REVIEWS 337 



Of the other larger forms of Hfe, the most conspicuous are naturally the birds, 

 and Mr. Waite gives us some interesting particulars, accompanied with excellent 

 photographs, of the albatrosses which he found nesting in large numbers on 

 Auckland and Campbell Islands. The nesting habits of these wonderful birds can 

 be easily observed, as they build large, mound-like nests close to one another 

 among the tussocky grass and scrub on the tops of the cliffs. 



But the naturalist, in looking through these fascinating, beautifully illustrated 

 volumes, will turn with eagerness to the description of the geology and of the land 

 fauna and flora, with the hope of gleaning some further information which may 

 throw light on the geographical problems connected with these islands and their 

 relationship to the Antarctic Continent, past and present. The principal mass of 

 Campbell Island is composed of volcanic lavas and breccias and a small area 

 of more ancient gabbro ; but on the west coastal area a fringe of Tertiary strata 

 (probably Miocene) is exposed. The Snares are composed entirely of granite. 

 The oldest rocks of the Auckland Islands consist of masses of granite and gabbro, 

 overlaid and penetrated; by dykes of trachyte, porphyrite and diabase. Next in 

 order comes a conglomerate containing fragments of these rocks and of gneiss, 

 granite, and contorted schists. The occurrence of this conglomerate is doubtless 

 of great importance as indicating the presence of a contmental area in the 

 neighbourhood ; it would also appear that the outpourings of basalt which form the 

 main mass of the islands were subaerial and not submarine. No fossiliferous 

 stratified rocks were found. Signs of extensive glaciation, probably of Pleistocene 

 age, were observed. 



The geological evidence is favourable, therefore, to a previous greater extension 

 of these islands, and it is not opposed to the theory of their having been once 

 connected with New Zealand by a continuous land mass, though direct proof of 

 this theory is not forthcoming. 



Turning to the fauna of the islands Prof. Chilton in his summary of the results 

 of the Expedition argues strongly in favour of a much closer connection in previous 

 times with New Zealand. Evidence is drawn from land-shells, earth-worms, 

 fresh-water Crustacea, and apterous insects. 



Prof. Benham, speaking of the earth-worms, comments on the existence of the 

 genera Rhododrilus and Plagiochseta in New Zealand, and also in the Auckland 

 and Campbell Islands, and of the occurrence in the Auckland Islands of 

 Leptodrilus, an endemic genus closely related to the purely New Zealand form 

 Rhododrilus, and says : " The occurrence, then, of these three genera evidently 

 indicates a former land continuity between the mainland and these subantarctic 

 islands." Prof. Chilton records the occurrence of two New Zealand species of 

 fresh-water Crustacea {Idoiea lacustris and Chiltonia ini/iiwaka). These Crus- 

 tacea do not lay resting eggs— immersion in sea-water rapidly kills them; and it 

 IS practically inconceivable that they could have been carried across the wide 

 stretches of ocean which at present separate the islands from New Zealand. 

 Among the insects are many wingless forms, and forms with reduced wings, 

 many of which are peculiar species with close relations either in New Zealand 

 or neighbouring Antarctic countries. 



It would appear to be established, then, that these outlying islands of New 

 Zealand, probably including Macquarie Island from what little is known of it, 

 were in previous times of much greater extent, and in close connection if not 

 actually joined on to New Zealand. But Prof, Chilton deals with the further 

 and wider problem as to the possible connection between the New Zealand thus 

 extended and the Antarctic Continent. The theory of a more greatly extended 



