68 
FROM CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO SYDNEY. 
huts for the men, large iron pots for boiling down the blubber, and casks for stowing 
the oil. Surrounded by the romantic scenery of Royal Sound, the lot of these men seemed 
quite enviable. 
The “ Challenger ” here spent three days in the usual occupations of surveying 
sounding, dredging, and exploring. The weather was very fine, and the splendour of the 
sunsets more than repaid the discomforts of a voyage from Europe. In the various surveys 
of portions of the east and south coasts of Kerguelen, the surveying officers of H.M.S. 
“ Challenger ” did their colleagues of the naval and civilian staffs the honour of attaching 
their names to various mountains, islands, bays, &c., thus added to the topography of the 
world. In this manner the writer of these pages became—so far as nomenclature goes— 
the owner of a mountain or hill in Kerguelen. It is only 1260 feet high, but its conical 
summit forms a useful landmark at the entrance to Royal Sound. It overlooks a 
promontory which, from its shape when seen at a distance, the whalers have called Cat’s 
Ears, but on nearer inspection it assumes the appearance of a hill crowned by the ruins 
of some ancient castle, and this illusion is especially noticeable when the spot is lighted 
up by the rays of the setting sun. 
On the 18th, 19th, and 20th of January, the thermometer in the shade rose to about 
14 0 C. in the warmest, and fell to about 5 0 C. in the coldest part of the day. In the course 
of the 20th the “ Challenger left Three Island Harbour, and early on the 21st she steamed 
out of Royal Sound, shaping her course towards Cape George. This cape is the most 
southerly point of Kerguelen reached by Captain Cook, and is formed of an enormous 
pyramidal rock which has got detached from the cliff immediately behind it. The state of 
the weather did not permit an attempt to pass the cape, so we took shelter in Greenland 
Harbour, an inlet which opens between Cape George and Cape Maclear, and whose upper 
end almost communicates with Royal Sound. On the 22nd we commenced our return cruise 
to Christmas Harbour, passing the entrance of Royal Sound and rounding Cape Digby, the 
eastern extremity of the island. The next day the “ Challenger received her first serious 
damage. In the midst of a furious gale a heavy sea struck the ship, split one of the ports, 
and carried away some of the gear near the bows. After sheltering in Cascade Reach on 
the 24th, revisiting Betsy Cove on the 25th—where we observed the pair of goats we had 
landed during our former stay we proceeded along the east coast. On the 27th and 28th 
