242 DUCHATEAU ISLANDS. 



seen to form a remarkable i^eak^ 518 feet in lieig"lit^ 

 to whieli the name of Eddystone was applied ; and 

 still further to the left He Eeal^ of D'Urville's chart^ 

 shoots up to the heig'ht of 554 feet_, as a solitary 

 rocky island ^^dth rug'g'ed outline and an abruptly 

 peaked summit. 



July 23?y/. — Yesterday we were prevented from 

 reachinof our intended anehorao^e at the Duchateau 

 Isles by a strongs easterly tide_, the wind at the same 

 time being" too lig'ht to allow us to stem it. To-day 

 the ship was moved closer in^ and moored in a 

 convenient berth in 13 fathoms^ half a mile north 

 from the middle island. 



We remained here for eleven days^ thus afford ing- 

 good opportunities for examining' the g'roup. The 

 Duchateau Isles are three low^ wooded^ coral islets^ 

 the larg-est of which is only three-fourths of a mile 

 in leno'th. The two eastern islands are connected 

 by a reef, partty dry at low water^ and separated 

 by a narrow passag-e from the smaller reef^ sur- 

 rounding' the western island. The southern^ or wind- 

 ward margin of these reefs^ j^resents a similarity to 

 the barrier class by rising* up suddenly from an 

 unknown depth^ with constant and ver}^ heavy 

 breakers_, but the northern^ and at present the 

 leeward portion^ extends only a little way^ with 

 irregular and not well defined outline^ and anchor- 

 ao-e near it in from twelve to fifteen fathoms. The 

 three islands agree in presenting- the same physical 

 characters. They are margined by a beach of 



