MURPIIV ; 
P1CN('.UIXS OI-' SOUTH (H-:oR(HA. 
ro5 
several landiiio's in Jaiiuarx’, 1775, and James Weddell, visiting Soiilli 
Georgia in 1823, wrote the following (jiiaint account, which, in the light 
of recent discovery, has become classic : 
of the 1 )ird tribe, the peiiyuin is the most worthy of notice. The ])en<.^uins 
are of a very tjjregarious nature. They j.(o in large Hocks along the shore, erect, and 
with a waddling gait. When seen through a hazy atnios])here, they may he not 
inaptly mi.staken for a body of men. 
In pride, these birds are perhaps not surpassed even by the ])eacock, to which in 
beantv of plumage they are indeed very little inferior, — as may he seen in our jmincipal 
museums. During the time of moulting, they seem to repel each other with disgust, 
01; account of the ragged state of their coats ; but as they arrive at the maximum of 
splendor they re-a.ssemhle, and no one who has not completed his plumage is allowed 
to enter the community. Their frecpiently looking down their front and sides in order 
to contemplate the perfection of their exterior brilliancy, and to remove aii}’ s])eck 
which might sully it, is truly amusing to an observer. 
About the beginning of Januar}^ the}^ pair, and la}^ their eggs. During the time 
of hatching, the male is remarkably assiduous, so that when the hen has occasion to 
go off to feed and wash, the egg is transported to him, •wdiich is done by placing their 
toes together and rolling it from the one to the other, using their beaks to place it 
properly. As they have no nest, it is to be remarked, that the egg is carried bet\veen 
the tail and legs, where the female, in particular, has a cavity for the purpose. 
The hen keeps charge of her young nearly a twelvemonth, during which time 
they change and complete their plumage ; and in teaching them to swim, the mother 
has frequently to use some artifice ; for when the young one refuses to take the water, 
she entices it to the side of a rock, and cunningly pushes it in, and this is repeated 
until it takes the sea of its own accord. 
The present great reduction in the numbers of the king penguin has 
been caused undoubtedly by human depredations, in part by the foraging- 
raids of sealers and whalers, but perhaps in an even larger measure by 
traders in penguin oil. Regarding this la.st class, Klut.schak, who visited 
South Georgia on an American .sealing .schooner in 1877, wrote : 
Human greed has been the cause of great persecution of these creatures. I am 
told (although ])ersonally I cannot vouch for it) that oil made from ])enguiu fat was 
formerly utilized in tanning leather, and that vessels came for the ])urpose of taking 
these birds in huge numbers in order to extract the oil. This commodity, which must 
always have been expensive, has now been superseded by chea])cr and perhajxs better 
chemical ])reparations, hence the destruction of the ])cnguins has cc;ised. Proof that 
thev were slaughtered in former times, however, may be seen along the whole north- 
ern and northeastern coasts where the small iron try-pots, always arranged in ]iairs, 
still lie about. At h'rench I larbor'^' ])arts of a b'rcnch i)cuguin-huntiug sbi]), which 
was wrecked in this labyrinth of reefs, may still be seen, ('rranslation). 
* A cove lying west of Cai)c Ilnllcr. not design.Tlcd on recent etiarts. 
