NO MAN’S LAND

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 21 January 1928, Page 6

NO MAN’S LAND

NORWAY’S CLAIM.

SOUTH? ATLANTIC ISLAND. BRITISH WHALING BASE. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT. LONDON, Jan. 19. An interesting situation has arisen owing to Norway’s claim to Bouvet Island, which is shown on the map as British and is regarded as such by the British Government. It was announced a lew days ago that the Colonial Office had granted the Rasmussen Company .of Norway the right to occupy the island as a whaling base for ten years on the payment of a yearly rental and royalties on whale oil and guano. A message from Osio states that Bouvet Island was occupied by a Norwegian expedition on December 1 last, year and that the Norwegian flag was hoisted, as the island has hitherto been regarded by the Norwegian Government as -a “no man’s land.” The newspaper “Tidens Tegn points oujt that the Norwegian authorities long ago authorised the Bryde Dahl whaling company to .occupy the island and establish a new base for Norwegian whaling. , A Colonial Office official says that Bouvet Island was discovered in 1739 bv the French, who, however, made no use of it. The island was again found by Captain Lindsay in 1808, when he claimed it as British.