STEAMER DUCK. 101 



I was oblig'ed to content mj^self ^^'ith short ex- 

 cursionSj for tlie inclemency of the weather would 

 not permit of camping- out at nig-ht. The appear- 

 ance of the surrounding- country ma}" brief!}' be 

 described : — ridg-es and peaks of g'rey quartz rock 

 of moderate elevation form boundaries to shallow 

 valleys, or become the summits of slopes extending* 

 with g-entle declivity towards the shore. The g-round 

 almost everywhere, even on the hills, is bog-gy, with 

 numerous swamps, rivulets, and pools. The peat in 

 some places is as much as six feet in thickness ; it 

 forms the only fuel on the island, for not a sing-le 

 tree occurs to diversify the landscape, and few of 

 the bushes exceed a foot in heig'ht. The g-eneral 

 tint of the gTass and other herbag-e at this season 

 is a dull brownish-o'reen. Bays and long- windino- 

 arms of the sea intersect the country in a sing'ular 

 manner, and the shores are everywhere margined 

 by a wide belt of long* wavy sea-weed or kelp 

 {Macrocystis pyrifera), which on the exposed coasts 

 often forms immense beds of various species, some 

 of which attain to p'io*antic dimensions. 



On my first walk I was surprised at the extra- 

 ordinary tameness of the smaller land birds : a thrush 

 {Turdus MagelUmicus) almost allowed me to knock it 

 down with my cap, and some other birds were quite 

 as familiar as our robin in Avinter — a pair of log-g-er- 

 head ducks {Brachypterus inicropterus) were quietly 

 pluming- themselves on the jetty at g-overnment- 

 house, and others were swimming- along- shore with- 



