taxidermist would signally fail, either to retain upon the
prepared skin, or to reproduce, the bright colours for which so many of
them are remarkable. Dredging in the harbour was perfectly unsuccessful;
outside the margin of the coral reefs which fringe the entrance to Port
Louis one finds a zone of loose blocks of living Maeandrinae, Astraeae,
and other massive corals, where dredging is impracticable; to this
succeeds a belt of dead shells and small fragments of coral; and the
remainder of the channel is tenacious mud, in which I found nothing of
interest.

LEAVE MAURITIUS.

After a pleasant stay of twelve days, we left Mauritius, on May 17th, as
soon as the last set of sights for rating the chronometers had been
obtained, and in due time rounded the north end of the island to a light
wind off the land. In the first watch a distant light was conjectured,
with some degree of probability, to proceed from the well-known active
volcano of the Island of Bourbon.

During our stay at Port Louis, Captain Stanley had complied with a
requisition from the Commissariat to take some specie to Hobart Town,
consequently his previous intention of proceeding to Sydney, by way of
King George Sound, was abandoned.

On May 24th (our noon position being in latitude 28 degrees 1 minute
South, and longitude 67 degrees 30 minutes East) we tacked to the
South-West, having found the impracticability of making a straight course
for Cape Leeuwin without first getting well to the southward, and in due
time we reached the latitudes where westerly winds prevail, and were
enabled to proceed onward on our course.

TRY FOR DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS.

On June 14th, when in latitude 40 degrees 45 minutes South, and longitude
123 degrees 23 minutes East, the occurrence of a calm during the
forenoon, although accompanied by a considerable swell, induced Captain
Stanley to make a third attempt to obtain deep-sea soundings. He had been
much interested in the success of experiments of this kind, in which the
grand desideratum has always been to produce POSITIVE PROOF OF HAVING
REACHED BOTTOM by bringing up a portion of its substance, hitherto
unattempted on account of the great length of time required for the
experiment, and the disproportionate strength of the line to the enormous
weight employed, should any sudden jerk ensue from the heave of the sea.
Captain Stanley had at length succeeded in contriving a very ingenious
apparatus by which, upon striking