well-known resident uf Sydney, liut whu liad been st;iyin,i; un L.ad Howe Island for the past 

 Im or tweKe months, and acted as our photographei. l'"our sturdy islanders had engaged to row 

 us over to Great Admiralty Kock, a distance of about tw^o miles, and our willing hands assisted 

 them to draw the '■ Majestic " out of the palm-thatched boat-house and run the boat down to the 

 beach. On our way across the keen eyes of one of the islanders pointed out two large turtles 

 lazily iloating just beneatii the surface of the water. .Minui fiilii^iiio.ui, which usually kept some 

 thirty or forty feet high when Hying over Lord Howe Island, almost brushed against our hats 

 as we neared the islands, and we could see immense numbers of sea-birds hovering above the 

 islands, wliile comparati\ely large patches of white near the top of the rock showed that .Siilii 

 (jdnops was nesting. Judging the proper time to jump on to the slippery slime-covered rocks, 

 we all effected a landing, with the exception of two islanders, who remained fishing after rowing 

 a little distance away, to prevent the boat being dashed on to the rocks. The island is of volcanic 

 origin, about two-thirds of a mile long, and a quarter of a mile broad at its widest part. In 



POUTION OK t;i;KAT AUMIHALTY )!OCK, A NKSTINC IIAC.VT OF SEA lilKU.S. 



shape it is like a man's boot with a wide tread at the toe, and turned slightly to the left: this 

 is connected with the rounded and highest part of the island by a narrow but lofty 

 archway. There is a rough and nearly Hat plateau of rocks surrounding the island, above which 

 rises a more or less upright weathered wall, with an uneven top, running to the centre of the 

 island, which is plentifully covered with knee high grass tussocks. One of us carried a gun, the 

 two egg collectors each a bucket, with a mattrassof palm fibre at the bottom, and the remainder 

 sticks. iMy first find, just before reaching the grassy top of the island, was the pretty little Grey 

 Noddy f/'rca/^i'f/'Hj (7;/ir(i(j, which is known to the islanders as the "Blue-billy," sitting on a 

 single incubated egg, in a cranny of the weathered face. Gaining the outer grassed topped 

 edge of the island, which gradually rose much higher in the centre, especially towards either 

 end, and which consisted all over of grassy knolls, interspersed here and there with patches of 

 bare earth and rock, it behoved us to walk carefully to prevent treading on a sitting bird, egg 

 or young one. Thousands of birds were hovering in the air above us, and a large number 

 remained sitting, protecting either their young ones or eggs. The birds consisted principally of 



