MARION ISLAND. 165 



were covered with a coating of green, .which formed a contrast 

 to the dark cliffs and red lower cones, which were almost 

 destitute of verdure and had very little snow upon them. Here 

 and there large patches of yellow showed out amidst the green, 

 and were conspicuous even at some distance from the shore. 

 It was found that these patches were formed of mosses. The 

 mosses, indeed, occurring thus in patches, some dark, some 

 nearly white, and others yellow, form the principal features in 

 the vegetation as seen from a distance, showing out, as they do, 

 amongst the very uniform mixture of phanerogamic plants. 

 The small rocky projections on the rough surfaces of the modern 

 lava-flows, standing out dark above the verdure, have at a 

 distance exactly the appearance of low bushes with dark foliage, 

 and were at first believed to be such. Landing was effected on 

 the north-east side of the island. The day was remarkably 

 line and sunshiny. 



The rocks, about high-tide mark, are covered with a dense 

 growth of the large brown seaweed, D' Urvillcea uiilis, which is of 

 great assistance in breaking the surf. Beyond the ordinary 

 reach of the sea, but still within the beach-line, the rocks are 

 covered with a crassulaceous plant (Tillcea moschata, D.C.), 

 occurring also in Kerguelen's Land Succeeding the beach is a 

 thick growth of herbage investing a swampy black peaty soil, 

 which covers the underlying rock more or less thickly every- 

 where on the lower ground and extends up with the herbage 

 almost to the snow. The principal plants forming the thick 

 growth are an Accena {Accena ascendens), Azorella selago, and 

 a grass {Poa cookii, Hk. £). The Accena is by far the most 

 abundant plant on the island. 



The Azorella forms low, convex, bright green patches in 

 intervals between the Accena or cake-like masses at its roots. 



Azorella selago is a characteristic plant of the southern 

 islands, and will be frequently referred to in the sequel. It 

 belongs to the Umbelliferse. It forms lar^e convex masses often 

 several feet in diameter, which are compact and firm, and when 

 on solid ground yield little to the tread. The masses are made 

 up of the stems and shoots of the plants closely packed together 

 side by side, with their flowering tips and small stiff and tough 



