752 SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OP NEW ZEALAND. [Soils and Soil-formers. 



quite commonly grow out and become turned up like a ram's horn, owing to the 

 softness of the soil. The same phenomenon was seen at the Campbell Islands with 

 the feet of sheep. 



It may be noticed that the same peaty covering clothes the Shetland and Orkney 

 Islands (crystalline, metamorphic, and Old Red Sandstone formation), in the Northern 

 Hemisphere, as it does in the subantarctic islands. 



THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS.* 



The soils of the islands treated of in this report are for the greater part not 

 formed in the manner in which peat in its special sense is formed, inasmuch as — 



(a.) They are derived chiefly from the decay of the higher plants {Filices, 

 Juncaceae, Gramineae, Araliaceae, Umhelliferae, Compositae, Liliaceae, Ruhiaceae, 

 Myrsineae, and Epacrideae) on the uplands and unforested areas, and from Filices, 

 Myrtaceae, Epacridaceae, Araliaceae, and Compositae in the forests, 



(6.) They are not formed in or under stagnant water. Many of the soils must 

 have been formed on a steep hillside, with every advantage of drainage which such 

 a position could afford. (See fig. 7, p. 713, and figs. 12 and 13, p. 730.) Any water 

 retained with soil must be solely through the absorbent quality of the organic matter 

 composing it. In no case, in digging samples on Auckland, Antipodes, or Camp- 

 bell Islands, did water flow into the hole.t This bears out Cockayne's (10) state- 

 ment with regard to Campbell Island, and is an experience contrary to that of 

 Buchanan (11), whose assertion that on Campbell Island wherever a plant is dug out 

 with a knife the hole immediately fills with water is a considerable exaggeration, 

 Buchanan's statement as to the quality of the pasture of Campbell Island is likewise 

 inaccurate. 



(c.) They support a vigorous growth of higher plants, generally understood 

 to require a soil rich in mineral nutrients. Cockayne (10) calls attention to the 

 fact that the Auckland Island forests are " wanting some of its usual constituents, 

 but otherwise, except for its peculiar physiognomy ... is a true New Zealand 

 rata forest. "J Treating of the soil on which an herbaceous section of the Auck- 

 land Island flora grows, the same observer (p. 537) remarks, " All that can be said 

 is that, notwithstanding the soil is altogether peat, it must be much more favourable 

 for plant-life than the peat of an ordinary bog, or even a dry heath." Thus, the 

 fact that these soils differ so largely in their vegetation from those which are usually 

 accepted as peat soils as to be manifest to a non-chemist observer confirms me in 

 classifying them as humus soils. 



The large areas of peat lands in Europe, known as " hochmoor," contain re- 

 latively little nitrogen near the surface, but much more a few feet below. Detmer (4) 



* These include Auckland Island, Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, and 

 Masked Island. 



t Of course, it is quite possible that on all the islands, in limited areas, instances where this is untrue 

 would occur ; but in collecting samples representing types of soils my experience is as stated, and 

 therefore it is just to assume that for a humus soil with a daily or almost hourly rainfall the islands are 

 naturally well drained. 



t See fig. 10, p. 214, and fig. 15, p. 223. 



