Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/478

450 of leptospermum, remarkable for its silvery leaves, and bright red flowers.

I found there several new species, belonging to the tribe of thymeleæ (mezereons), which have but two stamina, and of which Forster has composed a new genus, under the denomination of banksia. I also observed new species of the rumex, the lobelia and the buplevrum.

The western part of that little island presents, in one of its highest parts, a plain surface of calcareous stone, the strata of which follow the gentle declivity of the mountain. Strata of the same stone doubtless formerly covered the other parts of the island, and masses of granite served as their bases; but probably they have tumbled down, and have left the steep places exposed; for in the north-east, where the mountains fall with a very gentle declivity, there are still some calcareous stones, at a small distance from the beach. I was not able to discover any shells, by all the search I could make.

From the summit of that little island, we had a distant view of a part of the reefs and rocks on which our ships were in danger of being wrecked, before they arrived at this anchorage. Their number still appalled us, and we were astonished at having effected our escape from so many dangers. Two