"A land doomed by nature"
In January 1775, Captain James Cook made a landmark discovery on the HMS Resolution: the isolated and icy island of South Georgia, located in the far reaches of the South Atlantic. This exhibition commemorates the 250th anniversary of a pivotal chapter in the age of exploration.
Cook and his crew were nearing the end of their second great voyage, which aimed to map the southern hemisphere and explore the mystery of a possible Terra Australis or southern continent. After weeks of navigating through ice-choked waters and severe winds, they encountered an island marked by towering glaciers, rugged mountains, and bustling wildlife—a landscape more foreboding than any they had yet seen.
During this voyage Captain James Cook ventured farther south than any European explorer before him. When he first set foot on South Georgia, he described it as “a land doomed by nature”. Its rugged terrain and inhospitable climate a stark contrast to the warmer, tropical waters Cook had previously charted. Yet, this rugged island became central to mapping uncharted lands and igniting a fascination with the polar regions that persists to this day.