128 
CRUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER . 
otherwise. The men, engaged in such arduous 
avocations as they are in these wild and inhospitable 
regions, must be expected to make all they can, and 
they care for none who come after them, hut kill old 
and young as they fall across them in their cruises. 
The same might be said of the whales and sea- 
elephants. 
On parting company with the schooners, we pro- 
ceeded through Aldrich Channel ; the scenery very 
fine — high snow-clad peaks and ranges of lofty 
hills in all directions. When through the channel, 
Blight’s Cap and the Cloudy Isles were once more in 
sight. Here we stopped, and a few hours were spent 
in dredging off the Arch Rock, with very good re- 
sults ; after this, steamed into Christmas Harbour and 
anchored. 
The next day parties were away for surveying 
and other services. The number of birds found here 
is surprising. Although I had often heard of the 
great numbers met with on uninhabited islands, I 
was scarcely prepared to see them in such vast 
multitudes, particularly the penguins, for the whole 
sides of the rugged hills and ledges of rock were 
literally covered with them. They averaged from 10 
to 20 inches in height, with white breasts and nearly 
black backs. The king bird and another species 
have four or five yellow feathers, from 3 to 5 inches 
long, adorning each side of their heads in graceful 
plumes. They stand erect in rows, which gives them 
