ADELE ISLAND.

Brue Reef was seen in the course of the day, and appeared to be correctly laid down by Captain King:  there appeared, however, some discrepancy in the position of Adele Island, the southern extremity of which we found to be in latitude 15 degrees 32 minutes 30 seconds South, which is one mile and a half to the southward of the place assigned to it in his chart.  The sea was breaking heavily on the reef, which fronts the island for a distance of two miles.  The island itself is low, desolate and barren.  We noticed there was scarcely any set of tide at this anchorage.  During the day’s progress we found several coral ledges, in from 11 to 13 fathoms, and trending North-East by East, and with from 25 to 35 fathoms between them.  The specimens of this beautiful submarine production brought up by the lead, were of the most delicate kind, nor on any occasion did the lead present any appearance to indicate that it had fallen among a coarser sort.  One beautiful fragment was obtained in Sunday Strait in 30 fathoms, a depth at which living coral is rarely found.

BEAGLE BANK.

April 5.

Daylight on the 5th found us standing to the eastward—­East-North-East—­with a light northerly wind, in soundings ranging from 14 to 40 fathoms, and over a bottom of white and brown sand in the deep, and coral rock in the shoal water.  In the afternoon we had the good fortune to discover one of the reefs, which render the navigation of this part of the coast rather hazardous.  The position of this danger, is however well marked by a bank of very white sand and dead coral, from which the reef extends two miles and a half, in a North-North-West and one mile in a South-South-East direction; and which rising some 15 feet above the mean level of the blue surrounding water, became a conspicuous object from our deck, even at the distance of six miles.  We gave our discovery the name of Beagle Bank, as another memorial of the useful services in which our little vessel had been so frequently engaged, and our observations enabled us to fix the centre of it in latitude 15 degrees 20 minutes South, longitude 123 degrees 36 minutes East.

SHOAL SOUNDINGS.

We anchored in the evening in 16 fathoms, the bank distant 3 1/2 miles in a South by East direction:  half a mile nearer to it, we found only 4 fathoms.  The tide rose at this anchorage 12 feet.  The flood stream began by setting to the South-South-West, and ended at South-east by East.  The ebb set West by North, and the utmost strength of stream never exceeded one mile per hour.

It was high-water at 10 o’clock P.M., and the stream changed at the same time.  The tide was therefore two hours later here than in the entrance to King’s Sound, from which it would appear that the tidal wave approaches this coast from the West-South-West.

April 6.