e been consumed and all hands placed on
short allowance, it being impossible to go out hunting again as yet, or
to penetrate up the valley to the rabbit warren, on account of the snow
blocking the way and rendering the ascent of the hills impracticable.

The influx of the penguins, therefore, for which he had been looking out
for the last few weeks and had almost despaired of, was hailed by Mr
Meldrum with the deepest joy, for it solved his greatest difficulty at
once, taking away the fear of starvation that had been haunting him.
With such a plentiful supply of the birds, they might now hope to last
out until they could procure more palatable food; and those who were
"squeamish" in objecting to the fishy odour of the penguins themselves,
would _faut de mieux_ find plenty of sustenance in the eggs that there
was no doubt would soon be laid in much greater abundance than they
either required or could consume.

As the penguins mustered their forces, each day seeing some fresh
arrivals to fight for the occupation of the rookery, they were a
constant source of amusement to the snow-bound party, who, not being
able to stir far from the doorway of the "castle," had nothing hardly to
occupy their attention save the movements of the birds.

The penguins, they observed, were of four different classes or
varieties, although all belonged to the same family, partaking of the
common characteristics of such; but, even as they differed in size and
appearance, so they presented diverse modes of conducting their domestic
arrangements and varied in their habits.

Some were of the most retiring nature. These, isolating themselves in a
separate encampment, drew a strong line of demarcation between the abode
of their neighbours and their own retreat, as if they were of too
exclusive a temper to associate with the common herd; while others, of
quite a different species, appeared to have no false pride which
prevented them from associating with the rest, of whatever class they
might belong to, for they were "hail fellow well met" almost on their
arrival with every bird in the rookery.

"Them's republicans, I guess," said Mr Lathrope, noticing this trait of
character. "They don't care a cuss for social distinctions!"

Mr Meldrum, having had some previous acquaintance of the penguin family
when on board a ship which had been employed in surveying duties in the
Straits of Magellan and round the Falkland Islands, was able to give the
othe