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DISCOVERY REPORTS 



from his reference to "the island ", and from his sketch-plan (Fig. lo) in which only one 

 is shown. 



Provided with this information we concluded that there was one island only; and 

 when, from Visokoi, we sighted two widely separated peaks of the Candlemas Group, 

 we still thought they must be connected by low-lying land, as Filchner had said. On 

 approaching them, steering S 24° E, we found that their outlines agreed closely with 

 Bellingshausen's view taken from the NNE (Fig. 9 a), and on closing further it 

 became more and more improbable that any connection existed. Before long a rock was 

 seen between the two (Fig. 9 b), then more rocks, until finally we learnt that the earliest 

 description of all was also the most accurate: "two isles. . .a small rock was seen be- 

 tween them, and perhaps there may be more "—exactly as Cook had stated. 



^ 



Fig. 9. Views approaching the Candlemas Group on a course of 156°: 

 sketches by Lt.-Cmdr. J. Irving. 



a. From a distance of 17 miles. 



b. From a distance of 12 miles. Candlemas Island on the left and Vindication Island on 

 the right. 



c. Nelson Strait, between the two islands, with Cook Rock and Trousers Rock. 



On making our running survey of the islands we found that the larger of the two 

 consists of high snow-covered land at the southern end, while to the north, connected 

 with it by low ground, is a plateau of bare rock from which a volcanic cone rises. It is 

 evident that Bellingshausen thought that these two portions were separate and thus 

 stated there were three islands in the group. 



Larsen's sketch-plan (Fig. 10) has no scale, and does not bear any close resemblance 

 to our chart ; but it is fairly obvious that it represents the larger island only. He ap- 

 proached the group on a course from Zavodovski, and thus sighted it first at its northern 

 end. He appears to have cruised along the north-eastern side, spent one night under the 

 lee of the land, and next day steamed to Saunders: his diary contains no evidence that 



battern, also a jaw-bone and a dorsal vertebra of a small whale. There were two races of penguins there : the 

 black-chinned and that with a black stripe underneath the chin. The boat was brought on board and the 

 course was laid southwards for the next island named Saunders." 



