The First Sealers Arrive 



While Edward Bransfield and Captain Smith were engaged in their task of 

 charting the South Shetlands, two sealing vessels were already at the islands. 

 This not only revealed that the guarded word about the discovery had leaked 

 out but that it had been a secret for only a brief time. 



First to arrive was the Espirito Santo, of Buenos Aires. As there appears 

 to be no documentary evidence to give the picture of her voyage it is probable 

 that this vessel sailed to the South Shetlands as a result of information received 

 from the crew of the Williams while in Montevideo or Buenos Aires. 



From reports left by Captain Edmund Fanning of Stonington, the American 

 sealing brig Hersilia, of Stonington, while on a voyage to the Falkland Islands 

 and other sealing locations, learned there from one of the Espirito Santo' s crew 

 of the existence of the new South Shetland Islands and immediately sailed 

 thence. ^'^ 



Unfortunately, neither the log of the TVilUams, the Espirito Santo nor the 

 Hersilia can be found. Of the three, utilizing all reliable evidence available, 

 only the voyage of the Williams can be traced with a degree of accuracy. Having 

 arrived at the Shetlands in January 16, 1820, the Williams sailed along the 

 northern shores of the several islands, tracing the land for miles east and west 

 — finding everywhere the same high, mountainous land, barren and with rocky 

 beaches. Harassed by gales, beset by fogs and always aware of the dangerous 

 coast, the Williams evolved a pattern which was to be followed by all other 

 craft in this forsaken corner of the world. One of the most significant discoveries 

 was that of a gulf, nearly 150 miles in depth "out of which we had some diffi- 

 culty in finding our way back," recorded Dr. Young. This is now justly called 

 Bransfield Strait. ^^ 



It was while sailing in this gulf, Dr. Young wrote, that Bransfield and Smith 

 saw land in latitude 64° to the south and called it Trinity Land. This is the basis 

 for the British claim for the discovery of Antarctica, and the chart prepared by 

 Bransfield in 1820 is offered in evidence. 



The activities of the Hersilia are little known, aside from a few scattered 

 sources. What is factual is that the brig was built in Mystic, Conn., in 1819 and 

 duly registered in the custom house at New London. Her builder was Chris- 

 topher Leeds. She was owned by eight residents of the area, headed by William 

 A. Fanning, son of Captain Edmund Fanning. Her master, Captain James P. 

 Sheffield, also owned a share as did Ephraim Williams, another master mariner. 



[10] 



