i8 95 . 



ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 103 



" Orion " and again went south. On their return to Port Stanley 

 they will winter there, while the " Orion '" will bring home their 

 catch. 2 



Some interesting extracts from the journal of Capt. Larsen are 

 reproduced in the Geographical Journal (9), showing that he had suc- 

 ceeded in reaching 68° 10' S. and Long. 6o° W., while one of the other 

 vessels reached 69° S. further to the west, very considerably 

 extending the knowledge of the Antarctic regions in that longitude. 

 Most interesting particulars are given of the animals and birds met 

 with at several places where a landing was effected. Unhappily, 

 Capt. Larsen is not a zoologist, or his observations would have been 

 most valuable. On one occasion in Lat. 64 a hawk was observed, 

 penguin rookeries (species not given) were visited, numbers of 

 Blaahvalev (Blue whale), the name by which Balcenoptera sibbaldi, Gray, 

 is known to the Norwegian whalers, were seen, also a Knarhval (of 

 course not Monodon, but probably Megaptera longimana, the Humpback 

 whale) ; " small fishes with big eyes and a bright skin " were seen in 

 Lat. 66° 4' (can they have been a species of Mauvolicus ?), also small 

 whales supposed to have been Minkehvaler, by which name Balcenoptera 

 rostrata is known to the Norwegians. Emperor Penguins were very 

 numerous in the fjords in Lat. 67 S. ; and on December the 5th, in 

 Lat. 67 13' S., Long. 6o° 16' W., what was believed to be a Rethval, 

 Right Whale {Balcena), was seen to blow but was soon lost sight of ; 

 this was the only instance during the voyage in which a Bahziia was 

 supposed to have been sighted. A small volcanic island in full 

 activity was observed and landed upon on the nth of December, 1893, 

 about 65° 5' S., 58 40' W. Capt. Larsen and his first mate pro- 

 ceeded about four English miles on this island, which they called 

 Christensen Island. He says " the seals lay in places so closely 

 packed that we had to make circles in order to advance. It was 

 delightful to see those masses of animals, most of which proved to be 

 youngsters of the Fiskesal [species ?] , which already had changed their 

 hair ; they were beautifully fed and looked like so many bulls. Here 

 and there an old animal was amidst the youngsters. The seals were 

 not a bit afraid of us ; on the contrary, they stretched their flippers 

 towards us as we pelted them." On Middle Island in the bare places 

 " the soil was covered with moss." After a fruitless visit to the coast 

 of Chili, the ships went to Port Stanley to discharge their skins and 

 to take in coals for a fresh journey southward, finally returning to 

 the Falklands on March 15th, 1894. 



The chief result of the visits of these vessels is a considerable 

 extension of our knowledge of the geography and configuration of the 

 northern extremity of Graham's Land and of the adjacent islands 

 included between 47 and 6o° West Longitude and 63 and 68° South 

 Latitude. These discoveries are laid down in a map published in the 



2 I am told that, on her return voyage, the " Orion" got aground on the Goodwin 

 Sands, but with what final result I have not heard. 



