BOUVET ISLAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20312, 21 January 1928, Page 11

BOUVET ISLAND

CLAIMED BY NORWAY. AN INTERESTING SITUATION. (Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, January 19. (Received Jan. ( 20, at 10 p.m.) An interesting situation has arisen owing •to Norway’s claim to Bouvet Island, w T hich is shown on the map as British, and regarded as such by the British Government. It was announced a few days ago that the Colonial Office had granted the Rasmussen Company, of Norway, the right to occupy the island as a whaling base for 10 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 the island was hitherto regarded by the Norwegian Government as No Man’s Land.

The newspaper Tidens Tegn points out that the Norwegian authorities long ago authorised the Bryde Dahl Whaling Company to occupy the island and establish a now base for Norwegian whaling. A Colonial Office official says 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.