t is
therefore necessary to haul over towards Quail Island, when the highest
hummock on it bears South-West 1/2 West. The tides follow the direction
of the channel, varying in velocity from one to two knots. The ebb in the
offing set West-North-West.

PORT PATTERSON.

The reader will be able to have an idea of the large sheet of water these
united harbours form, by knowing that Port Patterson is twelve miles long
and seven wide at the entrance; though at the upper part, forming the
mouth of Bynoe Harbour, it is not half that width. The latter winds round
to the South-East for a distance of 15 miles, with an average width of
two, and a depth of nine fathoms. Thus terminated our exploration in this
neighbourhood; the result having been to give this part of the coast
quite an insulated character. The sheets of water creating this new
feature, although monotonous with their mangrove-lined shores, still
conveyed us many miles into various parts of the continent that had never
before been seen by a civilized being.

Another opening of far greater magnitude, and promising in all
probability to lead far into the interior now lay before us, at a
distance of 140 miles further on the coast to the south-west. By the
evening we had lost sight of the land near Port Patterson, and were
steering towards the opening that promised so much. A gap in the
coastline, 28 miles wide, with a strong tide passing to and fro, failed
not to give birth to endless speculation as we approached the spot. I had
always looked forward to the examination of this unexplored portion of
the North-west coast, as one of the most interesting parts of our survey.

REACH POINT PEARCE.

In consequence of light north-west and westerly winds, our approach was
tantalizingly slow, and we did not enter the opening until the evening of
the 9th, when we passed four miles from the north point, called by
Captain King, Point Pearce. His visit to this part of the coast was in
September 1819, and under very adverse circumstances; his vessel had but
one anchor left, and the strong easterly winds then prevailing, with
thick hazy weather, rendered his progress into the opening both difficult
and hazardous: after a trial of two days, and having several narrow
escapes from getting on shore, he bore away to examine the coast to the
south-west, where he was repaid for his disappointment by the discovery
of Cambridge Gulf.

Thus did the exploration of this wide and interesting