17 
through the thorn-studded acacia and cactus brush, there was plenty of hard 
going through dense spiny acacia thickets which formed a veritable natural 
chevaux-defrise, to say nothing of the numerous rough lava dikes which had 
to be traversed for greater or less distances in order to make any headway 
at all. We finally came out at the nesting site of the albatross. Only 
comparatively few birds remained out of the thousands that have been reported 
resident at other times of the year. We saw some thirty birds. About a 
third of them were still actively incubating eggs, another third were with 
young of various ages, and the remainder were apparently just idling or 
straggling around. Two of these made a few half-hearted passes at one 
another, scarcely to be described as even a part of the elaborate billing 
and fencing that forms a part of the remarkable nuptial dance of these birds. 
So badly were we scratched up by thorns on the way down that on 
the return journey there was no thought of getting back any other way than 
along shore. The journey back to the landing over endless heaps of rounded 
boulders of all sizes, but mostly large, was as strenuous as the way overland. 
We all decided there was little room for choice between a hell of thorns and 
one of lava boulders. 
These beaches of lava boulders are not as dead and lifeless as they 
appear at first glance. Between and below tide marks all manner of inverte- 
brates are to be found in their interstices. Higher up, in and above the 
dash of the surf, armies of the large red Grapsus crabs scuttle about. Here 
and there is a bird. Here a night heron, eyeing the surge of water; there 
a briliiant red flycatcher, Pyroceohalus . poised on this, now on that, rock. 
Well camouflaged, a marine iguana sunning himself in some sheltered nook or 
perhaps clambering about over the boulders may be discerned on. careful inspec- 
tion of the apparently barren strand. 
