43 2 A rctic and A ntarctic Exploration [part ii 
68° 10' S. and could have gone further, had he not re- 
membered that his chief business was sealing. On the 
9th December he discovered an island quite snow-covered, 
which he named Veiro. In 65 0 20' S. Robertson Island 
was discovered, and two other islands — one of them the 
cone of a volcano — were named Christensen (after the 
well-known builder at Sandefjord who fitted out the 
Jason) and Lindenberg Sukkertop. Captain Larsen went 
over the ice on ski to Christensen Island, and from it 
he saw five volcanic islets which w T ere named Oceana, 
Castor, Hertha, Jason, and Larsen. Captain Eversen of 
the Hertha made his way to the west side of Graham 
Land and sighted Adelaide Island, in November, 1893. 
He went as far south as 69 0 10' S. 
When Captain Larsen returned to Sandefjord he came 
to see me at Laurvik on July 23rd, 1894, and presented 
me with some of the fossil wood found on Sir George 
Seymour's Island. Sir Archibald Geikie, to whom I 
afterwards gave them, was inclined to think that it was 
drift-wood, because it showed perforations. Larsen's two 
voyages, in their way so important, were certainly a great 
help to our efforts by interesting geographers, and it 
was with no small degree of pleasure that I presented 
Captain Larsen with one of the Geographical Society's 
awards — that bequeathed by Sir George Back. 
When I was elected President of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society in 1893, 1 resolved that no efforts should 
be spared to secure the despatch of a properly equipped 
Antarctic expedition: the main object being to make 
further discoveries in connection with the great Antarctic 
continent which had received the name of Antarctica. 
No sooner was this known than enterprises sprang up in 
all directions — Norwegian, Belgian, Scottish, German, 
Swedish, and French. Without any concerted action, 
except as regards the Germans, none of these touched 
Antarctica, but roved as free lances, so that it will be 
quite convenient to deal with them separately before 
treating of the preparations for the Antarctic expedition 
of the Royal and Royal Geographical Societies. 
