were
again sent upon the same errand, and to haul the seine; but the birds
were gone off to sea for the day, and no fish were caught. A small
kangaroo was brought off, as also a yellow snake, which was the second
killed on this island. The great heat deterred the naturalists from going
on shore this morning, for the very little variety in the vegetable
productions presented no inducement to a repetition of their fatigue. I
landed to see what further could be discovered of the neighbouring
islands; and we then prepared to get under way so soon as the breeze set
in from the south-eastward, which it usually did about noon, after a few
hours of calm or of light airs.

The small bay in the Isle St. Francis, which I call _Petrel Bay_, affords
excellent shelter for two or three ships; but no fresh water, not even to
rinse our mouths, could be found at this time; and a few scattered bushes
were the nearest approach to wood upon the island. Petrels, penguins, and
a few hair seals may be procured, and probably some geese in the wet
season.

I had hitherto observed upon this coast that the south-east and east
winds produced the same effect upon the barometer as at the Cape of Good
Hope, in keeping the mercury high, commonly at or above 30 inches and
the more fresh was the wind, the higher it stood; but within the last few
days the barometer was much lower with the same winds, and at this time
was at 29.74. The dense haze which prevailed might possibly have caused
the change, but I suspected another reason for it. Winds coming off the
land, I had remarked, had a tendency to depress the mercury, and sea
winds to make it rise, though no change took place in the weather; and it
therefore seemed probable, as the trending of the coast beyond these
islands was unknown, that the south-east and east winds came off the
land, and not from the sea, as before; in which case the unknown coast
would be found trending to the southward, a conjecture which, it will be
seen, was verified. That there was no entrance to a strait, nor any large
inlet near these islands, was almost demonstrated by the insignificance
of the tides; for neither in Fowler's Bay nor at this Isle St. Francis
could any set be perceived; nor was there any rise by the shore worthy of
notice.

At half-past one we left Petrel Bay; and having passed between the small
isles to the north-east, steered for Evans' Island, and toward the Isles
of St. Peter, which were expected to li