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volcano and hot springs are said to exist in the south-west of the island. Judging from the abundant fossil remains of trees, the island must have been thickly clothed with See also:

woods and other vegetation of which it has no doubt been denuded by volcanic See also:

ACTION

action and submergence, and possibly by changes of See also:

CLIMATE

climate. It presents evidences of having been subjected to powerful glaciation, and to subsequent See also:

IMMERSION (Lat. immersio, dipping),

immersion and immense denudation. The soundings made by the " Challenger " and " Gazelle " and the See also:

AFFINITIES

affinities which in certain respects exist between the islands, seem to point to the existence at one See also:

time of an extensive land area in this See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter, of which Kerguelen, See also:

Prince See also:

EDWARD

Edward's Islands, the Crozets, St See also:

Paul and See also:

Amsterdam are the remains. The Kerguelen See also:

plateau rises in many parts to within 1500 fathoms of the See also:

SURFACE

surface of the sea. Beds of See also:

COAL

coal and of red See also:

earth are found in some places. The summits of the See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat-topped hills about Betsy See also:

COVE

Cove, in the south-east of the island, are formed of caps of See also:

BASALT

basalt. According to See also:

Sir J. D. Hooker the vegetation of Kerguelen Island is of See also:

GREAT

great antiquity; and may have originally reached it from the See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent; it has no affinities with See also:

Africa. The See also:

PRESENT

present climate is not favourable to permanent vegetation; the island lies within the See also:

belt of See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain at all seasons of the See also:

YEAR

year, and is reached by no drying winds; its temperature is kept down by the surrounding vast expanse of sea, and it lies within the line of the See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold See also:

Antarctic See also:

DRIFT (from "drive ")

drift.

The temperature, however, is equable. The mean See also:

ANNUAL

annual temperature is about 39° F., while the summer temperature has been observed to approach 70°. Tempests and squalls are frequent, and the See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

weather is rarely See also:

CALM

calm. On the lower slopes of the mountains a See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank vegetation exists, which, from the conditions mentioned, is constantly saturated with moisture. A rank grass, Festuca Cookii, grows thickly in places up to 300 ft., with Azorella, Cotula plumosa, &c. Sir J. D. Hooker enumerated twenty-one See also:

SPECIES

species of flowering See also:

PLANTS

plants, and seven of ferns, lycopods, and Characeae; at least seventy-four species of mosses, twenty-five of Hepaticae, and sixty-one of See also:

LICHENS

lichens are known, and there are probably many more. Several of the marine and many species of See also:

FRESHWATER

freshwater See also:

ALGAE

algae are See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar to the island. The characteristic feature of the vegetation, the Kerguelen's Land See also:

CABBAGE

cabbage, was formerly abundant, but has been greatly reduced by rabbits introduced on to the island. See also:

FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

Fur-See also:

SEALS

seals are still found in Kerguelen, though their See also:

numbers have been reduced by reckless slaughter. The sea-See also:

ELEPHANT

elephant and sea-See also:

LEOPARD

leopard are characteristic.

Penguins of various kinds are abundant; a See also:

TEAL (O.E. tele)

teal .(Querquedula Eatoni) peculiar to Kerguelen and the Crozets is also found in consider-able numbers, and petrels, especially the See also:

GIANT (O.E. geant, through Fr. giant, O.Fr. gaiant, jaiant, jeant, med. pop. Lat. gagante—cf. Ital. gigante—by assimilation from gigantem, ace. of Lat. gigas, Gr. yiyas)

giant See also:

PETREL

petrel (Ossifraga gigantea), skuas, gulls, sheath-bills (Chionis See also:

minor), See also:

ALBATROSS (from the Port. Alcatraz, a pelican)

albatross, terns, cormorants and Cape pigeons frequent the island. There is a considerable variety of See also:

INSECTS

insects, many of them with remarkable peculiarities of structure, and with a predominance of forms incapable of flying. The island was discovered by the See also:

French navigator, Yves See also:

Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec, a See also:

Breton noble (1745-1797), on the 13th of See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1772, and partly surveyed by him in the following year. He was one of those explorers who had been attracted by the belief in a See also:

rich southern land, and this island, the South See also:

France of his first See also:

DISCOVERY

discovery, was afterwards called by him Desolation Land in his disappointment. See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain See also:

Cook visited the island in 1776, and, among other expeditions, the " Challenger " spent some time here, and its See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff visited and surveyed various parts of it in See also:

JANUARY

January 1874. It was occupied from See also:

OCTOBER

October 1874 to February 1875 by the expeditions sent from See also:

England, See also:

Germany, and the See also:

UNITED

United States to observe the transit of See also:

VENUS

Venus. The See also:

German South Polar expedition in 1901–19o2 established a meteorological and magnetic station at Royal Sound, under Dr Enzensperger, who died there. In January 1893 Kerguelen was annexed by France, and its commercial exploitation was assigned to a private See also:

COMPANY

company. See Y. J. de Kerguelen-Tr6marec, Relation de deux voyages clans See also:

les mers australes (See also:

Paris, 1782) ; Narratives of the Voyages of Captain Cook and the " Challenger " Expedition; Phil. Trans., vol. 168, containing See also:

account of the collections made in Kerguelen by the See also:

BRITISH

British transit of Venus expedition in 1874–1875; Lieutard," See also:

MISSION

Mission aux Iles Kerguelen," &c., Annales hydrographiques (Paris, 1893).

KERGUELEN'S LAND CABBAGE, in See also:

BOTANY (from Gr. l3or6v17, plant; ,66vicety, to graze)

botany, Pringlea antiscorbutica (natural See also:

order See also:

CRUCIFERAE

Cruciferae), a plant resembling in See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit, and belonging to the same See also:

FAMILY

family as, the See also:

COMMON

common cabbage (Brassica oleracea). The cabbage-like heads of leaves abound ina See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale yellow highly pungent essential oil, which gives the plant a peculiar flavour but renders it extremely wholesome. It was discovered by Captain Cook during his first voyage, but the first account of it was published by (Sir) Joseph Hooker in The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of the "See also:

EREBUS

Erebus" and " Terror " in 1839-1843. During the stay of the latter expedition on the island, daily use was made of this See also:

VEGETABLE

vegetable either cooked by itself or boiled with the See also:

SHIP

ship's See also:

BEEF (through O. Fr. boef, mod. boeuf, from Lat. bos, bovis, ox, Gr. f3oiir, which show the ultimate connexion with the Sanskrit go, gaits, ox, and thus with " cow")

beef, pork or See also:

PEA (Pisum)

pea-soup.

End of Article: KERGUELEN ISLAND

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