d south by that island; and on the west by a
separate piece of land, five or six miles long, which, in honour of the
noble possessor of Burley Park, in the county of Rutland, I named
_Winchilsea Island_; and a small isle of greater elevation, lying a short
mile to the east of the ship, was called _Finch's Island_.

SATURDAY 15 JANUARY 1803

Early next morning the botanists landed on Groote Eylandt, and I went to
Finch's Island with the second lieutenant, to take bearings and
astronomical observations. From the western head, I saw that the bay
extended six or eight miles above the ship, to the southward, and that
the southern outlet, beyond Winchilsea Island, was about one mile wide;
but the whole seemed to be too shallow for any thing larger than boats.
Amongst the bearings taken from this station, those most essential to the
survey were,

Groote Eylandt, the woody north-west bluff, S. 56 deg. 46' W.
A distant wedge-shaped rock, the N. E. bluff, N. 59 55 W.
Chasm I., the steep west end, N. 3 51 E.

And from another station, half a mile to the E. S. E., I set Groote
Eylandt, the central hill, at S. 14 deg. 27' E.

This bearing and that of the north-west bluff, formed connecting links in
the chain of longitude round the island.

SUNDAY 16 JANUARY 1803

Next day the botanists landed upon Winchilsea Island, and further
astronomical observations were taken upon that of Finch; where also a
part of the ship's company went to divert themselves, and to wash their
linen; and in the evening, we prepared to quit North-west Bay.

A close-grained sand stone, nearly resembling that of Pellew's Group,
seems to form the basis of Groote and the neighbouring islands; we found
also coral, ironstone, and quartz. In many places, quartz in almost a
crystallised state was sprinkled in grains through the sand stone, and
in others, the sand stone itself was partly vitrified. Wherever we
landed, the surface was so entirely composed of stone and sand, that the
idea of any kind of cultivation could in no wise be assimilated with it;
the hills at a little distance from the water side were, however, well
covered with wood, and it is not improbable, that there may be vallies in
the central parts of Groote Eylandt possessing some degree of fertility.
The central hill, which is six or eight hundred feet in elevation,
appeared to be not so much as three leagues from the head of North-west
Bay, and I w