CHAPTER XXIV 
THE KERGUELEN ISLES 
Kerguelen Land embraces the island of the same 
name, together with numerous smaller islands, for the 
most part much weather-beaten, which are grouped 
around it, having all together an area of 1334 square 
miles. The geographical position is 48° 50' to 50° S. 
lat. and 68° to 70° 50' E. long. The group was dis¬ 
covered by the French sea-captain, Kerguelen, after 
whom it is named. On his hardy voyage in 1772 with 
his two vessels, ^‘Fortune” and ''Gros Ventre”, he 
reached the smaller islands on the north-west, but was 
unable to land on account of the storms; he even be¬ 
lieved that the last-named ship was lost, and the other 
ship being damaged returned to Mauritius and later on 
to France. The following year, however, he appeared 
with a new expedition at the Kerguelen Isles, of which 
his companion, Boishennec, whom he had believed lost, 
had taken possession in the name of the King of France. 
Not many years later, in December 1776, Christmas 
Harbour in the north of the laree island was visited 
by the famous navigator. Captain Cook, with his two 
ships “Resolution” and “Discovery”. In 1799 Robert 
Rhodes sailed to the island and made a rough map of 
the several harbours. He was quite astonished at the 
abundance of whales, and by his advice numerous whalers 
betook themselves to Kerguelen and plundered that 
portion of the sea so completely that Captain Ross, who 
spent May and June of 1840 at the Kerguelen Isles, 
found that these animals were already scared away. 
