Port George the Fourth, which
was afterwards called Augustus Island: to the westward of the point there
appeared to be many islands and much broken land. I sent Mr. Roe to Point
Adieu to get some bearings from the summit of the hill, and in the
meantime Mr. Baskerville sounded the channel between the point and the
islands; which he found to be deep and clear; Mr. Roe's report, however,
of the appearance of the inner part among the islands was not so
favourable, for it is studded over with numerous extensive reefs, which,
being low water, were exposed to view. Mr. Roe saw a tolerably broad
separation between two islands to the south-west, but more to the
westward the islands were so numerous that very little information as to
their shape or number could be obtained.

August 14.

At daylight the following morning we weighed, and with a moderate
land-breeze from South-East, steered to the North-West, and passed round
the islands. Very far to the northward on the sea horizon we saw a
sandbank, surrounded with heavy breakers; and more to the westward was an
island, which was at first supposed to be one of the Champagny Isles of
Captain Baudin, but which I afterwards satisfied myself was Captain
Heywood's Red Island: it is rocky and of small extent and apparently
quite barren. We were soon afterwards abreast of a strait leading between
some rocky islands to the southward; which, as it appeared to be free
from danger, we purposed to steer through. The brig entered it at noon,
when it was high-water, and as she advanced and reached the narrow part,
the ebb-tide was setting so strong against us that, although we were
sailing five knots by the log, we were losing ground; we continued
however to persevere for three hours and a half, and had run nearly
twenty miles by the log without gaining an inch; the breeze then died
away, and not being able to stem the tide, we steered back for anchorage,
but it was dark and late before a favourable bottom was found so that we
lost all the progress that we had gained since noon.

August 15.

The next morning, after taking angles from the sun's rising amplitude, we
got underweigh and stood towards the strait to make another attempt to
pass through it. The view that was obtained yesterday evening from the
masthead before we put about to look for anchorage, induced us to suppose
that many reefs existed in the neighbourhood of its south entrance, for
one of very extensive size was observed dry