deg.
50' 9"; but these being all on one side, the time keepers are preferred.
Azimuths observed from the binnacle, when the ship's head was between S.
by E. and S. S. E., gave 0 deg. 42' east, or 1 deg. 37' east, nearly, for the
true _variation_; and there was no particular attraction upon the
theodolite at any of my stations on shore.

We had two flood _tides_ in the day setting past the ship, and they ran
at the strongest one mile and a half per hour; the rise appeared to be
from six to eight feet, and high water to take place at _two hours and a
half after_ the moon passed the meridian. Except in the time of high
water, which is considerably later than at Thorny Passage, the tides at
the head have a near affinity to those at the entrance of the gulph;
whence the great differences at Port Lincoln, intermediately situate,
become so much the more extraordinary.

SATURDAY 13 MARCH 1802

Nothing of particular interest having presented itself to detain us at
the head of the gulph, we got under way in the morning of the 13th,
having a light breeze from the north-westward. The western shore had been
followed in going up, and for that reason I proposed to keep close to the
east side in returning; but before eight o'clock the water shoaled
suddenly from 4 to 2 fathoms, and the ship hung upon a mud bank covered
with grass, two or three miles from the shore. A kedge anchor was carried
out astern; and in half an hour we again made sail downward, in soundings
from 5 to 10 fathoms near the edge of the shoal.

At noon, latitude observed to the N. and S. 32 deg. 57' 6"
Mount Brown bore N. 9 30 E.
Pt. Lowly south extreme dist. 7 miles, S. 79 0 W.

The depth was then 7 fathoms; but there were banks ahead, extending to a
great distance from the eastern shore, and in steering westward to pass
round them, we had 31/2 fathoms for the least water. It afterwards deepened
to 7, and we again steered southward, but were not able to get near the
land; on the contrary, the shallow water forced us further off as we
proceeded. The wind was at west-southwest in the evening; and this not
permitting us to lie along the edge of the bank, we came to an anchor in
7 fathoms, soft bottom; being then above four leagues from the eastern
low shore, although there was only 31/2 fathoms at less than a mile nearer
in.

Mount Brown bore N. 21 deg. E.
Barn Hill, S. 43 E.
Mount Young,