The Victorian naturalist. 159 



the eggs of a pair of these birds, which are very peculiar in shape, 

 being much elongated and small in diameter. They measure 2^ 

 inches by ij, and are uniformly covered with dark brown spots, 

 and never vary noticeably during the seasons I have seen them. 

 On another island I have taken the eggs in a similar manner, and 

 they are quite as characteristic, being always large and heavily 

 marked with dark brown blotches, some as large as a sixpence. And 

 at another island, nearer home, and where only one pair of these 

 birds breed, I have for years made the same observations, and 

 have found the nest in the same position season after season, and 

 the eggs always alike, more pointed than elsewhere, of a much 

 darker ground colour, and freckled all over with small markings. 

 From this I conclude that whilst the eggs of these birds, generally, 

 differ very widely in size and appearance, the eggs of individual 

 birds — as above described — have very little variation, and no 

 doubt the birds are permanently mated. 



After returning on shore and drying our wet clothes, &c., I 

 walked along the Woolnorth shore, where an interesting raised 

 beach occurs of round waterworn basalt pebbles. It extends for 

 about a mile in length, and perhaps may average one hundred 

 feet in width ; its depth is uncertain, but supposing it to be only 

 six feet average for the whole beach, it represents a considerable 

 mass of this rock, and the question naturally arises. Whence did 

 it come ? The surrounding formation, both on shore and on the 

 small islands, is of quartzite and limestone, but I could not see 

 any basalt in situ. It may be that the submerged reefs are of this 

 formation, and that by the aid of the powerful currents which here 

 exist this beautifully regular beach may have been formed. 



On Monday, the i8th, we started with a fair wind and sailed up 

 the barren coast line of the West Hunter Island, which is about 

 thirteen miles long with an average breadth of about two and 

 a half miles, and contains, roughly, 21,000 acres. The 

 formation met with is much similar to that of the mainland 

 opposite, being chiefly of quartzite and limestone \ good marble 

 is said to exist, though I did not see any and had not time to 

 explore the place thoroughly. 



In the afternoon we made " Shepperd's Bay," which is certainly 

 a very picturesque spot — a small oasis in a barren wilderness — 

 with its background of rounded sand dunes dotted all over with 

 honeysuckle, boobyalla, and other pretty shrubs. We walked 

 across to Cuvier Bay. on the west side, and from this standpoint I 

 got a comparatively near view of Albatross Island — seven miles 

 distant from the extreme north point of the West Hunter, and 

 about twenty from the mainland. It is exposed to the full swell 

 of the Southern Ocean, and is difficult to approach ; it was a great 

 disappointment to me that we were not sufficiently equipped to 

 attempt a landmg on its rocky shores, lor it is by far the finest- 



