84 LAND AT CAPE HOGARTH. \AuffUSt, 



thirteen fathoms off a low point of Nobody's Bay on the 

 charts (there are no less than five of these, merely bends, 

 not bays, between Cape Hogarth and Cape Osborne) ; 

 and very shortly after this, the water continuing to shoal 

 gradually, a very conspicuous cairn inland was reported. 

 Before this I had been reposing on my sofa, but this 

 allowed of no further hesitation -. with every power of 

 telescope I scanned the pile, and the more I gazed, the 

 more mysterious still it appeared. It was too large for 

 any ordinary cairn, and yet I thought that its regularity 

 could not be mistaken : at one time it appeared to be 

 the remains of a stone house, the chimney-stack alone re- 

 maining, possibly a column of masonry, and the work 

 of man ! Under such feelings, leaving the ship to pro- 

 ceed under sail, and casting off the tow-rope, I put my- 

 self on board the ' Pioneer,' and proceeded to solve the 

 question, taking with me instruments and chronometer, 

 in order to fix its position. The 'Pioneer' grounding 

 about a mile off shore, I landed on the beach close be- 

 neath it ; and it being then low water, by the shore, I 

 well knew that she would soon float off. On reaching 

 this remarkable pile, I found it to be one of Nature's 

 freaks. It was apparently the remains of a limestone 

 conglomerate, or dyke, the surrounding rock being ta- 

 bular, slaty, magnesian limestone, of a much firmer and 

 compact nature, on which the snow or ice acted more 

 directly. However, the looser rocks had fallen away, 

 leaving this pyramidal column standing ; its base was 

 twelve feet by six, height twenty feet. 



A white hare noticed us, and kept performing most 

 suspicious circles round us, frequently presenting herself 



