Aves. 119 



to investigate the strange animals coming towards them ; for their 

 curiosity was astonishing. Along the floes they came waddling from 

 side to side, and raising and lowering their flippers in a most ludicrous 

 fashion. At last they came right up to the men, walked round, and 

 surveyed them critically in a most comical manner " (p. 44). " On 

 the morning of the Gth of February, we passed an ice-floe upon which 

 there was quite a small colony of Penguins : some were moulting 

 and had made themselves small cavities in the ice where they stood, 

 until, apparently, the period of moulting was over " (p. 58). Of the 

 landing at Cape Adare Mr. Bernacchi writes (p. 66) : " We had not 



THE "SECLUDED AND MELANCHOLY INHABITANTS. 

 {By 2)ermission of Messrs. Hurst & Blackett.) 



walked far before we met tlie secluded and melancholy inhabitants 

 of that South Polar land ; these were the Penguins scattered about in 

 groups of a hundred and more. They extended us but cold courtesy 

 and gravely regarded us from a distance; but on our approaching 

 closer they evinced more interest, and commenced talking loquaciously 

 together in their own particidar vernacular. They had evidently 

 discovered that there was something unusual about our appearance, 

 and some were commissioned to investigate matters. These, with 

 perfect sang-froid, slowly marched right up to our feet and ogled up 

 at us in most ludicrous fashion. Having finished this scrutiny, they 

 returned to their fellows as sedately as they had come, and thence- 



