340 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



except for a few hundred feet of almost featureless sea-board, or blotting out the land 

 altogether. Fog, although often local, may extend for a long way beyond the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the land, so that vessels may be compelled to approach the coast on 

 dead reckoning alone. In these circumstances it is well to remember that an easterly set 

 of from a half to one and a half knots may generally be encountered along the northern 

 side of the group. Scattered about the islands in all directions there are usually large 

 numbers of stranded icebergs, which while unpleasant to meet in thick weather, give 

 some indication of the nearness of the land, especially in the north, where any that go 

 aground must do so within a few miles of the shore owing to the extreme narrowness of 

 the continental shelf. On the other hand, kelp {Macrocyslis pyrifera), which is plentiful 

 at South Georgia and upon which the whalers mainly depend for guidance while groping 

 their way into harbour in dense fog, appears to be rare at the South Orkneys or absent 

 altogether (see p. 368). 



Icebergs are troublesome in fog, and as they are exceedingly numerous at the South 

 Orkneys one might well be inclined to think that navigation in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the group would be attended, for steel ships at least, by almost unwarrant- 

 able risks. Actually, their very abundance is in itself a safeguard, for not only does a 

 large concourse of bergs break the force of wind and wave and so tend to produce 

 comparative calm in an otherwise turbulent sea, but at the same time from sheer 

 necessity navigators are compelled to exercise more than ordinary caution. They are 

 sometimes encountered so densely crowded that even if the weather is clear it is ex- 

 ceedingly difficult and occasionally impossible to get sights or to obtain bearings of the 

 land. Covering the sea in hundreds they present a barrier through which vessels must 

 pass by a tortuous route, with little clearance, sometimes scarcely a boat's length, be- 

 tween the icebergs on either hand. Old and rotten bergs are a source of danger, since 

 they may collapse or capsize, and stranded bergs in general should be given a berth 

 wherever possible, for they sometimes mask the reefs or shoal patches on which they 

 have gone aground. 



Many rocks and breakers exist around the coasts, and although it is thought that most 

 if not all have now been fixed and placed upon the chart, others may still exist. A close 

 watch should be kept for covered rocks which do not always break, for in our experience 

 these may have twenty to thirty fathoms of water close alongside, and vessels may come 

 upon them suddenly and without warning. Against such hidden dangers the best safe- 

 guard is to have a look-out stationed on the foremast as high as possible, gazing directly 

 ahead for signs of broken or discoloured water. 



Harbours (see Plates XII, XIII, XIV, XIX). In most parts of the South Orkneys, 

 anchorage with shelter from one quarter or another may be obtained, the three harbours 

 which were surveyed by the ' Discovery II ' being among the best, if not the best, in the 

 group. None, however, is perfect, for one and all are subject to the visitation of ocean swells 

 and pack-ice which may drive in almost at any time during the open season, and vessels 

 may find it necessary to move to some other and less exposed quarter of the group. Borge 

 Bay on the east coast of Signy Island is one of the best in the group and has been much 



