56 
Notes on the 
thickly inhabited flat, and would form an excellent 
starting place for an expedition into the interior. On 
the 23rd June we passed Endeavour Straits. This 
channel we found to be safe for large ships, by giving 
Cape Cornwall a berth of four miles, and North Wallis 
Island a berth of two miles; when the latter bears south 
that distance, a W. (mag.) course will take a ship to sea 
without getting into four fathoms (at low water), the 
general depth will be five or six. The tide sets through 
this strait from £ to 1| knots, and rises twelve feet. It 
is high water on the full and change of the moon about 
ll h 15™ P.M. : the flood is from the east, but the 
stream sets to west two-thirds of the twenty-four hours. 
With this opinion in favour of the passage by Endeavour 
Straits, in preference to that round Wednesday Island, 
I have since had the pleasure of Captain King’s concur¬ 
rence. The reefs and currents of this part of the Aus¬ 
tralian seas deserve peculiar attention. An excellent 
friend of mine, the Captain of the Moffatt, twice passed 
through Endeavour Straits in the dark ; but many will 
not be inclined to put their good fortune to so severe an 
ordeal. Uncovered reefs are better seen from the deck 
than aloft, from their being within the horizon of the 
latter. Keefs of this kind are also easily seen sunwards, 
or in the direction of the sun ; the lumps of black coral 
are then projected on the dazzling silvery water. A 
smooth appearance in the water at the same time is a 
sure indication of a shoal. Covered shoals are better 
seen from aloft, where a good look-out should be always 
Stationed. 
It is well to pass eastward of reefs in the morning, 
and westward in the evening. If the reef must be left 
between the ship and the sun, steer so as to bring the 
end of the reef open of the sun. For instance, suppose 
a ship passing along the N-E. coast of Australia, steering 
