kerguelen's land. 191 



requires almost to be trodden upon, or when found with her 

 young away from the nest, nutters a few yards only, as if 

 maimed, and pitches again, and cannot be frightened into a long 

 flio-ht. It is curious that the bird should have retained this 

 instinct where there are no four-footed or human enemies ; 

 possibly she finds it a successful ruse when the brood is attacked 

 by the Skuas. 



The young must fall constantly a prey to these ever-watchful 

 Skuas, for in most cases I found only a single young one fol- 

 lowing the mother. There were no young met with in the 

 condition of flappers, and the general breeding season was 

 probably only about to begin, as it was with many birds of 

 the island. The greater part of the birds were yet in flocks. 



The flat stretch of land at the head of Christmas Harbour is 

 covered with a thick rank growth of grass (Festuca Cookii), and a 

 Composite herb with feathery leaves and yellow flower (Gotula 

 plumosa), also with Azorella as at Marion Island, with Acoena 

 Montia fontana and Callitriche verna about the dampest places. 

 The soil is black and peaty and saturated with water. It is 

 almost impossible to find anything to burn ; the Azorella is the 

 only thing that will burn, and sometimes pieces of this may be 

 found that are dry enough, in places where the Azorella bunches 

 overhang small precipices, and the water can thus drip away. 



The feature which distinguishes the general appearance of 

 the vegetation of Christmas Harbour from that of Marion Island 

 is the presence of the Kerguelen Cabbage in large quantities. 

 The plant grows on the slopes and bases of the cliffs in thick 

 beds. The cabbage is in appearance like a small garden 

 cabbage, but often with a long trailing stalk. It is, however, 

 not annual, but perennial, and the flowering stalks, instead of 

 coming out from the centre of the head, come out laterally from 

 the sides of the stalks between the leaves. 



The old flower stalks die and wither, but do not drop off. I 

 counted on one cabbage at Betsy Cove 28 flowering stalks, of 

 different ages ; three of them only being of the current year's 

 growth and fresh. They appeared to belong to eight successive 

 years. The cabbage about Christmas Harbour was either in 

 flower or green fruit, mostly the latter. It was only to the 



