TONGATABOO. 37 
was one resembling the diamond-snake, of a light silvery colour, about 
eighteen inches in length, and as thick as the little finger: these are 
very numerous, and it is very desirable to avoid coming in contact 
with them, for their bite has often proved fatal. Instances are known 
in Sydney of persons who have been bitten, and have died in a few 
hours. An eminent physician of Sydney, on being asked the treatment 
in case of a bite, replied: “ To bandage the affected part as soon as 
possible, cut it out, and as soon as preparations can be made, ampu- 
tate the limb!” These venomous snakes frequently crawl into houses 
near the woods, and persons have been bitten whilst sitting at their 
doors in the evening. A lady, living on the north shore near the resi- 
dence of the American consul, was sitting playing on the piano, when, 
hearing some rustling noise, suddenly looked around, and discovered a 
diamond-snake only a short distance from her; she screamed aloud 
and jumped on the music-stool ; a servant soon came to the rescue, and 
killed the intruder. Instances occur repeatedly of these snakes infest- 
ing the houses, and so common are they, that if a person is stung, it is 
at once supposed to be bya snake. ‘The effects of the bite, if not fatal, 
are said to produce partial blindness. 
On the 30th of March they left Sydney, and passed the Heads of 
Port Jackson on the same afternoon. They had at first light winds, 
and made but little progress. When about seventy miles from the 
coast, in latitude 334° S., they experienced a change of four degrees 
in the temperature of the sea; and on the 3d of April, they found they 
had been set thirty miles to the southward during the day. On the 
5th, the temperature again fell to 72°, with an easterly current. 
Several English vessels were seen cruising for whales in latitude 28° 
S., longitude 157° E. The winds continued contrary and light. On 
the 9th, in longitude 159° 43’ E., latitude 26° S., an opportunity 
occurred for trying the deep-sea temperature. At eight hundred and 
thirty fathoms below the surface, the temperature had decreased to 
46°, that of the surface being 76°; and the current was found setting 
east-by-south half a mile per hour. The next day, in longitude 160° 
E., latitude 25° 40’ S., the experiments were repeated, at different 
depths ; the results will be found in Appendix I. 
The current was now found setting to the south-southwest, at the 
rate of half a mile per hour. 
On the 18th they again attempted to get a deep-sea cast, and had 
nineteen hundred fathoms of line out; in hauling in the line it parted, 
and nearly seventeen hundred fathoms of it were lost, besides the only 
self-registering thermometer we had left in the squadron, which put a 
stop to our experiments. They had now several days of light variable 
