whole wore an afpeCt of poverty which the fandy foil confirmed.
And yet this place was inhabited by men, as was fhewn by the old
fire places ftrewed round with fhells of the fea ear. The rocks were
compofed of quartz, probably a fpecies o f granite, but much unlike
■ that which formed Furneaux’s Iflands. .
Leaving this place on the gth, they fleered for the out;ermoft
land in fight, which bore to the fouthward o f weft, and was distant
three or four leagues. After rounding the feaward end o f the
land under which they had anchored, its Ihores fell back, and at
laft difcovered to them that it was an illand o f from fifteen to
twenty miles in circuit, and fituated between four and five from
the main. It was with the greateft aftonifhment that they recollected
the fire places and fea fhells which they had the preceding
evening feen upon the illand. That the inhabitants o f this part
o f V an Diemen’s land Ihould poffefs canoes capable o f crolling over
four or five miles of open fea, while thofe of Port Dalrymple were
without any, feemed highly improbable. The illand itfelf was ^certainly
unequal to the maintenance o f any fettled inhabitants, and
yet there were unequivocal veftiges o f men upon it. Long and
frequent reflection upon fads in themfelves fo contradictory had
never produced any rational folution o f the difficulty. This illand
took the defcriptive name of Three Hummock IJland.
For feveral hours during the early part o f the morning, a vaft
.ftream of footy petrels iffued from the deep bight which had been
left unexplored, and palled the veffel on their way to the weftward.
There muft have been fome millions o f birds. Thence they were
well allured there was at leaft one illand in that bight, i f not more
than one, as they had imagined.
Having palled within a mile of a pointed part o f the, main, which
in height and ftarved vegetation very much refembled Three Hummock
Illand, towards noon they came up with fome land, which
proved to be a fmall illand, high and very fteep ; and a long fwell,
which had juft before made its firft appearance, broke violently
upon
upon it, making a furious furf on all fides. Its fummlt was whitened
over with birds; , With fome difficulty a landing was effected at
the foot of a chafm filled-up with loofe ftones ; and, after a flight
rencontre with fome feals that Hood above, they reached the top.
The birds they found were albatroffes innumerable. The fpread of
their wiugs was from feven to nine feet. Their colour was more
white than black, and the appearance of their vifitors did not occa-
fion much difturbance among them, even when they approached
clofe to them. This was the feafon o f . their breeding. The
females fat upon nefts not more than a foot and a half apart,
built of muddy- earth, bound with coarfe grafs, raifed about four
inches from the ground, and formed into a concavity o f nearly
that depth, with a diameter of five or fix inchest One young
bird only was in each neft: it was o f the fize of a fmall pullet, but
at that time covered with a beautifully white down. The lhapelefs
lump at fome diftance refembled a ball of cotton. Some nefts held
an addled egg o f a dingy white colour, and equal in fize to that o f
a goofe. The nefts were fo near each other, and the birds fo con-
fciousof the great ftrength of their Iharp bills, that in going through
them the voyagers were obliged to make ufe of their feal clubs, to
procure themfelves a paffage. Even the young ones fpouted plentiful
mouthfuls o f a not inodorous oil upon them.
The illand, which obtained the name of Albatrtjfs-lJland, was a
mere mafs o f ftone, without any other vegetation than a few tufts
o f coarfe grafs. Befides albatroffes, it afforded Ihelter to a few fcores
of hair feals, and the large gull. The latitude was 40° 24', the longitude
14 5 9 02'.
Several other iflands were feert to the fouthward, and the coaft o f
the main feemed trending in the fame direction. A deep bight
lay at the back of thefe iflands, with points and openings vifible in
its moft diftant part. There was reafon to believe, that the fea here
had a communication through into the unexplored bight to th,e
eaft