Page:An account of a voyage to establish a colony at Port Philip in Bass's Strait.djvu/54

( 29 ) side of the island, is, during the regular N.E. trade-wind, perfectly secure; but it is exposed to the tornadoes, which in the months of August and September often blow from the southward. The natives appeared desirous of our landing, by waving their handkerchiefs on the rock as we passed along: hoping some of them might be induced to come on board with fruit, we stood close into the bay, but not a canoe was to be seen, and it was not an object of sufficient consequence, to suffer any delay by sending a boat on shore. The town, from which we were distant about five miles, is the seat of government; to appearance it consists of a few wretched clay huts adjoining the fort which alone is white-washed. A lucrative trade is carried on from this island to America and the