154 



Auckland Islands. 

 Sarah's Bosom. 



ANTARCTIC CRUISE. 



Auckland Islands. 



extra allowance. Lieutenant-Commandant Ring- 

 gold took this occasion to express to them his 

 satisfaction for the manner in which they had per- 

 formed their duties during the present cruise, and 

 that their conduct would be duly represented to the 

 commander of the expedition, and the govern- 

 ment. 



On the 23rd the weather was again thick, with 

 snow and mist. 



On the 24th they had reached longitude 126 E., 

 and latitude 64 29' S. On this day they again 

 sighted the barrier ; when, having completed what 

 he deemed a full execution of his instructions, 

 Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold determined to 

 put the brig's head north, which was accordingly 

 done. 



Strong winds S,nd gales continued for the next 

 three days. On the 27th they again found them- 

 selves in east variation, in longitude 138 E., lati- 

 tude 60 8' S. The white albatross had now again 

 become common. 



On the 29th, they had a beautiful display of the 

 aurora australis ; the whole southern hemisphere 

 was covered with arches of a beautiful straw colour, 

 from which streamers radiated, both upwards and 

 downwards, of almost a lustrous white; numbers of 

 concentric arches would occasionally show them- 

 selves, of a width of a few feet, uniting to form a 

 complete canopy for a moment, and then vanish. 

 The arches extended from east-south-east to west- 

 north-west ; the display continued for over two 

 hours; the stars were seen above them. Previous 

 to, and during its continuance, the thermometer 

 indicated a change of four degrees, and the wind 

 shifted to the southward. * 



On the 1st of March, in latitude 55 S., and 

 longitude 140 E., they passed the last ice-island. 



On the 2nd, great numbers of pyrosoma of large 

 size were passed. 



On the 4th, some faint appearances of the aurora 

 australis were seen. 



On the 5th, the Lord Auckland Isles were 

 descried. Mr. Totten, who was officer of the deck, 

 was accidentally knocked overboard by the trysail- 

 boom, but was fortunately rescued without injury. 

 Immense numbers of albatrosses were about. The 

 aurora was again seen in the southern hemisphere. 



On the ?th they anchored in the harbour of 

 Sarah's Bosom, in twelve fathoms water. During 

 their brief stay here, all were actively employed 

 wooding and watering, for which this harbour 

 affords a fine opportunity. Assistant-Surgeon 

 Holmes made several excursions on the largest 

 island, of which he gives the following account : 



" I found it very thickly covered with trees, in 

 its less elevated parts; as few of them were of any 

 size, I found no small difficulty in penetrating and 

 making my way through them ; in many places it 

 was absolutely impossible. It was only after a long 

 and fatiguing walk that I succeeded in reaching 

 the summit of that part of the island, near which 

 the brig was anchored, where I found the trees less 

 numerous. A thick growth of underwood and 

 dwarf bushes, intermixed with ferns, concealed the 

 surface, rendering it difficult to walk. Even on 

 the places apparently most level, the ground was 

 very unequal, and a single step would sometimes 

 send me nearly up to the neck into a hollow filled 

 _ with large fern fronds. On the highest parts, the 

 small level spots were covered only with moss, and 



a description of tall grass, and in places also a 

 kind of grain grew abundantly. The ground was 

 dry every where, all the water being found in the 

 streams, which were numerous and pure. Near 

 the summit, the ground was perforated in all direc- 

 tions, probably by birds, who rear their young in 

 these holes. Many of the birds, principally pro- 

 cellaria, were sitting on the ground : they made no 

 effort to escape, but suffered themselves to be 

 taken without any attempt at resistance. 



" The forest was full of small birds, of three or 

 four different species, which were perfectly fear- 

 less ; one little fellow alighted on my cap as I was 

 sitting under a tree, and sang long and melodiously; 

 another and still smaller species, of a black colour 

 spotted with yellow, was numerous, and sang very 

 sweetly ; its notes were varied, but approximated 

 more nearly to the song of our blackbird; occasion- 

 ally a note or two resembled the larks. Hawks too 

 were numerous, and might be seen on almost all 

 the dead trees, in pairs. Along the sea-coast were 

 to be seen the marks of their ravages upon the 

 smaller birds. The sea-birds were very numerous 

 on the opposite side of the island, sitting upon the 

 cliffs or hovering over the islet." 



On the western side of the Auckland Island, the 

 under-brush and young trees are exceedingly thick. 

 Dr. Holmes remarks, that it was impossible to 

 penetrate ; that he was occupied fully an hour in 

 making his way for a hundred yards, where to all 

 appearance a human step had never before trodden. 

 There was not a vestige of a track ; old trees were 

 strewn about irregularly, sometimes kept erect by 

 the pressure on all sides. Some trees were seen 

 upwards of seventy feet in height, although the 

 generality were only from fifteen to twenty ; every 

 part of the island was densely covered with vegeta- 

 tion ; the soil, from the decomposition of vegetable 

 matter, had acquired considerable richness ; speci- 

 mens of all the plants were collected. 



These islands have in many places the appear- 

 ance of having been raised directly from the sea ; 

 the cliffs consisted of basalt, and were generally 

 from fifty to ninety feet perpendicular. 



The Auckland Islands are the resort of whalers, 

 for the purpose of refitting and awaiting the 

 whaling season, which occurs here in the months 

 of April and May. Near the watering-place a com- 

 modious hut has been erected by a French whaler. 

 Near by was another in ruins, and close to it the 

 grave of a French sailor, whose name was inscribed 

 on a wooden cross erected over it. Some attempts 

 at forming a garden were observed at one of the 

 points of Sarah's Bosom, and turnips, cabbage, and 

 potatoes were growing finely, which, if left undis- 

 turbed, will soon cover this portion of the island ; 

 to these a few onions were added. Besides the 

 birds, the only living creature seen by Dr. Holmes 

 was a small mouse : it made no attempt to get out 

 of his way, and seemed to have no fear when taken ; 

 being consigned to a pocket, he soon contrived to 

 escape. Many of the smaller islands of this group 

 were visited ; they closely resemble the larger one. 

 Penguins were numerous and of a variety of 

 colours. 



These isles have a picturesque, wild, steep, and 

 basaltic appearance: the highest peak was estimated 

 to be eight hundred feet ; the smaller has a less 

 elevation : the general aspect of the land resembles 

 the region around Cape Horn. The harbour of 



