496 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



seen, however, said to be as large as a blackbird, -which must 

 be uudescribed. All the land-birds were obviously weaker ou 

 the wing than their New Zealand congeners ; they were also 

 afflicted with a fatal tameness. 



It is not known whether a vessel was ever lost on the 

 Snares ; they are rather far north for the course of Melbourne 

 ships, but are often sighted. It would not be a nice place to 

 be marooned on, as the water is all polluted by the birds, the 

 penguins apparently taking an especial pleasure in turning 

 the swampy ground at the head of each rivulet into a hideous 

 pool of iilth. 



The only profit at present derivable from these islands is 

 the young mutton-bird, which is an article of commerce ; but 

 they are not now visited for this purpose, as the market is fully 

 supplied from the small islets off the coast of Stewart Island. 

 At some future time they will be productive of considerable 

 wealth as a source of food-supply. They ought, however, to 

 be examined and tested for guano, which might be found to 

 pay. The rocks appeared to be all granite, like those of 

 Stewart Island. 



As we left the shore the air was literally dark with mutton- 

 birds flying in every direction, the owners no doubt of the 

 innumerable nests on the shore. I verily believe they might 

 be numbered by millions as they followed their bewildering 

 courses through the air. I am told that towards niglit they 

 descend upon the land in such numbers as to overwdaeim the 

 fires and threaten the stability of the tent of any one en- 

 camped there. We all regretted leaving this curiously 

 attractive spot ; but in an hour we were at sea again, j)assing 

 clear of the Snares, close past the rocky Western Snares, 

 and thence turning south towards the Auckland Islands, 

 sighting as we went the high bold cliffs of the western end of 

 the main island, and passing close under them. No depot is 

 maintained on the Snares. It is scarcely necessary, as the 

 distance from good harbours in Stewart Island is not great. 

 We had now before us a distance of about 140 miles to run, 

 and with rare good fortune we had a favourable wind. 



The Snares were, I believe, discovered by Vancouver, in the 

 last century. 



II. Auckland Islands, Noethekn End. 



About breakfast time, after a night at sea, land was sighted. 

 A high island, called Disappointment Island, lies five miles off 

 the west coast of the main group, and this was first seen. It 

 is the only outlier at any distance from the closely-compacted 

 group forming the Auckland Islands. The whole group forms 

 a triangle, of which the apex points to the north. This apex 

 consists of three small and several smaller islands — viz.,. 



