298 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



daring stood close inshore, the better to chart the coast-Hne and search it minutely for 

 seals. As the ' Dove' was following a longer and more intricate course than the 'James 

 Monroe ' the latter no doubt would be inclined to draw ahead and indeed it is abundantly 

 clear, I think, from Powell's remark, " we joined our consort, at the entrance of a strait ", 

 that when he did eventually arrive off the northern entrance to Lewthwaite Strait at 

 half-past three in the afternoon. Palmer was already there to greet him. 



It is thus fairly certain that Palmer was the discoverer of Lewthwaite Strait, and 

 although at first sight this may appear to be a rather trivial matter it is nevertheless of 

 some historical importance. More than a decade after their discovery an extraordinary 

 account of this first journey to the South Orkneys was published by Fanning in America 

 (see pp. 299 et seq), a story which although reputed to come from Palmer is nevertheless 

 so divorced from the actual facts that in many quarters it has caused grave doubts to be 

 cast on Palmer's veracity. As we shall see later, however, the probability of the American 

 discovery of Lewthwaite Strait leads us now to suspect that whatever the truth of 

 Palmer's story as a whole, at least part of it had a substantial foundation in fact (see 

 p. 302). In the meantime we must return to Powell's narrative. 



In Spence's Harbour the vessels lay for nearly three days. On December 11, three 

 boats were despatched, two from the 'Dove' under the chief officer, and one from 

 the 'James Monroe'. The American boat went southwards through Lewthwaite Strait 

 as far as its south-westernmost point, but finding no fur seals returned shortly after- 

 wards to the ' James Monroe ', bringing four or fiveWeddell seals or " Sea Leopards ", the 

 name by which the Weddell seal was then known. The British boats, which returned 

 later in the day, had gone to the eastward and having discovered and passed across 

 Washington Strait, had examined the western end of Laurie Island. They too were un- 

 successful in their search for fur seals, returning with only eleven Weddell skins. 

 Powell records that they found two very good harbours but he does not say what or 

 where they were. One of them is almost certainly the Ellefsen's Harbour^ which 

 appears in his chart (Fig. 2) and is now regarded as one of the best harbours in the 

 group. 



Being now short of provisions Powell, on the afternoon of the 12th, was reluctantly 

 compelled to give up his further examination of the islands. Passing through Lewth- 

 waite Strait, he stood due south through vast quantities of icebergs until he was held up 

 by heavy pack-ice in latitude 62° 20' S. He turned westward along its edge and even- 

 tually sighted Clarence Island again at noon on the i6th. 



Powell does not say whether Palmer accompanied him on his return journey to the 

 South Shetlands. Bruce,^ although he had not seen it stated, assumes that he did, while 



1 It should perhaps he pointed out here that this name, which, when employed, has appeared as "Ellessen 

 Harbour" in all the published charts of the group since 1839, '^^''*h the exception of L. Friederichsen's 

 Originalkarte des Dirck Gherritz-Archipels, Hamburg, 1895, was originally engraved in Powell's first chart as 

 "Ellefsen's Harbour", with a long f and not an old-fashioned long s. Unless the engraver was at fault this 

 would appear to be the correct name. 



2 Bruce, W. S., 1917, The Weddell Sea: An Historical Retrospect , Scott. Geog. Mag., xxxiii, p. 249. 



