HISTORY OF THE ISLANDS 31? 



DALLMANN, LYNCH AND LARSEN 



Following the visit of the French expedition in 1838 the South Orkneys remained in 

 comparative obscurity until the beginning of the tv^^entieth century. During a period of 

 sixty-five years only three navigators, none of whom contributed anything to the hydro- 

 graphy of these islands, are definitely known to have visited them: the German sealer 

 and explorer Eduard Dallmann, the American sealer Thomas B. Lynch, and the 

 Norwegian whaler C. A. Larsen. Except for the visit of Dallmann it is rather surprising 

 that the important secondary revival of sealing which took place at the South Shetlands 

 between 1872 and 1888^ does not appear to have involved the South Orkneys, not at 

 least so far as can be definitely ascertained at present ; but although Dallmann is the only 

 sealer who is known to have taken seals in any quantity off the South Orkneys through- 

 out their history, it is probable that others who have left no record of their wanderings 

 may also have gone there, if not during the sixteen years of the South Shetlands' revival 

 at any rate towards the end of last century. Of these more will be said later (p. 319). 



In the latter part of the season 1873-4 Captain Eduard Dallmann- in the steam whaler 

 'Gronland', following his work at the South Shetlands and on the west coast of 

 Graham Land, spent several days sealing at the South Orkneys. Approaching from the 

 south-west he sighted Coronation Island on the morning of January 28, 1874, and that 

 afternoon, being up with the land, despatched his boats in search of seal. They landed 

 on the south-western corner of Coronation Island,^ and for the first time in the history 

 of the group encountered fur, elephant and Weddell seals in considerable quantity,'* 

 a rather surprising revelation when we recall how very few seals of any species were 

 recorded by Powell and Weddell more than fifty years earlier. In this locality the 

 ' Gronland' remained for two-and-a-half days. The boats were constantly at work, and 

 on Dallmann 's own admission his men appear to have killed every seal — -fur, elephant, 

 and Weddell — that they could lay hands on : " after this " he writes " this place was per- 

 fectly exhausted ". On the morning of the 31st another landing was made on the south 

 coast slightly more to the east and then Dallmann proceeded towards Lewthwaite Strait 

 standing oft' and on the land, of which he had occasional glimpses, in very bad weather 

 and among many icebergs. The ' Gronland ' by now appears to have been leaking badly, 

 for scarcely a day passes without the entry in her log "pumping long"; moreover 

 scurvy had broken out, for in a later entry Dallmann records how the disease was de- 

 clining owing to the consumption of raw penguin meat. At noon on February 4 he 

 entered Lewthwaite Strait and tried to reach Spence's Harbour, but thick weather ac- 

 companied by a stiff northerly breeze compelled him to put about and run south under 

 full sail through the icebergs which filled the strait. At length he found shelter in a small 



1 Matthews, L. H., 193 1, South Georgia: The British Empire's Subanlarctic Outpost, p. 82 (Bristol and 

 London). 



2 This account is based on the original log of the 'Gronland' now in the library of the Geographical 

 Institute of Gotha. 



3 The exact locality is not stated but it may have been slightly to the eastward of Return Point. 

 * Full details are given in the section on seals, pp. 371-6. 



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