing the mean result of Several Observns of the Sun and Moon made the day after we left the land, and which agree'd with those made at Straits Le Maire, allowing for the distance between one place and the other, which I found means very accuratly to determine: As we are now about takeing our departure from the land which we are not likely to fall in with again, I shall give a more full discription of such parts of the Coast of Terra del Fuego as have fallen under my inspection —
Places: Cape Horn
© Transcription by Paul Turnbull of National Library of Australia, Manuscript 1 page 31, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook/17690125.html
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