AREIVE AT THE BAY OF ISLANDS. 87 



after leaving* S3^dney some defects in the ship were 

 found out^ which rendered it necessar^^ to put into 

 the nearest port^ as the principal one, causing- a 

 leak in the after g-unroom, could not he repaired at 

 sea. It was also considered expedient to g-et rid of 

 the Asp in order to lessen the straining- of the ship 

 during- the prospective passage round Cape Horn, 

 which so much top weig-ht was considered mate- 

 rially to increase. On May 14th the land ahout 

 Cape Maria Van Diemen and the North Cape of 

 'New Zealand was in sight at daylig-ht, appearing" 

 hig-h and mountainous, with steep maritime cliffs. 

 On our passag-e across from Australia we had seen 

 few sea birds, but now albatrosses of three or four 

 species were very numerous, tog-ether with a few 

 petrels, chiefly Procellaria Cookii. Next morning" 

 . we found ourselves to leeward of Cape Brett, having- 

 experienced a southerly current during- the iiig'ht 

 of two knots an hour ; it took us the whole day to 

 work up into the Bay of Islands, and after dark w^e 

 anchored in 28 fathoms, about six miles from the 

 entrance of the Kawa-Kawa. 



MaylQth. — The view from our anchorag-e, although 

 under the favourable conditions of fine weather, struck 

 me as being- dull and cheerless. The surface of the 

 country is hilly and undulating-, shewing- patches of 

 wood more or less extensive, and larg-e tracts of fern 

 of a dull g-reenish hue. The shores of the main 

 land and the numerous islands exhibit every here 

 and there arg"illaceous cliffs, and banks of a brown. 



