122 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
18I& 
]VIay 26. 
28. 
29—30. 
were given to the harbour and the round-backed 
hill, after the late Captain Thomas Hurd of 
the Royal Navy, the Hydrographer of the Ad- 
miralty ; the outer bay was called Gordon Bay. 
We left Gordon Bay the next morning, and 
passed round its low S.W. extremity, which 
proved to be Captain Baudin’s Cape Helvetius. 
From this point, the coast trends to the southward 
to Cape Fourcroy. In this interval the shore is 
formed by cliffs of a very dark red colour, and, 
half way between, is a projecting sand-hill of 
remarkable appearance. 
During this and the following day we made 
very little progress. On the 30th, at daylight, we 
had a southerly wind ; by eight o’clock we saw 
the land in patches to the northward, and some 
low islands bearing east. The land to the north 
was a part of the south side of Melville Island. The 
wind being fresh from the eastward, we attempted 
to beat to windward, with the intention of anchor- 
ing near the islands, but the bottom was too rocky 
to admit of it. We then endeavoured to pass 
between them and Melville Island, but the ground 
was also so rocky and irregular that we desisted; 
and, after an unsuccessful attempt to reach the 
southern pass, we steered off to the westward. 
This group was called Vernon’s Islands. They 
