bass' strait. 69 



iminbers of baracoudas^ a very bold and ravenous 

 lish^ and withal a good eating* one^ measuring from 

 two to three feet in length ; they bite eagerly at a 

 hook towing* astern^ baited with a piece of red or 

 Avhite rag^ and are taken in greatest numbers when 

 several miles distant from the land^ and the vessel 

 is going from four to eight knots through the water. 



Two days afterwards^ the weather being extremely 

 favourable for the purpose^ I g'ot several hauls with 

 the dredge in fortj^-five fathoms^ sandy bottom^ 

 and^ in addition to many curious Crustacea and 

 shell-fish^ a number of very fine zoophytes^ almost 

 all of them new to science^ were in such abundance 

 as quickly to fill the net. 



Feb, lltlu — While standing off and on the land 

 during a fog^ a partial clearing up shewed the 

 entrance to Port Phillip^ with its lighthouse/ and 

 after passing* through between the heads^ with the 

 usual strong tide ripple^ we reached the anchorage 

 at Hobson's Bay after dark. 



I found no alteration in William's Town^ since a 

 former visit made two years ago. The place 



* Of this Captain Stanley remarks — " In consequence of being 

 placed so far within the heads, the light is visible to seaward 

 only between the bearings of S^W. and S.W.2-W. A better 

 position would be on Lonsdale Point, when the light would be 

 seen by vessels coming from the eastward as soon as they rounded 

 Cape Schank. It would also serve as a leading mark for navi- 

 gating the southern channel, but the tower would require to be 

 of considerable height to shew the light over Shorthand's Bluff to 

 vessels inside the harbour." 



