Its precise situation is 37 degrees 17' S.latitude, longitude 12 degrees 24' W.It is seven or eight miles in circumference, and on all sides presents a forbidding and precipitous aspect.

Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole region is sterile, nothing growing upon it except a few stunted shrubs.
Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in latitude 37 degrees 26' S., longitude 12 degrees 12' W.Off its southern extremity is a high ledge of rocky islets; a few also of a similar appearance are seen to the northeast.

The ground is irregular and sterile, and a deep valley partially separates it.
The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with sea lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a great variety of oceanic birds.

Whales are also plenty in their vicinity.
Owing to the ease with which these various animals were here formerly taken, the group has been much visited since its discovery.

The Dutch and French frequented it at a very early period.