76 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



hundred. Penguins do not make guano to the 

 same extent as do the cormorants and their 

 nesting-places are " scraped " once only every 

 year. 



After breakfast we set out for the sandy shore, 

 where most of the penguins were gathered together. 

 It was a truly remarkable sight. As far as the 

 eye could see was an unending mass of penguins. 

 Thousands upon thousands of the comical-looking 

 birds were sitting close together along the sandy 

 shore, while many more were arriving from the 

 sea and walking solemnly up to join their com- 

 panions. All were either in full moult or just 

 beginning to cast their feathers. The moult of 

 these birds is somewhat peculiar. The feathers of 

 the back come off in large patches beginning 

 from the tail, and the birds are then bare except 

 for a coating of soft down amongst which the new 

 feathers make their appearance. The sand was 

 thickly covered with feathers, while amongst the 

 rocks and ice-plants were " drifts " of them 

 several inches in depth. 



We photographed the penguins as they sat 

 on the shore, and they showed little fear of us. 

 We walked amongst them without causing them 

 much alarm, and they would not go into the sea 

 unless they were very hard pressed, and then they 

 remained but a very short time in the water. 



There were a few young ones on the island, and 

 one which I took alive with the intention of making 



