176 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1^. have been the summit of Moresby’s Flat-topped 
Jan. 18 . Range 
The soundings of the coast upon our track 
between Rottnest Island and the Abrolhos have 
been generally of a gravelly nature, mixed some- 
times with shelly sand, and were generally 
coarser as we approached the shore. In some 
parts, particularly near Cape Naturaliste and 
Rottnest Island, the bottom appeared to be a 
bed of small water- worn quartzose pebbles not 
larger than a pin’s head. Off Moresby’s Flat- 
topped Range the bottom is of a soft dark-gray- 
coloured sand of a very fine quality, that would 
afford good anchorage, was it not for the con- 
stant swell that pervades this stormy coast ; the 
water was, however, much smoother than in other 
parts, which might have been occasioned either 
by the Abrolhos bank’s breaking the sea, or from 
the temporary cessation of the wind, for it was 
comparatively light to what it had been since 
our leaving Rottnest Island. 
A large patch of bare sand terminates the 
sandy shores of this coast, in latitude 27® 55 '. A 
steep cliff then commences and extends for eight 
* So M. de Freycinet also thinks, for he says — “ quelques per- 
sonnes n’osent assurer que nous ayons vii les Abrolhos ; d’autres, et 
je suis de ce norabre, peiisent que ce que nous avons pris pour ce 
fi^roupe d’iles est une portion du Continent.”— Freycinet, p. 180 . 
