As all these craters apparently have
been formed when standing in the sea, and as the waves from the
trade wind and the swell from the open Pacific here unite their
forces on the southern coasts of all the islands, this singular
uniformity in the broken state of the craters, composed of the soft
and yielding tuff, is easily explained.
Considering that these islands are placed directly under the
equator, the climate is far from being excessively hot; this seems
chiefly caused by the singularly low temperature of the surrounding
water, brought here by the great southern Polar current. Excepting
during one short season very little rain falls, and even then it is
irregular; but the clouds generally hang low. Hence, whilst the
lower parts of the islands are very sterile, the upper parts, at a
height of a thousand feet and upwards, possess a damp climate and a
tolerably luxuriant vegetation. This is especially the case on the
windward sides of the islands, which first receive and condense the
moisture from the atmosphere.
In the morning (17th) we landed on Chatham Island, which, like the
others, rises with a tame and rounded outline, broken here and
there by scattered hillocks, the remains of former craters.
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