THEY COMMENCE THEIR JOURNEY. 83 



of his party, of whom, eventually, only three were 

 saved. I last saw poor Kennedy on the evening- 

 before he broke up his camp ; he was then in hig-li 

 spirits and confident of success. The party, of thir- 

 teen men and twenty-eight horses (with carts, a flock 

 of sheep for food, &c.), appeared to be furnished 

 with every requisite for theii' intended journey, and 

 the arrangements and appointments seemed to me 

 to be perfect. Nor did I, despite the forebodings 

 of others, argue anything but a successful result to 

 an undertaking, the blame of failure of which was 

 afterwards attempted to be thrown upon those who 

 had planned it. 



The small granite island (one of the Family 

 Group) off which we were anchored, afforded little 

 of interest to us. Fresh water was found in small 

 quantities, not available, however, for the use of 

 vessels. The most curious production of the 

 island is an undescribed plant of the singular 

 family BalanopJioracece, not before known as 

 Austrahan, which was found here in abundance in 

 the gloomy brushes, parasitic upon the roots of the 

 tallest trees. We also met with here — in probably 

 its southern Umit upon the coast — a. species of rattan 

 ( Calamus Australis), with long prickly shoots, well 

 illustrated in the annexed drawing by Mr. Huxley, 

 representing the process of " cutting through the 

 scrub," during an excursion made with Mr. Ken- 

 nedy, for the purpose of searching for a way out 

 from the low swampy district of Rocldngham Bay. 



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