been exposed. I have called it on the chart the "Erebus Bank;" and a dangerous reef of rocks, E. by S. from Cape François, distant between fifteen and sixteen miles, upon which the sea broke violently, received the name of "Terror Reef." The position and extent of this reef were accurately determined by Captain Crozier and the officers of the Terror; and together with such surveys as we were able to make during our stay in this neighbourhood, and such information as I have been able to obtain from the Hydrographic Office, by the permission of Captain Beaufort, serve as the foundation of a general plan of the island; but much remains yet to be done, and carefully minute examination will be necessary before any thing like an accurate map of the numerous harbours, reefs, rocks, and other dangers, can be accomplished.
Many sperm whales were seen during the several days we were beating about upon the Erebus Bank, and large flocks of sea-birds hovered over the patches of sea-weed we met with, whether floating detached, or still fixed to the rocks.
May 12.This morning being close in with the remarkable "Arched Rock" which forms the south cape of Christmas Harbour, and favoured with moderate weather we got fairly between the heads soon after noon; the wind, however, was directly against us, and rapidly increasing in strength, threatened to drive us out once more to sea. As we reached the narrows, which form the inner harbour, so