April 11.
At daylight we found that the summit of a large island, in the centre of the group to the northward, bore North 21 1/2 degrees West about nine miles.
GOOD FRIDAY HARBOUR.
We now beat to the southward in search of a harbour, where the ship might lie in safety whilst we went to work with the boats, and were fortunate enough to discover one close to the north-east point of a large island lying in the centre of the group to the southward; which we named Easter Group, and the harbour Good Friday Harbour, to commemorate the season of the Christian year, at which we visited it. Perhaps at some future period, when the light of the gospel shall have penetrated to every part of the vast Australian continent, these sacred names, bestowed by us upon some of its outworks, may be pronounced with pleasure, as commemorative of the time when the darkness of ignorance and superstition was just beginning to disperse.
Good Friday Harbour, like all coral harbours, requires to be taken by eye, being full of coral knolls, which necessitate the utmost vigilance. In itself, however, it is an excellent port, capable of holding a large number of ships, and with a general depth, between the coral patches, of from 15 to 17 fathoms, with a fine muddy sandy bottom. The eastern extremity of the large island bearing South by East 1/2 East led into the harbour. As we threaded our way among the patches of coral, the view from the masthead of the submarine forests through the still pellucid water was very striking. The dark blue of the deep portions of the lagoon contrasted beautifully with the various patches of light colours interspersed.
We found to our surprise that the group into which we had penetrated was entirely distinct from that under which we had first anchored to the southward, so that we had already discovered the Abrolhos to form three separate groups.
RAT ISLAND.
The centre island we named Rat Island, from the quantity of that vermin with which it was infested. We also saw here a few seals, and numbers of a very pretty lizard (figured in the appendix) with its tail covered with spines. Several of these were brought away alive. I had two myself for nine months on board, and afterwards presented them to Lady Gipps. Of those taken by Lieutenant Emery, he was so fortunate as to bring one alive to England, in 1841. It is still in his possession, and thrives remarkably well. In one of his last letters he writes to me as follows on the subject: "The Abrolhos lizard is very docile, and knows Mrs. Emery quite well, and will eat and drink out of her hand; but is timid with strangers. Its habits are rather torpid, but it becomes active when in the sun or before the fire. It eats so very little that a piece of sponge cake about the size of a small bean will satisfy it for three or four weeks. It changes its skin twice a year."
The formation of Rat Island resembles that already noticed in Pelsart Group; there were the same low overhanging cream-coloured limestone cliffs, to the height of half the island; the greatest elevation of which was 13 feet, with a similar soil, mixed with guano, and filled with burrows of the sooty petrel, or mutton bird. Surrounding it is a low coral reef, trending northward to the outer edge of the group.
CORAL FORMATION.