DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS 339 



South Orkneys, and except for a few weeks in July and August when the sea froze 

 smoothly over, the islands were surrounded by open water. As a result of this ab- 

 normally open Avinter the penguins were seen practically all the year round except in 

 the month of July. An account of the birds of the South Orkneys, which is shortly to be 

 published, has been written by Lieutenant R. A. B. Ardley, R.N.R., formerly Second 

 Officer of the 'Discovery II'. The seals will be dealt with later in this report (see 

 pp. 370-8). 



Land invertebrates, rich in numbers but poor in species, are found everywhere along 

 the ice-free coastal belt. Apart from such minute fresh-water forms as Nematodes, 

 Tardigrades and the like by far the most important is a Collembolan (see Appendix I, 

 p. 379) which occurs in enormous numbers low down near the sea and in rapidly de- 

 creasing numbers up to heights of about 600 feet. There are also two or three species 

 of mites, one of which is exceedingly abundant near the sea. Microdrilid earthworms 

 of the family Enchytraeidae, which are commonly found on the beaches of South 

 Georgia, appear to be very rare at the South Orkneys. There is only one record of their 

 occurrence, at Paal Harbour in Signy Island (see above, p. 327). None was found in 

 January 1933. 



Food fishes, Nototheniids of several kinds, are said to be readily obtainable ; even 

 when the islands are ice-bound they can be caught by means of lines or traps lowered 

 through holes in the ice kept open for the purpose.^ During our recent visit, however, 

 although traps were set in various parts of the group, we met with signal failure, rarely 

 if ever catching more than one at a time. 



APPROACHES, HARBOURS AND TIDES 

 Approaches. In the past the position of the South Orkneys was much in doubt and 

 their charting inadequate. It is therefore not surprising that, surrounded as they are by 

 icebergs and generally shrouded in fog, navigators should have been warned to proceed 

 with caution when approaching them. With the publication of the new chart the chief 

 of the several hazards that formerly beset the approach to the South Orkneys has been 

 removed, and we may now say with Powell's editor, but with far more reason, that " the 

 navigation of this gloomy region, now more clearly developed, is freed from half of its 

 dangers".^ The fog and the icebergs remain, and of these the first is and will continue 

 to be by far the most irksome and troublesome element with which vessels in these 

 waters have to contend. In exceptionally clear conditions the South Orkneys may be 

 seen from a distance of sixty miles. Nearer at hand Saddle Island, lying somewhat 

 apart from the rest of the group, about five and a half miles due north of the western 

 end of Laurie Island, from the peculiar shape of its double summit serves as an excep- 

 tionally good landmark, especially for vessels approaching from the north, north-west, or 

 west. As a rule, however, low mists hang over the islands, hiding all useful landmarks 



1 See The Voyage of the 'Scotia', pp. 91, 328, and Bruce, W. S., 1911, Polar Exploration, p. 155 

 (London). 



2 Powell, G., 1822, loc. cit., p. 3. 



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