Here the river widens and forms a basin, two miles and a half wide: a little above this the river is blocked up by shoals and islets (HEIRISSON ISLES) between which the depth is not more than two or three feet, but afterwards deepens gradually from five to fifteen feet: the banks of the river are then not more than one-third of a mile wide, and then continue in a serpentine course, with a channel from seven to ten feet deep, and free from shoals, as far as the French boats examined it.

The stream of the river ran very slowly, and winds through a valley, one side of which is abrupt and precipitous, and when it ceases to be so on one side, the heights immediately appear on the other." In front of this river is a group of islands, of which two only are of large size, namely, ROTTNEST and BUACHE.

We anchored on the north side of the former, but broke the fluke, from the rocky nature of the bottom.

On the North-East side of the island, the anchorage is better, since it is more sheltered.

Rottnest Island is five miles long: it was discovered by Vlaming in 1696.