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CHAPTER VII. 

 PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDS. THE CROZET ISLANDS. 



Appearance and Formation of Marion Island. Vegetation of the Island. 

 Azorella selago. Limit of Vegetation in Altitude. Relations of the 

 Flora. Former Extension of Land in this Region. Nesting of the 

 Great Albatross. Mode of Courtship. Skuas. " Johnny " Pen- 

 guins. Rock Hoppers. Rookeries of King Penguins. Absurd 

 appearance of the Young Birds. Singular Mode of Incubation. 

 Habits of Sheath-bills. Appearance of the Crozet Islands. Tree-trunks 

 found in the Island by former Voyagers. 



Marion Island, December 26th, 18^3. — Marion Island, which 

 with the smaller island of Prince Edward makes up the Prince 

 Edward Group, was sighted on the evening of December 25th. 

 The centre of Marion Island is in lat. 46° 52' S., long. 37° 45' E., 

 that of Prince Edward Island in lat. 46° 36' S., long. 37° 57' E., 

 the City of Lyons being in a nearly corresponding latitude 

 in the northern hemisphere. 



The islands are distant from the Crozets (which lie a little 

 to the north or west of them, and are the nearest land) 450 

 miles. The African continent is distant from them about 960 

 miles, the nearest point being about Cape Recife at Algoa Bay. 

 From Kerguelen's Land the Marion Islands are distant about 

 1,200 miles, from Lindsay and Bouvet Islands about 1,400 

 miles, from Tristan cla Cunha and Gough Islands about 2,150 

 miles ; and, lastly, from the Falkland Islands and Euegia 

 (to which, in common with all the other Antarctic islands 

 hitherto examined, except the Campbell and Auckland group, 

 they are in their flora most nearly related) they are distant 

 about 4,500 geographical miles. 



The islands lie, as do the Crozets and Kerguelen's Land, well 

 within the course of the Antarctic drift, which, fusing with the 

 Cape Horn current, sweeps in an easterly direction across the 



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