, our course was steered to pass close round the northern land;
but finding much rippling water between it and two islands called the
_Sisters_ by captain Furneaux, we passed round them also, and then hauled
to the southward along the eastern shore.

This northern land, or island as it proved to be, has some ridges of
sandy-looking hills extending north and south between the two shores; and
they are sufficiently high to be visible ten leagues from a ship's deck
in clear weather. On the west side of the north point, the hills come
nearly down to the water; but on the east side, there is two or three
miles of flat land between their feet and the shore. The small trees and
brush wood which partly covered the hills, seemed to shoot out from sand
and rock; and if the vallies and low land within be not better than what
appeared from the sea, the northern part of this great island is sterile
indeed. The Sisters are not so high as some of the hills on the great
island, and are less sandy: the small, cliffy island, which lies eight or
nine miles, nearly west, from the inner Sister, had no appearance of
sand.

Whilst passing round the north end of Furneaux's Islands, I experienced
how little dependence was to be put in compass bearings, in such, at
least, as were taken with my best instrument, the steering compass of the
schooner. The south extreme of the inner Sister shut on with the
north-west point of the great island at E. 3/4 S., magnetic bearing; but
after passing round, they shut, on the other side, at W. by N. 1/4 N.; so
that, to produce an agreement, it was necessary to allow half a point
more east variation on the first, when the schooner's head was N. by W.,
than on the last, when it was S. S. E. In a second instance, the north
end of the outer Sister opened from the inner one at N. E. 1/2 N.; but they
came on again at S. W. 1/2 W., making a difference of a whole point, when
the head was N. by W. and E. S. E. These bearings were probably not
correct within two or three degrees; but they showed that a change in the
course steered produced an alteration in the compass.

The observed latitude at noon was 39 deg. 50 1/3', the centre of the outer
Sister bore N. 34 deg. W., nearly five leagues, and our distance from the
sandy, eastern shore of the great island was about six miles. At two,
o'clock, we came up with an island of three miles in length, and nearly
the same space distant from a sandy projection of the great islan