. 33'. east, we tacked and stretched to N.E. with a fresh
gale at S.W., attended with snow-showers and sleet. At noon, being in
the latitude of 54 deg. 8' S., longitude 12 deg. 59' E., with a fresh gale at W.
by N., and tolerably clear weather, we steered east till ten o'clock in
the evening, when we brought-to, lest we might pass any land in the
night, of which we however had not the least signs.

At day-break, having made sail, we bore away E., and at noon observed in
latitude 54 deg. 16' S., longitude 16 deg. 13' east, which is 5 deg. to the east of
the longitude in which Cape Circumcision is said to lie; so that we
began to think there was no such land in existence. I however continued
to steer east, inclining a little to the south, till four o'clock in the
afternoon of the next day, when we were in latitude 54 deg. 24' S.,
longitude 19 deg. 18' east.

We had now run down thirteen degrees of longitude in the very latitude
assigned for Bouvet's Land. I was therefore well assured that what he
had seen could be nothing but an island of ice; for, if it had been
land, it is hardly possible we could have missed it, though it were ever
so small. Besides, from the time of leaving the southern lands, we had
not met with the least signs of any other. But even suppose we had, it
would have been no proof of the existence of Cape Circumcision; for I am
well assured that neither seals nor penguins, nor any of the oceanic
birds, are indubitable signs of the vicinity of land. I will allow that
they are found on the coasts of all these southern lands; but are they
not also to be found in all parts of the southern ocean? There are,
however, some oceanic or aquatic birds which point out the vicinity of
land; especially shags, which seldom go out of sight of it; and gannets,
boobies, and men-of-war birds, I believe, seldom go very far out to sea.

As we were now no more than two degrees of longitude front our route to
the south, when we left the Cape of Good Hope, it was to no purpose to
proceed a

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.