106 
for hoisting the launch. The length of it, however, was no more 
than twelve feet three inches, but the circumference of the body was 
eight feet. Amongst the vast quantity of substances contained in 
the stomach was a tolerably large seal, bitten in two, and swallowed 
with half of the spear sticking in it with which it had probably 
been killed by the natives. The stench of this ravenous monster 
was great, even before it was dead; and when the stomach was 
opened it beca.me intolerable.” 
“All the islands of the Archipelago of the Recherche seem to be 
more or less frequented by seals, 1 but I think not in sufficient 
numbers to make a speculation from Europe advisable, the seals 
being mostly of the hair kind, and the fur of such others as were 
seen was red and coarse.” 
On Moudrain Island “a few small kangaroo 2 were cap- 
tured of a species different from any I had before seen.” “Some of 
the little blue penguins, 3 like those of Bass Strait, harboured 
under the bushes on Goose Island; and amongst the grass and upon 
the shore were a number of the bernacle geese, of which we killed 
nine, mostly with sticks.” 
“A small species of kangaroo seemed to be numerous on Middle 
Island, in parts thickly covered with brushwood and small trees, 
though none were caught.” 
At Point Malcolm, “the people of the watch occupied thejn- 
selves successfully in catching dog fish”; on the following afternoon 
“we passed a number of pale red medusas, such as I had usually 
seen on the East Coast at the entrances of rivers, and which on 
being touched produce a sensation like the stinging of a nettle.” 
After exploring Tasmania and the islands of Bass Strait, visit- 
ing Sydney, and spending a lengthy period on the coasts of 
Napoleon Land, now South Australia, the Geographe, and a small 
ship the “Casuarina,” which had been commissioned in Sydney, re- 
turned to Western Australia, and reached King George’s Sound on 
February 11, 1803. 
“On the peninsula which separates Princess Royal Harbour 
from King George’s Sound,” says Peron, “there are several fresh- 
water lakes which are very deep, and contain a species of cray- 
fish 4 peculiar to this coast.” 
“The Dog and the Kangaroo are the only terrestrial mammals 
whose existence we could discover. The remains of a whale, accumu- 
lated towards the end of Princess Royal Harbour, evidently showed 
that an enormous cetacean had recently perished in that place. Some 
seals were seen in the sea at intervals, but we could not catch any 
to determine their species; these animals chiefly inhabit a small 
1 Zalophus lobatus, Gray. 
‘ J Macropus eugenii, Desra. (Dama Wallaby). 
3 Eudyptula minor, Forster. 
* Cheraps sp. 
