Voyage of the "Mary and Sally" to Macquarie Island for the purpose of obtaining sea elephant oil and seal skins.

Abstract

This vessel of 130 tons, Captain James Kelly, master, is noted in the " Sydney Gazette " of 18.9.32 as having left Sydney Cove for the Derwent, en route for Macquarie Island. After a stay of nearly two months at Hobart Town her voyage proper commenced on 16th November, 1813. The brig was no stranger to the Southern Antarctic Islands, and, since her arrival from Bengal, had made voyages in the two previous years to Campbell and Macquarie Islands, under the command of Captain Feen. At this time, two and a half years after its discovery, although the fur-bearing seal had been so depleted in numbers, Macquarie Island was still the home of large numbers of sea elephants. The object of the voyage was primarily to obtain oil from the latter and the skins of the fur-bearing seal.