Various views on South Georgia:

“…savage and horrible… the very sides and craggy summits of the lofty Mountains were cased with snow and ice, but the quantity which lay in the Vallies is incredible.”

— James Cook, 1776

“This was inspired by the north coast. The south coast was even more savage and desolate.”

— Roland Huntford, Shackleton

“…only the steep rocks on which snow and ice cannot lie show a dark colour…An extremely heavy surf…thundered against the cliffs…To wait…for better weather…to survey the land, frozen and, so to say, dead as it was, seemed…useless…”

— Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen, 1819

“Every sailor knows that more ships have been wrecked making a landfall than ever were lost out to sea. Heading for an imperfectly known coast, Worsley and Shackleton were now both considerably more worried about the last few miles than they had been the whole long way from Elephant Island.”

— Roland Huntford, Shackleton