290 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1819. gave me hopes of obtaining some for the ship s 
Sept. 17. company, who had not enjoyed a fresh meal, ex- 
cepting the flesh of three porpoises, since leaving 
Port Jackson. As our object was to pull round 
the island, we did not stop here ; but, at a few 
minutes before noon, being near a projecting 
point a little further on, we landed, and observed 
the sun’s supplementary altitude, which made 
the latitude 14 ° 45 ' 56 " S. We afterwards landed 
further on in a small sandy bay, where we found 
more turtle-tracks and the remains of a nest, that 
had been plundered by the natives ; who, from 
the recent impressions of their feet on the sand, 
had in the morning crossed the beach. The sand 
was so heated that it was painful to stand upon, 
without constantly relieving our feet; and that 
the natives we had just seen, should sit and bask 
upon it in this state, would have appeared in- 
credible to us, had we not witnessed the fact. 
Upon leaving the bay, the natives, whose num- 
ber had increased to nine, were observed upon 
the hills that overhang the beach, watching our 
proceedings ; and, as we pulled away, they 
slowly moved toward the place we had just left. 
As soon as we arrived on board we got under- 
weigh, and steered round the bluff point on the 
west side of the island; and at half past five 
o’clock anchored at about half a mile from the 
