Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 2.djvu/67

Broad Sound.] dusk the anchor was dropped in 5 fathoms, sandy bottom, between the Flat Isles and the main, West Hill bearing N. 35° W. three leagues; the master sounded towards the coast, which was five miles off, and found the deepest water to be on that side. In the morning the wind had shifted to south, and we beat up in a channel formed by the Flat Isles and the shoals attached to them, on one side, and the shelving banks from the main coast, on the other. We had the assistance of a strong flood tide till eleven o'clock; at which time the anchor was let go, one mile from the north end of the 4th Flat Island.

I landed immediately, with the botanists; and at the south-east end of the island, which is a little elevated, took bearings and the meridian altitude of both limbs of the sun from an artificial horizon. The latitude deduced was 22° 8′ 33″; and the ship bearing N. 19° 30′ W., two miles, it should have been for her, 22° 6′ 40″; but lieutenant Flinders' observation to the north gave 22° 5′ 19″, or 1′ 21″ less, nearly as on the preceding day; and it was ascertained that the difference arose neither from the eye nor the instrument. Amongst the bearings were,

The 4th Flat Isle is about one mile long, and there is a smaller lying off its south-east end; they are a little elevated, and bear grass and small trees; but the shores are covered with mangroves, and surrounded with extensive flats of mud and sand. The main coast, from which they lie two or three miles, is also low, with mangroves and shelving mud banks; but there is a deep channel between, of a mile in width. In the evening, when the flood made, we steered into this channel with a light sea-breeze; but not having time to clear it before dark, the anchor was dropped in 4 fathoms at six o'clock.

My attention was attracted this evening by the vast extent of mud left dry on each side of the channel, and I ordered particular