Port Jackson .] TERRA AUSTRALIS. 
“ take especial care to lose no time in getting to England by the 
“ route captain Flinders may indicate.” 
In the beginning of August, the Porpoise was nearly ready to 
sail : and two ships then lying in Sydney Cove, bound to Batavia* 
desired leave to accompany us through the Strait. These were the 
Hon. East-India-Company’s extra-ship Bridgewater, of about 750 
tons, commanded by E. H, Palmer, Esq., and the ship Cato of London, 
of about 450 tons, commanded Mr. John Park. The company of these 
ships gave me pleasure ; for if we should be able to make a safe and 
expeditious passage through the strait with them, of which I had but 
little doubt, it would be a manifest proof of the advantage of the 
route discovered in the Investigator, and tend to bring it into general 
use. On the 1.0th I took leave of my respected friend the governor vvednes. 10. 
of New South Wales, and received his despatches for England ; and 
lieutenant Fowler having given a small code of signals to the Bridge- 
water and Cato, we sailed out of Port Jackson together, at eleven 
o’clock of the same morning, and steered north-eastward for Torres’ 
Strait. 
Mr. Inman had re-delivered to me the two time-keepers, with 
a table of their rates deduced from equal altitudes, but the No. 543 
had gone so very irregularly, as not to be entitled to any confidence ; 
the error of No. 520 from mean Greenwich time at noon there on 
the 2d, and its rate of going during the twenty-five preceding 
days were as under : 
Earnshaw’s No. 520, fast, o h 49' 54" ,85 and losing 33" ,38 per day. 
The winds were light, and mostly from the eastward during (Atlas, 
the first two days of our quitting Port Jackson ; and not being able to 1>late 1 ^ 
get far enough from the land to avoid the southern current, it had 
retarded us 35 on the 12th at noon, when the islands of Port Ste- Friday 12. 
phens were in sight. On the following day the wind became more 
steady in the south-western quarter, and as our distance from the 
land increased, the current abated ; and on the 15th, when the lati- 
tude was 27 0 27', longitude 156° 22', and distance from the coast 
Q q 
297 
ISOS. 
July. 
August. 
VOL. II. 
