Mysteries of the Sub-Antarctic

Paul Charman has Walter Mitty dreams about solving one of the greatest mysteries of the Southern Ocean

The identity of a woman abandoned on Campbell Island shortly after it was discovered in 1810, is one of the greatest mysteries of the SubAntarctic. Said by some to have been a Jacobite princess, this “Lady of the Heather” is a riddle equal, in my view, to that other great Sub-Antarctic conundrum — the present whereabouts of the General Grant wreck.

Ahead of my visit to the Campbell and Auckland Island groups, I’d had Walter Mitty daydreams of solving both mysteries. Not asking too much really. For example, on Campbell Island, finding an 18th-century trinket or two would have done.

Perhaps including a silver medallion with the name Marie-Victoire discernable (grand daughter of Bonnie Prince Charlie).

And finding the General Grant, the gold-laden ship that wrecked on Auckland Island in 1868, that would have been nice too.

While sailing down the rugged west coast of the Island, I could just see myself tapping the shoulder of the man at the wheel, drawing his attention to an object washed up on the shore. Of course, this would have been the captain’s safe from the General Grant, and upon further inspection, still containing its 80kg of gold.

But though my voyage delivered on island scenery, seals and penguins, our seven-day schedule was a little tight for Indiana Jones-type archaeology.

No worries, scores of Sub-Antarctic expeditions, most with far more time to play with than we had, have failed to solve these mysteries.

As for the General Grant, it seems treasure hunters have set out to find her every few years since she smashed to pieces and sank within a gigantic but still-unknown sea cave.

And as for the “princess” — well, despite hundreds of pages of speculation written about her (including a romantic novel) — her identity remains elusive.

I scanned Perseverance Harbour for remains of the little sod cottage this woman apparently GETTING THERE heritage-expeditions.com called home. There are accounts from people who visited this cottage in days gone by, plus testimony from sealers who saw her wearing a bonnet