132 
A VOYAGE TO 
[South Coast, 
1802. Latitude, observed to the north and south, 35 0 2' 33" 
sSSylEb. Longitude by time keepers, - 135 44 
Liguanea Isle, the centre nearly, - N. 67 W. 
Cape Wiles, centre of the cliffs, - N. 38 W. 
Hill on the east side of Sleaford Bay, N. 77 E. 
Isle Williams, - - - E. 2 N. 
In the afternoon the wind favoured us by veering to south-by- 
west, and the passage between the projection of the hill and Isle 
(Atlas, Williams seeming to be clear, we steered through it with good 
Plate xvii. soundings, the least being 12 fathoms upon rippling water. Three 
View 8.) , . 
miles further the main land formed a point, and took the uncommon 
direction of N. 15 0 W. ; but to the eastward there was a large piece of 
land, whether island or main we could not tell, and several small 
islands lay between. The opening was four miles wide; and we steered 
into it, passing through ripplings of tide with irregular sound- 
ings. No land could be seen to the north-east, but the night was 
coming on ; and as the eastern land sheltered us from the present 
wind, we ran within half a mile of the shore and anchored in 3^ 
fathoms. The master was sent to sound about the ship; and find- 
ing we had not a sufficient depth for swinging toward the shore, 
the anchor was tripped and let go further ©ut, in 7 fathoms, on a 
sandy bottom. No part of the eastern land was visible beyond the 
bearing of N. 76°E., distant one mile and a half ; and the furthest 
extreme of what we could be certain was main land, bore 
N. i7°W. 
A tide from the north-eastward, apparently the ebb, ran more 
than one mile an hour ; which was the more remarkable from no 
set of tide, worthy to be noticed, having hitherto been observed 
upon this coast. No land could be seen in the direction from whence 
it came ; and these circumstances, with the trending of the coast to 
the north, did not fail to excite many conjectures. Large rivers, 
deep inlets, inland seas, and passages into the Gulph of Carpentaria, 
were terms frequently used in our conversations of this evening; 
