138 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



out on a voyage of exploration. At the head of the gorge we 

 come to the entrance to a large cave or tunnel, upwards of a 

 hundred yards long and 40 feet wide. Passing rapidly through 

 to the other end we find ourselves looking down on a deep gorge 

 strewn with huge boulders and lined with rugged cliffs, extending 

 right across the island. In line with the first cave, but high up 

 on the other side of the gorge, is the entrance to a second 

 cave, with a spot of light in one corner indicating the exit at the 

 other end, as seen in illustration. Curious to see where it leads 

 to, we scramble across the gorge, crawling under the boulders 

 where we cannot get over them, and at last reach the cave. 

 There is evidence that the guano traders lived here in the 

 shape of cooking utensils so rotten that they crumble when 

 touched. The floor of these caves is composed of guano 

 and strewn with the bones of seals and such large numbers 

 of Albatross bones as to excite our wonder : in one heap alone, 

 sifted out by the guano traders, there must have been the bones 

 of several thousand birds. They could hardly have been de- 

 stroyed in such numbers by the sealers ; possibly the birds have 

 for centuries sought the darkness of the caves in which to die. 

 The guano we found to be perfectly dry ; some which had been 

 stacked in bags twenty-five years before was perfectly intact. 

 The whole island is composed of a quartz conglomerate, probably 

 of Palaeozoic age, and of such hardness that the terrible surf 

 seems to have but little effect on it. The rock is in many places 

 intersected vertically by softer strata, which are much eroded by 

 the waves. The caves have apparently been formed in this 

 manner when the island was much lower. It seems to be 

 certain that the whole island is rising, for the bottom of the deep 

 gorge, which extends across the island, is stated by Captain 

 Mullins to have been covered at high tide, whereas now it is some 

 30 feet above. On the chart, also, two islands are shown, and the 

 height given as 120 feet, while our aneroid registered nearly 150 

 feet. On passing through the second cave we find ourselves in a 

 hollow in the centre of the island ; climbing up the side of this 

 we at last arrive at the top of the island. Here the scene is of 

 surpassing grandeur and impressiveness. The rock juts out all 

 over the island, often in the most fantastic shapes, festooned 

 with flowering mesembryanthemum and wild geranium, the only 

 other vegetation being tussock grass and the fern Asplenium 

 marinum. The wind has freshened into an easterly gale, and 

 the surf dashes up the cliffs sixty or seventy feet, while the 

 whole air is laden with spray. We do not pause, however, for 

 our attention is riveted by a number of white forms on the 

 edge of the cliffs. With a shout of delight we make our way 

 thither, and find that which we have risked so much and come 

 so far to see — the breeding place of the Albatross. 



