and gloomy. There was a very fresh
South-South-East wind with heavy masses of clouds; the breeze continued
until noon, when as usual it subsided. We moved the ship a few miles down
the opening in the south side of the strait, and in the afternoon a party
went on shore near Cape Hotham. We found the country very poor and sandy,
and elevated about fifteen feet above high-water mark. Despite this, the
white gum-trees appear to thrive, growing in great abundance, about
thirty or forty feet high; there were also others of a different kind,
besides a few palms. The rocks were red sand and ironstone blended
together. In some places I noticed it had the same glazed and vitrified
appearance, as before remarked by me at King's Sound, on the North-West
coast.

Mr. Bynoe, who was of the party, added to his collection of birds, a
kingfisher, and a specimen of a glossy species about the size and colour
of an English blackbird; others were seen and killed, but all common to
other parts; the most rare of the latter was the large cream-coloured
pigeon I have alluded to, some few pages back.

NATIVE COMPANION.

The white ibis with a black neck, plentiful in King's Sound, and a large
bird, a species of crane, were also seen. The latter was of a French grey
hue, with the exception of the head, which was black and of the shape of
a bittern, commonly known among the colonists by the name of native
companion. It is difficult to imagine how this name could have
originated, as there is no instance of the natives making a pet of
anything, except the wild dog of the country, and of that only, it is
probable, from its utility in procuring them food. On visiting this place
a few days afterwards, to repeat the observations for the errors of the
chronometers, we saw a few natives, but they avoided an interview,
disappearing when we landed. They made the same motions with their arms,
throwing them open, and bowing as the natives in King's Sound did. The
few huts I fell in with, reminded me of one I had seen near the
North-West part of King's Sound, a representation of which will be found
in the portion of the work descriptive of that locality.

Those on Cape Hotham, to enter more into particulars, did not exceed five
feet in height, nor were they so substantially built; they were, however,
well thatched with the same kind of coarse grass. The entrances were
carefully closed, except in one instance, when the aperture was so small
that it was with d