12 ADMIRALTY INSTRUCTIONS. 



ship, and fully completed her provisions, you will 

 proceed by the inner route to Torres Strait, where 

 the most arduous of your duties are yet to be per- 

 formed. The numerous reefs which block up that 

 Strait ; the difficulty of entering its intricate chan- 

 nels ; the discordant result of the many partial 

 surveys which have from time to time been made 

 there, and the rapidly increasing commerce of 

 which it has become the thoroughfare, call for a full 

 and satisfactory examination of the whole space 

 between Cape York and the southern shore of New 

 Guinea, and to this important service, therefore, 

 you will devote the remaining period for which your 

 supplies will last. 



" In this latter surve^V you will cautiously pro- 

 ceed from the known to the unknown; you will 

 verify the safety of Endeavour Strait, and furnish 

 sufficient remarks for avoiding its dangers ; you 

 will examine the three groups called York, Prince 

 of Wales, and Banks', Islands ; you will establish 

 the facilities or determine the dangers of passing 

 through those groups, and by a well-considered 

 combination of all those results, you will clearly 

 state the comparative advantages of the difibrent 

 channels, and finally determine on the best course 

 for vessels to pursue which shall be going in either 

 direction, or in opposite seasons. Though with 

 this part of your operations Cook's Bank, Aurora 

 Reef, and the other shoals in the vicinitv will 

 necessarily be connected, yet you are not to extend 



