Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-10-19
SOME LOST EsLANDS HONOR PAID TORIES
DOTS IN TIE OCEAN THAT HAVE
BEEN MISLAlD.
Some Of Them Would Bring Great
Wealth to Their Fortunate Oiscoy-
erers-long Sought for Breeding
Place for Seals

Somewhere in the Great Southern
ocean, says an English newspaper, a
few hundred miles south and by west
of Heard island. is an ice-capped, sea
&lft fragment Oh land that will some
day be worth a small fortune to it's
lucky djscoverer-or. rather, one
Wonld say, 10 its 're-discoverer for
The island III question has already
Reen found-and lost
Ever since 1856 there has been es-
tablished at Heard island. amid eter-
nal ice and fog and snow. tiny col
ony of hardy men engaged in catch
ing the seals that come there to breed.
Capt. Rogers. Of the Whaler Corinth-
ian, was the first man to set foot on
the place. and he reaped an unprece-
dentedly rich harvest, securing in a
single dag over five hundred barrels
oi oil. 1t Was then supposed that the
ANIMALS would quickly be killed off, as
they have been on the Prhyloff isl
ands and elsewhere. but as the years
passed by and the seals continued as
plentiful as eEel. the sealers reasoned
correctly that there must exist, not far
Instant. some otheE place where the
breed was kept up. To try and locate
this supposititious island many a seal
ing sloop made long detours amid the
Antarctic drift; and al last one of
them, the Southern Cross. commanded
by Capt. Panton, was successful But
or the way back the vessel was
wrecked, the master Was drowned
and The latitude and longitude of the
little fragment of rock was lost.
Then again tae"e is Nimrod island,
discovered il?=f2@@S by Capt Eilbecll, of
he Wha!eI Ct that name. and since
repeatedly seoabt for in vain. It was
reported by It's discONerer to be COW
erea with a1lano. the product OF the
countless myriads OF pensnins that re-
sorted there To breed: and it is this
fact doubtless. which has lspired the
many expeditions that have from time
10 time Heen organized TO search for
The GraIApUs islands. discoye cred by
Capt. MeaI2a. in April, 1778, lie some
where NOT very tar 20 the nOrthWard
OF the Mariana group. in the Western
Pacific: hut their exact position no
man knows aT is able 10 determine.
Gan2es isiand. in tie China sea, has
been sighted thrice in a century. and
several tiHe vessels are bell aved to
have been lost upon il.
Marcus. or Weeks. island, is another
mystery Of these little known seas.
Finally, the Marshall islands, in the
South Pacific. have been misland, not
once only. bat twice They were first
discovered III 1929 by one Of the old
Spanish navieators. Don Alvaro de
..aavedTa by name, and were by him
explored and chartered. But when
next year he again went in search OF
them they We're nowhere to be found.
In the year 1883, however. Capt. Mar
shall of the British ship Scarborough
rediscovered the islands and rechris-
made. too the most careful ObserNa-
ticns as to their precise locality. Yet
when little later, government sur
veying snip tried to find them with
view 70 taking soundings. they had
AGAIN disappeared. Since then they
have been soHght fer in vain. and al
though they appear on the admiralty
charts. it is with the explanatory
footnote. position doubtful attached
thereto.