172 



A NATURALIST ON THE " CHALLENGER. 



I made my way up a steep bank and over a low hill to 

 reach the plain where were most albatrosses. The walking was 

 extremely tiring. The bank was steep and the soil saturated 

 with moisture, and consisting of a black slimy mud, with holes 

 full of water everywhere. The thick rank herbage concealed 

 these treacherous places, and the ground being covered with 

 Azorella tufts, these gave way under one's feet and rendered 

 progression excessively wearying. Further, the sun coming out 

 bright and hot every now and then, made us, who had gone 

 on shore thickly clad, perspire very freely. 



The albatrosses were all around, raised from the ground. Their 

 nests are in the style of those of the Mollymauks, but much 

 larger, a foot and a-half at least in diameter at the top. They 

 are made up of tufts of grass and moss, with plenty of adhering 

 earth beaten and packed together, and are not so straight in the 

 sides as those of the Mollymauks, but more conical, with broad 

 bases. 



GREAT ALBATROSS ON ITS NEST, MARION ISLAND. 



(From a photograph.) 



The female albatross is sprinkled with grey on the back, and 

 is thus darker than the male, which is of a splendid snow-white 

 with the least possible grey speckling, and which was now, of 



