It was here confirmed by satisfactory observations on shore that our former latitudes and longitudes taken on board the ship were erroneous; and the consequent necessity of reconstructing my chart of these islands induced me to remain at anchor the rest of the day.  A boat was sent to fish with hook and line, and had some success; and at dusk a sufficient number of sooty petrels were taken from the burrows to give nine to every man, making, with those before caught, more than twelve hundred birds.  These were inferior to the teal shot at the western Isle of St. Peter, and by most persons would not be thought eatable on account of their fishy taste, but they made a very acceptable supply to men who had been many months confined to an allowance of salt meat.

The latitude of our anchorage in Petrel Bay proved to be 32 deg. 33 1/3’ south, and corrected longitude, by time-keepers, 133 deg. 151/2’ east.  The variation of the compass on the binnacle, with the ship’s head south-eastwardly, but the exact point not noted, was 2 deg. 23’ west.  Other azimuths, taken five leagues to the north-westward, with the head south-half-west, gave 0 deg. 19’ east; and six leagues to the eastward, the head being north half-west, we had 0 deg. 16’ east.  All these observations, being corrected, and supposing the ship’s head in the first case to have been south-east-half-east, as is probable, would agree in showing that the true and magnetic meridians exactly coincided at the Isles of St. Francis in 1802.

Being about to quit this archipelago, it may be expected that I should make some general remarks upon it.  The basis stone of the islands where we landed, and that of the others, as also of the projecting parts of the main, appeared to be similar, was either porphyry or granite; but this was generally covered with a stratum, more or less thick, of calcareous rock.  The and sterility of the two largest islands has been already mentioned; and yet they appeared superior to any of the smaller isles, where there was no probability that the small kangaroos could exist in the dry season.  The surface of the continent seemed to be almost equally destitute of vegetable soil to cover the sand and rock; and from the hot winds off the land, which we felt in Streaky and Smoky Bays, it would seem that this aridity prevails to a considerable distance in the interior.  There are, however, some grounds to believe that a lake or run of fresh water exists not far from Denial Bay:  the flock of teal seen upon the western Isle of St. Peter, and the number of winged, fresh-water insects skimming the surface of that bay, are the grounds to which I allude.

My examination of this group of islands was tolerably minute to be done wholly in a ship; but much still remained, which boats would best accomplish, to make the survey complete, especially in the bays of the main land.  No more than a general examination was prescribed by my instructions at this time, and I therefore left the minute parts for a second visit, when the ship would be accompanied by the Lady Nelson tender.