54 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1821. the two bays opposite to Gap Island, but found 
July 30 . them so shoal and overrun with mangroves, that 
no landing could be effected in any part. In 
both bays there is anchorage between the heads ; 
but all the inner part is very shoal, and perhaps, 
at low water, there is not more than nine feet 
water within the heads. In the mid- stream of the 
river the bottom is deep, and is formed entirely of 
shells, over which, on account of its being very 
narrow, the tide runs with great strength; and 
from the irregularity of the bottom forms nu- 
merous eddies and whirlpools, in which a boat 
is quite unmanageable. 
During our absence, Mr. Bedwell examined 
our former watering-place, at the back of St. An- 
drew’s Island, and on his return landed upon the 
sandy beach of a bay on the south-west side of 
the basin, but was unsuccessful in his search 
for water at both places. 
The sea breeze freshened towards sunset, and 
fanned up the fires that had been burning for the 
last three days in several places upon the low 
land, and on the sides of the hills to the westward 
of Mount Trafalgar ; before night they had all 
joined, and, spreading over the tops of the hills 
for a space of three miles, produced a sin- 
gularly grand and magnificent effect. At half 
past five o’clock the next morning, we were 
