iCS FORESTIER GROUP. 



the sun falls on their iron rusty surface, an appear- 

 ance as if the sides of the valley were lined with red 

 warriors. The section presented to our view, by 

 the deepest well we sank at the mouth of this valley, 

 consisted of a light kind of mould for six feet, then a 

 layer of sand and shells of the same depth, resting 

 on a coarse soft kind of reddish sandstone. 



Depuch is the centre of a string- of islands which 

 bears the name of Forestier Group, fronting the 

 coast at the distance of from one to three miles. It 

 is much larger than the others, being about eight 

 miles in circumference, and reaching an elevation of 

 514 feet; whereas the smaller islands, some of which 

 are thickly covered with brushwood and coarse grass, 

 are none of them above 50 feet high. They are of 

 a formation totally different, being of a very coarse 

 gritty yellow sandstone, in many places quite honey- 

 combed, with some low sand-hills superimposed. 



Although Depuch Island is one vast pile of red- 

 dish coloured blocks, scattered about in the greatest 

 possible confusion, sometimes resembling basaltic 

 columns, its outline from sea-ward appears even. 

 In the valleys, and on some of the more level spots 

 near the summit, there are occasionally slight 

 layers of soil, affording nourishment to a coarse 

 grass, a few bushes, and several stunted eucalypti ; 

 but on the whole the vejjetation of the island is ex- 

 tremely scanty. From the higliest point we had a 

 view over the main, extending inland for a great 

 distance. It appeared to be flat, with the exception 



