Inexpressible Island
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History
Robert Falcon ScottRobert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
's Terra Nova Expedition
Terra Nova Expedition
The Terra Nova Expedition , officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Scott and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald...
(1910-1913) comprised several groups. One of these, the Northern Party, led by Victor Campbell
Victor Campbell
Victor Lindsay Arbuthnot Campbell DSO & Bar, OBE , was a British sailor and renowned explorer.-Terra Nova expedition:In 1910, he was First Officer on Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition...
, did not accompany Scott into the interior but wintered at Cape Adare. In 1912, that group (composed of six men in total), began the long journey homewards and began making their way to Cape Evans
Cape Evans
Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay.The cape was discovered by the Discovery expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, who named it the Skuary. Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition , built its...
(via Hut Point). However, they were dropped at Evans Coves with sledging provisions for six weeks with the intention of completing geological work. After the work was done they were left with rations for about four weeks, as it was not anticipated the ship would have trouble picking them up later in February. But the Terra Nova
Terra Nova (ship)
The Terra Nova was built in 1884 for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet. She worked for 10 years in the annual seal fishery in the Labrador Sea, proving her worth for many years before she was called upon for expedition work.Terra Nova was ideally suited to the polar regions...
could not reach them due to heavy pack ice. Unable to connect with their ship, the Northern Party was forced to winter in Antarctica again. The party excavated a small 12 by ice cave in a snow drift they nicknamed "Inexpressible Island" where they spent the winter in miserable conditions, supplementing their rations by killing scarce seal and penguins for meat.
George Murray Levick
George Murray Levick was a British Antarctic explorer, and founder of the British Schools Exploring Society.He was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, the son of George Levick and Jeannie Sowerby. After a short medical career, he joined the Royal Navy in 1910 but was quickly given leave of absence to...
said:
The men started home for Hut Point on September 30, 1912, some two hundred miles down the coast, which would include the crossing of the Drygalski Ice Tongue. Browning was very ill and Dickason almost crippled by dysentery. They reached Hut Point on November 5.
The site of the ice cave on Inexpressible Island is classified as a Category 1 site by the Antarctic Heritage Trust
Antarctic Heritage Trust
Currently the Antarctic Heritage Trust consists of two partners, the Antarctic Heritage Trust which was formed in 1987 and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, founded in 1993...
and is protected by provisions made in the Antarctic Treaty.
See also
- Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
- List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
- List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
- SCARScientific Committee on Antarctic ResearchThe Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
- Territorial claims in Antarctica