- Aurora Islands
The Aurora Islands were a group of three islands first reported in
1762 by the Spanish ship "Aurora" while sailing fromLima toCádiz . The Aurora's officers reported sighting them again in1774 . The Spanish ship "San Miguel" fixed their location at 52° 37' S, 47° 49' W. In1794 , they were sighted again by the corvette "Atrevida", which had been sent to find them. Their reported location was east ofCape Horn , approximately half way between theFalkland Islands andSouth Georgia at coord|53|S|48|W|.The islands were last sighted in
1856 , and have subsequently been ascribed a mythical status, although they continued to appear on maps of the south Atlantic until the1870 s.It is unknown if the Aurora Islands ever actually existed, or if persistent reports of them may have simply been the result of mid-ocean atmospheric peculiarities or
optical illusion s. Another opinion is that the Aurora Islands are the Shag Rocks, and the name "Islas Aurora" is used in Spanish for them.They are the subject of a
2001 novel entitled "Hippolyte's Island", byBarbara Hodgson , during which they are rediscovered by the book's protagonist. In an episode inEdgar Allan Poe 's novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ", Pym and his crewmates search for but fail to find them.ee also
*
Pepys Island References
*Raymond Ramsay, "No Longer on the Map", Ballantine Books 1972, pages 78-80
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