THE KING OF TRISTAN D'ACUNHA. 401 



albatross, mollahs, petrels, sea-hens, &c. ; and a great 

 deal of feathers might be had, if people were to 

 attend to it. 



"For the waters, they are well furnished. Fish 

 are had at any time for the trouble of taking them, 

 whenever the sea is smooth enough to fish from the 

 rocks. We have no boat, and of course cannot have 

 them so often as we want them ; but on a kind of 

 raft of six pieces we push off on a smooth time, 

 and take many sheephead crayfish, gramper, and large 

 mackerel. From the rocks, which is the mode we are 

 obliged to take, we supply ourselves sometimes, but 

 are obliged to use a large piece of elephant meat to 

 entice them near enough the rock. A boat would be 

 victuals and drink to us. In the deep waters there 

 are large fish, as cavallas, and a kind fat as salmon ; 

 and I have no doubt but very large gramper are to be 

 found there. Sea-elephants are plenty, and they pup 

 yearly, coming up in the months of August and Sep- 

 tember for that purpose. About a month or five 

 weeks they take the male, and then go off to feed, 

 and in six weeks come up, and remain a month or 

 two to shed their old coat, and get a new one, and 

 from that time are, for the most part, lying in the sun 

 asleep. The males, however, stay off longer, as they 

 of course require a longer period to feed. Their food is 

 chiefly kelp, but I have found squid in their stomach. 

 During the pupping season, the black-fish are very nu- 

 merous, and equally rapacious, always on the look-out 



