THE BARNARD ISLES. 87 



and children. Immediate steps were taken^ in con- 

 sequencOj to prevent the recurrence of such collisions^ 

 when thoug'htless curiosity on one side is apt to he 

 promptly resented on the other, if numerically 

 superior in force. I saw nothing* in the appearance 

 of these natives to disting-uish them from those of 

 Goold Island, and the canoes are the same. The 

 men had larg'e prominent cicatrices on the shoulders, 

 and across the breast and belly, the septum of the 

 nose was perforated, and none of the teeth had been 

 removed. I saAV no weapons, and some rude arm- 

 lets were their only ornaments. 



On June 6th we ran to the northward 15^ miles, 

 and anchored at noon under No. III. of the Barnard 

 Isles, a gToup consisting* of six high rocky wooded 

 isles, the two southernmost of which are separated 

 from the rest by an interval of four miles. I landed 

 upon the two larg-est, (I. and III. of the charts), on 

 the first only once. I there found nothing* of much 

 interest, except some ver}^ thick beds of conglomerate 

 superimposed upon a compact basaltic looking* rock. 

 No. III., on the other hand, consists of mica slate, 

 much contorted, and altered from its usual appear- 

 ance, and containing' lead ore (galena) , with several 

 veins of quartz, one of which, about two feet in 

 thickness, traverses the island from side to side. 



The islands of the N. E. coast of Austraha, 

 hitherto and subsequently visited during the survey, 

 afford all the gradations between the simplest form 

 of a sand bank upon a coral reef scantily covered 



