"Hence we went to Kelly Harbour, at the north-eastern side of the Gulf of Peñas, four miles N.E. of Xavier Island. The land around it is rocky and mountainous, but by no means bare of wood. Near the entrance it is low, as compared with the adjacent land; but in the interior are lofty snow-capped mountains.
"A large field of ice, lying on the low land near Kelly Harbour, was remarkable. There was none on the low grounds at the other (southern) side of the port, though it was almost the winter solstice at the time of our visit.
"Another day and night of incessant rain. In the morning of the 25th we had some showers of hail, and at daylight found
that a crust of ice, about the thickness of a dollar, had been formed in all parts of the harbour. The water at our anchorage being fresh at half-tide, was, no doubt, in favour of this rapid congelation. Lieutenant Skyring having completed the examination of the harbour, we left it and steered between St. Xavier Island and the mainland, through a fine bold channel, nearly four miles wide, with a depth of more than thirty fathoms. The land on both sides is closely wooded, and rises into high mountains. About dusk we stood into Port Xavier, a little bight, with a sandy beach, on the eastern side of the island; and, at a distance of two cables' length from the beach, anchored for the night in seventeen fathoms.
"(26th). This sandy beach extended about half a mile between the points of the bay, and, at fifty yards from the water, was bounded by thick woodland, which rose with a rapid ascent to the height of a thousand feet. The trees were like those in the neighbourhood of Port Otway, and were stout and well-grown. A tree, large enough for a frigate's topmast, might be selected close to the shore. The Winter's-bark tree attains here a greater size than I had before seen. One, which was felled by our wood-cutters, measured eighty-seven feet in length, and was three feet five inches in circumference. All the trees were in full foliage and verdure, though the season corresponded to the latter part of November in our northern latitudes. At the south end of the sandy beach was a stream of fresh water, several yards in width, and various waterfalls descended from the mountains. The shore to the southward was composed of fragments of granite, lying at the base of a lead-coloured clay cliff, at least three hundred feet in height. In this cliff the mountain-torrents had formed deep chasms, and strewed the beach with its débris, and with uprooted timber. The only living creatures seen were steamer-ducks, king-fishers, and turkey-buzzards.
"While on shore, I received a melancholy message, announcing the death of Serjeant Lindsey, of the Royal Marines. During the last few days he had suffered from inflammation of the bowels, which brought his existence to a close.
"The following day (27th) a grave was dug, and we discharged the last sad duties to our departed shipmate. A wooden cross was erected at the head of his grave, on which was an inscription to his memory: we also named the south point of the bay after him. About noon we left Port Xavier, and coasted the island, at the mean distance of a mile, examining it for anchorages, until, after a run of eight miles, we reached its south point. For the first four or five miles of that distance, the coast of the island consisted of a high steep cliff, having at its base a narrow beach, composed of various-sized masses of rock. In the interior there were heights, rising twelve or fourteen hundred feet, wooded nearly to the summits, with many streams of water descending from them; but for the remainder of the distance the coast was low, and the wood stunted and scanty. All along the shore rolled a heavy surf, that would have rendered any attempt to land exceedingly hazardous; there was no place fit for anchorage, except a small bight, near the extreme south point, into which we stood, and with some difficulty succeeded in anchoring at a cable's length from the shore. The bay proved to be that called by the Spanish missionary voyagers 'Ygnacio Bay.' Over the south point,—a narrow tongue of land, about five hundred yards across, with rocks and breakers stretching off shore, to the distance of two miles,—we took bearings and angles to various fixed points in the northern part of the gulf. The latitude, chronometric differences of longitude, and magnetic variation, were determined on shore at this southern point.
"Our observations being completed, we left this anchorage; and as it is little likely to be visited again, it will be enough to say that it is exceedingly dangerous. Nothing would have induced me to enter it, but the duty of examining the coast for anchorage, and the danger of remaining under sail close to an unexplored shore.
"Under an impression that the island of St. Xavier[[110]] was the