78 ENTRANCE TO THE INNER PASSAGE. 



^' Our soundino's ^vere obtained by usiiip* Massev's 

 patent lead^ with which we found we could reach 

 the bottom at twenty-six fathoms^ when the ship 

 was g'oing" 9.2 knots an hour; and with such a 

 guide any error in the reckoning* w^ould be detected^ 

 even by nig'ht^ as the Bunker Group g-ives warning* 

 by the sounding-s. For a steamer g'oing to Sydney 

 by the Inner Eoute^ this channel would be in- 

 valuable as far as the Pine Peak of the Percy Isles. 

 One direct course will lead out to sea clear of all 

 the reefs^ a distance of more than 200 miles, 

 during* which period there w^ould be ample time to 

 ascertain by observations of the sun, whether any 

 current had been experienced sufficient to place the 

 ship in dang-er, and, as the channel between Swain's 

 Keef and the Bunker Group appears to be clear, 

 there is a drift of thirty miles on each side the course 

 from the High Peak." 



May 15fA.— After having* at daylight sighted the 

 land about Port Bowen and Cape Townshend, we 

 passed the Northumberland and Percy Isles to the 

 w^estward, the water being very smooth with lig*ht 

 airs from S. to E.N.E. A very offensive smell 

 which has been experienced in the after part of the 

 ship for a week back, was to-day traced to some 

 preserved meats prepared in Sydney ; 103G pounds 

 of these being found quite putrid were condemned.* 



* It is but justice to state here that the EngHsh invention of 

 preserving meat in air-tight canisters had only recently been 

 attempted in Sydney ; and it was then to be regarded merely as 



