DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS 145 



which time also we dredged and trawled off Cook Island in depths of 42 to 176 fathoms, 

 landed on Thule Island, and in the deep basin between Cook and Thule ran many lines 

 of soundings and made a series of observations on the plankton and hydrology. On the 

 9th we left for Bristol Island, taking another similar series of observations in 966 fathoms ; 

 but here fortune failed us, and for three and a half days we lay under the lee of the land 

 in strong westerly winds. A trawl was taken in 10 to 44 fathoms. On March 13 the 

 weather improved, Bristol was surveyed and we reached Montagu. Again delayed by 

 westerly winds, we trawled in 54 to 88 fathoms on the 14th, made our running survey 

 on the 15th and on the i6th crossed to Saunders Island. On the 17th Saunders was 

 completed and the only remaining island was Leskov. We had found, however, when 

 plotting our echo-soundings that some taken off Candlemas were curiously irregular, 

 and wishing to check the work, we decided to call at the group on our way to the north. 

 We reached Candlemas and verified the soundings on the evening of the 17th, and next 

 day made our survey of the tiny island of Leskov, thus completing the entire group. 

 We then turned to the south-west to take up the next deep-water station on our pro- 

 gramme. 



The actual work at the islands thus occupied twenty days, during six of which we 

 were delayed by bad weather. Though sights of sun or stars were obtained at all the 

 islands, dull weather was almost continuous, making it difficult to obtain good photo- 

 graphs. Temperatures were low throughout, and for a week, while at Bristol, Montagu 

 and Saunders, the thermometer never rose above freezing-point. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS 



Position and extent. The South Sandwich Islands are situated between lat. 56° 18' 

 and 59° 28' S, and long. 26° 14' and 28° 11' W, the northernmost of the group being 

 about 290 miles E | S of South Georgia. In all there are eleven islands ; ten of these 

 form a curved chain stretching north and south, while one — Leskov — lies to the west 

 of the line near its northern end. The chain is 193 miles in length and is concave to the 

 westward. The largest of the group is Montagu, with a circumference of about 24 miles, 

 and the smallest is Leskov with a circumference of about i| miles. There are two groups 

 of islands : the Candlemas Group, consisting of Candlemas and Vindication Islands, and 

 the Southern Thule Group, consisting of Thule, Cook and Bellingshausen Islands. 

 Apart from these the islands are widely separated, the distances between them ranging 

 from 24 to 41 miles. 



The positions hitherto assigned to the islands on Admiralty charts are those given 

 by Cook and Bellingshausen more than a century ago, and our survey testifies to the 

 remarkable accuracy of their work. With modern instruments and wireless time-signals 

 little alteration has been made. Differences are mainly in longitude, and as will be seen 

 from Plate XI, our positions are frequently midway between those of Cook and 

 Bellingshausen. The only exception is Visokoi, which Bellingshausen placed 8 miles 

 north of its true position. 



