312 REMARKABLE HEADLANDS. 



invariably attaches to whatever is unknown. Wc 

 submitted, accordingly, with impatience to the delay 

 caused by light north-westerly winds, and a 

 southerly current of nearly a knot per hour, which 

 prevented us from reaching the parallel of Port 

 Macquarie before the 29th ; when about forty miles 

 from it we experienced a gale,* from N.E. and 

 E.N.E., that lasted till the evening of the next 

 day, when we found ourselves about 140 miles 

 S.E. of Port Stephen. During this gale the 

 southerly current increased its velocity to two 

 miles an hour, and its strength appeared to be 

 about seventy miles from the land. This delay 

 rendered it necessary to obtain a fresh chronometric 

 departure, and as the winds prevented our returning 

 to Port Jackson, we proceeded to Port Stephens, 

 where we anchored, June 5th. We found the 

 Admiralty chart of the coast in the neighbourhood 

 very defective, some islands being completely omit- 

 ted, whilst others w^ere much misplaced. 



I have before spoken of the change in the 

 features of this portion of the eastern coast. Here 

 a number of conical hills, from four to six hundred 

 feet in height, suddenly presented themselves to 

 our view, two of them, very remarkable headlands, 

 and preserving the aboriginal names of Yacaba and 

 Tomare, constitute the entrance points of Port 



* This gale was from S.E. at Sydney, and the most severe 

 they had experienced for many years ; it blew many vessels adrift 

 and did other damage. 



