We reached at last a point where the heavier vegetation ended and the hill was covered with a rather coarse grass interspersed with patches of moss. It was very damp. From here we had a fine view, and the air was keen and cold. We descended by another route, which led eventually to a cattle track where the going was easier, but the steepness and tortuosity of which again impressed me with the remarkable climbing powers of the animals. Reaching the plain again, we set off at a good round pace for the settlement, where I arrived, I am not ashamed to say, pleasantly fatigued with the day’s outing, whilst my companions seemed to think they had done nothing out of the way. I mention this particularly because it has been stated from time to time by visitors that these islanders are becoming a decadent lot and are suffering from the results of intermarriage and consanguinity. That they are physically decadent is not true. Taken on the whole, they are of medium height and slimly built, but they are very tough and wiry. John Glass, whom I have already mentioned as having been the first man aboard the _Quest_ is a powerful man. Some of the elderly men of fifty years or thereabouts are wonderfully nimble and active. They are hardy walkers and climbers, and in their attempts to reach passing ships are often compelled to row long distances against heavy winds—a procedure which requires plenty of stamina. Speaking of them collectively, they are not good workers, and attempts to get them to work together in an organized way for their mutual profit have not been successful. An attempt was made some years ago by a Cape Town firm to introduce a fish-curing industry and to get them to export sheep, but the islanders did not pull together and the scheme failed. They themselves give as a reason that they were being exploited and that the return was totally inadequate. It is possible that due consideration was not given to their insularity and limitations of outlook, and that the use of a little more patience and diplomacy might have met with better results. I doubt very much, however, whether these islanders would ever settle down to a daily routine of work, having all their lives been more or less their own masters and able to decide when they shall or shall not work. Nevertheless, the necessities of life compel that the days spent at home be few, and the qualities of hardihood to which I have referred are not developed by doing nothing.