REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF THE ISLANDS OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. 247 



them of the usual fantastic shapes. Above, the glaciers were covered with snow, which, as one looked 

 higher and higher, was seen to gradually obliterate the crevasses, and assume the appearance of a 

 neve. The extent of glacier free from snow was very small ; the region in which thawing can take 

 place to any considerable extent being confined to a range not far above sea-level. Here and there 

 were to be seen, on the surface of the glacier, the characteristic deep, vertical, pipe-like holes full of 

 water, which were bned by concentric layers of ice, composed of prisms disposed radially to the centres 

 of the holes and produced by successive night-frosts. Cones of ice covered with sand, and appearing 

 as if composed of sand alone, but astonishing one by their hard and resistant nature when struck 

 with a stick, were also to be seen on the glacier. I have seen closely similar cones in the Tyrol ; 

 and, when a tyro at alpine climbing, have jarred my hand in attempting to thrust my alpenstock 

 into them. Here the sand was black and volcanic. Small table-stones were not uncommon upon 

 the glacier, and, in fact, all the phenomena caused by thawing from the action of direct radiant heat 

 were present. The usual narrow longitudinal lines or cracks caused by the shearing of the ice in its 

 differential motion were present, and gave evidence of the grinding together of the closely opposed 

 surfaces forming them. The dirt and stones on the surface of the ice were, as is commonly the case, 

 more abundant towards the termination of the glacier and the moraine, but they were not so abun- 

 dant as usual, and there were no large stones amongst them, nor were such to be seen in the moraine. 



" The harpooneer of the ' Emma Jane,' the whaling schooner with which we fell in at Kerguelen 

 Island, told me that he had always wondered where the stones on the ice came from at all ; and no 

 wonder, for Big Ben is generally hidden from view, and the glaciers seem to have nothing above 

 from which the stones might come. Most of the stones, no doubt, reach the surface and see the 

 light only when they are approaching the bottom of the glacier. The terminal moraine showed the 

 ordinary irregular, conical heaping, and marks of recent motion of the stones and earth composing it 

 from the thawing of the ice supporting them, and a small stream running from the glacier-bed cut 

 its way to the sea through a short arched tunnel in the ice, as so commonly occurs elsewhere. A 

 small cascade poured out of the ice-cliff on to the sea-shore from an aperture about half-way up it. 

 All the moraines showed evidence of the present shrinking of the glaciers. 



" The view along the shore of the successive terminations of the glaciers was very fine. I had 

 never before seen a coast-line composed of cliffs and headlands of ice. None of the glaciers came 

 actually down into the sea, but the bases of their cliffs rested on the sandy beach, and were only just 

 washed by the waves at high water, or during gales of wind. The lateral moraines were of the usual 

 form, with sharp-ridged crests and natural slopes on either side, forming lines of separation between 

 the contiguous glaciers. They were somewhat serpentine in course, and two of them were seen to occur 

 immediately above points where the glaciers on either hand were separated by masses of rock in situ, 

 which masses showed out between the ice-cliffs on the shore and had the ends of the moraines resting 

 on them. A stretch of perfectly level black sand about half a mile in width forms the head of the bay, 

 and intervenes between the glaciers and a promontory of rocky rising land stretching out northwards 

 and westwards, and forming the other side of the bay, and on the smooth sandy beach bounding this 

 plain we landed. The surf was not heavy, but we had to drag the boat up at once. In this we 

 were helped by six wild-looking sealers, who had made their appearance on the rocks as soon as the 

 ship entered the bay, with their rifles in their hands, and had gazed on us with astonishment. The 

 boss said, as we landed, he ' guessed we were out of our reckoning.' They evidently thought no one 

 could have come to Heard Island on purpose who was not in the seaUng business. The sandy plam 



