PREFACE XIX 



tlie form of guano, and of the excrements of various birds, who 

 deposit their eggs, rear their young, and find a habitation 

 amongst the groves of Tussock. Its general locality is on the 

 edges of those peat-bogs which approach the shore, where it 

 contributes considerably to the formation of peat. Though not 

 universal along the coast of these islands, the quantity is still 

 prodigious, for it is always a gregarious Grass, extending in 

 patches sometimes for nearly a mile, but seldom seen except 

 within the influence of the sea air. This predilection for the 

 ocean does not arise from an incapacity to grow and thrive 

 except close to the salt water, but because other plants, not 

 suited to the sea-shore, already cover the ground in more inland 

 localities, and prevail over it ; I have seen the Tussock on 

 inaccessible cliffs in the interior, having been brought there by 

 the birds and afterwards manured by them ; and when cultivated, it 

 thrives both in the Falklands and in England, far from the sea." 



The average height of the Tussock Grass is estimated by Dr. 

 Cunningham, of the " N'assau " Survey, as between ten and 

 twelve feet, and the mass of roots belonging to each from a foot 

 to a foot and a half in height by two to three feet in diameter. 



Live stock are particularly partial to this Grass. The 

 "sweet nutty -flavoured roots" are food even for man. 



Of the Fungi, the most conspicuous are the Common Field 

 Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) and the Giant Puff ball (Lyco- 

 perclon giganteurri). 



The forest is composed of two species of Beech, and Winter's 

 Bark {^Drimys ivinteri) ; with undergrowth of Holly-leafed 

 Barberry {Berheris ilicifolia)^ Black Currant, and, on the 

 outskirts, large and luxuriant clumps of Fuchsia (^Fuchsia 

 mageUanica) almost overhanging the sea. 



Fagus antarctica and F. hetuloides are the two Beeches, 

 the former deciduous, the latter evergreen. It is curious to 

 observe how these two trees occur in their several belts, or grow 

 together in similar conditions, with no apparent reason govern- 

 ing such distribution. 



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