164 THE ANTARCTIC. 



great distance ; not a trace oi snow was anywhere seen, 

 and on the south side even some vegetation was observed. 

 The accompanying view by D'Urville is unfortunately 

 not clear enough to give a good idea of the island. 



At some distance from Bridgeman Island, nearly 

 ninety miles to the W.S.W., the charts indicate Middle 

 Island, frequently described as elevated, in latitude 62° 

 50' S. and longitude 59° 3c/ W., some fifteen miles distant 

 from Greenwich Island. Curiously enough, nothing- 

 further is anywhere communicated, and of the travellers 

 D'Urville, Wilkes, and last of all even Larsen, not 

 one got a sight of it when in close proximity to the 



Bridgeman Island (after Dumont d'Urville). 



position laid down. Indeed it is open to conjecture that 

 Middle Island has no actual existence, and is to be 

 explained by an early view of one of the lofty summits 

 of Louis-Philippe Land. Seen perhaps from one of the 

 South Shetland Islands it would have the appearance of 

 being isolated, and might therefore be entered on the 

 chart as an island. On Weddell's chart, which marks 

 both Bridgeman and Deception Islands, Middle Island 

 does not appear at all. 



Farthest to the west, and at the same time the nearest 

 neighbour to Livingston Island, nearly four miles off in 

 the northern chain of the South Shetland Isles, lies 

 Deception Island, in many respects one of the most 



