by a rocky reef covered with shell-fish,
of which the principal sorts were species of trochus, chama, conus,
voluta, cypraea, buccinum, ostrea, mytilus, and patella; among the latter
was the large one of King George's Sound. Upon the beaches to windward of
the cape we found varieties of sponge and coral; and beche de mer were
observed in the crevices of the rocks but were neither large nor
plentiful. Mr. Cunningham saw two land snakes, one of which was about
four feet in length; the colour of its back was black and the belly
yellow; the only quadruped seen was a small opossum. A seal of the hair
species, like those of Rottnest Island, was seen on the rocks, probably
of the same description that Dampier found in the maw of the shark;* and
also what was found by the French on Faure Island, which M. Peron
supposed to be an herbivorous animal and described as a dugong.**

(*Footnote. Dampier volume 3 page 87.)

(**Footnote. Peron volume 2 page 227 et seq and De Freycinet page 201.)

January 24.

On the 24th Mr. Roe visited the Cape to fix on the post a memorial of our
visit; an inscription was carved upon a small piece of wood in the back
of which was deposited another memorandum written upon vellum; the wood
was of the size of the sheave-hole of the larger post, into which it was
fixed, and near it Mr. Roe piled up a heap of stones. After this was
accomplished the party walked for some distance along the beach to the
south-west of the cape, where they found the remains of two or three
whales that had been lately wrecked; a small piece of putrefied flesh was
also seen, about two or three feet long, one side of which was covered
with red hair, it was however too far gone to ascertain to what animal it
belonged.

On examining into the state of our dry provisions it was mortifying to
find that the rats and cockroaches had destroyed an incredible quantity,
particularly of our biscuit and flour. In one of the casks of the latter
more than two-thirds of its contents was deficient. The biscuit was
completely drilled through and the greater part would not have been
thought fit to eat if we had possessed any of a better quality; I still
however hoped to have a sufficiency on board to complete the survey of
the north-west coast before our return to Port Jackson, which I now found
would of necessity be at least four or five weeks before the time I had
fixed upon when we left the Mauritius. As it would take up a great
portion of t