The press of sail carried in the night had so much stretched the rigging that it required to be set up, fore and aft.  Whilst this was doing on board, the naturalists landed upon the island; where I also went to take bearings with a theodolite, and observations for the latitude and longitude.  The island is about two miles long, and connected by rocks with the small outer isle; and they extend four or five miles from a projecting part of the main, in a west direction.  These islands form the southern boundary, as Cape Radstock does the north point of a great open bay, which, from the night we passed in it, obtained the name of ANXIOUS BAY.

I found the island to bear a great resemblance to the western Isle of St. Peter, in its cliffy shores, granitic basis and super-stratum of calcareous stone; in its vegetable productions, and in its surface being much excavated by the burrows of the sooty petrels.  It had also been frequented by geese at some preceding season of the year, and there were marks of its having been a breeding place for them; but at this time the vegetation was too much dried up to afford any subsistence.  Crows of a shining black colour were numerous; and in two which I shot the bill was surrounded at the base with small feathers, extending one-fourth of the length towards the extremity.  There were no appearances of the island having been before visited either by Europeans or Indians, and a single rat was the sole quadruped seen; but a few hair seals were killed upon the shore.  Mr. Brown remarked that this was the first island where not a single novelty in natural history had presented itself to his observation.

[SOUTH COAST. INVESTIGATOR’S GROUP.]

From the highest part of the island I saw two patches of breakers, lying near three miles out from the western island; and beyond the Top-gallant Isles in the offing, there was a piece of land of more considerable extent, which the haze did not allow of being well defined.  No part of the main coast was visible from hence, beyond the projection close to Waldegrave’s Isles; but on changing my station to the southward, land opened from it at the distance of three or four leagues.  The principal bearings taken were as follow: 

Point Weyland, distant 7 or 8 leagues, N. 24 deg. 10’ W.
Top-gallant Isles, centre of the largest, S. 52 20 W.
Southmost rock, like a ship under sail, S. 48 5 W.
Further land, the east side, S.57 deg. 40’ to 69 10 W.
Southern extreme of the coast, S. 49 40 E.

A squall passed over as the sun came to the meridian, and deprived me of an observation for the latitude; but the centre of Waldegrave’s largest Isle was afterwards found to be in 33 deg. 351/2’ south, and the longitude by my observations on shore for the time keepers, was 131 deg. 44’ east.