July 27.

On the 27th, by sunset, we were abreast of Cape Howe.

July 29.

And on the 29th, at noon, the lighthouse on the south head of the port was joyfully descried.  At eight o’clock in the evening we entered the heads, and anchored in Sydney Cove at midnight, after an absence of thirty-one weeks and three days.

Upon reviewing the proceedings of the voyage, the result of which bore but a small proportion to what we had yet to do, I saw, with no little satisfaction, that I had been enabled to set at rest the two particular points of my instructions, namely, the opening behind Rosemary Island, and the examination of the great bay of Van Diemen.

Upon rounding the North-West Cape, we had been unfortunate in losing our anchors, which very much crippled our proceedings, and prevented our prosecuting the examination of the coast in so detailed a manner as we otherwise might have done; for we possessed no resource to avail ourselves of, if we had been so unfortunate as to get on shore.  A series of fine weather, however, on the first part, and a sheltered coast with good anchorage on the latter part of the voyage, enabled us to carry on the survey without accident; and nearly as much has been effected with one anchor as could have been done had we possessed the whole.  It prevented, however, our examining the bottom of Exmouth Gulf, and our landing upon Depuch Island.  The latter was a great disappointment to us, on account of the following description which M. Peron gives of the island, in his historical account of Baudin’s Voyage, from the report of M. Ronsard, who visited it.

“Au seul aspect de cette ile, on pouvoit deja pressentir qu’elle etoit d’une nature differente de toutes celles que nous avions vues jusqu’a ce jour.  En effet, les terres en etoient plus hautes, les formes plus prononcees:  a mesure qu’on put s’en rapprocher, la difference devint plus sensible encore.  Au lieu de ces cotes uniformement prolongees, qui n’offroient aucune pointe, aucun piton, aucune eminence, on voyait se dessiner sur cette ile des roches aigues, solitaires, qui, comme autant d’aiguilles, sembloient s’elancer de la surface du sol.  Toute l’ile etoit volcanique; des prismes de basalte, le plus ordinairement pentaedres, entasses les uns sur les autres, reposant le plus souvent sur leurs angles, en constituoient la masse entiere.  La s’elevoient comme des murs de pierre de taille; ailleurs, se presentoient des especes de paves basaltiques, analogues a ceux de la fameuse Chaussee des Geans.  Dans quelques endroits on observoit des excavations plus ou moins profondes; les eaux des parties voisines s’y etoient reunies, et formoient des especes de fontaines, dans chacune desquelles nos gens trouverent une tres-petite quantite d’excellente eau ferrugineuse.  Dans ces lieux plus humides, la vegetation etoit plus active; on y remarquoit de beaux arbustes et quelques arbres plus gros, qui constituoient de petits bosquets