CHAP. III.] BAHIA TO THE CAFE. 163 



sliort and soft and useless for flight. It is common on the pla- 

 teau, and runs like a partridge among the long grass and ferns, 

 feeding upon insects and seeds. An island hen is also found 

 on Gough Island ; but the sealers think it is the same as the 

 Tristan species. 



Some of our party returned to the ship about midday, and 

 we cruised round the island, the surveyors plotting in the coast- 

 line, and thus filling up a geographical blank, and in the after- 

 noon we dredged in sixty and seventy-five fathoms. 



We returned to the anchorage about seven o'clock, and the 

 exploring parties came on board, the Germans accompanying 

 them with all their gear. As we hove in sight of the hnt a 

 broad blaze shot up, followed by a dense volume of smoke, and 

 in a few minutes the solitary human habitation on Inaccessi- 

 ble Island was reduced to a heap of ashes. I do not not know 

 whether the match was put to the dry straw of the thatch by 

 accident or by design, but the StoltenhofEs seemed to feel little 

 regret at the destruction of their dwelling. They left the place 

 with no very friendly feelings toward their Tristan neighbors, 

 and had no wish to leave any thing behind them which might 

 be turned to their use. 



Early on the morning of Friday, the 17th, we were off Night- 

 ingale Island, so named after the Dutch skipper who first re- 

 ported it. The outline of this island is more varied than that 

 of the other two, and its geological structure is somewhat differ- 

 ent. Toward the north end there is a conical peak of a gray, 

 rudely columnar basaltic rock 1105 feet high, and the southern 

 portion of the island, which is more undulating, consists of bed- 

 ded tufts with included angular fragments of dolerite, like the 

 rocks above the settlement in Tristan. Near the south shore 

 these softer rocks run up into a second lower ridge, and a low 

 cliff bounds the island twenty or thirty feet high, with creeks 

 here and there where boats can land through the surf. In the 

 sea-cliff there are some large caves worn in the friable rock, 



