COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
249 
being stirred up by the violence of the tide, iskl 
which must have been setting at the rate of three July 27 . 
miles and a half per hour; for we were going 
nearly five knots by the log, and yet made scarcely 
any way: we were therefore obliged to steer 
more off, to get out of the influence of the tide, 
which proved to be the ebb setting to the N.E. 
By a meridional observation at noon, the lati- 
tude of the Cape was found to be 1 0° 59 J', which 
is 19' more northerly than the land which bounded 
Captain Flinders’s view, when he passed by in 
the Cumberland. The breadth of these islands is 
very inconsiderable ; for as we sailed down their 
western coast, the cliffs on their opposite sides 
were occasionally discerned; and, at one part, half 
a mile appeared to be the greatest breadth. The 
low and sandy character of the western sides of 
these islands differs much from that of the op- 
posite shore, where the coast line is formed by 
steep rocky cliffs, whose bases are washed by the 
sea. The night was passed at anchor, and the 
next morning the cutter w T as, with the assistance 28. 
of the flood tide, making quick progress to the 
southward. 
At noon we were abreast of the opening 
through which Captain Flinders passed ; it 
was called Cumberland Strait, after his little 
vessel. At one o’clock some islands came in 
