Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/163

] tance, as if covered with thick clouds, above which the tops of the mountains were viible. In four hours time we were near enough to perceive that thee clouds aroe from the iland itelf, from whence a thick moke acended, which almot entirely covered it, epecially towards the north. We oberved flames in different places, and oon perceived that the forets were on fire: the coure of the flames and moke, which appeared ucceively in different parts of the country, pointed out to us the progres of the conflagration. We teered our coure o as to pas as near as poible to windward of the iland. The ame pecies of birds that we had oberved a few hours before we epied land were flying about the rocks where they had their nets. A great number of eals wam amongt large maes of fucus that had been detached from the iland, along the outhern coat of which we ranged at the ditance of about 250 toies from the hore. This coat is very teep and perfectly afe: the urges, which followed its direction, would have apprized us of our danger in approaching it if there had been any hoals. The mountains on the outh-eat ide of the iland decend with very teep declivities as far as the edges of the ea, and appeared to me to conit of layers of free-tone, inclined from north to outh o as to form an angle of fifty degrees with