A VOYAGE TO [ North Coast: 
N. 71* W, and was distant three or four miles : its utmost extre- 
. mity lies in 15 0 south, and 137 0 8f-' east. 
Some Indians had been seen tracking a canoe or raft, along the 
east side, and a body of thirty-five of them had been there collected, 
looking at the ship. This comparatively numerous population, and the 
prospect there was of this island proving more than usually interest- 
ing to the naturalists, made me desirous of finding a secure anchorage 
• near it; and in the morning we landed at the north-east point, which 
is a peninsula joined to the island by a low sandy neck, and has three 
hummocks upon it, near the extremity. From the highest of these 
hummocks, I set two small islands in the offing, to the north-west, 
where two are laid down in the old chart; and saw more land to the 
west of Cape Vanderlin, apparently a large and distinct island. The 
water between them was extensive; and as it promised to afford 
good shelter, we returned on board after a short examination, in 
order to work the ship into it. 
A hard, close-grained sand stone forms the basis of the north- 
east point of VanderlinV Island ; but the hummocks and the upper 
rocks are calcareous, similar to Inspection Hill at the head of the 
Gulph. The soil is very sandy, and poorly clothed with vegetation; 
though in the more central parts of the island the hills seemed to be 
moderately well covered with wood. There were foot marks of 
men, dogs, and kanguroos, and tracks of turtle near the shore ; but 
none of the men, nor of the animals, were seen. 
We got under way soon after ten o'clock, with a breeze from 
the north-westward, and were obliged to make a long stretch to sea 
before Cape Vanderlin could be weathered. Towards evening we 
came in with a small reef, lying N. 40° E. two-and-half miles from 
the extremity of the cape ; and this, with the lateness of the hour, 
making it hazardous to run into the new opening, we anchored at 
dusk, under the easternmost of the two small islands in the offing, 
in 6 fathoms, coral sand and rock. The white beach here seemed 
to be so favourable a situation for turtle, that an officer with a party 
