CRUISE BY TUTANEKAI

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 175, 20 April 1929, Page 8

CRUISE BY TUTANEKAI

VISIT TO THE KERMADECS Dominion Special Service. Auckland, April 19. The Government steamer Tutanekai, which has just returned to Auckland from a visit to the Kermadee Islands, had on board Messrs. Guthrie Smith and A. T. Pycroft, two well-known naturalists. Mr. Pycroft gave some interesting details of the trip this morning. The ship, went down to rebuild the castaways depot on Macauley Island, but the weather was too rough to allow of a landing. The depot at Curtis Island was attended to, and the Malthoid covered building painted with tar. Owing to sulphurous fumes — the island being markedly volcanic—no other sort of covering will last. As there is no water on the island—Sunday being the only island where water is found—some has to be left in large earthenware jars. The stores are,, of course, all canned. Three landings were effected on Sunday Island, and the naturalists found much to interest them. On the spot called “The Terraces” on the north side of ’ the. island they found the remains of the old Bell homestead. When going along the beach at the foot of the cliffs they saw the surface breeding petrel, which, with the exception of the giant petrel, is the only one to breed on the surface, all others nesting in burrows or in crevices in the cliffs. Kermadee Island petrels were found in a very large and handsome purple convolvulus, with fleshy leaves peculiar to the group and Polynesia. It was found that buffalo grass which had been introduced had overgrown the seaweed slopes, but indigenous bush had managed to keep it at bay.