HISTORY OF THE ISLANDS 141 



which a landing had been reported. On this island Larsen landed, and he or some of his 

 party also succeeded in getting ashore on Candlemas, Saunders, Montagu and Bristol. 

 At each of these islands geological specimens were obtained, and trawls and dredges for 

 collecting zoological material were used at a number of localities.^ 



Larsen's landing on Zavodovski was adventurous enough. In his report he says: 



One of the boats was a pram, and I went on board that in order to try landing. In a manner we 

 succeeded in this, but the heavy swell capsized the pram and threw us into the icy water, but on 

 shore we came.. . .As the swell was on the increase we were obliged to put out the pram again, and 

 we brought with us some stone samples. Then we rowed along the coast to the middle of the island 

 just to where the fuming exhalations are to be found.. . .Here I went on board the pram again, as 

 the swell was running too high to land with one of the other boats, but it was a risky affair. The pram 

 shipped water before we could put on shore and all three were thrown into the icy water again. 

 It was with great difficulty that we could save pram, oars, guns, etc. The pram capsized in the 

 breakers, but we succeeded in getting it on shore without other damages than broken tholepins and 

 a hole in the bottom. All the collection of stone samples from the first landing place were lost. 



On shore Larsen became dizzy and was almost poisoned by fumes issuing from cracks 

 in the ground, and though he succeeded in getting back safely to his ship he was 

 seriously ill for some months. Of a number of the islands he made rough sketch-plans, 

 and that these are not more accurate is due no doubt to the illness which overtook him 

 after his first landing. 



In 191 1 the second German South-polar Expedition, under Lieut. W. Filchner, visited 

 the northern islands of the group in the S.S. 'Deutschland'. The weather appears to 

 have been bad and no survey work was attempted. Filchner, however, gives in his 

 book" a description, a photograph and three sketches of Leskov. He notes that puffs of 

 white cloud rose repeatedly from the summit, but was in doubt whether these were 

 steam from a volcano or snow driven by the wind. Visokoi was sighted during a break 

 in the weather and was determined as lying 6 to 8 miles S 55° E of its charted position. 

 The Candlemas Group must have been passed at some distance, for Filchner, though 

 giving a fairly accurate sketch, states that there is only a single island. Zavodovski was 

 seen under better conditions ; its volcanic activities are described and two sketches of it 

 are given. 



Shortly after the ' Deutschland 's ' visit, and in the same season, a small expedition set 

 out to hunt whales in the vicinity of the islands. Mr H. Jensen, now Chief Engineer of 

 the whaling transport 'Peder Bogen', who took part in the voyage, tells us that it was 

 undertaken by two vessels under the command of Capt. Ole Jorgensen: a large whale 

 catcher, the ' Thulla ', with the barque ' Havfruen ' in company. Four months were spent 

 near the islands of which eight, apparently the eight southernmost, were seen. A landing 

 was made in Ferguson Bay on Thule Island, and a barrel containing a notice of the 



^ The geological specimens were reported on by Baeckstrom, Bull. Geol. Inst. Upsala, xiii, pp. 115-82 

 (1915), while some parts of the zoological collections (Isopods, Amphipods, Pycnogonids) are described by 

 Miss Richardson, Chevreux and Bouvier in Anal. Miis. Nac. Hist. Nat. Buenos Aires (3), xiv, pp. 395-413 

 (1911). 



^ Filchner, Zum Sechsten Erdteil, p. iii (Berlin, 1923). 



