THE SOUTHERN OCEAN 
61 
or places whence it would be difficult to rise, and thinks this is the reason why none of the 
birds visit Tristan d’Acunha and Nightingale Island, although a number of them, about two 
hundred pairs, annually visit Inaccessible Island, only a few miles distant. This circumstance 
also accounts for the preference given to Marion Island as a resort for breeding purposes. 
Its bare slopes, only covered with a kind of short grass, are easy of access ; while its soil, 
ever kept moist by the melting snows, affords materials for nest-building. Our exploring 
party succeeded in landing, after clambering over the slippery rocks covered with kelp 
which bind the shore, and wading knee-deep in the swampy soil. The low ground and 
the slopes of the hills were, if one may so style it, a vast breeding-warren of albatrosses, 
petrels, and penguins. Of the last named, two varieties were observed—the large king 
penguin, and a smaller yellow-crested kind, resembling the one met with at the Tristan 
d’Acunha group. 
December the 27th was passed sounding and dredging to the east of Prince Edward 
Island. The dredge on this occasion brought up numerous beautiful specimens of polyzoa 
and coral. In the evening the “Challenger” made sail for the Crozet Islands, distant about 
500 miles. The next day—the weather being remarkably fine—was one of those enjoyable days 
which compensate the sailor for the miseries and hardships endured “when the stormy winds 
do blow.” A constant source of interest and amusement is found in watching the sports and 
occasional fights amongst the numerous birds which in these latitudes accompany the ship 
night and day—albatross, tern, petrel, Cape pigeon, Mother Carey’s chicken, and others. 
Indeed, the abundance of sea-birds in the higher latitudes contrasts remarkably with 
their almost total absence between the tropics, where often many days pass without a 
bird coming in sight. To judge by the rich hauls secured by the dredge or trawl during 
our cruise in the Southern Ocean, the same contrast seems to exist with regard to the 
deep-sea fauna. 
In the course of the 28th we also passed some sea-weed, and observed some patches 
of discoloured sea of a greyish-blue tint. The 29th was distinguished by one of the 
most successful hauls made up to this date, as regards the number, variety, novelty, and 
perfection of the specimens found in the trawl. In the morning of this day, when about 200 
miles from the Crozets, the sea was observed to be of a dark-blue colour; in the afternoon 
it returned to its normal greenish complexion. The results of the trawling on the 30th, in a 
depth of 1600 fathoms, were even more surprising than those obtained on the previous day 
in 1375 fathoms. Several species hitherto unknown to the naturalist were found among 
the specimens brought up from the bottom. Late in the afternoon, land was sighted on 
the port bow. It was Hog Island, the most westerly of the Crozet group; but we were 
not destined to see much of these islands. At daybreak a thick mist obscured the land, an 
we passed the last day of the year .873 and the first day of .874 in endeavouring to keep 
clear of the dangerous coasts and scattered rocks as yet but imperfectly laid down in the 
charts. On both days the dark pinnacles of the Penguin Islands, also called the Inaccess,b e 
Islands, were for a moment visible through the mist and rain. Having thus got an idea of 
