179 



rocks on the island are purely volcanic. Close to where we landed are large 

 beds of ashes, and ferruginous scoria. From this and other indications, the 

 conical shape of all the hills, and their rounded tops, I am of opinion that the 

 island has been the site of an active volcano." 



The rock specimens obtained, twelve in number, support Mr. Armstrong's 

 view of the geology of these islands, which appear to have been formed by 

 volcanic eruptions, at first submarine, as shown by the specimens of Dolerite 

 with large crystals of Augite, and true Phonolite or Clinkstone, but latterly 

 the eruptions must have been subaerial, as the other specimens are scoriaceous 

 lavas, and fragments of volcanic bombs, exactly resembling the volcanic rocks 

 of the northern parts of New Zealand, especially near Auckland. No speci- 

 mens of older rocks are represented in the collection, 



4. — Bounty Island. 



Respecting Bounty Island, Mr. Armstrong states, that — - 

 " They are a group of naked detached rocks, extending from N. W. to S.E-. 

 about two miles. The sea rose in spray to the tops of the highest (some 

 100 feet), and breached clean over the lower ones. There are several outlying 

 rocks awash, at some distance from the main body. Of course no attempt 

 could be made to land, but we saw every rock distinctly with the naked eye> 

 and had there been anything as large as a goat moving on them we must have 

 nerceived it. Neither man nor beast could exist on the Bountys, and had I 

 known their nature, I would not have deemed it necessary to visit them." 



5.— Auckland Islands. 



This group is better known than any of the others, and collections have 

 been received from Mr. Armstrong, and also from Mr. J. H. Baker, Chief 

 Surveyor of Southland, from whose careful report I make the following 

 extracts :' f - — 



" The Auckland Islands were discovered by Captain Bristow, in the year 

 1806, and formally taken possession of by him in the name of the King, when 

 he visited them a year later. They were next visited by Admiral D'Urville's, 

 and Commodore Wilkes' expeditions, in 1839. The vessels of the Antarctic 

 Expedition also called at them in 1840, and during their stay Drs. Lyall and 

 Hooker made a large collection of the different plants and shrubs indigenous 

 to the islands, of which they published a full account in the first volume of the 

 'Antarctic Flora.' 



" About this time the Auckland Isles seem to have been the favourite 

 resoi't of the South Sea whalers, and in 1850 a large whaling establishment 

 was started at Poi't Ross, in Rendezvous Harbour. The number of houses, 

 now fallen into decay, and the large amount of work that has been done in 

 clearing the scrub, would indicate that, at some time, at least two hundred 

 people must have been located at this spot ; and at that time the settlement . 

 must have been in a prosperous condition, as a surgeon of one of the whalers, 

 in giving an account of a cruise in the South Seas, mentions the settlement, 

 and remarks that in the course of time it would probably become a settlement 

 of considerable importance ; but in 1852 the whaling establishment was broken 

 up, and the islands were totally deserted. 



" The Auckland group consists of two large and several smaller islands — 

 Enderby, Rose, and Ocean Islands — forming the north-western, and Green 

 Island, the south-eastern, entrance to Rendezvous Harbour, situated at the ex- 

 treme northern part of the island, in lat. 50 deg. 32 min. S., and long. 166 deg. 

 13min. E. This harbour is of considerable size, and would afford shelter and secure 



* "N.Z. Government Gazette, Province of Southland," 1865, p. 117, et seq, 



& B 



