ALaEMAKLt; IriLANU. 143 



were nearly becalmed between it and Narborough 

 Island. Both are covered with immense deluges 

 of black, naked lava, which have flowed either over 

 the rims of the great caldrons, like pitch over the 

 rim of a pot in which it has been boiled, or have 

 burst forth ftom smaller orifices on the flanks ; in 

 their descent they have spread over miles of the 

 sea-coast. On both of these islands eruptions are 

 known to have taken place ; and in Albemarle we 

 saw a small jet of smoke curling from the sum- 

 mit of one of the great craters. In the evening we 

 anchcn-ed in Bank's Cove, in Albemarle Island. 

 The next morning I went out walking. To the 

 south of the broken tuff-crater in which the Beagle 

 was anchored, there was another beautifully sym- 

 metrical one of an elliptic form ; its longer axis was 

 a little less than a mile, and its depth about 500 

 feet. At its bottom there was a shallow lake, in 

 the middle of which a tiny crater formed an islet. 

 The day was overpoweringly hot, and the lake 

 looked clear and blue. I hurried dow^n the cindery 

 slope, and, choked with dust, eagerly tasted the 

 water, but, to my sorrow, I found it salt as brine. 



The rocks on the coast abounded with gi'eat 

 black lizards between three and four feet long, and 

 on the hills an ugly yellowish-brown species was 

 equally common. We saw many of this latter kind, 

 some clumsily running out of our way, and others 

 shufiliug into their burrows. I shall presently de- 

 scribe in more detail the habits of both these rep- 

 tiles. The whole of this northern part of Albe- 

 marle Island is miserably sterile. 



October Stk. — We amved at James Island : this 

 island, as well as Charles Island, was long since 

 thus named after our kings of the Stuart line. Mr. 

 Bynoe, myself, and our servants were left here 

 for a week, with provisions and a tent, whilst the 



