ST. MARY S ISLE. 



297 



At 6 a.m. on the 7th we hove up anchor, and 

 passing on the right the promontory of St. Mary's, 

 and on the left Fort Bullen, entered the river, out- 

 side the bar of which we took a black pilot. St. 

 Mary's Isle now appeared on our left ; we passed 

 the Hospital, Government-house, with a battery and 

 flag-staff in front, the barracks, and then came 

 abreast the town of Bathurst, which is built on the 

 south-east extremity of the island, and very con- 

 venient for the shipping. St. Mary's Isle is a low 

 bank of sand, perhaps first thrown up by the sea, 

 and then covered by alluvial deposits from the river. 

 It is scarcely sufficiently raised to permit of drain- 

 ing, and owing to the ground behind the town 

 being lower than high-water mark, there is a con- 

 stant accumulation of stagnant water, which makes 

 the place extremely unhealthy. The town ought 

 to have been built on Cape St. Mary's, where there 

 is a convalescent station, and Judge Mantell has a 

 house. 



Soon after the anchor was down, Colonel D'Arcy, 

 the Governor, sent his barge, with an invitation 

 to Freeman and myself to remain with him during 



