flood and field,” have since been told to the world by himself, and therefore need not be repeated here:  but it would be unpardonable not to do justice to his energy, his perseverance, and his success.  He had collected quite a museum of the Natural History of the wild beasts against whom his crusade had been directed; while his collection of drawings, both as regarded the animals delineated, and the appearance of the country in which they were found, was really most beautiful:  and many a pleasant hour was spent in viewing the various specimens and illustrations, each one of which testified the intrepidity and skill of himself or his no less adventurous companion, William Richardson, Esquire, B.C.S.  It will readily be believed that these two gentlemen were then, themselves, the great Lions of that part of Africa.

Sail for Swan river.

Having completed our observations, and crammed every available square inch of the Beagle with various stores—­a proceeding rendered absolutely necessary by the unsatisfactory accounts we received of the state of affairs at Swan River—­we sailed for that place on the morning of the 12th of October.

It should be mentioned, that Lieutenant Grey, hearing it would be impossible for him to obtain a suitable vessel at Swan River, hired a small schooner from this port, and sailed, with his party, for Hanover Bay, on the north-west coast of Australia, the day after our departure.  His subsequent perils, wanderings, and adventures having been fully described in his own published account, I need do no more here than allude to them.

We encountered a good deal of heavy weather, shifting winds, and consequently irregular seas, during our run to Swan River; and owing to the deep state of our loaded little vessel, her decks were almost constantly flooded.  For many days we had never less than an inch and a half of water on them all over; and this extra weight, in our already overburdened craft, did not, of course, add to her liveliness; however, she struggled on.

Island of Amsterdam.

And on the 1st of November bore us in sight of the Island of Amsterdam, and in the afternoon passed to the southward of it, sufficiently near to determine its position.  The summit of the Island, which has rather a peaked appearance, we found to be 2,760 feet high, in latitude 38 degrees 53 minutes South, longitude 77 degrees 37 minutes East of Greenwich.  It is singular that though this Island, which is almost a finger-post for ships bound from the Cape either to New Holland or India, has been so long known to all navigators of these seas, its true longitude should have been till now unascertained.  The western side presented the appearance of a broken-down crater, nor indeed can there be any reason to doubt its volcanic origin.  Light brown was the pervading colour upon the sides of the island, and appeared to be caused by stunted bushes and grass.  The southern island, St. Paul’s, affords a good anchorage in 21 fathoms, about midway on its eastern side, latitude 38 degrees 42 minutes, and is in every way preferable to the spot chosen for that purpose by Vlaming in 1764, on the south-east side of Amsterdam, where landing is never very easy, and generally quite impracticable.