REEFS OF THE CORAL SEA. 67 



but on this strong", with squalls and rain,— appeared 

 steady between E.S.E. and S.S.E. and this carried 

 us down to Sandy Cape. In traversing- the Coral 

 Sea, the numerous detached reefs were so carefully 

 avoided that we saw none of them, — thus in one 

 sense it is to be reg'retted that the passag'e through 

 them of a surveying- vessel, with seventeen chrono- 

 meters on board, was productive of no beneficial 

 result by determining- the exact position of any one 

 of these dang-erous reefs, most of which are only 

 ajiproximately laid down uj)on the charts.* 



The most important practical result of Capt. Stan- 

 ley's survey of the Louisiade Archipelag-o and the 

 south coast of New Guinea, was the ascertaining- 

 the existence of a clear channel of at least 30 miles 

 in width along- the southern shores of these islands, 

 stretching- east and west between Cape Deliverance 

 and the north-east entrance to Torres Strait — a 

 distance of about 600 miles. This space was so 

 traversed by the two vessels of the expedition with- 

 out any detached reefs being- discovered, that it does 

 not seem probable that any such exist there, with 

 the exception of the Eastern Fields of Flinders, the 



* About this time a new reef was discovered during tlie pas- 

 sage from Cape Deliverance to Sydney of II. M.S. Moeander, 

 Capt. the Hon. H. Keppel. While this sheet was passing through 

 the press, I saw an announcement of the total wreck upon 

 Kenn Reef — one of those the position of which is uncertain 

 — of a large merchant ship, the passengers and crew of which, 

 33 in number, fortunately however, succeeded in reaching More- 

 ton Bay in their boat — a distance of 400 miles. 



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