IN THE WAKE OB' THE 66 CHALLENGER/ 
17 
covered with 44 tussock ” grass ( Spartina arundinacea ?) which 
forms an enormous penguin 44 rookery,” being so thick as almost 
to be impenetrable. This grass has a habit, like that of the 
Falkland Islands ( Dactylis ccespitosa ), of growing to five or six 
feet, springing in tufts, and forming massive boles or clumps 
at its base, composed of contorted root-fibres matted together. 
These are so tough as to require an axe to cut them. The grass 
thrives best where it is saturated with penguin dung. The close 
similarity of the three islands of the Tristan group points to a 
former close connexion. The presence of many plants here may 
be accounted for by the existence of a Cape Horn current which 
comes sweeping up to the islands. Part, too, of the Brazilian 
current, which turns from the coast of South America, brings 
many seeds, which, however, being tropical, do not germinate. 
These are known to the settlers as 44 sea-beans,” from the belief 
that they grow at the bottom of the neighbouring sea. One of 
these is the bean of a leguminous tree common at Bahia, while 
another is identical with a seed cast up upon the Bermudas, 
which, under the same name, is worn as a 44 curiosity ” on watch- 
chains. The thrush and bunting, the only strictly land birds 
which inhabit the islands,* feeding, as they do, upon berries, 
have also assisted in spreading plants from one island of the 
group to another. 
By the time that the month of November had come round the 
Chcdlenger had arrived at Simon’s Bay, Cape of Hood Hope. 
After a stay of about six weeks here the journey was resumed 
southward, t Prince Edward’s Island being the first halting- 
place, though no landing could unfortunately be effected here. 
After leaving the Cape dredgings were taken a little to the 
southward at depths of from 100 to 150 fathoms. The animal 
life was found to be abundant, the fauna being generally like 
that of the North Atlantic, many species even being identical 
with those on the coasts of Britain and Norway. From two 
dredgings between Prince Edward’s Island and the Crozets at 
depths of 1,375 and 1,600 fathoms, it was further demonstrated 
that here, in the south of the Indian Ocean, we have principally 
to do with the same deep sea fauna as the Atlantic Ocean pre- 
sents. From the station between the above two groups an 
Ostracod was obtained in comparison with which all previous 
ones are pigmies, its shell having a length of 25 millimetres 
and a height of 16 millimetres. It is said that one of a 
* A coot, according to Darwin (“ Naturalist’s Voyage ”), is also to be found 
here ; from which he deduces that u the waders, after the innumerable 
web-footed species, are generally the first colonists of small isolated islands.” 
t I have not succeeded, despite of some pains to ascertain them, in find- 
ing out the exact dates of the arrival at and departure from the Cape. 
VOL. XV. — NO. LVDI. c 
