tude is
corrected, are laid down from observations wholly distinct from those at
Upper Head and Sweers' Island, which regulated the Investigator's
longitude, this near coincidence will be thought remarkable; and it must
also be allowed to show, that an equally accelerated rate and
supplemental correction are improvements on the ordinary management of
time keepers.

At this time, the large reef to the north of Murray's Islands was distant
one or two miles, and we steered westward along it, to get into my former
track; but the man at the mast head saying that the water was
discoloured, and that he did not think there was any passage in the
direction we steered, I thought myself deceived in the distance of the
island; and the schooner was hauled up two points to the southward, where
the appearance was better. It became evident, however, that the
discoloured water was in the same ripplings of tide through which the
Investigator had passed without finding bottom at 30 fathoms; and no
doubt it was from these ripplings that the discolouring arose.

At ten o'clock, the top of the largest island bore S. 74 deg. E. five or six
miles, we had reefs at the distance of half a mile to a mile on each
beam, and I then found that we were to the south of the Investigator's
track; but the channel being clear ahead, and taking a direction nearly
straight for Cape York, I steered onward, being rather pleased than sorry
at having thus got by accident into a new route. Darnley's Island was
seen from the mast head before eleven; and when the top of Murray's
Island bore E. 1 deg. S. it was set at N. N. W., the depth being then 52
fathoms on a bottom of small stones, coral, and shells. The great line of
reefs which had been kept on the larbord beam of the Investigator, was
now on the starbord beam of the schooner; but we had also a great mass of
reefs on the other side, forming between them a kind of channel from two
to four miles broad, leading south-westward. We ran on at the rate of
five knots until noon, when the depth was 25 fathoms, soft sand, and our
situation as under,

Latitude observed to the south, 9 deg. 581/2'
Longitude brought on, 143 45
Murray's I., top of the largest, N. 78 E.
Murray's I., south-westernmost, N. 82 E.

The channel was now five or six miles wide, and no interruption yet
appeared; but breakers were seen a-head before two o'clock, and seemed to
connect the reefs to leeward with those on th