REPORT ()X THE BOTANY OF THE ISLANDS OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. 213 



find any tbiug to burn ; the Azorella is the only thing that will burn, and sometimes pieces of this 

 may be found that are dry enough, in places where bunches of it overhang small precipices, and the 

 water can thus drip away. 



" The feature which distinguishes the general appearance of the vegetation of Christmas Harbour 

 from that of Marion Island is the presence of the Kerguelen cabbage (Pringlca antiscorbutica) in large 

 quantities. The plant grows on the slopes and bases of the cliffs in thick beds. The cabbage is in 

 appearance like a small garden cabbage, but often with a long trailing stalk. It is, however, not 

 annual but perennial, and the flowering stalks, instead of coming out from the centre of the head, 

 come out laterally from the sides of the stalks between the leaves. 



" The old flower-stalks die and wither, but do not drop off. I counted on one cabbage at Betsy 

 Cove, twenty-eight flowering stalks of different ages, three of them only being of the current year's 

 growth, and fresh. Altogether, they appeared to belong to eight successive years. About Christmas 

 Harbour the cabbage was either in flower or green fruit, mostly the latter. It was only in the south 

 of the island, about Royal Sound, that ripe seed was met with ; but there, especially at Mutton Cove, 

 it was abundant. 



" Crawling about the heart of the cabbages, and sheltering there, were found swarms of the curious 

 wingless fly, likewise peculiar to Kerguelen and the other islands where the cabbage grows. The 

 fly (Calycoptcryx, moscleyi, Eaton) is simply a long-legged brown insect, with very minute rudimentary 

 wings. It crawls about lazily on the cabbage, and lays its eggs in the moisture between the leaves, 

 near the heart of the plant. 



" Another fly (Amalopteryx maritima), with wings rudimentary but larger in proportion to the 

 body than in the other, is found about the rocks on the sea-shore, where it jumps about when hunted, 

 like a small grasshopper. It is the same as found at Marion Island, where it was discovered by 

 von Willemoes Suhm. Probably the fly frequenting the cabbage also exists at Marion Island ; but 

 we did not know where to look for it when there, and cabbages were not very abundant ; but it is 

 possible, also, that it does not extend there, for we saw no teal on Marion Island, though they exist 

 in abundance on the Crozets, and especially on Possession Island, where, as we were told by the 

 sealers, there is a lake full of them. However, we examined but a very small tract of Marion Island, 

 and similar tracts are to be found in Kerguelen Island, with very few cabbages and consequently 

 without teal. Both animals may abound in parts of Marion Island not visited by us. 



" A wingless gnat (Halirytus amphibius) also inhabits the sea-shore, living amongst the seaweed 

 constantly wetted by the tide. I discovered at the Falkland Islands a similar wingless gnat, and a 

 fly which I believe to be closely allied to the Kerguelen Amalopteryx, and which thus adds to those 

 already known a further interesting link between the forms of life inhabiting these widely separated 

 islands. 



'; I mounted up the slope towards Table Mountain. The climb is up a succession of steps, the 

 successive flat ledges presenting glaciated surfaces scattered over with stones fallen from above. The 

 thick rank vegetation ceases at about 300 feet altitude, and then becomes more sparse. Colobanthus 

 kerguelensis, a plant peculiar to Kerguelen and Heard Islands, affects the more barren stony ground 

 at this elevation, and I did not meet with it anywhere about the lower slopes, or amongst the peaty 

 soil. On Heard Island it grows at the sea-level. 



"At about 500 feet elevation, a very handsome lichen (Newropogon taylori) commences rather 

 abruptly. It is very conspicuous, being of a mingled bright sulphur-yellow and black colour, and of 

 large size. This lichen is abundant on the higher rocks everywhere. Azorella and PringUa grow 



