THE AURORA'S CRUISE

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 166, 12 July 1912, Page 7

THE AURORA'S CRUISE

& STTB-AKTABCTIC SEAS. Btfffl FOR ISLAND. goon WORK OX MACQUARIES. m Wep.pl.-P"" Association.) S Tt'HL*R(.'U, Thursday. The Antarctic exploring ship Aurora „i from her winter cruise to-day, turned ron. M well. The vessel is 'Ir b Command of Captain J. K. SI anil carries on board Messrs. S»r R. «aite (curator) and K. J. £, (taxidermist of the Canterbury Eh Christchttrchl and al-' K. JK (^^p h n r t) represenc £ the Caumoat Company. Tin- Aurora 5 ling in the interests of Dr. Mawon'B Australasian Antarctic expedition. S not tain? required, until November „t when she will return to the ice .bring the leader and his party back Sralia. she was fitted out to confort scientific investigations ,n sub-Ant-arctic seas. _ . , r The vessel sailed from Sydney on May IT and proceeded by way of Bass .Strait to the 140 th meridian, which was reached 10 days '-iter. When in the latitude oi the reported Soval Company's Islands the vessel was toed eastward, and four day. were ■at in searching for the islands, the TO ri;bein2 supplementary to the search M deby Captain Davis when in comraanu of Shackle-ton's slop the Mm:,.. Tito different positions have been astiOTPd to the reported islands, both of i'rii have now been thoroughly exited, hut on neither occasion was any trOT of l«nd discovered. Captain Davis ~s definitely that the islands do not W ist where they are In id down on the charts, but mentions thai even in the! relatively dear weather encountered oil ; Mocquarie Island, the U-nd was seen fr.-rti .distance of eirl.t miles only, so that ti , still possible that there may l.c, land in the vicinity Very torero..*; weather precluded the possibility of taking sounding, which wouW protatbrvl hare given indications of shoaling had . land been in the neighbourhood. \ot a siricle "lav was the sea sufficiently moderate to justify the use of the sounding machine. Several attempts were made, resulting in the 'ess of -rear, ami on one occasion of 2DOO fathoms | of sounding wire. Even an attempt to use the trawl was absolutely out of the, question, while the absence of light pre- j vented the use of the cinematograph, even had it been possible to stand the; instrument on the deck of the lively vessel. Mflcquarie Island was reached on June R. when the five men constituting Dr. Mamson's Marquarie Island party were , found to be well and doing good work. , The wireless station is working- admirably, daily weather reports hpinsr sent to Melbourne, Hnhart. and Wellington. Messages are caught as far as Fiji and West Australia, and expedition and general news messages are dnilv received from Sydney. The violent and persistent crales. and the excessive humidity interfere with the installation and insulation, and demand the constant attention of the engineer. Twice have the aerials had to be re-erected after baring been blown down. The freezing of the water cooling the petrol engine ii also a source of trouble. Tlie operator believes that his messages are re'eiveii at the hasp in the Antarctic, kilt owing to the unfortunate damarre to part of the apparatus, the Antarctic nartv is unable to transmit messages to Mncquarie IslandLIFE OX THE BEACHED. Quite contrary to .the 6tatemcnt which recently appeared in the newspapers, to the effect that the sea elephants have been well-nigh exterminated, these animals were found to be very abundant, hundreds having been seen during the brief visits of the Aurora, both at North-East Bay and Dusitania Bay. Examples of the more solitary seals known as sea leopards, and perhaps the most beautiful seal in the world, were occasionally seen on the beaches, while king penguins, together with their downy young ones, roved about in the quaint manner peculiar to penguins in general. At this season the voting birds are nearly a large as their parents, or appear so, as they are covered with long, Wffee-coloured down. Maori hens imported to Maccruarie Island from New Poland many years, ago. have multiplied to such an extent that they may be seen on the benches in scores, Th 2 to the shelter of the tussocks when rated, but. otherwise they are perMy trusting, and most 'inquisitive. lien* winds blew almost incessantly. fooJT' hai1 ' and frost a<W tn the tenmforts. and engender no envy of we position occupied by the party. .viacquane Island was left, on .Tune "2 and continued heavy weather aecom--1 and I' M * t0 thp AwkhuHl & w he v a,lcn ° r Wng dropped in *»• ». the ship arrived at Tort Ross ™ ming there and at Enderbv island &&£££ ccrse 'wa 3 set TOO ROUGH FOR TRAWLING. JaSfS W ." S done in the Weltered ft ° £ i the Auckland Islands, and WOi attempt, were made with the trawl Mhi open Sea, , first off the east d" CT!. U >»«' «hen wind and Water th! , th , tllP deepening **»!tar - w " not on ihc bo-ttom I Spelled tt"* Wind ttnd risij "? sea StSslr?? 16 - at-1 1 , the <la ' v lhe shi P '-" I *«« the rT'* ° trawl ,vas damaged WWhi v W\?r ,iberati "R ™\ Mr. Wail? have scared. cured vanni, '' n" 3 "distant have so-, f ''W tin' C ,>oll<>Ctinna '«*»'" Can. h n lS :, m 'r avn " rs in cuVator is "Named for il. b pr ' 1 ,p ries ?«»liMt \ miH «"n for many **" to the „„? ,° f them nrp "ntirelvl ttir lM7ft i" i. Sp 7 ln,pn ohtnined he\ n J, opr -'-" over a ton. i "c.when! BATIS PACTOR PRr>p *»?t*« l Y [ t!l " fresent end it V'n ""' " ;U ' lr '' "f i *«* with the "J" B ":'»' , tory to find delts thf PU ° n ° f «"'" - ""o $** for L n "P^™ l "' »P"elallT in-! t le Gove mm.,TTIci toS;' N "- tt ; Sollt h ""ales Captain T)„ P . P fat>ti| ciion. !S"t Zw°i °r in ' on tha ttie &* will C 0 "** - for the coming eatll fr e„ nri u; ° rr f or Wf or n i ,0 . nsnr ' , 'ikely tobe fa- Vll d "-oSher "l' T r -' C - m ' >rp i? EM work „I, ' ,C ""r " sentin ' >or „ ir '- ° tnc * p latitudes "^silatinglv , ««di disappoints at not

being able to secure moving pictures of popular interest. The light in the Southern seas at this period of the year, even in the middle of the day, had practically no value for cinematography. Moreover, daylight, s-uch as it is, is veryI short, while sunlight is virtually absent, I "lily two hours being recorded during the period of fourteen days spent at the Macrfuarie Islands. Mr. Primmer felt bound to make an attempt on some interesting subjects, but he much fears under-exposure throughout. ANIKAIi AND BIRD LIFE. FfBRC-K PEA ELEPHANTS. 1 SCARRED BY CONSTANT BATTLE. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") CIIRISTCnURC'H, this clay. An account -of the voyage of the Aurora is -contributed ti> the local aews•papers l.y Mr. Edgar R. "\Vaite, curator . of the Canterbury niuseum. j .Mr. Waite h.i.i "made some yen- inter- • esting notes regarding the sea elephants found at the _Y.a.i-marie Islands: "The bull elephants when fully adult are much larger than tin- cows, and they are so scarred and di- figured with fighting that it would be impossible to obtain what might he termed a perfect spevim'e.n. I" selecting an animal for the Canterbury museum several factors had to be considered. The first was accessibility, and I may mention that four men were em- ! ployed iii carrying the skin of the animal [secured, from the tussocks to the whaleboat. The skull and limb bones were, of course, included. Operations had to be carried on rapidly, for the captain was anxious lesi a change of wind .should prevent the boat getting back to the ship. One naturally wanted to obtain as large a specimen as was convenient. mid at the same time secure one as little disfigured as possible. It would seem I I that combat ivenefs is first developed lus playfulness, the young ones thus acquiring practice for their fierce 'battle !of life. This -fighting propensity is so j com-mon that it may be witnessed anywhere, both on land and ill the water. ; The bulls thus engaged approach each I other, and. being immensely heavy aaid ! ponderous, the combat is somewhat slow . but very earnest. A bull will raise itself Iso that more than half its body is erect--1 oil from the ground, and then, backed Iby a ton or more in weight, lunges it-.--elf forward, striking its op]f>nent with ! teeth exposed. It is then its rival's ] turn, and so the right goes on, -with the ■ accompanying of loud 'bellowing and [grunting, until one of the combatant- ' has bad sufficient for the time being. | due sees long gaping, bleeding wounds in their sides or .great scars, the results jof previous conflicts: or the damage may he much more serious. 1 saw sevI eral animals with but one eye. and I I felt inclined to end the sufferings of .mc poor brute, the eyeless souket of | which was a festering cavity. Another bull and a moderately young one haC lost the greater part of its lower jaw. while 1 saw one with nearly the whole of one paddle torn off. BIRD LIFE. "Wekas. or Maori hens, .imported from New Zealand many years ago. have multallied to such an extent as to be in evidence everywhere along the beaches, I and equally unmindful of the presence' of man as in their original home. Many were knocked over by our party with , sticks. They are very small, what one ! might -call ' weedy,' and dark in colour. ! The black backed and mackerel gulls are identical with those of New Zealand. AT AUCKLAND ISLANDS. "The party reached the Auckland Islands on June 24, after a very stormy trip. As thin was my third visit to the Auckland I was quite familiar with the animals and birds, and my visit to the Mac-quaries enabled mc to appreciate the difference in the varying components of the fauna. | THE SKA LION. "The most casual observer would notice the (striking distinction between the sea elephant of Macquarie and the sea lion of the Auckland Islands. The former is much larger, lias no external ears, and is incapable of moving the hind limbs or flippers out of the general direction of the body. It is consequently greatly restricted in its motion on land. The sea lion, of which the cow is sometimes called the sea bear, can bring the hind limbs beneath the body in a forward direction, and can thus move more like an ordinary quadruped, and at such speed as to make one sittre there ifi good ground for retreat before venturing too near to his marine majesty. Tlie sea elephant is heavy, docile, and adverse to making more demonstration than that of opening its mouth and barking at an intruder, but the more active sea lion will rush at a man in quite an alarming fashion. In one part of the -bush [ chanced across some partially digested food. It consisted entirely of the remains of cuttle-fishes, the beaks, which are the only hard portions, being as though quite fresh. Associated with the food was a mass of pebbles, which were evidently swallowed to aid digestion, •much after the manner of birds. I may mention that the stomach of the sea elephant which we obtained at the .Macquarie Inlands contnnied no food, but several pounds weight of small shingle, and. as already mentioned. Mr Hamilton finds that these animals also feed upon cuttle-fishes, a .somewhat significant fact. ENDERBV ISLAND. "The Aurora herself anchored offEnder--Iby Island. While pigs are found on the I main island, the only introduced animals met with on the islands are goats, cattle . and rabbi's. The latter may be said to I veritably swarm on Enderbv Island, and j here we availed ourselves of the oppor--1 tunity to obtain a supply to provide the ', -hip with fresh flesh, the only food inno [cent of 'tin' we had since leaving the Australian coast six weeks previously. : Though we saw thousands upon thoii- ! sands of rabbit.--, only two examples were I encountered of the yellow or buff-colour-led of the wild rabbit Two or three ,' black ones were seen, all the others bein» | silver-grey, in some of which were white", I chile in others black hairs preponderated. )Of the examples obtained, two were inI teresting in having the tips erf the ears I and the end of the tail buff or yellow. 'In all the head was the darkest colour. Icing nearly black in seme specimens." I ' :