the Antarctic Regions . 245 
directing its course round the ship; and, whilst going 
through its various rapid and elegant evolutions, I have 
often succeeded in obtaining specimens by shooting 
them from the deck, so that they fell on board. 
A petrel, very much resembling the P. Capensis , and 
with which it often associates in flocks, was frequently 
seen, and appears to be either an immature bird, or 
an undescribed species. 
On the lltli January, 1841, in about the latitude of 
71° south, and longitude 171° east, very high land was 
discovered, the general aspect of which at once pro¬ 
claimed its volcanic character, although enveloped in a 
mantle of ice and snow; the black lava, or basalt, only 
appearing through its white covering, where the pre¬ 
cipitous face of the cliff left no possibility of attachment 
for either snow or ice. The highest peak measured 
9096 feet, another 8444 feet, and a third remarkable 
one, with a crystal-shaped summit, 7867 feet. The 
whole of the land in the vicinity of these peaks, rising 
in numerous smaller snow-clad ones, clustered together, 
resembled a mass of crystallisation; and, as the rays of 
the sun were reflected on it, presented a scene as mag¬ 
nificent and sublime as it was novel and unequalled. On 
the following day, I made a hasty examination of a small 
island (the only spot I had an opportunity of landing 
upon) lying a little to the eastward of the main land, in 
lat. 71° 56' south, and long. 171° 7' cast; it was a 
basaltic rock, rising to the height of about 300 feet in 
some places, of a conglomerate composition, with a few 
imbedded crystals. From this a platform extended to 
the ice-girt landing-place, on which the penguins had 
established a rookery, and were congregated in such 
countless numbers, young and old, that the whole place, 
with the ice and water adjacent, seemed alive with them. 
The spot on which they were breeding, from its elastic 
