On several occasions as we wound along my companions pointed out to me in some of the sheltered gullies what they called “orchards,” little clumps of apple trees so small, bush-like and stunted as to be almost unrecognizable. Nevertheless, each year they get small crops of apples from them. I tasted some, and found them to have quite a good flavour. It is from these trees that the cross-pieces for their boats are made. The vegetation in the gullies is very luxuriant, and the grass, being sheltered from the winds, grows lush and long. Far below the clefts ended in little bays, where we caught glimpses of the surf breaking in creamy ridges against the shore. We continued upwards, and came suddenly to a sharply defined ridge above a steep precipice across which the wind blew strongly. We threw ourselves on our faces and peered over the edge, and got a view of the “back of the island.” Far below us was a flat grassy plain with many cattle grazing, and away out to sea we saw Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands. I carefully scanned their base lines through my binoculars for any signs of the _Quest_, but the day was too hazy to permit of a clear view. Tom Rogers proposed to descend from here to the plains to “turn over” his cattle, but, having climbed so far, I was anxious to continue up till I could get a clear view of the top of the mountain, so he good-naturedly put off the job to another day, and we went on upwards, laboriously working through long tussock-grass and thick masses of tree fern. These men with whom I had thought to hold my own so easily seemed to be absolutely tireless, and they took a keen interest in the outing and in showing me all things of interest. Here and there we came across little bundles of branches cut from the “island tree.” These were loads in process of being collected to be taken finally to the settlement for firewood. Some of the branches which went to the formation of these bundles had to be dragged for a considerable distance across the face of the cliff, often only with the utmost difficulty. They are collected eventually at a point above a gully which will give a clear drop to a point thousands of feet below, where they can be gathered up and loaded into bullock-carts for taking home. Through my binoculars I could see men at work all about the ridges, and I was deeply impressed by the hardihood of the life they must lead in having thus to fare abroad for their daily needs. Gordon Glass had with him his dog, which occasionally discovered a “pediunker,” a species of seabird which frequents the island and about this time of year is preparing to nest. They lay in holes in the hillside, and a search was made for a chance egg, though it was still early in the season for them. We allowed the birds to go free.