EXPLORATION OF THE 'baY. 157 



with heavy rain, gradually freshening as it came 

 round to the westward, blowing hardest between 

 W.S.W and W.N.W. The barometer being out 

 of order we were unable to observe how this un- 

 usual change would have affected that instrument ; 

 the thermometer, however, fell to 76°, an alteration 

 of temperature which, combined with the damp- 

 ness of the atmosphere, exposed us to the novel 

 sensation of cold. We noticed the time of high 

 water was about fifteen minutes earlier than at 

 Point Torment, the flood-stream setting E.S.E. and 

 the ebb west. The former at a rate of two miles, 

 and the latter one mile per hour. 



March 21.— At lenoth the wished for chanofe 

 arrived, and we again beheld this morning the deep 

 pure blue of a southern sky. We were all eager to 

 commence our exploration, and Mr. Usborne, ever 

 anxious to be actively employed, was so far reco- 

 vered that he induced the surgeon, though reluc- 

 tantly, to allow him to again share in the duties of 

 the survey. He was accordingly despatched to look 

 for a berth for the ship further to the N.W., while 

 Captain Wickham and myself went towards Com- 

 pass Hill. We were accompanied by Mr. Bynoe, 

 who, during our excursion, was fortunate enough to 

 add several rare birds to his collection. We landed 

 in a small sandy bay at the western end of a growth 

 of mangroves, fringing the shore behind the islands. 

 The sand-bank fronting them we found to extend 

 to the bay we landed in ; to the westward of it 



