he land on the east side of the bay was
distant three miles, and no other than a shallow opening in the
north-east corner could be seen; a disappointment which left little to be
expected in the southern parts of the bay, to which no set of tide had
been perceived. In consequence, I gave up the intention of further
prosecuting the examination in the ship, in favour of going round in my
boat; and directed lieutenant Fowler, so soon as the botanical gentlemen
should have explored the productions on the nearest part of Cape Newbald,
to return with the ship to the entrance of the bay, and anchor near some
low cliffs on the western side, where the botanists could again pursue
their researches until my arrival.

Mr. Bauer the natural-history painter, himself a good botanist, expressed
a wish to accompany me, and with Mr. Bell, the surgeon, we went off in
the afternoon, steering S. S. E. for a small beach in the low, woody
shore, five or six miles off. Squalls of wind with heavy rain prevented
sounding in the first half of the way; but we then had nine feet, and
nearly the same to the beach, where we landed at dusk. The wood was very
thick here, the ground swampy, and the musketoes numerous and fierce; so
that between them and our wet clothes we had very little rest.

THURSDAY 3 MARCH 1803

In the morning, after bearings had been taken from a projecting part of
the ironstone shore, we steered four miles to the S. S. W., mostly in 2
fathoms, to some low cliffs of red earth; where Mr. Bauer examined the
productions of the main land, whilst I took bearings from a small islet
or bank of iron ore, lying near it.

The ship at anchor, dist. 8 or 9 miles, bore N. 1 deg. 15' E.
Mallison's I., south-western cliffs, N. 50 25 W.
Low islet in the bay, centre., S. 89 30 W.

Seeing that the shore took a western direction about five miles further
on, we steered for the low islet; and at a mile from the land had 3, and
afterwards 5 fathoms until approaching a long sandy spit, which extends
out from the east end of the islet and was then dry. I landed upon it in
time to observe the sun's meridian altitude, which gave 12 deg. 22' 6" south,
but a passing cloud deprived me of the supplement. The islet is little
else than a bed of sand, though covered with bushes and small trees;
there were upon it many marks of turtle and of turtle feasts; and finding
the musketoes less numerous than on the main, we stopped to rep