Pepys Island in detail (William Hacke, 1699, Collection of Original Voyages) |
|
Pepys Island depicted on an 18th century map (R.W. Seale, ca. 1745, fragment) |
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Archipelago | Falkland Islands |
| Country | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Pepys Island is a phantom island, said to lie about 230 nautical miles (260 mi; 430 km) north of the Falkland Islands in 47°S.[1] It was first described by Ambrose Cowley in 1684, presumably mistaking the coordinates of one of the Falkland Islands, and named by him for Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Admiralty. Other observers on the voyage, such as William Dampier, did not record the island. The name was also applied to South Georgia ().
Many expeditions attempted to locate the island during the eighteenth century. Some, including John Byron, identified it with the Falkland Islands, but others such as Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, Lord Anson and even Captain Cook continued searching until the 1780s, when Cowley's original journal was rediscovered and his mistake noticed.