Having brought to for the night, we made sail along the shore at four in the morning, in the direction of N.E. ½ N. with a moderate breeze at S.S.E. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 45° 13’ S. At this time, being about a league and an half from the shore, we sounded, but had no ground with seventy fathom: we had just passed a small narrow opening in land, where there seemed to be a very safe and convenient harbour, formed by an island, which lay in the middle of the opening at east. The opening lies in latitude 45° 16’ S. and on the land behind it are mountains, the summits of which were covered with snow, that appeared to have been recently fallen; and indeed for two days past we had found the weather very cold. On each side the entrance of the opening, the land rises almost perpendicularly from the sea to a stupendous height, and this indeed was the reason why I did not carry the ship into it, for no wind could blow there but right in, or right out, in the direction of either east or west, and I thought it by no means advisable to put into a place whence I could not have got out but with a wind which experience had taught me did not blow more than one day in a month. In this, however, I acted contrary to the opinion of some persons on board, who in very strong terms expressed their desire to harbour for present convenience, without any regard to future disadvantages.

Voyaging Accounts