Amsterdam Island
AMSTERDAM ISLAND (NEW AMSTERDAM), an uninhabited and almost inaccessible island in the Indian Ocean, in 37 deg. 47' S., and 77 deg. 34' E., about 60 m. N. of St Paul Island, and nearly midway between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania. It is an extinct volcano, rising 2989 ft. from the sea. It was discovered by Anthony van Diemen in 1633, and annexed by France in 1893. It may have been sighted by the companions of Magellan returning to Europe in 1522, and by a Dutch vessel, the "Zeewolf," in 1617. In 1871 the British frigate "Megaera" was wrecked here, and most of the 400 persons on board had to remain upwards of three months on the island. The Memoires of a Frenchman, Captain Francois Peron (Paris, 1824), who was marooned three years on the island (1792-1795), are of much interest.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
