88 THE CRUISE OF THE "CACHALOT." 



seen the top of Tristan peeping through a cloud nearly 

 a hundred miles away, for its height is tremendous. St. 

 Helena looks a towering, scowling mass when you 

 approach it closely; but Tristan d'Acunha is far more 

 imposing, its savage-looking cliffs seeming to sternly 

 forbid the venturesome voyager any nearer familiarity 

 with their frowning fastnesses. Long before we came 

 within working distance of the settlement, we were con- 

 tinually passing broad patches of kelp (fucus gigantea), 

 whose great leaves and cable-laid stems made quite reef- 

 like breaks in the heaving waste of restless sea. Very 

 different indeed were these patches of marine growth 

 from the elegant wreaths of the Gulf-weed with which 

 parts of the North Atlantic are so thickly covered. Their 

 colour was deep brown, almost black in some cases, and 

 the size of many of the leaves amazing, being four to 

 five feet long, by a foot wide, with stalks as thick as one's 

 arm. They have their origin around these storm-beaten 

 rocks, which lie scattered thinly over the immense area 

 of the Southern Ocean, whence they are torn, in masses 

 like those we saw, by every gale, and sent wandering 

 round the world. 



When we arrived within about three miles of the 

 landing-place, we saw a boat coming off, so we imme- 

 diately hove-to and awaited her arrival. There was no 

 question of anchoring ; indeed, there seldom is in these 

 vessels, unless they are going to make a long stay, for 

 they are past masters in the art of " standing off and 

 on." The boat came alongside — a big, substantially- 

 built craft of the whale-boat type, but twice the size — 

 manned by ten sturdy- looking fellows, as unkempt and 

 wild-looking as any pirates. They were evidently put 

 to great straits for clothes, many curious makeshifts 



