1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition

This album contains 61 photographs taken during the 1907 Expedition to the Subantarctic Islands.  The intention of the Expedition was to collect as much information as possible about the nature of the islands - their plants, animals, insects, soil and marine life - so it included scientists from a range of disciplines.  They collected specimens of all kinds, and a scientific report describing their findings was published in 1909. 

When they arrived at the Auckland Islands, the Expedition found the survivors of the wrecked ship Dundonald.  The sailors had been living on the islands for eight months, catching their own food until they found the cache of emergency supplies left on the islands by the New Zealand Government. 

The photographs in the album include images of animals and plants, of the expedition members and their camp, and of the Dundonald castaways and their camp.  There are also landscape views of the islands.  The album was compiled by the expedition's cook, W. B. North, from official photographs. Mr North's son donated it to us many years later.