NIGHT ISLAND. 115 



This^ which is only a quarter of a mile in leng'th^ is 

 situated on the lee side of an extensive reef. It is 

 quite low^ being- composed of heaped~up frag-ments 

 of shells and coral^ overrun with a suffruticose Sida, 

 and stunted bushes of Clerodendruin and Pi^evmciy 

 wdth a g'lossy-leaved euphorbiaceous plnnt occasion- 

 ally formings small thickets. Sea fowl and waders 

 were very numerous^ but the breeding* season w^as 

 over. Land -rail existed in such o'reat numbers that 

 upwards of fifty were shot. 



I cannot see the propriety of considering' the 

 sand bank^ marked No. VII., as a member of the 

 Claremont gToup • as, at hig'h water, it is a mere 

 strip of sand 200 yards in length, mth a few plants 

 of Salsola on the highest part. 



On September 8th, we anchored to the westward 

 of the north end of Nig-ht Island, a mile off shore, 

 and remained there for the two succeeding' days. 

 This island is tw^o miles in leng-th, and half a mile 

 in breadth, surrounded by a narrow reef of dead 

 coral and mud. With the exception of a very 

 narroAV portion fronted by a sandy beach, the place 

 is densely covered with mangroves. A sandy por- 

 tion, of about five acres in extent, is thickly covered 

 with bushes and small trees, of which the most 

 conspicuous is a Bombax or cotton-tree, 20 to 30 

 feet in height, with leafless horizontal branches 

 bearing both Howers and fruit. Numbers of the 

 Torres Strait Pigeon [Carpopliaga luctuosa) crossed 

 over from the main land towards evening to roost ] 



I 2 



