rtis discovered, and examined.
Some account of the surrounding country.
Arrival in Keppel Bay, and examination of its branches,
one of which leads into Port Curtis.
Some account of the natives, and of the country round Keppel Bay.
Astronomical and nautical observations.

[EAST COAST. TOWARDS HERVEY'S BAY.]

THURSDAY 22 JULY 1802

Lieutenant John Murray, commander of the brig Lady Nelson, having
received orders to put himself under my command, I gave him a small code
of signals, and directed him, in case of separation, to repair to
Hervey's Bay; which he was to enter by a passage said to have been found
by the south-sea whalers, between Sandy Cape and Break-sea Spit. In the
morning of July 22, we sailed out of Port Jackson together; and the
breeze being fair and fresh, ran rapidly to the northward, keeping at a
little distance from the coast. (Atlas, Plate VIII.)

At eleven o'clock, the south head of Broken Bay bore W. by N. three
leagues; and Mr. Westall then made a sketch of the entrance, with that of
the Hawkesbury River, which falls into it (Atlas, Plate XVIII, View 2).
The colonists have called this place Broken Bay, but it is not what was
so named by captain Cook; for he says it lies in latitude 33 deg. 42'
(Hawkesworth III. 103), whereas the southernmost point of entrance is not
further than 33 deg. 34' south. There is, in captain Cook's latitude, a very
small opening, and the hills behind it answer to his description of "some
broken land that seemed to form a bay," when seen at four leagues, the
distance he was off; but in reality, there is nothing more than a shallow
lagoon in that place. In consequence of this difference in position, Cape
Three-points has been sought three or four leagues to the north of Broken
Bay; whereas it is the north head of the entrance into the bay itself
which was so named, and it corresponds both in situation and appearance.

At noon, the south-eastern bluff of Cape Three-points bore S. 64 deg. W.,
seven or eight miles, and was found to lie in 33 deg. 321/2' south and 151 deg.
231/2' east. In steering northward along the coast, at from six to two
miles distance, we passed two rocky islets lying under the high shore;
and at sunset, Coal Island, in the entrance of Port Hunter, bore N. 9 deg.
W., five or six miles. This port was discovered in 1797 by the late
captain John Shortland, and lies in 32 deg. 56' south, longitude 151 deg. 43'
east.

We passed Port Stephens a little befor