July 28, we proceeded down the river; but owing to strong winds and squalls from the south-east, did not clear it before the 31st.  Some communications with the natives had been obtained whilst the sloop was lying on shore; and this detention afforded opportunities of repeating them.  I am happy to say they were all friendly, which is attributable to their opinion of us having undergone a salutary change from the effect of our fire arms at Point Skirmish.

These people were evidently of the same race as those at Port Jackson, though speaking a language which Bongaree could not understand.  They fish almost wholly with cast and setting nets, live more in society than the natives to the southward, and are much better lodged.  Their spears are of solid wood, and used without the throwing stick.  Two or three bark canoes were seen; but from the number of black swans in the river, of which eighteen were caught in our little boat, it should seem that these people are not dextrous in the management either of the canoe or spear.

The entrance of Glass-house Bay, from Point Skirmish to the inner part of Cape Moreton, is eight miles wide; but it contains so many shoals that a ship would have much difficulty in finding a passage.  These shoals are of sand, and in the channels between them are various depths from 5 to 13 fathoms upon similar ground; but towards the head of the bay, both on the shoals and in the deeper parts, the bottom is almost universally of mud.  The land on the borders of Pumice-stone River is low; and is either sandy or rocky, with a slight superficies of vegetable soil; yet not ill clothed with grass and wood.  On the west side of Glass-house Bay, the appearance of the land was much similar, but with a diminution of sand in the upper part.  The long slip on the east side, which I have called Moreton Island, as supposing it would have received that name from captain Cook, had he known of its insularity, is little else than a ridge of rocky hills, with a sandy surface; but the peninsula further south had some appearance of fertility.  I judged favourably of the country on the borders of what seemed to be a river falling into the head of the bay, both from its thick covering of wood, and from the good soil of the sixth island, which lies at the entrance.  The other islands in the bay are very low, and so surrounded with forests of large mangrove, that it must be difficult to land upon them.  It was high water in Pumice-stone River, nine hours and a half after the moon’s passage over the meridian; and the rise of tide was from three to six feet, the night tide being much the highest.