a gun was heard in the offing; and by the
guidance of our light, the Lady Nelson returned to her anchorage four
hours afterward. Mr. Murray had struck upon a reef, having kept too near
the shore in the apprehension of missing the anchorage in the dark; but
his vessel did not appear to have sustained any other damage than the
main sliding keel being carried away.

As much time having been employed in the examination of this port as the
various objects I had in view could permit, we prepared to quit it on the
following morning. This part of the East Coast had been passed in the
night by captain Cook; so that both the openings escaped his notice, and
the discovery of the port fell to our lot. In honour of admiral Sir Roger
Curtis, who had commanded at the Cape of Good Hope and been so attentive
to our wants, I gave to it the name of PORT CURTIS; and the island which
protects it from the sea, and in fact forms the port, was called _Facing
Island_. It is a slip of rather low land, eight miles in length, and from
two to half a mile in breadth, having Gatcombe Head for its southern
extremity.

The northern entrance to Port Curtis is accessible only to boats; but
ships of any size may enter the port by the southern opening. Mr. Murray
did not find any passage on the south side of the shoal near Gatcombe
Head, but could not say that none existed; he thought the deep channel to
be not more than a mile wide; but at half a mile from the head there was
from 6 to 10 fathoms, and the channel from thence leads fair up the port
to beyond South-trees Point; I suspected, however, from the account given
by Mr. Murray, that there might be a second shoal, lying not so much as a
mile from the head, and one is marked in the plan accordingly, that ships
may be induced to greater caution. There is good anchorage just within
Gatcombe Head; and at a small beach there, behind a rock, is a rill of
fresh water, and wood is easily to be procured.

I cannot venture to give any other sailing directions for going up this
port, than to run cautiously, with a boat ahead and the plan upon the
binnacle. Both the bottom and shoals are usually a mixture of sand, with
mud or clay; but in the northern entrance, and off some of the upper
points and islands where the tides run strong, the ground is in general
rocky.

The country round Port Curtis is overspread with grass, and produces the
_eucalyptus_ and other trees common to this coast; yet the soil is eithe