COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
311 
of natives’ fires. A little before three o’clock it isi9. 
was seen from the deck, and, as we stood to- Oct. l. 
wards it, we narrowly escaped striking on a 
part of the shoal that extends off Cape London- 
derry: our course was then directed towards 
some broken land in the S.W., which proved 
to be a group of islands, with a consider- 
able sinuosity in the coast behind them; the 
eastern head of the bay was called Cape Talbot, 
after the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Be- 
tween this and Cape Londonderry the coast is 
very low, and defended by an extensive reef, 
which in many parts was dry. 
During the night we stood off shore, and, at 
daylight, were eight miles from the islands. 2 . 
At nine o’clock, being calm, we anchored to the 
north of the group, which was named Sir Graham 
Moore’s, in compliment to the gallant admiral 
then holding a seat at the Admiralty Board. The 
principal island is more elevated than the rest, 
and has a flat tabular summit : it bore, from the 
anchorage, S. 19° E., three miles and a half. 
The sea-breeze set in from N.W. with the 
change of tide ; as soon as the sun’s meridi- 
onal altitude was observed, we got under sail, 
and steered to the W.S.W. ; but were soon after 
obliged to alter the course, to avoid a shoal on 
which the sea was breaking within fifty yards of us. 
