Remarks on Delagoa Bay. 133 



With no less than seven fathoms, and then comes on the knolls 

 with five faihoms, or sometimes less; — these are the soundings 

 between the latitudes 25° 57', and 25° 44', but from 25° 48' 

 to 25° 50' may be considered the best part of the bar to cross 

 into the bay. 



When over the western side of the bar and in the bay, the 

 water deepens rapidly to nine, ten, or more fathoms, and there is 

 then safe anchorage every where. To the northward of the 

 mouth of King; George's River a bar and a reef extend for some 

 distance into the bay; and those, together with another which 

 runs due north from Elephant Island, narrows the channel to 

 about — miles.* Oa the western side of the Inyack and Ele- 

 phant Island there is an excellent harbour which we called 

 Port Melville, this is carried on the bay side by shoais, and 

 bounded to the southward by the Mapoota flats, and on the 

 western point of Elephant Island docks might be made, there 

 being ten and twelve fathoms water close to it, and a rise of 

 thirteen feet-and-a-half in spring tides. 



The harbour most frequented by whalers is English River, 

 which itself is the estuary of three rivers, namely — the Temley, 

 the Mattall, and the Dundas. This harbour is an excellent 

 one, and points are to be found in it where dry docks might be 

 formed. It has an outer bar over which, at low water springs, 

 there is but two fathoms and a quarter, making four-and-a-half 

 at high tide, and within the harbour there is from six to ten 

 fathoms. From Port Melville to the westward towards English 

 River, there are several banks as far as the channel into the 

 Mapoota River, which is near the eastern coast of Temley. Into 

 the Mapoota River as much as five fathoms may be carried all 

 the way, and it is navigable to a considerable distance, as well 

 as the Temley, which is so for large vessels about — miles. f 



The principal river in the bay. however, and indeed, on this 

 coast, is that which has the names of Monice, Maynice, Mama- 

 toonga, May hay, Clerinda, Macobite, Rio Prata, Rio de Es- 

 perito, Santo, and many others, but which we named King 

 George's River, because the people of this bay always call 

 themselves King George men, many of them having picked up 

 a little English from the whalers. This river has a shifting bar, 

 but we carried through its channel twenty-two feet at high 

 water. Within, it. is not so considerable as either the Mapoota 

 or English River, except that it flows from an immense dis- 

 tance, and delivers to the ocean such bodies of water as fre- 

 ntly bursts its banks to find other outlets into the great 

 bay, which happened in February, 1823. It has a direction 

 N. exa< tly parallel to the coast, or inclining but little inwards 



' No number is inserted in the MS.— Eds. 

 t Ibid. 



