KERGUELEN'S LAND, or ISLAND OF DESOLATION, an island in the Southern Indian Ocean (long. 69° 30', east lat. 49° 20' south), discovered by Kerguelen, a Frenchman, and visited in the year 1779 by Captain Cook, who gave it the latter name, from its appearance. This land occupies about one degree and a quarter of latitude, and probably about two of longitude. The French discoverers imagined it to be the projecting part of the supposed southern continent, since proved to have no existence. The following observations on its natural productions were made by Mr Anderson, surgeon to Captain Cook:—Perhaps no place hitherto discovered, in either hemisphere, under the same parallel of latitude, affords so scanty a field for the naturalist as this barren spot. The verdure which appears when at a little distance from the shore, would flatter one with the expectation of meeting with some herbage, but in this we were much deceived; for this verdant colour is produced only by one small plant, not much unlike some sorts of saxifrage, which grows in large spreading tufts, to a considerable way up the hills. It grows on a kind of rotten turf, which dried, in cases of necessity, might serve for fuel, and is the only thing we met with here that could possibly be applied to this use. There is another plant growing plentifully about the boggy declivities, to near the height of two feet, and not much unlike a small cabbage, when it has shot into seed. Two other plants were found near the brooks and boggy places, which were eaten as salad; the one resembling garden cresses, and very fiery; the other very mild; this last, though but small, is in itself a curiosity, having not only male and female, but what the botanists call androgyneous plants. A coarse grass grows in some spots, about the sides of Kerpuelen's the harbour, and a smaller sort, which is rarer. In short, the whole catalogue of plants does not exceed sixteen or eighteen, including some sorts of moss, and a beautiful species of lichen, which grows upon the rocks higher up than the rest of the vegetable productions; nor is there even the least appearance of a shrub in the whole country. The animals found here are all of the marine kind, and use the land only as a resting place, and for breeding; the most considerable are seals; no other quadruped, either of the sea or land kind, was seen; but a great number of birds, viz. ducks, petrels, albatrosses, shags, gulls, and sea-swallows. The hills are of a moderate height, yet many of their tops were covered with snow when the island was visited by Captain Cook, though it was in the month answering to our June. Rain must be almost constant here, not only from the marks of the torrents, but from the disposition of the country; which, even on the hills, is an entire bog. The foundations of the hills are composed chiefly of a dark blue, and very hard stone, intermixed with small particles of glimmer or quartz. Another brownish brittle stone forms here some considerable rocks; and one which is blacker, and found in detached pieces, incloses bits of coarse quartz. A red, a dull yellow, and a purplish sandstone, are also found in small pieces; and pretty large lumps of semi-transparent quartz, disposed irregularly in polyhedral pyramidal crystals of long shining fibres. Some small pieces of the common sort are met with in the brooks, made round by attrition, but none hard enough to resist a file; nor were any of the other stones acted on by aquafortis, or attracted by the magnet. Nothing that had the least appearance of an ore or metal was seen.—Edinburgh Gazetteer, or Geographical Dictionary. Situation.