BY THOMAS DPNBABIN MA. 153 



by Vlaming, until March 30. The vessel was then in lati- 

 tude 25 deg. 25 min. south, cr somewhere about Shark Bay. 



WESTERN AUSTRALIA CLAIMED. 



The log continues: "At ten o'clock this morning M. de 

 "Saint Allouarn sent a boat with an officer to reconnoitre 

 "this land, supported by the boat's crew and five soldiers. 

 "They effected a landing at a bay to the south south east, 

 "and penetrated about three leagues into the country without 

 "seeing a living soul. This land is sandy, and covered with 

 "bushes and small scrub, as at the Cape of Good Hope. 

 "M. de Mings, on returning to the coast, took possession of 

 "the land, hoisting a flag and causing a notification of the 

 "fact that he had taken possession to be read in the form 

 "usual in such cases. The document was put in a bottle 

 "and buried at the foot of a little tree. Near it were put 

 "two crowns of six francs each. In the afternoon the sloop 

 "went on shore with many persons. They traversed a space 

 "cf three leagues without finding any one. They returned 

 "on board in the evening. They found on land traces of 

 "some quadrupeds, and saw a kind of little fox. At 6 o'clock 

 "in the evening the captain sent the boat on shore to bury 

 "one Massicot, a gunner's mate, who had died that day of 

 "scurvy. They were to pass the night and to see if they 

 "could catch turtles in the great bay, but none came on 

 "shcre." 



The leg refers to this Bay as the "Bale de Prise de 

 "Possession." It mentions that on April 1 the vessel en- 

 tered the "Bale de Bricarloge," which no doubt means the 

 bay of Dirk Hartog, or Dirk Hartog's Road, as Vlaming 

 calls it, the Bay in which Dirk Hartog had anchored in 1616. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 



Rosily was evidently one of those who went ashore at 

 the Bale de Prise de Possession. He says that with much 

 difficulty they climbed up a steep sand hill covered with 

 scrub. "From the top of this," he writes, "we perceived a 

 "landscape extending away for seven or eight leagues. The 

 "land rose imperceptibly, and we penetrated for about two 

 "and a half leagues inland. We saw there many burnt 

 "trees and others where it appeared that one had set fire to 

 "the foot of them. I do not believe that it is the heat of 

 "the sun that sets fire to these trees, for they are very green, 

 "and in the night there is a very heavy dew that refreshes 

 "them and gives them nourishment. We thought that we 



