KERGUELEN. 
63 
KERGUELEN. 
Christmas Harbour, since its discovery by Captain Cook, has given shelter to almost 
every scientific exploring expedition sent into the Southern and Antarctic Oceans. It was 
visited by Sir James Ross in 1840, during the voyage which resulted in the finding of what 
may truly be called the Antarctic Continent, known as Victoria Land ; and more recently, in 
1874, by two expeditions, one English, the other German, sent to Kerguelen to observe the 
transit of Venus. Cook, not aware of the previous discovery of the island in 1772 by the 
French navigator Kerguelen—who believed he had found the at that time much talked-of 
A KCII POINT. MOUNT HAVKKGAL, 1430 FEET. TABLE MOUNTAIN, 12 t 5 FEET. CAFE FRANCAIS. 
CHRISTMAS HARBOUR, FROM THE SEA. 
Southern Continent—gave it the name of Desolation Island—a designation we found still in 
use among the American whalers we met during our cruise. But the name of Kerguelen 
Land, in honour of its first discoverer, has of late been more frequently used—a substitution 
the more desirable, as there exists another Island of Desolation, of larger extent, and with 
decidedly superior claims to this uninviting name, in Magellan Straits. 
The scenery of Kerguelen is composed of very unpromising materials—water, patches 
of kelp, bare rocks, mountains covered with snow and ice, and terraces rising one above the 
other, destitute of any trace of tree or shrub ; yet these elements frequently combine into 
landscapes of weird beauty and savage grandeur, reminding the traveller of the fiords of 
CHRISTMAS HARBOUR. 
Norway and the west coast of Scotland. A thick carpet of moss, of a rich green colour, 
especially under the rays of the sun, conceals as it were the utter nakedness of the land, and 
gives a delusive appearance of vegetation. 
Our present anchorage is one of the most remarkable sites in this as yet little known 
land. On the north side of the harbour, Cape Franpais rears its almost vertical cliffs many 
hundred feet above the sea. On the south side stands Nature s prototype of the stately arch 
which in classic lands records imperial and warlike triumphs, and behind rises the massive 
