rth end of the sandy beach, and about a mile from
the sea. From this we got about six tons of tolerable water, although the
labour of carrying it on the men's shoulders in seven-gallon barecas was
very great, the only road lying through the valley, which, as may be
inferred from the rounded stones it is strewed with, sometimes conveys a
torrent to the sea. Large columnar blocks of the greenstone of which the
island is composed, present, as the sun falls on their iron rusty
surface, an appearance as if the sides of the valley were lined with red
warriors. The section presented to our view, by the deepest well we sank
at the mouth of this valley, consisted of a light kind of mould for six
feet, then a layer of sand and shells of the same depth, resting on a
coarse soft kind of reddish sandstone.

FORESTIER GROUP.

Depuch is the centre of a string of islands which bears the name of
Forestier Group, fronting the coast at the distance of from one to three
miles. It is much larger than the others, being about eight miles in
circumference, and reaching an elevation of 514 feet; whereas the smaller
islands, some of which are thickly covered with brushwood and coarse
grass, are none of them above 50 feet high. They are of a formation
totally different, being of a very coarse gritty yellow sandstone, in
many places quite honeycombed, with some low sandhills superimposed.

DEPUCH ISLAND.

Although Depuch Island is one vast pile of reddish-coloured blocks,
scattered about in the greatest possible confusion, sometimes resembling
basaltic columns, its outline from seaward appears even. In the valleys,
and on some of the more level spots near the summit, there are
occasionally slight layers of soil, affording nourishment to a coarse
grass, a few bushes, and several stunted eucalypti; but on the whole the
vegetation of the island is extremely scanty. From the highest point we
had a view over the main, extending inland for a great distance. It
appeared to be flat, with the exception of some isolated rocky hills, of
a formation similar to that of Depuch, from 200 to 500 feet in height,
and about six miles from the shore. We could also see at a distance of
twenty-eight miles a very remarkable pyramidal hill, surmounted by a
tower-like piece of rock, bearing from our position South 30 degrees
West. From the white appearance of many large patches of the level
country, we inferred that they were covered with a salt efflorescence;
and it