Chai'man.— 0?t the Islands south <\f New Zealand. 'yll 



have been a cloud-effect only. A suggestion that it was an 

 iceberg would not answer, as' it was distant twenty-five miles, 

 a distance at which the highest floating berg could not be 

 seen. As seals were at one time numerous at Macquarie 

 Island, and numerous ships \-isited it in pursuit of them until 

 they were exterminated, it is not likely that they left Emerald 

 Island unsought for. 



We made a quick run to Port Chalmers, and so ended this 

 most successful and enjoyable expedition. From all_ classes 

 —officers, stewards, and sailors — we met with nothing but 

 kindness and attention. 



Addenda. 



Captain Fairchild writes me on the subject of dates of 

 nesting of the albatros and crested penguin as follows : " I 

 find that the albatros lays— Campbell Island, lat. 5'i° 33' 26" 

 S., oth December; Auckland Islands, lat. 60^ 0' 32" S., 5th 

 January; Antipodes Island, lat. 49° 42' 5" S., 20th January. 

 They must take nearly 50 days to hatch, as we found them 

 just beginning to lay on the Antipodes Island the 17th January 

 last; and when I was on the Antipodes on the 18th March, 

 1886, I found them just beginning to hatch out. The pen- 

 guins lay — On the Snares, lat. 48° S., 1st October, and hatch 

 out about 5th November ; on Campbell Island, about 5th 

 September ; on Antipodes, about 25th September ; on the 

 Bounties, lat. 47° 46' 24" S., about 1st October, the same time as 

 •on the Snares. I have not been able to see the man I wanted 

 to see from the Chatham Islands, so I cannot tell you when 

 the alboiroses lay there, but I know^ that it is later than it is 

 on thf» islands farther south." 



Kaynal, Masgrave's mate, mentions gathering several eggs 

 at Campbell Island on the 2nd December, only one of which 

 was fresh enough to eat. The evidence in the recent case of 

 deserting seamen tried in Dunedin showed also that at Camp- 

 bell Island the birds were nesting in November. The advanced 

 state in which we found a certain proportion of the eggs at 

 Auckland Islands showed that the earliest eggs are laid at an 

 earlier date than Captain Fairchild gives. 



Captain Fairchild visited the islands again in October, 

 1890, and experienced terrible weather. The barometer three 

 times recorded 28-62. He tells me he found very few alba- 

 troses on the islands excepting young ones. This confirms 

 the statement that the old birds abandon their large full-grown 

 chicks, and these have to live on their own fat until they are 

 strong enough and light cnougli to fly. 



As I have been asked by many people as to whether valu;ible 

 minerals exist in the islands, I can only say that the appear- 

 ances seem to me to render this improbable. The Snares and 



