Manchester Memoirs^ Vol. xlviii. (1904), No. ?J3. 



XXIII. Notes on the Falkland Islands. 



By Rupert Vallentin. 



Received and Read March i^th, 1^04. 



My first work in Stanley was to unpack my four cases 

 and arrange my collecting things in a small but most con- 

 veniently placed room, kindly lent me, as on my previous 

 visit, by the Falkland Islands Company. In less than 

 forty-eight hours after my arrival I had my instruments 

 unpacked, my books, bottles, and reagents arranged, and 

 all ready for work. The little boat I brought with me I 

 moored in a very sheltered spot near the landing stage. 

 However incomplete my arrangements may have been, I 

 consoled myself with the thought that my little laboratory 

 enjoyed one unique distinction, viz., that of being the 

 most southerly zoological station in the world. 



Since the date of the first organised visit to these 

 islands, under the command of Bougainville, in 1763, 

 the ' streams of stones ' have been one of the most 

 attractive sights to visitors, and are even now looked upon 

 by the settlers with curiosity. Although no geologist, I 

 paid great attention to these ' stone-rivers ' during my 

 visit to these islands ; and, as they are more numerous on 

 the East Falklands than on the Western island, and very 

 abundant in the neighbourhood of Stanley, I had ample 

 opportunities of examining a large number, and also 

 taking many photographs of them. As these ' stone- 

 rivers ' always shew the same structure, a brief description 

 of one of them will answer my present purpose. A ' stone- 

 river' is always found on a hillside or valley, where the 

 slope of the ground can never be called steep ; and varies 

 from a few yards to a mile or more in length, and perhaps 



July 3th, 1904, 



