172 



NATIVE HABITATIONS. 



sivc coral reefs which fronted the islands, left a 

 space of only half a mile between ; a black pointed 

 rock ten feet above hi^h water, marks the ed"e of 

 the western reef, where it is covered by the tide ; 

 keeping this close on the starboard hand, will con- 

 duct a ship into good anchorage in 13 and 1,5 

 fathoms. The rise and fall of the tide at this place, 

 we found to be 22 feet. As we required another 

 station on the west end of Bathurst Island, I ar- 

 ranged that we should pass the night in a small 

 cove near its south-eastern extreme ; here we found 

 several native habitations of a totally different and 

 very superior description to any we had hitherto 

 seen in any part of Australia ; they bore a marked 

 resemblance to those I had seen on the S.E. coast 

 of Tierra del Fuego, w^hich was so striking as to be 

 remarked even by some of the boat's crew, who had 

 belonged to the Beagle in her wanderings on that 

 stormy coast. 









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