214 Ritchie's reef. 



will be evident. Our object had been satisfactorily 

 attained, inasmuch as we had cleared up the doubts 

 respecting Ritchie's Reef, and the long-lost Tryal 

 Rocks. We had also been so fortunate as to add 

 to the stores of natural history a new kangaroo and 

 two kinds of wallaby, besides a large water-snake. 



September 9. — We left Tremouille Island in the 

 morning, and passing round the north side, soon came 

 in sight of Gierke's, alias Ritchie's Reef. It was our 

 intention to have gone round the northern end of it, 

 but the tide setting two knots an hour forced us to 

 the southward. In a line midway between it and 

 Tremouille the depth was 17 and ^0 fathoms. The 

 reef was nearly three miles long, in a north-east and 

 south-west direction, and one mile and a half wide ; 

 the centre being partly dry. Two miles and a half 

 S. W. by W. of it we crossed a patch of 13 fathoms, 

 with 22 and 25 fathoms on each side, the northern 

 part of Hermite Island bearing S. 62° E. fourteen 

 miles, soon after which it was lost sight of from the 

 poop. 



The next afternoon a westerly wind brought us 

 again in with the land ; and in the evening we 

 tacked in six fathoms, three miles and a half to the 

 northward of Thevenard Island, which we found to be 

 connected with a reef we discovered in the morning, 

 lying eleven miles N. by E. from it ; inside this reef 

 the water looked deep and smooth. The island is 

 a narrow strip lying east and west, about three 

 miles ; the west end we made in lat. 21° 26' S. and 



