LARGE ROCK COD. 99 



disperse, we went down, having got all the observa- 

 tions that were essentially necessary.* Soon after 

 getting on board, we weighed and sailed for Direc- 

 tion Island, to pick up Captain Blackwood, who had 

 gone there in his boat yesterday. 



June 7 to 17. — During these ten days we were 

 surveying the outer edge of the Barrier reef between 

 Lizard Island and Cape Melville. We caught a 

 great many fish, of a kind called by the seamen rock- 

 cod. They were not cod of any kind, being spiny- 

 finned fish, but of what precise description I cannot 

 say. Some of them were of very large size, one 

 weighing 115 lbs., 4 ft. 10 in. long, with a girth of 

 3 ft. 4 in. They had large mouths, and were of a 

 white and brown colour, spotted with black. 



June 17. — I went ashore with Capt. Blackwood 

 and Mr. Mackay, a mile or two south of the point 

 of Cape Melville, just inside a little islet. Cape 

 Melville is all granite, and covered with huge loose 

 blocks of that rock, and a very dreary, broken, 



* The barometical observations were : 

 Summit of hffli J. No. 2. B. 28-932 A. 78 D. 75. 

 lOh. 30'a.m.J M. 106. B. 28-865 A. 79 D. 74. 

 Sea beach. > J. No. 2. B. 30-106 A. 87 D. 81-5. 

 lOh. 30' a.m. 5 M. 106. B. 30-057 A. 87 D. 11-5. 

 The results calculated were, ascending . J. No. 2 . 1161 feet. 



M. 106 . 1177 „ 



descending . J. No. 2 . 1145 „ 



M. 106 . 1166 „ 



Mean of the whole 1162 feet. 



h2 



