which in whatever way it was dreſſed, was conſidered by all of us as the moſt delicious food we had ever taſted. The fat of theſe animals when melted down, was equal to freſh butter; thoſe which weighed from thirty to forty pounds, were the beſt, and yielded two quarts of fat: ſome of the largeſt, when ſtanding on their feet, meaſured near a yard from the lower part of the neck. As they advance in age their ſhell becomes proportionably thin, and I have ſeen them in ſuch a ſtate, that a pebble would ſhatter them. I ſalted ſeveral of the middle ſize, with ſome of the eggs, which are quite round, and as big as thoſe of a gooſe, and brought them to England. The moſt extraordinary animal in this iſland is the ſea guana, which, indeed abounds in all theſe iſles. We did not ſee the land guana in any of the iſles but James's, and it differs from that which I have ſeen on the coaſt of Guinea, in having a kind of comb on the back of its neck.
Theſe iſles deſerve the attention of the Britiſh navigators beyond any unſettled ſituation: but the preference muſt be given to James's Iſle, as it is the only one we found ſufficient freſh water at to ſupply a ſmall ſhip. But Chatham Iſle being one of the Southernmoſt, I recommend to be the firſt made, in order to aſcertain the ſhip's true