2-982-111 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches from H.M.S. Challenger, by Mr. J. J. Wild: Christmas Harbour, Kerguelen Island, 1876. 'The gigantic natural arch at its entrance, torn by the sea from the neighbouring cliff; the stately basaltic terraces, covered with a carpet of bright green moss, by which it is surrounded; the lofty crag of Cape Francais, on the north side, and the enormous boulder to the south, which seems as though it would fall at any moment and choke up the harbour -compose one of the most striking landscapes of the southern hemisphere'. 'Challenger', a steam-assisted warship of the Royal Navy, was used for the Challenger Expedition of 1872-1876, a British scientific mission which took naturalists and oceanographers on a grand tour of the world, covering 68,000 nautical miles (125,936 km). John James Wild was official artist on the expedition. From "Illustrated London News", 1876.