Hamilton. — Notes on a Visit to Macquarie Island. 577 



beaches, the only other seal that is at all plentiful here is the 

 sea-leopard seal (Stenorhynchus leptonyx). I believe that the 

 time at which we were on the island is one at which both sea- 

 leopards and sea-elephants are generally absent. I saw seve- 

 ral of the fore-flappers of this seal pickled for eating. They 

 are said to be very good, but we were not there long enough 

 to come down as far as that. The sea-elephants are said to 

 be much scarcer than formerly, and they do not range much 

 to the northward at the present time, although there is a 

 skull of a very aged individual in the Otago Museum, found 

 at Oamaru, and one in the Colonial Museum at Wellington, 

 found near Castle Point. 



Fishes. — In the tidal pools at low water some small gobies 

 were found, which have not yet been examined critically, but 

 I think one of the two species is Harpagifer bispinis, also found 

 at Kerguelen. A good-sized fish was obtained by fishing with 

 a hook from one of the rocks, and specimens were preserved, 

 but have not come to hand ; and two small specimens were 

 picked up on the beach of a small sprat-like fish. The terns 

 and gulls were seen one day pursuing and diving into a shoal 

 of fish passing along the coast with the strong current to the 

 north-east. 



Mollusca. — The rocks exposed by the tides at Lusitania 

 "Ray are not very extensive, and are much swept by the 

 shingle, so that the area is not a good collecting-ground for 

 invertebrates. Between South-east Harbour and the Nugsets 

 I saw a large area of exposed flat reef which I had not time to 

 explore. The most attractive shell is a bright scarlet bivalve 

 which attaches itself to the bright-green Ulva in the rock-pools 

 and to the kelp in the deeper water. It is very plentiful, and 

 I think it is Lasea rubra, or a Kellia. There has not yet 

 been time to get the few species examined, but they will be 

 worked up later on. A careful search for land or fresh- water 

 mollusca resulted in the finding of only one species, which Mr. 

 Suter refers to Laoma campbellica, Filhol (No. 139, 1880), a 

 species already known from Campbell Island. It is a minute 

 species, and occurs plentifully in the decayed vegetation every- 

 where. I was much disappointed in not finding any fresh- 

 water mollusca. 



Three species of spiders were found under the leaves of the 

 Stilbocarpa, and a few small flies were caught in the same 

 situation, one being apterous. 



I also collected some earthworms, which have, I believe, 

 been sent Home for examination. The ponds and tidal pools 

 were infested witli small white worms, and a small black 

 marine planarian was common. Some starfish, echinoderms 

 and holothurians, were also collected, but have not yet been 

 identified. 

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