Voyage of the Scotia 1902-04

People of the Expedition

Sledging in the South Orkney Islands

While the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition was based on Laurie Island in the South Orkney Islands, the opportunity was taken to make an accurate topographical survey of the island, as existing maps had proved to be wildly inaccurate.

The steep icy nature of the terrain made overland travel almost impossible, so most journeys were undertaken from the sea or from the frozen pack-ice round the coast. Camps were set up in the vicinity of the shore, using four-sided pyramidical tents with tunnel entrances to exclude drifting snow.

In contrast with the previous illustration (031-041), here we see some of the dogs assisting with the sledge-hauling for which they were intended.