AUCKLAND ISLANDS, a group of islands in the southern Pacific Ocean in so° 24' S., 166° 7' E., discovered in i8o6 by Capt. Briscoe. The islands are of volcanic origin, with fertile soil and are forest clad. They were granted to a private company by the British Government as a whaling station, but the estab lishment was abandoned in 1852. The islands belong politically to New Zealand, which maintains there a depot of food and cloth ing for shipwrecked sailors. They are uninhabited. Area of the largest about 33osq. miles.