444 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1820 . exactly ; for they are very low and rocky, and 
OrTii. abound in reefs, one of which extends a long 
distance to the north-west from Trimouille Island. 
There remains no doubt in my mind, but that 
Barrow’s Island and Trimouille Island, and the 
numerous reefs around them, are the identical 
Tryal Rocks, which have been the theme and 
dread of every voyager to the eastern islands for 
the two last centuries*. Captain Flinders f spent 
some days in an ineffectual search for them, and 
has, I think, decidedly proved their non-existence 
between the parallels of 20^° and 21°, and the 
meridians of 103|° and 106|°. The above islands 
accord exactly as to latitude ; and the only ar- 
gument against the probability of this suppo- 
sition is their longitude ; but, during the month 
of July, the current sets with great strength to 
the westward, and might occasion considerable 
errors in ships’ reckonings, which, in former 
days, were so imperfectly kept, that no depend- 
ence can be placed upon them. 
* The Tryal Rocks obtained their name from the English ship 
Tryal, said to have been lost upon them, in 1622, (vide Horsburg's 
Indian Directory , vol. i. p. 100) This danger having been once 
laid down will, perhaps, never be erased from the chart, although 
it is generally believed not to exist. It has been placed in various 
positions, according to the account which the compiler gives most 
credence to. In Arrowsmith’s large chart of the South Sea, it is 
laid down in 20° 40' S., and 104|° E. 
+ Flinders, vol. ii. pp. 261—263. 
