Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 2.djvu/201

Groote Eylandt.]

The wood on Groote Eylandt was mostly composed of different species of eucalyptus; the trees were small, and might do for fire wood and very common purposes, but did not seem calculated for any superior use. Chasm Island was the sole place where the nutmeg was found, though in general, the gleanings of the botanists were tolerably fortunate. None of the native inhabitants were seen, nor any kanguroos or other quadrupeds; and birds seemed to be scarce. Small quantities of water, deposited in holes of the rocks by the late rains, were useful to the seamen for washing their clothes; but we did not find any from which a ship could be supplied, nor were there any beaches convenient for hauling the seine. The variations of the surveying compass, from amplitudes taken near different parts of Groote Eylandt during the circumnavigation, were these:— Whether the small variation near the north-east isles arose from any