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APPENDIX. 
SECTION I. 
OF THE WINDS AND CURRENTS, AND DESCRIPTION OF 
THE PORTS, ISLANDS, AND COAST BETWEEN 
PORT JACKSON AND BREAKSEA SPIT. 
A. The south-east trade cannot be said to blow home upon 
Sec^n I. part of the coast of New South Wales, which lies be- 
East tween Breaksea Spit and Port Jackson, except during the 
summer months, when winds from that quarter prevail, and 
often blow very hard ; they are then accompanied by heavy 
rains, and very thick weather: generally, however, from 
October to April, they assume the character of a sea-breeze, 
and, excepting during their suspension by south-easterly or 
westerly gales, are very regular. In the month of December 
strong south-easterly gales are not uncommon ; and in Fe- 
bruary and March they are very frequent. 
In the month of December, hot winds from the N.W. will 
sometimes last for two or three days, and are almost always 
suddenly terminated by a gust of wind from the southward. 
The most prevailing winds, during all seasons, are from the 
south, and are probably oftener from the eastward of that 
point than from the westward. The current always sets to 
the southward, and has been found by us, on several occa- 
sions, to set the strongest during a S.E. gale. The general 
course of the current is in the direction of the coast, but 
this is not constant ; for, between Port Stevens and to the 
southward of Port Jackson, it sometimes sets in towards it. 
In a gale from the S.E., in the month of December, 1820, it 
must have been setting as much to the westward as S.W. 
This should be attended to, particularly in south-easterly 
gales, and an offing preserved to provide against the wiqd’s 
