KEMARKABLE HEADLAND. l65 



links of communication. These signs of inhabit- 

 ants gave us hopes of finding some improvement 

 from the ahiiost utter sterility that had hitherto 

 prevailed among these scattered islands. We had 

 as yet seen no traces of either canoes or rafts, and 

 therefore were not a little curious to see what mode 

 of conveyance the natives of these parts used. We 

 soon again moved onwards in a north by east 

 direction, across another large bay, which, similar 

 to the last, contained many islets. It was with 

 great reluctance we pursued this northerly course, 

 as I hoped ere this to have found an opening 

 leading to the coast near Collier Bay ; but the 

 result of this day's progress fully satisfied me of 

 the improbability of any such existing. The north 

 point of this bay forms a most remarkable head- 

 land, rising abruptly from the water to an elevation 

 of 400 feet. Its cliffy face presented a grey and 

 aged appearance, which together with the strange 

 column-shaped rocks, scattered over its level sum- 

 mit, gave it the appearance of an ancient turreted 

 fortress. Here I first noticed a change in the 

 strata ; hitherto it had been invariably west-north- 

 west, while from this point, as far as our subse- 

 quent experience enabled us to decide, it was west. 

 I may be pardoned for noticing by way of a momen- 

 tary digression that all the rocks hitherto seen on 

 this part of the coast precisely resemble the group 

 forming the western side of Sunday Strait; the 

 inclination and direction of the strata are identical ; 

 while an examination of all the high rocky portions 



