It is now generally accepted that John Davis in 1821 was the first to set foot on the Antarctic
mainland. The suggestion that this is disputed by historians is a myth reflected on the Internet, copied from Wikipedia without citation between various sites. In fact Davis' place is now well and truly established in the annals of Antarctic history (1). Davis' log of the 'Cecilia', published in Edouard Stackpole's The Voyage of the Huron and Huntress (Mystic, CT 1955) leaves very little doubt in the matter (2). It is further reinforced by the extensive appraisal in Alan Gurney's Below the Convergence (London 1998), as well as by my own, as yet unpublished work on James Weddell. I have used the word ‘probable' with respect to Davis' landing because it is possible that other sealers, notably John McFarlane (summer 1820-21?) and James Weddell (1823?) might have landed on the mainland at about the same time (3).
Davis, who claimed no fame and published nothing in his lifetime, does not appear in part three because he pre-dates this volume, having a lengthy article in part two. Mercator Cooper is left sufficiently vague because his log, which has yet to receive a serious editor, is difficult to interpret although many sources now credit Cooper with the first landing on non-peninsular Antarctica (4).
Contrary to the statement in the review, Alexander von Tunzelman, a seaman picked up at Stewart Island, does appear in part three (p.113) in the article for Henryk Bull, as expected. The squabble over which of the boat party first set foot on the mainland is unlikely to be resolved. Tunzelman said he jumped out first to steady the boat, but it was Borchgrevink who first rushed ashore to claim the accolade. Knowing something of Borchgrevink's character, I feel fairly sure that he would have had this in mind all along, and would have been determined to see it through at all costs. In view of Davis', and possibly Cooper's earlier landings, both of which were unknown to Borchgrevink, the argument is of little consequence.
(1) The following sources, among many others, now credit Davis, without qualification, with the first continental landing: The Australian Antarctic Data Centre http://data.aad.gov.au/.; British Antarctic Survey Information Leaflet, Cambridge 2006; The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edn, 2001-07; Ian Cameron, Antarctica, the Last Continent, Boston 1974; Jeff Rubin, Antarctica, Lonely Planet Guides; Antarctica Online http://www.antarcticaonline.com/; The Antarctic Circle http://www.antarctic-circle.org/firsts.htm. Even the website of the New Zealand Antarctic Veterans Association awards the accolade to Davis: http://antarctic.homestead.com/timeline.html
(2) Davis' log for 7 February 1821 describes how his boat was sent ashore at Hughes Bay:
‘Commences with open Cloudy Weather and Light winds a standing for a Large Body of Land in that Direction SE at 10A.M. close in with it our Boat and Sent her on Shore to look for Seal at 11A.M. the Boat returned but find no sign of Seal at noon our Latitude was 64°01' South Stood up a Large Bay, the Land high and covered entirely with snow the wind coming Round to the North & Eastward with Thick weather Tacked ship and headed off Shore. At 4P.M. fresh Gale and Thick weather with snow...Ends with Strong Gales at ENE Concluded to make the Best of our way for the Ship I think this Southern Land to be a Continent.'
(3) Ute Christina Herzfeld, Atlas of Antarctica, Springer Verlag, 2004.
(4) An unpublished logbook of Cooper's voyages between 1851 and 1855, held in the library of East Hampton, New York, states that Cooper, sailing out of Sag Harbor, took the vessel Levant into Antarctic waters in January 1853 and arrived off the Pennel Coast, in the north of Victoria Land, on 27.1.53. For that date the log reports:
‘At 11.30 we reached the floe, put a craft to the sea, directed toward the floe and disembarked there. We saw a large number of penguins on the ice. Here the ice is broken up into solidly massed plates, and one finds, mingled to the floe, along the front of ice, a lot of large icebergs that overhang the water by 4 to 15 feet and appear, when one moves back, of a considerable height. There are two or three very high peaks of mountains far away...'.
A sketch representing the coast of the southern continent accompanies the text of the log. The positions of the Levant on consecutive days are given as 69º56'S / 167º50'E (25.1.53); 70º10'S / 168º09'E (26.1.53); 71º00'S / 170º00'E (27.1.53) and 70º20'S / 169º30'E (28.1.53).