Although there are some rookeries in which the penguin and
      albatross are the sole population, yet in most of them a variety
      of oceanic birds are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges
      of citizenship, and scattering their nests here and there,
      wherever they can find room, never interfering, however, with the
      stations of the larger species. The appearance of such
      encampments, when seen from a distance, is exceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere just above the settlement is darkened with
      the immense number of the albatross (mingled with the smaller
      tribes) which are continually hovering over it, either going to
      the ocean or returning home. At the same time a crowd of penguins
      are to be observed, some passing to and fro in the narrow alleys,
      and some marching with the military strut so peculiar to them,
      around the general promenade ground which encircles the rookery. In short, survey it as we will, nothing can be more astonishing
      than the spirit of reflection evinced by these feathered beings,
      and nothing surely can be better calculated to elicit reflection
      in every well-regulated human intellect. On the morning after our arrival in Christmas Harbour the chief
      mate, Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although it was
      somewhat early in the season) went in search of seal, leaving the
      captain and a young relation of his on a point of barren land to
      the westward, they having some business, whose nature I could not
      ascertain, to transact in the interior of the island. Captain Guy
      took with him a bottle, in which was a sealed letter, and made
      his way from the point on which he was set on shore toward one of
      the highest peaks in the place. It is probable that his design
      was to leave the letter on that height for some vessel which he
      expected to come after him. As soon as we lost sight of him we
      proceeded (Peters and myself being in the mate’s boat) on our
      cruise around the coast, looking for seal. In this business we
      were occupied about three weeks, examining with great care every
      nook and corner, not only of Kerguelen’s Land, but of the several
      small islands in the vicinity. Our labours, however, were not
      crowned with any important success. We saw a great many fur seal,
      but they were exceedingly shy, and with the greatest exertions,
      we could only procure three hundred and fifty skins in all. Sea
      elephants were abundant, especially on the western coast of the
      mainland, but of these we killed only twenty, and this with great
      difficulty. On the smaller islands we discovered a good many of
      the hair seal, but did not molest them. We returned to the
      schooner on the eleventh, where we found Captain Guy and his
      nephew, who gave a very bad account of the interior, representing
      it as one of the most dreary and utterly barren countries in the
      world. They had remained two nights on the island, owing to some
      misunderstanding, on the part of the second mate, in regard to
      the sending a jollyboat from the schooner to take them off. CHAPTER 15


      On the twelfth we made sail from Christmas Harbour retracing our
      way to the westward, and leaving Marion’s Island, one of Crozet’s
      group, on the larboard. We afterward passed Prince Edward’s
      Island, leaving it also on our left, then, steering more to the
      northward, made, in fifteen days, the islands of Tristan
      d’Acunha, in latitude 37 degrees 8’ S, longitude 12 degrees 8’ W.

      This group, now so well known, and which consists of three
      circular islands, was first discovered by the Portuguese, and was
      visited afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in
      1767. The three islands together form a triangle, and are distant
      from each other about ten miles, there being fine open passages
      between. The land in all of them is very high, especially in
      Tristan d’Acunha, properly so called. This is the largest of the
      group, being fifteen miles in circumference, and so elevated that
      it can be seen in clear weather at the distance of eighty or
      ninety miles. A part of the land toward the north rises more than
      a thousand feet perpendicularly from the sea. A tableland at this
      height extends back nearly to the centre of the island, and from
      this tableland arises a lofty cone like that of Teneriffe. The
      lower half of this cone is clothed with trees of good size, but
      the upper region is barren rock, usually hidden among the clouds,
      and covered with snow during the greater part of the year. There
      are no shoals or other dangers about the island, the shores being
      remarkably bold and the water deep. On the northwestern coast is
      a bay, with a beach of black sand where a landing with boats can
      be easily effected, provided there be a southerly wind. Plenty of
      excellent water may here be readily procured; also cod and other
      fish may be taken with hook and line. The next island in point of size, and the most westwardly of the
      group, is that called the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is
      37 degrees 17’ S. latitude, longitude 12 degrees 24’ W. It is
      seven or eight miles in circumference, and on all sides presents
      a forbidding and precipitous aspect. Its top is perfectly flat,
      and the whole region is sterile, nothing growing upon it except a
      few stunted shrubs. Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in
      latitude 37 degrees 26’ S., longitude 12 degrees 12’ W. Off its
      southern extremity is a high ledge of rocky islets; a few also of
      a similar appearance are seen to the northeast. The ground is
      irregular and sterile, and a deep valley partially separates it. The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with
      sea lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a
      great variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their
      vicinity. Owing to the ease with which these various animals were
      here formerly taken, the group has been much visited since its
      discovery. The Dutch and French frequented it at a very early
      period. In 1790, Captain Patten, of the ship Industry, of
      Philadelphia, made Tristan d’Acunha, where he remained seven
      months (from August, 1790, to April, 1791) for the purpose of
      collecting sealskins. In this time he gathered no less than five
      thousand six hundred, and says that he would have had no
      difficulty in loading a large ship with oil in three weeks. Upon
      his arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the exception of a few
      wild goats; the island now abounds with all our most valuable
      domestic animals, which have been introduced by subsequent
      navigators.