hich he said appeared to him to be very narrow: This
however did not discourage me, for I judged, from his description of the
place he had been at, that he had seen it to disadvantage. While I was
busy in my survey, Mr Banks was attentive to his favourite pursuit, and
picked up several plants which he had not before seen. We found the
island, which is visible at twelve leagues distance, to be about eight
leagues in circumference, and in general very rocky and barren. On the
north-west side, however, there are some sandy bays, and some low land,
which is covered with long thin grass, and trees of the same kind with
those upon the main: This part also abounded with lizards of a very
large size, some of which we took. We found also fresh water in two
places: One was a running stream, but that was a little brackish where I
tasted it, which was close to the sea; the other was a standing pool,
close behind the sandy beach, and this was perfectly sweet and good.
Notwithstanding the distance of this island from the main, we saw, to
our great surprise, that it was sometimes visited by the natives; for we
found seven or eight frames of their huts, and vast heaps of shells, the
fish of which we supposed had been their food. We observed that all
these huts were built upon eminences, and entirely exposed to the S.E.
contrary to those which we had seen upon the main; for they were all
built either upon the side of a hill, or under some bushes, which
afforded them shelter from the wind. From these huts, and their
situation, we concluded that at some seasons of the year the weather
here is invariably calm and fine; for the inhabitants have no boat which
can navigate the sea to so great a distance, in such weather as we had
from the time of our first coming upon the coast. As we saw no animals
upon this place but lizards, I called it _Lizard Island_; the other two
high islands, which lie at the distance of four or five miles from it,
are comparatively small; and near them lie three others smaller still,
and low, with several shoals or reefs, especially to the S.E. There is,
however, a clear passage from Cape Flattery to these islands, and even
quite to the outward reefs, leaving Lizard Island to the N.W. and the
others to the S.E.

At two in the afternoon, there being no hope of clear weather, we set
out from Lizard Island to return to the ship, and in our way landed upon
the low sandy island with trees upon it, which we had remarked in