132 MURRAY ISLAND, 



ran down to Murray Island, where we came to 

 anchor at 3 p. m. 



August 6. —Murray Island is about 700 feet high 

 at its highest point, and consists of steep broken 

 ground. Its whole aspect is singularly different 

 from any part of Australia, since the whole of its 

 lower portion, and a good part even of the hills, is 

 covered by a continuous grove of cocoa-nut trees. 

 The entire absence of these trees from every part of 

 Australia is a most striking fact, since it is, I believe, 

 the only country in the world so much of which lies 

 within the tropics in which they have never been 

 found. We had once or twice found cocoa-nuts on 

 the beach, still more or less fresh ; and here is an 

 island, absolutely within the Great Barrier reef, 

 completely covered by them, and yet neither by 

 Flinders, King, Wickham, Stokes, or ourselves, 

 have any trees been discovered anywhere upon the 

 main land. We could perceive many natives on the 

 beach of Murray Island, as also a nearly continuous 

 line of large dome-shaped huts, surrounded by 

 fences of tall poles ornamented by large shells ; 

 everything shewing the natives to be a different 

 race of beings from the Australians. The numbers 

 of these people, and the character for treachery and 

 ferocity they have hitherto borne, rendered us 

 cautious how we put ourselves in their power; 

 accordingly, Captain Blackwood ordered two boats 

 to be got ready, in one of which was a guard of 



