flank suggests it may have occurred as recently as a century ago. It has an area of , measuring about on its longest side, and reaches as high as at the Mont de la Dives. The high central area of the island, at an elevation of over , containing its peaks and caldera, is known as the Plateau des Tourbières (Plateau of Bogs). The cliffs that characterise the western coastline of the island, rising to over , are known as the Falaises d'Entrecasteaux after the 18th-century French navigator Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux. Climate Île Amsterdam has a mild, oceanic climate, Cfb under the Köppen climate classification, with a mean annual temperature of , annual rainfall of , persistent westerly winds and high levels of humidity. Under the Trewartha climate classification the island is well inside the maritime subtropical zone due to its very low diurnal temperature variation keeping means high. Flora and fauna Vegetation Phylica arborea trees occur on Amsterdam, which is the only place where they form a low forest, although the trees are also found on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island. It was called the Grand Bois ("Great Forest"), which covered the lowlands of the island until forest fires set by sealers cleared much of it in 1825. Only eight fragments remain. Some sailors from HMS Raleigh landed on the island on 27 May 1880. They described the vegetation as Rough ground, grass several feet high, myrtle high in sheltered ravines, sedge, ferns (principally polypodium) and cabbages, grown into bushes with stumps several inches thick in the garden .... Birds The island is home to the endemic Amsterdam albatross, which breeds only on the Plateau des Tourbières. Other rare species are the brown skua, Antarctic tern and western rockhopper penguin. The Amsterdam duck is now extinct, as are the local breeding populations of several petrels. There was once possibly a species of rail inhabiting the island, as a specimen was taken in the 1790s (which has been lost), but this was either extinct by 1800 or was a straggler of an extant species. The common waxbill has been introduced. Both the Plateau des Tourbières and Falaises d'Entrcasteaux have been identified as Important Bird Areas by BirdLife International, the latter for its large breeding colony of Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses. Mammals There are no native land mammals. Subantarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals breed on the island. Introduced mammals