312 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



ROBERT FILDES' CHARTi 



Offering little reward for sealers the islands were not seen again until the visit of the 

 French expedition in the ' Astrolabe ' and ' Zelee' under Dumont D'Urville in 1838. In 

 the meantime Powell's chart of 1822 was revised by Captain Robert Fildes, a sealer of 

 Liverpool, who had made several voyages to the South Shetlands but does not appear 

 to have visited the South Orkneys. As far as the latter are concerned his chart (Fig. 5) 



Fig. 5. Fildes' Chart: taken from Chart of South Shetland published by R. H. Laurie in 1831. 



shows no original work, the place names and corrections to the coast-line having been 

 taken bodily from Weddell's map and applied to Powell's unfinished chart of 1822. 

 Although Fildes follows Weddell erroneously in splitting Powell Island into two (see 

 p. 311), leaving both parts, however, unnamed, he notes that the positions recorded in 

 Weddell's book do not agree with those of his chart, and accordingly opposite Cape 

 Dundas the following legend appears: "Placed by Captn. Weddell in his description in 

 lat. 60° 46I' and long. 44° 35' 45". But, in his chart, in lat. 60° 53J' and long. 44° 30'." 



1 This chart appears in the second edition of Powell's Chart of South Shetland, including Coronation 

 Island, etc., which was published by R. H. Laurie in 183 1. 



