DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS: BELLINGSHAUSEN I. 183 



Douglas Strait, are permanently ice-bound, and there is consequently little if any 

 drainage into the basin. St Paul and Deception Islands, on the other hand, still show 

 signs of volcanic activity ; there is no snow on the former, and on the latter there are 

 large tracts of bare ground. The considerable depths in Douglas Strait are perhaps due 

 in part to this lack of drainage, while with two openings and a comparatively rapid sur- 

 face current suspended matter in the sea water will not readily be deposited. 



Soundings taken elsewhere round the islands do not show features of any special 

 interest. There is very deep water on both the northern and south-western sides of 

 Thule Island, while Maurice Channel, between Bellingshausen and Cook Islands is 

 shallow throughout, with 14 to 17 fathoms in the middle. 



Ferguson Bay in Thule Island (Plate XXXI, fig. i) is the best anchorage in the South 

 Sandwich Group, with good holding ground and protection from the south-west, 

 through west, to east. Other anchorages are to the north-east and south-east of Cook 

 Island, though at these the swell may be heavy. Douglas Strait is too steep to be of 

 much use. 



Bellingshausen Island 

 Lat. 59° 25I' S ; long. 27° 03V W 



(Plates XXVII and XXVIII; Fig. 19) 



Bellingshausen Island is the smallest of the Southern Thule Group and lies to the 

 north-east of Cook Island, from which it is separated by Maurice Channel,^ i| miles 

 wide. In striking contrast to its neighbours it still shows evident signs of volcanic 

 activity. In outline it is irregularly oval, hollowed on the eastern side and with Hardy 

 Point- projecting to the west: it has a length of i-i miles, a breadth of 8 cables and a 

 circumference of rather more than 3 miles. 



The single volcanic cone ends abruptly in the ragged edges of a yawning crater, and 

 the highest point, on the northern margin of the latter, is 530 ft. above sea-level (Plate 

 XXVIII, figs. 1-3 ; Fig. 19). The inner walls of the crater are sheer, or slope very steeply, 

 and steam and vapour were seen rising from a point below the brim. On the southern 

 and south-western sides the base of the cone slopes gently upwards from a plateau ; 

 in the west, north of Hardy Point, there are cliffs of no great height, while in the east 

 a sheer wall of rock rises to the crater's edge. North of Isaacson Point^ so much of the 

 rock has split away that it looks as if one more fall would breach the crater to sea-level 

 (Plate XXVIII, fig. 4). 



The steep eastern and northern sides are practically devoid of snow, but on the south 

 and west sides there are large patches and streaks, interspersed with considerable areas 

 of bare ground (Plate XXVIII, fig. 3). At one point on the south-eastern side, not far 

 below the brim of the crater, steam was issuing from a fumarole. 



1 H. G. Maurice, C.B., member of the Discovery Committee. 



'^ A. C. Hardy, Professor of Zoology, University College, Hull. 



^ Miss S. M. Isaacson, attached to Scientific Staff, Discovery Committee. 



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