198 RETURN OF THE BOATS. 



violence such a bodv of water must rush throu<]jh the 

 narrow entrance to keep on a level with the slow, 

 moving waters of the bay outside. The cause of 

 this great rise of tide in the head of Collier Bay, 

 may be attributed to there being no escape for the 

 vast body of water flowing into it. The land 

 over the depth of this inlet which I have before 

 spoken of, as being barren rocky heights, bounded 

 our view to the southward ; it bore S.S.E. three 

 miles, and lies in lat. 1(3" 2.5' S. and long. 124° 

 25' E. being the farthest point we determined 

 towards the centre of the continent. The extreme 

 position reached in thatdirection by Lieut. Lushington 

 of Lieut. Grey's expedition, bears from this point, 

 N. 64° E. fifty miles. Thus terminated our 

 explorations in Collier Bay, and although we had 

 not the good fortune to find it the outlet of some 

 large opening leading into the interior, still we 

 succeeded in setting at rest the speculation, such 

 a deep indentation of the coast line had hitherto 

 afforded, and increased our geographical knowledge 

 of this part of the continent 35 miles. 



In the afternoon we commenced our return 

 to Port George the Fourth, from which we were 

 then distant about 80 miles ; after delaying to 

 examine two islands lying N. by E. four miles 

 from the inlet, of slate formation, we reached 

 a narrow point six miles further down the bay, 

 in time to save a true bearing from the sun's 

 amplitude. We were surprised to find this point 



