RETURN TO PORT ESSINGTON. 331 



whilst during the day it was generally E. S. E. and 

 East, and very much lighter. The current was 

 steady at N. W. by W. from half a knot to three- 

 quarters per hour, maintaining about the same 

 direction and strength as in 1839- On the evening 

 of the 19th we crossed the meridian of the centre 

 of New Year Island, which our observations placed 

 in 8° 52' west of Booby Island, one mile less than 

 Flinders. 



It was late in the afternoon of the ^Oth before 

 we reached an anchorage off the settlement of Vic- 

 toria, where we met Captain Stanley, who had just 

 returned in the Britomart from a cruise in the 

 Arafura Sea, of which the reader will find an in- 

 teresting account, from his own pen, in the fol- 

 lowing chapter. 



