Extracts from Field Reports 327 



be a bold, dark rock island. Immediately our course was shaped to pass near it. Everyone was 

 convinced that either a new island had been discovered or that the position given for Dougherty Island 

 was very much in error. It seemed to be a rocky cliff with a snow cap. Nearer approach, however, 

 proved that the supposed island was an iceberg, 225 feet high by J mile long. The light was 

 reflected from the perpendicular ice-wall in such a way as to give the berg the appearance of a huge 

 dark rock. The morning of December 25 found us within 3 miles of the position given for Dougherty 

 Island. The weather was cloudy but the seeing was good. Nothing could be seen from the mast- 

 head. I went aloft myseK every half hour while we were passing the position given for the island. 

 Had anything over 100 feet high been within 35 miles of the vessel in any direction we would have 

 seen it. At 3^ 40° a. m., December 25, Dougherty Island should have been 3 miles SE of us. 

 There was nothing visible within a radius of 35 miles at the time. The island has either been charted 

 in the wrong place, or it has disappeared, or possibly it was an ice-island. Our experience on December 

 24 would confirm the possibihties of optical illusions. The Carnegie's track (see Fig. 14) extended 

 from lat. 59° 28' S, long. 123° 17' W, to lat. 59° 08' S, long. 110° 10' W; dayhght and good seeing 

 were had all the time. If any one else attempts to locate the island, he should try either 40 miles 

 south or 40 miles north of the charted position. We assumed the island to be at 59° 21' S, and 

 between 119° 10' W, to 120° 20' W. [Dougherty Island was supposed to have been seen by Capt. 

 Dougherty in the James Stewart in 1841, who located it approximately in latitude 59° 20' S 

 and longitude 120° 20' W. In 1859, Capt. E. Keates in the Louise sighted an island, assumed to be 

 Dougherty, assigning the position to it: 59° 21' S and 119° 07' W.'] 



December 30 and 31 were the first fine days experienced since our departure from Lyttelton. 

 In spite of storms, rain, snow, fog, and prevailing cloudy weather, we succeeded in getting declination 

 observations daily, and averaging twice daily during the entire trip. This was accomplished by 

 taking advantage of every opportunity and spending considerable time standing by. Frequently 

 we would make six or more trips to the bridge before being successful. At other times observations 

 would be made during the only 5 or 10 minutes that the Sun was visible on the entire day. 



The winds were mainly from the westerly semicucle, north and northeasterly winds with high 

 and falUng barometer, shifting to northwest and west when the barometer began to rise; rain and 

 mist occurred nearly every day. Fogs were quite frequent, but not of long duration. 



The entire party has enjoyed thus far the very best of health, and the weather has not been very 

 severe. It has been more enjoyable in fact than a trip through the hot tropics. 



We arrived at King Edward Cove, South Georgia, January 12, 9'' 30- a. m., going the last 24 

 hours under our auxiliary power. The total run from Lyttelton to South Georgia was 5,440 miles, or 

 an average of 144 miles for 37.9 days; the total distance logged was 6,010 miles. 



The Carnegie left South Georgia at 7 p. m., January 14, 1916, towed out of harbor against a 

 heavy head-wind by the steam whaler Fortuna. In the following days we reahzed that we were in 

 climatic conditions quite different from what we had experienced previously. Icebergs appeared 

 in increasing numbers, and fog was almost continuous. We will long remember January 18 as the 

 only day during the entire trip of 4 months when we failed to obtain observations of the magnetic 

 decUnation. The Sun was visible for only 3 seconds during the entire day, giving no opportunity for 

 observations. 



Larger icebergs were seen as we neared Lindsay Island, one looming up through the fog like a 

 vast extent of dark land with the bright ice-blink reflected from the fog above it. We encountered 

 an ice stream where small pieces were too munerous to dodge. 



On January 22 we passed along the north coast of Lindsay Island about 3 nailes offshore, 

 obtaining a good view of this lonely, desolate place, with its deep mantle of snow and ice, surrounded 

 with the wrecked icebergs that have come to grief on its shoals. A delegation of 6 penguins came out 

 to greet us, the only ones seen in this vicinity. 



The island agrees almost exactly in appearance and outUne with the description and sketch given 

 in the British Admiralty's Africa Pilot, Part II, 1910. It was surveyed by the German Deep Sea 

 Expedition of 1898 in the Valdivia. They gave the position for its center as latitude 54° 26' S, 

 longitude 3° 24' E. Our observations place its center in latitude 54° 29' S, longitude 3° 27' E, or 



'According to Nature, vol. 97, No. 2431, June 1, 1916, page 237, " in 1909, on the homeward voyage of the Nimrod, with Sir 

 E. H. Shaokleton'3 Antarctic Expedition, Capt. J. K. Davis made a thorough search for the Nimrod and Dougherty Islands, 

 and failed to find them; they were in consequence removed from the last edition of the Prince of Monaco's bathymetncal chart 

 of the oceans." 



