14 THE ANTARCTIC. 



41° F. Even the Falkland Islands have a mean temper- 

 ature of 50° F. in April, while in South Georgia, the 

 German Royal Bay station ascertained in 188 1-2 that 

 the mean, including twenty-three frosty days, fell no 

 lower than 2>2>° F- One remarkable fact Vespucci did 

 not record, namely the snow - covering, for South 

 Georgia is thickly covered with snow on the loftier 

 heights, even in the summer. But this omission becomes 

 less important if the times and their theories be taken 

 into account. Of districts and regions lying beyond 50 

 N. only middle and western Europe were personally 

 known to the great explorers who came from the countries 

 surrounding the Mediterranean. To these the con- 

 nection between winter and snow-covering would seem 

 so ordinary as not to call for mention, and would be 

 equally applied to the southern hemisphere. Moreover, 

 Vespucci added to his account the remark : " It was 

 winter in those regions," and he may have taken for 

 granted that all was thereby included, and that there was 

 no need to say more on the subject to his learned friend. 

 Probably the account of this voyage of discovery will 

 never be quite clear, unless indeed further details were 

 found in the Portuguese archives. However much it 

 may be doubted whether the Portuguese squadron 

 actually discovered South Georgia, the possibility still 

 remains that even at so early a date the first real dis- 

 covery of Antarctic country did take place. It certainly 

 had neither direct nor indirect consequences, for it fell 

 entirely into the background in view ox the unexpected 

 extent and extension of the Ilha da Vera Cruz, in other 

 words, of the Brazils. For it was this very country that 

 was described by Vespucci, in his accounts, as a " New 

 World," while the discoveries of Columbus were still 

 regarded as portions of the far east coast of the Old 

 World, or its outlying islands. These accounts therefore 

 secured to Vespucci the unmerited fame of being the 



