The cruise of Her Majesty's ship "Challenger" : voyages over many seas, scenes in many lands . nchored his two vessels, the Resolution andDiscovery, on Christmas Day 1777, and, although notthe actual discoverer of the island, his were the firstvessels to anchor in any of its numerous harbours. This inhospitable island and its surrounding groupare very little known, although discovered over onehundred years ago by Lieutenant Kerguelen, whohad been sent out from France on a voyage ofdiscovery to determine the existence of the greatSouthern Continent, which the philosophers of thattime considered
The cruise of Her Majesty's ship "Challenger" : voyages over many seas, scenes in many lands . nchored his two vessels, the Resolution andDiscovery, on Christmas Day 1777, and, although notthe actual discoverer of the island, his were the firstvessels to anchor in any of its numerous harbours. This inhospitable island and its surrounding groupare very little known, although discovered over onehundred years ago by Lieutenant Kerguelen, whohad been sent out from France on a voyage ofdiscovery to determine the existence of the greatSouthern Continent, which the philosophers of thattime considered was necessary to maintain the balanceof the earth. It was on January 13th, 1772, that itwas first seen, amidst fog and rain, when, in conse-quence of the tempestuous weather, landing was outof the question, and only a very cursory view wasobtained of the land, when he was again driven tosea, and, on reaching Fiance,gave such an exaggeratedaccount of his discovery that he was sent out againthe following year; and it is from his second visitthat our present knowledge of the group is chiefly. CHRISTMAS HARBOUR, KERGUELEN LAND. KERGUEIEN LAND. 125 derived. Although Cook and Ross afterwards visitedhere, and added certain information, still the chartis very vague, except in the delineation of the eastside of the island, which is very much cut up byfiords, forming a chain of magnificent, well-shelteredharbours. It is thirty years ago that Ross anchoredhis vessels, the Erebus and Terror, in ChristmasHarbour, which he describes as being nearly a milewide at its entrance, between Cape Francoiz on thenorth, and Arch Point on the south, on which side isa small bay, that increases the breadth for nearly halfthe depth of the inlet, when it suddenly contracts toless than one-third of a mile, and thence graduallydiminishes to the head of the bay, which terminatesin a level beach of dark sand, extending across for adistance of 1200 feet. Here we pitched our magnetictent for observation. The sh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury180, bookdecade1870, booksubjectvoyagesaroundtheworld
