206 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



able to spend only some six hours on shore, and 

 the greater part of that time was taken up in 

 walking from the landing-place to the crater, a 

 distance of something over three miles along an 

 exceedingly rough track. 



In a voyage of this kind, however, it is im- 

 possible to do so much as was originally intended, 

 owing to delays which are always experienced in 

 ports. For instance, we were delayed for various 

 reasons at Bahia for two weeks, and the same 

 length of time at Valparaiso, where the ship was 

 dry-docked, owing to an injury to the propeller, 

 sustained while steaming through the ice in 

 Smythe's Channel. 



In such ways as these, days were lost in places 

 of little interest compared to that of Easter 

 Island and Pitcairn. The whole of this voyage 

 occupied nine months only, and so we were forced 

 to be content with extremely short stays at many 

 of the islands, while visits to others, such as South 

 Trinidad and the Marquesas, had to be abandoned 

 altogether. 



