Here we remained during the evening, in order to obtain bearings from two contiguous stations on the hills.  Near one of them we found lying on the rocks a bundle of garments, which, upon examination, were found to be of colonial manufacture; they bore no marks of ever having been worn, and as I afterwards found had been given by Mr. Florance to the natives; who, disliking the confinement of clothes, had abandoned them as useless.

The next day we were employed in moving the vessel up the harbour to Mount Wellington and in the examination of Channel Bay.  In doing this a brig passed us on her way out; she proved to be the Sophia of Hobart Town, commanded by Mr. Kelly, the original discoverer of the place.  He had just procured a load of pine logs from Pine Cove at the North-East corner of the harbour, and was now homeward bound.  In the afternoon we anchored off Round Head and Mr. Kelly came on board to assist me in buoying and examining the channel, which bears his name in my plan, and in which the deepest water in one part is but eight feet.  In order that the cutter might pass through this, for it was the only one that communicated with the harbour, we were obliged to buoy it, since the breadth was not more than thirty-five yards, and only six inches deeper than the cutter’s draught of water.

January 19 to 21.

While our people were at dinner, a party of natives came to the verge of Round Head, and remained for some time calling to us.  As soon as we had dined, we landed, with the intention of communicating with them; they had however left the place, and we returned on board without seeing them:  the following day, when I was away with the boat sounding the channels towards Betsey’s Island, they came down again, but seeing no boat near the vessel they walked round to the Sophia, which was still at anchor near Mount Wellington:  we afterwards found that they had been induced to go on board the brig, and were much pleased with their visit, and gratified with the presents which Mr. Kelly gave them.

On the 21st with a breeze from the North-West we got under weigh and passed through Kelly’s Channel; but at eleven o’clock the wind fell, and we were obliged to anchor upon the edge of the bank off River Point; we had not, however, to wait long, for the breeze freshened up again, and we arrived at Pine Cove in time to land and examine the place before sunset.

January 21 to 24.

On our way to the shore in our boat we disturbed two flights of black swans who flew away at our approach.  Having landed at the bottom of the cove where the Sophia had obtained her cargo, we found the Huon pine-trees, interspersed with many others of different species, growing in great profusion, within three yards of the edge of the water, upon a soil of decomposed vegetable matter, which in many parts was so soft that we often suddenly sank ankle-deep, and occasionally up to the knees in it:  this swampy nature of the soil is to be attributed to the crowded state of the trees; for they grow so close to each other as to prevent the rays of the sun from penetrating to the soil.