LEAVE MAURITIUS. 89 



prepared skiii^ or to reproduce^ the brig-lit colours for 

 which so many of them are remarkable. Dredo-ino- 

 ill the harbour was perfectl}^ unsuccessful; outside 

 the margin of the coral reefs which fring-e the en- 

 trance to Port Louis one finds a zone of loose blocks 

 of living' Ma'andrime^ AstrecBy and other massive 

 corals^ Tvhere dredg'ing* is impracticable; to this 

 succeeds a belt of dead shells and small frao'inents 

 of coral ] and the remainder of the channel is tena- 

 cious mud^ in which I found nothing' of interest. 



After a pleasant stay of twelve days^ we left 

 Mauritius^ on May 17th^ as soon as the last set 

 of ^^sio'hts'' for ratino- the chronometers had been 

 obtained^ and in due time rounded the north end of 

 the island to a lig'ht Avind off the land. In the first 

 Avatch a distant lig'ht was conjectured^ with some 

 degree of probability^ to proceed from the well 

 known active volcano of the Island of Bourbon. 



During' our stay at Port Louis^ Captain Stanley 

 had complied with a requisition from the Commissa- 

 riat to take some specie to Hobart Town^ consequently 

 his previous intention of proceeding' to Sydney^ by 

 way of Kino- Georo-e's Sound, was abandoned. 



On May 24th (our noon position being' in lat. 

 28" 1' S.; and long*. G7° 30' E.) we tacked to the 

 S. W.^ having' found the impracticability of making a 

 straight course for Cape Leeuwin without first get- 

 tino' well to the southward, and in due time we 

 reached the latitudes where westerly winds prevail^ 

 and were enabled to proceed onward on our course. 



