Point Brown, sandy hillocks on it, S. 52° 0' E.
Franklin's Isles, the extremes, S. 49° 15' to 33 45 E.
Evans' Isle, centre, S. 23 0 W.
Isles of St. Francis, southernmost,
the centre S. 34 0 W.
do., the largest extremes, S. 38 0 to 46 20 W.
Lacy's Isle, centre, S. 51 0 W.
Purdie's Isles, the easternmost, N. 83 15 W.
Lound's Isle, centre, N. 76 30 W.
Point Bell, the hill on it, N. 73 0 W.
Point Peter, across Denial Bay, N. 12 45 W.

[* Prod. flor. Nov. Holl. p. 406.]

On returning to the shore to complete my observations, a flock of teal presented themselves, and four were shot. There were also pied shags, and gulls of three species; and in the island were seen many crows, a green paroquet, and two smaller birds. A black snake, of the common size, was killed, but its form did not bespeak it to be venemous. After observing the sun's altitude at noon, I returned on board with the intention of getting the ship under way, to examine more closely a bight in the coast near Point Bell; and then of returning to Petrel Bay in the Isle St. Francis, in order to obtain better observations for a base to my chart of this archipelago. At two o'clock, Mr. Brown and his party returned from the eastern island, bringing four kangaroos, of a different species to any before seen. Their size was not superior to that of a hare, and they were miserably thin, and infested with insects. No other than calcareous rock was seen upon the eastern island. It seemed to afford neither wood nor water, nor were there any marks of its having been visited by the natives of the continent; in which respect it resembled the western island, as it also did in its vegetation, and in being frequented by the sooty petrel. Mr. Brown's pocket thermometer stood at 125° when placed on the sand, and 98° in the shade; whilst on board the ship the height was only 83°.

The sun was too high at noon for its altitude to be taken from an artificial horizon with a sextant; but by laying down upon the beach I obtained it from the sea horizon tolerably free from the refractive errors caused by the haze. The latitude of the north side of the western Isle of St. Peter, thus observed, was 32° 21¼' south, and the longitude by time-keepers, corrected as usual, 133° 29' east. There was no set of tide past the ship; but from eight o'clock to noon the water had risen about a foot by the shore.

The anchor was weighed on the return of the botanists, and we steered westward past the small island named Lound's, and as far as Purdie's Isles. when, having seen the whole line of the coast behind them, we hauled to the southward at six o'clock for Petrel Bay; and at one in the morning [MONDAY 8 FEBRUARY 1802] came to, in 13 fathoms, near our former anchorage.

It was here confirmed by satisfactory observations on shore that our former latitudes and longitudes taken on board the ship were erroneous; and the consequent necessity of reconstructing my chart of these islands induced me to remain at anchor the rest of the day. A boat was sent to fish with hook and line, and had some success; and at dusk a sufficient number of sooty petrels were taken from the burrows to give nine to every man, making, with those before caught, more than twelve hundred birds. These were inferior to the teal shot at the western Isle of St. Peter, and by most persons would not be thought eatable on account of their fishy taste, but they made a very acceptable supply to men who had been many months confined to an allowance of salt meat.

The latitude of our anchorage in Petrel Bay proved to be 32° 33 1/3' south, and corrected longitude, by time-keepers, 133° 15½' east. The variation of the compass on the binnacle, with the ship's head south-eastwardly, but the exact point not noted, was 2° 23' west. Other azimuths, taken five leagues to the north-westward, with the head south-half-west, gave 0° 19' east; and six leagues to the eastward, the head being north half-west, we had 0° 16' east. All these observations, being corrected, and supposing the ship's head in the first case to have been south-east-half-east, as is probable, would agree in showing that the true and magnetic meridians exactly coincided at the Isles of St. Francis in 1802.

Being about to quit this archipelago, it may be expected that I should make some general remarks upon it. The basis stone of the islands where we landed, and that of the others, as also of the projecting parts of the main, appeared to be similar, was either porphyry or granite; but this was generally covered with a stratum, more or less thick, of calcareous rock. The and sterility of the two largest islands has been already mentioned; and yet they appeared superior to any of the smaller isles, where there was no probability that the small kangaroos could exist in the dry season. The surface of the continent seemed to be almost equally destitute of vegetable soil to cover the sand and rock; and from the hot winds off the land, which we felt in Streaky and Smoky Bays, it would seem that this aridity prevails to a considerable distance in the interior. There are, however, some grounds to believe that a lake or run of fresh water exists not far from Denial Bay: the flock of teal seen upon the western Isle of St. Peter, and the number of winged, fresh-water insects skimming the surface of that bay, are the grounds to which I allude.

My examination of this group of islands was tolerably minute to be done wholly in a ship; but much still remained, which boats would best accomplish, to make the survey complete, especially in the bays of the main land. No more than a general examination was prescribed by my instructions at this time, and I therefore left the minute parts for a second visit, when the ship would be accompanied by the Lady Nelson tender.

Upon the identity of the particular islands composing this group, as compared with the chart of Nuyts' discovery, there may possibly be some difference of opinion, but there can be no doubt that the group generally is the same with that laid down by the Dutch navigator; and I therefore distinguish it from others upon this coast by the title of NUYTS' ARCHIPELAGO. Besides the nine Isles of St. Francis and two of St. Peter, and several distinct rocks and patches of reef, it contains Sinclair's four Rocks, Purdie's Isles, Lound's Isle, Lacy's and Evans' Islands, Franklin's Isles, and Olive's Island; all of which are named after young officers of the Investigator. The state of navigation in 1627 does not permit the expectation of any exact coincidence between the islands laid down by the Dutch and those in my chart; if a few leading features of resemblance be found, this is all that can be fairly required; and these I shall endeavour to trace.