THE PRINCE ED WARD ISLES 
225 
The larger, Marion Island, has a length of 11 miles 
with a maximum breadth of 8 miles. The coasts rise 
by a moderate ascent to the highest point, which lies in 
the centre and has a height of 4080 ft., approximately. 
The valleys are narrow and are often filled with lava 
masses of quite recent date. The heights are covered 
with snow till December, the beginning of the warmer 
season. 
The flora is scanty. In the higher levels there are 
extensive beds of moss, and in the lower positions the 
basalt rocks are covered with Crassulaceae ( Tillcea 
mosc/iatd). Accsna ascendens, described by Mosely as 
occurring in beds, Azoi^ella selago^ and a species of 
grass {Poa Cookii). Here and there, but not in actual 
plenty, appears Pringlea, which belongs to Kerguelen 
Land. Between 1800 and 2100 ft. up, vegetation seems 
to come to an end. 
The animal world is almost exclusively represented by 
birds, the oceanic species, such as terns, petrels and al¬ 
batrosses (Dioniedea ex2dans\ breeding among the rocks. 
Besides these, the penguins of the Antarctic region appear 
already to hold possession of the flat places of the island, 
among them being the imposing king-penguin {Apteno- 
dytes longirostris) half the height of a man. Of the lower 
orders of animals a weevil, two kinds of short-wings and 
a species of fly with stunted wings [^Amalopteryx 
marithnd) were met with by the Challenger Expedition. 
The natural characteristics of the smaller or Prince 
Edward Island, which received its name at the hand 
of Captain Cook, are very similar, but it is flatter and 
less easily accessible than Marion Island. 
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