Campbell Island.

We made a rough and disagreeable passage, and arrived off this island on the 28th, but we had great difficulty in following up the land on account of the dense mist and bitter squalls. However, we were glad when we dropped anchor at 10 a.m. in Perseverance Harbour with the fine, well defined Beeman Hill on our right (Nos. 29 and 30), a fine inlet among steep hills, clothed with tussock, but no bush. The land appears as if it could be easily turned to account for sheep pasturage, unless the great quantity of moisture would be detrimental. We were quite stormbound all day, and were thankful that we had picked up Sugarloaf Island when we had run the distance from the Aucklands. We were obliged to run out a second anchor off a point aptly named "Tucker Point," where the N.Z. Government maintain a provision depot for shipwrecked persons, (No. 33). It was from this harbour that some four years ago the Sarah A. Hunt, an American sealer, dispatched two whaleboats sealing, under the charge of the two mates, to the other side of the island, without provisions of any kind, and as soon as they were well out of sight the vessel stood out to sea. On her arrival at Lyttelton the captain reported that all hands had been lost, and that he and the steward had had to work the vessel singlehanded. The Stella, on visiting the island, found the second mate and crew of one boat, and consequently got at the truth of the matter; and not only so, for it came out that the captain had thrown a seaman overboard off the Cope of Good Hope. As this had not happened in British waters no charge could be laid against him. It appeared that he shipped a crew in America, and outfitted the vessel, in defiance of our laws, for a sealing expedition at the Aucklands, thinking that as the seals had been protected for some time previous he would make a good haul. On page 14 arriving at the islands he found no seals, and he, owing the seamen and party a considerable amount as wages, schemed to send them on an expedition, fully intending to desert them with the vessel. The first mate and his crow have never been heard of, and the second mate and his party, who were rescued by the Stella on the 20th December, 1883, were a week off the island in their boat, but were ashore when found They were terribly exhausted, and had to be helped into the boats. They were landed at Port Chalmers on Christmas night, 1883.

The next day (Sunday, 29th), as the day looked fine, Capt. Fairchild moved to the head of the bay called Garden Cove. We saw no trace of the oak, elm, and ash trees planted there by Dr. Chambers, of the Imperial cruiser, Victoria, in October, 1865, nor any descendants of the pigs, geese, and guinea fowls landed by the same vessel, but we saw the remains of the pedestal formed of stone and cement, which the French used to observe the transit of Venus in 1874. In all the accounts I have seen of Campbell Island, including that in the "New Zealand Pilot," it is described as densely wooded, but I am certain could not get a green stick over inches in diameter on any part of it. We were glad to see the sheep and goats lively and looking well. I ascended one of the highest hills, Mount Honey, 1866 feet, (No. 30B) amidst hundreds of nests of the albatross, surrounded by nothing save the unvarying tussock, fern, and ti-tree scrub. We came on the first albatross about 800 feet above sea level and after reaching the crown of the hill, 1000 feet, they were sitting in their nests, and flying abort close to the ground in hundreds. (Nos 34 and 35). Apparently the albatross lays but one egg each year, but one of the parties found two nests containing two eggs each. It was suggested that this was only; a freak of nature, although it is known that the gannet of New Zealand lays two eggs, one of which is hatched by the male bird.

Unfortunately just as we got to the top of the hill, the fog or mist, which is so prevalent in these latitudes, came on, ending in rain, which sent us back to the ship soaked. As the glass was falling we remained at Penguin Bay, our next run being one of over 460 miles. Campbell Island was discovered in 1810 by Fred Hazelburgh, master of the brig Perseverance, owned by Mr Robert Campbell, of Sydney. The island is about 30 miles in circumference, of an irregular egg shape, and has two good anchorages, but is exposed to peculiarly stiff squalls of wind. We expected to have seen a number of sea lions here but they had evidently migrated to some other locality, as is their habit occasionally Campbell Island might be made a successful settlement, as the soil is very much superior to that of the Aucklands and the southern portion of Stewart Island; but the short days of the winter season and the prevailing fogs and high winds would be serious drawbacks. The formation is volcanic, and in many places the rocks are eaten away into pilasters of two tiers or more, the dividing line being sometimes secria and sometimes a light red or brown soft stone which wears away by the action of the elements faster than the intervening rocks. The weather was too rough to attempt obtaining specimens of this columnar formation, as it occurs principally on the west and south exposures, and is page 15 almost incessantly under the action of heavy seas. This day (30th January) the barometer read lower than it has done on board the Stella for two and a half years. As in the face of such warning it would have been folly to leave shelter and chance a storm in so small a veasel, we steamed round the island and examined the harbours. Entering a sheltered gulch in the rocks on the west coast we saw a number of seals on the beach, so we got out the boat with the camera on board, and after negotiating the surf with some difficulty we effected a landing, and I proceeded to secure a negative of "the natives." One of these was a regular giant about twelve feet long and probably four feet or over through the thickest part of his body. He had a fine mane like a gigantic frill round his neck. He sat up about 15 feet from my position and looked at me and the instrument as much as to say," Now then, photographer, there's a smile for you, fire away," and I did. The other seals, principally females, and more shy, waddled into the water and watched the performance from the crest of the surf. Getting on board again we steamed away to North East, Bay (Nos. 31 and 32) to wait for better weather. On going up the bay we encountered a very strong and bitter gale, and on looking clear of the land could see that the sea was running the proverbial mountains high, which made us thankful we were under the lee of the land; for the Stella, although a tight little craft, is not a deep sea vessel, besides we had used so much of our coal that she rolled about like an empty drum. Being also very fine at both ends she was not likely, especially in her then trim, to run well before a South Pacific gale, with its unbroken 2000 miles or more of S.W. sea. It may be mentioned that our position was nearer to the somewhat mythical Victoria Land than it was to Melbourne, and the cold was consequently very severe. We were surprised that no fish were observed in the harbours here, and attributed the fact to the muddy nature of the bottom. There were some sea lions about, but not so many as we had expected. The vegetation is pretty dense on the hills, but all stunted, the largest timber we saw being a graceful mountain pine of healthy growth, but never exceeding about five feet in height; then there is the never-tailing ti-tree, which here assumes somewhat the character of a creeper, and covers the ground with a species of net work very difficult to walk through, especially down hill. At the height of 700 feet from the water line the upper margin of the red fern is reached and it extends from that altitude down to the water's edge. All up the sides of the hills wild parsley was growing luxuriantly, often two feet high, while everlasting daisies clothed the ground like a carpet. The cottonwood plant in full bloom was also plentiful. As the top is reached variety of vegetation ends and travelling becomes easier, as there is no growth to impede progress but diminutive tussock, among which are the albatross nests and their tenants. These nests are built up of moss and earth about four inches above the surface of the ground. The material to form the nest is so taken from the soil as to leave a trench all round it, and this keeps things dry for the important object in view. The female never leaves the nest during incubation, a period of about 60 days, and is fed by her consort, who page 16 faithfully hunts for food for both. If by chance the nest is left unguarded for a single moment the sea-hawk, which is here in thousands, pounces upon the egg, and "love's labour's lost," at least so far as the albatross is concerned. The albatross is a stupid bird; it will sit, whether hatching or not, till you tumble it head over heels with your foot. At the same time it will resent such liberties, and if it succeed in getting a hold it will take the piece out of trousers, hose, and skin. They are very strong birds. The best way to catch one is to make a feint at its head with the left hand, which distracts the bird's attention, and then quickly seize it by the bill with the right, but be sure you get the grip, as they turn very quickly and would snap your fingers off if they got a proper hold. They build only on the flat plateau of the hills, and so far as we have seen, never lower down than 700 feet from sea-levels The hatching here was much further advanced than at the Auckland Islands. On Tuesday, 31st January, the day broke beautifully and the bay was like a mirror, but the glass was still low. As the day advanced we were enveloped for half-an-hour in one of those dense mists cbaractcristic of this locality, and when it passed, the hills were covered with snow, which however soon melted and trickled down their sides in hundreds of miniature cascades. Looking seaward we saw that a heavy sea was still running, but as time was pressing the Captain resolved to start in the hope that as we voyaged N.E. The wind and sea would favour us and enable us to reach the Antipodes with good weather, go that we might be able to land on that bleak but interesting island. Accordingly we steamed out of the bay at 10.20 a.m. At 3.15 p.m. we were 45½ miles distant, but the island was still well in view. With fine weather and a calm sea the barometer rises, and our spirits with it, When about four miles clear of the land I took a photo to show the general shape and more prominent features of Campbell Island.