288 Royal Society: — 



the first English Station to observe the transit from a position 

 which he selected near the base of Thumb Peak. I have not yet 

 been able to visit Betsy Cove. 



Observatory Bay is one of the minor inlets of a peninsula com- 

 prised between two narrow arms of the sea. One of these runs up 

 from the sound, along the western flank of the hills adjacent to 

 Mount Crozier, several miles, and terminates at a distance of three 

 or four hours to the north of us, and about four miles from the 

 inlet near Vulcan Cove. The other arm, opening nine or ten 

 miles away to the southward, proceeds in a north-easterly direction 

 to within three or four miles of the former, and no great distance 

 from Foundry Branch. 



Besides the inlets of the sea, numerous freshwater lakes pre- 

 sent obstacles to inland travelling. Some in this neighbourhood 

 are two or three miles in length ; but in general they are not more 

 than a mile long. They are usually shallow, and appear to be 

 uninhabited by fish. The bogs and streams in this vicinity are 

 not impassable, but can be traversed with ease if ordinary care be 

 taken. 



The most salient features of the landscape are the basaltic hills, 

 with irregular terraces of rock on their sides, and broken cliffs at 

 their summits. In lieu of grass, their slopes are clothed with 

 banks and boulder-like clumps of Azorella selago, excepting where 

 rich damp loam affords a soil suitable for the Aciena and the 

 Pringlea. Here and there a fern (Lomaria) and grass (Festuca) 

 grow in the interspaces of the other plants. 



The climate of Royal Sound is far warmer and drier than we 

 were led to expect it would be. In November the weather was very 

 pleasant ; since then it has deteriorated, though the snow has 

 not again covered the ground as it did when we first arrived. 

 Probably the previous accounts of its meteorology were based 

 upon observations taken in parts of the island where bad weather 

 prevails ; or it may be that the condition of the country in winter 

 has been presumed to be constant throughout the year. In one 

 respect we were rightly informed ; for, usually, when there is no 

 breeze there is a gale : a calm day is an exceptional event. 

 Meteorological observations are being taken in Observatory Bay on 

 board the ' Volage ' and by the sappers on shore. 



Corresponding with the unlooked-for superiority in climate, a 

 difference is noticeable in the vegetation of this part of the island. 

 Some plants which occur at both extremities of the country display, 

 in Boyal Sound, marks of luxuriance. Por instance, Pringlea 

 antiscorbutica, which is elsewhere apetalous, here, in sheltered places, 

 frequently develops petals — some flowers in the same inflorescence 

 possessing one petal only, others having two, three, or four. And 

 the petals are not always of a pale greenish colour, but occasionally 

 are tinged with purple. Again, Lomaria alpina, which is mentioned 

 in the flora as rare in the neighbourhood of Christmas Harbour, 

 is excessively common and very finely grown here. There are 

 also more species of flowering plants and of the higher orders of 



