spent the night lying-to, on the 12th, at day-break, we bore
away, and steered east northerly, with a fine fresh breeze at W.S.W.; at
noon observed in latitude 54 deg. 28' S., longitude in 42 deg. 8' W.; that is,
near 3 deg. E. of the situation in which Mr Dalrymple places the N.E. point
of the gulph of St Sebastian; but we had no other signs of land than
seeing a seal and a few penguins; on the contrary, we had a swell from
E.S.E., which would hardly have been, if any extensive track of land lay
in that direction. In the evening the gale abated, and at midnight it
fell calm.

The calm, attended by a thick fog, continued till six next morning, when
we got a wind at east, but the fog still prevailed. We stood to the
south till noon, when, being in the latitude of 55 deg. 7', we tacked and
stretched to the north with a fresh breeze at E. by S. and E.S.E.,
cloudy weather; saw several penguins and a snow-peterel, which we looked
on to be signs of the vicinity of ice. The air too was much colder than
we had felt it since we left New Zealand. In the afternoon the wind
veered to the S.E., and in the night to S.S.E., and blew fresh, with
which we stood to the N.E.

At nine o'clock the next morning we saw an island of ice, as we then
thought, but at noon were doubtful whether it was ice or land. At this
time it bore E. 3/4 S., distant thirteen leagues; our latitude was 53 deg.
56' 1/2, longitude 39 deg. 24' W.; several penguins, small divers, a
snow-peterel, and a vast number of blue peterels about the ship. We had
but little wind all the morning, and at two p.m. it fell calm. It was
now no longer doubted that it was land, and not ice, which we had in
sight. It was, however, in a manner wholly covered with snow. We were
farther confirmed in our judgement of its being land, by finding
soundings at one hundred and seventy-five fathoms, a muddy bottom. The
land at this time bore E. by S., about twelve leagues distant. At six
o'clock the calm was succeeded by a breeze at N.E., with which we stoo

William Babington Maxwell (18661938) was a British novelist. He was a son of novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Though nearly 50 years old at the outbreak of the First World War, he was accepted as a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers and served in France until 1917.

Cyrus Townsend Brady (December 20, 1861 January 24, 1920) was a journalist, historian and adventure writer. His most well-known work is Indian Fights and Fighters. He was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1883. He was also a deacon in the Episcopal church. His first wife was Clarissa Guthrie, who died in 1890. His second wife was Mary Barrett.

Rebecca Sophia Clarke (1833-1906), also known as Sophie May, was an American author of childrens fiction. Using her nieces and nephews as inspiration, she wrote realistic stories about children. She wrote 45 books between 1860 and 1903. The most popular being the Little Prudy books. She lived most of her life in her native town of Norridgewock, Maine, where she lived out her life with her sister, who was also a successful author.