o’clock, it came on to rain most violently and
incessantly; and as our road home, for about
ten or eleven miles, lay through a thick wood,
tangled with grass as high as my shoulders,
the whole party were completely drenched;
but I, who have now only a few rags to cover
me, felt truly deplorable. I am obliged to
be content with the few “ odds and ends” of
clothing the settlers can spare me: and people
in their condition are not expected to possess
very extensive wardrobes.
September 10th. — In this wretched island,
where there has been a succession of cold
drizzling rain, boisterous winds, and severe
gales, we now hail with sincere pleasure
the evident signs of returning spring. The
feathered inhabitants of the deep begin to
muster in couples on the sides of the mountains,
and fill the air with the sound of their
noisy courtship. Nature, ever true, points
out to these creatures the exact time when
they are to commence the pleasing cares of
providing for their young. In this insulated
spot we have a number of amphibious animals,
whose manners are very singular, and, to an
inhabitant of the Northern hemisphere, highly
interesting.
12th.—This day we visited what they call
a “ penguin rookery.” The spot of ground
occupied by our settlers is bounded on each
end by high bluffs, which extend far into the
sea, leaving a space in front, where all their
hogs run nearly wild, as .they are prevented
going beyond those limits by those natural
barriers; and the creatures who, at stated
periods, come up from the sea remain in undisturbed
possession of the beaches beyond
our immediate vicinity.
The weather being favourable, we launched
our boat early in the morning, for the purpose
of procuring a supply of eggs for the consumption
of the family. We heard the chattering
of the penguins from the rookery long
before we landed, which was noisy in the extreme,
and groups of them were scattered all
over the beach; but the high thick grass on the
declivity of the hill seemed their grand establishment,
and they were hidden by it from our
view. As we could not find any place where
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