248 DUPEREE ISLANDS. 



were interred on the larg'est of the islands, in a 

 clearing- made by the wood-cutters, and as an addi- 

 tional precaution, for the purpose of conceahng- the 

 grave from the keen sight of the natives, a large 

 fire was made upon it to efface all marks of the 

 spade. 



Aug. 4:th. — We left our anchorage this morning 

 for the Duperre Islands, twenty-one miles to the 

 westward, and reached them before noon. On our 

 way we passed in sight of the Montemont and Jomard 

 groups, each consisting of two low, wooded islets, 

 similar to those which we had left. As the ship 

 went along she raised prodigious numbers of flying 

 fish in large scholes, closely watched by frigate-birds, 

 boobies, and terns. The afternoon was ineffectually 

 spent in searching for an anchorage, the pinnace 

 and one of the cutters having been sent in-shore for 

 that purpose. In the evening the anchor was let go 

 after a cast of fifty fathoms, but slipped off the 

 bank, and had to be hove up again. In company 

 with the Bramble we passed the night in standing 

 off and on the islands, directed by bright moonlight, 

 and a fire on the westernmost of the group which 

 the pinnace's people had been sent in to make. 



The following day was spent in a similar manner, 

 and with the hke result. The Bramble, when ordered 

 by signal to point out the anchorage which lieut. 

 Yule had found a week before, at once passed through 

 an opening in the northern margin of the reef con^ 

 nected with the Duperre Isles, and brought up in 



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