EEEFS OF THE CORAL SEA. 07 



but on this strong', with squalls and rain, — appeared 

 steady between E.S.E. and S.S.E. and this carried 

 us down to Sandy Cape. In traversing- the Coral 

 Sea, the numerous detached reefs were so carefully 

 avoided that we saw none of them, — thus in one 

 sense it is to be regretted that the passage through 

 them of a survejdng vessel, with seventeen chrono- 

 meters on board, was productive of no beneficial 

 result by determining the exact position of any one 

 of these dangerous reefs, most of which are only 

 approximately laid down upon the charts.* 



The most important practical result of Capt. Stan- 

 ley's survey of the Louisiade Archipelago and the 

 south coast of New Guinea, was the ascertaining 

 the existence of a clear channel of at least 30 miles 

 in width along the southern shores of these islands, 

 stretching east and west between Cape Deliverance 

 and the north-east entrance to Torres Strait — a 

 distance of about 600 miles. This space was so 

 traversed by the two vessels of the expedition with- 

 out any detached reefs being- discovered, that it does 

 not seem probable that any such exist there, with 

 the exception of the Eastern Fields of Flinders, the 



* About this time a new reef was discovered during the pas- 

 sage from Cape Deliverance to Sydney of H.M.S. Moeander, 

 Capt. the Hon. H. Keppel. While this sheet was passing through 

 the press, I saw an announcement of the total wreck upon 

 Kenn Reef — one of those the position of which is uncertain 

 — of a large merchant ship, the passengers and crew of which, 

 33 in number, fortunately however, succeeded in reaching More- 

 ton Bay in their boat — a distance of 400 miles. 



F 2 



