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On the same day, he came to a point, which proved to be the very eastern extremity of Kerguelen's Land. In a large bay, near this point, there was a prodigious quantity of sea-weed, some of which is of a most extraordinary length. It seemed to be the same kind of vegetable production that Sir Joseph Banks had formerly distinguished by the appellation of fucus giganteus.
Now we are in the southern latitude that corresponds to England in the north; nay, at a greater distance from the Pole, we find Kerguelen's Land, emphatically called "The Isle of Desolation." Icebergs float much further into the warm sea on this side of the equator before they dissolve. The South Pole is evidently a more thorough refrigerator than the North. Why is this? We shall soon see.
Their number was now considerably diminished; for two young bulls, one of the heifers, two rams, and several of the goats, had died while our navigators where employed in exploring Kerguelen's Land. For some time they had fresh gales, and tolerably clear weather.
Then sailing south through fog so dense that, Burney says, they were often for hours together unable to see twice the length of the ship, and, though it was the height of summer, the cold was so intense that the warm clothing had to be resorted to, they sighted Kerguelen's Land on 24th December.
Although the stem is not much thicker than a man's hand, Captain Cook thought himself well warranted to say, that part of it grows to the length of sixty fathoms and upward. The result of the examination of Kerguelen's Land was, that the quantity of latitude which it occupies doth not much exceed one degree and a quarter. Its extent, from east to west, still remains undecided.
Some seal of the fur and hair species are still to be found on Kerguelen's Island, and sea elephants abound. The feathered tribes are discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty, and of these there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called from its size and beautiful plumage, is the largest.
On December 12 they saw two large islands, which Cook named Prince Edward's Islands; and three days afterwards several others were seen; but having made Kerguelen's Land, they anchored in a convenient harbor on Christmas day.
They were mostly covered with snow, and where the ground seemed free from it lichen or a coarse grass was the only herbage. On leaving Prince Edward's Island a course was shaped to fall in with Kerguelen's Land. On the evening of the 24th an island of considerable height and the next day other islands were seen.
In this business we were occupied about three weeks, examining with great care every nook and corner, not only of Kerguelen's Land, but of the several small islands in the vicinity. Our labours, however, were not crowned with any important success.
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