498 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



inhabitants. Anxious that we should see the sea-lions at their 

 best, he rounded up a small mob with a manuka switch, flog- 

 ging them occasionally gently, and not even seriously alarming 

 them. The great clums}^ beasts cantered over the rough 

 ground through the tussocks and over the stones in the most 

 ludicrous way. At last they appeared to become quite obe- 

 dient, and when told to stop did so, turning and staring at 

 their pursuers, literally aj)pearing to obey the word of com- 

 mand. At last they were turned back and told " Now you may 

 go," and away they capered back, dragging their heavy bodies 

 along the edge of the cliff at a smart pace till they got a chance 

 of sliding down and plunging into the sea. We came across 

 more of them here and there in the tall grass on this island, 

 and, indeed, during the whole of our stay in this group we 

 found them everywhere in the vicinity of the sea, and seldom 

 launched a boat without finding it accompanied to the shore 

 by at least one sea-lion, always as tame as poodles. 



Among the woods here, — mostly low rata {Metrosideros 

 lucida) and Coprosma, — we saw and heard the bell-bird 

 (AntJiornis melanura) and other songsters; in the grass, the 

 little island snipe were plentiful ; terns flew about the cliffs, 

 screaming above the heads of the boys who took their eggs. 

 Among the tall grass grew great plants of the large Ligusticum 

 laiifoiium., a very handsome plant with heavy masses of seed 

 on the heads, having the general appearance of celery seed. 

 Close to the shore we found beautiful gentians, covered with 

 masses of bright flowers of several colours varying from white 

 to purple, with intermediate shades ; here, too, grew rare 

 forms of plantain, and tiny creeping Coi:irosmas with bright 

 berries, telling the visitor m the plainest terms that he was 

 now entering a sub-arctic region, and that the sea-level plants 

 here were equivalent to mountain plants nearly 3,000ft. above 

 the sea in New Zealand. The grass was everywhere a coarse 

 tussock. 



In the afternoon we passed up to the depot in Erebus Cove, 

 Port Eoss. This may be called the historical centre of the 

 island group, and about it may be found enough evidence to 

 show that a country without inhabitants may have a sad and 

 stirring history. 



In the depot house a simple inscription in chalk upon a 

 board told the story of the men of the " Derry Castle," their 

 sufferings and rescue. On a slate in the same room was a 

 record of the story of the "General Grant." In a little 

 cemetery, a short way oft' among the scrub now covering the 

 site of the clearing made by Mr. Enderby's settlers in .1850-62, 

 were several graves. One neat stone recorded the death of the 

 child of a settler in 1861. Hard by was the grave of a sailor 

 who had starved to death. He was one of the crew of the 



