that one of the party lost the skin from his face and arms, and that we
were all much sunburnt even in so short a time; yet one man who bathed
that day said he had never felt such cold water in his life.

We are now (January 21) in great hopes of sighting land in three or four
days, and are really beginning to feel near the end of our voyage: not
that I can realise this to myself; it seems as though I had always been
on board the ship, and was always going to be, and as if all my past
life had not been mine, but had belonged to somebody else, or as though
someone had taken mine and left me his by mistake. I expect, however,
that when the land actually comes in sight we shall have little
difficulty in realising the fact that the voyage has come to a close.
The weather has been much warmer since we have been off the coast of
Australia, even though Australia is some 100 north of our present
position. I have not, however, yet seen the thermometer higher than
since we passed the Cape. Now we are due south of the south point of
Van Diemen's Land, and consequently nearer land than we have been for
some time. We are making for the Snares, two high islets about sixty
miles south of Stewart's Island, the southernmost of the New Zealand
group. We sail immediately to the north of them, and then turn up
suddenly. The route we have to take passes between the Snares and the
Traps--two rather ominous-sounding names, but I believe more terrible in
name than in any other particular.

January 22.--Yesterday at midday I was sitting writing in my cabin, when
I heard the joyful cry of "Land!" and, rushing on deck, saw the swelling
and beautiful outline of the high land in Stewart's Island. We had
passed close by the Snares in the morning, but the weather was too thick
for us to see them, though the birds flocked therefrom in myriads. We
then passed between the Traps, which the captain saw distinctly, one on