o 5 fathoms water,
until half past noon; when they anchored in latitude 10 deg. 3', and
longitude, by time-keeper, 142 deg. 14'. The sole direction in which the eye
could range without being obstructed, was that whence the vessels had
come; every where else the view was arrested by rocks, banks, and
islands. The most extensive of these, was Banks' Island, extending from
S. 14 deg. E. to 62 deg. W., two or three leagues; with a high hill upon it named
_Mount Augustus_, which bore S. 4 deg. E:* Another large island, named
_Mulgrave's_, extended from behind the last to a cluster of rocks, whose
extreme bore W. 5 deg. N. The nearest land, bearing S. 24 deg. E., one mile and a
half, was the north-westernmost of three small isles; and to this, the
second lieutenant was sent, for the purpose of taking possession of all
the islands seen in the Strait, for HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY GEORGE III.,
with the ceremonies used on such occasions: the name bestowed upon the
whole was CLARENCE'S ARCHIPELAGO.

[* This mountain, in latitude 10 deg. 12' south, longitude 142 deg. 13' east, was
seen by captain Bligh from the Bounty's launch, and marked in his chart,
(_Voyage, etc._ p. 220.) It appears to be the same island indistinctly
laid down by captain Cook, in latitude 10 deg. 10', longitude 141 deg. 14'; and
is, also, one of those, to which the term _Hoge Landt_ is applied in
Thevenot's chart of 1663.]

_North Possession Island_ was found to be little else than a mass of
rocks surrounded by a reef; but it was covered with a variety of trees
and shrubs. Amongst them was a cluster of cocoa-nut trees, bearing a
small, but delicious, fruit; and the tree bearing a plum, such as had
been seen at Dalrymple's Island. Besides these, the botanists found the
_peeha_ and _nono_ of Taheity; and two new plants, of the size of the
common mulberry. One, of the class _polyadelphia_, bears a scarlet,
bell-shaped flower, large as the China rose; the other was a species of
_erythrina_, bearing clusters of butterfly-shaped flowers, of a light
yellow, tinged with purple: both were entirely destitute of leaves, and
their woods remarkably brittle.

There did not appear to be any fixed inhabitants upon Possession Island;
but from a fire which had been recently extinguished, and the shells and
bones of turtle scattered around, it was supposed to have been visited
not many days before. The bushes were full of small, green ants; which
proved exceedingly troublesome to