740 SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OP NEW ZEALAND. [Physiography, Geology. 



ANTIPODES ISLAND. 



[Note. — No member of the expedition visited Antipodes Island on the present occasion, and the 

 following facts about it have been collected from various authors ; but additional matter has been 

 supplied by Captain BoUons, whose intimate acquaintance with the locality makes his contribution 

 specially valuable. The outline of the accompanying map has been taken from the chart recently 

 made by H.M.S. "Ringdove."] 



Antipodes Island is situated in long. 178° 43' E. and lat. 49° 41' S. Recent 

 surveys by H.M.S. " Ringdove " show that its shape is not as shown originally on 

 maps and charts. Its length from north-east to south-west is about five miles, 

 and its greatest breadth is about three miles. These dimensions are those on the 

 chart, but there is some doubt as to the scale on which it is drawn. There are no 

 openings in the coast-line, with the exception of Ringdove Bay, on the south-east 

 corner, and a shallow bight on the north-east between North Cape and Reef Point, 

 where there is a somewhat insecure anchorage. Landing is effected on a beach 

 composed of rough blocks of rock, behind which the cliffs rise to a height of 80 ft., 

 but with easy ascent in several places (fig. 16). 



The north-west coast-line is bold and precipitous, and from 400 ft. to 500 ft. 

 in height, rising to its greatest elevation in North Cape (500 ft.). This fine coastal 

 feature, sometimes known as Perpendicular Head, has a close resemblance both in 

 structure and appearance to Godley Head, at the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour. 

 The south coast is from 80 ft. to 150 ft. high, and the east coast is also precipitous, 

 with cliffs 300 ft. to 400 ft. in height. A number of reefs and small islets fringe 

 the shore, the most important being the Bollons Islands, which lie about a mile 

 to the north-east of North Cape. There are two of them, and they are disposed 

 in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the convexity facing north-east. They are ex- 

 tremely rugged and precipitous, and rise to a height of nearly 500 ft. On one 

 the erosive action of the sea has produced a remarkable arch. These islands are 

 inaccessible except in the finest weather, the only landing within recent years being 

 effected by Captain Bollons, after whom they are named. 



The surface of the main island forms a rough undulating plateau. It slopes up 

 from the north-east and southern coastal cliffs towards the west. The highest point 

 is Mount Galloway (1,320 ft.), on the top of which a lake 13 or 14 acres in extent 

 is reported to lie. Other cones of lesser height also occur. The surface of the plateau 

 is cut up by a number of deep narrow gullies occupied by small streams. The largest 

 of these runs north-east, passes through a large swamp about a mile in length and 

 breadth, and falls over the cliffs near the landing-place as a considerable body of 

 water. The hut for castaways is placed near the edge of the swamp, not far from 

 the stream. Other parts of the island are boggy, notably those near the south coast, 

 and its surface is covered with great depth of peat made of herbaceous plants, and 

 not of Sfhagnum. On this grow long tussock-grasses and very occasional patches 

 of low scrub, but through it solid rock outcrops in many places. Kirk says that 

 all the exposures he observed were basaltic in character. The islands appear to be 

 entirely volcanic. No plutonic rock has been recorded from them, and the pro- 

 bable occurrence of sedimentary rock mentioned by T. Kirk, and supported by Sir 

 James Hector, seems very doubtful indeed, and is not based on close examination 

 of the outcrops. Fragments of coal were found at one spot by Captain Bollons, 



