very little fruit was found; and, in
general, what was found, was either not fully grown, or had the juice
salt, or brackish. So that a ship touching here, must expect nothing
but fish and turtles, and of these an abundant supply may be depended
upon.

On some parts of the land were a few low trees. Mr Anderson gave me an
account also of two small shrubs, and, of two or three small plants,
all which we had seen on Palmerston's Island and Otakootaia. There
was also a species of _sida_ or Indian mallow, a sort of purslain,
and another small plant, that seemed, from its leaves, a
_mesembryanthemum_, with two species of grass. But each of these
vegetable productions was in so small a quantity, and grew with so
much languor, that one is almost surprised that the species do not
become extinct.

Under the low trees above-mentioned, sat infinite numbers of a new
species of tern, or egg-bird. These are black above and white below,
with a white arch on the forehead, and are rather larger than the
common noddy. Most of them had lately hatched their young, which lay
under old ones upon the bare ground. The rest had eggs, of which they
only lay one, larger than that of a pigeon, bluish and speckled with
black. There were also a good many common boobies, a sort that are
almost like a gannet, and a sooty or chocolate-coloured one, with a
white belly. To this list we must add men-of-war birds, tropic-birds,
curlews, sand-pipers, a small land-bird like a hedge-sparrow,
land-crabs, small lizards, and rats.

As we kept our Christmas here, I called this discovery _Christmas
Island_. I judge it to be about fifteen or twenty leagues in
circumference. It seemed to be of a semicircular form, or like the
moon in the last quarter, the two horns being the N. and S. points,
which bear from each other nearly N. by E., and S. by W., four or five
leagues distant. This west side, or the little isle at the entrance
into the _lagoon_, upon which we observed the eclipse, lies in the
latitude of 1 deg. 59' N., and in the longitude of 202 deg. 30' E., determined
by a considerable number of lunar observations, which differed only
7' from the time-keeper, it being so much less. The variation of the
compass was 6 deg. 22-1/2' E., and the dip of the north end of the needle
11 deg. 54'.

Christmas Island, like most others in this ocean, is bounded by a reef
of coral-rocks, which extends but a little way from the shore.
Farther out than this reef, on the