oint, the variation was 2 deg. _more east_ than upon the
south-east head; as if the south end of the island attracted the north
point, and the north end the south point of the needle.

On the day of the new moon, a particular observation was made upon the
tide in Malay Road; and it was high water at ten minutes past eight in
the morning, or nearly _eight hours and a quarter after_ the moon had
passed the lower meridian; and the rise was ten feet two inches. There
were two tides in the day; but from the swinging of the ship in the road,
it appeared that the last of the ebb, as well as the whole of the flood,
came from the N. E.; an irregularity which might be caused by the shallow
passage between the two islands.

WEDNESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 1803

The weather was still squally on the 23rd, but in the afternoon became
finer; and at three o'clock we steered south-westward, between the
islands and the main, with a flood-tide in our favour and the whale boat
sounding ahead. All the points of the main coast, like the western sides
of the islands, are low and rocky, and they are bordered with reef; but
we had tolerably good soundings, from 20 to 7 fathoms, in passing along
them at the distance of a mile. At dusk in the evening we came to, in 5
fathoms muddy ground, in a place much like Malay Road; it is formed by
Inglis' and Bosanquet's Islands, and except in a space between them, of
half a mile wide, we had land at various distances all round.

Inglis' Island forms here a pretty looking cove, in which is a woody
islet. In the morning [THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY 1803] I sounded the cove; and
finding it to be shallow, went on, accompanied by the landscape painter,
to take bearings from the steep north-east head of the island. From
thence the main coast was visible four leagues further, extending in the
same south-western direction; at the end of it was an island of
considerable elevation, which I named _Mallison's Island_, and west of it
another, with land running at the back. The bearings which most served
to prolong the survey, were these:

Pobassoo's I., east cliff, in a line with Malay Road, N. 55 deg. 0' E.
Moved back S. 53 deg. W. 1/4 mile.
Mallison's I., steep south-east head, S. 38 25 W.
Mallison's I., outer of two rocks on the north-west side, S. 48 47 W.

We had not brought any provision in the boat; but Inglis' Island
appearing to terminate three or four miles further on, I hoped to make
th