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212

 

Polar Research 26 

 

2007 212 © 2007 The Author

 

Correspondence

 

Robert K. Headland, Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road, 

Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK. E-mail: rkh10@hermes.cam.ac.uk.

 

B O O K  R E V I E W

 

Review of 

 

Due south

 

, by John Kelly (2004). Oxford: Signal 
Books. 61 pp. ISBN 1-902669-90-8

 

This small volume is basically the diary of John Kelly,
who visited the British Antarctic Survey station on Signy
Island  in  the  South  Orkney  Islands.  It  includes  about
60 monochrome plates (mainly half-page ones), a few
sketches and a map of the island. The text is essentially a
diary of the author’s time, from beginning in the Falkland
Islands, sailing aboard RRS 

 

Ernest Shackleton

 

, staying on
the island from 25 January to 8 March 2003 to the return
journey. As well as the illustrations, the text is accompa-
nied by brief poetical extracts by the author and others. It
is substantially a personal account of the visit, and may be
best understood by those who have seen exhibitions of
his artistic works. Impressions of Signy Island are con-
fined to modern ones gained during the artist’s visit; thus,
there is no reference to the Norwegian aspects of its
history (neither the derivation of the name from Signy,
daughter of the whaling captain Petter Sørlle, nor the
graves of five whalers on Factory Bluff, is mentioned).
Similarly, reference to the continuing scientific research
conducted at the station is minimal although he accom-
panied a limnological survey.

Signy Island is small and so it is possible to see much of
it during a long day’s walk. This, as well as time in some
of the field huts, is a specific point of interest as Kelly
accompanies station staff visiting places distant from the
main station. The period when he was on the island
corresponded to the quite rapid change from near the
height of summer to the beginning of winter. The vast
movement of wildlife, particularly its exodus with the
first storms of winter, intrigued him. The cover of the
book states that “

 

Due south

 

 catalogues moments in time

experienced . . . not simply a visual record, but an
account of the emotions and fleeting thoughts of life in
the ‘freezer’ ”, which describes the slim volume well. The
visit was one in a series of artist and writer’s programmes
of the British Antarctic Survey. For many years New
Zealand, the United States, Australia and other countries
with stations in the Antarctic have organized similar
events, each yielding a distinct concept of the Antarctic.