Extracts from Diary of Nicola i Hanson. 93 



had been. While we were under way to-day I shot a Seal and an Ice 

 Petrel and caught an Emperor Penguin. 8aw some more Seals to-day, 

 besides the one I shot. Close by the ship I shot two more Seals, and it 

 was with difficulty I avoided a cold bath when I was on the ice after 

 them, for the ice was so rotten that it gave way under me at every step. 

 Saw many Whales and Mutton-birds. 



February 8th. — Have seen a number of Seals to-day, once four on one 

 floe, but have only killed two, as we could not stop long enough to shoot 

 more. Saw three small Penguins in the holes of a large hummock, They 

 were moulting, and with my field-glass I could see the feathers they had 

 shed, lying round about them. Among the Seals I saw to-day there were 

 four which had not commenced moulting as yet. 



February 9th. — Have seen only a few birds and Seals to-day. One of 

 the latter was a large Leopard-Seal, the first we have seen since the last 

 we shot. Have twice seen Ice Peti'els — three or four together — sitting 

 resting on the ice. Colbeck saw a little fish to-day about four or five 

 inches long. 



February 10th. — While we were in this heavy ice I killed two large 

 glossy-coated White Seals, the largest of their kind I have yet seen. 

 Have seen three large Whales and one of the small Whales which were so 

 common in the ice. Of Seals we have seen very few. None of the 

 ordinaiy kinds of birds have been very numerous ; only once in a while a 

 single individual of the Brown-backed Petrel has been about. No 

 Penguins. Saw some small fish and some Jelly-fish with red spots. 



February 11th. — On a point of the ice we passed to-day I observed 

 about a hundred Seals scattered over the floes. Some were large and 

 very dark, and appeared to be Leopard-Seals. A number of large Whales 

 have been about us. Of birds I have seen all my old acquaintances of the 

 ice-pack, except the Penguins and Giant Petrels, and of new birds a 

 species of Tern and a large white or greyish bird very like Larus glaucus. 



February 12th. -(The ship was lying hove-to in a gale of wind). Of 

 birds I have seen some Sooty Albatroses, yellow-billed Mollymawks, 

 Prion, Cape Pigeons, Silver Petrels, and the Brown-backed Petrel. 



February I'dth. — On an iceberg, which had capsized quite lately, a 

 number of the Brown-backed Petrel were sitting. In addition to the same 

 birds as I observed yesterday, I have to-day also noticed the black- and 

 yellow-billed Mollymawk, and a grey Petrel of the same size as the Ice 

 Petrel. No Whales. 



February lith. — 69° 13' S. Lat. While we were in open water to-day 

 we were followed by a great many Sooty Albatrosses and yellow-billed 

 Mollymawks. A Dmnedea, apparently D. exulans, followed us also for some 

 time, and I believe that this is the first time that this bird has been 

 seen so far south. The little Penguin has been very numerous on the ice 

 and in the sea to-day. Just before we entered the ice again I observed 

 three grey l)irds like Terns : their cry was very like that of Sterna hirundo. 

 Some Whales and Seals also seen. 



February 15th. — (Ship lying hove to, in a hurricane off Victoria 

 Land.) We have seen large numbers of the Brown-backed Petrel, as 

 many as a hundred birds in a flock. Ice Petrels and Cape Pigeons have 

 also been among them. Some few 0. oceanicus and small Penguins have 

 also been about. 



