being favourable, we rowed back
for Hamilton's Road; but a fair breeze springing up when abreast of it,
instead of anchoring we made all sail to the west-south-west for Van
Diemen's Land.

On the 25th at day-light, the Ninth Island bore south, five miles; the
wind had then shifted to N. by W., and blew strong, with rainy weather;
and at eight o'clock, it was at N. W. by W., and obliged us to tack
offshore. This gale cleared away on the 26th, and at noon our situation
was in

Latitude 40 deg. 341/2' S.
Mount Chappell bore N. E.
Peak of Cape Barren, N. 78 deg. E.
Land taken for Isle Waterhouse, S. 7 deg. E.

We were then steering south-westward again with a fair breeze; but had
scarcely passed Stony Head, next morning, when another gale sprung up
from the north-west. It was a happy circumstance that we were able to
reach our new discovered port, and take refuge at the former secure
anchorage near the Shag Rocks; for this gale was more violent and of
longer continuance than any of the preceding. This long succession of
adverse winds caused us almost to despair of accomplishing the principal
object of the voyage; for of the twelve weeks, to which our absence from
Port Packson was limited, nearly eight were already expired.

Dec. 2. The gale moderated, and we made an attempt to continue the
voyage, but were driven back. On the 3rd, the attempt was repeated; and
the wind being light, we anchored at the entrance of the port, to prevent
losing by the flood what had been gained by the ebb tide. In the evening
a fair wind sprung up; and at length, to our great satisfaction, we were
enabled to proceed in the discovery of the strait.

The harbour, which we entered with so much pleasure on Nov. 3, and
finally quitted with still more on Dec. 3, was named PORT DALRYMPLE, by
His Excellency governor Hunter, as a mark of respect to Alexander
Dalrymple, Esq., the late hydrographer to the Admiralty. The following is
a summary of the observations taken there, for fixing the position of Low
Head, on the east side of the entrance:

_Latitude_ from six meridian altitudes, of which three
were taken in port, and three at sea within sight
of Low Head 41 deg. 3'
30" S.
_Longitude_ from two sets of distances of the sun east,
and two west of the moon, with Troughton's nine
inch sextant No. 251, corrected for the errors of
the lunar and solar t