AMSTERDAM ISLAND. 14;? 
a species of clelphinyr, or porpoise, probably that which is 
usually called the Thrasher, was observed to attack the 
whale with great violence, whenever the latter ventured to 
heave his husie back out of the surface of the sea, lashino" it 
with its tail and fins, the strokes of Avhich the great monster 
seemed to have no means of repelling but by rolling round in 
the water. It Avas dangerous even for tlie boats to row 
among these larg-e animals, which it would seem were 
still more numerous on the first discovery of the island, as in 
the paper above alluded to it is observed, " That the people 
" of Van Vlaming^ ship found the sea so full of seals and sea- 
*' lions, that they were obliged to kill them to get a passage 
^' through, when they steered for the shore ; there was also 
" an astonishing number of fish." Not only the sea but the 
whole coast, in the mornings and evenings, swarmed with 
seals and sea-lions. 
The number of birds was likewise astonishing, and the two 
causeways were strewed with their eggSi During our short 
stay on shore we obtained the following birds : 
Diomedea Demersa, 
Emtlans, 
Aptenodi/ta Chrysocome, 
Procellaria Eq idnoctiaUs, 
Puffin us, 
Gi'isea, 
Pelagica, 
Forsteri, 
The White and the Brown Al- 
batross. 
Crested Penguin. 
Black Petrel. 
Puffin. 
Grey Petrel. 
Stormy Petrel. 
Blue Petrel, 
u 2 
