penguin rookery on the island. On
returning to the launch, the six men had a quick run of three hours back
to the north end.

During the absence of the party I had been busy erecting a stand for the
anemo-biagraph. Ordinarily, such an instrument is kept in a house, the
upper section only being exposed through the roof. The Shack was in
a position too sheltered for my purpose, so I built a place for the
anemo-biagraph behind a low rock well out on the isthmus.

Sandell and Sawyer reported on the 16th that the wireless station was
ready for testing. Therefore, on the following day, the three of us
erected a small set on the farthest point of the peninsula--North Head.
The set had been made in order to test the large station. Sawyer then
returned to the operating-hut and received signals sent from North Head
by Sandell, who in return received Sawyer's signals, thus showing that
so far everything was satisfactory. It was thought, after the tests,
that the "earth" was not by any means good and Sawyer erected a
counterpoise, which, however, failed to give anything like the "earth"
results. More "earths" (connexions by wire with the ground) were now
put in from day to day, and on the 27th Sawyer noted an improvement.
Successful tests were again made on the 30th. The wireless men now
expected communication with Australia.

Blake and Hamilton were soon making inroads, each on his own particular
sphere of work. On the 17th a baseline was laid down on the plateau, and
Blake was able to commence his survey of the island. He had already made
some geological investigations in the vicinity of North Head and West
Point, as well as for a short distance along the east coast. Hamilton
had visited nearly all the penguin rookeries in the vicinity, and
already had several fine specimens. Marine collecting occupied part of
his time and plant life promised to provide an interesting field.

[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]

The north end of Macquarie Island

From the intermediate position that Macquarie Island occupies relative
to Australasia and the Antarctic continent, it was highly important that
its biology should be fully determined. Investigation of the marine and
terrestrial fauna and flora shows several facts indicating the part this
island has played in the supposed connexion of the great land masses of
the southern hemispheres. It is an established fact that the flora of
New Zealand has strong sub-antarctic and South American affinities an