heavy gust of wind, it gradually receded. On the dispersion of this magnificent phenomenon, the column was observed to diminish gradually, and at length to retire to the cloud, from whence it had descended in an undulating form.
“Various causes have been assigned for these formations, which appear to be intimately connected with electricity. On the present occasion a ball of fire was observed to be precipitated into the sea, and one of the boats, which was away from. the ship, was so surrounded by lightning, that Lieutenant Belcher thought it advisable to get rid of the anchor, by hanging it some fathoms under water, and to cover the seamen’s muskets. From the accounts of this officer and Mr. William Smyth, admiralty mate, who was likewise at a distance from the ship, the column of the waterspout first descended in a spiral form, until it met the ascending column a short distance from the sea; a second and a third were afterwards formed, which subsequently united into one large column, and this again separated into three small spirals and then dispersed. It is not impossible that the highly rarefied air confined by the woods encircling the lagoon islands may contribute to the formation of these phenomena.”
After quitting Clermont Tonnere, the Blossom successively made Serle, Whitsunday, Queen Charlotte’s, Lagoon, Thrum-Cap, and Egmont Islands.
“Whitsunday Island, “discovered by Captain Wallis, in 1767, is only a mile and a half in length, and situated forty miles to the westward of the place assigned to it.” Queen Charlotte’s Island afforded him a plentiful supply of cocoa-nuts, “but at present not a tree of that description is to be seen.”
Commander Beechey subsequently discovered five islands, to which he gave the names of Barrow, Cockburn, Byam Martin, Croker, and Melville. He also searched for and found Carysfort Island, which appears to have been correctly described by Captain Edwards. Of thirty-two islands which the Blossom visited in succession, only twelve, including Pitcairn’s, are inhabited, and the amount of the population, altogether, does not exceed 3100 souls. Respecting the manner in which they probably received their aborigines, a question which has perplexed philosophers, and given rise to many ingenious theories, her commander say:–
