INTRODUCTION. 
XXV11 
for preserving health, cleanliness, and good order, which 
have been established in His Majesty’s ships when em- 
ployed in Voyages of Discovery. 
In order to assist you in the care and use of the time- 
keepers and instruments with which their Lordships have 
directed the Hydrographer of this department to furnish 
you, and to follow your orders in all other particulars 
relating to the service, my Lords have directed Messrs. 
Frederick Bed well and John Septimus Roe, two young 
gentlemen, who have been recommended to them as 
peculiarly fitted to be of use to you, and for whose 
appointment you have expressed your wishes, to accom- 
pany you and to be under your command. 
The principal object of your mission is to examine the 
hitherto unexplored Coasts of New South Wales, from 
Arnhem Bay, near the western entrance of the Gulf 
of Carpentaria, westward and southward as far as the 
North-west Cape ; including the opening, or deep bay 
called Van Diemen’s Bay, and the cluster of islands 
called Rosemary Islands, and the inlets behind them, 
which should be most minutely examined; and, indeed, 
all gulfs and openings should be the objects of particular 
attention; as the chief motive for your survey is to dis- 
cover whether there be any river on that part of the 
coast likely to lead to an interior navigation into this 
great continent. 
