144 GOOD FRIDAY HARBOUR. 



April 11. — At daylight vvc found that the sum- 

 mit of a large island, in the centre of the group to 

 the northward, bore N. 2H° W. about nine miles. 

 We now beat to the southward in search of 

 a harbour, where the ship might lie in safety 

 whilst we went to work with the boats, and were 

 fortunate enough to discover one close to the 

 north-east point of a large island lying in the 

 centre of the group to the southward ; which 

 we named Easter Group, and the harbour Good 

 Friday Harbour, to commemorate the season of the 

 Christian year, at which we visited it. Perhaps at 

 some future period, when the light of the gospel 

 shall have penetrated to every part of the vast 

 Australian continent, these sacred names, bestowed 

 by us upon some of its outworks, may be pronounced 

 with pleasure, as commemorative of the time when 

 the darkness of ignorance and superstition was just 

 beginning to disperse. 



Good Friday Harbour, like all coral harbours, 

 requires to be taken by eye, being full of coral 

 knolls, which necessitate the utmost vigilance. In 

 itself, however, it is an excellent port, capable of 

 holding a large number of ships, and with a general 

 depth, between the coral patches, of from 15 to 17 

 fathoms, with a fine muddy sandy bottom. The 

 eastern extremity of the large island bearing 

 S. by E. J E. led into the harbour. As we 

 threaded our way among the patches of coral, the 

 view from the mast-head of the submarine forests 



