228 EEPOET— 1891. 



ANTIPODES ISLAND. 



Antipodes Island is situate in 49° 41' S. latitude and 178^ 

 43' E. longitude. It was discovered in the year 1800, but up 

 to the present time nothing has been known of its fauna or 

 flora. The island is somewhat the shape of a ham, its greatest 

 length being two miles and a half from east to west : the 

 eastern extremity, corresponding to the shank of the ham, ap- 

 pears to have been formed by a narrow lava-stream ; its 

 greatest width is about a mile and a half from north to south. 

 The island is simply the crater of an extinct volcano, and 

 would be roughly circular in shape were it not for the lava- 

 stream which has been already mentioned. The cliffs are 

 very steep and rugged, rendering the island almost inaccessible 

 except at the north-east corner, where a landing can be effected 

 only in the finest weather. A small stream flows into the sea 

 on this side, and another on the north-west. 



The crateriform portion of the island is surrounded by low 

 rounded hills on three sides, broken, hov/ever, by the depres- 

 sion formed by the stream which reaches the sea on the north- 

 west side : a small well-defined crater is still visible amongst 

 the hills on the south side, but from want of time I was unable 

 to examine it. Mount Galloway, on the western side of the 

 island, is a bold round-topped hill, and forms the highest point, 

 attaining an altitude of 1,320ft., as determined by Captain 

 Fairchild. 



It is not quite certain whether the whole island is volcanic. 

 Some distance from the landing-place I noticed what appeared 

 to be a mass of finely-bedded reddish sandstone, but could not 

 get near enough to determine its precise nature. Most of 

 the rocks observed were basaltic. 



Large portions of the interior of the crater are swampy, 

 and the vegetation consists chiefly of coarse sedges and grasses, 

 amongst which numerous small herbs are concealed. There is 

 an almost total absence of ligneous vegetation, the only woody 

 plants being three species of Coprosma, two of which are pros- 

 trate or nearly so, and the largest, which is confined to the 

 vicinity of Mount Galloway, rarely exceeds the stature of a 

 low-growing bush. Altogether, as seen on a dull day, the 

 island presents a most desolate and unattractive appear- 

 ance. 



In many places this dulness was relieved by the albatross 

 (DioDiedea cxulans), whose nests were dotted over a large part 

 of the island. Some young dark-coloured birds, with down 

 still remaining on the neck and wings, were observed sitting on 

 or constructing nests, but, so far as I observed, only one of 

 these nests contained an egg : in all instances the truncated 

 mound of earth forming the nest was roughly made, loose, and 



