Voyage of the Scotia 1902-04

William Speirs Bruce, 1867-1921

William S Bruce and party planting Saltire flag on Saddle Island

On 4 February 1903, during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04, the steam-assisted sailing-barque Scotia, carrying the members of the expedition, reached Saddle Island in the South Orkney Islands.

This location had been visited only twice before: firstly by James Weddell in 1823, and more recently by Dumont d'Urville on the French corvette Astrolabe in 1838. A party of several members of the current expedition eventually succeeded in landing on the island, where they made many interesting ornithological, botanical, and geological observations.

William S Bruce, who was simultaneously both an internationalist and a Scottish nationalist, is here seen planting the Saltire flag on the shores of the island, presumably thereby claiming it for his beloved Scotland.