THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 51 



I have never succeeded in obtaining or even having; a chance 

 of examining a specimen of the small dark Petrel so common 

 about the upper portion of the Bay of Bengal. Towards 

 evening a pair of Boobies (S. Jlber) crossed our bows, hunting 

 flying fish, and we saw several small parties of medium-sized 

 Blue Petrels (Prion, sp. ?) which also proved too much for 

 us. Indeed where sea birds are few and far between it is very 

 difficult to procure specimens in the open sea ; you can't get 

 near them in the steamer ; you can't keep a boat towing along- 

 side indefinitely, and long before you can stop and lower a boat 

 they are beyond all chance of pursuit. 



5th. — At sea. The brightest look-out kept the whole day, but 

 not a single bird was seen, except a party of three small dark 

 Petrels and a pair of Boobies. 



At daylight (6th ) we passed between the Cocos, but it was 

 too dark, and they were too far off for us to see anything. All 

 day we were running down parallel to the Great Andaman, 

 as the three barely separated, North Middle and South Anda- 

 mans are usually called. At the distance at which we passed 

 they appeared like a nearly straight, range of densely-wooded 

 hills of moderate elevation. Saddle Hill, south of Port Corn- 

 wallis, and now estimated at over 4,000 feet in height, towering 

 conspicuous above the rest of the ridge. 



Not one single land or sea bird was seen during the whole 

 day. 



Early in the morning (7th) we ran into Port Blair. The place 

 is too well known to require any detailed description. A fine 

 landlocked harbour, more or less surrounded hj low magnifi- 

 cently-wooded hills, the highest of which, Mount Harriet, rises 

 on its northern shore to the height of nearly 1,200 feet. Ross 

 Island, the head-quarters of the settlement, is situated at the mouth 

 of the harbour. It is rocky, composed of grey sandstone, inter- 

 stratified with softer shales. It is very small, about 200 acres 

 in extent altogether rising in the centre to an elevation of 

 perhaps 200 feet and pretty well covered all over now, from 

 beach to summit, with bazars, barracks, huts and houses, inter- 

 spersed with cocoanut palms, and a few other trees. Where 

 we anchored between Ross and Chatham Islands we appeared 

 hemmed in on all sides by land, except where, through a narrow 

 break on either side of Ross, a glimpse of the sea was obtained. 

 The water of the harbour, brilliantly clear, has a very high 

 density, the question has never yet been properly investigated, 

 but the extra saltness of this water, especially during the drier 

 and hotter portion of the year, is undoubted, and proves most 



