HISTORY OF THE ISLANDS 309 



but nothing that he says there suggests that any ship other than the ' Jane ' was then 

 under his command. Moreover his biographer, Laughton,^ states that he used the 

 'Jane' only on these voyages, and infers that his first association with the 'Beaufoy' 

 dates from September 1822, while certain early Weddell manuscripts and letters which 

 Laughton seems to have used, now in the possession of the Royal Scottish Geographical 

 Society, likewise contain no reference to the ' Beaufoy ' in connection with his voyages 

 prior to September 1822. The only evidence of any connection at all is again furnished 

 by Weddell's track chart, in which there appears, in addition to McLeod's track in the 

 'Beaufoy' above, another track entitled Jane & Beaufoy on discovery in January 1822 

 (Fig. 3) ; but here Weddell appears to contradict directly the evidence of his own track 

 chart, for this track leads eventually to the South Orkneys where a landing was made on 

 or about February 10, 1822, of which Weddell writes, " but having a loaded ship, and no 

 second vessel, I was obliged to relinquish a deliberate examination of their shores for 

 that season ".2 The ' Beaufoy ', however, may have parted company with him before he 

 reached the South Orkneys. 



McLeod, as we now know, must have been responsible to Weddell in his capacity as 

 part owner of the ' Beaufoy ' ; and in these circumstances what would appear to have 

 happened is that McLeod either on his own initiative or under orders from Weddell, and 

 presumably in search of fur seal, sailed eastwards from Elephant Island, and having 

 sighted what he took to be new land, returned to the South Shetlands where he met 

 Weddell and informed him of his discovery. Later, about January 29, 1822, the 'Jane' 

 accompanied by the ' Beaufoy ' left the western end of the South Shetlands in order 

 to investigate further the land which McLeod had seen. Of the two vessels the 'Jane' 

 at least made the land, and Weddell having landed on February 10 called it the South 

 Orkneys. 



From this, his second southern voyage, Weddell returned to England on July 12, 1822, 

 and reported what he seems to have regarded as his discovery of the South Orkneys to 

 the Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy.^ Powell, on the other hand, did not arrive in 

 London until August 26 and he reported his discovery to R. H. Laurie who did not 

 publish his chart until November i. In the meantime (on September 17) Weddell had 

 sailed again in the ' Jane ' on his third and greatest Antarctic voyage accompanied by the 

 ' Beaufoy' under Matthew Brisbane. He sailed some six weeks before the publication of 

 Powell's chart, and apparently still unaware of Powell's previous discovery of the group. 



1 Laughton, J. K., 1889, James Weddell, Dictionary of National Biography, LX (London). Laughton 

 telescopes his first and second voyages into one and says he made such a success of it that he was able to buy 

 a share in the 'Jane' for his second and greatest voyage along with the 'Beaufoy' in 1822-4. 



- Weddell, J., 1825, A Voyage towards the South Pole, ist ed., p. 21 (London). As far as can be seen from 

 Weddell's track chart this landing appears to have been made somewhere near the north-western corner of 

 Coronation Island. 



3 I cannot, however, be certain that he claimed the South Orkneys as his own discovery: his official report 

 to the Admiralty is recorded merely in a footnote on p. 20 of his book: "Reported by me to the Commis- 

 sioners of His Majesty's Navy, on my arrival in England, in 1822." I have been unable to trace the present 

 whereabouts of this report. 



