boobies; and fresh turtle tracks having been perceived, the
crew returned to watch, and at midnight we received five turtle. These
appeared to be of the species called hawkes-bill; the shells and skins,
as also their fat, were of a red tinge, and they had longer necks than
the turtle procured at Wellesley's Islands, to which they were much
inferior, both in size and quality.

When entering the Gulph of Carpentaria in the Investigator, I had
remarked what appeared to be a considerable error in the relative
positions of Booby Isle and the flat-topped York Island, as they are laid
down by captain Cook; and to obtain more certainty, the longitude of the
flat top had been observed this morning from the time keeper, and I
anchored here this afternoon to do the same by Booby Isle. The result
showed the difference of longitude between them to be 431/2', differing
less than 1' from what had been deduced in the Investigator, whereas, by
captain Cook, they are placed 63' asunder. The high respect to which the
labours of that great man are entitled, had caused me to entertain some
doubt of the reality of this error until the present verification. It is
to be wholly ascribed to the circumstance of his not having had a time
keeper in his _first_ voyage; and a more eminent proof of the utility of
this valuable instrument cannot be given, than that so able a navigator
could not always avoid making errors so considerable as this, when
deprived of its assistance.

A meridian altitude of the moon placed Booby Isle in latitude 10 deg. 36'
south; and the longitude from a medium of the Investigator's and
Cumberland's time keepers, was 141 deg. 561/2' east. A morning's amplitude
taken after quitting the isle when the schooner's head was W. by S., gave
the uncorrected variation 5 deg. 38' east.

TUESDAY 25 OCTOBER 1803

At daybreak next morning, having a fresh trade wind, we steered W. by S.
by compass, the soundings increasing gradually from 7 fathoms to 13 at
noon, when our latitude was 10 deg. 38' and longitude 141 deg. 17'. No reefs or
other dangers had been seen to the west of Booby Isle; nor were any met
with in steering across the Gulph of Carpentaria towards Cape Wilberforce
(Atlas, Plate XIV), though many birds, principally boobies, were seen
every day. We ran in the night, with the precaution of heaving to every
four hours, to sound; the depth was from 30 to 36 fathoms on a muddy
bottom, nearly all across the Gulph.

FRIDAY 28 O