XXV. LIFE ON MACQUARIE ISLAND
By G. F. Ainsworth
Left on an island in mid-ocean!
It suggests the romances of youthful days--Crusoe, Sindbad and all their glorious company. Still, when this narrative is completed, imagination will be seen to have played a small part. In fact, it is a plain tale of our experiences, descriptive of a place where we spent nearly two years and of the work accomplished during our stay.
The island was discovered in 1810 by Captain Hasselborough of the ship 'Perseverance', which had been dispatched by Campbell and Sons, of Sydney, under his command to look for islands inhabited by fur seals. Macquarie Islands, named by Hasselborough after the Governor of New South Wales, were found to be swarming with these valuable animals, and for two years after their discovery was made known, many vessels visited the place, landing gangs of men to procure skins and returning at frequent intervals to carry the proceeds of their labours to the markets of the world.
The slaughter of the seals was so great that the animals were almost exterminated within a few years. One ship is known to have left Macquarie Island with a cargo of 35,000 skins during the first year of operations. High prices were obtained for them in London and China, and many American, British and Sydney firms were engaged in the enterprise.
The value of a skin is determined by the condition of the fur, which is often damaged by the animals fighting amongst themselves. Furthermore, at a certain season of the year, the seals moult, and if taken within a certain time of this natural process, the skin is almost valueless. These facts were ignored by the sealers, who killed without discrimination.
Again, both male and female, old and young were ruthlessly slaughtered, with the obvious result--the extermination of the species. If supervision had been exercised and restrictions imposed, there is no doubt that the island would still have been used by the fur seal as a breeding-ground. During our stay none were seen, but Mr. Bauer, who acts as sealing herdsman and who had visited the island in that capacity each summer for eleven years, stated that he had seen odd ones at infrequent intervals.
Associated as the island has been since the year 1812 with sealing and oil ventures, it follows that a history has been gradually developed; somewhat traditional, though many occurrences to which we shall refer are well authenticated.
It might be supposed from the foregoing, that a good deal is known about the place, but such is not the case, except in a general sense. Several scientific men from New Zealand, recognizing the importance of the island as a link between Australasia and Antarctica, visited it at different times within the past twenty years, only remaining long enough to make a cursory examination of the eastern side. They had to depend on the courtesy of the sealing ships' captains for a passage, and the stormy conditions which are ever prevalent made their stay too brief for any exhaustive work.
A Russian Antarctic expedition, under Bellingshausen's command, called there in 1821 and stayed for two days, collecting a few bird and animal specimens. They referred to the island as being "half-cooled down," in a short but interesting account of their visit, and remarked upon the large number of sea-elephants lying on the shores.
In 1840 the ship 'Peacock', one of the exploring vessels of the American Expedition under Wilkes, landed several men after much difficulty on the south-west of the island, but they remained only a few hours, returning to their ship after securing some specimens of birds. Expressing astonishment at the "myriad of birds", they remarked, "Macquarie Islands offer no inducement for a visit, and as far as our examination showed, have no suitable place for landing with a boat."
The next call of an Antarctic expedition was made by Captain Scott in the 'Discovery' in November 1901. He, with several naturalists, landed on the eastern side to collect specimens, but remained only a few hours. He refers to the penguins, kelp-weed and tussock grass; certainly three characteristic features.
Captain Davis, during his search for charted sub-antarctic islands, when connected with Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition, called there in the 'Nimrod' in 1909. He landed a party of men who secured several sea-elephants and some penguins.
It will thus be seen that very little had been done which was scientifically important or generally interesting. Sealers came and went as a matter of business, and probably the arduous nature of their work and the rugged topography of the island combined to prevent the more curious from exploring far afield.
Captain Scott was desirous of establishing a base on Macquarie Island in 1910, but circumstances compelled him to abandon the idea. And so it came that we five men of Dr. Mawson's Expedition were landed on December 22, 1911, with a programme of work outlined by our leader. H. Hamilton was biologist, L. R. Blake surveyor and geologist, C. A. Sandell and A. J. Sawyer were wireless operators, the former being also a mechanic, and I was appointed meteorologist and leader of the party.
We stood on the beach in the dusk, watching the boat's party struggle back to the 'Aurora', which lay at anchor one and a half miles from the north-west shore. Having received a soaking landing in the surf and being tired out with the exertions of the day, we started back to our temporary shelter. We had not gone very far when a mysterious sound, followed by a shaking of the earth, made us glance at each other and exclaim, "An earthquake!" The occurrence gave rise to a discussion which carried us to bed.
Seeing that we were to spend a long time on the island, the question of building a hut was the first consideration. Through the kindness of Mr. Bauer, who had just left the island in the s.s. 'Toroa', we were able to live for the time being in the sealers' hut.
It was urgent to get the wireless station into working order as soon as possible. The masts and operating-hut had been erected during the stay of the 'Aurora', but there yet remained the building of the engine-hut and the installation of the machinery and instruments, as well as the construction and erection of the aerial. Accordingly we proceeded with the living-hut and the job on Wireless Hill at the same time, working on the hill most of the day and at the hut in the evening.
Wireless Hill rose to three hundred and fifty feet in height, and formed part of a peninsula running in a northeasterly direction from the main island. It had been chosen by Mr. Hannam of the Adelie Land party because of its open northerly aspect, and because "wireless" waves would probably have a good "set-off," southward to the Main Base in Antarctica.
Just a few yards from the base of the hill on its southwestern side was a huge rock, upon the easterly side of which we decided to build our dwelling. The timbers for the hut had been cut and fitted in Hobart, so all that remained for us was to put them together.
After working at high pressure until December 30, we were able to establish ourselves in a home. The doorway faced to the east, and the rock protected the small place from the strong westerly weather which is invariable in these latitudes. The dimensions were twenty feet by thirteen feet, the front wall being nine feet six inches high, sloping to seven feet six inches at the back. All the timbers were of oregon and deal, and particular attention was paid to bracing and strengthening the building, which rested on piles just clear of the sandy surface. The inside was lined and ceiled, and the roof of galvanized iron was set flush with the front wall, fascia boards along the front and sides being designed to keep the fine snow from blowing under the corrugations and lodging on the ceiling. "George V Villa" was fixed upon as the name, but the hut was never at any time referred to as the villa, and in future will always be known as the Shack.
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Plan of Hut--Macquarie Island
Twelve live sheep had been landed, and these had been driven on to Wireless Hill so as to be accessible. We decided to kill one for Christmas, so on December 24 Sandell and I, leaving the others at work on the Shack, started out.
The hillsides are deeply ravined and the slopes covered with a dense growth of tussock, which renders progress uncertain and laborious. Our experience was a foretaste of many to come. We found the sheep huddled together in a deep gully on the eastern side, and drove them round to the front of the hill, where one was caught, killed and dressed.
Christmas Day dawned fine and sunny, and we decided to make some attempt at a dinner. Blake produced a plum pudding, and this, together with roast mutton and several kinds of vegetables, washed down with a little claret, constituted our first Christmas dinner.
The sealing schooner, Clyde, had been wrecked without loss of life on November 14, 1911, on the east coast, and was now lying on the beach nearly half a mile away. A two-hundred-gallon tank had been saved from the wreck and we managed on Christmas morning, after two hours of carrying and trundling, to place it at the end of the Shack. This was a valuable find, ensuring in the future a constant, convenient supply of rain water. Further, we made use of the timber of the wreck for building, and the broken pieces strewn about were stored up as firewood.
On the 26th we all went to the wireless station, and, as Sandell had the aerial made, we pulled it into position. In the afternoon I unpacked all my instruments and started them off so as to make sure that all were working correctly. I did not intend to record any observations till January 1, 1912, and therefore did not erect the meteorological screen until the 28th.
On moving into our abode domestic arrangements were made. With regard to cooking, each man took duty for a week, during which he was able to write up his work and to wash and mend clothes. To Hamilton and Sandell, who had had previous experience, frequent appeals were made as to methods of cooking various dishes, but by degrees each one asserted his independence. There were several cookery books for reference and each week saw the appearance of some new pudding, in each instance prefaced by the boast: "This is going to be the best pudding ever turned out on the island!" The promise was not always made good.
We had a good deal of difficulty at first in making bread and several batches were very "heavy" failures. This difficulty, however, was soon overcome and, after the first few months, the cooking standard was high and well maintained. Our stove was very small and only two loaves of bread could be cooked at once. It frequently happened, therefore, that the others, which would go on rising in the tins, overflowed; a matter which could only be set right by experience.
On New Year's Day, 1912, we carried timber in relays from the wreck to the top of Wireless Hill, so that the building of the engine-hut could be started. The next few days were occupied in getting food-stuffs, medicines, stationery, clothing and other necessaries over to the Shack from the landing-place on the beach. Blake and Hamilton unpacked their instruments and appliances, fitting up a small laboratory and photographic dark-room in one corner of the hut.
Some kind Hobart friend had sent four fowls to me on the day of sailing, requesting me to take them to Macquarie island. They were housed in one of the meteorological screens, but on the third day from Hobart a heavy sea broke on board, upset the temporary fowl-house and crushed the rooster's head. The three hens were landed safely and appeared to be thoroughly reconciled to their strange surroundings, though the presence of so many large birds soaring about overhead had a terrifying effect on them for several days. They did not appear to pick up much food amongst the grass, but scratched away industriously all the same. I must say that they were very friendly and gave the place quite a homely aspect. One of them was christened "Ma" on account of her maternal and somewhat fussy disposition.
On the first Sunday in the new year all except myself went along the coast towards West Point. The party reported immense numbers of sea-elephants, especially young ones. They also saw many wekas and three ducks, shooting nine of the former for the kitchen.
The wekas or Maori hens are small, flightless birds, averaging when full grown about two and three-quarter pounds. They were introduced twenty-five years ago by Mr. Elder, of New Zealand, a former lessee of the island, and multiplied so fast that they are now very numerous. They live among the tussocks, and subsist for the most part upon the larvae of the kelp-fly, small fish and other marine life which they catch under the stones along the rocky shores at low tide. They are exceedingly inquisitive and pugnacious and may easily be caught by hand.
Usually, when disturbed, they will pop under a rock, and on being seized immediately commence to squeak. This is sufficient to bring every weka within a quarter of a mile hurrying to the spot, and, in a few minutes, heads may be seen poking out of the grass in every direction. The man holding the bird then crouches down, preferably just on the border of the tussock, holding the protesting bird in one hand. Soon there will be a rustle, then a rush, and another furious weka will attack the decoy. The newcomer is grabbed and, if the birds are plentiful, five or six of them may be taken in one spot.
Their call is peculiarly plaintive and wild and may be heard night and day. Though we saw and caught innumerable young ones of all sizes, we were never able to find the nests of these Maori hens.
A depot of stores had been laid by the 'Aurora' at Caroline Cove, twenty miles from the Shack at the south end of the island, and it was deemed advisable to lay several more intermediate food-depots along the east coast.
The sealers had a motor-launch which they kindly placed at our disposal, and a supply of stores was put on board for transport. At 8 A.M., January 9, Sandell, Blake, Sawyer and Hamilton started out accompanied by two sealers who offered to point out the positions of several old huts along the coast. These huts had been built by sealing gangs many years ago and were in a sad state of disrepair.
The first call was made at Sandy Bay, about five miles from the Shack. Stores were landed and placed in the hut, and the party proceeded to Lusitania Bay, eleven miles farther on, where they stayed for the night. At this place (named after an old sealing craft, the 'Lusitania') there were two huts, one being a work-hut and the other a living-hut. They had not been used for sixteen years and, as a result, were found to be much dilapidated. In the locality is a large King penguin rookery, the only one on the island, and two dozen eggs were obtained on this visit, some fresh and some otherwise.
As the next morning was squally, it was decided that the stores should be deposited in the hut at the south end; a distance of five miles across country. Through bog and tussock it took the party four hours to accomplish this journey. The hut was found in the same condition as the others and a rather miserable night was spent. A short distance from this spot is situated the largest penguin rookery on the island. On returning to the launch, the six men had a quick run of three hours back to the north end.
During the absence of the party I had been busy erecting a stand for the anemo-biagraph. Ordinarily, such an instrument is kept in a house, the upper section only being exposed through the roof. The Shack was in a position too sheltered for my purpose, so I built a place for the anemo-biagraph behind a low rock well out on the isthmus.
Sandell and Sawyer reported on the 16th that the wireless station was ready for testing. Therefore, on the following day, the three of us erected a small set on the farthest point of the peninsula--North Head. The set had been made in order to test the large station. Sawyer then returned to the operating-hut and received signals sent from North Head by Sandell, who in return received Sawyer's signals, thus showing that so far everything was satisfactory. It was thought, after the tests, that the "earth" was not by any means good and Sawyer erected a counterpoise, which, however, failed to give anything like the "earth" results. More "earths" (connexions by wire with the ground) were now put in from day to day, and on the 27th Sawyer noted an improvement. Successful tests were again made on the 30th. The wireless men now expected communication with Australia.
Blake and Hamilton were soon making inroads, each on his own particular sphere of work. On the 17th a baseline was laid down on the plateau, and Blake was able to commence his survey of the island. He had already made some geological investigations in the vicinity of North Head and West Point, as well as for a short distance along the east coast. Hamilton had visited nearly all the penguin rookeries in the vicinity, and already had several fine specimens. Marine collecting occupied part of his time and plant life promised to provide an interesting field.
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The north end of Macquarie Island
From the intermediate position that Macquarie Island occupies relative to Australasia and the Antarctic continent, it was highly important that its biology should be fully determined. Investigation of the marine and terrestrial fauna and flora shows several facts indicating the part this island has played in the supposed connexion of the great land masses of the southern hemispheres. It is an established fact that the flora of New Zealand has strong sub-antarctic and South American affinities and the problem is to account for this distribution. Many forms of plant and animal life are circumaustral, being found in all suitable sub-antarctic situations. To account for this fact two theories have been advanced, namely, the Relict theory (Dahl, Schenck and others) and the Antarctic theory.
The first theory supposes that the inhabitants of the sub-antarctic islands are the remnants of groups of animals developed in some northern land-mass, and driven south by more highly developed forms. Again, that these sub-antarctic islands have always been separated from continents, and that the distribution of life on the former must have proceeded over wide stretches of sea.
The Antarctic theory accounts for the distribution and similarity of sub-antarctic fauna and flora by establishing a connexion between the sub-antarctic islands and the Antarctic continent. At the same period, the Antarctic continent was assumed to be connected by land with South America, South Africa and Australia, and the similar life forms now found in these continents were driven northward by a subsequent colder period. This theory is strengthened by several facts, chief of which are, (1) the existence of an Antarctic continent, and (2) the comparatively shallow waters between it, South Africa, Australia and South America.
Whichever theory is adopted, it is evident that our scientific opportunities were unique.
On the 28th, Sandell, Sawyer and I decided to climb on to the main ridge or plateau of the island. We had already discovered that the easiest way to get on to the hills was to follow up one of the many ravines or gullies which run down to the sea. This necessitates walking in water most of the way, but one soon gets accustomed to wet feet on Macquarie Island.
The slopes rise in a series of terraces which are generally soggy and covered with tussock (pleurophyllum) and with scattered cushions of Azorella. The summit of the ridge is a barren waste, over which loose rocks are scattered in every direction, while a wavy effect due to the action of wind is plainly visible over the surface of the ground. The steep, descending sides are very soft and sodden, supporting a scanty growth of vegetation, including the small burr known as the "biddy-bid."
Hundreds of tarns and lakes are visible along the plateau-like ridge which extends throughout the length of the island. Several of the lakes are half a mile long and very deep. The tarns are, for the most part, shallow with hard stony bottoms. The water is beautifully fresh and apparently contains no life.
Skua gulls were plentiful and washed themselves, with a great flapping of wings, in the shallow waters at the edge of the lakes. They paid particular attention to our dog "Mac," swooping down and attempting to strike her with their wings. A yelp at intervals came from Mac if they were successful, though the former, if she were quick enough, would spring at the bird and retaliate by getting a mouthful of feathers.
We eventually came out on to a point about seven hundred feet high, overlooking the west coast, and it could be seen that the space between the base of the hills and the ocean was occupied by a plain which sloped very gradually to the beach. Here and there across its surface were huge mounds of earth and rock and, occasionally, a small lakelet fringed with a dense growth of tussock and Maori cabbage.
A descent was made to explore the place. A fairly large volume of water flowed rapidly downward by several deep gullies and, coming to the terrace, cut narrow, sinuous channels which were soon lost to view in the tussocks. Examination of the watercourses revealed that this tract was simply a raised beach covered with sodden peat and carrying a rather coarse vegetation. The ground was decidedly springy and shook to our tread; moreover, one sank down over the ankles at each step. Occasionally a more insecure area was encountered, where one of us would go down to the thighs in the boggy ground.
As the shore approached we came to thick tussock and Maori cabbage, and the travelling became much rougher. A group of earthy mounds and rock was sighted some distance away and we decided to reach them and have our lunch. A nearer view showed us a large opening in one of these prominences and we scrambled up to examine it.
Inside there was a small cave, high in front but sloping sharply towards the back for a distance of thirty-five feet. The roof and walls were blackened by smoke, and spikes and nails driven into crevices were evidences that the place had once been occupied. Eagle Cave it is called and its story was afterwards related to us.
Between thirty and forty years ago the schooner 'Eagle', in attempting to make the island, had been caught in a gale and wrecked on the rock-bound western coast. As far as can be learned, there were nine men and a woman on board, all of whom were saved. They lived in this cave for almost two years, subsisting upon what they could catch. Decayed tussock grass, a foot in depth, now covers the floor, showing that some attempt had been made to improve the comfort of the place, while bones lying strewn about in all directions indicate that gulls, penguins and cormorants must have supplied a good deal of their food. It is presumed that some of them made a journey to North Head periodically to look out for relief, as a well-defined track to that point is still visible in places.
The tale, however, has its tragic side, for the woman died on the very day when the rescuing ship called at the island. She was buried on the isthmus, not far from our Shack. One would think that death was rather a relief from such an existence as this unfortunate woman must have endured, but, at the same time, it seems hard that she did not live to participate in the joy of deliverance.
We ate our lunch and had a smoke, after which we decided to walk homewards along "Feather Bed" terrace. A few minutes after leaving the cave, Sawyer and Sandell caught three young ducks, which they carried back, intending to rear them, but they died several days later. A weary tramp brought us, thoroughly tired, to the Shack, where Hamilton had an excellent meal awaiting us.
The weather during January was rather trying. Precipitation in the form of either rain, hail, sleet or snow occurred on twenty-six days, sometimes all forms being experienced on the same day. As a result, the supply of water was well maintained; in fact, the amount caught exceeded the consumption and we finished the month with the tank almost full. Gales were experienced on eight days, the maximum wind-force being forty-two miles an hour. The sky was mostly heavily clouded or absolutely overcast and on many days the sun was not seen. Fog hung about the hills almost continuously, and driving mist accompanied the northerly winds.
January 24 was a glorious day, calm and sunny, with a maximum temperature of 51.3 degrees F. The habit of former days induced Sandell and myself to have a dip in the surf, but as the temperature of the water was about 42 degrees F., we stayed in as many seconds. The mean temperature for the month was 44.9 degrees F.; the minimum being 35.5 degrees F.
My first view of the island when the 'Aurora' arrived in December 1911 left rather an agreeable impression. The day of our approach was marked by fine calm weather and the dark-green tussock-clad hillsides were rather attractive. On the other hand, one was immediately struck with the entire absence of trees, the steep precipices, cliffs and the exceedingly rugged nature of the coastline.
Closer scrutiny shows that the tussock grass radiates closely from a semi-decayed mass of leaf-sheaths, with the blades of grass shooting upwards and outwards as high as three or four feet. Scattered through it are patches of Stilbocarpa polaris, locally known as Maori cabbage. It is of a more vivid green than the tussock and is edible, though somewhat stringy and insipid. Our sheep ate it readily, even nibbling the roots after the plant had been cropped down.
There were several Victoria penguin colonies round about the rocky faces of the hills in the vicinity of the Shack, and their hubbub and cackling uproar were something to remember. The rearing of the young appeared to be rather a busy process. The young ones look like bundles of down and seem to grow at a remarkable rate, while the attempt of the parent to shelter the usual two chicks is a very ludicrous thing to watch.
The material for the nest made by these birds seems to depend almost entirely on its immediate surroundings. The rookery is established on a broken rocky face close to the water's edge and the nests are made under rocks, in niches and passages, as well as amongst the tussock growing on the rocks. Those under the rocks are constructed of small stones and a few blades of grass, while those in the passages and fissures are usually depressions in soft mud. Amongst the tussock a hole is first made in the soft earth and then neatly lined with blades of grass.
The birds lay two or three eggs of a white or greenish-white colour, but I have never seen three chicks hatched. The eggs are edible, and we used many dozens of them during our stay.
The period of incubation is about five weeks, and male and female take turns at sitting. A young one is fed by placing its beak within that of the parent bird where the food--mainly crustaceans--is taken as it regurgitates from the stomach of the latter.
Although the smallest species on the island, the Victoria penguins are the most spiteful, and a scramble through the rookery invites many pecks and much disturbance. They have a black head and back, white breast and yellow crest, the feathers of which spread out laterally. During the moulting season they sit in the rookery or perched on surrounding rocks, living apparently on their fat, which is found to have disappeared when at last they take to the sea. They come and go with remarkable regularity, being first seen about the middle of October, and leaving during the first week of May. The same rookeries are occupied year after year, and the departure of the birds adds to the general desolation during the winter months.
Their destination on leaving the land is still a mystery. Although they are never seen, it is conjectured that they spend the winter at sea. Their natural enemy in the waters round Macquarie Island is the sea-leopard, and the stomachs of all specimens of this animal taken by us during the penguin season contained feathers.
The presence of numerous bones just at the rear of the Shack pointed to the fact that here must have been at one time the site of a King penguin rookery. As many of our potatoes and onions were sprouting in the bags, I determined to dig a portion of this area and plant the most "progressive" of these vegetables. The sandy soil did not appear to contain much nutriment, but I thought that something might be gained by giving it a trial.
On the night of February 2, Sawyer reported that he had heard the Wellington wireless operator calling Suva station, but, as no further signals were heard from anywhere, he was inclined to the idea that it was the experience of a "freak night." In explanation of this term, I may say that it is used in reference to nights on which the atmospheric conditions are abnormally favourable for wireless work.
The news was particularly encouraging, and for the next few days we were on the tip-toe of expectation.
In the early morning of the 5th a howling gale sprang up and, increasing in force as the day wore on, rendered work impossible. A tremendous sea worked up, and the ocean for a distance of a mile from shore was simply a seething boil of foam. Huge waves dashed on shore, running yards beyond the usual marks, and threatening to sweep across the isthmus. Masses of tangled kelp, torn from the outlying rocks, washed backwards and forwards in the surf or were carried high up among the tussocks. The configuration of the shingly beach changed while one looked at it. The tops of the waves could be seen flying over Anchor Rock, seventy feet high, and spray was blowing right across the isthmus.
On the advice of the sealers we had shifted our stores farther back from the beach and it was just as well we did so, as the waves reached to within a few feet of the nearest box. Meanwhile I began to wonder how our benzine and lubricating oil were faring. Both had been stacked in cases among the tussock and rocks, well back from the waters of Aerial Cove on the western side of Wireless Hill.
Accordingly, Hamilton, Sandell and I went round in that direction the following morning, while Sawyer made his way up to the wireless station to see if there were any damages there. We worked along round the cliff-front through a cave rejoicing in the name of "Catch Me," from the fact that the waves rushed into it, frequently catching and thoroughly wetting any unfortunate taken off his guard. A massive rock, evidently broken from the roof, lay right across its centre, while on either side of the obstruction were masses of greasy decaying kelp. We were "caught" and floundered about in the kelp while the water surged around us. Arriving at the Cove, we found that several cases were missing. One was discovered buried in kelp, and a little later we came upon a tin battered almost out of recognition. The loss was not serious, but the precaution was taken to shift the oil still farther back.
While we were engaged on this task, Sawyer appeared on the front of the hill above and signalled to us that the aerial had been blown down. The three-inch rope keeping the aerial taut had broken off close to the bridle and torn the halyard with it. It meant that some one would have to climb the mast to pass a rope through the block, and the wind was at this time too strong for anything to be done.
On February 7, Blake and Hamilton, who had been making preparations for several days past, set out for Sandy Bay, intending to do some work in that locality. Their blankets, sleeping-bag, instruments and other gear made rather heavy swags, but they shouldered them in true Murrumbidgee style and tramped away.
Sandell, Sawyer and I went up Wireless Hill to fix the aerial. Sandell, the lightest of the three, was being hoisted up the first section of the mast with some one-and-a-half-inch rope when the hauling-line gave way. Fortunately, he had a strap securing him to the mast, otherwise his fall would have been from twenty feet. This was the only rope we had, so we had to think of some other means of reaching the top. After a short discussion, I suggested that decking-spikes should be secured from the wreck of the Clyde and driven into the mast at intervals. The idea was followed with great success, and Sandell was able to run the halyard through the block at the top (ninety feet). The aerial was then hauled into position, the stay-wires were tightened, an extra "dead man" was put in and the station was once more ready for work.
Hamilton returned from Sandy Bay on the 11th laden with botanical trophies and four specimens of a small land bird which we had never before seen. He and Blake, who remained behind, had fixed up the hut there so that it afforded decent shelter.
On the night of the 13th what we had long expected happened. Wireless communication was established for the first time, with a ship--s.s. 'Ulimaroa'. Sandell and Sawyer were complimented on their success.
On the following night communication was held with Sydney, s.s. 'Westralia', s.s. 'Ulimaroa' and H.M.S. 'Drake'; the latter very courteously sending us time-signals. We heard that a wireless station had just been established in Melbourne, and that the Hobart station would be working in about one month. It was with the latter station that we expected to do most of our business. There was great joy in the camp now that this stage of practical efficiency was reached and because we were no longer isolated from the world.
Blake came back from Sandy Bay on the 16th with news that he had almost finished the survey of that section. Foggy or misty weather gave him a good deal of trouble in getting sights with the theodolite, and it became part of his future programme to devote the "impossible" days to plotting data, writing up field-notes, and making geological collections.
The afternoon of the 17th was fine, and I went along the beach towards West Point and found it very rough travelling. Hundreds of sea elephants, mostly of the season's young, lay about in the tussock or amongst the rocks. The young, silver-grey in colour, looked very sleek and fat. The adults consorted in groups of from eight to ten, packed closely and fast asleep. They seemed to fairly luxuriate in a soft, swampy place and were packed like sardines in some of the wallows.
Large numbers of skua gulls, creating a dreadful din, drew my attention to a spot amongst the rocks, and, on nearing it, I found them squabbling around the carcase of a xiphoid whale, about sixteen feet long, which had been cast up apparently only a few hours before.
The skuas, as they are commonly called, are large brown birds which resort to the island in great numbers for the purpose of breeding. They stay longer than any other migrant, being absent only three months during the depth of winter. Returning early in August, they do not start nesting until the beginning of October. The nests, nicely made of grass and plant leaves, are generally built on the terraces and slopes amongst the hills. The ideal site, however, is a pleurophyllum flat adjoining a penguin rookery. Two or three eggs of a brown or greenish-brown colour with darker spots or blotches are laid about the end of October, and, from this time till the chicks are reared, the parent exhibits much annoyance at the presence of any person in the vicinity. They utter shrill cries and swoop down continuously in an attempt to strike the invader with their wings. Several of our party received black eyes as a result of attacks by skuas.
The young grow rather quickly, and not much time elapses before they leave the nest to stagger round and hide amongst the vegetation. The parents fly down and disgorge food, which is immediately devoured by the young ones. The skuas are bare-faced robbers and most rapacious, harassing the penguins in particular. They steal the eggs and young of the latter and devour a great number of prions--small birds which live in holes in the ground. The skuas are web-footed, but are very rarely seen in the water.
Towards the end of the month, Blake spent two days at Sandy Bay and then returned to work up his results.
Hamilton, in order to get into close touch with another species of penguin, stayed several days at "The Nuggets," two and a half miles down the eastern coast. A creek flows into the sea at this point, and many Royal penguin rookeries are established along its course.
Meanwhile, many improvements had been effected in the interior of the Shack. Shelves lined the walls wherever it was convenient to have them, and many perishable foodstuffs had been brought inside. Comfort, after all, is but a relative matter, and, as far as we were concerned, it was sufficient.
Our clothing was all that could be desired, with the exception, perhaps, of the boots. In the equipment were included one pair of sea-boots, one pair of raw hide kneeboots and two pairs of rawhide hunting boots. The latter were not heavy enough, and soon showed the effect of travelling from a water-logged surface to one of rock and vice versa. In fact, our boots were very rarely dry on Macquarie Island.
An event of some moment occurred on the 28th. The fowls, in order to justify our confidence in them and as a return for our constant care, commenced to lay and, strange to say, all began to lay at the same time. Ma, who was greatly concerned during the turn of affairs, suffered from prolonged attacks of cackling.
During the opening days of March, Blake and Hamilton were engaged in field work down the island. They went as far as "The Brothers," a rocky promontory about two miles south of Sandy Bay. Wekas were so plentiful that they lived almost entirely on them. Blake, on returning to the Shack, had a badly blistered heel which kept him indoors for a few days. Hamilton, who had secured a goodly number of specimens, had to attend immediately to their preservation.
There were many rats on the island and we frequently heard them scuttling about on the ceiling of the Shack and slithering down between the lining and the wall. Hitherto they had contented themselves by doing this, but on the night of the 7th several of them flopped one after another into the hut, awakening the inmates. On getting out to investigate I found a hole through the lining, about seven feet from the floor, and two or three were rustling about on the shelves. After much shifting of boxes and searching behind tins, the intruders were killed.
On March 10 our station held communication with Suva at a distance of two thousand four hundred miles; a remarkable performance for a one-and-a-half-kilowatt wireless set.
Hamilton and I set out for West Point and Eagle Cave on the 11th with the object of examining the flora of the locality and, incidentally, to shoot ducks which frequent the pools on the "Feather Bed" terrace. The weather was dull and misty and the walk very uncomfortable. We made our way across this treacherous tract, often sinking kneedeep. As we neared the first pool a duck rose and immediately paid the penalty. Although we saw at least two hundred, only one was shot, owing to the fact that there is no cover about and the ducks are too easily scared.
Close to Eagle Cave Hamilton gathered some plant specimens and, after lunching, we set off home. Light, steady rain set in about 3 P.M. and wet us thoroughly. We travelled back along the coast, finding it fearfully rough but not so tiring as walking on the terrace.
Heavy snow fell during the night of the 11th. Among other things we learnt by wireless that Amundsen had returned to Hobart with the news that he had reached the South Pole.
Blake had just recovered from his blistered heel when he had the misfortune to meet with a slight accident. He and Hamilton were engaged cutting a track through the tussock from the Shack to the beach, when the spade wielded by Hamilton struck Blake's foot, cutting through the boot and inflicting a wound on the great toe. It was treated antiseptically and bound up; Blake being laid up for a few days.
Cooking was still on the up grade. Everybody, as his turn arrived, embarked on something new. Blake turned out a magnificent meat pudding during his week, and Sawyer manufactured a salmon kedgeree. Sandell's treacle pudding and Hamilton's soda rolls and date pudding were all equally good, while I fairly surpassed myself with a roly-poly and some pancakes.
Hitherto, Sawyer and Sandell had been coming down to the Shack each night after finishing the wireless work, but on account of the bad weather they determined to sleep up there and, with that end in view, each built a bunk for himself; Sawyer, in the operating-hut, had ample room for the improvement, but Sandell had more difficulty in the engine-hut, finding it necessary to add a small structure to the original one.
Good wireless work was now being done, and almost every ship trading to eastern Australian ports gave us a "call up." Much difficulty was experienced with the mast's stays, which frequently required tightening on account of the "deadmen" working loose in the yielding peaty soil. There were seven stays required for each mast, and Sandell spent much time in attending to them.
Hamilton had found, some weeks previously, several nests of the sooty albatross along the cliff-front on the eastern side of Wireless Hill, and on the 21st he visited them for the purpose of photographing the young in the nest. They were still in the downy stage, and vomited vigorously on being approached.
These birds build their nests on ledges along the face of a steep cliff and always betray the whereabouts of their nesting-place by wheeling and soaring around the vicinity. When sitting, the bird utters piercing calls for its mate and is thereby easily located. They make a nest of grass, generally at the root of a tussock growing on the cliff-front, and when the building is in progress the two birds sit side by side entwining their necks, rubbing beaks and at intervals uttering their harsh cries. One can approach and catch them quite easily, either at this time or when sitting. The female lays one large white egg, which has a peculiar and rather disagreeable odour. They have beautiful slaty or bluish-gray plumage with a dark soot-black head, while encircling the eye is a white ring which stands out conspicuously from the dark feathers surrounding it. Like most other sea-birds they have the rather revolting habit of vomiting quantities of partly digested food and fluid when an attempt is made to get close to them. In this respect old and young are alike. Their food is procured at sea, and consists of the small forms of marine life.
Sandell and Hamilton went round to Aerial Cove on the 25th to collect shells and to search for the missing lubricating oil. When coming home, after a successful day, they discovered a cave quite close to Catch Me. A lantern was secured from the Shack and they went back to examine it. It penetrated for a considerable distance and opened out on the hill side about eighty feet above sea-level. Many rocks hung down from overhead, and altogether it appeared a very unsafe place. Blake went along later and collected specimens from its floor.
We built a kind of annex to the Shack out of the cases of provisions; each case being numbered and a list being drawn out setting forth the contents of the case. This list was nailed on to the wall inside, and besides being convenient for procuring the provisions, gave the cook, in a coup-d'oeil, exact information and afforded him a glorious scope.
With regard to the coal-supply, our allowance at Macquarie Island had been reduced by one-half, on account of the large amount of wreckage lying on the beach. The weekly cook limited himself to three briquettes, and these he supplemented with sea elephant blubber and wood, which he gathered and cut up for use.
Each man commenced his cooking week on Saturday morning, and continued until the following Friday night, when, after having cleared up, washed the towels and cleaned the stove, he retired. The incoming cook, who for half an hour had been prowling about keenly observant of "overlooked" dirty "things" and betraying every sign of impatience to make a start, proceeded at once to set a batch of bread, sufficient for one week, which was baked early on Saturday morning. Five loaves had to be baked, and as only two could be dealt with at a time, the chance of producing at least one doughy loaf was reasonably high until every one became a master baker.
For a time we had been rather hard put to it in the matter of having baths, but the disability had been overcome by means of sawing a cask in two; an expedient which answered very well. The bath was also used as a wash-tub, each man taking charge as his cooking week came round. The clothes were dried inside the Shack along a number of strings arranged at the back of the stove. Darning and mending took a little time, and our experiences in this direction were such as to demonstrate the wisdom of putting in "a stitch in time."
In going over to the meteorological screen one morning I saw a giant petrel flapping about in the tussock, gorged to such an extent that it could not rise. I killed the loathsome bird with the rib-bone of a sea elephant, and Hamilton made a fine specimen of it later on.
These birds, properly called giant petrels, are usually known as "nellies" or "stinkers"; the latter title being thoroughly justified on account of the disagreeable smell which comes from them. As may be inferred from the name, they are the largest of all the petrels, and measure about seven feet from tip to tip when on the wing. The colour ranges through various shades from almost pure white to a dark greyish-brown; some even appearing almost black. Very large and ungainly when on the ground, they become most graceful when in the air, and soar about without the slightest effort even on the stormiest days. I have seen them flying into a forty-mile wind with absolute ease, never moving a wing, but occasionally adjusting their balance. They are gross scavengers, and eat apparently for the sake of eating. A carcase on the rocks or beach attracts them in large numbers, and very soon they can be seen pulling and tearing at it until thoroughly gorged, when they waddle away into the water and sit there wholly unable to rise till digestion takes place. If disturbed, they immediately disgorge and fly off. They nest on the ground and lay one large white egg. When sitting, they are reluctant to leave the nest and will squat there, vomiting evil-smelling, partly digested food and fluid at any intruder. The young, even in the downy stage, have the same habit.
When mating they go on with a queer kind of performance, which consists of running around each other on the shore with wings outspread as if displaying their charms, finally flying off or waddling into the water.
The persistently windy weather during March had an effect on everything exposed to its force. Sandell discovered on the 29th that the rope holding the wireless aerial had cut through, leaving only one strand, which now bore all the strain. It was just a matter of days before it would part, and, with a view to preventing a repetition of February's happening, we went up to lower the aerial, but the frayed portion of the rope would not pass through the block, so we had to leave it as it was and wait for the inevitable.
Exceptionally low tides at the end of the month gave Hamilton a fine opportunity of collecting marine specimens, and he secured amongst many other things some striking anemones. Some difficulty was experienced in preserving them, as they lost colour and shrivelled up. But a special line of treatment was attended by fairly successful results. They were put in shallow dishes into which sea-water was poured. Very soon they attached themselves to the bottom and began to expand, finally opening out to the fullest extent. With a view to narcotizing them while in this condition, menthol was applied to the water but did not seem to have much effect. Chloral hydrate was found to give the best results. It killed them all, but, before dying, they elongated and detached themselves from the bottom of the dish; after which they were taken out and placed in formalin for preservation.
Blake had very little opportunity of doing much survey work during the month, as he was hampered by a sore foot and the weather was wretched. He therefore spent most of his time plotting data, making geological investigations and collecting and naming specimens.
He and Hamilton had so far confined their attention to the northern half of the island, and had resolved to complete the study of this area before tackling the southern half.
The weather throughout the month was rather severe, and only two days were really appreciated. Precipitation occurred on twenty-five days, but the worst feature was the continuity of strong winds, which however did not reach gale-force on more than three occasions. Much snow and hail fell, the former accompanying winds with a southerly component, while with the north-westers came the depressing mist or misty rain which is such a characteristic of the place. Temperatures, as might have been expected, were beginning to go down, and we experienced several very cold days. The average temperature for March was 41.8 degrees, while the highest was 46.9 degrees and the lowest 35.3 degrees F. on the 24th.
At 10 P.M. on April 1 the rope supporting the aerial parted. Sawyer and Sandell were on duty at the time, but of course suspended operations immediately. As before, the halyard also carried away and Sandell henceforth resolved to shackle one end of the aerial to the mast, using a short length of chain instead of the rope. The wreck of the Clyde was once more our standby, providing a suitable length of chain and four shackles. After completing this job, they had very little subsequent trouble with the aerial.
Hamilton and Sawyer caught several three-pound fish on April 2, and Sandell served them in good style. They were good eating, but, unfortunately, were very much worm-infested. These parasitical worms are about an inch and a half long and taper to a point at each end. They penetrate right through the flesh and are plainly noticeable after the fish is cooked. One has to dodge the worms as the meal proceeds: either that or persuade oneself that they do not matter.
The flowing contours of the land in the vicinity of "The Nuggets" suggested glacial action to Blake, and on the 4th, while making geological investigations in that locality, he lit upon a well-defined basal moraine. Needless to say he was very interested in the discovery, and brought home a number of polished, striated boulders as convincing evidence of his theory.
It was rather disappointing to find that the vegetables we had planted were making little progress. They would shoot up at first very strongly, like the "seed which fell on stony ground," but, as soon as a gale arose, the tops turned black and shortly afterwards withered away. It was apparently an effect of the salt spray which, in rough weather, used to blow across the isthmus. Hamilton planted some willows and other cuttings, which shared the same fate.
The winter had now arrived in real earnest, and the months which followed were punctuated by a succession of gales, while we came to recognize that it was an exceptional day when the hills were not shrouded in mist. The only thing to do was to brace oneself up for the ordeal and to put a good foot forward.
XXVI. A LAND OF STORM AND MIST
by G. F. Ainsworth
A Heavy north-west gale was experienced on April 12, the wind attaining a force of over fifty miles an hour.
As usual, a tremendous sea worked up very quickly, and sheets of spray shredded across the isthmus. About 2 P.M. the wind shifted to west and later to south-west; these changes being accompanied by fierce hail and squalls of snow. During the night the wind moderated, heavy snow fell and, when morning dawned, all the pools were frozen over and the island was draped in white. It was the heaviest fall we had so far experienced.
On the 15th Hamilton and I shot several gulls for specimens.
The Dominican or black-backed gulls are very numerous and remain on the island all the year round. They are rather pretty, being snow-white, except on the upper part of the wings and back. Ordinarily their food is obtained from the water, but at Macquarie Island they live almost entirely upon the carcases left by the sealers, and are usually seen defending their rights against skuas and giant petrels. They build nests of tussock on rocks close to the water or maybe on the ground. Three eggs, much like those of the skua in colour, but with a greener tint and smaller, are laid, but generally only two are hatched. The young leave the nest early and hide amongst the rocks, whither the old ones come to feed them.
We now considered it advisable to prepare for the winter, and with that end in view papered the inside of the Shack in various places. As the cold winds were particularly searching, all faulty joints in the lining were pasted over with any kind of paper we could find. A leak down the outside of the stove-pipe was remedied, after a good deal of trouble, by soldering a collar round the pipe where it passed through the roof. Firing was an important consideration, so each man now brought home several loads of driftwood every day, until we had enough to keep us going for some months. There was a complete boot-mending outfit which was put to a good deal of use, for the weathered rocks cut the soles of our boots and knocked out the hobnails. Our supply of the last-named did not last long, and several of the party used strips of hoop-iron in their stead.
Blake found it necessary to make a kind of work-desk in his section, and accordingly had a thorough rearrangement. He shifted his bunk up to a height of about five and a half feet, very close to the ceiling; a fact which necessitated some wriggling and squirming on his part to get into the sleeping-bag. There was a fine open space left underneath, and he managed to fix up his table very neatly.
Although they had intended to leave the work on the southern half of the island until the spring, Hamilton and Blake set out for Lusitania Bay on April 28 to make a short reconnoitring trip. It was thought advisable to spend a few days down there, to improve the hut and generally speaking to have a look-round. Both men had already visited the place and depoted some provisions there. At 8 A.M. they started off, carrying their blankets, sleeping-bags and a few other articles. Their proposal was to go along the coast as far as Sandy Bay and from thence along the hill-tops for the remaining ten miles.
Hail and snow-squalls succeeded each other at frequent intervals, and by the time they reached Sandy Bay, all hope of proceeding along the hill-tops was dissipated. They therefore kept near the coast. The going was frightfully rough and the weather was very bad, so on making Green Valley they camped in a small cave for the night. The floor was covered with tussock, and, by searching amongst the rocks, enough pieces of wreckage were found to keep the fire going. On the whole they passed a fairly comfortable night. Mac proved a bit troublesome by persisting in her attempts to curl up on or between the sleeping-bags, and by finally eating the jam which had been saved for breakfast. The weather was quite as bad next morning, but, after a meal of dry biscuit and cocoa, they pushed on, taking four and a half hours to do the six miles. The next day was spent making the hut weather-proof and fixing up a couple of bunks. The provisions which had been cached were in good order and abundance of firewood lay around, in the shape of old barrel-staves. Just close to the living-hut was a works-hut containing boilers and digestors which years ago had been used for procuring penguin oil, while there was a rookery a few yards away from which the victims had come.
This rookery was the resort of King penguins, the largest of the four species which are to be found on the island. They are magnificently coloured birds, being bluish-grey on the back while the head is greenish-black and on each side of the neck there is a brilliant yellow band, shading to a greenish-yellow on the upper part of the breast, and gradually merging into the glossy white of the lower part of the body. They attain to a height of about three feet and weigh thirty pounds approximately. The site of their rookery is a stony flat about a hundred yards from the water, and here are collected between five and six thousand--all that remain on the island.
They make no nest, the single egg laid being supported on the feet, and kept in position and incubated in a kind of skin pouch which conceals it from view. One would never guess the egg was there, for, on being disturbed, the bird shuffles along, carrying it in the manner described. The egg is large, tapering very much at one end and resembling a pear in shape. They lay during December and January, and the young are hatched in about six weeks. A peculiar feature about the young birds is that the parents feed them for two seasons. They are covered with a coarse, greyish-brown furry growth, and a year-old chick looks bigger than the old bird. This furry growth is lost during the second year and the adult plumage replaces it. The young utter a peculiar sound, something between a squeak and a whistle. It is probable that the King penguins were never so numerous as the Royal or Victoria penguins, but the fact remains that they have not yet recovered from the wholesale slaughter to which they must have been subjected over sixteen years ago.
Down on a strip of shingly beach the birds parade, when not in the rookery or at sea getting food. Their proceedings strike one as being extraordinarily human, while the dignity and gravity of the participants are beyond description. On one occasion, a large number marching along the beach were seen to halt suddenly and talk excitedly. Three birds then left the main body, consulted together for a short time, and then separated. The other birds immediately separated into three companies, and each company stood behind one of the three already mentioned, who were now some distance apart. The individuals of each party then talked among themselves for several minutes, after which two parties joined forces and marched off, leaving the third party staring after them.
I have lost myself for the time being amongst the penguins and shall now return to Blake and Hamilton, who climbed on to the hill-tops the following morning to spy out the land. The island is generally speaking higher, and all the more elevated peaks are on the southern half.
They saw numerous rabbits, of which many were black, and Mac had the day of her life amongst them. These animals were introduced to the island about twenty-five years ago, and have gradually withdrawn to the lonelier southern part, though occasionally odd ones are seen about the northern end. They are very tame and live in holes amongst the rocks or make burrows in the gully banks and broken hill sides.
Many lakes, frozen over, were seen, several of which were fairly large. Altogether, the topography is similar to that of the northern end.
In an endeavour to improve the evening fare, a sweet broth consisting of biscuit, milk, jam and sugar was tried but it was not a success; Hamilton remarking that "even Blake had only one helping." On the following morning they started for the Shack and chose the route on the hilltops, as the ground was frozen hard; and, though there were frequent snow-drifts into which they floundered occasionally, the surface for travelling was much better than along the coast.
Hamilton slipped and hurt his ankle on the trip, and the boots of both were just about worn out. They apprehended no difficulty in completing their prospective work. Blake pointed out that the chart of the island shows Lusitania Bay as being rather a large indentation, whereas in reality it is almost a straight stretch of coast.
An earthquake shock was felt at 9.15 P.M. on the 27th. I was sitting in the Shack writing up records at the time, and it seemed as if somebody had struck the south-west end of the place a severe blow with a bag of sand. Immediately afterwards a crashing sound, apparently some distance away on the eastern side, indicated that some rocks on the cliff-front had been dislodged.
Much rough weather was experienced during the month, and it rained, hailed and snowed on twenty-five days. The wind attained moderate to fresh gale-force on six days, and fog and mist were almost invariable. The lowest temperature recorded was 32.7 degrees F.
The average relative humidity for the four months ending April 30 was 93 per cent., leading to copious condensation on the instruments exposed to the air. It was necessary, therefore, constantly to attend and frequently clean the thermographs, hygrometers and the wireless plant. In the case of the latter, loss of power occurred in the form of "brush discharge," and Sawyer had to take great care in order to guard against this accident. He shellacked the condensers and other exposed parts and found the proceeding rather effective. I noticed that the drifting snow and misty rain managed to get down the opening leading to the liquid surface of the anemobiagraph, thus altering the zero of the recording apparatus. When this happened the instrument had to be dismantled and set right.
We found it necessary to use sea elephant blubber in the stove in order to warm the Shack, and a very small piece put on the fire at intervals always ensured a good heat. Sea elephants had become scarce, so, in order to lay in a supply of fuel for the next few weeks, we went round to Aerial Cove on the 3rd and killed the largest animal we could find, afterwards carrying the blubber round to the Shack. We came through Catch Me and had the same old experience. Hamilton examined the contents of the stomach of the sea elephant and found gravel, stones, cuttlefish, beaks and "worms" in abundance.
A violent north-west gale during the early morning hours of the 4th reached a maximum velocity of fifty-two miles an hour at 5.20 A.M., but at 8 A.M. it began to weaken rapidly and an hour later had shifted to west-south-west, coming from that point as a moderate gale for the rest of the day. As was usual with winds having any southerly component, snow and squalls of soft hail were experienced. With the exception of the wind-vane, which was blown a few yards into the tussock, nothing was damaged.
In the afternoon Blake and I had a trip down to the moraine which he had found a few days previously. After a heavy one and a half hours' walk, the last half-mile of which was along a creek bed, with water ankle-deep all the way, we reached the spot: the site of one of the large penguin rookeries up on the hills at the back of "The Nuggets." The sun showed between squalls, and Blake took some interesting photographs of rocks showing striae and other glacial characteristics. We battled with one enormous boulder for some time before getting it into a suitable position for the camera, and afterwards walked right through the glacial area. The U-shaped character of the valleys was very pronounced, while boulder-clay obtruded itself everywhere on our notice.
Hobart wireless station was by this time in working order, a fact which greatly facilitated wireless business. Sandell took the engine to pieces early in the month and gave it, as well as the fittings, a thorough overhaul and cleaning. We received a message on the 7th, saying that the 'Aurora' was leaving Hobart on the 13th for a sub-antarctic cruise and would call at the island. At the same time I was requested to send a list of articles required. I found, after going through the stock and consulting each member, that we needed nothing but strong boots, cartridges, dungaree trousers, coarse salt, cigarettes and fresh vegetables.
A persistent area of high pressure affected the weather conditions of the island to the extent of shrouding us in fog from the 6th to the 10th inclusive, and we did not catch a glimpse of the sun during that period. The average daily temperature-range during this time was only 2.3 degrees. Such conditions have a rather depressing effect on the spirits, but the cheering news we received on the 7th made some amends for the lack of sunshine.
The sun appeared at last on the 11th and shone strongly, so Blake and I went up to Wireless Hill to take some "shots" with the theodolite. I noticed four of our sheep on the front of the hill, and, as there should have been nine, Sandell and I, after finishing with Blake, walked out to North Head to see if the others were all right. We found them on the north-east side of the hill and drove them up to the rest of the flock.
From the hill-top we could see Hamilton engaged in skinning a large sea leopard on the coast, so we climbed down to render any necessary assistance. It was a beautifully marked animal, about eleven feet long, and made a fine specimen.
Sea leopards frequent Macquarie Island in great numbers from the late winter to the early summer, and may be seen lying about, sleeping close to the water and apparently always very tired. They do not give birth to the young there, and from observations I concluded that they were born at sea. We had taken female specimens on several occasions, apparently within a few hours of parturition, and as none had been seen with newly born young, and no islands lay within several hundred miles, it was presumed that the birth took place in the water. Until the young one is weaned, its habitat is evidently in the water as we never saw an adult suckling its offspring.
Sea leopards--long, lithe creatures with a reptilian cast of head--are remarkably quick in the water. If one is disturbed on shore it opens its mouth very wide, revealing a wicked-looking row of teeth in each jaw; the canine teeth or tusks being very long and slightly curved.
Unlike sea elephants and seals they are solitary animals, and should several of them be found on a small gravelly patch of beach they are seen to be as far as possible from one another. We have never seen them attempt to fight on the shore, but the gaping wounds and scars with which they are frequently covered indicate that they treat each other very severely in the water. They live on penguins, gulls, shags and fish.
I saw several shags on one occasion very busy fishing, and between diving intervals they would sit on the water. Suddenly one disappeared under the water and the rest flew off; but in a few seconds the one which had disappeared was thrown into the air and caught by a sea leopard, who played in this fashion with the maimed bird for several minutes before devouring it.
A few days previously we had received a request from Mr. D. C. Bates, the New Zealand Meteorologist, for a daily weather report, and from the 12th onwards a message was sent nightly to Wellington, a distance of about eleven hundred miles. In acknowledging these reports, subsequently, the office referred to their immediate value in the issue of daily forecasts, and expressed indebtedness to the Expedition.
The two species of penguins which leave the island during the winter months had disappeared, and silence now reigned where formerly were busy, noisy colonies. The departure of the migrants made the place seem lonelier and, during the depths of winter when snow covers the ground and the birds and animals are few in number, a more dreary spot would be difficult to find.
The weather conditions were now rather severe, and as Sawyer and Sandell worked from 8 P.M. till 2 or 3 A.M. every night and slept at the wireless station, they were exempted from the necessity of coming down to get breakfast during their cooking weeks. They now rested till about noon, and arrived at the Shack every day in time for lunch. Hamilton, Blake and I, each outside his own cooking week, took it in turns to prepare breakfast.
Blake's fieldwork at the north end, more particularly in the vicinity of West Point and North Head, was just about finished. West Point proved to be an area of gabbro, a coarse-grained eruptive rock representative of basic rocks, while North Head was composed of basic agglomerate, and volcanic bombs were numerous.
Hamilton had got together a good collection of bird specimens, and was now in quest of skeletons.
On the night of the 13th we witnessed a rather pretty auroral manifestation. It assumed the appearance of a Noah's ark cloud, that is, stretching from opposite points on the horizon and appearing to converge at each one of these points. The light was a pale yellow, no other tint being visible. In addition, a nebulous glow appeared at intervals in the south.
We heard on the 16th that the 'Aurora' had sailed on that day from Hobart and would arrive at Macquarie Island in about three weeks; oceanographical work being carried out on the trip down. This was indeed cheerful news, and we began to look forward to her arrival.
A fresh west-south-west gale during the early morning hours of the 17th was accompanied by soft hail and snow-squalls, and the temperature at 9 A.M. was 31.2 degrees F. The ground was covered with snow and all the pools were frozen over, but at 9 P.M. there was a rapid shift of the wind to the north-west and the snow almost disappeared. Soft hail, generally a little larger than tapioca and of the same shape, frequently fell. These little pellets are formed of compressed snow and are commonly supposed to be frozen cloud-particles mixed with raindrops compacted by a high wind.
On the following night, Blake and I went up to wireless Hill to take star observations. It was very dark and the hill-front was slippery, frequent falls being the rule. Just after setting up the instrument, the wind freshened to such an extent that it was impossible to do anything, so we descended very wet and muddy to the Shack, having had a rough passage. The reason for this was that I fell on the lantern and extinguished the light.
We were supplied with two hurricane lamps which do not by any means deserve their title as they blow out in even a moderately strong wind. Sandell made a lantern for his own use, declaring that it was impossible for any wind to blow it out. I firmly believed him, as it was a little binnacle lamp placed inside a small oatmeal tin into which a cleaned photographic plate had been fixed and with holes punched in the bottom and top of the tin for ventilation. It was thus a lamp with two covers, and frequent demonstrations of its ability to survive heavy blows were made by the inventor.
During the next three days a forty-mile wind accompanied by snow, hail and sleet was experienced and the maximum temperature on the 25th did not reach freezing-point, the ground being firmly frozen and snow-covered. During the evening of the last-named date the wind shifted to north-west, and by noon on the 26th no snow remained, except on the hills.
In anticipation of the 'Aurora's arrival, Blake and Hamilton collected some stores together in the hope that Captain Davis would transport them down to Lusitania Bay, thus obviating the necessity of carrying them down on foot. As Blake reckoned that he would remain there fully three months and Hamilton about two months, it was thought that such another opportunity might not present itself.
Through the courtesy of the naval officials, H.M.S. Drake sent us time-signals twice a week, and though we had so far heard no sound from Adelie Land, there was a possibility that they could receive messages from us. Sawyer therefore sent out time-signals as a matter of routine.
Hamilton made a trip to the west coast on the 28th and returned with thirteen wekas. Sawyer did not care for these birds, but each of the others could account for one at a meal. They seem to be better eating if plucked like a fowl and roasted, but the plucking takes too long and we generally skinned and boiled them. It is advisable to hang them for several days before cooking as it certainly makes them tender.
Rough, stormy weather prevailed during the greater part of the month and the wind reached the force of a gale on nine days. Much snow, soft hail and sleet fell and some very cold days were experienced. The average temperature was 40 degrees, the maximum being 44.7 degrees and the minimum 27.8 degrees F.
A heavy snowfall occurred during the early morning hours of June 3, and the temperature was below freezing-point all day. In the afternoon we had rather an enjoyable time tobogganing down a steep talus-slope on the east coast. A considerable struggle was necessary in order to get the sledge to the top, but the lightning slide to the bottom more than compensated for the labour.
We made wireless inquiries concerning the 'Aurora' at night, and were informed by Hobart that a search for the Royal Company Islands was included in her programme. It was therefore presumed that she was engaged in prosecuting this search and would probably not reach us for some days.
Hamilton killed a very fine sea leopard on the 5th and the skin, apart from being unscarred, was handsomely marked. It should make a splendid specimen. The stomach contained more than the usual number of worms and one specimen of tape-worm, seven inches long and three-eighths of an inch wide, was preserved.
Everything was going along in the usual placid manner on the 7th, when, as we were just taking our seats for lunch, some one rushed in with the information that the 'Aurora' was in sight. There was a scramble to various points of vantage and she was soon observed coming up the east coast very slowly. At 2.30 P.M. she dropped anchor in North-East Bay, but, as it was blowing strongly and a nasty sea was running, no boat was launched, though one may imagine how anxiously we watched for some movement in that direction. As soon as it became dark a message was "Morsed" to us to the effect that a boat would bring mails and goods ashore in the morning if the weather moderated, and with that we had to be content. Needless to say, business ashore was for the time being paralysed, but a message was sent to the Secretary in Hobart advising him of the Ship's arrival.
True to his intimation of the previous night, Captain Davis brought a boat ashore at 9.30 A.M. and with him came several visitors who were to be our guests for some days. They were Mr. E. R. Waite, Curator of the Canterbury Museum and his taxidermist, and Mr. Primmer, a cinematographer. Conspicuous in the boat was a well-laden mail bag and no time was lost in distributing the contents. Letters, papers, and magazines were received by every member of the party, and all the news was "good." Some stores were brought along and, after getting these ashore, we took the visitors across to the Shack and invited them to make themselves at home.
Captain Davis also came along to the Shack and afterwards looked over the wireless station. He returned to the ship just after lunch, and Sandell, Sawyer and Blake took the opportunity of going on board. Hamilton, in the meantime, piloted the visitors on a short trip round to Aerial Cove, introducing them to Catch Me, where they were duly baptized. They afterwards climbed up Wireless Hill and had a look at the station, returning to the Shack much impressed with the rough nature of the country.
Blake went off to the ship again, taking the stores which had been got ready for transport to Lusitania Bay, as the captain had agreed to land them when he visited there in a few days' time.
Amongst the cases which were landed was one containing the recording apparatus for the tide-gauge. The other parts of this instrument had been left on the island in December, but for some reason the clock and charts had gone astray and were not found till the vessel was being unloaded in Adelie Land. Some thermometers and a Robinson anemometer had also been overcarried and, when they came to light, the latter was immediately placed in commission.
Captain Davis sent a boat ashore on the morning of the 12th with an invitation to come on board and lunch. I accordingly went out to the vessel and, after lunching, had a thorough look over her, mentally contrasting her spick-and-span appearance at the time with what it had been when I left her in December. I went ashore again in the afternoon and assisted the visitors to get their loads down to the boat, as they were returning to the ship, which was leaving next morning on a sounding trip down the island.
On the 14th we started to carry the stores across to the Shack on our backs. We soon realized that seventy or eighty pounds was not a light load over a half-mile stretch of rough, shingly beach, but succeeded in transporting the onions, apples and potatoes before finishing for the night. The other articles were brought over during the next two afternoons.
The tide-gauge pipe, weighing about six hundredweights, and the box for the housing of the recording gear had been landed in December round in Aerial Cove, where a site had been chosen for the erection of the gauge. Experience showed me that the place was unsuitable, so I took Hamilton, Sandell and Sawyer round to the cove on the 15th and we decided, as we had no boat, that it was impossible to carry the pipe round to the east coast.
I had been making some tidal observations on an upright, fixed in a comparatively quiet spot on the east coast, and it was here that I contemplated erecting the gauge. Two snow-gauges, eight inches each in diameter, were amongst the meteorological equipment and it appeared that if these two were soldered together a suitable pipe could be made. Further, the pipe was to be protected from the violence of the seas by planks fixed round it. Sandell agreed with the idea and forthwith set about soldering the two together and making a suitable float, the one supplied being too wide. All that now remained was to erect the gauge.
The two following afternoons were devoted to stowing the new stores. We carried everything across and stacked them at the south-west end of the Shack. Unfortunately, the boots which we had ordered did not come, but Captain Davis let us have five pairs of light bluchers out of the ship's stores, and we reckoned that these with extra soles and a few hobnails would hold out till August or September, when a sealing vessel was expected.
The 'Aurora' returned from the south of the island on the 19th and reported having had a rough experience in the north-east to south gale which blew on the two previous days. The wind came out of the north-east very suddenly on the 17th, and some very strong squalls were experienced. A calm prevailed for several hours in the evening, but a south-east gale then sprang up and blew all day on the 18th, gradually working into the south and dying away during the night.
Early on the 20th the 'Aurora' steamed out of the bay, bound north as we thought, but she returned again in the evening, and we signalled to know if anything were wrong. They replied, "All well, but weather very bad outside." She lay at anchor in the bay all next day as it was snowing and blowing very hard from the south-west, but at 8.45 A.M. on the 22nd she disappeared in the north and we did not see her again for some months. A few hours after her departure the wind increased in force, and a continuous gale raged for the next five days.
Sandell and I now made a start at erecting the tide-gauge, and after the lapse of five days got the instrument into position. We could work on it only at low tide, for much rock had to be chipped away and numerous wire stays fixed. The work was therefore of a disagreeable character. Its appearance when finished did not by any means suggest the amount of trouble we experienced in setting it up, but the fact that it stood the heavy seas for the following eighteen months without suffering material damage was a sufficient guarantee that the work had been well done.
A tremendous sea was running on the 25th as a result of the previous two days' "blow" and a heavy gale still persisting. Spray was scudding across the isthmus, and the sea for a mile from the shore was just a seething cauldron. The wind moderated somewhat on the 26th, but strong squalls were experienced at intervals throughout the day, and on the 27th a strong wind from the south-west brought rather heavy snow.
On the following day a westerly gale sprang up which shifted suddenly to south-south-west and south-west in the evening and was accompanied by fierce hail and snow-squalls throughout the night. Without moderating to any extent the gale continued to blow on the 29th and passed through west to west-north-west, finally lasting till the end of the month.
Something in the nature of a "tidal" wave occurred during the night of the 28th, for, on rising the following morning, I was considerably astonished to see that the sea-water had been almost across the isthmus. To effect this, a rise of twenty or twenty-five feet above mean sea-level must have taken place and such a rise appeared abnormally high. Our coal heap, which we had hitherto regarded as perfectly safe from the sea, was submerged, as shown by the kelp and sand lying on top of it, and the fact that seven or eight briquettes were found fifteen feet away from the heap.
Nothing at the wireless station was damaged and work went on as usual. The wind used to make a terrific noise in the aerial wires, but this did not affect the transmission of messages. The howling of the wind round the operating-hut interfered with the receiving, at times making it extremely difficult to hear signals; particularly on nights not favourable for wireless work.
Hamilton was at this time concentrating his attention on shags or cormorants. This species of cormorant is peculiar to the island, being found nowhere else. They are blue-black, with a white breast, and on the head they have a small black crest. At the top of the beak are golden lobes, while the skin immediately round the eye is pale blue. They remain on the shores of the island all the year and nest on the rocks in or very close to the water. They form rookeries and build nests of grass, laying three eggs about the end of November. The period of incubation is six weeks. They live entirely on fish, and, on that account, neither the birds nor the eggs are palatable. They are very stupid, staring curiously till one gets almost within reach of them, when they flap heavily into the water. They are easily caught when sitting on the nest, but a shag rookery, like most other rookeries, is by no means a pleasant place in which to linger.
I had the satisfaction of getting the first record from the tide-gauge on the first day of July, but the clock worked erratically, requiring some attention.
Hamilton had a lobster-pot set some distance from the shore and anchored to a float, but unfortunately the pot was lost in the rough seas at the end of June. He had a couple of fish-traps also, but, in view of this disaster, he decided to set these in Aerial Cove, where the water was quieter. Having a couple of sea leopard heads which required macerating, he baited the trap with them and lowered it into the water, securing it to the rock with a steel wire.
Taking advantage of a bright sun on the following day, Blake and Hamilton went to "The Nuggets" and took some geological and biological photographs, which on being developed turned out well. They had occasion to enter one of the unoccupied huts down there and found a wild cat a little more than half grown, which they caught and carried home with them. He was of the usual tabby colour and by no means fierce, quickly yielding to the coaxing treatment of his captors. He made himself quite at home in the Shack, and we looked forward to a display of his prowess as a rat-catcher.
A bright display of the aurora occurred on the night of July 4, the ribbons and streamers of light being well defined and occasionally slightly coloured. We could establish no connexion between this extraordinary outburst and the fact that it occurred on American Independence night, but it was certainly the most energetic manifestation of the phenomenon we had so far witnessed. Many "glows" had been seen, and also a few displays of the arch-shaped form, but none had shown much activity or rapid movement.
The operator was requested by the Pennant Hills high-power wireless station at Sydney to listen for signals tapped out during the daytime, and Sawyer spent a couple of hours on certain mornings assisting in these tests, which were attended with some success. We occasionally received press news from land stations or from ships passing across the Tasman Sea, but it was only a brief summary of the cable news: enough to whet one's curiosity, rarely ever satisfying it.
Very cold, rough weather was experienced on the 6th and 7th and a temperature of 26 degrees F. occurred on the latter date, while the maximum did not reach freezing-point. Much snow and soft hail fell, and the ground set hard. The weather interfered to some extent with the tide-gauge clock, and it became so unsatisfactory that I took it to pieces on the 9th and gave it a thorough cleaning, after which it had a new lease of life.
We received a message on the 11th saying that the 'Aurora' had arrived in Dunedin, "all well," but had experienced a very rough voyage which greatly interfered with the dredging and sounding programme.
Our tank water gave out for the first time on the 12th. The precipitation for a fortnight had been in the form of dry powdery snow and soft hail, the wind blowing it off the roof before it had a chance to thaw, thus robbing us of our usual water-supply. For a while we had to use swamp water, which contained a good many insects of various kinds and had a distinctly peaty flavour. Finding good water running from the hill-tops down a deep gully on the east coast, three-quarters of a mile away, we carried drinking water from there, using the other for washing up.
The 13th was a most delightful day--bright sun, very little wind and fresh exhilarating air. Blake and Hamilton went out early on a photographing excursion, and, later on, the latter shot and skinned a white giant petrel.
During the third week of July a very low tide exposed rocks, ordinarily submerged, and Hamilton was occupied all the week in collecting marine organisms, worms and plants and then preserving, bottling and labelling them.
A most peculiar sight was witnessed on the 17th. Aerial Cove is a favourite nesting-place for shags, and they may be seen in twos and threes flying round in that direction almost any time during the day; but on this particular day a kind of wholesale exodus from the cove took place, and large flocks of them followed each other for a couple of hours. They congregated on the rocks along the east coast, or settled in the water in scores; the latter fact suggesting that the probable reason for this extraordinary behaviour was the presence of unusual shoals of fish.
We used to relax and have a game of cards occasionally, while our small organ became a medium of much enjoyment. All the members except one played well enough to enjoy themselves and to give pleasure to the others. There was a distinct predilection in favour of "ragtime" and I must say I liked to hear that music at frequent intervals. Any one who plays a musical instrument knows that the mood of the player is generally reflected in the character of the music, particularly when he sits down and plays in a casual way.
The pursuit and killing of a sheep had now become something in the nature of an experience, and when Sandell and I went hunting for one on the 20th, we realized it before we reached home. The flock was very timid, and when disturbed on North Head invariably came past the wireless station close to the engine-hut. Sandell concealed himself there with a gun, while I went out to startle the animals. They did not fail to do their part, but Sandell missed and the shot frightened them. He then rushed out and fired another shot as they were running, managing to hit one, which immediately dropped behind and ran to the edge of the cliff. We did not want to shoot the sheep at this moment, as it would have fallen about two hundred feet, so we cautiously approached to drive it away. The poor creature simply took a leap out into space and landed on the talus below, down which it rolled to the water's edge. We scrambled down and skinned it, having to carry the carcase along the rocks at the base of the cliffs, and getting many duckings on the way.
On July 26 I went round to Aerial Cove with Hamilton to have a look at the fish-trap, but it had disappeared, the wire having broken, apparently through the continual friction against rock. He had previously caught some fish in it, and it was rather a misfortune to lose it so soon.
During the last week of the month we all had our hair cut. On arrival at the island, several of us had it shorn very closely with the clippers and had not trimmed it since then, growth being very slow. We had a proper hair-cutting outfit and either Blake, Hamilton or Sandell acted as barber.
Blake was an expert with the needle and did some really neat mending, while with the aid of some woollen thread and a mug he darned holes in his socks most artistically. He was the authority on how, when and where to place a patch or on the only method of washing clothes. The appearance of his articles when washed, compared with mine, made me wonder.
Hamilton was busy, about this time, dredging in swamp pools and securing specimens of the rockhopper or gentoo penguin.
The small gentoo penguins, like the King penguins, do not migrate and are few in numbers. They form diminutive colonies, which are always established on mounds amongst the tussock, or on the hill sides not far from the water. Their eggs, which are globular in shape, are about the best of the penguin eggs for eating, and if their nests are robbed the birds will generally lay again, although I think they could not lay more than four eggs. They build their nests of grass and plant leaves, and occasionally have been known to establish a fresh rookery after their first one has been robbed. They are more timid than any other species of penguin, and leave the nests in a body when one ventures into the rookery. The skuas take advantage of this peculiarity to the length of waiting about till a chance presents itself, when they swoop down, pick up an egg with their beak and fly off. The penguin makes a great fuss on returning to find that the eggs are gone, but generally finishes up by sitting on the empty nest. We have frequently put ten or a dozen eggs into one nest and watched the proprietress on her return look about very doubtfully and then squat down and try to tuck the whole lot under herself with her beak.
Weather conditions were rough enough during July, but occasionally a fairly quiet day would occur. High winds were experienced on ten days, the greatest hourly average for any twenty-four hours being thirty-two miles, but no day averaged less than ten miles. Precipitation occurred on twenty-one days, mostly in the form of snow and soft hail. The mean temperature was 37.7 degrees, with extremes of 43.3 degrees and 26 degrees F. The average percentage of cloud was 78; somewhat less than usual and due to the greater frequency of south-west winds, which almost always bring a broken sky.
Now that our life was one of smooth routine I devoted a good deal of time to reducing the meteorological observations. Hourly pressure and temperature readings as well as descriptive remarks, averages and other details required to be summarized, and this occupied a considerable amount of time, so I made a practice of spending a couple of hours each day on the work, whenever possible, hoping thereby to pick up the "leeway." I did not take too kindly to inactive writing in the Shack, but the weather conditions were such that I was glad to stay indoors, though that meant enduring the inevitable cold feet. The floor of the Shack was never warm, and of course there were no carpets.
Mac developed a great animosity against the rats and thoroughly enjoyed rooting them out on all occasions. The only explanation of their presence on the island is that they had arrived in the ships which were wrecked along the coasts. They got into the Shack several times, and we simply brought in Mac and shifted things about till she caught them.
Rough weather occurred during the first week of August, and with occasional temporary weakenings a gale blew throughout, reaching fifty miles an hour at different times. Snow, hail and sleet fell every day, and on the 3rd the temperature was below freezing-point all day. The Shack, which always shook a little in exceptionally heavy gales, now vibrated a good deal in a forty-mile wind, no doubt feeling the effects of the beating it had undergone.
Blake found a cave running through North Head and went round, on the 5th, to examine it. He proved it to be about sixty yards from opening to opening, and to widen out very much inside; the roof being about fifteen feet above the floor.
Hamilton and Sandell went along the coast on the 6th and brought home a dozen Maori hens for the pot. Hamilton secured some spiders, parasites on birds and many beetles under the moss and stones on the site of a penguin rookery, besides shooting a few terns.
The tern is a very pretty bird with light grey plumage, a black head and red beak and feet. We found no nests on the island, though the fact that the birds remain throughout the year implies that they breed there. They fly very fast while not appearing to do so, but their movements are by no means graceful. They flit about over the water close to the shore, every now and then dipping down picking up morsels and keeping up a constant, shrill squeaking.
The sea was so high on the 7th that it reached the weight of the tide-gauge and, lifting it up, unshipped the recording gear, as the steel wire flew off the wheel before the latter could take up the slack. I deemed it advisable to use stout cord instead of wire in the future and made a protective slot for the weight. I had blocked up the seaward side of the pipe with rocks, but found that these caused a deposit of silt so I had to get into the water at low tide and shift them all out again to clean away the accumulation of sand.
Very heavy snow fell during the afternoon, the flakes being the size of half a crown. A fresh north-north-west wind dropped to a calm at 4 P.M. and almost immediately it began to snow, the island being quite white by 5.30 P.M.
Bright sunny intervals alternated with light snow-squalls on the 10th, and the temperature was below freezing-point all day. It was pleasant to be out of doors, and I walked along to the west coast to see if there were any signs of activity amongst the sea elephants.
An unmistakable sign of the near approach of the breeding season was the presence of an enormous old bull, almost too fat to move, lying on the beach. Very few small ones were seen, as, on the arrival of the adult males and females for the breeding season, the young ones leave for a while, presumably in order to get fat for the moulting period, or because they are afraid of the bulls, who are particularly savage at this time. The full-grown bulls attain to a length of twenty feet, and have a fleshy proboscis about eight or ten inches in length hanging over the mouth, suggesting the trunk of an elephant. It is from this fact that they derive the name of sea elephant.
There is a considerable disparity in size between the adult male and female, the latter very rarely exceeding eleven feet, though we have seen a few twelve and thirteen feet long. The females have no snout development and some of them facially very much resemble a bull terrier. The adults are called bulls and cows, while, curiously enough, in the sealers' phrase, the offspring are referred to as pups. The places where large numbers of them gather together during the breeding season are known as rookeries! "Rookery" appears to me to be inapplicable to a herd of sea elephants, though "pup" supplies a more apt description of the young.
The pups, born during September or early October, are covered with a long, black, wavy fur, which they lose when about two months old, and in its place comes a growth of silver-grey hair, which changes later into the ordinary brown colour of the full-grown animal.
The old males and females leave the island about the end of January, and are not seen again (except a few stray ones) till August in the case of the males, and until September in the case of the females.
The fact that the bulls arrive first leads one to the conclusion that their feeding-grounds must lie at a considerable distance and, in the journey therefrom, the males, being the stronger, should arrive before the females, who are heavy with young and probably make a somewhat leisurely progress, feeding by the way.
The rookeries vary in size, containing from half a dozen to four or five hundred cows; in the last case, of course, being an aggregation of smaller rookeries, each with its proprietor, in the shape of an old bull, lying in or somewhere near the centre. The normal rookery, as far as I could judge, seemed to be one that contained about forty cows, but once the nucleus was formed, it was hard to say how many cows would be there before the season ended, as females keep arriving for a period of about three weeks.
The young vary in length from three and a half to four and a half feet, are born within a few days of arrival and suckled for about a month, becoming enormously fat. The cow, who has not eaten during the whole of this time and has become very thin, then leaves the pup, but remains in the rookery for about two days, after which she escapes to sea, remaining there till the beginning of January, when she returns to the island to moult. The pups when weaned get such rough usage in the rookery that they soon make off into the tussock and sleep for about a month, living on their fat and acquiring a new coat. The noise in one of the large rookeries is something to remember--the barking of the pups, the whimpering and yelping of the mothers and the roaring of the bulls.
Another feature in connexion with the rookery is the presence of what may be called unattached bulls, which lie around at a little distance from the cows, and well apart, forming a regular ring through which any cow wishing to desert her pup or leave the rookery before the proper time has very little chance of passing, as one of these grips her firmly with his powerful flipper and stays her progress. The lord of the harem, in the meantime, hastens to the scene of the disturbance, whereupon the other bull decamps.
The sea immediately in the vicinity of a large rookery is generally swarming with unattached bulls, who may be seen with their heads out of the water eyeing each other and keeping a bright look out for escaping cows. Now and again one may see a bull in the water gripping a cow with his flipper, despite her struggles, and roaring at a couple of others who show up menacingly quite close to him.
It may be remarked that towards the end of the season changes in the proprietorship of a rookery are rather rapid, as continuous raids are made by individuals from the outside. The need of continuous vigilance and the results of many encounters eventually lead to the defeat and discomfiture of the once proud proprietor.
I have never seen two bulls fight without first indulging in the usual preliminaries, that is, roaring and advancing a few yards and repeating the performance till within striking distance. Then both animals rear high up, supporting themselves on the lower part of the body, and lunge savagely with their whole weight each at his opponent's head or neck, tearing the thick skin with their teeth and causing the blood to flow copiously. Several lunges of this kind generally finish the battle, whereupon the beaten one drops to his flippers and makes all haste towards the water, glancing fearfully behind him on the way. We have seen bulls with their snouts partly torn off and otherwise injured, but worse injuries must occur in the rare, desperate battles which sometimes take place between two very much enraged animals.
When a bull in the centre of a rookery has occasion to rush at an interloper, he does so without regard to anything in his way, going over cows and pups alike and very often crushing some of the latter to death. Again, it seems as if all the outlying bulls recognize the noise of the rookery bull, because each time he roars they all lift up their heads and take notice, whereas others who have just been roaring have not the slightest regard paid to them, except perhaps by one immediately concerned.
The bull, during the breeding season, will on provocation attack a man, and it is surprising how quickly the former covers the ground. But on the whole he is an inoffensive animal. It is, of course, impossible to venture into a rookery, as the cows are very savage when they have the pups with them, but one can approach within a few yards of its outskirts without danger. Their food consists of cuttlefish, crabs and fish, and it is probable that they frequent the ocean where this food is plentiful, when they are absent from the island.
It has been stated that these animals are nearly extinct, but a visit to Macquarie Island during the breeding season would be enough to convince anybody to the contrary. There are thousands of them, and though about seven hundred are killed during a season, the increase in numbers each year, on Macquarie Island alone, must be very great.
The skuas were now returning to the island and their numbers and corresponding clamour were daily increasing. They were the noisiest and most quarrelsome birds we had, but their advent, we hoped, marked the return of less rigorous weather.
Blake left for Lusitania Bay on the 17th, intending to spend several months there in order to survey and geologically examine the southern end, so we gave him a send-off dinner. He had a very rough trip to the place, having to spend two nights in a cave about six miles from his destination, as a result of getting lost in a dense fog.
Hamilton made a wire fish-trap to replace the one which he had lost, and succeeded in getting a few fish on lowering it for the first time. He discovered parasitical mites all over them on the outside, and the flesh contained many worms.
A heavy north-north-west gale was experienced on the 26th, but the weather during the last three days of August was very quiet, either calms or light winds prevailing, and we took the opportunity to do some work on Wireless Hill. All the wire stays were tightened, and various ropes which appeared to require attention were renewed, while, as a final improvement, the aerial was hauled as tight as we could make it.
We heard on July 31 that the 'Rachel Cohen', a sealing-vessel, had sailed for Macquarie Island and was bringing a few articles for us, so there was something to which we could look forward in the immediate future.
The most remarkable feature of the month's weather was the wind, as gales blew on eleven days, and on seven other days the velocity reached twenty-five miles per hour. Precipitation occurred on twenty-seven days, and the average percentage of cloud was eighty-four. The mean temperature was 38.1 degrees with extremes of 45.3 degrees and 26 degrees F. A prolonged display of auroral light occurred on the night of the 17th, though no colours other than the light lemon-yellow of the arch and streamers could be seen.
Bull elephants were now arriving in great numbers, and these monsters could be seen lying everywhere on the isthmus, both up in the tussock, on the beaches, and among the heaps of kelp. Now and again one would lazily lift a flipper to scratch itself or heave its great bulk into a more comfortable position.
The island is the habitat of two kinds of night-birds, one kind--a species of petrel (Lesson's)--being much larger than the other, both living in holes in the ground. They fly about in the darkness, their cries resembling those made by a beaten puppy. The smaller bird (apparently indigenous and a new species) was occasionally seen flying over the water during the day, but the larger ones come out almost exclusively at night. A light attracts them and Hamilton, with the aid of a lantern and a butterfly-net, tried to catch some. Others swooped about, well out of range, shrieking the while in an uncanny way. Numbers of them were secured afterwards by being dug out of their holes, Mac being just as keen to locate them as Hamilton was to secure them. They cannot see well during the day, and seem to have almost lost the use of their feet. They lay two small, white, thin-shelled eggs at the end of their burrow; and in certain parts of the island, where the burrows are numerous, the sound made by hundreds of them at once, during the nesting season, somewhat resembles that made by a high-power Marconi wireless set at close range.
Before Blake left Lusitania Bay, I promised to see that the hut on Sandy Bay was re-stocked with provisions by the middle of the month, so, on the 8th, Hamilton, Sandell and I carried a supply of stores down there, leaving a note which informed him that we expected the 'Rachel Cohen' to arrive any day, and asking him to return to the Shack. On the way down we came upon a vast quantity of wreckage piled up on the beach, midway between "The Nuggets" and Sandy Bay. This was all that remained of the sealing schooner, 'Jessie Nichol', which had been wrecked on December 21, 1910. Three men were drowned, their bodies being interred among the tussock, each marked by a life belt and a small board on which the name was roughly carved.
On our homeward trip we caught some wekas for the pot and duly arrived at the Shack, tired, wet and hungry.
Next day, while sitting in the Shack reducing records, I heard a yell from Hamilton to the effect that the 'Rachel Cohen' was in sight, and about an hour later she dropped anchor in North-East Bay.
The sea was fairly smooth and no time was lost in bringing a boat ashore with the mails, of which each man received a share. A gang of sealers was landed with a view to obtaining sea elephant and penguin oil. I had wirelessed asking for a dinghy to be sent down, which would enable Hamilton to do more marine work; and it now came to hand. Further, we received an additional supply of photographic material and some rubber tubing for the anemometer, but the much needed boots did not arrive.
On the 18th a strong southerly gale sprang up and compelled the 'Rachel Cohen' to seek safety in flight; so she slipped her cable and put to sea. She had not yet landed all the sealers' stores and was forced to hang about the island till the weather moderated sufficiently for her to return to an anchorage.
The gentoo penguins, which had been observed at the beginning of the month building their nests, commenced to lay, and the first ten eggs were collected by us on September 18. Many sea elephant rookeries were now well-formed as the cows began to arrive about the 11th and were soon landing in large numbers. The first pups were heard on the 20th, and Bauer and I walked along to the rookery from which the barking came and had a look at the newcomers. There were only four, none of which was more than a few hours old, but they yapped their displeasure, and the mothers made frantic lunges at us when we approached to get a close view of them.
The sealers always gave the animals time to form their rookeries and then killed the bulls for oil. A well-conditioned full-grown animal yields about half a tun of oil, and as the commodity when refined has a market value of from L20 to L25 per tun, it will be seen that the industry is a profitable one. The cows being small never have a very thick coating of blubber, but I have seen bulls with blubber to a depth of eight inches, and some of them yield nearly two thousand pounds, though I should estimate the average yield at about one thousand one hundred pounds. The sealers in the early days used to obtain the oil by cutting the blubber up into very small pieces and melting it down in "try " pots. These pots, many of which may be still seen about the island, were made of very thick iron and the fuel used was the refuse taken from the pot itself. In the present method steam digestors are used, and the oil from the melted blubber is drawn off, after steam has been passing for twelve hours. Coal is brought down by the sealing-vessel to be used as fuel. The "elephant season" lasts only about three months, and within about four weeks of its conclusion, the "penguin season" begins; the same gang of men being employed as a rule. The most difficult operation in connexion with both of these industries is undoubtedly the loading and unloading of the vessel. If auxiliary power were used, the ship could then steam to within half a mile of the shore, but as it is, a sailing-vessel has to anchor about two miles off and the oil is towed in rafts over that distance.
We heard sounds from Adelie Land wireless station for the first time on September 25, 1912, but the signals were very faint and all that we could receive was: "Please inform Pennant Hills." Sawyer called them repeatedly for several hours, but heard no acknowledgment. Every effort was made to get in touch with them from this time forward, Sawyer remaining at the instrument until daylight every morning.
The Royal penguins returned to the island on the 27th and immediately commenced to make their way to the rookeries. They had been absent since April and were very fat after their long migration.
On the 28th Blake and Hamilton started out in the dinghy for Lusitania Bay. They had already made a step and sprit, and, with a calico sail hoisted, the frail craft ran before a light breeze. Having a fair wind they made good headway along the coast, dropping in at a gentoo penguin rookery en route, and collecting about two hundred and twenty eggs. Mac was a passenger and was a very sick dog all the trip.
Shortly after their departure, the 'Rachel Cohen', which had been blown away on the 18th, reappeared and again anchored. The captain reported having seen numerous icebergs, some of which were very large, about thirty miles to the eastward of the island. The sealers immediately commenced to get away the rest of their stores and coal and also to put some oil aboard the vessel, but on the following day the wind increased to such an extent that, in attempting to reach the ship with a raft of oil, they were blown down the coast and had to beach the boat several miles away.
On the night of the 29th Adelie Land wireless station was again heard tapping out a message apparently with the hope that some station would receive it. All we got was: "Having a hell of a time waiting for calm weather to put up more masts." Sawyer again repeatedly called, but they evidently could not hear him as no reply was received, and the above message was repeated time after time.
The weather during September was not quite so rough as that of the previous two or three months, but misty days were very frequent. Gales were experienced on six days and strong winds on nine days, but several quiet periods occurred. The average temperature was 38.6 degrees, with extremes of 44.7 degrees and 26 degrees F.
October was ushered in by a strong gale and rather heavy rain-squalls. The 'Rachel Cohen' had a severe buffeting, though she was lying on the lee side of the island.
Just about three-quarters of a mile to the west of the Shack were two large sea elephant rookeries, very close to each other, and on the 3rd Sandell and I went along to see what was happening there. We found about two hundred and fifty cows in the nearer one, and, as closely as we could count, about five hundred in the adjacent colony. The babel of sounds made one feel thankful that these noisy creatures were some distance from the Shack. Nearly all the cows had pups, some of which had reached a fair size, while others were only a few hours old. We saw several dead ones, crushed out almost flat, and some skuas were busily engaged gorging themselves on the carcases. These birds are indeed professional plunderers, and will venture almost anywhere in pursuit of food.
During the evening we again heard Adelie Land station working, and the burden of their message to an apparently chance audience was: "We do not seem able to get Macquarie Island, all is well, though bad weather has so far prevented any attempt at sledging."
Sawyer again called them at regular intervals for the rest of the night, but, as before, got no response.
Hamilton and Blake were busy at Lusitania Bay during the first two weeks of October securing sea elephant specimens and collecting eggs. They visited Caroline Cove where is established a giant petrel rookery containing about four hundred birds, and gathered a large number of eggs--purely specimens, as they are no use otherwise.
The 'Rachel Cohen' finally left us on the 8th, expecting to pay another visit in December for the purpose of taking off the sea elephant oil procured by the sealers. Sandell and I visited the gentoo penguin colony in Aerial Cove during the afternoon, for the purpose of getting a few eggs. We found plenty there and collected as many as we required. On returning to the empty nests, the birds would first of all peer round to assure themselves that the eggs were really missing, and then throw their heads back, swaying them from side to side to the accompaniment of loud, discordant cries.
Several of us started out on the 10th to visit the west coast for the purpose of getting some wekas and, incidentally, to make any observations possible. We saw thousands of sea elephants along the coast and passed many rookeries of various sizes. There were a large number of wekas about, but after shooting fourteen we were satisfied with our bag.
A westerly gale during the night proved too much for the aerial, and down it came. Blake and Hamilton were away, so Sawyer, Sandell and I went up, and after much battling and frequent use of the "handy billy" succeeded in fixing things. We also re-tightened the wire stays and thoroughly overhauled the ropes. Snow and sleet fell all the time, making the task most disagreeable.
About the middle of the month the Royal penguins commenced to lay, and on the 17th Sandell and I went to their rookeries at "The Nuggets" and collected about fifteen dozen eggs, which we buried in a hole in the bank of the creek for preservation. This species of penguin is the one which is killed for oil, not because it is any fatter than the others, but because it lives in such large colonies. There is one rookery of these birds on the south end of the island which covers an area of sixteen and a half acres, whilst at "The Nuggets" there are numbers of them scattered along the banks of a creek which reaches the sea, aggregating ten acres. At the latter place are situated the oil works belonging to the sealers.
From careful observation I should say that the number of birds killed during the season would not total one hundred and fifty thousand. The method of killing--by blows from a heavy club--is about as humane as any that could be adopted, and the yearly increase in numbers in the only rookeries that are being worked is certainly greater than the decrease due to the depredations of the sealers. Apart from this, there are acres of rookeries on the island from which not a single bird is taken, and they go on year after year adding thousands upon thousands to their already vast numbers.
This species resembles the others in habits, and I shall not describe them at any length. They are of the same colour as the Victoria penguins, but have a more orderly crest. Their rookeries are always on or very close to a running stream which forms the highway along which they travel to and fro. There is no policeman on duty, but a well-ordered procession is somehow arranged whereby those going up keep to one side and those coming down keep to the other. Once they are in the rookery, however, different conditions obtain. Here are fights, squabbles and riots, arising from various causes, the chief of which appears to be a disposition on the part of some birds to loiter about. During the nesting time much disorder prevails, and fights, in which beaks and flippers are energetically used, may be seen in progress at various places throughout the rookery. The nests are made of small stones, and occasionally, a bone or two from the skeleton of some long-dead relative forms part of the bulwarks. The attempt on the part of some birds to steal stones from surrounding nests is about the most fruitful cause of a riot, and the thief generally gets soundly thrashed, besides which all have a peck at him as he makes his way with as much haste as possible from the danger-zone. As the season advances, these rookeries become covered with filthy slush, but it seems to make no difference to the eggs, as the chicks appear in due course. When the moulting process is in full swing the rookeries are very crowded, and feathers and slush then become mixed together, making the place anything but fragrant.
A fifty-four mile gale from the west-north-west blew down on us on the 20th, but shortly after noon it weakened, and, towards evening, with the shifting of the wind to southwest, came squalls of sleet and snow and a drop in temperature. Hamilton returned from Lusitania Bay in the dinghy on the 21st, but Blake stopped there as he had not yet finished his work in that locality. The dinghy was well laden with specimens of various kinds and, on the way up, some wood and pickets were left at Green Valley for future requirements.
On the 25th Sandell and I visited the west coast, but, instead of going the usual way, we walked down the east coast and went up the creek at "The Nuggets" with a view to having a look at the penguin colonies along its course, finally crossing over the hills and getting into another creek, which we followed all the way down to the west coast. Along this creek were numerous waterfalls, one of which was quite sixty feet in height with wind-blown spray frozen white on the rocks on either side. We came across several giant petrel rookeries, and were treated to a display of the "stinker's" ability to make himself objectionable. A pair of sooty albatrosses were seen nesting on the front of a rocky steep, but on climbing up we found that they had not yet laid. After catching some wekas and taking a few photographs we returned to the Shack.
On the last day of the month several of us crossed the hills to the west coast in search of plants and birds' eggs. We secured a number of plant specimens--a further sign of the arrival of spring--including two which bore a very small flower, and were most successful in obtaining skuas', giant petrels' and sooty albatrosses' eggs.
During the evening I received a message from Captain Davis stating that the 'Aurora' would visit us in about three weeks' time and inquiring if we needed any supplies. This was entirely unexpected, as we thought that no more would be seen of the Ship until she came to take us home at the end of March 1913.
Earthquake shocks were felt at 1.55 A.M. and 9.35 A.M. on October 28, but did no damage other than to bring down some loose rock. Auroral displays were rather frequent but not very pronounced, and in most cases could only be classed as "glows."
A bright sunny morning on the 3rd induced Hamilton and me to make a photographic excursion along the coast. Hitherto only still-life photos had been taken, but with the sunlight we were then having, any work was possible, so we determined to have some "shots" at the sea elephants. They were rather difficult subjects, strange to say, but we spent some time amongst them and did famously, till a snow-squall made us suspend operations.
We heard the discordant but mournful cry of a sooty albatross coming from the cliff-front, so Hamilton climbed up and, after scrambling about for a while, succeeded in finding a nest, which contained one egg. This led him to look along the cliffs fronting the east coast, and on the following morning he found several nests and caught two birds, both of which were taken by hand while on the nest. They had beautiful plumage and made very fine specimens.
Blake returned from Lusitania Bay during the afternoon of the 4th and reported that he required only four or five days to complete the survey. The configuration of the island at the southern end is vastly different to that shown in the published charts, and this became more apparent as Blake's figures were plotted.
The news that Piastre had won the Melbourne Cup was flashed about all over the southern ocean during the evening, and we picked it up; but as this was the first we had heard of the animal, nobody seemed much interested. It certainly gave a turn to the conversation, and quite a sporting tone permeated the discussions of the ensuing two or three days.
The subjects of discussion were usually those of environment, and most of our talk centred round sea elephants, sea-leopards, penguins, temperatures, wind, wireless telegraphy, fish, aurorae, exploration, ships, Queensland and New Zealand. Sea elephants and penguins do offer scope for a considerable amount of conversation, as one observes them under such different circumstances, and they are so odd that something remarkable is always associated with the sight of them. The weather, being practically the bete noire of our existence, came in for a good deal of abuse. Wireless telegraphy is a mighty interesting subject at all times, and we passed many hours of our stay in discussing its future. All the members were, allegedly, fishermen of some calibre, and when I have said that, anybody with a knowledge of the man who claims ability as an angler will know what all the others, in turn, had to receive with restrained and respectful admiration. The advantages of settlement in Queensland were so apparent to at least one member of the party that he simply could not understand why thousands were not annually killed in the rush to get to this, "the greatest of all the Australian States." Good old silky oak!
The scenery of New Zealand was almost as well known to us as to anybody who has lived in the country all his life, and three of us had never been there. We have sat round the Shack sometimes and only the roar of a sea elephant outside reminded us that we were not, as we imagined, at a Maori "tangi." The wages to be earned there, the delights of travelling, the legislators, Rotorua, kauri pine, and the moon they've got in Auckland--we've heard of all these and marvelled at them. "Kapai te Maori!"
Blake and Hamilton went to Sandy Bay in the dinghy on the 6th in order to complete some work. They improved the hut there, to the extent of making a fire-place and laying barrel-staves on the floor, afterwards bringing a boat-load of timber from the 'Jessie Nichol' wreck and rigging up a board bunk sufficiently large to accommodate both of them.
While walking down to the 'Clyde' wreck for some wood on the 7th I saw a strange bird on the beach, and, returning to the Shack for the gun, I got him at the second shot. He was a land bird and had evidently been blown out of his course, as none of his kind had been seen before on the island.
On getting up on the following morning I found poor old Ma lying dead, and the feathers which lay about indicated that she had been the victim of a savage assault, but whether at the teeth of a dog or the beak of a skua I was unable to determine. This was most unfortunate, as the hens had all started to lay again two days previously; but apart from this she was a funny old creature and one could almost hold a conversation with her, so we regretted her loss. However, to make amends for this disaster the Victoria penguins started to lay on the same day, and as several of their rookeries were only a few minutes' walk from the Shack, the position was much the same as if we owned a poultry farm.
Hamilton returned from Sandy Bay on the 17th and immediately set about collecting shags' eggs. He visited Aerial Cove for the purpose but did not get enough, and was compelled to go to West Point, where he gathered twenty-four dozen for specimens. He now had a collection of eggs of all birds which nest on the island, with the exception of the weka and the tern.
At 6.30 P.M. on November 22 the 'Aurora' steamed into North-East Bay and dropped anchor. Hamilton, Blake and Sawyer launched the dinghy and pulled out to receive the mails, which they brought ashore for distribution. All on board were well and Captain Davis sent word to say he would land in the morning, bringing our goods and some visitors--Professor Flynn of Hobart and Mr. Denny.
The 'Aurora' next day steamed round North Head and took a series of soundings between the main island and the Judge and Clerk. These latter islets lie about eight miles to the north of North Head, and are merely rocks about eighty feet high upon which thousands of shags and other birds have established rookeries. On the following morning we said good-bye to the Ship, which weighed anchor and steamed away, leaving us once more to our own devices.
All the flowering plants were now showing their extremely modest blooms, and the tussock looked like a field of wheat, each stem having a decided ear. The gentoo penguins, as well as the giant petrels, had hatched their eggs, and the parent birds were shouldering full responsibilities.
Blake and Hamilton were now prepared for another visit to the southern end. Blake had almost completed the chart of the island, and the difference between it and the published chart was very striking. In the latter case the south end was shown as being six miles wide, whereas it is in reality only a little more than two miles across, and the width of the island is nowhere more than three and a half miles. About twenty miles from the southern end lie two islets known as the Bishop and Clerk. The former, which is the larger, is covered with a growth of tussock, while the latter is mainly bare rock.
A distinct rise in temperature was noticeable during November and the mean worked out at 41.6 degrees, while the extremes were 49 degrees and 82 degrees F. Strong winds were recorded on thirteen days and six short-lived gales occurred. We had less precipitation than during any previous month, as thirteen dry days were experienced. The average cloudiness was 93 per cent.; largely due to the frequent foggy or misty weather.
On December 2, at 10 A.M., Blake and I packed our sleeping-bags and blankets and started for Sandy Bay. The swags weighed only thirty-five pounds each and we made a rather quick trip.
After repairing the dilapidated shack, we sallied out for the purpose of catching our evening meal, and with the aid of Mac soon succeeded in getting eight wekas. A sea elephant was then killed, and the blubber, heart and tongue taken; the first-named for use as fuel and the others for food. We cleaned the wekas and put them in the pot, cooking the whole lot together, a proceeding which enabled us to forgo cooking a breakfast in the morning. The beach was swarming with young sea elephants and many could be seen playing about in a small, shallow lagoon.
Just south of the hut there is a sandy spit and one of the only stretches of beach on the island, where thousands of penguins from the adjacent rookeries were congregated, amongst them being three King penguins, which were easily distinguishable on account of their great size.
Feeling a little weary, I sought the hut about 9 P.M. and turned into the sleeping-bag, which was placed on a board bottom covered with tussock, which was by no means uncomfortable. The old place smoked so much that we decided to let the fire die down, and as soon as the smoke had cleared away, the imperfections of the hut became apparent; rays of moonlight streaming through countless openings in the walls and roof.
We rose at 6.30 A.M. While Blake lit the fire, I went out to fill the billy at a small stream running out of the hills about sixty yards away. After breakfast we set out for Green Valley, but had not gone very far when it began to blow very hard from the south, straight in our faces, and we scrambled on towards our destination amidst squalls of snow, hail and sleet. Eventually we reached the valley and had a somewhat meagre lunch in a small cave. The title "cave" rather dignifies this hole in the rock, but it was the only friendly spot in a most inhospitable locality, and we were inclined to be generous,
On the whole, the length of coast we had traversed was found to be as rough as any on the island. There is not a stretch of one hundred yards anywhere that can be termed "good going." In many places we found that the steep cliffs approached very close to the water, and the mournful cry of the sooty albatross could be heard coming from points high on the face of the cliffs, while the wekas were so tame that one could almost walk up and catch them.
A large creek whose banks are overhung with a coarse growth of fern makes its way out of the hills and runs into Sandy Bay. Just a little to the south of this creek Blake discovered a terminal moraine about two hundred yards in length and fifty feet wide. It rests on sandstone about fifteen feet above the present sea-level and the boulders consist of polished and sub-angular blocks of sandstone and porphyry of various sizes. It evidently belongs to the valley or to a later stage of glaciation. The rocks along the coast are all a volcanic series, and basic dykes are visible in many places.
We arose at 7 A.M. next day and breakfasted on porridge, weka, fried heart, "hard-tack" and cocoa. Leaving the hut shortly afterwards we climbed on to the hills and travelled south for several miles in order to fix the position of some lakes and creeks. There was one lake in the vicinity about half a mile long and to all appearances very deep. It lay between two steep hills, and the grassy bank at one end and the small sloping approach at the other gave it an artificial appearance, while the water was beautifully clear and perfectly fresh. At the sloping end, dozens of skuas were busily engaged washing themselves and the flapping of their wings in the water made a remarkable noise, audible at a considerable distance on the hill-tops. On returning to the hut at Sandy Bay several rabbits secured by Mac were cleaned and put on to boil.
Next morning a dense mist shrouded the island till about 11 A.M., but the weather becoming fine and bright, we started for the west coast about noon. During our progress along the bed of a creek, Blake discovered what was believed to be a glacial deposit containing fossil bones, and considerable time was spent in examining this and attempting to extract whole specimens, thereby making it too late to proceed to the west. On returning to the hut we decided to pack the swags. We reached home just in time for tea, finding that nothing unusual had occurred during our four days' absence.
Hamilton and Blake went out fishing in the dinghy on the 9th and made a remarkable haul of fish, sixty in number, ranging in size from a few ounces to twelve and a half pounds. They were all of the same species, somewhat resembling rock cod, but as usual they were covered with external parasites, and their flesh was full of worm-cysts. Hamilton preserved a number of them and the rest were cooked, but we did not relish them very much and the one meal was enough.
On December 11 we had a hard gale all day, the anemometer recording "bursts" of over fifty miles an hour frequently, while the average exceeded forty miles an hour throughout. Twelve months ago on that day we had made our first landing on the island from the 'Aurora', but vastly different weather conditions prevailed at the time.
Christmas Day was now very close at hand, and as Blake and Hamilton were going to celebrate at the other end of the island, whence they had gone on the 10th, Sawyer, Sandell and I arranged a little "spread" for ourselves. Sawyer produced a cake which he had received in the recent mail, and some friend had forwarded a plum pudding to Sandell, so on Christmas Day these, with a boiled ham, some walnuts, mince rolls and a bottle of stout were spread on the table, which had been decorated with tussock stuck in sea elephants' tusks. The highest temperature registered on the island during our stay--51.8 degrees F.--was recorded on Christmas Day, and the sun seemed so warm that Sandell and I ventured into the sea for a dip, but the temperature of the water was not high enough to make it an agreeable experience.
During the evening of the 26th we received a message saying that the 'Aurora' had left Hobart on her trip south to bring back the two parties from Antarctica, but no mention of picking us up on the return journey was made.
The King penguins and "night birds" had laid by this time, and Hamilton added more eggs to his collection. He found for the first time a colony of mutton birds near the south end. He also came upon a mollymawk rookery on the south-western point of the island, and managed to take one of the birds by hand.
Blake and he had an accident in the dinghy on the 29th, fortunately attended by no serious results. They had gone from Lusitania Bay to the south end, and, while attempting to land through the surf, the boat struck a rock and capsized, throwing them into the water. They had many things in the boat but lost only two billies, two pannikins, a sounding line and Hamilton's hat, knife and pipe. Their blankets floated ashore in a few minutes, and the oars came floating in later in the day. After the capsize Hamilton managed to reach the boat and turn her over, and Blake made for a kelp-hung rock, but, after pulling himself up on to it, was immediately washed off and had to swim ashore. The boat was afterwards found to be stove-in in two places, though the breaks were easily patched up subsequently.
New Year's Eve came and with keen anticipations we welcomed the advent of 1913.
XXVII. THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR
by G. F. Ainsworth
We had now thrown a year behind and the work we set out to accomplish was almost finished; so it was with pleasurable feelings that we took up the burden of completion, looking forward to the arrival of April 1913 which should bring us final relief and the prospects of civilisation. I shall deal with the first three months of the year as one period, since almost all the field-work, except photography, had been done, and, after the return of Blake and Hamilton from Lusitania Bay on January 8, our life was one of routine; much time being devoted to packing and labelling specimens in anticipation of departure.
The first business of the year was to overhaul the wireless station, and on the 6th, Sawyer, Sandell and I spent the day laying in a supply of benzine from Aerial Cove, changing worn ropes, tightening stay-wires, straightening the southern masts and finally hauling the aerial taut. These duties necessitated much use of the "handy billy," and one has but to form an acquaintance with this desirable "person" to thoroughly appreciate his value.
Blake and Hamilton returned on January 8 and reported that their work was finished at the southern end. Thenceforth they intended to devote their time to finishing what remained to be done at the northern end and in adding to their collections. Blake, for instance, resolved to finish his chart of the island, and, if time permitted, to make a topographical survey of the locality, as it was of great geological interest. Hamilton made the discovery that a number of bird specimens he had packed away were mildewed, and as a result he was compelled to overhaul the whole lot and attend to them. He found another colony of mutton birds on North Head, the existence of which was quite unexpected till he dug one out of a burrow thought to contain "night-birds."
About the middle of January I endeavoured to do a little meteorological work with the aid of some box-kites manufactured by Sandell. But though a number of them were induced to fly, we had no success in getting them up with the instruments attached. They all had a habit of suddenly losing equilibrium and then indulging in a series of rapid dives and plunges which usually ended in total wreckage.
The 'Rachel Cohen' again visited the island on January 26, but this time she anchored off "The Nuggets," whither the sealers had gone to live during the penguin season. We could see the ship lying about a mile offshore, and walked down to get our mails and anything else she had brought along for us. I received a letter from the Secretary of the Expedition saying that he had made arrangements for us to return by the 'Rachel Cohen' early in April, and the news caused a little excitement, being the only definite information we had had concerning relief.
The end of the first month found Blake and Hamilton both very busy in making suitable boxes for specimens. Many of the larger birds could not be packed in ordinary cases, so Hamilton had to make specially large ones to accommodate them, and Blake's rock specimens being very heavy, extra strong boxes had to be made, always keeping in view the fact that each was to weigh not more than eighty pounds, so as to ensure convenient handling.
After a silence of about four months, we again heard Adelie Land on February 3, but the same old trouble existed, that is, they could not hear us. Sawyer called them again and again, getting no reply, but we reckoned that conditions would improve in a few weeks, as the hours of darkness increased.
Hamilton and I made a trip to the hill-tops on the 4th for the purpose of taking a series of plant and earth temperatures which were of interest biologically, and while there I took the opportunity of obtaining temperatures in all the lakes we saw. Hamilton also took some panoramic photographs from the various eminences and all of them turned out well.
During the evening Adelie Land sent out a message saying that Dr. Mawson had not yet returned to the Base from his sledging trip and Sawyer received it without difficulty, but though he "pounded away" in return for a considerable time, he was not heard, as no reply or acknowledgment was made.
The 'Rachel Cohen' remained till the 5th, when a northerly gale arose and drove her away. As she had a good cargo of oil on board no one expected her to return. We had sent our mail on board several days previously as experience had shown us that the sailing date of ships visiting the island was very uncertain.
Sandell met with a slight though painful accident on the 7th. He was starting the engine, when it "backfired" and the handle flying off with great force struck him on the face, inflicting a couple of nasty cuts, loosening several teeth, and lacerating the inside of his cheek. A black eye appeared in a day or two and his face swelled considerably, but nothing serious supervened. In a few days the swelling had subsided and any anxiety we felt was at an end.
We now had only two sheep left, and on the 8th Blake and I went to kill one. Mac accompanied us. Seeing the sheep running away, she immediately set off after them, notwithstanding our threats, yells and curses. They disappeared over a spur, but shortly afterwards Mac returned, and, being severely thrashed, immediately left for home. We looked for the sheep during the rest of the day but could find no trace of them, and though we searched for many days it was not till five weeks had elapsed that we discovered them on a small "landing" about half-way down the face of the cliff. They had apparently rushed over the edge and, rolling down, had finally come to a stop on the ledge where they were found later, alive and well.
On the 8th Adelie Land was heard by us calling the 'Aurora' to return at once and pick up the rest of the party, stating also that Lieutenant Ninnis and Dr. Mertz were dead. All of us were shocked at the grievous intelligence and every effort was made by Sawyer to call up Adelie Land, but without success.
On the following day we received news from Australia of the disaster to Captain Scott's party.
Blake, who was now geologizing and doing topographical work, discovered several lignite seams in the hills on the east coast; he had finished his chart of the island. The mainland is simply a range of mountains which have been at some remote period partly submerged. The land meets the sea in steep cliffs and bold headlands, whose general height is from five hundred to seven hundred feet, with many peaks ranging from nine hundred and fifty to one thousand four hundred and twenty feet, the latter being the height of Mount Hamilton, which rears up just at the back of Lusitania Bay. Evidence of extreme glaciation is everywhere apparent, and numerous tarns and lakes are scattered amongst the hills, the tops of which are barren, wind-swept and weather-worn. The hill sides are deeply scored by ravines, down which tumble small streams, forming cascades at intervals on their hurried journey towards the ocean. Some of these streams do not reach the sea immediately, but disappear in the loose shingly beaches of peaty swamps. The west coast is particularly rugged, and throughout its length is strewn wreckage of various kinds, some of which is now one hundred yards from the water's edge. Very few stretches of what may be called "beach" occur on the island; the foreshores consisting for the most part of huge water-worn boulders or loose gravel and shingle, across which progress is slow and difficult.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
A Section across Macquarie Island through Mt. Elder
Apparently the ground shelves very rapidly under the water, as a sounding of over two thousand fathoms was obtained by the 'Aurora' at a distance of eight miles from the east coast. The trend of the island is about eleven degrees from true north; the axis lying north by east to south by west. At either end are the island-groups already referred to, and their connexion with the mainland may be traced by the sunken rocks indicated by the breaking seas on the line of reef.
A very severe storm about the middle of the month worked up a tremendous sea, which was responsible for piling hundreds of tons of kelp on the shore, and for several days tangled masses could be seen drifting about like small floating islands.
On the 20th an event occurred to which we had long looked forward, and which was now eagerly welcomed. Communication was established with the Main Base in Adelie Land by wireless! A message was received from Dr. Mawson confirming the deaths of Ninnis and Mertz, and stating that the 'Aurora' had not picked up the whole party. Sawyer had a short talk with Jeffryes, the Adelie Land operator, and among other scraps of news told him we were all well.
Hamilton killed a sea elephant on the 22nd. The animal was a little over seventeen feet long and thirteen and a half feet in girth just at the back of the flippers, while the total weight was more than four tons. It took Hamilton about a day to complete the skinning, and, during the process, the huge brute had to be twice turned over, but such is the value of the nautical handy-billy that two men managed it rather easily. When the skin had been removed, five of us dragged it to the sealers' blubber-shed, where it was salted, spread out, and left to cure.
We had communication with Adelie Land again on the 26th, and messages were sent and received by both stations. Dr. Mawson wirelessed to the effect that the 'Aurora' would, after picking up Wild's party, make an attempt to return to Adelie Land if conditions were at all favourable.
Finding that provisions were running rather short on the last day of February, we reduced ourselves to an allowance of one pound of sugar per week each, which was weighed out every Thursday. Altogether there were only forty-five pounds remaining. Thenceforth it was the custom for each to bring his sugar-tin to the table every meal. The arrangement had its drawbacks, inasmuch as no sugar was available for cooking unless a levy were made. Thus puddings became rareties, because most of us preferred to use the sugar in tea or coffee.
March came blustering in, accompanied by a sixty-four-mile gale which did damage to the extent of blowing down our annexe, tearing the tarpaulin off the stores at the back and ripping the spouting off the Shack. A high sea arose and the conformation of the beach on the north-western side of the isthmus was completely changed. Numbers of sea elephants' tusks and bones were revealed, which had remained buried in the shingle probably for many years, and heaps of kelp were piled up where before there had been clean, stony beach. Kelp is a very tough weed, but after being washed up and exposed to the air for a few days, begins to decay, giving forth a most disagreeable smell.
At this time we caught numerous small fish amongst the rocks at the water's edge with a hand line about four feet long. It was simply a matter of dropping in the line, watching the victim trifle with destiny and hauling him in at the precise moment.
Wireless business was now being done nightly with Adelie Land, and on the 7th I received a message from Dr. Mawson saying that the party would in all probability be down there for another season, and stating the necessity for keeping Macquarie Island station going till the end of the year. This message I read out to the men, and gave them a week in which to view the matter. The alternatives were to return in April or to remain till the end of the year.
I went through the whole of the stores on the 10th, and found that the only commodities upon which we would have to draw sparingly were milk, sugar, kerosene, meats and coal. The flour would last till May, but the butter allowance would have to be reduced to three pounds per week.
It was on the 12th that we found the lost sheep, but as we had some wekas, sufficient to last us for several days, I did not kill one till the 15th. On that day four of us went down towards the ledge where they were standing, and shot one, which immediately toppled off and rolled down some distance into the tussock, the other one leaping after it without hesitation. While Blake and Hamilton skinned the dead sheep, Sandell and I caught the other and tethered it at the bottom of the hill amongst a patch of Maori cabbage, as we thought it would probably get lost if left to roam loose. However, on going to the spot next day, the sheep was nearly dead, having got tangled up in the rope. So we let it go free, only to lose the animal a day or two later, for it fell into a bog and perished.
On March 22 a lunar eclipse occurred, contact lasting a little over three hours from 9.45 P.M. till within a few minutes of 1 A.M. on the 23rd. The period of total eclipse was quite a lengthy one, and during the time it lasted the darkness was intense. Cloud interfered for a while with our observations in the total stage. No coronal effect was noted, though a pulsating nebulous area appeared in front of the moon just before contact.
A message came on the 27th saying that the 'Rachel Cohen' was sailing for Macquarie Island on May 2, and would bring supplies as well as take back the men who wished to be relieved, and this was forwarded in turn to Dr. Mawson.
He replied, saying that the 'Aurora' would pick us up about the middle of November and convey us to Antarctica, thence returning to Australia; but if any member wished to return by the 'Rachel Cohen' he could do so, though notification would have to be given, in order to allow of substitutes being appointed. All the members of the party elected to stay, and I asked each man to give an outline of the work he intended to pursue during the extended period.
During March strong winds were recorded on fourteen days, reaching gale-force on six occasions. The gale at the beginning of the month was the strongest we had experienced, the velocity at 5.40 A.M. on the 1st reaching sixty-four miles per hour. Precipitation occurred on twenty-six days and the average amount of cloud was 85 per cent. A bright auroral display took place on the 6th, lasting from 11.20 till 11.45 P.M. It assumed the usual arch-form stretching from the south-east to south-west, and streamers and shafts of light could be observed pulsating upwards towards the zenith.
We now started on what might be called the second stage of our existence on the island. In the preceding pages I have endeavoured to give some idea of what happened during what was to have been our full period; but unforeseen circumstances compelled us to extend our stay for eight months more, until the 'Aurora' came to relieve us in November. As the routine was similar in a good many respects to that which we had just gone through, I shall now refer to only the more salient features of our life.
The loyalty of my fellows was undoubted, and though any of them could have returned if he had felt so inclined, I am proud to say that they all decided to see it through. When one has looked forward hopefully to better social conditions, more comfortable surroundings and reunion with friends, it gives him a slight shock to find that the door has been slammed, so to speak, for another twelve months. Nevertheless, we all found that a strain of philosophy smoothed out the rough realities, and in a short time were facing the situation with composure, if not actual contentment.
We decided now to effect a few improvements round about our abode, and all set to work carrying gravel from the beach to put down in front of the Shack, installing a sink-system to carry any waste water, fixing the leaking roof and finally closing up the space between the lining and the wall to keep out the rats.
We expected the 'Rachel Cohen' to leave Hobart with our stores on May 2, and reckoned that the voyage would occupy two weeks. Thus, it would be six weeks before she arrived. I was therefore compelled on the 10th to reduce the sugar allowance to half a pound per week. We were now taking it in turns to go once a week and get some wekas, and it was always possible to secure about a dozen, which provided sufficient meat for three dinners. Breakfast consisted generally of fish, which we caught, or sea elephant in some form, whilst we had tinned fish for lunch.
Sandell installed a telephone service between the Shack and the wireless station about the middle of April, the parts all being made by himself; and it was certainly an ingenious and valuable contrivance. I, in particular, learned to appreciate the convenience of it as time went on. The buzzer was fixed on the wall close to the head of my bunk and I could be called any time during the night from the wireless station, thus rendering it possible to reply to communications without loss of time. Further, during the winter nights, when auroral observations had to be made, I could retire if nothing showed during the early part of the night, leaving it to Sandell, who worked till 2 or 3 A.M. to call me if any manifestation occurred.
We had heavy gales from the 12th to the 17th inclusive, the force of the wind during the period frequently exceeding fifty miles per hour, and, on the first-mentioned date, the barometer fell to 27.8 inches. The usual terrific seas accompanied the outburst.
Finding that there were only eight blocks of coal left, I reduced the weekly allowance to one. We had a good supply of tapioca, but neither rice nor sago, and as the sealers had some of the latter two, but none of the former, we made an exchange to the extent of twelve pounds of tapioca for eight pounds of rice and some sago. Only fifteen pounds of butter remained on the 20th, and I divided this equally, as it was now one of the luxuries, and each man could use his own discretion in eating it. As it was nearing the end of April, and no further word concerning the movements of the 'Rachel Cohen' had been received, I wirelessed asking to be immediately advised of the exact date of the vessel's departure. A reply came that the ship would definitely reach us within two months. I answered, saying we could wait two months, but certainly no longer.
With a view to varying the menu a little, Blake and I took Mac up on the hills on April 26 to get some rabbits and, after tramping for about six hours, we returned with seven. In our wanderings we visited the penguin rookeries at "The Nuggets," and one solitary bird sat in the centre of the vast area which had so lately been a scene of much noise and contention.
On May 1 I took an inventory of the stores and found that they would last for two months if economically used. Of course, I placed confidence in the statement that the 'Rachel Cohen' would reach the island within that time.
With the coming of May wintry conditions set in, and at the end of the first week the migrants had deserted our uninviting island. Life with us went on much the same as usual, but the weather was rather more severe than that during the previous year, and we were confined to the Shack a good deal.
The sealers who were still on the island had shifted back to the Hut at the north end so that they were very close to us and frequently came over with their dog in the evenings to have a yarn. The majority of them were men who had "knocked about" the world and had known many rough, adventurous years. One of them in particular was rather fluent, and we were often entertained from his endless repertoire of stories.
On the 23rd, finding that there were seventy-seven and a half pounds of flour remaining, and ascertaining that the sealers could let us have twenty-five pounds, if we ran short, I increased the allowance for bread to twelve and a half pounds per week, and this, when made up, gave each man two and three-quarter pounds of bread. Our supply of oatmeal was very low, but in order to make it last we now started using a mixture of oatmeal and sago for breakfast; of course, without any milk or sugar.
Just about this time Mac gave birth to six pups and could not help us in obtaining food. She had done valuable service in this connexion, and the loss in the foraging strength of the party was severely felt for several weeks. She was particularly deadly in hunting rabbits and wekas, and though the first-named were very scarce within a few miles of the Shack, she always managed to unearth one or two somewhere. Hut-slippers were made out of the rabbit skins and they were found to be a great boon, one being able to sit down for a while without his feet "going."
June arrived and with it much rough, cold weather. A boat was expected to come to our relief, at the very latest, by the 30th. We had a very chilly period during the middle of the month, and it was only by hand-feeding the "jacket" of the wireless motor that any work could be done by the station, as the tank outside was almost frozen solid.
The tide-gauge clock broke down towards the end of the month, and though I tried for days to get it going I was not successful. One of the springs had rusted very badly as a result of the frequent "duckings" the clock had experienced, and had become practically useless.
We had ascertained that the 'Rachel Cohen' was still in Hobart, so on the 23rd I wirelessed asking when the boat was to sail. The reply came that the 'Rachel Cohen' was leaving Hobart on Thursday, June 26.
Our supply of kerosene oil was exhausted by the end of the month, despite the fact that the rule of "lights out at 10 P.M." had been observed for some time. Thus we were obliged to use sea elephant oil in slush lamps. At first we simply filled a tin with the oil and passed a rag through a cork floating on the top, but a little ingenuity soon resulted in the production of a lamp with three burners and a handle. This was made by Sandell out of an old tea-pot and one, two or three burners could be lit as occasion demanded. During meal times the whole three burners were used, but, as the oil smoked and smelt somewhat, we generally blew out two as soon as the meal was finished. This was the "general" lamp, but each man had, as well, one of his own invention. Mine was scornfully referred to as the "house-boat," since it consisted of a jam tin, which held the oil, standing in a herring tin which caught the overflow.
At the end of June, Blake and I surveyed all the penguin rookeries round about "The Nuggets" and, allowing a bird to the square foot, found that there must have been about half a million birds in the area. The sealers kill birds from these rookeries to the number of about one hundred and thirty thousand yearly, so that it would seem reasonable to suppose that, despite this fact, there must be an annual increase of about one hundred thousand birds.
The end of the month arrived and, on making inquiries, we found that there was no news of the 'Rachel Cohen' having left Hobart. We had enough flour to last a fortnight, and could not get any from the sealers as they possessed only three weeks' supply themselves. However, on July 8, Bauer came across and offered to let us have some wheatmeal biscuits as they had a couple of hundredweights, so I readily accepted twenty pounds of them. We now had soup twice a day, and managed to make it fairly thick by adding sago and a few lentils. Cornflour and hot water flavoured with cocoa made a makeshift blanc-mange, and this, with sago and tapioca, constituted our efforts towards dessert.
On the 12th I received a message stating that the 'Rachel Cohen' had sailed on July 7; news which was joyfully received. We expected her to appear in ten or twelve days.
On the 18th we used the last ounce of flour in a small batch of bread, having fully expected the ship to arrive before we had finished it. Next day Bauer lent us ten pounds of oatmeal and showed us how to make oatmeal cakes. We tried some and they were a complete success, though they consisted largely of tapioca, and, according to the respective amounts used, should rather have been called tapioca cakes.
When the 22nd arrived and no ship showed up, I went across to see what the sealers thought of the matter, and found that they all were of opinion that she had been blown away to the eastward of the island, and might take a considerable time to "make" back.
On this date we came to the end of our meats, which I had been dealing out in a very sparing manner, just to provide a change from sea elephant and weka. We had now to subsist upon what we managed to catch. There were still thirty-five tins of soup, of which only two tins a day were used, so that there was sufficient for a few weeks. But we found ourselves running short of some commodity each day, and after the 23rd reckoned to be without bread and biscuit.
At this juncture many heavy blows were experienced, and on the 24th a fifty-mile gale accompanied by a tremendous sea beat down on us, giving the 'Rachel Cohen' a very poor chance of "making" the island. Our last tin of fruit was eaten; twelve tins having lasted us since March 31, and I also shared the remaining ten biscuits amongst the men on the 24th. We were short of bread, flour, biscuits, meats, fish, jam, sugar and milk, but had twenty tins of French beans, thirty tins of cornflour, some tapioca, and thirty tins of soup, as well as tea, coffee and cocoa in abundance. We had not been able to catch any fish for some days as the weather had been too rough, and, further, they appeared to leave the coasts during the very cold weather.
Sea elephants were very scarce, and we invariably had to walk some distance in order to get one; each man taking it in turn to go out with a companion and carry home enough meat for our requirements. We were now eating sea elephant meat three times a day (all the penguins having migrated) and our appetites were very keen. The routine work was carried on, though a great deal of time was occupied in getting food.
Bauer very generously offered to share his biscuits with us, but we fellows, while appreciating the spirit which prompted the offer, unanimously declined to accept them. We now concluded that something had happened to the ship, as at the end of July she had been twenty-four days out.
On August 3 we had a sixty-three-mile gale and between 1 and 2 A.M. the velocity of the wind frequently exceeded fifty miles per hour. Needless to say there was a mountainous sea running, and the Rachel Cohen, if she had been anywhere in the vicinity, would have had a perilous time.
A message came to me on August 6 from the Secretary of the Expedition, saying that the 'Rachel Cohen' had returned to New Zealand badly damaged, and that he was endeavouring to send us relief as soon as possible. I replied, telling him that our food-supply was done, but that otherwise we were all right and no uneasiness need be felt, though we wished to be relieved as soon as possible.
Splendid news came along on the 9th to the effect that the New Zealand Government's steamer 'Tutanekai' would tranship our stores from the 'Rachel Cohen' on the 15th and sail direct for the island.
Sawyer now became ill and desired me to make arrangements for his return. I accordingly wired to the Secretary, who replied asking if we could manage without an operator. After consulting Sandell, I answered that Sandell and I together could manage to run the wireless station.
Everybody now looked forward eagerly to the arrival of the 'Tutanekai', but things went on as before. We found ourselves with nothing but sea elephant meat and sago, with a pound-tin of French beans once a week and two ounces of oatmeal every morning.
We heard that the Tutanekai did not leave as expected on the 15th, but sailed on the afternoon of the 17th, and was coming straight to Macquarie Island. She was equipped with a wireless telegraphy outfit, which enabled us on the 18th to get in touch with her; the operator on board stating that they would reach us early on the morning of the 20th.
On the evening of the 19th we gave Sawyer a send-off dinner; surely the poorest thing of its kind, as far as eatables were concerned, that has ever been tendered to any one. The fare consisted of sea elephant's tongue "straight," after which a bottle of claret was cracked and we drank heartily to his future prosperity.
At 7.30 A.M. on the 20th the 'Tutanekai' was observed coming up the east coast, and as we had "elephanted" at 6 A.M. we were ready to face the day. I went across to the sealers' hut and accompanied Bauer in the launch to the ship, which lay at anchor about a mile from the shore. We scrambled on board, where I met Captain Bollons. He received me most courteously, and, after discussing several matters, suggested landing the stores straight away. I got into the launch to return to the shore, but the wind had freshened and was soon blowing a fresh gale. Still, Bauer thought we should have no difficulty and we pushed off from the ship. The engine of the launch failed after we had gone a few yards, the boat was blown rapidly down the coast, and we were eventually thrown out into the surf at "The Nuggets." The Captain, who witnessed our plight, sent his launch in pursuit of us, but its engines also failed. It now became necessary for the crew of the whale-boat to go to the assistance of the launch. However, they could do nothing against the wind, and, in the end, the ship herself got up anchor, gave the two boats a line and towed them back to the former anchorage. The work of unloading now commenced, though a fairly heavy surf was running. But the whaleboat of the 'Tutanekai' was so dexterously handled by the boatswain that most of our stores were landed during the day.
Sawyer went on board the 'Tutanekai' in the afternoon, thus severing his connexion with the Expedition, after having been with us on the island since December 1911. On the following morning, some sheep, coal and flour were landed, and, with a whistled good-bye, the 'Tutanekai' started north on her visit to other islands.
Our short period of stress was over and we all felt glad. From that time onwards we ate no more elephant meat "straight." A sheep was killed just as the 'Tutanekai' left, and we had roast mutton, scones, butter, jam, fruit and rice for tea. It was a rare treat.
All the stores were now brought up from the landing-place, and as I had put up several extra shelves some weeks previously, plenty of room was found for all the perishable commodities inside the Shack.
The beginning of September found me fairly busy. In addition to the meteorological work, the results of which were always kept reduced and entered up, I had to work on Wireless Hill during the evening and make auroral observations on any night during which there was a display, attending to the stores and taking the week of cooking as it came along.
Blake and Hamilton went down the island for several days on September 3, since they had some special observations to make in the vicinity of Sandy Bay.
The sea elephant season was now in progress, and many rookeries were well formed by the middle of the month. The skuas had returned, and on the 19th the advance-guard of the Royal penguins arrived. The gentoos had established themselves in their old "claims," and since the 12th we had been using their eggs for cooking.
Early in September time-signals were received from Melbourne, and these were transmitted through to Adelie Land. This practice was kept up throughout the month and in many cases the signals were acknowledged.
Blake and Hamilton returned to the Shack on the 24th, but left again on the 30th, as they had some more photographic work to do in the vicinity of Green Valley and Sandy Bay.
Blake made a special trip to Sandy Bay on October 30 to bring back some geological specimens and other things he had left there, but on reaching the spot found that the old hut had been burned to the ground, apparently only a few hours before, since it was still smouldering. Many articles were destroyed, among which were two sleeping-bags, a sextant, gun, blankets, photographic plates, bird specimens and articles of clothing. It was presumed that rats had originated the fire from wax matches which had been left lying on a small shelf.
On November 9 we heard that the 'Aurora' would leave Hobart on the 19th for Antarctica, picking us up on the way and landing three men on the island to continue the wireless and meteorological work.
We sighted the 'Rachel Cohen' bearing down on the island on November 18, and at 5.15 P.M. she came to an anchorage in North-East Bay. She brought down the remainder of our coal and some salt for Hamilton for the preservation of specimens.
On the next night it was learned that the 'Aurora' had left Hobart on her way South, expecting to reach us about the 28th, as some sounding and dredging were being done en route.
Everybody now became very busy making preparations for departure. Time passed very quickly, and November 28 dawned fine and bright. The 'Rachel Cohen', which had been lying in the bay loading oil, had her full complement on board by 10 A.M., and shortly afterwards we trooped across to say good-bye to Bauer and the other sealers, who were all returning to Hobart. It was something of a coincidence that they took their departure on the very day our ship was to arrive. Their many acts of kindness towards us will ever be recalled by the members of the party, and we look upon our harmonious neighbourly association together with feelings of great pleasure.
A keen look-out was then kept for signs of our own ship, but it was not until 8 P.M. that Blake, who was up on the hill side, called out, "Here she comes," and we climbed up to take in the goodly sight. Just visible, away in the north-west, there was a line of thin smoke, and in about half an hour the 'Aurora' dropped anchor in Hasselborough Bay.