perceived twenty-seven natives, seven of whom were children, in one
party.

DELAMBRE ISLAND.

On the 27th we crossed over to Delambre Island, on which a large party
landed in the afternoon. A few turtle were here taken, of a different
kind from any we had seen before, and apparently a cross between the
Hawk's Bill and the Green Turtle; several nests were also found, in one
of which were 138 eggs. This island terminates, like Bezout Island, to
the northward, in cliffs about 90 feet high, with deep water close to; on
the east and west sides it is fronted by a reef nearly a mile in extent;
but we could see no traces of those lying three miles to the
North-North-West of the North-West point, laid down by Captain King. The
passage between Huiy Island and Delambre is five miles wide, though clear
for two miles only, and in working out we found that it had a very uneven
bottom, over which a two-knot tide causes heavy ripplings. We noticed
that a hill, lying nine miles to the south-west of Bezout Island, called
in the chart Round-backed Hill, bearing between South 5 degrees East, and
South 15 degrees East, clears the reefs on either side the channel; and
that the same hill bearing South 24 degrees West leads between Bezout and
Delambre, and South 8 degrees West clears the reef off the eastern side
of the latter.

THE MONTEBELLO GROUP.

From Delambre we proceeded to the Montebello Islands, principally in
order to set at rest two points of great interest, namely, the position
of Ritchie's Reef, and of the long lost Tryal Rocks. On the 31st, in the
afternoon, we anchored in 6 fathoms on the eastern side of Tremouille