176 ST XAVIEU DEATH OF SERJEANT. May 1828. 



that a crust of ice, about the thickness of a dollar, had been 

 formed in all parts of the harbour. The water at our anchorage 

 being fresh at half- tide, was, no doubt, in favour of this rapid 

 congelation. Lieutenant Skyring having completed the exami- 

 nation of the harbour, we left it and steered between St. Xavier 

 Island and the mainland, through a fine bold channel, nearly 

 four miles wide, with a depth of more than thirty fathoms. 

 The land on both sides is closely wooded, and rises into high 

 mountains. About dusk we stood into Port Xavier, a little 

 bight, with a sandy beach, on the eastern side of the island .; 

 and, at a distance of two cables' length from the beach, anchored 

 for the night in seventeen fathoms. 



" (26th). This sandy beach extended about half a mile be- 

 tween the points of the bay, and, at fifty yards from the water, 

 was bounded by thick woodland, which rose with a rapid ascent 

 to the height of a thousand feet. The trees were like those in 

 the neighbourhood of Port Otway, and were stout and well- 

 grown. A tree, large enough for a frigate's topmast, might be 

 selected close to the shore. The Winter's-bark tree attains here a 

 greater size than I had before seen. One, which was felled by our 

 wood-cutters, measured eighty-seven feet in length, and was 

 three feet five inches in circumference. All the trees were in full 

 foliage and verdure, though the season corresponded to the lat- 

 ter part of November in our northern latitudes. At the south 

 end of the sandy beach was a stream of fresh water, several 

 yards in width, and various waterfalls descended from the moun- 

 tains. The shore to the southward was composed of fragments 

 of granite, lying at the base of a lead-coloured clay clifi*, at 

 least three hundred feet in height. In this cliff the moimtain- 

 torrents had formed deep chasms, and strewed the beach 

 with its debris, and with uprooted timber. The only living 

 creatures seen were steamer-ducks, king-fishers, and turkey- 

 buzzards. 



" While on shore, I received a melancholy message, announ- 

 cing the death of Serjeant Lindsey, of the Royal Marines. 

 During the last few days he had sufiered from inflammation 

 of the bowels, which brought his existence to a close. 



♦ 



