34 BOTANICAL RESULTS OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



the island. All that was previously known of the botany of Gough Island was the 

 statement of the Tristan da Cunhans that Phylica grew there, and that several of the 

 other plants were similar to the Tristan species. 



The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, on its return from the Antarctic 

 regions in April 1904, made a stay of three days off this island ; but only on one 

 (April 22nd) was it possible, owing to the high sea running, to effect a landing, and 

 even on that day it was only accomplished with difficulty. The extremely bad 

 anchorage and the squally nature of the wind made it imperative that the shore-party 

 should keep within easy reach in the event of a sudden recall being necessary. This 

 was unfortunate, since it prevented a visit to the higher ground, where several other 

 species might have been found. On approaching the island one is struck by the amount 

 of green to be seen : from the highest summit to the water's edge the island seems to be 

 clothed with vegetation, and even the steepest precipices, in which the land usually 

 meets the sea, have their covering of moss. 



Rainfall is probably great, as evidenced in the cascades of water pouring over the 

 cliffs on all sides. Comer notes incessant strong gales, with mist, rain, and snow, in 

 the meteorological log he kept while on the island, but he apparently took very few 

 readings of the air temperature. Probably, however, the climate of Gough Island is 

 very similar to that of Tristan da Cunha, where the temperature varies from 48 F. in 

 winter to 74 F. in summer, and the precipitation is excessive the whole year round. 

 At the time of our visit there was no snow-cap on the summit. 



On the eastern side of the island a torrent coming down to the sea has cut a deep 

 glen, and this seems to afford the only practicable road to the interior. It was here 

 that a landing was effected. 1 



On landing, one notices the rankness of the vegetation. Above high-water, docks 

 (Rumex frutescens) and the wild celery grow in luxuriant profusion, and in more stony 

 ground I found several plants of the sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) these latter in 

 flower. The tussock-grass (Spartina arundinacea) was not, at the place of landing, so 

 abundant as in other parts of the coast, but here and there on the hillsides down to the 

 sea-level there were large tufts of it. In habit it is very similar to the tussock-grass of 

 the Falkland Islands, but does not appear to grow in such masses as almost entirely to 

 exclude other plants as it does on those islands. The only sward-forming " grass " seems 

 to be Scirpus (spp.) : on the southern side of the stream was about half an acre of this, 

 making a rich pasture. Other grasses are to be found, but growing in more isolated 

 tufts. The characteristic tree of the Tristan da Cunha group (Phylica nitida) is well 

 represented, and grows on Gough Island from about 2000 feet to sea-level, but above 

 100 feet it is most plentiful. The tree grows some 20 or 30 feet in height even on the 

 most exposed ridges. The stems are not very thick, not more than 10 to 12 inches, 

 and the branches are long and straggling, with leaves only at the extreme ends. Most 



For a fuller account of Gough Island see " Diego Alvarez, or Gough Island," R. N. Rudmose Brown, Scot. Geog. 

 Mag., xxi., 1905, pp. 430-440. 



