We continued to stand to the east till half-past two o'clock, p.m., when we fell in, all at once, with a vast number of large ice-islands, and a sea strewed with loose ice. The weather too was become thick and hazy, attended with drizzling rain and sleet, which made it the more dangerous to stand in among the ice. For this reason we tacked and stood back to the west, with the wind at north. The ice-islands, which at this time surrounded us, were nearly all of equal height, and shewed a flat even surface; but they were of various extent, some being two or three miles in circuit. The loose ice was what had broken from these isles.
Next morning, the wind falling and veering to S.W., we steered N.E.; but this coarse was soon intercepted by numerous ice-islands; and, having but very little wind, we were obliged to steer such courses as carried us the clearest of them; so that we hardly made any advance, one way or other, during the whole day. Abundance of whales and penguins were about us all the time; and the weather fair, but dark and gloomy.
At midnight the wind began to freshen at N.N.E., with which we stood to the N.W., till six in the morning of the 30th, when the wind veering to N.N.W., we tacked and stood to N.E., and soon after sailed through a good deal of loose ice, and passed two large islands. Except a short interval of clear weather about nine o'clock, it was continually foggy, with either sleet or snow. At noon we were, by our reckoning, in the latitude of 59° 3O' S., longitude 29° 24' W.
Continuing to stand to N.E. with a fresh breeze at N.N.W., at two o'clock, we passed one of the largest ice-islands we had seen in the voyage, and some time after passed two others, which were much smaller; Weather still foggy, with sleet: And the wind continued at N. by W., with which we stood to N.E., over a sea strewed with ice.
At half an hour past six next morning, as we were standing N.N.E. with the wind at west, the fog very fortunately clearing away a little, we discovered land ahead, three or four miles distant. On this we hauled the wind to the north; but finding we could not weather the land on this tack, we soon after tacked in one hundred and seventy-five fathoms water, three miles from the shore, and about half a league from some breakers. The weather then cleared up a little more, and gave us a tolerably good sight of the land. That which we had fallen in with proved three rocky islets of considerable height. The outermost terminated in a lofty peak like a sugar-loaf, and obtained the name of Freezeland Peak, after the man who first discovered it. Latitude 59° S., longitude 27° W. Behind this peak, that is to the east of it, appeared an elevated coast, whose lofty snow-clad summits were seen above the clouds. It extended from N. by E. to E.S.E., and I called it Cape Bristol, in honour of the noble family of Hervey. At the same time another elevated coast appeared in sight, bearing S.W. by S., and at noon it extended from S.E. to S.S.W., from four to eight leagues distant; at this time the observed latitude was 59° 13' 30" S., longitude 27° 45' W. I called this land Southern Thule, because it is the most southern land that has ever yet been discovered. It shews a surface of vast height, and is every where covered with snow. Some thought they saw land in the space between Thule and Cape Bristol. It is more than probable that these two lands are connected, and that this space is a deep bay, which I called Forster's Bay.