DOUGHERTY ISLAND

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 93, 10 December 1931, Page 2

DOUGHERTY ISLAND

EXISTENCE OF ISLAND DOUBTED BY ADMIRALTY. EXPUNGED FROM CHARTS. An island which has long been shown on the Admiralty charts is officially abolished by a Notice to Mariners just issued from the Hydrographic Department. This is Dougherty Island, sometimes called Keates Island, in the far ^ south of the Pacific, on the confines of the Antarctic— well described aS "one of the most desolate and isolated spots in the ocean." First sighted in the year 1800 by f Captain Swain, of the American ship . Charles, a detailed description of the | island was reeeived in 1841 from Cap- | tain Dougherty, whose name it bears. I When in command of ithe whaler James Stewart he passed within three cables of the island, which he estimated to be five or six miles in length, with a high bluff at the north-eastern end and low land at the south-west point. His ship was doing ten knots at the time. I Seen for Three Days, | In 1859, Captain E. Keates, of the Bristol vessel Louise, sighted the island at a greater distance, and apparently from a different^ quarter, since it appeared to him to be round in j shape, Mr. Stannard, of the barque j Cingalese, was close to the island j for three days in 1886. . He eonsider- % ed it to be 300 feet high at the northeastern end, and otherwise identical in appearance with Captain Dougherty's account. He saw it a second time in 1890. Captain R. Macy, of Nantucket, also claims to have seen the island at a date unnamed. _ Positions given varied as to latitudes from 59deg .to 59deg. 21min. S. and as to longtitude from 90deg. to 120deg. 20min. W. Captain. Scott's Search. Against this evidence the Admiralty have set several more recent reports from observers who have sought for the island in vain. In 1894, 1900^ 1907, and 1910 Captain Greenstreet', in the s.s. Rimutaka, searehed for the island along the parallel of 50deg, 24 min S. without any sign of land appearing. Captain Scott, on his return from his first Antarctic Expedition in the Discovery in 1904, found a depth of 2318 fathoms in the eharted position of the island as reported by Dougherty. In 1915 and 1930 other ships passing the spot saw no sign of land; while last year Sir Douglas Mawson, in the Discovery, obtained a depth of 2473 fathoms (nearly three miles) by echo sounding in the eharted position. Although the weather was clear, with visibility up to ten miles, no land could be discerned in any direetion. Skippers' Blunders. Sumrning up, the Hydrographer of the Navy, Vice-Admiral H. P. Douglas, "states: — After careful examination of the various reports, it is considered that the existence of Dougherty Island, in the vicinity of its eharted position, has been disproved, and all references to this island in the various Admiralty publications are to be expunged." In the face of the earlier evidence on the subject, the only conclusion to be drawn is that the various reports of the island's position must contain large errors both of latitude and long-, titude.