246 



which may assume such an intensity that only a favoured few 

 possessing gome peculiar advantage can subsist. Amongst these 

 are frequently species not found elsewhere, and such havens of 

 refuge are the happy hunting ground of the biological collector. 

 Ihe Snares supply their quota of evidence to this theory. Of 

 animals peculiar to the group there is a dainty little snipe which 

 lives amongst the grass tussocks, probing into the peaty ground 

 with its long bill in search of worms ; also a sprightly black 

 robin and a fern-bird, these two latter flitting about amongst the 

 Ulearia trees quite without fear of human beings. The Olearia 

 covers much of these islands with a sage-green mantle. It, like 

 tne rata, has a fan-spreading and prostrate trunk, which habit in 

 this case is perhaps hereditary, since seedlings not exposed to 

 wind at all show the same bending of the main stem at quite an 

 early stage. Its leaves are large and thick and leathery, but 

 especially noteworthy is their covering of white felty hairs on the 



\Z ZT TV 1 ? ? not only renders them beautiful through 

 the contrast afforded, but prevents them losing water too rapidfy, 



snn^nil 1 '^ "T h ^? m i ent m a climate with fierce winds and a 

 wrl ™i Peat ;u T hlS ree is nofc P eculi *r to the Snares, but it is 

 lack iml ™ Verth t eles ?; bein g frond only on Ewing Island, of the 

 SS g^P' together with a few trees at the end of the main 



here Zt ti» ■ ^ matter is rather to « intricate for discussion 

 hwe I, 1S f ason c to believe that the tree in question may 

 forest ofTn* meml f\ of th * now vanished and problematical 

 oo s 1 rfS" e ? t i ntarctic Continent, Peculiar to the Snares, 

 after mv iK °i ??" 'V %"**?> which l am Imposing to call 

 whon^Lnfn l fneUd '. Captain J ' Boll °ns, of the Hinemoa, 

 for manv vJ^« the f °? caS1 ^ of the sub-antarctic expedition but 



natural scieTJ ff V* ^ much to advance New Zealand 

 iSwhS ?W J?° &*>»* Very fine ^ een le aves, resembling 

 Ewi/ ^getab e marrow, given off from remarkably 



ahowv m?«S? S ' and lfc bearS rather lar S e > but b >' n « »^ans 

 loZIichtth!\aLT XJ g T ni ? h flower8 ' The genus Sdlbocarpa, 

 slands and to S^i!!' 1S f C ^ nnned to our New Zealand sub-antarctic 

 afSefen * ant ftnr rfc ^ Sl t nd aDd R«apuke, and is also related to 

 gimenfis^odiior 't^V Pr ° dllct of commercial value called 



geograukiea! % K , f „ V ham Island forget-me-not, a plant- 

 " Perh- m it g f at im P° rta nce had it been true. 



vegeSX £ t ^ S^.^ . ******* 



vegetation is rW 77,7 VV^ ! ~ matter regarding the Snares' 

 the windancl bv th ? * fltn °"tion of the plants is determined by 



sea-lions. Wi£^£TE?K ° f "T^S 1)e ^ uins and ™ mer0US 

 too far to assert ?W ?u TT dl lnnue nce, it is hardly going 



freshly rLnuvlt bv h ? ■ T^ 1 isUmd is constantly' being 

 meadow is concern^ f 5?** Und that so far ™ the tussock 

 and renewed. T e ' f T are illte rnateJy being destroyed 

 associations Where ?• ^ GS the distribution of the plant 

 might term it J*l * * n- -T St ^° ng ' forest ' or l )erha l >s l 



gr 

 w 



foliosa 



the most 



m all other groum of tl • g / Ve ? place to a tussock grass found 

 Blender hard leaves enn w* 8 named Po " scoparia, whose 



evaporation than the broaS nJ ^i wind and all °w much less 



UmaA «« * V, W1UU aiul anow muc 

 broad ones ot the first-named species." 



