as a most delightful day--bright sun, very little wind
and fresh exhilarating air. Blake and Hamilton went out early on a
photographing excursion, and, later on, the latter shot and skinned a
white giant petrel.

During the third week of July a very low tide exposed rocks, ordinarily
submerged, and Hamilton was occupied all the week in collecting marine
organisms, worms and plants and then preserving, bottling and labelling
them.

A most peculiar sight was witnessed on the 17th. Aerial Cove is a
favourite nesting-place for shags, and they may be seen in twos and
threes flying round in that direction almost any time during the day;
but on this particular day a kind of wholesale exodus from the cove
took place, and large flocks of them followed each other for a couple of
hours. They congregated on the rocks along the east coast, or settled in
the water in scores; the latter fact suggesting that the probable reason
for this extraordinary behaviour was the presence of unusual shoals of
fish.

We used to relax and have a game of cards occasionally, while our small
organ became a medium of much enjoyment. All the members except one
played well enough to enjoy themselves and to give pleasure to the
others. There was a distinct predilection in favour of "ragtime" and I
must say I liked to hear that music at frequent intervals. Any one
who plays a musical instrument knows that the mood of the player is
generally reflected in the character of the music, particularly when he
sits down and plays in a casual way.

The pursuit and killing of a sheep had now become something in the
nature of an experience, and when Sandell and I went hunting for one
on the 20th, we realized it before we reached home. The flock was
very timid, and when disturbed on North Head invariably came past the
wireless station close to the engine-hut. Sandell concealed himself
there with a gun, while I went out to startle the animals. They did not
fail to do their part, but Sandell missed and the shot frightened them.
He then rushed out and fired another shot as they were running, managing
to hit one, which immediately dropped behind and ran to the edge of the
cliff. We did not want to shoot the sheep at this moment, as it would
have fallen about two hundred feet, so we cautiously approached to drive
it away. The poor creature simply took a leap out into space and
landed on the talus below, down which it rolled to the water's edge.
We scrambled down and ski