Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/260

198 upon the beard or hair. The canoes were not longer than eight feet, and would not safely carry more than two people; the ends were stitched together by strips of the stem of the flagellaria indica.

Few palm-trees were seen, but at the large islands, according to Captain Cook's account, they are probably abundant. A considerable quantity of pumice-stone was found, as is usual in every place that we have landed at within the tropic, heaped up above the high-water mark. During the afternoon we had little wind; in the evening we passed a mile and a half to the eastward of a low and dangerous reef, which escaped Captain Cook's observation; the only part of it that was visible above the water were two low rocks, but as the tide ebbed the craggy heads of several smaller ones gradually uncovered, and at low water it is probably quite dry; we passed it in ten fathoms. It is not probable that its extent is greater than what is exposed at low water, but from its steepness it is very dangerous.

At sunset we anchored about four miles to the eastward of the position assigned to a reef, on which the ship Lady Elliot struck, in 1815; but saw nothing of it. At day-break we resumed