21/2 miles, N. 84 E.
Wallis' Isles, a lower and broader, dist. 3 or 4 miles, S. 71 deg. to 64 E.
Main land, low sandy point, dist. 8 miles, S. 43 E.
Main land, furthest extreme near a smoke, S. 77 E.

Between Cape Cornwall and the low main land above set, is the opening
called in the old Dutch chart, Speult's River; but which captain Cook,
who sailed through it, named Endeavour's Strait. Wallis' Isles are small,
low, and rocky, and the northernmost seemed destitute of vegetation; they
are surrounded with sandy shoals, which appeared to connect with the main
land and leave no ship passage between them. On the north side of the
isles there are several banks at the outlet of Endeavour's Strait; and
the passage this way into the Indian Ocean is thereby rendered much
inferior to that between Wednesday Island and the north-west reef, in
which there are no difficulties.

[NORTH COAST. GULPH OF CARPENTARIA.]

We passed Wallis' Isles, steering southward to get in with the main
coast; but the shoals forced us to run seven or eight miles to the west,
out of sight of land, before regular soundings could be obtained and a
southern course steered into the Gulph of Carpentaria. At dusk, the
anchor was dropped in 8 fathoms, soft mud, in latitude 11 deg. 5', as
observed from the moon to the north and south, and longitude 141 deg. 51' by
time keeper. The variation from amplitude at sunset, was 2 deg. 33', with the
ship's head S. S. E., or 3 deg. 10' east when reduced to the meridian; which
is 1 deg. 42' less than was obtained from azimuths under Wednesday Island.

I now considered all the difficulties of Torres' Strait to be surmounted,
since we had got a fair entry into the Gulph of Carpentaria; and to have
accomplished this, before the north-west monsoon had made any strong
indications, was a source of much satisfaction, after the unexpected
delay amongst the Barrier Reefs on the East Coast. It was this
apprehension of the north-west monsoon that prevented me from making any
further examination of the Strait, than what could be done in passing
through it; but even this was not without its advantage to navigation,
since it demonstrated that this most direct passage, from the southern
Pacific, or Great Ocean to the Indian Seas, may be accomplished _in three
days_. It may be remembered, that the reefs on the north side of the
Pandora's Entrance were passed at six in th