236 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



rocks of Cape Royds there was a red smudge dotted with 

 thousands of little black-and-white figures — a penguin rookery 

 without a doubt. It is wonderful that we should have been 

 here two years without knowing of this, and it is exasperating 

 to think of the feasts of eggs we have missed. We steered 

 into a small bay behind the cape, climbed a steep little rock- 

 face, and found ourselves on a small plateau, luckily to wind- 

 ward of the rookery. No place could be better for our camp, 

 so we hauled our belongings up with the Alpine rope and 

 pitched our tent on a stretch of sand. 



' Words fail me to describe what a delightful and interest- 

 ing spot this is. From our tent door we look out on to the 

 open sea, deep blue but dotted with snowy-white pack-ice. 

 Erebus towers high above us on our right, and to the left we 

 look away over the long stretch of fast ice to the cloud-capped 

 western mountains. We hear the constant chatter of the 

 penguins, and find a wonderful interest in watching their queer 

 habits ; the brown fluffy chicks are still quite small, and the 

 adult birds are constantly streaming to and from the sea. 

 Close about us many skuas are nesting j they naturally regard 

 us as intruders, and are terribly angry. The owners of one 

 nest near by are perched on a rock ; whenever we move they 

 arch their necks and scream with rage, and when we go out of 

 the tent they sweep down on us, only turning their course as 

 their wings brush our heads. However, if we do not disturb 

 their nest no doubt they will soon get used to us. 



' We have seen facts to-day which throw some light on the 

 ferocious character of this robber gull. On returning from our 

 walk Wilson saw one of them swoop down on Ihe nest of 

 another and fly off with a stolen egg in its beak. The owner 

 of the nest was only a few yards away, and started in such hot 

 pursuit that the thief was forced to relinquish its prize, which 

 was dashed to pieces on the rocks. It is evident that there is 

 not even honour amongst thieves in the skua code of morality. 



1 To-night we watched another incident in connection with 

 the domestic life of these birds. Close by us there is a nest 

 with two tiny chicks ; they might be ordinary barn-door 



