JOHN W. THIERET, Curator, Economic Botany 



KERGUELEN'S CABBAGE 



The Kerguelen cabbage is the most 

 celebrated plant from that minuscule 

 portion of our planet known as the Ker- 

 guelen Archipelago or, more graphically, 

 as Desolation Land. Kerguelen, one of 

 the few island-groups in the bleak vast- 

 ness of the subantarctic Indian Ocean, is 

 midway between South Africa and Aus- 

 tralia and about 1,000 miles north of Ant- 

 arctica. Its islands, which are of volcanic 

 origin, are scattered over a distance of 

 about 125 miles from north to south and 

 90 miles from east to west. The archi- 

 pelago consists of a main island — Ker- 

 guelen Island — and some 400 smaller 

 ones, most of which are mere islets. 

 Kerguelen Island is about 85 miles in 

 greatest length and width, but no part 

 of the interior is more than 1 5 miles from 

 the sea because the coast on all sides 

 abounds in large inlets and long, narrow 

 fiords. The loftiest peak is Mount Ross, 

 whose fog-shrouded summit reaches 6,400 

 feet. The higher portions of the island 



lashing the surface into foam, and hur- 

 tling the water to and fro with convul- 

 sive violence. Many a vessel, thought 

 to be snug in a sheltered harbor, has 

 been driven aground by these unexpected 

 winds. Along the seashore the tempera- 

 ture is remarkably equable. The ther- 

 mometer reading seldom exceeds 70° in 

 summer, and is seldom less than 32° in 

 winter. Kerguelen is a land of almost 

 incessant precipitation. Rain and snow 

 fall at any and all times during the year, 

 and fogs and mists are common. 



The archipelago was named after an 

 18 th century French explorer, Yves 

 Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec, who 

 headed an expedition seeking the Terra 

 Australis Incognita — the continent that 

 was rumored to exist in the southern 

 Indian Ocean. On the 12th of Febru- 

 ary, 1772, Kerguelen-Tremarec and his 

 men sighted Kerguelen. They claimed 

 it for France and then sailed home. Ker- 

 guelen-Tremarec was fully convinced 





are permanently ice-capped. From Cook 

 Calotte, the largest ice-field, rivers of ice 

 descend to the sea, forming icebergs at 

 their leading edges. 



The climate of Kerguelen is tempestu- 

 ous, chilly, and wet. A continual pro- 

 cession of turbulent winds sweeps over 

 the archipelago from west to east. Strong 

 gales also may suddenly volley down 

 without warning from the highlands and 

 plunge with great force upon the sea, 



that he had discovered the southern con- 

 tinent, but his assertion was discredited. 

 The following year he led another ex- 

 pedition to Kerguelen, from which he 

 returned, it is said, convinced and dis- 

 appointed that he had found only an 

 island. The French then lost all inter- 

 est in Kerguelen for about 120 years. 



Towards the end of the 19th century 

 the archipelago was viewed by European 

 powers with growing interest, which 



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