192 HEARD ISLAND. 



The sandy plain stretches back from the bay as a dreary 

 waste to another small curved beach at the head of another 

 inlet of the sea. Behind this inlet is an irregular rocky moun- 

 tain mass forming the end of the island, on which are two large 

 glaciers very steeply inclined, and one of them terminating in 

 a sheer ice-fall. At its back this mountain mass is bounded 

 by precipices with their bases washed by the sea. 



The plain is traversed by several streams of glacier water 

 coming from the southern glaciers. These streams are con- 

 stantly changing their course, as the beach and plain are washed 

 about by the surf in heavy weather. At the time of our visit 

 the main stream stretched across the entire width of the plain 

 and entered the sea at the extreme western verge of the beach. 

 We had therefore to ford it. 



The stream was about 20 yards across, and knee-deep. It 

 was intensely cold, and pained my legs worse than any glacier 

 water I have ever waded in. The water of the stream was 

 brown, opaque, and muddy, charged with the grindings of the 

 glaciers. Running into the sea it formed a conspicuous brown 

 tract, sharply defined from the blue-green water of the sea, and 

 extending almost to the mouth of the bay. 



The sandy plain seemed entirely of glacial origin ; it was in 

 places covered with glacial mud, and was yielding, and heavy to 

 walk upon. 



Mr. Buchanan observed that the isolated rocks which had 

 been rolled down upon this plain from the heights above were 

 cut by the natural sand-blast into forms resembling trees on a 

 coast exposed to trade winds. The effect of every prevalent 

 wind was shown by the facets cut by the blown sand upon the 

 surfaces of the rocks, the largest facet in each case being that 

 turned towards the west.* 



The plain was strewed with bones of the Sea-Elephant and 

 Sea-Leopard, those of the former being most abundant. There 

 were remains of thousands of skeletons, and I gathered a good 

 many tusks of old males. The bones lay in curved lines, 

 looking like tide lines, on either side of the plain above the 

 beaches, marking the rookeries of old times and tracks of 

 slaughter of the sealers. Some bones occurred far up on the 

 plain, the Elephants having in times of security made their lairs 

 far from the water's edge. A few whale's vertebrae were also 

 seen lying about. 



On the opposite side of the plain from that bounded by the 

 glacier is a stretch of low bare rock, with a peculiar smooth and 

 rounded but irregular surface. This rock surface appears from 

 a distance as if glaciated, but on closer examination it is seen to 



* J. Y. Buchanan, M.A., Report, " Proc. R, Soc."' No. 170, 1876, p. 622. 



