1 1.— B T A N Y. 



Art. XXII. — Notes on the Three Kings Islands. 



By T. F. Chebseman, F.L.S. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 3rd October, 1887.] 



During the return voyage of the Colonial Government steamer 

 Stella from the Kermadec Islands, Mr. Percy Smith and my- 

 self were enabled, through the kindness of Captain Fairchild, 

 to land and spend two or three hours on the Three Kings 

 Islands. As up to the time of our visit nothing whatever was 

 known of the natural history of the Islands, and as their 

 position at the extreme north of New Zealand renders any 

 information on their plants, birds, &c, of value to those who 

 are working out the geographical distribution of the flora and 

 fauna of New Zealand, I propose to give an account of what we 

 were able to observe during the short time at our disposal. 



The Three Kings are a group of small islands situated about 

 33 miles W.N.W. of Cape Maria van Diemen. One of them is 

 considerably larger than the rest, and is known as the Great 

 King. It is about lf-mile in length, by f-mile in width ; and 

 its highest point, according to the Admiralty charts, is 997 feet 

 above sea-level. Two smaller islands are called the East King 

 and West King respectively. They are each of them somewhere 

 near ^-mile in length, and about 600 feet in height. On the 

 outside of the West King is a straight row of 8 or 9 tall conical 

 rocks, terminated by a small island about 350 feet in height. 

 This group is called the Prince's Islands, and has a most singular 

 and picturesque appearance when seen from the distance of a 

 mile or two. 



The Stella approached the Great King on the S.E. side. 

 Seen from the sea, the aspect of the island is barren and for- 

 bidding in the extreme. Black and rugged cliffs, bare of vegeta- 

 tion, and often several hundred feet in height, form the greater 

 part of the shore, and against them a heavy surf continually 

 rolls, the spray dashiug far up their sides. The summit of the 

 island appeared to be covered with short tea-tree, flax, and 

 sedges, and gave little promise of anything but a very scanty 

 vegetation. Steaming slowly along the eastern shore in search 

 of a landing-place, we passed between the East King and the 

 main island. Further to the northward the cliffs were still 



