Page:Journals of Several Expeditions Made in Western Australia.djvu/103

 on to the ship with the rest of the party;"—I beg leave to deliver to your Excellency the following report: —

Strong westerly winds did not permit me to leave Cockburn Sound till the morning of the sixth instant, when I stood along shore, at first about a mile and a half off, and latterly, for the most part, within half or three quarters of a mile, having reefs and breakers nearly the whole way to leeward; whilst the vessel was in tolerably good and smooth water, and no soundings, with eight fathoms. The sea breeze set in early, and blew fresh, so that I reached an island in latitude 31°5',, and anchored under it for the night in ten feet water. The passage in was between two reefs to the southward of the island, which were partly dry, the channel very narrow, and many rocks in it, with only three and five feet water on them. On the 7th, I continued along the coast, keeping sufficiently near to see any estuary or other opening of any magnitude, with reefs and breakers generally outside. Off a point, in latitude 30°49'; there is a high rocky island, with a passage having eight feet between it and the main. And in a bay, in latitude 30° 42' there are four islands not laid down in Capt. King's chart. In the bay I found from four to eight fathoms water, the soundings being rather uniform. The islands and reefs between them shelter the north and N. W. part of the bay, whilst the west and S. W. parts are protected by a continuous reef, extending from the islands to within about a mile and a quarter of the south shore, where there is a very good entrance; a small and more intricate entrance exists between two of the islands. I stopped examining this bay for the night, and on the 8th proceeded as before. I soon got into Jurieu Bay, and to my no small dis-