; but it
may possibly run up much further to the south-eastward, though too small
to be distinguished in the wood, or to be navigable for boats. To the
south and westward there was a ridge of high land, which appeared to be a
prolongation of the same whence the upper branches of Port Bowen and
Shoal-water Bay take their rise, and by which the low land and small arms
on the west side of Broad Sound are bounded. A similar ridge ran behind
Port Curtis and Keppel Bay, and it is not improbable that the two are
connected, and of the same substance; for at Port Curtis the basis stone
of the country was a granite, and this small hill was the same. It has
been more than once observed, that granite is amongst the substances
which exert an influence upon the magnetic needle; and it is to the
attraction of the ridge of mountains to the south and westward, that I
attribute the great variation found in the bearings at this station.

We returned to the tent at sunset; and there passed a disagreeable night
amongst musketoes, sand flies, and ants. At four in the morning [THURSDAY
16 SEPTEMBER 1802] the ebb had made, and we embarked in the boat; but the
depth of water was so little that we could not proceed, and were obliged
to re-land and wait for the following tide; not without apprehension of
being left till the next springs came on. At two in the afternoon the
flood came up rapidly, and in half an hour it was high water; we set off
immediately, and after some trouble from the shoals, reached the brig at
five o'clock. Mr. Murray got under way at three the next morning [FRIDAY
17 SEPTEMBER 1802] to beat down to Upper Head, the wind being from the
northward; but the Lady Nelson getting aground, I went off with Mr. Brown
in my boat, and reached the ship at seven o'clock, and in the evening,
the brig arrived.

Lieutenant Fowler had gone through the most essential duties, and the
ship was nearly ready for sea; but on landing at the tents I found that
the time keepers had been let down, and the business of finding new rates
for them was to be recommenced. This accident would require a week to be
repaired; and being unwilling to remain so long inactive, I determined to
leave Mr. Flinders at Upper Head, and take the ship over to the inner end
of Thirsty Sound, where it appeared there was something to correct in
captain Cook's chart.

SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 1802

The Lady Nelson had lost two sheets of copper, and the trunks of the
sliding k