whole expedition, namely, never to move the party
from one place of halt until I had chosen the next one. We bore with us
tools and instruments of every description; so that we not only were
fully capable of maintaining ourselves but could literally, if occasion
had required it, have founded the nucleus of a colony.

Great then was my joy when all my preparations were completed and I felt
the vessel gliding swiftly from Table Bay into that vast ocean at the
other extremity of which lay the land I so longed to see, and to which I
was now bound with the ardent hope of opening the way for the conversion
of a barren wilderness into a fertile garden.

Part of my plan was not only to introduce all useful animals that I
possibly could into this part of Australia, but also the most valuable
plants of every description. For this purpose, a collection had been made
at Tenerife by Mr. Walker, under my direction, and another in South
America,* including the seeds of the cotton plant. From the Cape and from
England I had also procured other useful plants, and had planned that the
vessel, on quitting Timor with the horses, should be filled in every
vacant space with young cocoa-nut trees and other fruits, together with
useful animals such as goats and sheep, in addition to the stock we
conveyed from the Cape.

(*Footnote. We had been able to introduce several useful plants into the
Cape; amongst others the South American Yam, which, owing to the quality
of the potatoes and their great fluctuations in price, will eventually be
very serviceable to the colonists, more especially for the use of
whalers.)

CHAPTER 3. FROM THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO HANOVER BAY.

NATURAL HISTORY.

FORSTER'S PACHYPTILA (Pachyptila vittata.)

October 16.

I shot a female petrel; it had a nail planted in the heel, but no thumb;
the bill was hooked at the end, the extremity of which seemed to consist
of a distinct piece, articulated with the remainder; the nostrils were
united, and formed a tube laid on the back of the upper mandible, hence
it belonged to the family of Petrels (Procellariae.)

Its temperature was 94 degrees.
Length from tip to tip of wing, 2 feet 3 inches.
Length from tip of beak to tip of tail, 1 foot 2.4 inches.
Length from root to tip of tail, 4 inches.
Length of beak, 1.45 inches.
Length of foot, 1.55 inches.
Breadth across body, 2.3 inches.

Colour of beak and legs black; body white underneath; general colour
above, a ligh