ld
any be distinguished from the mast head all the afternoon. At half past
five we tacked and bore down to the brig; and then anchored in 31
fathoms, speckled sand and small stones, and sent a boat to lieutenant
Murray with orders.

Our latitude here, by an observation of the moon, was 20 deg. 10' south; and
now hoping we should not meet with any more interruption from the reefs,
I resolved to send the brig back to Port Jackson. The Lady Nelson sailed
so ill, and had become so leewardly since the loss of the main, and part
of the after keel, that she not only caused us delay, but ran great risk
of being lost; and instead of saving the crew of the Investigator, in
case of accident, which was one of the principal objects of her
attendance, it was too probable we might be called upon to render her
that assistance. A good vessel of the same size I should have considered
the greatest acquisition in Torres' Strait and the Gulph of Carpentaria;
but circumstanced as was the Lady Nelson, and in want of anchors and
cables which could not be spared without endangering our own safety, she
was become, and would be more so every day, a burthen rather than an
assistant to me. Lieutenant Murray was not much acquainted with the kind
of service in which we were engaged; but the zeal he had shown to make
himself and his vessel of use to the voyage, made me sorry to deprive him
of the advantage of continuing with us; and increased my regret at the
necessity of parting from our little consort.

The stores and provisions already supplied to the brig, were returned;
and Mr. Murray spared us his old launch, to replace, in some sort, the
cutter we had lost in Strong-tide Passage. _Nanbarre_, one of the two
natives, having expressed a wish to go back to Port Jackson, was sent to
the Lady Nelson in the morning [MONDAY 18 OCTOBER 1802], with two seamen
exchanged for the same number of that vessel's crew; and Mr. Denis Lacy,
who had been lent, returned back to the Investigator. I wrote to His
Excellency governor King, an account of our proceedings and discoveries
upon the East Coast; and requested a new boat might be built against our
return to Port Jackson, and that the brig should be repaired and equipped
ready to accompany me in the following year.

At nine o'clock we got under way, and showed our colours to bid farewell
to the Lady Nelson; she steered southward for the Cumberland Islands,
whilst our course was directed north-east, close to th