e coast is here protected from inroads of the sea by a
barrier of sand dunes, from ten to twenty feet high, on which were
growing a variety of plants, particularly a species of convolvulus,
which, from the great size and length of its stem, being an inch in
diameter and extending along the beach for more than thirty yards, is
very conspicuous. Behind these dunes the country is flat, and in most
parts below the level of the sea; so that when the tides rise high enough
to pass over the breaks in the dunes, the country is inundated, when, by
the intense heat of the sun, the water is very speedily evaporated, and a
salt incrustation, to a great extent, is formed upon the plains. At the
distance of four or five miles from the beach, a small range of rocky
hills, apparently destitute of vegetation, formed a boundary to the view.
The shore is lined by a barrier of sharp rocks, covered with species of
ostrea and nerita, but although these were the only living testaceous
animals that were found, the beach was covered with a multitude of dead
and imperfect shells of various species.

In the evening, after our return from the river, the weather clouded, but
afterwards cleared up with a change of wind from the South-East, which,
from its heat, and from the listless sensations it caused, resembled the
hot land-wind of Port Jackson: this seems to afford additional ground for
the hypothesis that the interior of this immense island is occupied by
vast sandy deserts.

February 22.

On leaving this anchorage it was low water, when the depth was only six
inches more than the vessel's draught; but the bottom being of mud, it
deepened inch by inch, until we reached four, five, and six fathoms; and
upon this depth we sailed the whole day, passing through a cluster, or
rather range of sandy islets. In the evening we anchored under one of
larger size than usual, about four miles from the mainland, the shores of
which had been traced during the day, without losing sight of any part of
it; it was still low, and bounded either by dunes of sand, or an
impervious forest of mangroves, beyond which no part of the interior
could be seen.

February 23.

The following day was spent in examining a bight, but we were prevented
from penetrating to the bottom by the shoalness of the water. We were,
however, near enough to see large sheets of water over the mangrove belt
that lined the shore, in which many openings were observed that
communicated with