al bays and inlets he
examined.

"I send you a chart of Streaky, Smoky, and Denial Bays, by which you will
be better able to judge of the capabilities of the harbours they contain,
than by any description I can give. I may mention however, that the
entrance to Smoky Bay, between the shoals of St. Peter's and Eyre's
Islands, is dangerous, for with any swell on the sea breaks right across.
In the inlet, on the west side of Denial Bay, there is a salt water creek
with two fathoms of water; and adjoining some high sand-hills, among
which we found fresh water by digging. Our vessel being the first, I
believe, that ever entered Smoky Bay, on finding an island at its
southern end, I named it after that enterprising traveller Mr. Eyre. I
also found an island and reef not laid down by Flinders, to the southern
of St. Francis Islands. There is also an island 10 miles west of the
rocky group of Whidbey's Isles, and about 12 miles from Greenly's Isles.
The captain of a French whaler also informed me, that a sunken rock lays
6 miles N.W., off Point Sir Isaac, on which the sea breaks in heavy
weather.

"The desert country surrounding these bays has been sufficiently
explored, and so correctly described by Mr. Eyre, as not to require to be
mentioned. The absence of any rise that can be called a hill, from Mount
Greenly to Mount Barren, the eternal limestone cliffs, the scarcity of
water and grass, surely prove this coast to be the most miserable in the
world, whilst the harbours are as good as could be wished for, and it
must be owing to the deficiency of charts, that whalers do not frequent
these bays, for there are generally two or three French or American
vessels in the neighbourhood during the season. I found no bones or
carcases of whales in Streaky, Denial, or Smoky Bays, but the shores of
Fowler's and Coffin's Bays, I found strewed with their remains. In the
latter place, Captain Rossiter, of the Mississippi shewed me his chart,
and told me there was no shelter for a vessel on this side of the Bight,
except at Fowler's Bay, and that was indifferent. The great extent of
smooth water at Denial and Streaky Bays, and a well of water on St.
Peter's, dug by a sealer who lived on it many months, afford more
advantages for fishing, and more especially to a shore party, than are to
be found any where else in the Province.

"From the general flatness of the country, it may be presumed that its
character does not alter for a great di