Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/145

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voyagers, in case of losing our own vessel. Our parting with the Adventure, was almost universally regretted among our crew, and none of them ever looked around the ocean without expressing some concern on seeing our ship alone on this vast and unexplored expanse, where the appearance of a companion seemed to alleviate our toils, and inspired cheerfulness and comfort. We were likewise not entirely without apprehensions, that the Adventure might have fallen in with land, as the sight of pinguins, of little diving petrels, and especially of a kind of grebe, seemed to vindicate its vicinity. Indeed, according to the chart of M. Vaugondy we must have been but very little to the south of it at that time.

On the 17th we were near 58 degrees south, and took up a great quantity of small ice, with which we filled our water-casks. A variety of petrels and albatrosses, had attended us continually; and from time to time the skua, or great northern gull (larus catarractes), which our people called a Port Egmont hen, many pinguins, some seals, and some whales had made their appearance near us. A beautiful phænomenon was observed, during the preceding night, which appeared again this and several following nights. It consisted of long columns of a clear white light, shooting up from the horizon to the eastward, almost to the zenith, and gradually spreading on the whole southern part of the sky. These columns sometimes were