respects the Houtman's Abrolhos are of great interest, as they are, with the single exception of Bermuda, the locality farthest removed from the equator where reef-building corals are to be found in active growth; and, although they can scarcely be regarded as true "oceanic islands," being only ninety miles from the west coast of Australia, and the soundings between them and the mainland not exceeding one hundred fathoms, several peculiar forms of animal life (and I believe some peculiar plants also) have been developed upon them. They are memorable, too, in the early history of Australian exploration, as having been the scene of the disastrous wrecks of two Dutch discovery ships. The first of these, the 'Batavia,' Commodore Pelsart, was lost in 1627 on one of the southern islands of the group, a small remnant only of her crew reaching Java, after terrible sufferings from want of food and water. The mouldering timbers of this vessel were found by Capt. J.L. Stokes during his visit to the islands in 1840. The other ship, the 'Zeewyk,' was wrecked here in 1728, her people, more fortunate than those of the 'Batavia,' escaping to Java in a sloop built of fragments of the wreck. Many relics of this disaster were also found by Capt. Stokes, including a very curious brass four-pounder with a movable breech-block, showing that breech-loading guns are not entirely a modern invention; this gun is, I believe, to be seen in the museum of the Royal United Service Institution. Capt. Stokes also mentions the finding of numerous square bottles, arranged in rows in the sand, and evidently used for the storage of water by the shipwrecked crew. I afterwards saw some of these bottles in the museum at Perth.
The Houtman's Abrolhos were first closely examined by Capt. Stokes, of the famous little surveying-ship 'Beagle,' in April and May, 1840, and many interesting details are given in his narrative of the voyage ('Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii. pp. 140–166). Of late years the large deposits of guano on Rat Island and other southern members of the group, to which he was the first to direct attention, have been actively worked by a West Australian firm, but the northern islands are very seldom visited.
I went on shore on East Wallaby Island soon after the ship anchored, with three of my messmates, who were bent on
