deg. 35' E. As we
could only see a few miles farther to the south, and as it was not
impossible that there might be land not far off in that direction, I gave
orders to steer S. 1/2 E., and made the signal for the Adventure to follow,
she being by this movement thrown a-stern: The weather continuing hazy till
half an hour past six o'clock in the evening, when it cleared up so as to
enable us to see about five leagues round us.

Being now in the latitude of 49 deg. 13' S., without having the least signs of
land, I wore and stood again to the eastward, and soon after spoke with
Captain Furneaux. He told me that he thought the land was to the N.W. of
us,; as he had, at one time, observed the sea to be smooth when the wind
blew in that direction. Athough this was not conformable to the remarks
_we_ had made on the sea, I resolved to clear up the point, if the wind
would admit of my getting to the west in any reasonable time.

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 3d, being in the latitude of 48 deg. 56'
S. longitude 60 deg. 47' E., and upwards of 8 deg. to the east of the meridian of
the Mauritius, I began to despair of finding land to the east; and as the
wind had now veered to the north, resolved to search for it to the west. I
accordingly tacked and stood to the west with a fresh gale. This increased
in such a manner, that, before night, we were reduced to our two courses;
and, at last, obliged to lie-to under the fore-sails, having a prodigious
high sea from W.N.W., notwithstanding the height of the gale was from N. by
W. At three o'clock the next morning, the gale abating, we made sail, and
continued to ply to the west till ten o'clock in the morning of the 6th.

At this time, being in the latitude of 48 deg. 6' S., longitude 58 deg. 22' E., the
wind seemingly fixed at W.N.W., and seeing no signs of meeting with land, I
gave over plying, and bore away east a little southerly: Being satisfied,
that if there is any land hereabout, it can only be an isle of no great
extent. And it was just as probable I might have found it to the E. as to
the W.

While we were plying about here we took every opportunity to observe the
variation of the compass, and found it to be from 27 deg. 50' to 30 deg. 26' W.
Probably the mean of the two extremes, viz. 29 deg. 4', is the nearest the
truth, as it nearly agrees with the variation observed on board the
Adventure. In making these observations, we found that, when the sun was on
the la