144 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [CHAP. IT. 



witched a few inches from the ground, what must we say to a 

 novement which has caused fragments many tons in weight, to move 

 onwards like so much sand on a vibrating board, and find their level ? 

 I have seen, in the Cordillera of the Andes, the evident marks where 

 stupendous mountains have been broken into pieces like so much thin 

 crust, and the strata thrown on their vertical edges ; but never did any 

 scene, like these " streams of stones," so forcibly convey to my mind 

 the idea of a convulsion, of which in historical records we might in 

 vain seek for any counterpart ; yet the progress of knowledge will pro- 

 bably some day give a simple explanation of this phenomenon, as it 

 already has of the so long-thought inexplicable transportal of the 

 erratic boulders, which are strewed over the plains of Europe. 



I have little to remark on the zoology of these islands. I have 

 before described the carrion-vulture or Polyborus. There are some 

 other hawks, owls, and a few small land-birds. The water-fowl are 

 particularly numerous, and they must formerly, from the accounts of 

 the old navigators, have been much more so. One day I observed a 

 cormorant playing with a fish which it had caught. Eight times succes- 

 sively the bird let its prey go, then dived after it, and although in deep 

 water, brought it each time to the surface. In the Zoological Gardens 

 I have seen the otter treat a fish in the same manner, much as a cat 

 does a mouse : I do not know of any other instance where dame Nature 

 appears so wilfully cruel. Another day, having placed myself between 

 a penguin (Aptenodytes demersa) and the water, I was much amused 

 by watching its habits. It was a brave bird ; and till reaching the sea, 

 it regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy 

 blows would have stopped him ; every inch he gained he firmly kept, 

 standing close before me erect and determined. When thus opposed 

 he continually rolled his head from side to side, in a very odd manner, 

 as if the power of distinct vision lay only in the anterior and basal 

 part of each eye. This bird is commonly called the jackass penguin, 

 from its habit, while on shore, of throwing its head backwards, and 

 making a loud strange noise, very like the braying of an ass ; but while 

 at sea, and undisturbed, its note is very deep and solemn, and is often 

 heard in the night-time. In diving, its little wings are used as fins ; 

 but on the land, as front legs. When crawling, it may be said on four 

 legs, through the tussocks or on the side of a grassy cliff, it moves so 

 very quickly that it might easily be mistaken for a quadruped. When 

 at sea and fishing, it comes to the surface for the purpose of breathing 

 with such a spring, and dives again so instantaneously, that I defy any 

 one at first sight to be sure that it was not a fish leaping for sport. 



Two kinds of geese frequent the Falklands. The upland species 

 (Anas Magellanica) is common, in pairs and in small flocks, throughout 

 the island. They do not migrate, but build on the small outlying islets. 

 This is supposed to be from fear of the foxes : and it is perhaps from 

 the same cause that these birds, though very tame by day, are shy and 

 wild in the dusk of the evening. They live entirely on vegetable 

 mattes, The rock-goose, so called from living exclusively on the sea- 



