were some natives’ huts and two canoes; the former appeared to have been recently occupied, and were very snug habitations.  They were of a circular shape, and very ingeniously constructed by twigs stuck in the ground and arched over, the ends being artfully entwined so as to give support to each other; the whole was covered with a thatch of dried grass and reeds; they were not larger than two people could conveniently occupy.  In one of the huts, which was of a more elliptical shape and of larger dimensions than the other, was a bunch of hair that had been recently clipped from either the head or beard.  This proves that these operations are not done solely by fire, as Captain Cook supposed,* but by means of a sharp-edged shell, which must be both tedious and painful to endure; and we have often witnessed the delight shown by the natives at the speedy effect a pair of scissors has produced upon the beard or hair.  The canoes were not longer than eight feet and would not safely carry more than two people; the ends were stitched together by strips of the stem of the Flagellaria indica.

(Footnote.  Hawkesworth volume 3 page 229.)

Few palm-trees were seen, but at the large islands, according to Captain Cook’s account,* they are probably abundant.  A considerable quantity of pumice-stone was found, as is usual in every place that we have landed at within the tropic, heaped up above the highwater mark.  During the afternoon we had little wind; in the evening we passed a mile and a half to the eastward of a low and dangerous reef which escaped Captain Cook’s observation; the only part of it that was visible above the water were two low rocks, but as the tide ebbed the craggy heads of several smaller ones gradually uncovered, and at low water it is probably quite dry; we passed it in ten fathoms.  It is not probable that its extent is greater than what is exposed at low water, but from its steepness it is very dangerous.

(Footnote.  Hawkesworth volume 3 page 136.)

At sunset we anchored about four miles to the eastward of the position assigned to a reef, on which the ship Lady Elliot struck, in 1815; but saw nothing of it.

June 19.

At daybreak we resumed our voyage and steered for Cape Sandwich after passing inside the Palm Island Group.  We were now approaching Point Hillock, which is a point of land projecting for two miles into the sea, with a small hillock at its extremity; from which Captain Cook named it; the land rises precipitously behind it to the height of about two thousand feet and forms a mass of bare rocky hills of a singularly grand and imposing appearance.  It rises nearly perpendicularly from the lower wooded hills at its base and is as abrupt on its land side as on that which faces the sea.  The summit extends from north to south for seven miles and forms a narrow craggy ridge on which are several remarkable peaks.  It was called Mount Hinchinbrook and is visible from the deck for eighteen leagues.