BOUVET ISLAND.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 45, 21 January 1928, Page 9

BOUVET ISLAND.

CLAIMED BY NORWAY

LONDON, Jan. 19. An interesting situation has .arisen owing to Norway’s claim to Bouvet: Island, which is shown on the mail as British, and is regarded as such by the British Government. It was announced a few days .ago that the Colonial Office had granted Rasmussen and Company, of Norway, the right to ccuopy the island as ,a whaling base for ten years, on payment of a yearly rental and royalties on whale oil and guano. A message from Oslo, states that Bouvet Island was occupied by a Norwegian expedition on December 1 last year, and the Norwegian flag was hoisted, as tho island hitherto had been regarded by the Norwegian Government as No Man’s Land. The newspaper Tidens Tegn points out that the Norwegian authorities long ago authorised by the BrydeDahl Whaling Company to occupy tho island and establish a new base for Norwegian whaling. A Colonial Office official states that Bouvet Island was discovered in 1739 by 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. —A. and N.Z. cable.