154 FRANCE AND AUSTRALIA, 



"saw traces of men and of children, but we could hardly 

 "distinguish them, because of the very shifting nature of 

 "the sand. There was in particular one place as if it 

 "appeared that people had danced in a ring. We saw there 

 "animals like makis (long tailed monkeys) and others like 

 "mangoustes (the ichneumon or Pharaoh's rat), and several 

 "birds, including a kind of goose which had difficulty in 

 "flying, but never allowed us to approach within gun shot. 

 "Generally speaking, all the animals that we saw were very 

 "wild. We found no water at all. I believe that the 

 "animals drink only at night, taking advantage of the dew. 

 "We found on the beach thousands of little tortoises no 

 "bigger than your hand. The persons who passed the night 

 "in catching tbeni saw a large animal in the shape of a 

 "dog which was scratching in this place in a search for the 

 "eggs of the tortoises. Wc caught many very good fish with 

 "the line, but could not succeed with the seine, the shore 

 "being very steep." 



Rosily states that the Gros Ventre was detained for 

 eight days before she could get out of the Bay which she 

 entered on April 1. She lost two anchors there owing to 

 the strength of the currents. 



The Gros Ventre left the coast on April 11, being then 

 in latitude 20 dog. 44 min. s3uth, and sailed by way of Timor 

 and Java to Mauritius, which she reached on September 5. 

 There Francois Alesne de Saint Allouarn, who had long been 

 grievously sick, died a few days later, at the age of thirty- 

 five. 



KERGUELEN'S DOWNFALL. 

 As may be judged from the remarks of Rosily, about 

 the lack of water, and the look of the country generally. 

 Saint Allouarn's officers were not enthusiastic about the 

 region round Shark's Bay of which possession had been 

 taken. Kerguelen Land, on the other hand, was for the 

 moment looked on as part of a great continent, and a dis- 

 covery of capital importance. "In two months M. Ker- 

 "guelen has discovered for France a new world," wrote M. 

 Poivre, the Intendant at Mauritius, on March 21, 1772, when 

 Kerguelen had just returned. In another note, however, M. 

 Poivre wrote, "I have the honour to observe that the cost of 

 "these expeditions ordered by the Court should not be borne 

 "by the Colony." There was a fear that the English would 

 try to get hold of the new "Continent." In a memorandiim 

 dated August 2, 1772, it is urged that Kerguelen should be 



