SEA-ELEPHANTS ON KERQUELENS LAND. 447 



tried six harbours, of which four were well worked. The fifth 

 (Swains Bay) took us three days to enter, and, after being ten 

 minutes inside trying to get up the channel, our clever captain 

 put his ship about, and thanked his lucky stars he had got safely 

 out of the treacherous " hole." Down this fjord the wind without 

 notice struck the foresails, while the wind astern drove her for- 

 ward. Here the trouble started, but fortunately quickly ended 

 by good management and good fortune. Had we touched the 

 entrance island the ship would at once have been broken into 

 matchwood. From this place I carried pleasant recollections, 

 more on account of the bold contour and strangeness of the island 

 than because it pleased my friends to chart it as a tribute to 

 myself. Strange as it may read, among the finding of shipwreck 

 remains there were letters and bottles from a sealing captain 

 mentioned in Prof. Moseley's * Challenger Notes ' twenty years 

 ago. Capt. Fuller is an old hand at the business, and evidently 

 has the indomitable pluck of the American in the making and 

 losing of fortunes in rough waters ! As for ourselves, we managed 

 to quit the land safely on Feb. 18th, although for a few hours we 

 could not get over a severe loss we made at the last moment. 

 Having, on the 17th, killed, skinned, and anchored a batch 

 of skins to the value of £250, all hands on board heaved 

 anchors next morning to stand into a near bay to take them off. 

 Two storms now showed their effects : one in driving all the 

 skins ashore and burying them in the sand ; the other in driving 

 us off the bay altogether. 



With a threatening sky our tight and dry little brig, the 

 * Edward,' now headed for Melbourne, and we started a direct 

 homeward course of 3400 miles. This was duly accomplished in 

 twenty-two days, and we experienced a phenomenal wind for the 

 latter fourteen days, which was from the north instead of the 

 prevailing one from the west, a circumstance of exceedingly rare 

 occurrence. 



