Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T20:31:34.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bellingshausen’s “Mountains”: The 1820 Russian sighting of Antarctica and Bellingshausen’s theory of the South Polar ice cap

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2019

Rip Bulkeley Open the ORCID record for Rip Bulkeley [Opens in a new window]
Rip Bulkeley*
Affiliation:
Independent Historian, 38 Lonsdale Road, Oxford, OX2 7EW, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Rip Bulkeley, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There has been some uncertainty as to which of the two southerly probes, during which Bellingshausen passed latitude 69°S in early 1820, achieved the first sighting of an ice coast of Dronning Maud Land in Eastern Antarctica. The author criticizes Frank Debenham’s English translation of Bellingshausen’s narrative before presenting and discussing new translations of Bellingshausen’s descriptions of those events, with relevant sections of his track chart, plus a third passage from the book which interpreted what was seen. He concludes that the Russians first sighted an ice coast in mid-February, rather than late January as has been widely claimed.

Keywords

BellingshausenDebenhamDiscoveryHistory of glaciologyTranslation
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 55 , Issue 6 , November 2019 , pp. 392 - 401
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archival references key: SARN – State Archives of the Russian Navy, Saint Petersburg; F – Fond; S – Series; P – Piece; f – folio; v – verso.Google Scholar
Anon. (1819). n.t. SARN F–166, S–1, P–660a, ff.347–348.Google Scholar
Anon. (1922). Ledyanyya gory [Icebergs]. Segodniya, 33(3). Riga.Google Scholar
Barrington, D. (1781). Observations on the floating ice, which is found in high northern, and southern latitudes. In Barrington, D. (Ed.), Miscellanies (pp. 92–124). London: White & Nichols.Google Scholar
Bellinsgauzen, F. F. (1820). Raport [Report to the Marquis de Traversay]. Sydney: SARN F–166, S–1, P–660b, ff.–246–249v.Google Scholar
Bellinsgauzen, F. F. (1821). Raport [Report to the Marquis de Traversay]. Kronstadt: SARN F–203, S–1, P–826, ff.–1–18v.Google Scholar
Bellinsgauzen, F.F. (1831). Dvukratnyya Izyskaniya v Yuzhnom Ledovitom Okeanye i Plavanie vokrug Svyeta v prodolzhenii 1819, 20 i 21 godov [Two seasons of exploration in the Southern Ice Ocean and a voyage around the world, during the years 1819, 1820 and 1821] (Vols. 1–2 plus Atlas). (L. I. Golenishhev-Kutuzov, Ed.). St Petersburg: Glazunovs.Google Scholar
Bellingshausen, F. F. (1945). The voyage of Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic seas, 1819–1821 (Vols. 1–2). (F. Debenham, Ed.). London: Hakluyt Society.Google Scholar
Bellinsgauzen, F. F. (1963). Karta Plavaniya Shlyupov Vostoka i Mirnago vokrug Yuzhnago polyusa v 1819, 1820, i 1821 godakh pod Nachal′stvom Kapitana Billensgauzena [Chart of the voyage of the sloops Vostok and Mirnyj around the South Pole in the years 1819–1821, commanded by Captain Bellingshausen]. In Belov, M. I. (Ed.). Pervaya russkaya antarkticheskaya èkspeditsiya 1819–1821 gg. i eyo otchyotnaya navigatsionnaya karta (Sheets 1–15). Leningrad: Morskoj Transport. (Original created May–July 1821).Google Scholar
Bonhomme, B. (2012). Russian Exploration, from Siberia to Space. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.Google Scholar
Boyle, R. (1683). New Experiments and Observations Touching Cold (2nd edn.). Oxford: Davis.Google Scholar
Buffon, G.-L. L. de, & Daubenton, L. J. M. (1749). Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière (Vol. 1). Paris: Imprimerie Royale.Google Scholar
Buffon, M. le Comte de. (1778). Histoire Naturelle Générale et Particulière. Supplément (Vol. 5). Paris: Imprimerie Royale.Google Scholar
Burney, J. (1803–1817). A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean (Vols. 1–5). London: G. & W. Nicol & others.Google Scholar
Cook, J. (1777). A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World; Performed in His Majesty’s Ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the Years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (Vols. 1–2). London: Strahan & Cadell.Google Scholar
Davis, J. (1595). The Worlds Hydrographicall Discription. London: self.Google Scholar
Debenham, F. (1939). Foreword. Polar Record, 17, 1–2.Google Scholar
de Brosses, C. (1756). Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes (Vols. 1–2). Paris: Durand.Google Scholar
Desmarest, N. (1803). Encyclopédie Méthodique: Géographie-Physique (Vol. 2). Paris: Agasse.Google Scholar
Hudson, H. (1625). A second voyage or employment of master Henry Hudson, for finding a passage to the East Indies by the North-east. In Purchas, S. (Ed.). Purchas his Pilgrimes (Part 3, pp. 574–581). London: Fetherstone.Google Scholar
James, T. (1633). The Strange and Dangerous Voyage of Captain Thomas James. London: Partridge.Google Scholar
Jones, A. G. E. (1982). Antarctica Observed: Who Discovered the Antarctic Continent? Whitby: Caedmon.Google Scholar
Kirwan, L. P. (1959). The White Road: A Survey of Polar Exploration. London: Hollis & Carter.Google Scholar
Krusenshtern, A. (1821). Dopolnenie [Supplement (to a ‘Survey of all voyages in search of the shortest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans’ )]. In Kotsebu, O., Puteshestvie v Yuzhnyj Okean v Beringov Proliv … pod nachal′stvom Flota Lejtenanta Kotsebu (Pt. 1, pp. ciii–cxxi). St Petersburg: Grech. (Separately dated November 1819).Google Scholar
Kuk, D. (1796–1800). Puteshestviye v yuzhnoi polovine zemnago shara i vokrug onago [A voyage in the southern hemisphere and around the world] (Vols. 1–6). (L. I. Golenishhev–Kutuzov, Trans.). St Petersburg: Naval Cadet Corps.Google Scholar
Lebedev, V. L. (1961). Geograficheskie nablyudenya v Antarktike èkspeditsij Kuka 1772–1775 gg. i Bellinsgauzena–Lazareva 1819–1821 gg. [Geographical observations in the Antarctic by the Cook, 1772–1775, and Bellingshausen–Lazarev, 1819–1821, expeditions]. Antarktika – doklady kommisii 1960, 1961, 7–24.Google Scholar
Lebedev, V. L. (1962). Kto otkryl Antarktidu? (otvet za pis′mo g-na Ternera) [Who discovered Antarctica? A reply to Mr Turner’s letter]. Antarktika – doklady kommisii 1961, 1962, 153–166.Google Scholar
Lomonosow, M. (1763). Tankar, om Is-bergens ursprung uti de Nordiska Hafven [Thoughts on the origin of icebergs in northern seas]. Konglinga vetenskaps Akademiens handlingar, 24, 34–40.Google Scholar
Lomonosov, M. (1854). Kratkoe opisanie raznykh puteshestvij po syevernym moryam, i pokazanie vozmozhnago prokhody sibirskim okeanom v vostochnuyu Indiyu [A brief account of sundry voyages in northern seas, and a demonstration of the possibility of reaching the East Indies by the Siberian ocean]. In Sokolov, A. (Ed.). Proekt Lomonosova i Ekspeditsiya Chichagova (pp. 3–108). St Petersburg: Hydrographic Department.Google Scholar
Maksimovich, L. M. (1788). Novyj i polnyj geograficheskij slovar′ Rossijskago gosudarstva [New complete geographical dictionary of the Russian Empire]. (Vol. 3). Moscow: University Press and Novikov.Google Scholar
Martens, F. (1675). Spitzbergische oder groenlandische Reise Beschreibung [Description of a journey to Spitzbergen and Greenland]. Hamburg: Schultzen.Google Scholar
Mickleburgh, E. (1990). Beyond the Frozen Sea: Visions of Antarctica. London: Paladin.Google Scholar
Novosil′skij, P. M. (1853). Yuzhnyj Polyus: Iz zapisok byvshago morskago ofitsera [The South Pole: from the memoirs of a former naval officer]. St Petersburg: Vejmar.Google Scholar
Pagès, P. M. F. (1782–1783). Voyages autour du Monde: et vers les deux Poles, par Terre et par Mer, pendant les années 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1774, & 1776 [Voyages around the world and towards the two poles, by land and by sea, between 1767 & 1776]. Paris: Moutard.Google Scholar
Phipps, C. J. (1774). A Voyage Towards the North Pole. London: Nourse.Google Scholar
Prévost, A. F. (1746–1759). Histoire Générale des Voyages depuis le Commencement du XVme siécle [General history of voyages from the 15th century] (Vols. 1–15). Paris: Panckoucke.Google Scholar
Scoresby, W. , Jr. (1818). On the Greenland or polar ice. Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, 2, 261–388.Google Scholar
Shvede, E. E. (1947). Retsenziya: Puteshestvie kapitana Bellinsgauzena v antarkticheskie morya 1819–1821 [Review: The Voyage of Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic Seas 1819–1821]. Izvestiya vsesoyuznogo geograficheskogo obshhestva, 79(3), 257–258.Google Scholar
Simonov, I. M. (1825). O raznosti temperatury v Yuzhnom i Syevernom polushariyakh [On the difference in temperature between the southern and northern hemispheres]. Kazanskij Vyestnik, 14, 99–119.Google Scholar
Stojkovich, A. (1813). Nachal′nyya Osnovaniya Fizicheskoj Geografii [Preliminary elements of physical geography]. Kharkov: University Press.Google Scholar
Tammiksaar, E. (2016). The Russian Antarctic Expedition under the command of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and its reception in Russia and the world. Polar Record, 52(266), 578–600.10.1017/S0032247416000449CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tooley, R. V. (1963). Early Antarctica. Map Collectors’ Series, 2. London: Map Collectors Circle.Google Scholar