54 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
were not equal to their work, and when he sailed for 
South France in bad weather all the conditions of the 
expedition were about as unfavourable as they could be. 
He reached the land, went ashore at midsummer (De- 
cember, 1773), and found the weather cold, with con- 
stant fogs and gales, the land sterile and uninviting. It 
was impossible to leave a party on shore, impossible in 
the enfeebled state of the ships’ companies to pursue 
further exploration, and there was no alternative but to 
return to France. The leader had truly predicted that 
South France would furnish marvellous physical and 
moral spectacles, though he little thought that they would 
be manifested in his own body and mind. The disillusion 
was complete. Kerguelen changed the name of South 
France to the Land of Desolation, and he declared that 
he would rather live in Iceland under the polar circle than 
in the land of his own discovery in a latitude correspond- 
ing to that of Paris. He recognised even that it was not 
part of a continent, for Cook had meanwhile passed round 
the world through the open sea far to the southward. 
One cannot but feel sympathy for this man of fine en- 
thusiasm, an enthusiasm which certainly let his imagina- 
tion dominate his reason when at home, but which was 
equally the motive of two long and hazardous voyages 
full of hardships and beset with difficulties of every kind. 
Kerguelen’s narrative gave displeasure to those in au- 
thority and is said to have been suppressed. It is but 
right that the desolate island should be known for all 
time as Kerguelen Land, and some small posthumous 
honour may accrue to its discoverer from the valuable 
scientific observations for which it has been from time 
to time the base. 
The last episode ir. the search for the great South Land 
