Narrative of the wreck of the 'Favorite' on the Island of Desolation [Kerguelen Island]: detailing the adventures, sufferings, and privations of John Nunn; an historical account of the island, and its whale and seal fisheries ... / Edited by W.B. Clarke, M.D.

  • Nunn, John, 1955-
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Narrative of the wreck of the 'Favorite' on the Island of Desolation [Kerguelen Island]: detailing the adventures, sufferings, and privations of John Nunn; an historical account of the island, and its whale and seal fisheries ... / Edited by W.B. Clarke, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    a ship is within ; and, where the mooring ground extends, the bay is about half a mile wide with seven or eight fathoms water. The Vansittart, Captain James Bennet, lied here all the winter and part of the summer. About ten miles to the west of Cape George is a large bay, named “ Swain’s Bay,” with three arms or branches to it, where ships may lie during all seasons with good holding ground of green clay. There the ships Emily and Kingston wintered in safety : the depths vary from twenty to thirty fathoms, and in some places good anchorage is obtained in ten or twelve in stiff clay : here ves¬ sels may lie as smoothly and securely as in a dock, and during the most violent gales they will obtain as good a birth as in Christmas Harbour : the breadth of this bay varies much—from a quarter of a mile to two miles. Many parts of the east side of the island pre¬ sent a gradual inclination from the shore to the westward, so that an examining party could reach the higher parts in the interior : the Snowy Peak on the S.W. side of the island cannot be ascended to more than one-third of its height: it is con¬ stantly covered with snow and ice. The country between Long Point and Shoalwater Bay, and between the former place and Shallop Harbour, is low and marshy, with large ponds in various places during all seasons.