560 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



in the highly populated land areas of the north. It may be 

 that penguins are descended from ancestors who lived in 

 the northern hemisphere in a winged condition (even now 

 you may sometimes see them try to fly), and that they have 

 been driven towards the south. 



If penguins are primitive, it is rational to infer that the 

 most primitive penguin is farthest south. These are the 

 two Antarcticists," the Emperor and the Adelie. The latter 

 appears to be the more numerous and successful of the 

 two, and for this reason we are inclined to search among 

 the Emperors as being among the most primitive pen- 

 guins, if not the most primitive of birds now living: hence 

 the Winter Journey. I was glad to get, in addition, this 

 series of Adelie penguins' embryos, feeling somewhat like 

 a giant who had wandered on to the wrong planet, and who 

 was distinctly in the way of its true inhabitants. 



We returned too late to see the eggs laid, and therefore 

 it was impossible to tell how old the embryos were. My 

 hopes rose, however, when I saw some eggless nests with 

 penguins sitting upon them, but later I found that these were 

 used as bachelor quarters by birds whose wives were sit- 

 ting near. I tried taking eggs from nests and was delighted 

 to find that new eggs appeared : these I carefully marked, 

 and it was not until I opened one two days later to find 

 inside an embryo at least two weeks old, that I realized 

 that penguins added baby-snatching to their other im- 

 moralities. Some of those from whom I took eggs sat upon 

 stones of a similar size and shape with every appearance of 

 content: one sat upon the half of the red tin of a Dutch 

 cheese. They are not very intelligent. 



All the world loves a penguin : I think it is because in 

 many respects they are like ourselves, and in some respects 

 what we should like to be. Had we but half their physical 

 courage none could stand against us. Had we a hundredth 

 part of their maternal instinct we should have to kill our 

 children by the thousand. Their little bodies are so full of 

 curiosity that they have no room for fear. They like moun- 

 taineering, and joy-riding on ice-floes : they even like to 

 drill. 



