AMSTERDAM ISLAND, an uninhabited island in the Indian ocean, in 3 7 ° 47' S. and 7 7 ° 34' E., about 4om. N. of St. Paul island and approximately midway between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania. It is a nearly extinct volcano rising 2,989ft. from the sea. Exposed to the westerly winds and enshrouded in mists, the island possesses a vegetation of mosses and lichens and is the haunt of innumerable sea birds. Fishing (cod and seal) is profitably carried on by fishermen from Reunion. It was discov ered by Anthony van Diemen in 1633 and annexed by France in 1893. In 1871, the British frigate "Megaera" was wrecked there and most of the 40o persons on board had to remain more than three months on the island. The Memoires of a Frenchman, Cap tain Francois Peron (Paris, 1824), who was marooned three years on the island (17 92-95), are of much interest.
See Schenck, Vergleichende Darstellung der Pflanzengeographie der Subantarktischen Inseln, 2 vols. (Jena, 1905) .