352 POLAR PROBLEMS 



The six islands lying in the extreme South Atlantic, which were 

 discovered and named by Cook in 1775 the South Sandwich group, 

 are probably the most neglected spot in all sub-Antarctic regions, and 

 no scientific expedition since that of Bellingshausen in 1820, with the 

 ships Vostok and Mirny, has visited them, though several sealers and 

 whalers report that they are quite accessible and contain some harbors. 

 Forster, the German naturalist who accompanied Cook, says no veg- 

 etation was to be seen, though Cook himself mentions that he ob- 

 served vegetation to the north end of Saunders Island. Morrell in 

 his somewhat doubtful voyage of 1823, speaking of the islands, says 

 they are "entirely barren." The Scotia expedition of 1903-1904 

 was unable to visit them. The Deutschland in 191 1 could not make a 

 landing on account of heavy sea, but in 1908 Captain C. A. Larsen 

 landed on two of the group.^'^ The islands should be botanically ex- 

 plored. Probably it will be found that they are not entirely barren 

 of vegetation, while their extreme interest from a botanical point 

 of view lies in their position intermediate between the Antarctic and 

 sub-Antarctic zones, the islands approximating to Antarctic condi- 

 tions, though doubtless not quite so rigorous. The floral statistics 

 should also prove of great interest and may throw some light on the 

 vexed question of the origin of southern floras and former land con- 

 nections. The flora will probably show a distinct South Georgian 

 and consequently South American relationship, but the point of ex- 

 treme interest to be looked for is whether it will show near relation- 

 ships to the flora of the Crozets on the one hand, or to that of the 

 Tristan da Cunha group on the other; and it will be interesting to 

 find out how far this Sandwich group flora has evolved and whether 

 any new and distinct species have originated. 



i^ An account of some zoological collections made at the Sandwich group by Captain Larsen and 

 Dr. F. Lahille of Buenos Aires is contained in two papers by E. Chevreux: (a) Sur quelques amphipodes 

 des lies Sandwich du sud; (b) Algunos animales marines de los islos Sandwich, Anal. Museo Nad. de 

 Hist. Nat. de Buenos Aires, Ser. 3, Vol. 14, pp. 403-407 and 409-412 respectively. 



