Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 2.djvu/102

This page needs to be proofread.

being in latitude 1? � 89 #, we found ourselves ?ss?. cff a bay, the east head of which was formed ,?,?. it. by several islands. The land at the back ap- peared to be of tolerable height, but its outline was so level, that it did not present any promi. nent feature sul?ciently defined to take a bearing of more than once; its coast appeared to be fronted by several rocky islands, and to be very much intersected to the westward; either by straits or considerable openings. The continued hazy state of the weather pre- vented our ascertaining the particular feature of the country; it seemed to be rocky and very bare of vegetation; but them were some parts, particularly on one of'the islands to the east- ward at the entrance of CoLlier's Bay, where a few good-sized trees were growing over a sandy beach. The ebb tide after noon was against us, and the wind being light, we were making no progress. As sunset approached, we began to look for anchorage; but the suspicious nature of the bottom, and the great depth of the water, pre- vented our being successfid until some time after dark; the anchor was at last dropped in twenty- eight fathoms, on a bottom of sandy mud, with the ebb. tide setting to the N.W., at the rate uearly of two knots. �o,-. II. 0