I 



58 SOUTH GEORGIA — BOUVETTE'S ISLAND. [1822. 



to be an improvident waste of time." Captain Johnson and myself 

 having each made a similar search with equal fidelity and with no 

 better success, were both compelled to adopt the same opinion. The 

 reputed discoverers must have mistaken three floating icebergs with earth 

 attached to their sides, and covered with snow on their tops, for so 

 many islands. 



November \Sth. — Having thus wasted more than fifteen days in at- 

 tempting to discover this terra incognita, and being now fully convinced 

 that any further search would be equally fruitless, we abandoned the 

 pursuit ; and on Monday, the eighteenth of November, steered for the 

 island of South Georgia, where we safely arrived on Wednesday, the 

 20th, and came to anchor in Wasp's Harbour, on the north side of the 

 island, at one o'clock, P. M. At two, P. M., I sent the boats in search 

 of seal ; but after an absence of three days they returned unsuccess- 

 ful, on Sunday, the twenty-fourth, at ten, A. M., having circumnavigated 

 the whole island without discovering a single seal. 



South Georgia is an island in the Southern Ocean, bearing E. by 

 S. from the Falklands, distant about 260 leagues. Nearly half-way 

 between the two, in a direct line, is the supposed situation of the Au- 

 roras. The island of South Georgia was first discovered by La Roche, 

 in 1675 ; but not explored until one hundred years afterward, when it 

 was attentively examined by the celebrated Captain Cook, who 

 named it in honour of the King of England. It is of an oblong- 

 shape, extending S.E. by E., and N.W. by W. ; thirty-one leagues in 

 length, while its greatest breadth is nearly ten leagues; its whole 

 circumference being about seventy leagues. Wasp's Harbour, where 

 we now lay at anchor, is in lat. 54° 58' S., long. 38° 25' W. The 

 sides of this island are deeply indented by bays, some of them so deep 

 on opposite sides as almost to meet in the centre. The mountains are 

 lofty, and the tops perpetually covered with snow ; but in the valleys 

 there grows a strong-bladed grass in great plenty. 



November 24th. — The sole object of our visit to this cheerless port 

 being frustrated by the absence of seal, we weighed anchor on Sunday, 

 the 24th, and proceeded to sea, steering an eastern course for Bouvette's 

 Island, so called from being first seen by that navigator in October, 

 1808. It lies nearly due east from South Georgia, being in lat. 54° 

 15' S., long. 6° 11' E. ; about four hundred leagues S.S.W. from the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and nearly on the meridian of Toulon, in France. 

 We continued our course, with variable winds and occasional heavy 

 weather, attended with much snow and hail, until Friday, sixth of De- 

 cember, when we saw the island for which we were bound, bearing 

 E.S.E., distant one league. This was at two, P. M., and at three 

 o'clock the next morning I sent the second mate with a well-manned 

 boat to search for seal on the shores of the island, with orders, if he 

 found any, to see if they were tame, and to return immediately with 

 information. 



December 6th. — At seven o'clock, A. M., the boat returned with eighty 

 fur-seal skins of a superior quality ; and the officer informed me that 

 the seal were perfectly tame ; so much so, that they would come up and 

 play among the men who were skinning their companions. At eight 



