the Island of Tristan da Citnha, <}c. 489 



the projection of the table land. I found several mosses on the 

 summit of the peak and some lichens, among others the L. pas- 

 c/ialis. There ^vas also a large patch of snow a considerable way 

 down its side, and another within the crater. 



Besides the principal crater, which terminates the peak, there 

 are several others scattered over the declivity of the dome, which 

 must have rested for ages quiescent, as they are now covered 

 ■with verdure. Two of these are situated near the edge of the 

 table land, looking down on the landing-place. 



As we walked down the mountain on our refurn, we passed 

 among flocks of albatrosses engaged in the process of incubation, 

 or tending their young. There are four species of them that 

 breed on the island, none of which hatches more than one egg at a 

 time ; the Diomedea spadicea, e.rulans, chlororynchos, and fuUgi?iosa : 

 the two former give themselves no trouble in constructing their 

 nest, merely choosing a dry spot of ground, and giving it a, slight 

 concavity to prevent the egg from rolling out of its place. The 

 egg is white, very large, and of a peculiar shape, being uncom- 

 monly long in proportion to its diameter, and equally thick, or 

 nearly so, at both ends. 



The black albatrosses {U.fuligmosa) are at this season gregari- 

 ous, building their nests close to each other. In the area of half an 

 acre I reckoned upwards of a hundred. They are constructed of 

 mud, raised five or six inches, and slightly depressed at the top. At 

 the time we passed, the young birds were more than half grown, 

 and covered with a whitish down. There was something extremely 

 grotesque in the appearance of these birds standing on their re- 

 spective hillocks motionless like so many statues, until we ap- 

 proached close to them, when they setup the strangest clattering 

 with their beaks, and, if we touched them, squirted on us a de- 

 luge of foetid oily fluid from the stomach. 



The 



