THE RECENT SURVEY 333 



those collected on Signy Island in the season 1927-8 by Captain S. Berntsen of the 

 ' Orwell '} We regretted the absence of a fully trained geologist, feeling that much might 

 have been done with the opportunities that were presented. With our limited knowledge 

 of geology we were often puzzled as to the best method of procedure. Nevertheless we 

 made frequent if somewhat unprofessional notes, and collected as many different types 

 of rocks from as many different localities as the exigencies of the survey would permit. 



Acting on the advice of the Admiralty the R.R.S. ' Discovery II ' in the course of her 

 third commission was again instructed to visit the South Orkneys with the object of 

 checking the position based on solar observations that had been assigned to the group in 

 January 1933. She sailed from Port Stanley on March 27, 1934, and having spent some 

 time on the way, working nets and taking water samples according to her usual routine, 

 reached the South Orkneys at daylight on April i and anchored in Borge Bay, Signy 

 Island. Although all was made ready no sights were obtained that day. The sun ap- 

 peared momentarily at noon but observations were impracticable on account of its low- 

 altitude. No stars came out at night. The following morning the ship sailed for Laurie 

 Island in the hope of finding better conditions there. Running soundings, she pro- 

 ceeded towards South Cape, meeting with some ice on the way. On opening the straits 

 both were found to be blocked by fairly heavy ice, and as it appeared likely that Scotia 

 Bay and Uruguay Cove would be similarly blocked she returned to Borge Bay and 

 anchored. The sky cleared that evening and the Captain, Lieutenant A. L. Nelson, 

 R.N.R., obtained a round of stellar sights, observing stars at north-east, south-east, 

 south-west and north-west. The latitude of Borge Bay was determined as 32-76" south 

 of that previously assigned, but the longitude (45° 35' 35" W) was practically the same. 

 The ' Discovery II ' sailed from Borge Bay about noon on the 3rd and ran soundings 

 through Normanna Strait ; but as it was now blowing a gale from the northward she took 

 shelter for the night in Sandefjord Bay. At daylight on the following day it was so thick 

 that the poop was barely visible from the bridge, but at 8 a.m., the visibility having im- 

 proved to about three cables, she weighed and proceeded through the Narrows to the 

 north. Continuing her way to South Georgia, she anchored in Grytviken on April 10. 



As one result of our work it is satisfactory to record that we have been able to confirm 

 the thoroughness and accuracy of the Scottish triangulation of Laurie Island, which 

 was carried out during the winter and spring of 1 903 under conditions of unusual severity. 

 Here and there a few extra rocks have been charted around its coast, rocks that may 

 well have been overlooked in the winter of 1903 owing to the pack-ice which invested the 

 island, and the slight gaps in Bruce 's coast-line on Mackenzie and Pirie Peninsulas have 

 now been filled in; but little else, apart from our numerous echo soundings, has been 

 added to the existing chart by Bruce. On the other hand the position of Captain 

 Sorlle's Coronation Island has been adjusted and its outline, largely owing to a general 



1 See Holtedahl, O., 1929, On the Geology and Physiography of some Antarctic and Sub-antarctic Islands, 

 Scientific Results of the Norwegian Antarctic Expeditions, 1927-8 and 1928-9, No. 3, p. 99 (Oslo). 



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