THE RECENT SURVEY 329 



Staff of the Argentine Meteorological Station came on board to dine, and on their de- 

 parture were presented with potatoes and fresh beef, of which they were much in need. 

 Another day, November 23, was spent here in the hope of obtaining further observa- 

 tions, but the weather was thick and nothing more could be done. We sailed on the 24th 

 in order to complete our interrupted line of observations to the ice-edge, which was met 

 that day seventy miles due south of Scotia Bay. The oceanographical programme was 

 brought to a conclusion with our arrival at South Georgia shortly before Christmas, and 

 on December 29 we sailed from Grytviken with the object of making a running survey 

 of the South Orkneys. We arrived at Scotia Bay early on the morning of January 2, 

 and the work was begun that afternoon. 



The method of the running survey is so well known that it hardly needs description 

 here. It is perhaps well to remember, as Kemp^ has remarked, that although 

 it is one of the least accurate, in the hands of skilled observers it can yield excellent 

 results; in view of the rapidity with which it can be carried through, it is by far the 

 most practicable method of surveying distant and frequently inaccessible Antarctic 

 islands. On the other hand surveying by triangulation, which is essentially a land 

 operation, would be largely impracticable, for landings are difficult and often impossible, 

 and the time involved would be so great that the charting even of such a small 

 group as that of the South Orkneys might take many years to accomplish. For a re- 

 search vessel like the 'Discovery 11', unable to devote long periods to hydrographic 

 surveying, it would be difficult to justify any other method than running survey. More 

 often than not these islands are surrounded by ice or hidden by dense fog and it is only 

 on rare occasions, like the fortunate chance that occurred in 1930 at the South Sand- 

 wich group, that conditions of weather and ice are such that the surveyor may set to 

 work without the prospect of serious interruption. He must therefore, if he is to accom- 

 plish anything, not only seize every opportunity that is presented but work with all 

 reasonable speed, for such favourable conditions may well be of the briefest duration 

 and may not arise again for a long time. For the moment, then, the running survey must 

 suffice. If handled with due care and with a sufficient number of land fixes there is no 

 doubt that it will yield accurate results of great value to the whalers and explorers who 

 frequent the Southern Ocean. 



The month of January 1933 from the hydrographic standpoint was happily chosen, 

 for the early promise of November was now amply fulfilled, the group being completely 

 ice-free, and in the absence of any serious obstruction at sea the work of survey was 

 pushed forward rapidly. It was midsummer, when the hours of daylight are at their 

 maximum, and on several occasions throughout the month calm clear days occurred, 

 accompanied by brilliant sunshine; in this we were exceptionally fortunate, for in 

 summer at the South Orkneys the sky is apt to be overcast and the land shrouded in fog. 

 With such excellent conditions the work of charting was much easier than it might 

 otherwise have been, and in addition we obtained a comprehensive series of coastal 



1 Kemp, S., 1932, The Voyage of the R.R.S. 'Discovery IV: Surveys and Soimditigs, Geog. Journ., Lxxix, 

 3, pp. 168-9. 



