D’Entrecasteaux places it in longitude 154 degrees 26 minutes East of Greenwich.

D’Urville places it in longitude 154 degrees 26 minutes East of Greenwich.

Owen Stanley places it in longitude 154 degrees 20 minutes East of Greenwich.)

Rossel Island (named after one of D’Entrecasteaux’ officers) is 22 miles in length from east to west, and 10 1/2 in greatest width; it is high and mountainous, and thickly wooded, with occasional large, clear, grassy patches.  Towards the western end the hills become lower and more detached, but present the same features.  The mountain ridges, one of which, but not the highest elevation (which was obscured by clouds) is 2,522 feet in height—­form sharp narrow crests and occasional peaks, but the outline is smooth and the rock nowhere exposed, even the steepest ridges being covered with vegetation.  Some of the trees appeared to be of great dimensions, others were tall and straight, branching only near the top, and many, probably Melaleuca leucodendrum—­were conspicuous from the whiteness of their trunks.  Large groves of cocoa-palms scattered about from the water’s edge to halfway up the hills, formed a pleasing break in the sombre green of the forest scenery.  The shores are either bordered with mangroves with an occasional sandy beach, or clothed with the usual jungle of the island.

As we advanced to the westward the reef gradually extended out from the island with a short space inside, and this appearance continued for several miles, until, upon the land trending away to the south-west, the line of reef left it and ran out to the westward as far as the eye could reach, in an apparently unbroken line of surf.  This is Rossel Reef of the charts along which we ran for* 35 miles, sounding occasionally, but although within a mile of its edge, no bottom was got with upwards of 100 fathoms of line.  From the masthead we could see the surf of the southern border of this great reef, the space between being a lagoon of apparently navigable water.  At the western extremity of the reef there appeared to be a clear opening, but the day was too far advanced to admit of entering it to search for an anchorage, and the ship was hove to for the night.

(Footnote.  It extends 17 miles beyond the westernmost point of Rossel Island.)

ITS INHABITANTS.

Rossel Island, judging from the little we saw of it, appears to be well inhabited.  The first natives seen were a party of five men, apparently naked, who came out upon the beach from a grove of coconut trees, and stood gazing at the unusual sight to them of two vessels passing by.  Opposite a pretty creek-like harbour, the windings of which we could trace back a little way among the hills, several canoes of various sizes were seen, each with an outrigger on one side, and one of them furnished with a large mat-sail of an oblong shape, rounded at the ends.  The people, of whom there were usually about six or seven in each