inders from the great supply of turtle he
found there. As, however, it was two months before the season of their
visiting the shores, we only caught twelve, for the most part females.
Near the islands was noticed the same shrubby thick compact kind of
seaweed, that had previously been seen on the parts of the North-west
coast frequented by the turtle. Flinders speaks of finding here in one
turtle as many as 1,940 eggs; and such is their fecundity that were it
not for the destruction of the young by sharks and birds of prey, these
temperate seas would absolutely swarm with them.

Our anchorage was in 7 fathoms, three quarters of a mile South-East from
the highest hill, which I called Mount Flinders; it stands close to the
beach, near the east end of the island, and is in latitude 16 degrees 40
minutes 0 seconds South, longitude 7 degrees 45 minutes 25 seconds East
of Port Essington.

BOUNTIFUL ISLANDS.

Bountiful Islands, two in number, are distant a mile and a half in a
North-East direction from each other. The northern and largest is two
miles and a half long, and three-quarters of a mile wide; whilst the
other is rather more than half a mile each way, and has at the northern
end a mound with a remarkable casuarina tree on its summit. Both are
fronted with coral reefs, particularly at the North-East extreme; there
are some cliffs on the south-east side of the large island of sand and
ironstone formation, the latter prevailing; and over the low
north-western parts a ferruginous kind of gravel was scattered. The
crests of the hills or hillocks were of a reddish sort of sandstone, and
so honeycombed or pointed at the top that it was difficult to walk over
them.

MOUNT FLINDERS.

Near the landing-place, at the foot of Mount Flinders, were a few
isolated gum-trees, and small clusters of the casuarina, which were the
only trees on the northern island. Some drift timber was on the
south-east and north-west sides. On the latter was a tree of considerable
size, doubtless brought from the shore of the Gulf by the North-West
monsoon. Its whole surface was covered with a long brown kind of grass,
interwoven with creepers. There were great quantities of a
cinnamon-coloured bittern seen, as well as quails, doves, and large
plovers, but not any of the bustards mentioned by Flinders. We saw no
traces of land animals of any kind; neither did we of the natives. A
flock of screaming white cockatoos had taken up their abode on the s