o west and
later to south-west; these changes being accompanied by fierce hail and
squalls of snow. During the night the wind moderated, heavy snow fell
and, when morning dawned, all the pools were frozen over and the island
was draped in white. It was the heaviest fall we had so far experienced.

On the 15th Hamilton and I shot several gulls for specimens.

The Dominican or black-backed gulls are very numerous and remain on the
island all the year round. They are rather pretty, being snow-white,
except on the upper part of the wings and back. Ordinarily their food
is obtained from the water, but at Macquarie Island they live almost
entirely upon the carcases left by the sealers, and are usually seen
defending their rights against skuas and giant petrels. They build nests
of tussock on rocks close to the water or maybe on the ground. Three
eggs, much like those of the skua in colour, but with a greener tint and
smaller, are laid, but generally only two are hatched. The young leave
the nest early and hide amongst the rocks, whither the old ones come to
feed them.

We now considered it advisable to prepare for the winter, and with that
end in view papered the inside of the Shack in various places. As the
cold winds were particularly searching, all faulty joints in the lining
were pasted over with any kind of paper we could find. A leak down the
outside of the stove-pipe was remedied, after a good deal of trouble,
by soldering a collar round the pipe where it passed through the roof.
Firing was an important consideration, so each man now brought home
several loads of driftwood every day, until we had enough to keep us
going for some months. There was a complete boot-mending outfit which
was put to a good deal of use, for the weathered rocks cut the soles of
our boots and knocked out the hobnails. Our supply of the last-named
did not last long, and several of the party used strips of hoop-iron in
their stead.

Blake found it necessary to make a kind of work-desk in his section, and
accordingly had a thorough rearrangement. He shifted his bunk up to a
height of about five and a half feet, very close to the ceiling; a fact
which necessitated some wriggling and squirming on his part to get into
the sleeping-bag. There was a fine open space left underneath, and he
managed to fix up his table very neatly.

Although they had intended to leave the work on the southern half of the
island until the spring, Hamilton and Blake se