j86 FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
poverty of the soil, to find all the usual garden vegetables, 
as Far as I can judge, in a flourishing state. Strawberries 
were in full blossom. There was spinach, lettuce, pease, 
potatoes, and many other green things ; and under glass 
were marrows, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Round the 
outside of the garden there was a splendid yellow blow of 
furze that filled the whole air with perfume. I noticed a 
bird in the gooseberries somewhat resembling our thrush 
in colour and movements, with a red waxy bill. Lady 
Goldsworthy told me afterwards that these birds sing 
beautifully, and that this one in particular was a favourite 
of hers. Providentially, we did not shoot ! When we 
went on a scientific whaling expedition we left all sporting 
instincts behind us, and are really unfit for civilisation 
now, which is proved by the following event. Just as we 
were saying good-bye to His Excellency, an upland 
goose came down feet first on the field in front of the 
house, looked round, and up at the British flag that was 
flying close by, and then began to eat the short grass. 
Here was a chance, we thought. This goose evidently 
longed for immortality and a glass case, so we asked His 
Excellency's sanction and proceeded to secure it. Our 
doctor had never fired a shot in grim earnest, so I gave 
him my gun with a couple of No. 3's. He grasped it 
with the nervous tension of a first shot, and I knew the 
goose was doomed. 
We advised him to circumvent the goose by following 
a path that crossed the field, and to walk just like a 
harmless botanist with the gun hidden down his right 
side, and then to wheel to his left when a little beyond the 
