we anchored under the lee of the reef on which the Hope
Islands are situated, but in a position which afforded little shelter.
While off Cape Tribulation, a remarkable hill in the background so
strongly reminded us of the Peter Botte at Mauritius, that it was so
named upon our chart--it is 3,311 feet in height, the Cape itself being
1,454 feet. For about six days lately the weather has been very
boisterous, blowing hard from East-South-East with a considerable sea.

The weather having at length moderated, I yesterday and today visited the
islands composing the group. A deep and clear channel of a mile in width
separates these islands, the larger of which is surrounded completely,
and the smaller partially, by an extensive reef. The former, or western
one, is merely a long strip of heaped-up coral and shells, with a little
sand and some driftwood running parallel to the outer edge of the reef,
in the direction of the prevailing wind. It is overrun with low bushes,
and a few other plants, such as the large purple-flowered Bossioea, and
Ipomoea maritima. A long bank of dead coral only a few feet above
high-water mark, with an intervening ditch-like hollow, separates it from
the sea to the eastward; while on the other side, towards the reef, it is
margined with tall mangroves. Small and barren though this spot be, it is
yet inhabited by lizards and a species of rat. Besides the usual waders
on the reef, I found great numbers of doves and honeysuckers, and, among
the mangroves, fell in with and procured specimens of a very rare
kingfisher, Halcyon sordida. Among the mangroves a rare shell, a species
of Quoyia, occurred.

The eastern and northern islet is nearly circular, half a mile in
circumference--formed of coral and shell-sand, covered with bushes and
small trees. The most conspicuous plant is the prickly Guilandina bonduc,
the long briar-like trailing and climbing shoots of which impede one
while traversing the thickets. A pair of white-headed sea-eagles had
established their aerie in a tree not more than twenty feet from the
ground, and I could not resist the temptation of robbing them of their
eggs.

THREE ISLES.

July 28th.

Anchored under the Three Isles, between Capes Bedford and Flattery. The
principal one of the group, situated to leeward of an extensive reef, is
margined towards the reef by beds of coral--conglomerate, and elsewhere
by a sandy beach--it is half a mile in length, composed of coral sand,
the