I left the
camp therefore at an early hour, in company with Mr. M'Leay and Fraser,
and at day-break arrived opposite to the sand-bank I have mentioned.
Between us and it the entrance into the back water ran. The passage is
at all periods of the tide rather more than a quarter of a mile in
width, and is of sufficient depth for a boat to enter, especially on
the off side; but a line of dangerous breakers in the bay will always
prevent an approach to it from the sea, except in the calmest weather,
whilst the bay itself will always be a hazardous place for any vessels
to enter under any circumstances.

Having, however, satisfactorily concluded our pursuit, we retraced our
steps to the camp, and again took the following bearings as we left the
beach, the strand trending E.S.E. 1/2 E.:--

Kangaroo Island, S.E. angle S. 60 degrees W.
Low rocky point of Cape Jervis S. 81 degrees W.
Round Hill in centre of Range S. 164 degrees W.
Camp, distant one mile S. 171 degrees W.
Mount Lofty, distant forty miles N. 9 degrees E.

Before setting sail, a bottle was deposited between four and five feet
deep in a mound of soft earth and shells, close to the spot on which
the tent had stood, which contained a paper of the names of the party,
together with a simple detail of our arrival and departure.

It appeared that the good fortune, which had hitherto attended us was
still to continue, for the wind which had been contrary, chopped round
to the S.W., and ere sunset we were again in the mouth of the river,
having run from fifty to sixty miles under as much canvass as the boat
would bear, and with a heavy swell during the greater part of the day.

The lake which has thus terminated our journey, is from fifty to sixty
miles in length, and from thirty to forty in width. With such an
expanse of water, I am correct in stating its medium depth at four
feet. There is a large bight in it to the S.E. and a beautiful and
extensive bay to the N.W. At about seven miles from the mouth of the
river, its waters are brackish, and at twenty-one miles they are quite
salt, whilst seals frequent the lower parts. Considering this lake to
be of sufficient importance, and in anticipation that its shores will,
during her reign, if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some
portion of her subjects, I have called it, in well-meant loyalty, "The
Lake Alexandrina."

It is remarkable that the Murray has few t