302 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
HOW pai.me;r land became graham 
LAND 
Among the curious recurrence of 
parallels in history is the surprising fact 
that the only men who have discovered 
continents — Columbus, the unknown dis- 
coverer of Australia, and Palmer — 
should each have failed in receiving that 
highest form of geographical homage — 
the application of their names to the 
lands discovered. 
A fellow-explorer, the English sailor 
George Powell, fittingly honored his 
American comrade by charting "Palmer 
Land" on his map of South Shetlands, 
1822 (reproduced, Balch, "Antarctica," 
page 96), which nomenclature was 
promptly accepted in French official pub- 
lications ("Annales IMaritimes et Colo- 
niales," Paris, 1824). 
The just and accurate use of Palmer 
Land continued on the charts of the 
world until, in 1831, it was displaced by 
potent authorities. The Enderby broth- 
ers, of Great Britain, one of whom was 
an influential Fellow of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Societ/, fitted out an expedition 
under command « f John Biscoe, a retired 
master of the Re yal Navy, who visited 
the coasts of Palmer Land, whence re- 
sulted its replacement by Graham Land, 
renamed after the first Lord of the Ad- 
miralty, Sir Tames R. G. Graham. 
The combination of the British gov- 
ernment, of the Royal Navy, and of the 
Royal Geographical Society was over- 
powering, so that the name of the 
American captain disappeared from Ant- 
arctic charts, of which England then had 
a practical monopoly. The potency of 
the authority of the "mistress of the 
seas" and the insidious efl;ect of this act 
of suppression and unjustifiable substi- 
tution can be traced through the geo- 
graphic literature of the past 80 years. 
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edi- 
tion, 1875, mentions neither Palmer nor 
charts his discoveries. 
Nor has the influence of such suppres- 
sion been confined to Europe, as its 
effect has been often noted in this coun- 
try. In March, 191 2, one of the best- 
edited and most reliable of American 
newspapers published a long and detailed 
summary of Antarctic explorations. 
widely copied, in which neither the name 
nor the work of the discoverer of Ant- 
arctica is even mentioned. On the con- 
trary, to the Russian explorer Bellings- 
hausen is indirectly ascribed the honor 
which pertains to an American sailor. 
One English author. Dr. Hugh Robert 
Mill ("Siege of the South Pole," 1905, 
page 162), expresses the opinion that 
"as a matter of historic justice it seems 
to us that Powell's name of Palmer Land 
ought to be retained,' an opinion insepa- 
rable from any careful consideration of 
the facts. 
The standard British authority for 
south-polar work is The Antarctic Man- 
ual, specially compiled for the govern- 
mental expedition of 1901, commanded 
by Captain R. F. Scott, R. N. It repro- 
duces on its charts the tracks and discov- 
eries of all the British whalers, including 
Biscoe, who appropriated Palmer's work. 
It omits from the charts Palmer's name, 
although the contribution of the Belgian 
professor, Arctowski, to the manual men- 
tions Palmer Land in text and by sketch 
map. 
A concession is made in the Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, nth edition, 191 1, spe- 
cially Americanized for the LTnited 
States, which admits in two lines that 
"Nathaniel Brown Palmer discovered 
the mountainous archipelago which now 
bears his name.'' It then proceeds to 
give a column regarding John Biscoe, 
R. N., whose explorations, as above re- 
cited, displaced Palmer Land in favor of 
Graham Land. 
Has not the time arrived when the 
glorious phase of American maritime 
history should receive full national rec- 
ognition? Every text-book teaching 
polar geography should contain the state- 
ment that the American captain, N. B. 
Palmer, first discovered parts of the con- 
tinent of Antarctica, and on every offi- 
cial south-polar map should be replaced 
Palmer Land. 
ANTARCTIC DISCOVERIES BY LIEUTENANT 
CHARLES WILKES, U. S. NAVY 
We pass now to the American who 
discovered widelv separated points of 
Antarctica. Realizing with scientific 
acumen their interrelations, he correctly 
