PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 231 



and other shellfish ; and the shores are the refuge of 

 snipes, plovers, and wild pigeons. At the upper part 

 of the port there is a small hasin. formed hy coral 

 reefs, conveniently adapted for heaving a ship down ; 

 and on the whole it is a most desirahlc place of resort 

 for a whale-ship. By a board nailed against a tree, 

 it appeared that the port had been entered in Septem- 

 ber, 1825, by an English ship named the Supply, 

 which I believe to be the first authenticated visit 

 made to the place. 



Taking possession of uninhabited islands is now a 

 mere matter of form ; still I could not allow so fair an 

 opportunity to escape, and declared them to be the 

 property of the British government by nailing a sheet 

 of copper to a tree, with the necessary particulars en- 

 graved upon it. As the harbour had no name, I 

 called it Port Lloyd, out of regard to the late Bishop 

 of Oxford. The island in which it is situated I 

 named after Sir Robert Peel, His Majesty's Secretary 

 of State for the Home Department. 



As we rowed on shore towards the basin, which, in 

 consequence of there being ten fathoms water all over 

 it, was named Ten Fathom Hole, we were surrounded 

 by sharks so daring and voracious that they bit at the 

 oars and the boat's rudder, and though wounded with 

 the boat-hook returned several times to the attack. 

 At the upper end of Ten Fathom Hole there were a 

 great many green turtle ; and the boat's crew were 

 sent to turn some of them for our sea-stock. The 

 sharks, to the number of forty at least, as soon as 

 they observed these animals in confusion, rushed in 

 amongst them, and, to the great danger of our people, 

 endeavoured to seize them by the fins, several of 

 which we noticed to have been bitten off. The turtle 



