COASTS OF AUSTRALIA, 
217 
winds between north and south-east, which gra- i 822 . 
dually drew us out of the influence of the Feb. 
21 — 24 . 
damp, unwholesome weather we so lately experi- 
enced. Our course was held to the northward 
of Rowley’s Shoals, which upon passing, we 
found a strong current setting towards them, at 
the rate of one mile an hour. This indraught 
increase's the danger of navigating near this 
part, but I do not recollect having experienced 
any when we passed them in June, 1818. The 
current, therefore, that we felt, may be only of 
temporary duration, and probably caused by the 
variable state of the wind. 
Between the 24th of February and the 3rd of Feb. 24. 
March we had light and variable winds from Marchs, 
all directions, but, being more frequent from the 
eastward than from any other point of the com- 
pass, I became reconciled to the step I had taken 
of leaving the coast, since it would not have been 
possible to have reached Port George the Fourth 
to effect any good. 
The thermometer now ranged between 87° 
and 89°, and the weather was consequently ex- 
tremely oppressive and sultry. On the 3rd at 3 — 11 , 
noon we were in latitude 18° 45' 18", and lon- 
gitude 111° 4' 15", when a breeze sprang up 
from the S.E., and carried us within the influence 
of the trade, which blew steadily between S.S.E. 
and S.b.E. and advanced us on our passage. 
