August 12.

On the 12th I was occupied in laying down the plan of this place, which, on account of the day, was honoured with the name of our most gracious king, Port George the Fourth.

August 13.

The next day we sailed out by the eastern channel, but having to beat against the wind, made no further progress than an anchorage off Point Adieu, which was the last land seen by us in the Mermaid; it is the north end of the land that forms the west side of Port George the Fourth, which was afterwards called Augustus Island:  to the westward of the point there appeared to be many islands and much broken land.  I sent Mr. Roe to Point Adieu to get some bearings from the summit of the hill, and in the meantime Mr. Baskerville sounded the channel between the point and the islands; which he found to be deep and clear; Mr. Roe’s report, however, of the appearance of the inner part among the islands was not so favourable, for it is studded over with numerous extensive reefs, which, being low water, were exposed to view.  Mr. Roe saw a tolerably broad separation between two islands to the south-west, but more to the westward the islands were so numerous that very little information as to their shape or number could be obtained.

August 14.

At daylight the following morning we weighed, and with a moderate land-breeze from South-East, steered to the North-West, and passed round the islands.  Very far to the northward on the sea horizon we saw a sandbank, surrounded with heavy breakers; and more to the westward was an island, which was at first supposed to be one of the Champagny Isles of Captain Baudin, but which I afterwards satisfied myself was Captain Heywood’s Red Island:  it is rocky and of small extent and apparently quite barren.  We were soon afterwards abreast of a strait leading between some rocky islands to the southward; which, as it appeared to be free from danger, we purposed to steer through.  The brig entered it at noon, when it was high-water, and as she advanced and reached the narrow part, the ebb-tide was setting so strong against us that, although we were sailing five knots by the log, we were losing ground; we continued however to persevere for three hours and a half, and had run nearly twenty miles by the log without gaining an inch; the breeze then died away, and not being able to stem the tide, we steered back for anchorage, but it was dark and late before a favourable bottom was found so that we lost all the progress that we had gained since noon.

August 15.

The next morning, after taking angles from the sun’s rising amplitude, we got underweigh and stood towards the strait to make another attempt to pass through it.  The view that was obtained yesterday evening from the masthead before we put about to look for anchorage, induced us to suppose that many reefs existed in the neighbourhood of its south entrance, for one of very extensive size was observed dry, lying off