386 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



On the 1st February it was blowing very hard. The sea 

 was running very high, and the vessel, being light, rolled about 

 like an empty drum. At meals we had to hold on to the 

 table. Sometimes one of the party would roll about in the 

 cabin, plates, dishes, cruet-stand, &c., following him. At night 

 the wind fell, and a hazy fog covered the ocean. Being near 

 the Antipodes, the captain went on very cautiously, and at 

 last we sighted the islands, which are about 403 miles 

 north-east from Campbell Island. The group consists of 

 several detached rocks and islets, occupying a space of from 

 four to five miles long by two miles broad. The largest island 

 is about 1,300ft. high, and some of the cliffs rise perpendi- 

 cularly for 600ft. out of the ocean. There is not much shelter 

 for vessels, the anchorage is deep, and landing bad from the 

 heavy roll of the ocean. Thousands of penguins, of three 

 Q-pecies (Eudyjjtes pachyrhy^ichits, E. clirysocomus, E.filholi), 

 were standing as if glued to the rocks ; but on our approach 

 some rolled into the water. We steamed round the whole of 

 the islands, sounding, and looking for castaway sailors. I did 

 not see any seals, and Captain Fairchild informed me that he 

 had never seen them on his previous visits. Wandering alba- 

 trosses, sooty albatrosses, molly-mawks, and Cape pigeons were 

 hovering about, and the magellanic shag busied itself in the 

 water. The weather was so bad that several times we had to 

 shift our quarters, keeping steam up the whole time. At last 

 we anchored on the south-east side, under the lee of a rock. 

 Some of us commenced fishing, and caught quantities of a fish 

 resembling blue cod, except in having a greenish-yellow rim 

 round the mouth. Some were fried for dinner, but were ex- 

 ceedingly coarse, tasting like raw mussels. I examined some 

 of them, and found that they were diseased, the flesh being 

 filled wdth small parasites. After awhile a boat was lowered, 

 provisions were put in for the depot, and the remainder of the 

 sheep and goats that we had brought from Invercargill, and 

 we pulled towards the shore. As we got nearer the penguins 

 received us with their chorus of noises. Landing we found to 

 be difficult. 



The island is as hilly as the previous ones, and appears to 

 be wholly volcanic. At an elevation of about 600ft. there is a 

 large flat, and on each side of it a mountain. Mount Gal- 

 loway, the highest, is 1,320ft. I was told by the captain that 

 there is a fresh- water lake on the top, but I had no time to 

 visit it. The vegetation consists of tussock-grass, with some 

 cotton-plants, aniseed, and veronicas intermixed with it, and 

 there is no bush whatever. The tussock-grass all grows in 

 humps, except on the tops of the hills, where it is shorter. 

 There is fresh water, but it is stained with guano. The birds 

 that I observed while on shore were two species of parrakeets ; 



