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about fifty leagues, the set was something in our favour. The wind was then at south, and our course steered was north for twenty-four hours, then N. by W.; and on the 17th at noon we were in latitude 23° 22′, longitude 155° 34′, and had the wind at S.E. by S. Soon after two o'clock, the Cato being some distance on our larbord quarter made the signal for seeing land. This proved to be a dry sand bank, which bore S.S.W. about three leagues; and the Porpoise sailing faster than the other ships, they were directed to keep on their course whilst we hauled up to take a nearer view of the bank. At three o'clock, when it bore S. by E. five or six miles, we hove to and sounded, but had no bottom at 80 fathoms. The Cato's Bank, for so it was named, is small and seemed to be destitute of vegetation; there was an innumerable quantity of birds hovering about, and it was surrounded with breakers; but their extent seemed very little to exceed that of the bank, nor could any other reef near it be discovered. The situation was ascertained to be nearly 23° 6′ south, and 155° 23′ east; and we then made sail after the Bridgewater and Cato, to take our station a-head of them as before.

Some apprehensions were excited for the following night by meeting with this bank; but as it was more than two degrees to the eastward of the great Barrier Reefs, we thought it unconnected with any other, like the two discovered by captain Ball and Mr. Bampton, further towards the north end of New Caledonia. I had, besides, steered for Torres' Strait in the Investigator, from reefs several degrees to the westward, without meeting with any other danger than what lay near the Barrier or belonged to the Strait; and by the time we had rejoined the ships in the evening, the distance run from the bank was thirty-five miles, and no other danger had been descried. It did not therefore seem necessary to lose a good night's run by heaving to; and I agreed with lieutenant Fowler, that it would be sufficient to make the signal for the ships to run under easy, working sail during the night,—to take our usual station a-head,—and to