352 



TRISTAN D'ACUNHA 



[1829. 



CHAPTER II. 



Island of Tristan d'Acunha — King Lambert — Governor Glass — Gongh's Island— 

 Kerguelen's Land — Cape Desolation — Lord Auckland's Group — New-year's 

 Festivities — Learning to walk — Natural Productions of the Island — The 

 Schooner Henry, Captain Johnson, their probable Fate — The Snares — Stew- 

 art's Isle, or South Cape of New-Zealand — Molyneux's Harbour — Intercourse 

 with the Natives of New-Zealand. 



Tristan D'Acunha is the largest of three islands in the South At- 

 lantic ocean ; in latitude 37° 8' south, long. 12° 8' west ; about fifteen 

 hundred miles eastward from the mouth of Rio de la Plata, in South 

 America, and about the same distance west-by-south from the Cape 

 of Good Hope. It is fifteen miles in circumference, and is so much 

 elevated, that it can be seen, in clear weather, at the distance of twenty- 

 five leagues. The three islands together form a triangle, of which 

 Tristan is the north-east point. The other two islands were named 

 by the French, in 1767; the most westerly being called Inaccessible, 

 and the other, which is the smallest and most southerly, Nightingale 

 Island. 



In approaching this group from the north, we make the largest island, 

 Tristan, at a vast distance, varying, of course, according to the state of 

 the atmosphere. A part of the island, towards the north, rises perpen- 

 dicularly from the sea, to the height of a thousand feet or more. A 

 level then commences, extending towards the centre, forming what 

 seamen term table-land ; above which rises a conical mountain, not un- 

 like in appearance the Peak of TenerifFe, as seen from the bay of 

 Santa Cruz. Trees grow half-way up this sugar-loaf eminence, but 

 above that it consists of bare and rugged rocks, frequently hidden by 

 the clouds ; with a summit which is covered with snow during the 

 greatest part of the year, notwithstanding that no snow falls on the 

 coast. In coming close in with the north side of this island, the An- 

 tarctic was completely overshadowed by that perpendicular elevation 

 of a thousand feet, which rises " like a moss-grown wall immediately 

 from the ocean." There are no shoals or other dangers about the 

 island, which is of circular shape, with bold shores and deep water. 



On the north-west side of the island is a bay, with a fine beach of 

 black sand, where boats may land with southerly winds ; this bay, 

 however, is open and exposed to winds from the opposite quarter. 

 Here are two cascades of excellent water, in sufficient quantity to 

 supply a large fleet ; and the casks could be filled by means of a long 

 hose, without moving them from the boats. A plenty of fish may be 

 caught with hook and line, among which are an excellent kind of large 

 perch, some weighing six pounds, crawfish, and a fine species of the 

 cod. Good anchorage may be found close in to the land, in eighteen 

 fathoms of water ; also at a quarter of a league from shore, in thirty 

 fathoms, gray sand mixed with small pebbles. 



