Captain James Cook called at Kerguelen on his third journey around the world in the RESOLUTION and DISCOVERY. Sailing East from the cape of Good Hope, Cook discovered or rediscovered Prince Edward Island, Marion, and the Crozet Islands. On Christmas Day, 1776 Resolution and Discovery anchored in Oiseau Bay, which he named Christmas Harbour.
Cook’s men discovered a bottle containing a message, in Latin, left by Kerguelen’s men. Captain Cook’s men were able to replenish their stocks of fresh meat by killing penguins and other birds. Numerous seals gave blubber, which was rendered down into oil for the ships lamps, and the sailors soon discovered the Kerguelen Cabbage which helped to ward off scurvy.
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