e many hours, perhaps minutes,
before she will find smooth water and anchoring ground. The commander who
proposes to make the experiment, must not, however, be one who throws his
ship's head round in a hurry, so soon as breakers are announced from
aloft; if he do not feel his nerves strong enough to thread the needle,
as it is called, amongst the reefs, whilst he directs the steerage from
the mast head, I would strongly recommend him not to approach this part
of New South Wales.

CHAPTER V.

Passage from the Barrier Reefs to Torres' Strait.
Reefs named Eastern Fields.
Pandora's Entrance to the Strait.
Anchorage at Murray's Islands.
Communication with the inhabitants.
Half-way Island.
Notions on the formation of coral islands in general.
Prince of Wales's Islands, with remarks on them.
Wallis' Isles.
Entrance into the Gulph of Carpentaria.
Review of the passage through Torres' Strait.

[EAST COAST. TOWARDS TORRES' STRAIT.]

THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER 1802

The last reefs were out of sight in the evening of Oct. 21, and our
course was continued for Torres' Strait; but the barrier was yet at too
little distance, not to cause apprehension of straggling reefs; and I
thought it too hazardous to run in the night, during this passage.

At noon of the 22d [FRIDAY 22 OCTOBER 1802], our latitude was 16 deg. 39',
longitude 148 deg. 43', and there was no bottom at 150 fathoms (Atlas, Plate
XII.); nor was any thing unusual to be seen, unless it were tropic and
man-of-war birds, and gannets. The _Bature de Diane_ of Mons. de
Bougainville should lie about thirty-eight leagues to the N. E. by E.,
and his western reefs about twenty-eight leagues to the N. N. W. 1/2 W., of
this situation; and to them, or perhaps some nearer banks, the birds
might probably belong.* A piece of land is marked to the south-west of
the first reefs, but its existence is very doubtful; for all that M. de
Bougainville says of it (II, 163) is, that "some even thought they saw
low land to the south-west of the breakers."

[* Bougainville's longitude of the north end of Aurora Island, one of his
_Archipel de Grandes Cyclades_ (the New Hebrides of Cook), differed 54'
of longitude to the east of captain Cook's position; and it seems very
probable that it was as much too great when the above dangers were
discovered. Admitting this to be the case, the situations extracted from
his voyage (II, 161, 164) will be as under:
Bature de Diane 15 deg. 41' south 150 deg.