Chapter XX: Part II: , p. 608.) (10)

According to Viot's account, snow does not fall often in winter, and in consequence of the heat inherent in the volcanic soil, never lies long on it. On the other hand, hail is a tolerably frequent visitant. Rain is of constant occurrence, and sometimes falls in immense quantities. Viot was never weary of expressing his astonishment at the enormous size of the drops of rain which for many a year he had seen fall at St. Paul. The cold is often pretty severe; while the almost entire want of firing on the island (for the dung of animals is not obtainable in sufficient quantities to make its storing worth the requisite labour), deprives the poor residents of the comfort of a fireside. "If the last storm had not blown down our hut, we should for long have had to do without fuel," was the naïve remark on one occasion of the old Frenchman, as he lay stretched out on a dirty bed, carefully rolled up in his rough woollen blanket. Winter begins in May and ends in September. During this period the Northerly winds are often very strong. On 27th June, 1857, there blew for six or eight hours here so terrific a tempest that the inhabitants of St. Paul did not venture outside of their huts for fear of being rapt away by the wind. These storms of winter occasionally rage to such a degree that they drive before them into the basin of the crater huge masses of water, which they whirl in wild confusion to an enormous height, showing that the tract in the Southern Ocean traversed by the hurricanes which occasionally do such damage about Mauritius and Rodriguez, occasionally embraces the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam. In November, at the commencement of the fine season, the winds are rather variable, and so continue to the end of March, when the N. and N.W. winds begin once more to blow regularly; these bring heavy rains and foul weather, after which, except that it is cold when the wind changes to West with a Southerly tendency, a warmer and drier climate is experienced. During our stay we frequently had an opportunity of verifying by observation the steady return of certain winds in regular succession. For instance, after the N.E. wind had prevailed for some days, it veered to N.N.W. whence it invariably went to W. by S., where it usually stayed some little time, after which it once more went to N.E.--a phenomenon which went through its phases every six days with surprising regularity.

There are heavy mists during autumn, but thunder on the other hand is far from frequent, nor is it particularly violent when it occurs. During a residence of eighteen days we never saw the centigrade thermometer stand higher than 66°·2 Fahr., or lower than 53°·6 Fahr. Lord Macartney gave 62° Fahr. as the average of the thermometer during his visit in February, 1793.

As for earthquakes, a phenomenon whose occurrence at St. Paul would possess an uncommon interest, Viot averred that during sixteen years that he had visited the island, off and on, he neither himself had perceived any indications of one, nor had he at any time heard of any such having been observed.

On the contrary, Ferdinand (who, nevertheless, had lived but eight months on the island) affirmed that his predecessor, Rosemond, had told him of shocks, comparatively slight it is true, which he (Rosemond) had felt during his several years' abode here. Considering the small circumference of the island, and the violent surf on its shores, slight oscillations may not improbably be felt, which are caused by other than volcanic agencies. Moreover, on the outer margin of the crater-basin, the island presents at those numerous points, from which at ebb-tide roll volumes of smoke and steam, so many natural vents for the escape of the confined subterraneous gases, that in their ordinary state, and so long as they continue open, in future, there is no especial reason to suppose there will be any upheavings of the earth's crust in consequence of volcanic agencies. The earthquake of 14th August, 1857, which was pretty severely felt in Cape Town and the vicinity, does not seem to have included St. Paul within the circle of its influence. The present inhabitants of St. Paul, at all events, unanimously assert that they cannot recall having perceived, either on the 14th August, or at any time about that period, any shocks of earthquake whatever, or to have observed any unusual appearances either in the surface of the earth or in the atmosphere.

We purposely say "at any time about that period," because the inhabitants of the island do not avail themselves of that assistance so universal now-a-days of a printed calendar, but trust to memory for keeping a reckoning of the flight of time. That mistakes should frequently occur with such a method of computing time is rendered the more probable that not one of the three denizens of the island can write. For instance, we once remarked to our worthy Viot that by his own reckoning he had marked one day more than he had actually lived. "We always get into a mess with these confounded months of thirty-one days!" was the good-humoured reply of the ancient wanderer from Nantes.

Although the volcanic soil of St. Paul is everywhere especially adapted for scientific study, it nevertheless presents few objects with which to enrich collections of natural history. An island, on which not a single tree or bush is to be found, and on whose tufa soil, though well adapted for fruit, only a few grasses, ferns, and mosses thrive, must, so far as regards the value of his researches, prove as little interesting to the botanist as the zoologist, who, as we shall see more circumstantially further on, came across but few representatives here of the animated kingdom.

At several places, the practical gardener who accompanied the frigate was ordered to plant a number of European vegetables and anti-scorbutic plants, such as cabbage, horse-radish, turnips, of various assorted species, celery, garden-cress, and spoonwort,[64] it is to be hoped with favourable results. At all events, we had the satisfaction during our stay, of seeing the tender shoots of some of the vegetables already sprouting through the surface of the earth. At that time there were not above a dozen or so cultivated spots on the Island; if, however, these are carefully cultivated, they can always furnish enough excellent nourishing provision for from 80 to 100 men. A quantity of potatoes, from 6 to 8 sacks, planted in June, yield, in January or February, a crop of from 60 to 80 casks of 100 lbs. each, or between 3 and 4 tons.

[Footnote 64: The vegetables planted were as follows:--_Brassica rapa_ (rape); _Brassica oleracea capitata_ (sea kail); _Brassica rapa alba_ (white turnip); _Brassica rapa flava_ (yellow turnip); _Raphanus sativus_ (radish); _Lepidium sativum_ (dittandu); _Cochleæia officinalis_ (scurvy grass).]

Wheat, maize, and barley, also thrive at St. Paul, and their cultivation has only been discontinued, in consequence of their conversion into bread requiring a much larger amount of fuel than is at the command of the residents. On the other hand, all attempts to cultivate beans and peas have utterly failed hitherto. All kinds of nutritive plants give but one crop in the year. So also several kinds of trees, which promised to grow well, considering the resemblance between the climate here and that to which they were indigenous--such as _Pinus maritima_, various kinds of _Protea_, &c., and the successful rearing of which would ultimately prove an extraordinary benefit to all who frequent the island, in consequence of the great scarcity of firewood--were planted as seedlings by the gardener attached to the Expedition, in the vicinity of the two huts used for the observations. Assuredly it will not be one of the least important benefits of the _Novara_ Expedition, which it will have conferred on St. Paul, if the growth of the seedlings, planted in its soil with such a noble purpose in view, should result in the gradual and at all events partial clothing of the island in the forest.

As to the Fauna of St. Paul, there appears to be one kind of sea-swallow (_storna_) not hitherto described, the bill and feet of which are of a coral-red colour, and delicate silver-grey plumage, undoubtedly the most beautiful of the feathered inhabitants, as the penguin is the most extraordinary and peculiar creature on the island. Besides these there is also a pretty grey diver (_Prion Vittatus_), which builds its nest among the rocks; also a brown gull (_Stercorarius antarcticus_), as also three kinds of albatrosses (_Diomedea exulans_, _D. fuliginosa_, _D. chlororhinchos_).

The Crater-basin was somewhat less unproductive than the dry land. The depth is from 100 to 175 feet. Close to the edge, the sounding line gave a depth of 10 fathoms (60 feet). Experiments with the dredging-net, although frequently made, gave by no means satisfactory results. On the other hand, the rod and line brought up many an interesting addition to our collection, and frequent strolls at ebb-tide along the barely uncovered masses of rock that skirted the basin of the crater were rewarded with numerous discoveries of specimens of conchology. In the centre of the basin we came upon slimy ground at a depth of 204 feet; near the hot springs (about 100 feet distant), 19 fathoms (114 feet); and at a third point, on the south side, 23 fathoms (138 feet). Viot said, that after repeated soundings at different points, he had found the depth of the basin varied from 10 to 35 fathoms (60 to 210 feet). The seals (_Arctocephalus Falclandicus_) of which, according to Macartney, at the end of last century, thousands daily came to the coast of the island to bask in the sun, have almost entirely disappeared, so that these animals are very rarely seen or captured by the inhabitants. Even of the skeletons of these marine mammals, which, when the naturalists of the _Lion_ were roaming through the island, used to lie about in such numbers that one could almost walk upon bones all round the crater, not a vestige is left, and one can hardly realize that formerly hundreds of thousands of these animals were slaughtered at this island.

Almost all the quadrupeds of the island are domestic animals that have been brought hither from Europe and the French colonies--such as swine, goats, cats, rabbits--which at present live here in a wild state. The goats, which were first introduced in 1844, are most numerous on the N.W. of the island; the swine, on the contrary, are not so frequently met with. During our residence, a boar and a wild cat were killed; a few days after, the five young of the cat were found, having been compelled to emerge from their lair in search of food. A female hare, which we had brought from Cape Town, was also set free on the island, and it was fortunate for the propagation of these useful animals that there was already a male hare on the island. A pair of geese was also presented to the colonists, which perhaps have continued to breed there.

As we thought the island was uninhabited, it was originally our intention to leave several kinds of domestic animals of different sexes with a view to propagation; and with that object, when at Cape Town had made various purchases of useful animals; but, under the circumstances, we relinquished this intention, as there seemed but little chance of their being left undisturbed sufficiently long to secure the desired object. Occasionally cows would be landed from the whalers for the sake of the fresh fodder, and taken away again after the lapse of a month or two.

The projected scientific operations of the Expedition might easily have been carried out within eight days, had we not been so obstinately persecuted with unfavourable weather. Violent north winds, which rendered it impossible to make any use of the surveying-board in the open air, alternated in an extraordinary manner with rainbows. Our astronomical observations were as yet nothing to speak of. Observations with the barometer, thermometer, current-measurer, and tide-guage, could alone be prosecuted, the last of which especially gave the following interesting result, that the hour of high water, both at full moon and new moon, is not 11 A.M., as given by Horsburgh (7th edition, Vol. I. p. 102), but at 1.10 P.M.[65]

[Footnote 65: According to Lord Macartney, the tide rises at full and new moon, between 8 and 9 feet perpendicular. A northerly wind always causes the highest tide, the current of which is from S.E. by S. to N.W. by N., and has a velocity of about 3 miles an hour.]

The proper carrying out of the objects of the geognostic enquiries was hampered by unforeseen obstacles and difficulties. One day the rain would be so heavy, that the slight covering of our apartments would be insufficient to protect us any longer from the beating of the rain which fell in bucketsfull, and began to leak through innumerable seams and cracks on to the beds, tables, and floor. Did any one think to shelter himself in the hut of a neighbour?--ere long there commenced a regular emigration, which very speedily came to a conclusion, by each and all having the melancholy satisfaction of perceiving that Fortune had set to work with rigorous impartiality, and had resolved to let each one of us feel the weight of her displeasure. And so we passed the long dreary hours in our comfortless huts, that gave free entrance to wind and rain, with umbrellas outspread or wrapped in our India-rubber cloaks, gazing moodily at the numerous cases full of valuable instruments, which, instead of being serviceable to science, were, by the loss of so many splendid opportunities, doomed to inactivity.

Fortunately, all showed themselves animated by the utmost zeal for the undertaking and its successful issue; and, in a word, each fresh avalanche of difficulties, which sought to thwart our exertions and impair our forces, served only to reawaken the energies and reanimate the confidence of each and all amid all our calamities.

So soon as the hovel we inhabited, which had enabled us to make observations upon the direction and strength of the wind rather than secured us any accommodation for sleep, had been in some degree restored to its original condition, we availed ourselves of the slight improvement in the weather, to examine a tolerably numerous collection of very beautifully bound books, which were found stowed away in one of the recesses for books running into the four partitions, and had in all probability much to dread from the rain-water trickling through the covering of the roof. These had been brought hither by a former proprietor of the island, and when it was sold were transferred with the rest of the stock of tools, &c., to M. Ottovan, who occasionally resided at St. Paul for a month or two, but seemed, so far as the condition of the books went, rarely to meddle with them. It was curious enough, however, to encounter in a lone desert island, so many evidences of the most refined civilization, so we shall cite in a note some of the most interesting of this library of about 150 different works, which deserved a better fate than to moulder away undisturbed till they fell into dust.[66]

[Footnote 66: Among these were the works on Natural History, by Charles Bonnel (Neufchâtel, 1783); J. S. Laharpe's "Abrégé de l'Histoire Générale des Voyages, Paris, 1816;" Dacier's "Translation of Horace into French, with Notes and Critical Remarks. Paris, 1816;" "De la Félicité Publique; ou, Considérations sur le sort des Hommes dans les Différentes époques de l'Histoire: A. Bouillon: from the Printing Establishment of the Typographical Society, Paris, 1776;" "Essay on the Life of the Great Condé, by Louis Joseph, Prince de Condé, at present in England, London, 1st May, 1807;" "Précis des Journées 15, 16, 17, and 18 Juin, 1815, ou Fin de la Vie Politique de Napoleon Buonaparte, par M. Giraud, auteur de la "Campagne de Paris en 1814;" Paris, 1815, 1st vol. 8; "Histoire des Guerres des Gaulois et des Français en Italie, avec le tableau des évènemens civils et mílitaires qui les accompagnèrent et leur influence sur la civilisation et les progrès de l'esprit humain." "Depuis Bellevise jusqu'à la mort de Louis XII., par lex Adjutant-Général Auguste Jubé, tribun." "Depuis Louis XII., jusqu'àu Traité d'Amiens, par Joseph Servan, Général de Division. Dediées à S. M. l'Empereur. Paris, an. XIII. (1805)." "Manuel des habitans de St. Dominique, contenant un précis de l'histoire de cette isle depuis sa découverte, etc., par S. J. Duc[oe]urjoly, ancien habitant de St. Dominique; Paris, 1800, an. X, 2 vols.]

Less fortunate were we in our researches for any document which could in any way throw any light, direct or indirect, upon the former history of St. Paul. The only piece of writing which we found that had reference to the island, was a licence drawn up during the reign of Louis Philippe, dated 20th February, 1846, to M. Adam, of St. Denis (in the Island of Bourbon), to proceed to carry out a certain undertaking in the schooner "_La Mouche_," 30 tons' burthen, under the protection of the French flag. "_La Mouche_," is the same boat in which Viot had made so many voyages to and fro between St. Denis and St. Paul. This document, which the poor old Frenchman drew out one evening from a drawer thickly strewn with dust, insensibly led the conversation to the quondam owners of St. Paul, and thence naturally to an enquiry, on our part, as to the number of graves which dotted this romantic offshoot of Père la Chaise. "The climate is far too healthy, and the island far too little frequented, to admit of there being many graves in St. Paul," replied Viot. Of the blacks, whom M. Adam had once worked so unmercifully on the island, very many perished here owing to the severity of their treatment, but no one knows where their bodies lie;--very possibly their bones lie scattered about the island, like the remains of the much persecuted petrel (_prion turton_), which the predatory gull throws carelessly from him after he has stripped off the flesh, and gorged himself on the most delicate morsels. Only two graves are known to the present residents,--one is the resting-place of an Englishwoman, who died on board a merchant-ship which happened to be near the island, and whose grave was dug in the earth on the north side of the crater-basin; the second covers the body of a ship captain, who was accidentally drowned in the basin by the upsetting of a small boat, as he was approaching the bar in heavy weather. His grave is at a short distance behind the huts of the colonists, and bears traces to this day of the solemn feelings with which it was erected; an enclosure of large stones neatly arranged, make the site and its object at once recognisable.

Shipwrecks are unheard of at St. Paul; at least, none such have been known to occur since it has been occupied by man. On the other hand, they are of more frequent occurrence at the sister island, as has very lately been evidenced by the catastrophe of the _Meridian_. However, the elements are not always to blame for such lamentable occurrences. Ships are sometimes dashed to pieces on the shores of Amsterdam in the finest weather, so that one is almost induced to believe that these misfortunes are occasionally resorted to intentionally, so as to realize some high insurance on a vessel which has probably already become half unseaworthy--a not very conscientious method of doing business, of which, however, some of the natives of Greece and the borders thereof are not unfrequently guilty. In February, 1855, a North American whaler struck upon the north-east side of Amsterdam in a calm, and with a clear sky overhead, so that the entire crew, 30 in number, were able to secure the provisions and their kits. The captain, with one of the ship's small boats, made for the Island of St. Paul, 42 miles distant, in the hope, probably, of getting assistance thence. A lucky destiny so willed it, that (the accident having occurred in the finest season of the year), a vessel of M. Ottovan's, which by a strange coincidence was named _L'Ange Gardien_ (the Guardian Angel), lay at anchor inside the crater-basin, loading with fish. The shipwrecked crew were indebted to his circumstance that, within 14 days more, they found themselves at Mauritius. A report circulated among the residents of St. Paul that the captain of the stranded ship had landed with some of his companions in a boat on the N.E. of Amsterdam, with the intention of searching for a sum of several thousand dollars which a previous visitant to this island was said to have buried there for some mysterious reasons. While the captain was on shore, vainly searching for a considerable time after the buried treasure, the shipmaster left in charge in his absence came too near the island, whereupon the vessel had been lost upon one of the numerous reefs which lie off the shore. A part, it was added, of the buried money had, in fact, been recovered. According to Viot, the captain had dug up 1000 dollars (above £200), and one of his companions 300 dollars.

At last, on the morning of 3rd December--the fifteenth of our stay at the island--the sky shone so brightly that one could, with more probability than hitherto, cherish the hope that the various operations we had been compelled to lay aside might finally be brought uninterrupted to a successful conclusion. However, the very wet day was again exceedingly unfavourable for open-air observations, especially astronomical, inasmuch as a pretty strong North-east wind incessantly drove over the island clouds of rain, the very heaviest of which, attracted by the mass of the island, broke right over our heads. Fortunately this spell of bad weather did not last as long as the first; and when, on 6th December, the _Novara_ once more made her appearance at the island, and enquired by signals as to the progress made in our appointed work, we were so fortunate as to be able to reply by the same means, that the most important portion had been completed, and that the officers and naturalists were ready to re-embark.

About 9 A.M., the frigate anchored in 25 fathoms, close to the spot where the English ship _Fly_, Captain Blackwood, lay in 1842. It was the third time that the _Novara_ anchored off St. Paul. Twice before had she experienced unusually tempestuous weather, which compelled her to sheer off from such a perilous coast, and expose herself to be lashed for days together by the raging giant waves of the infuriated element.

One of the boats sent by the frigate to take us off to the ship, brought at the same time some presents, in memory of the Expedition, for the residents of the island, who had been so hospitable and obliging during our stay. The presents consisted of ship biscuit, salted meat, and various other edibles, wine, a musket, woollen blankets, clothes, shoes, tools, medicines, vinegar, oil, &c. The simple, modest fellows were immensely pleased with these unexpected presents, and Viot especially seemed overjoyed on seeing a number of tools, for want of which many of the repairs necessary in the interior of their anything but air-tight wooden habitations, were daily becoming more apparent.

We left a book on the Island of St. Paul, in which the principal memoranda of what we had achieved were set forth in three languages (German, English, and French), with the view of supplying to future scientific visitors, data for further researches and observations, and at same time incite them to prosecute these we had ourselves made.

We insert here this document, which will yet give witness, probably, of the scientific activity of the Austrian Expedition at the Island of St. Paul in the Indian Ocean, at a period when those engaged in it will long since have voyaged to

"That undiscovered country from whose bourne
No traveller returns."

"The Imperial Austrian Frigate, _Novara_, 44, under the command of Commodore the Chevalier von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, engaged in a voyage round the globe for scientific purposes, anchored at nine in the morning of 19th November, 1857, on the Eastern side of St. Paul, with the purpose of prosecuting astronomical, magnetic, meteorological, and geodesical observations and measurements, and at same time examine thoroughly the natural history of the island. Extremely unfavourable weather in great measure delayed the expedition; and, after having successfully carried out a series of observations and researches, the results of which will in due time be published, the officers and naturalists in charge of the various departments, on the 6th December of the same year, quitted St. Paul, each bearing with him the most pleasing reminiscences of that interesting island, and of its three poor, but eminently kind inhabitants.

"For the guidance of future observers the following memoranda may prove useful:--

"I. That the spot at which observations were taken was on a small eminence, north of the huts of the colonists, and which may be recognized by a small pyramid of stones, on which the Austrian Expedition marked the observed latitude 38° 42' 55'' S., and the longitude 77° 31' 18'' E. of Greenwich.[67] Further that:--

[Footnote 67: The time, which we took from the Cape Observatory by four excellent chronometers, gave, on our voyage between the Cape and St. Paul, a period of forty-six days, a difference of 3 h. 56 min. 11 sec., which the island was E. of the Cape, so that adding the Longitude of the latter East of Greenwich (by nautical almanack), 1 h. 13 min. 55 s., we have the Longitude of St. Paul 5 h. 10 min. 6 s. East of Greenwich (77° 31' 30'' E.) Between Madras and St. Paul, during a long passage of sixty-seven days, and with six chronometers somewhat less accurately set than the preceding, St. Paul was found by observation to be 0 h. 10 min. 51.8 sec. West of Madras (2° 42' 55'' W.) By the longitude of the Observatory of Madras, 5 h. 20 min. 57 sec. East of Greenwich (80° 14' 15'' E.), as furnished by the Director of the Observatory, Major Jacobs (whereas the nautical almanack gave 5 h. 21 m. 3.77 sec. = 80° 16' 0-1/2''). The longitude of St. Paul would be 5 h. 10 m. 5.2 s. East of Greenwich (77° 31' 23'' E.) The average of the two measurements gives as the average 5 h. 10 m. 5.6 sec., or 77° 31' 26'' E. to be assumed as the final longitude of St. Paul, while the latitude was taken from the various means of the height of the sun at the meridian on an average of days. An additional computation in which allowances were made for the various corrections, gave, as the latitude, 38° 42' 47'' S.]

"II. That the direction of the true meridian line drawn from this point to the nearest opposite shore of the South side of the crater-basin was marked by an oblique (St. Andrew's) cross.

"III. That the tidal-gauge was situated on a rock near the landing-place, and that the rise of the tide above the mean level of the water (3 feet 5 inches), was marked on a slab of rock smoothed for the purpose.

"IV. Lastly. The magnetic observations were taken in a hut erected for that express purpose on the little plateau behind the settlers' huts, where at the same time various sorts of useful trees were planted by the Expedition.

"The names of the officers and naturalists who, under the superintendence of the commander of the Imperial Expedition, took part in the various scientific operations were:--for Astronomy and Terrestrial Magnetism, Lieutenant Robert Müllar; Botany, Dr. Edward Schwarz and M. Jellinck; Geodesy and Meteorology, Lieutenant Eugen Kronowetter; for the Trigonometrical Measurement of the Crater-basin, Lieutenant Gustavus Battlogg; for Geology, Dr. Ferdinand Hochstetter; Ethnology and Physical Geography, Dr. Karl Scherzer; Zoology, G. Frauenfeld and J. Zelebor; Draughtsman and Artist, Joseph Sellemy."

Towards 5 P.M. the last boat came off with the measuring and levelling instruments, and various articles of baggage.[68] The embarkation was finally completed. Half-an-hour later the _Novara_ weighed anchor, and we steered, favoured with most splendid weather and full of pleasing anticipations, for the adjacent island of New Amsterdam. Not without sundry twitches of sadness did we remark the sharp crater of St. Paul gradually fade away like a vision in the gloom of approaching night; and many undying memories must attach to our residence on that lonely, world-forsaken island.

[Footnote 68: Remembering how many bottles and glass tubes were shattered, we have not thought it beyond our province to recommend future scientific travellers to bring with them a good supply of duplicates of all instruments liable to breakage, as it is very difficult to get such insignificant articles replaced out of Europe, and we frequently found on this occasion the want of some such little instrument interposed an obstacle to the further usefulness of the instruments.]

And now, at the moment of our departure from the island, be it permitted us to cast a retrospective glance at the various results obtained by the Expedition of the _Novara_ during her stay at St. Paul.

Never hitherto on this island, so important by its geographical position for ships trading with China, the East Indies, Australia, and New Zealand, have astronomical and magnetic observations and geodesical measurements been so thoroughly ascertained as by the _Novara_ expedition. Upon a carefully measured base-line, various points of the upper and lower margin of the crater were accurately laid down by means of the Theodolite, and the whole island submitted to a geometric network of angles. At the same time the geologist, with the aid of the compass and the patent levels, prepared a chart originally intended for geological purposes only, while the draughtsman of the expedition added to its value, by skilfully sketching in from these given points the configuration of the coast-line of the island. By their united efforts there has been published a chart of St. Paul, which gives even to the minutest details an entirely correct and accurate representation of the form and surface of the island. This minute chart, or plan, was prepared on a scale of 132 Vienna fathoms to one Vienna inch, or 1/9504 of the natural size. Moreover, it is intended preparing, from this map and from the various outlines and views taken on the spot, a plastic model of the island after Nature, which, moulded in gypsum, will give scientific inquirers the most accurate conception of its singular structure. Not less interesting for navigators in the Indian Ocean will be the publication of the various observations which, during our stay of 18 days, were made with the barometer, thermometer, tide-gauge, and gauge of the velocity of currents, taken at certain fixed hours, day and night, as also the soundings in the crater-basin, and on both sides of the bar. Although the complete publication of these _data_ must await the appearance of the nautical portion of the present work, we shall give here the most important of these results. The extreme length of the island from N.W. to S.E., is three nautical miles; the superficial area is 1,600,000 Vienna square klafter--1 Vienna klafter = 1 fathom = 6 English feet--100 English square feet = 92-986/1000 Vienna square feet. The highest point of the crater-basin is 846 feet; the greatest diameter of the upper rim of the crater is 5490 feet; the least 4590 feet; the greatest diameter of the basin at the level of the sea is 3984 feet, and the least 3444 Vienna feet.

The observations on the state of the weather, taken with much difficulty, are not intended to include the regular observations on the exterior of the island, and in like manner some of those taken in the harbour, or basin of the crater, must be accepted with a certain limitation. For similar reasons, we were unable to fix the rate of the current setting from the sea into the basin, although we secured most extraordinary results considering the circumstances. The amount of specimens of natural history which was procured, was very limited, but on that account was the more valuable. To the geologist, it must be of the very highest interest to find that St. Paul has been classified, with scientific precision, and by dint of personal examination and research, in one of the four main divisions in which, according to the scheme of Alexander Von Humboldt, the volcanic formations of the earth may be divided. Measured by the latest distribution of the volcanic strata by the description of stone found, as laid down by the greatest of German naturalists, St. Paul belongs to the same class as Chimborazo, Popocatepetl, Teneriffe, &c., in a word, to what is known as the Chimborazo formation. A section of the east-side, taken in profile, lays bare its entire geological history, and forms one of the most instructive means of coming to direct conclusions as to its geological structure.

The birth of this island from the bosom of the deep, combined with eruptions of lava and scoriæ, was the last effort of the subterranean forces. Since that period it has been subject wholly and solely to the various terrestrial influences, although the lapse of centuries has not been able to extirpate the last traces of the volcanic fire which once poured forth its currents of molten lava. A large proportion of the level ground is hot, and at the lower edge of the rim of the crater appear several hot springs, the temperature of which, as already remarked, is so high that fish, eggs, potatoes, &c., can be cooked on them in a few minutes. The highest point of St. Paul rises 870 feet above the basin of the crater. Its walls rise abruptly at an angle of about 85°, while the upper surface of the island (with the single exception of a small plateau of about 400 feet on the north side) stretches, at first level from the periphery of the upper margin of the crater, gradually falling away towards the sea-coast, at an angle of about 13°. On its North-west coast, where it is from 100 to 200 feet in perpendicular height, the island presents several small pyramids of pumice, like parasitic warts on the principal mass.

Like the geologist, the botanist also found in this wild spot an unusual opportunity of acquiring accurate information as to the occurrence and propagation of certain kinds of plants in a primitive soil. Six grasses and one reed (_cyperaceæ_) form the vegetation of the island, one rush and three or four of the grasses forming the majority. The botanist having ascended to the plateau found there two grasses, both of which grew to a certain height only, and at certain places; the one (in the immediate vicinity of the settler's huts,) the oat, or _avena_; the second a _digitaria_, in the neighbourhood of the terraced fields, directly opposite the entrance to the crater, in warm positions, which, so soon as the earth is a little disturbed, emit jets of steam. It is still uncertain whether the other kinds of grass, _Poa_ and _Setaria Holcus_, belong exclusively to St. Paul, or are to be included in the more general group of geographical plants known as that of the islands of Edward's Island, Kerguelen's Island, and St. Paul.

Among the grasses there spring up here and there, but on the whole very sparsely, some wild vegetables which have been planted by previous chance visitors.[69] In the crater there are also _Sonchus arvensis_ and one _Plantago_ (Plantain). On the south margin of the crater are _Cerastium_ (maize-ear chickweed), and _Stellaria media_ (chickweed); both grow on a small piece of ground, and are far from thriving. Of _Cryptogamia_ the botanist found four sorts. Two _Parmelias_, one _Evernia_, and one _Cladonia_, the first-named overrunning the blocks on the edge of the crater with great luxuriance.

[Footnote 69: Such as _Rumex acetosella_, _Cynara Scolcymus_ (artichoke); _Solanum tuberosum_ (species of nightshade); _Daucus carotta_ (carrot); _Petroselinum sativum_ (parsley); _Brassica oleracea_ (sea-kail); _Raphanus sativus_ (horse-radish).]

Of _Algæ_ there were found 33 species. The stones rolled backwards and forwards by the action of the waves, as also those surfaces which remained covered at lowest tide, were entirely covered with _Dicurella flabellata_. Most numerous was _Gigartina radula_, just in a state of fructification. Every movement of the water calls up slender, delicate _confervæ_, and pale and coloured _luminariæ_. The breakers have crowned the stones with festoons of the _Macrocystis pyrifera_. Of Liverworts there were found _Marchantia_ and _Jungermania_; of foliaceous mosses, _Sphagnum_ (bog-moss), and two kinds of _Bruym_. Two ferns, just beginning to bear fruit, were found on the plateau, and one _Lycopodium_ (club-moss), which thrives pretty well, and frequently grows on the _Sphagnum_. On the whole, the botanist of the expedition found on the island, 11 _Phanerogamia_, 4 _Lichens_, 33 _Algæ_, 2 ferns, 2 Liverworts, 3 foliaceous mosses, 1 _Lycopodium_. In this enumeration are included the European vegetables cultivated by the residents, as also some untended plants, which apparently have been introduced with the vegetables, or have been brought hither by previous visitors. The stony substratum of this island is barely covered with a plastic vegetable substance, which fills the cracks. The walls of the crater, as also the entire plateau, present to view a plain, unrelieved expanse of grass; not, however, like fields clothed with sward, but single tufts pressing one upon the other, which seem like the grave-mounds of a hundred bygone generations of plants. Frequently, at the foot of a block of pumice, all overrun with grasses of all sorts, one comes upon a moss or a stem of fern on one of the pieces of lava that has been washed up, or perceives with amazement in some out-of-the-way place, and utterly neglected, good old acquaintances from Europe, such as carrots, parsley, potatoes, &c., which apparently have been begun to be cultivated on some of the terraces, whence they have propagated themselves in a wild state all over the island. But not a tree, or bush, is to be met with throughout the island.

In like manner, although the zoologist seemed to have but a poor prospect at St. Paul, it presented materials for most satisfactory speculation to the attentive naturalist. Only one of the grasses is infested by an insect, which appears in great numbers, a very tiny _cicada_ (cricket), the _Delphis hemiptera_, of which, according to the zoologist of the expedition, it is hard to say whether it became indigenous to St. Paul before, or contemporaneous with the arrival of man. Among other insects that have certainly been introduced here, the zoologist found the common bluebottle-fly, a gnat, the universally found cockroach, the book-tick (_acarus eruditus_), one kind of earwig, and the flea; besides the _Isopodis_, our common barrel-worm,[70] in almost fabulous quantities. These animals invariably follow man wherever he plants his foot, living upon garbage or decaying organic matter. With the exception of the clothes-moth, which has probably been introduced among the wool-stuffs, there are in the island no butterflies, none of the been tribe, no _Neuroptera_. Mites also need scarcely be reckoned, since the only representative, the common cheese-mite, is more apt to become extinct than to thrive; on the other hand, there are two kinds of spiders, for which the enormous number of flies furnish sufficient food.

[Footnote 70: These loathsome animals cover the island in such quantities that one of the naturalists reckoned them at 6,000,000,000, counting 100 as the minimum to each square foot of the island.]

The species belonging to the sea are somewhat more plentifully represented, although, with few exceptions, very small and insignificant. The largest shell fish, a _Tritonium_, only attains a length of 3 inches; _Patella_, which is very plentiful all round the island, is only 1 inch long; several sorts of snails (such as _Buccinum_, _Defrancia_, _Mangelia_, _Paludinella_, _Adeorbis_, _Janthina_, _Fissurella_, _Scutellina_, _Lepidopleurus_, _Bulla_, _Asteronotus_, _Doto_), are barely a few lines in length, or even less.

The _Brachiopoda_ are represented by a very inferior member, the _Terebratulina_, only two lines long, which, however, is a giant compared with one of the two only kinds of mussel, _Kellia_ and _Lima_, which are occasionally met with here, and are only half-a-line in length.

Among the _Vertebratæ_, the fishery of which is the principal object of the visits annually paid to the island, one, the _Cheilodactylus_, a spinous-finned fish, which is extraordinarily abundant all round the island, supports an important fishery, while _Thyrsites Atun_ were frequently caught with rod and line from the frigate.

Of _Amphibiæ_, there is not a vestige to be found on the island; the birds belong for the most part to the powerful-winged web-footed birds that frequent the open ocean, as, for example, the _Diomedea exulans_ (great albatross or man-of-war bird), _D. chlororhynchus_ (yellow-billed albatross), _D. fuliginosa_ (a new one not determined), _Lestris catarractes_, _Storna sp: Prion Vittatus_, of which the four last-named, at the time of our visit, had both eggs and young. Of birds with fin-shaped wings, there was the golden-crested penguin (_Apterodytes chrysocoma S._), living in two distinct colonies among the precipitous overhanging cliffs, with innumerable young, already of a pretty good size.[71] We also remarked several other winged denizens of the deep, which had alighted on our ship during the last few days immediately preceding our arrival at St. Paul. According to the fishery-people, the other birds of the island quit it altogether so soon as their young have grown sufficiently, and only return when the next breeding season comes round.

[Footnote 71: One of the zoologists, Mr. Zelebor, endeavoured to kill two penguins that had been caught alive in the island, the one with arsenic, the other with chloroform. Of the latter, a quantity was administered enough to have killed a man, but which scarcely affected the penguin, who, in a quarter of an hour after, seemed quite restored to himself. The second, which had swallowed two tea-spoonsful of arsenic, died eight hours later.]

In contradistinction to the sea-birds, M. Frauenfeld remarked but one single land-bird, a swallow, whose movements seemed to indicate that he was watching a breeding female. A stray bird on this lonely spot of earth, nearly 3000 miles away from the main land! Hundreds of questions suggested themselves on thus unexpectedly coming upon so well-known a wanderer. What could have condemned him to this self-imposed exile? Was he a straggler? Was it the first time he had selected this island for a home? Had it been his own cradle? And would he at some future period find companions to visit with him, and ultimately share these solitary desolate abodes?

There were no seals visible,--they have retreated before the attacks and stratagems of their insatiate pursuer the seal-hunter, and for a long period have ceased to frequent the island. Indeed, St. Paul furnishes not a single specimen of mammal peculiar to itself; for all the members of this great natural division at present on it,--such as goats, swine, cats, &c.,--having become wild, must necessarily be classed, however unusual, with rats, mice, and the like. In other respects, all these have not varied in the slightest from the type of the domesticated animal (although they have probably lived wild for a hundred years past), except that they are very shy and avoid the presence of man.

While upon these various points, the stay of the Imperial Expedition at St. Paul gave many splendid results by means of observations and scientific collections, it was also productive of a number of important practical benefits for seafaring people. The geodesical results, for instance, obtained by the Expedition, demonstrate that there is formed by the basin of the crater at St. Paul's, despite the small extent of its coast-line, a secure natural haven which would afford substantial facilities for ships, to which, on their voyage to China, Australia, or anywhere in the East Indies, any accident has happened, necessitating complete and speedy repair, or which might require fresh provisions for their crews, stricken with scurvy after a long voyage. For, although the depth of the basin of the crater in the centre is very considerable, and although the squalls of wind from the N.W. are often very violent, the ship can always make fast to the land, and so ensure the requisite security. How far the assistance so cheerfully rendered by science may have been called for, or how far the route at present traversed by sailing vessels makes that assistance desirable, must be left to the judgment of those nations, such as the English, French, and Dutch, which, as having possessions washed by the Indian Ocean, have a direct interest in the future condition of such a harbour of refuge, situate equidistant from Asia, Africa, and Australia.

The morning after our departure from St. Paul, that is to say, on 7th Dec., we found ourselves not more than ten miles distant from Amsterdam. The first view of the island greatly resembles that of St. Paul, and the hypothesis gained constantly in probability that the geological formation of Amsterdam is nearly identical with that of St. Paul.

A whaler was cruising in the neighbourhood of the island, while one of his slim whaleboats was pursuing a school of sperm whales, which sported about in great numbers.

Towards 7 A.M., a boat approached from the whaler _Esmeralda_, Captain Pierce, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to ask for surgical assistance for a sailor who, while engaged a few days previously in hauling a captured fish alongside, had had his left hand so severely injured by one of the lines, that amputation had seemed the sole remedy. The Captain had, in genuine Yankee fashion, assumed the duties of surgeon, and performed the operation himself. Now that it was over, and when neither praise nor censure could benefit the patient, he was anxious to know whether he had done right or wrong. While one of the ship's surgeons was getting ready, as requested by the captain, to proceed to the bedside of his patient, the whaler informed us he had already been absent from his family in the States five months, and would proceed hence to the Sandwich Islands and the Northern grounds, and finally return home round Cape Horn. If the take of fish proved good, he hoped to complete the voyage within two years. Whale-fishing, in truth, is not only a very dangerous and laborious, but also a most precarious pursuit. Occasionally a ship gets loaded within a brief space with oil and whalebone, by which, of course, the owner or charterer makes a splendid profit, and the entire crew obtain a handsome share. But frequently does it happen that, after a voyage of fifteen months and more, there is not a single fish taken, in which case the hardy sailors, who are entirely dependent for their pay upon a share of the spoil, have had all their labour and undergone all their privations in vain, while the freighter is poorer by a good round sum. The bare chance, however, of a rich haul is sufficient to raise to 8000, the number (probably on the increase) of the ships of varying tonnage and nationality, which at present encounter the anxieties, dangers, and hardships attaching to the whale-fishery. It is calculated that, were it possible to anchor them within signalling distance of each other, they would form a complete girdle round the earth at the Equator. In other respects, the incessant activity of the whaler is not without its advantages for science, since the observations and communications of many of the captains connected with the whaling business have essentially contributed to extend our acquaintance with atmospheric phenomena, especially in high latitudes, on both sides of the Equator.

The loquacious captain, an uncommon quality in a Yankee, could not conceal his astonishment at encountering an Austrian man-of-war in such a latitude in mid-ocean, and adverted to this unexpected phenomenon. Captain Pierce further complained bitterly of the weather, and said that, as long as he had sailed the Indian Ocean, he had never at this season experienced such tempestuous weather as during the last week; which was further confirmed by several other whalers, regular visitors to these waters. Respecting Amsterdam, Captain Pierce, unfortunately, could give us but very little information. He had never set foot on the island, nor did he know whether it was accessible at all. But he spoke highly of the availability of the coasts for valuable fish. Nowhere in the Indian Ocean, the Captain remarked, was there such an abundance of fish of all descriptions as at the Southernmost point of this little-known island. Consequently most whalers, on their course Southwards, approach this island, and send out boats to bring in supplies of fish suitable for the table. Usually the boat is filled in a few hours with delicious food caught with the rod and line, when the fish are forthwith salted, in sufficient quantities to supply the crew for several weeks.

Is Amsterdam really a sister-island of St. Paul? Is it, too, of volcanic origin, upheaved by the same subterranean energy, and does it still show similar traces of long-continued activity? These questions pressed on us for solution all the more vividly as we neared this inaccessible island, when we recalled to mind the mysterious phenomena which D'Entrecasteaux had observed here in March, 1792, and which have remained unexplained to this day.[72] The French Expedition saw, it is true, clouds of smoke emerging alternately from a subterranean opening close to the shore, but without being able to satisfy themselves whether the vegetation had been set on fire by the hand of man or by volcanic action, the wind which blew direct from the island making it impossible to land, unless one was prepared to run the risk of being suffocated by the rolling masses of smoke. There was, therefore, to be solved, at Amsterdam, the mystery as to whether the pillars of smoke, which were observed by the naturalists of the French Expedition of 1792, issuing from the soil adjoining the sea, were produced by an actual eruption, or were caused by subterranean fires in activity.[73]

[Footnote 72: La Billardière, Rélation du voyage à la recherche de la Peyrouse, fait par ordre de l'Assemblée Constituante pendant les années 1791-94, Paris, 1800. (Vol. I., pp. 112, 113.)]

[Footnote 73: Vide Alexander v. Humboldt's "Kosmos," Vol. IV., pp. 412 and 585; also Physical and Geognostic Remarks, by the same author, prefixed to this volume.]

About 11 A.M., the two jolly-boats of the _Novara_ were lowered to look for a landing-place on Amsterdam, while the frigate stood off and on, under easy sail, at an offing of five or six miles. Our whaling informant had told us the most abundant fishing-station was at the south point of the island, while the best place for disembarking was on the N.W. shore. As, however, upon consideration, it was deemed advisable, looking to the probability of a N.E. gale springing up, to get to windward of the ship, so as to be able to fetch her more speedily on our return, the S.E. side was selected, and our course laid for it accordingly. Along the acclivities of the coast pyramids of loose stones were visible, resembling those on St. Paul, but more numerous and of larger dimensions, the entire island seeming altogether on a much larger scale, and more lofty. On the West side we observed rocky precipices of from 1000 to 2000 feet in height, fissured with deep clefts and rents, whereas on the South and S.E., these presented a more gradual slope.

For above an hour we steered along the shore, which rose sheer out of the water, without being able to detect a single point at which it was at all practicable to disembark, so as to scramble up to the high ground. The entire Eastern side is hemmed around with steep abrupt precipices of 150 to 200 feet high, not unlike skilfully-erected bastions, and clothed with long thick grass.

As we drew near, we could plainly discern in the water-courses that descend upon the upper slope--radiating, as it were, from all sides of the highest peak, which was enveloped in clouds--numerous streams of water, each pouring through a rift like a thread of silver, after which, precipitating itself over the steep precipices on the shore, it washed like a small torrent over terraces and banks of lava, till it was lost in the sea. If these streams are swollen by the heavy rain in winter, they may form waterfalls, as mentioned by early navigators, which must impart a far less pleasing character to the landscape. Two small patches of dazzling white, like fresh fallen snow, which were visible high above the slope, we could not make out with the utmost power of our glasses. The green colour which enveloped the entire island seemed to indicate the existence of grass vegetation resembling that of St. Paul.