A rough chart of Larsen Harbour, the best harbour at the S.E. end of South Georgia, was made. There is enough flat ground here to make a small whaling station, and sufficient water could be got from the glacier streams.
We took new soundings in Royal Bay and across the front of the Great Glacier, steaming along a quarter of a mile inside the line of the glacier front of 1902 (Nordenskjold), but along the line laid down by the German survey of 1882, showing an advance and then a retreat of the glacier front.
Lastly, we sounded from Cooper Island out to and east of Clerke Rocks, and obtained a bearing and sketch of Clerke Rocks from the hills at the back of Cooper Island.
A running survey with soundings was made round Zavodovski, the northernmost island of the Sandwich group, an inhospitable island, difficult or dangerous to land on, and still more so to gain a way up the cliffs of rocks and ice to the upland.
The peak, unfortunately, was hidden by clouds, and no signs of activity of the volcano were seen. No outlying dangers were visible—in several places we got 20 fathoms 100 yards from the shore. On the north side were numerous grounded bergs, indicating shoal water. These bergs were about 40 to 50 feet high. On the basis of 1 fathom below water to 1 foot above they would give a depth of 40 to 50 fathoms. On the eastern side we saw faint blue hazy smoke issuing in several places from clefts and caves in the cliffs, and when we got to leeward could distinctly perceive an unpleasant sulphurous smell. In this connexion Captain C. A. Larsen, in November, 1908, reported: “... An active volcano; air poisonous with fumes of burning sulphur; landing impossible owing to steep-to coasts....” (Larsen, as a matter of fact, was ill for some days as a result of breathing such fumes in one of the group.)
Two gently sloping uplands on the S. and E. afford a breeding ground for myriads of penguins, who appear to keep scrupulously clear of the fumes on the eastern side.
At Elephant Island we made a rough survey of Cape Lookout anchorage where we anchored, and took several soundings S. and W. of Elephant Island. We anchored at Cape Lindsay (N.W. of island) and Seal Rocks, taking bearings and soundings. None of these anchorages can be described as harbours, and with an onshore breeze they must be left at once. We steamed through the intricate nest of rocks and reefs that stretch for over 20 miles to the west and north-west of Cape Lindsay. This was very ticklish navigation, requiring a very close, unremitting watch from the crow’s-nest, there being no warning kelp, the only guides being a brown discoloration under the water and an occasional swirl of the sea.
The existence of Pagoda Rock was practically disproved by a sounding of 2,902 fathoms 2 miles east of its reported position. It can with safety be expunged from the chart.
Forty miles north-east of the position assigned to Ross’s appearance of land we obtained a sounding of 2,446 fathoms blue mud, and could see no land from the masthead with clear weather. It seems improbable, therefore, that it exists, unless it is south or west of the position given, as Ross appears to have been working on dead reckoning, nor could it have been far in those directions or we should have found indications of it during our drift in Shackleton’s Expedition 1914-16.
At Gough Island we determined the position of Penguin Island (on the east coast) to be 40° 18´ 10´´ S. and 9° 54´ 0´´ W., which is 2´ 22´´ S. and 4´ 6´´ E. of the latest Admiralty Chart, but only 50´´ N. and 2´ 0´´ E. of the Admiralty’s previous position. These positions were taken by a mean of a number of solar and stellar observations on different days by sextant from the ship and bearings and rangefinder distance to Penguin Island, being only able to use the northern and eastern horizons.