Scope and Contents

Observations from Captain Cook's last voyage.

Scope and Contents Daily entries covering the voyage’s first Antarctic sweep. Alongside observations, Bayly records sightings of penguins, porpoises, whales and ‘islands of ice’. As the weather worsened, he notes that on 8 December the Adventure repeatedly fired two guns as signals to the Resolution, in order to keep company. An entry for 24 December records that the ship had outrun its reckoning, but there appeared to be no current to explain it. Another for 28 December records that they hoisted out the...

Scope and Contents Daily entries, while travelling close to the 60th parallel south. On 3 February Bayly took observations, noting that the air was unusually clear. The entries include increased sightings of seabirds such as albatrosses and pintado birds, as well as penguins, seals, porpoises and ‘islands of ice’. Bayly also records seeing the southern lights. In his entry for 26 February, he notes that he had gone forward a whole day in his log entries, which he rectified by creating two entries for that...

Scope and Contents Daily entries covering the voyage’s first Antarctic sweep. Alongside observations, Bayly records sightings of penguins, whales, and pintado and silver birds. He also records increased numbers of islands of ice, noting on 18 January that the ship was ‘incompassed [sic] with fields of ice drifting about the sea together with vast numbers of large islands’ [RGO 14/56: 43v]. On 9 January the boats were hoisted out and the men were ‘employed in picking loose pieces of ice to water the ship’ [RGO...

Scope and Contents

Daily entries, while travelling close to the 60th parallel south. An entry for 6 January records a period of strong gales in which great waves broke frequently over the ship. A number of the entries include observations of lunar distance from the sun and from Spica Virginis, with resulting calculations of longitude. Bayly also records sightings of seals, whales, porpoises and ‘islands of ice’.

Scope and Contents

The log book of HMS Adventure compiled by W. Bayly during his passage to the South Seas as part of the expedition led by Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution.

Scope and Contents Daily log entries for December, covering the Resolution’s first Antarctic sweep. The weather quickly worsened and Wales reports sightings of whales, penguins and many islands of ice, which he often describes the shape of. In an entry on 14 December Wales records that he went with the master [Joseph Gilbert] to ‘try the current & heat of the sea’ and were almost lost in thick fog, ‘after rowing some time backward & forward, hallowing & listening, we were lucky enough to find the...

Scope and Contents Daily log entries covering the Resolution’s second Antarctic sweep. Wales records the occurrence of penguins, seals, birds and seaweed, and of ‘islands of ice’, noting their size and frequency and the difficulty they presented for navigation. On 25 December he records the presence of upwards of 200 icebergs, which led him to suggest that land might be near [RGO 14/58: 76v]. On 16 December the cutter was hoisted out to collect ice for water; Wales keeps notes on the quality of the water...

Scope and Contents

Daily log entries covering the Resolution’s second Antarctic sweep. Wales includes observations on weather conditions and sightings of seabirds. On 5 February he records the occurrence of a large water spout at sea [RGO 14/58: 87]. In an entry for 15 February he observes that ‘It is a little remarkable that in all our track to the Southward this year we have never once seen the least glimpse of the Southern Lights’ [RGO 14/58: 89v].

Scope and Contents Daily log entries, made while in the Southern Ocean. An entry for 1 February records that they saw a large bed of sea-weed and some divers, and were certain land was near, ‘but were equally at a loss which way to look for it’ [RGO 14/58: 24]. Wales records that the Resolution lost sight of the Adventure in thick fog on 7 February; they fired guns and lit ‘false fires’ the following day and night but received no answer [RGO 14/58: 26v-27]. On 16 February Wales notes that he had asked the crew...

Scope and Contents Daily log entries for January, crossing the Antarctic Circle on 17 January with the Adventure still in company. The entries include observations on ice-islands seen and on the difficulty of navigating in such conditions: ‘the rigging is so encumbered with ice that it is with the utmost difficulty the ship is worked’ [RGO 14/58: 16v]. An entry for 8 January reports that boats were sent out to collect a cargo of ice for drinking water, which Wales describes as ‘more precious to us than gold’...