re from thence S. 801/2 deg. E.,
and its latitude will therefore be 32 deg. 301/4' south; the longitude deduced
from bearings and the time-keepers on board is 138 deg. 03/4' east.

Our return to the ship was a good deal retarded by going after the black
swans and ducks amongst the flats. The swans were all able to fly, and
would not allow themselves to be approached; but some ducks of two or
three different species were shot, and also several sea pies or red
bills. Another set of bearings was taken on the western shore, and at ten
in the evening we reached the ship, where Mr. Brown and his party had not
been long arrived. The ascent of Mount Brown had proved to be very
difficult, besides having to walk fifteen miles on a winding course
before reaching the foot; by perseverance, however, they gained the top
at five on the first evening, but were reduced to passing the night
without water; nor was any found until they had descended some distance
on the following day. The view from the top of Mount Brown was very
extensive, its elevation being not less than three thousand feet; but
neither rivers nor lakes could be perceived, nor anything of the sea to
the south-eastward. In almost every direction the eye traversed over an
uninterruptedly flat, woody country; the sole exceptions being the ridge
of mountains extending north and south, and the water of the gulph to the
south-westward.

Mr. Brown found the stone of this ridge of craggy mountains to be
argillaceous, similar to that of the flat-topped land where I had taken
bearings on the west side of the inlet. It is reddish, smooth,
close-grained, and rather heavy. Bushes and some small trees grown in the
hollows of the rising hills; and between their feet and the mangrove
swamps near the water there was some tolerably good though shallow soil.

We had seen fires upon the eastern shore opposite to Point Lowly on first
entering the head of the gulph, and wherever I had landed there were
traces of natives; Mr. Brown found them even to a considerable height up
the side of the mountain; and it should therefore seem that the country
here is as well inhabited as most parts of Terra Australis, but we had
not the good fortune to meet with any of the people.

The observations taken by lieutenant Flinders fixed the position of the
ship in _latitude_ 32 deg. 44' 41" south, and _longitude_ by the time keepers
137 deg. 49' 56" east. Twelve sets of distances of the sun and moon gave 137