All our endeavours to explain it to him miscarried, and he assured us he despaired of finding belief among his countrymen, when he should come back to recount the wonders of petrified rain, and of perpetual day.”—­G.F.

[9] “To-day, while we were observing the meridian altitude of the sun, a shower of snow came from the west, and passed a-head of the ship; during which, a large island of ice, considerably within the visible horizon, and directly under the sun, was entirely hid by it; yet the horizon appeared as distinct, and much the same as it usually does in dark hazy weather.  When the shower was over, I found that it required the sun to be dipped something more than his whole diameter to bring his lower limb to the nearest edge of the ice island, which must have been farther off than the visible horizon, during the shower; and yet this would have been taken as the real horizon, without any suspicion, if it had been every where equally obscure.  Hence may be inferred the uncertainty of altitudes taken in foggy, or what seamen, in general, call hazy weather.—­W.

[10] A few days before, according to Mr G.F.’s relation, his father and twelve other persons were confined to bed with rheumatism; and though the scurvy had not appeared in any dangerous form, yet a general languor and sickly look were manifested in almost every face, and Captain Cook himself was pale and lean, and had lost all appetite.—­E.

[11] “Our situation at present was indeed very dismal, even to those who preserved the blessing of health; to the sick, whose crippled limbs were tortured with excessive pain, it was insupportable.  The ocean about us had a furious aspect, and seemed incensed at the presumption of a few intruding mortals.  A gloomy melancholy air loured on the brows of our shipmates, and a dreadful silence reigned amongst us.  Salt meat, our constant diet, was become loathsome to all, and even to those who had been bred to a nautical life from their tender years:  The hour of dinner was hateful to us, for the well known smell of the victuals had no sooner reached our nose, than we found it impossible to partake of them with a hearty appetite.  In short, we rather vegetated than lived; we withered, and became indifferent to all that animates the soul at other times.  We sacrificed our health, our feelings, our enjoyments, to the honour of pursuing a track unattempted before.  The crew were as much distressed as the officers, from another cause.  Their biscuit, which had been sorted at New Zealand, baked over again, and then packed up, was now in the same decayed state as before.  This was owing partly to the revisal, which had been so rigorous, that many bad biscuit was preserved among those that were eatable; and partly to the neglect of the casks, which had not been sufficiently fumigated and dried.  Of this rotten bread the people only received two-thirds of their usual allowance, from economical