336 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



southern whaling and sealing industries, were the scene of some activity, but since 

 the decay of the trade these remote islands are little thought of except as the 

 rather frequent occasion of a wreck brings them before the public mind. The 

 wreck of the Dtmdonald is sufficiently recent to be remembered by many ; the 

 vessel went to pieces on Disappointment Island in 1907, twelve of the crew being 

 drowned ; the remaining fifteen managed to subsist for seven months on the 

 island, and then to cross over to Auckland Island, where a Government depot of 

 supplies and necessaries was found, and here they remained until, a month later, 

 the Hi7ie]noa^ with the Scientific Expedition whose results we are about to examine, 

 found and rescued them. In the historical sketch of the islands by Prof. Chilton 

 in the first of the volumes before us, will be found an excellent account of the 

 vicissitudes of the sealing industry and of the many vessels that have been 

 wrecked on these stormy and rocky coasts. On many of the islands there are 

 still remnants of these wrecks and of the huts built by the marooned sailors ; 

 the beautiful photographs scattered through the volumes before us of these 

 remains and of the wild coast scenery and vegetation lend a picturesque and 

 almost romantic interest to these scientific reports. 



The islands visited by the Expedition were the Snares, Auckland Islands, and 

 Campbell Island, the latter being the most remote from New Zealand, a distance of 

 about 400 miles, but still within the 1,000-fathom line. The most distant outlier of all, 

 almost half-way between New Zealand and the Antarctic shelf, is the comparatively 

 large Macquarie Island, which was not visited on this occasion and is very little 

 known either geologically or faunistically. This island lies in the 2,000-fathom 

 limit and its thorough exploration is very desirable, as it is likely to throw further 

 light on many problems of geographical distribution. 



The excellent photographs and descriptions in Prof. Chilton's report enable us 

 to gain a good idea of the general features of the islands. Wind-swept, damp, 

 cold, and with very httle sunshine, many of them are little more than barren, 

 treeless rocks, the breeding haunts of albatrosses, penguins, and other sea birds ; 

 but Auckland Island, with precipitous cliffs to the west, affords good shelter on its 

 east and south coasts to shipping (Carnley Harbour and Port Ross), while its 

 inland slopes and valleys support a thick though stunted forest vegetation, and its 

 hills rise to over 2,000 feet in height. The principal constituent of the forest is the 

 stunted and twisted Rata, one of the Myrtacese, Metrosideros luclda, while in the 

 undergrowth are tree ferns, which here reach their southern limit. A forest forma- 

 tion is also provided by Olearia lyallii mixed with tree Senecios. Some of the open 

 meadow lands appear to be of great beauty owing to the large and conspicuous 

 flowers borne by many of the plants, such as the large-leaved Pleurophyllums, 

 which may carry large purple blooms. 



Campbell Island is more treeless than Auckland Island, owing to its being 

 more exposed and wind-swept, but a forest scrub is formed by a Dracophyllum. 

 Some of the upland meadows support a rich tussock grass, Poa, and these 

 meadows are browsed down by the sheep which are still run on this island. Of 

 the other domestic animals that have been placed on the island from time to 

 time, the principal survivors, besides rabbits, are the pigs, which have become 

 feral on the Auckland Islands and appear to thrive. Of the endemic mammalia, 

 which are of course all seals, whales, or dolph ins, the most interesting is the sea- 

 lion {Arcto cephalus hookeri), the habitual tracks of which are found passing 

 through the forest, often some way from the shore In Volume II. there are some 

 excellent photographs of these creatures both on the shore and also in the bush^ 

 where their ungainly forms seem strangely out of place. 



