FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE FALKLANDS. 345 



The last day of October gave unmistakable evidence that we 

 were nearing our destinaton. The air was chilly, the tempera- 

 ture at sunset being only 45 °r., and the surface temperature of 

 the sea remained at 46'6°F. throughout the whole day. 



Detached masses of floating sea- weed were noticed during 

 the afternoon, but all these were too far from the vessel for one 

 to identify. The next morning these floating masses were fre- 

 quently seen, and all those close enough to be examined with any 

 degree of accuracy belonged to the genus Lessonise. 



We sighted the Falklands at day-break on the 3rd Novem- 

 ber, and when I arrived on deck the steamer was near enough to 

 the shore for one to form some general idea of the coast-line. 

 The whole of the land could be seen broken up into innumerable 

 creeks and fiords, aad fringed with sea-weeds. Masses of grey 

 rocks were visible on the land, and some of these could be seen 

 winding up the side of the hills, reminding one of the stone- 

 walls so familiar to travellers in the northern parts of Scotland. 



At 10 a.m. we entered Port William, and an hour later were 

 safely anchored in Stanley harbour opposite the town. 



The Fajlklands. 



Stanley harbour, which is in direct communication with Port 

 William by a passage some three hundred yards across, is about 

 four miles in length, and from half to three quarters of a mile 

 wide. The town contains about eight hundred inhabitants, and 

 is scattered along the middle of the southern shore. The houses 

 are mostly small, but as each has a garden, some large some 

 small, the settlement looks far more important than it really is. 



The land in the immediate neighbourhood of Stanley is 

 slightly undulating, and in many places presents an irregular 

 rocky surface. The general colour of the surrounding country 

 varies from green to grey, nearly all the hills being surmounted 

 by masses of stones, and in some cases huge rocks piled up in the 

 most fantastic manner. One day, while collecting with a friend 

 near the summit of Mount Low, a hill about eight hundred feet 

 high, and about six miles from Stanley, I was forced to seek 

 shelter from a heavy squall of rain and wind, under a mass of 

 quartz-rock many tons in weight. The wind which invariably 

 accompanies these squalls is very strong, and the sounds pro- 



