Read December 16, 1817.
The British Government having judged it expedient to take possession of the island of Tristan da Cunha, a military detachment, consisting of about fifty men, with a captain, two subalterns, and a medical officer, was sent to occupy it from the Cape of Good Hope. Motives of curiosity led me to apply for permission to accompany this expedition, which embarked on board His Majesty's ship Falmouth on the 2d of November 1816. A liberal supply of agricultural instruments, with a team of labouring oxen, and some cattle for breeding, was sent on board at the same time. We sailed from Table Bay on the 3d, and two days after encountered a heavy gale, during which, our cattle, standing unsheltered upon deck, were so much injured by the rolling of the ship, and by the sea washing over them, that they all died before we arrived at our destination. The westerly winds, which usually prevail in the high southern latitudes, protracted our voyage to the 28th of November: but we had the good fortune to come to anchor in fine weather, and landed all the stores without loss or damage.
Tristan da Cunha is situated in 37°6' south lat. and in 11°44' west long. The whole island is apparently a solid mass of rock in the form
