Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/382

340 hard frozen into the ground' that they could not be removed without a hammer.

"One of the Algæ was collected in a pool of fresh water, hardly two spans across, and sheltered by a projecting rock that faced the north. The surface of the water was slightly coated with a steel-blue scum: the earth at bottom, perhaps half an inch below, was hard frozen; and the water itself just thawing, for it was an unusually warm day, the thermometer standing at 40°. Collema crispum, a British plant, grew on the borders of this pool, and with it a green microscopic Conferva.

"A small and beautiful undescribed lichen (Lecanora Daltoni) occurred very sparingly on the rocks: it is allied to L. chrysoleuca of the Swiss Alps. The other plants of this order were exceedingly inconspicuous, and only discoverable by carefully examining the surface of the rocks.

"The sea-weeds gathered on the shores of Cockburn Island were all floating, and carried along by a strong current, loaded with masses of ice.

"Vegetation could not be traced above the conspicuous ledge of rocks, with which the whole island is girt, at fourteen hundred feet elevation. The lichens ascended the highest. The singular nature of this flora must be viewed in connexion with the soil and climate; than which perhaps none can be more unfriendly to vegetable life. The form of the island admits of no shelter: its rocks are volcanic, and very hard, sometimes compact, but more frequently vesicular. A steep stony