ng
exposed to its force. Sandell discovered on the 29th that the rope
holding the wireless aerial had cut through, leaving only one strand,
which now bore all the strain. It was just a matter of days before it
would part, and, with a view to preventing a repetition of February's
happening, we went up to lower the aerial, but the frayed portion of the
rope would not pass through the block, so we had to leave it as it was
and wait for the inevitable.

Exceptionally low tides at the end of the month gave Hamilton a fine
opportunity of collecting marine specimens, and he secured amongst many
other things some striking anemones. Some difficulty was experienced in
preserving them, as they lost colour and shrivelled up. But a special
line of treatment was attended by fairly successful results. They were
put in shallow dishes into which sea-water was poured. Very soon they
attached themselves to the bottom and began to expand, finally opening
out to the fullest extent. With a view to narcotizing them while in this
condition, menthol was applied to the water but did not seem to have
much effect. Chloral hydrate was found to give the best results.
It killed them all, but, before dying, they elongated and detached
themselves from the bottom of the dish; after which they were taken out
and placed in formalin for preservation.

Blake had very little opportunity of doing much survey work during the
month, as he was hampered by a sore foot and the weather was wretched.
He therefore spent most of his time plotting data, making geological
investigations and collecting and naming specimens.

He and Hamilton had so far confined their attention to the northern
half of the island, and had resolved to complete the study of this area
before tackling the southern half.

The weather throughout the month was rather severe, and only two days
were really appreciated. Precipitation occurred on twenty-five days, but
the worst feature was the continuity of strong winds, which however did
not reach gale-force on more than three occasions. Much snow and hail
fell, the former accompanying winds with a southerly component, while
with the north-westers came the depressing mist or misty rain which is
such a characteristic of the place. Temperatures, as might have been
expected, were beginning to go down, and we experienced several very
cold days. The average temperature for March was 41.8 degrees, while the
highest was 46.9 degrees and the lowest 35.3