Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/438

 376 it had probably belonged to the Echo. Near the cask were lying several cocoa-nuts, one of which was quite sound and perfect. The beach was strewed with pumice-stone, heaped up above the high-water mark.

The basis of the island is a coarse-grained granite. A shallow soil on the sides of the hills, the surface of which was thickly strewed with stones and large masses of rock, nourished a slight clothing of grass and other herbage. The summit of the island forms a peak, and is, perhaps, about a thousand feet high; the island is thinly wooded with small trees, which scarcely deserve the appellation of timber.

No natives were seen, but it was evident they had lately been upon the island, from the recent appearances of their fire-places and the perfect state of a hut, which was a more comfortable habitation than we have usually found: it was arched over in the usual way, by twigs bent in the form of a dome; and was neatly thatched with dry grass. No turtle marks were noticed on the beach, so that I should think this was not the season for laying their eggs.

We were detained at this anchorage, from the unfavourable state of the weather, until the 8th, on which day we sailed, and steered for Howick Group on a direct and unimpeded course. The