ENDERBY BROTHERS 
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ninety miles, but a fog came on and continued for twenty- 
four hours, making it necessary to steer northwest. 
Many birds now appeared about the ships and on the 
17th and 18th, a row of small islands was passed, the 
series now known as the Biscoe Islands. They lay in a 
line from W. S. W. to E. N. E. and were not moun- 
tainous, but each covered with a shield of ice and snow 
perfectly smooth except at the edges. A tier of very 
high mountains presented a grand appearance in the 
background, belonging in Biscoe’s opinion, to the main- 
land. On February 19th a landing was made on an 
island, the position of the middle of the west side of 
which was fixed by good observations in 65° 20'S., 
66° 38' W. ; but no seals were found on it. This island 
was named after Pitt, “ from the great likeness of an 
iceberg to that statesman in a sitting posture, and which 
for some time I took to be a rock.” 
The island appeared at first to join the mainland, and 
in a few days Biscoe was able to set foot upon what must 
have been the land discovered by Palmer and named 
after him by Powell. Though recent expeditions have 
shown that this is a group of islands of no great size, 
Biscoe believed that it was a land of large extent and that 
he was the first to discover it. He accordingly took for- 
mal possession in the name of King William IV., after 
whom he named the highest mountain, while the peak 
next in height was named for Captain John Moberly, 
R. N. The sea was so calm that if any seals had been 
found the ships could have lain securely alongside the 
rocks to take them on board. 
Biscoe’s discovery was subsequently marked on the 
charts as Graham Land, the name being given in honour 
of Sir James R. G. Graham, the First Lord of the 
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