the Island of Tristan da Cunha, $c. 489 
the projection of the table land. I found several mosses on the 
summit of the peak and some lichens, among others the L. pas- 
chalis.: There was also a large patch of snow a considerable way 
down its side, and another within the crater. 
Besides the principal crater, which terminates the peak, there 
are several others scattered over the declivity of the dome, which 
must have rested for ages quiescent, as they are now covered 
with verdure. Two of these are situated near the edge of the 
table land, looking down on the landing-place. 
As we walked down the mountain on our return, we passed 
among flocks of albatrosses engaged in the process of incubation, 
or tending their young. There are four species of them that 
breed on the island, none of which hatches more than one egg ata 
time; the Diomedea spadicea, exulans, chlororynchos, and fuliginosa : 
the two former give themselves no trouble in constructing their 
nest, merely choosing a dry spot of ground, and giving it a slight 
concavity to prevent the egg from rolling out of its place. The 
egg is white, very large, and of a peculiar shape, being uncom- 
monly long in proportion to its diameter, and equally thick, or 
nearly so, at both ends. 
The black albatrosses ( D. fuliginosa) are at this season gregari- 
ous, building their nests close to each other. In the area of half an 
acre I reckoned upwards of a hundred. They are constructed of 
mud, raised five orsix inches, and slightly depressed at thetop. At 
the time we passed, the young birds were more than half grown, 
and covered with a whitish down. There was something extremel y 
grotesque in the appearance of these birds standing on their re- 
spective hillocks motionless like so many statues, until we ap- 
proached close to them, when they set up the strangest clattering 
with their beaks, and, if we touched them, squirted on us a de- 
luge of fœtid oily fluid from the stomach. i 
The 
