1802.
February.
Thurs. 4.
kanguroo was brought off, as also a yellow snake, which was the second killed on this island. The great heat deterred the naturalists from going on shore this morning, for the very little variety in the vegetable productions presented no inducement to a repetition of their fatigue. I landed to see what further could be discovered of the neighbouring islands; and we then prepared to get under way so soon as the breeze set in from the south-eastward, which it usually did about noon, after a few hours of calm or of light airs.
The small bay in the Isle St. Francis, which I call Petrel Bay, affords excellent shelter for two or three ships; but no fresh water, not even to rince our mouths, could be found at this time; and a few scattered bushes were the nearest approach to wood upon the island. Petrels, pinguins, and a few hair seals may be procured, and probably some geese in the wet season.
I had hitherto observed upon this coast, that the south-east and east winds produced the same effect upon the barometer as at the Cape of Good Hope, in keeping the mercury high, commonly at or above 30 inches; and the more fresh was the wind, the higher it stood; but within the last few days, the barometer was much lower with the same winds, and at this time was at 29,74. The dense haze which prevailed might possibly have caused the change, but I suspected another reason for it. Winds coming off the land, I had remarked, had a tendency to depress the mercury, and sea winds to make it rise, though no change took place in the weather; and it therefore seemed probable, as the trending of the coast beyond these islands was unknown, that the south-east and east winds came off the land, and not from the sea, as before; in which case, the unknown coast would be found trending to the southward, a conjecture which, it will be seen, was verified. That there was no entrance to a strait, nor any large inlet near these islands, was almost demonstrated by the insignificance of the tides; for neither in Fowler's Bay, nor at this Isle St. Francis, could any set be perceived; nor was there any rise by the shore worthy of notice.
