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lo it, with a view of extending Kerguelen's difcovery. 

 After having anchored in another harbour, called " Port 

 Palhfer," and fituated in S. lat. 49" j'. E. long. 69' 57', 

 and linding no encouragement to continue his refearches, 

 captain Cook put to fea. The French difcoverers, with 

 fome reafon, imagined Cape Francois to be the projedling 

 point of a fouthern continent. " The Englifli have fince 



ved th: 



fuch continent exifts : and that the land 



in queftion is an idand of no great extent, which, from 

 its fterility," fays captain Cook, " I (liould, with great 

 propriety, call the " Ifland of Defolation," but that I 

 would not rob M. de Kerguclen of the honour of its bearing 

 Iiis name." Kerguelen now concurs with captain Cook as to 

 its being an ifland : but he apprehends, that it is about 

 200 leagues in circuit ; and he fays, that lie was acquainted 

 with about 80 leagues of its cuaft. After all, it cannot 

 but be remarked, that Kerguelen was pecuharly unfor- 

 tunate, in having done fo little to complete what he had 

 begun. He difcoveied, indeed, a new land, but, m two ex- 

 peditions to it, he could not once bring his fliips to an anchor 

 upon any part of its coafts. Captain Cook had either fewer 

 difficulties with which to Itruggle, or was more fuccefsful 

 in furmounting them. From the account of Mr. Anderfon, 

 furgeon to captain Cook, who loll no opportunity of fearch- 

 ing the country in every direction, we make the following 

 extraft. 



" Perhaps no place, hitherto difcovered in either hcmi- 

 fphere, under the fame parallel of latitude, affords fo fcauty 

 a field for the naturaliil as this barren fpot. The verdure, 

 wliich appears when at a little dillance from the fhure, would 

 flatter one with the expectation of meeting with fome herb- 

 age ; but in this we were much deceived. For on landing, 

 we faw that this lively colour was occafioned only by one 

 fmall plant, not much unlike fome forts of faxifrage, which 

 grows in large fpreading tufts to a conilderable way up the 

 hills. It forms a furface of a pretty large texture, and 

 grows on a kind of rotten turf, into which one finks a foot 

 or two at every ilep. This turf, dried, might, in cafes of 

 neceffity, ferve for fuel, and is the only thing we met with 

 here that could poiTibly be applied to this ufe. There is 

 another plant, plentifully enough fcattered about the boggy 

 declivities, which grows to near the height of two feet, and 

 not much uniike a Imall cabbage, when 11 has (liot into feeds. 

 The leaves about the root are numerous, large, and rounded; 

 narrower at the bafe, and ending in a fmall point. Thole 

 on the llalks are much fmaller, oblong, and pointed. The 

 llalks, which are often three or foui, all rife feparately from 

 the root, and run into long cylindrical heads, compofed of 

 fmall flowers. It has not only the appearance, but the 

 watery acrid tafte of the antifcorbutic plants, and yet differs 

 materially from the whole tribe ; fo thai we looked upon 

 it as a production entirely peculiar to the place. We ate 

 it frequently raw, and found it almoll like the New Zealand 

 fcurvy-grafs. But it feemed to acquire a rank flavour by 

 being boiled." In our gardens it might, by cultivation, 

 fo far improve as to be an excellent pot-herb. Two other 

 fmall plants were found near the brooks and boggy places, 

 which were eaten as fallad ; the one almoll like garden 

 creffes, and very fiery ; and the other very mild. Tins lail, 

 though but fmall, id in itfdf a curiofity ; having not only male 

 and female, but what the botanills call androgynous plants. 

 A coarfe grafs, which we cut down for the cattle, grows 

 pretty plentifully in a few fmall fpots about the fides of tlic 

 harbour, with a fmaller fort, which h rarer : and upon the 

 fiat ground, a fort of goofe-grafs, and another fmall plant 

 much like it._ In (hort, the whole catalogue of plants does 

 list exceed llxteen or eighteen, including fome forts of muls, 



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and a beautiful fpecics of lichen, which grows upon th^ 

 rocks higher up than the reft of the vegetable produftion.--. 

 Nor is there even the leall appearance of a fli^ub in the 

 whole country. " Nature has been rather mere bountiful 

 in furnilliing it with animals ; though, itriftlv fpeaking, 

 they are not inhabitants of the place, being all of the mariniy 

 kind ; and, in general, only ufing the land for breeding, and 

 for a refting-placc. The moft confiderablc arc feals, or' 

 (a» we ufed to call them) fea-bears ; being that fort called 

 the urfinc feal. Thefe come afhore to reft or breed ; but 

 they were not very numerous ; which is not to be wondered 

 at, as it is known, that thefe animals rather frequent out-rocks, 

 and little iflands lying off" coalls, than bays or inlets. They 

 were, at this time, Ihedding their hair, and fo tame, that 

 we killed what number v\e chofe. No other quadruped, 

 either of the fea or of the land kind, was feen ; but 

 a ^reat number of birds, viz. ducks, petrels, albatroffes, 

 (liags, gulls, and fea-fwallows.'' Penguins form by far the 

 grcatell number of birds here, and are of three forts. 'Ihe 

 Ihags of this place are of two forts ; the leffer cormorant or 

 water-crow, and another which is black above with a white 

 belly ; the fame that is found in New Zealand, Terra del 

 Fuego, and the ifland of Georgia. Another fort of white 

 bird, flocks of which flew about the bay, is very fingukr ; 

 having the bafe of tlie bill covered with horny cruft. It k 

 larger than a pigeon, with the bill black and the feet white, 

 made like thoi'e of a curlew. Some of the people put it in 

 competition with the duck, as food. The feine was hauled 

 once, but we found only a few fi(h about the fize of a fmall 

 haddock." " The only ftiell-filh are a few limpets and muf- 

 cles, and, among the Itones, a few Imall llar-fifli and fea- 

 anemonies were found. 



" The hills are of a moderate height ; yet many of their 

 tops were covered with fnow at this time, though anfwering 

 to our June. Some of them have large quantities of ftone 

 irregularly heaped together at their foot, or on their fides. 

 The fides of others, which form fteep cliffs towards the fea, 

 are rent from the top downward, and feem ready to fall off, 

 having ftones of a conliderable fize lying in the filfures. 

 Some were of opinion, that froft might be the caufe of thefe 

 filfures, which I (hall not difpute ; but how others of the 

 appearances could be effefted, but by earthquakes, or fome 

 fuch feverc ftiocks, I cannot fay." — " It appears that rain 

 mull be almoll conftant here, not only from the marks of 

 large torrents having rulhed down, but from the difpofitiou 

 of the country, which, even on the hills, is almoft an entire 

 bog or fwamp, the ground linking at every ftep. The 

 rocks, or foundations of the hills, are compoi'ed chiefly of u 

 dark blue, and very hard ftone, intermixed with fmall par- 

 ticles of glimmer or quarts." " Another brownifti brittle 

 ftone forms here fome confiderable rocks ; and one which 

 is blacker, and found in detached pieces, inclofes bits of 

 coarfe quartz. A red, a dull yellow, and a purplifti fand- 

 ftone are alfo found in fmall pieces ; and pretty large lumps 

 of femi-tranfparent quartz, difpofed irregularly in polycdral 

 pyramidal cryftals of long lliining fibres. Some fmall 

 pieces of the common fort arc met with in the brooks, made 

 round by attrition ; but none hard enough to refift a file. 

 Nor were any of the other ftones adle d on by aquafortis, or 

 attracted by the n.agnet. Nothing, that had the leaft ap- 

 pearance of an ore or metal, was feen." S. lat. 49'2o'. . 

 E. loi:g. 69 30'. Cook s Thud Voyage, vol. i. 



KERI-CHET113, are various rcadmgs in the Hebrew 

 bible : Lri figiiifies that which is read ; avAchetib that which 

 is written. (Sec CnKTlu nr.il Kkhi.) It is generally faid 

 by the Jewiih writers, that thefe correiSlions were intro- 

 duced by Ezra ; but it is muft probable that they had their 



original 



