40 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



Directly I had landed. I was mobbed by a 

 screaming crowd of white terns and noddies, which 

 rose from their nesting-places on the rocks. So 

 close to me did these birds fly, that I was able to 

 touch them with the barrels of my gun. 



Between the " Cascade " and " Pier " the 

 coastline is slightly indented and fringed with 

 a narrow strip of sand. Beyond the sand a mass 

 of rocks had to be climbed before we could reach 

 a plateau, which could be seen about 200 feet from 

 the water's edge. After passing the rocky base 

 of the hill, we found the rest of the way com- 

 paratively easy. The ground, which was covered 

 with long wiry grass, was very treacherous, and 

 slid away underfoot at every step. 



Half-way up the slope the carpenter of the ship 

 planted a board on which " Valhalla " was carved. 

 This board was very thick and heavy, and will 

 probably last for many years. We found the 

 remains of several such boards on the island, but 

 the names they originally bore were all illegible. 

 We found also some letters painted in white 

 on a huge rock on the plateau, but owing to long 

 exposure to the weather this was also illegible. 



This rock was covered with noddy terns and 

 their eggs. The birds, which were of the same 

 species as the large noddy met with on Saint 

 Paul's Rocks, were very tame, and several photo- 

 graphs of them were taken at close quarters. 



On the plateau are great numbers of fallen trees, 



