There appears to be no place of shelter against western gales, between Bass’ Strait and Kangaroo Island; but there are then, besides various anchorages under that island, the bays and coves at the entrance of Spencer’s Gulph; and further westward, Coffin’s Bay, Petrel Bay in the island St. Francis, and Fowler’s Bay near the head of the Great Bight.  Afterwards come Goose-Island Bay, Thistle’s Cove, and the lee of Observatory Island, all in the Archipelago of the Recherche; the cove cannot be entered in a gale, but when once secured in the south-west corner, a ship will be safe; the other two places afford very indifferent shelter from strong winds, and are indeed fit only for a temporary anchorage in moderate weather.  Doubtful-Island Bay and King George’s Sound afford complete shelter against western gales; but some little time would be lost in getting out of them, if a ship waited until an eastern wind set in.  Some account of all these places will be found in the preceding pages of this volume; with the exception of Observatory Island, for which D’Entrecasteaux’s voyage may be consulted.

APPENDIX.

Account of the observations by which the Longitudes of places on the south coast of Terra Australis have been settled.

The lunar distances and other observations taken in the Investigator’s voyage having been ordered by the Commissioners of the Board of Longitude to be recalculated by a professed astronomer, with every degree of correctness which science has hitherto been able to point out as necessary, this delicate, but laborious task was assigned to Mr. John Crosley, formerly assistant at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich; a gentleman who formed part of the expedition as far as the Cape of Good Hope, but whose ill health had then made it necessary to relinquish the voyage and return to England.  The data and results of all the observations will probably be made public, by order of the Commissioners; but in the mean time, for the satisfaction of the geographer, and more especially for that of the seaman, whose life and property may be connected with the accuracy of the charts., the results of the lunar distances observed upon each coast are added in the form of an Appendix to the volume wherein that coast is described.  It is by these results that the time keepers have been regulated; and the longitudes used in the construction of the charts are taken from the time keepers.

To appreciate the degree of confidence to which these results may be entitled, it is necessary to know under what circumstances the observations were taken; also the method used in the calculations, and the corrections which have been applied beyond what is usual in the common practice at sea:  of these the following is a general statement.