11 degrees south.  About three leagues to the northward of this is an island, at which we arrived about sunset, and took shelter for the night under a sandy point which was the only part we could land at.  This being rather a wild situation I thought it best to sleep in the boat:  nevertheless I sent a party away to see if anything could be got, but they returned without success.  They saw a great number of turtle bones and shells where the natives had been feasting, and their last visit seemed to be of late date.  The island was covered with wood, but in other respects it was a lump of rocks.

Wednesday 3.

We lay at a grapnel till daylight with a very fresh gale and cloudy weather.  The main bore from south-east by south to north-north-west half west three leagues, and a mountainous island with a flat top, north by west four or five leagues, between which and the mainland were several other islands.  The spot we were at, which I call Turtle Island, lies in latitude by account 10 degrees 52 minutes south and 42 miles west from Restoration Island.  Abreast of it the coast has the appearance of a sandy desert, but improves about three leagues farther to the northward where it terminates in a point, near to which are many small islands.  I sailed between these islands where I found no bottom at twelve fathoms; the high mountainous island with a flat top and four rocks to the south-east of it, that I call the Brothers, being on my starboard hand.  Soon after an extensive opening appeared in the mainland, in which were a number of high islands.  I called this the Bay of Islands.  We continued steering to the north-west.  Several islands and keys were in sight to the northward:  the most northerly island was mountainous, having on it a very high round hill, and a smaller was remarkable for a single peaked hill.

The coast to the northward and westward of the Bay of Islands is high and woody and has a broken appearance, with many islands close to it, among which there are fine bays and convenient places for shipping.  The northernmost of these islands I call Wednesday Island:  to the north-west of this we fell in with a large reef which I believe joins a number of keys that were in sight from the north-west to the east-north-east.  We therefore stood to the south-west half a league when it was noon, and I had a good observation of the latitude in 10 degrees 31 minutes south.  Wednesday Island bore east by south five miles; the westernmost land in sight south-west two or three leagues; the islands to the northward from north-west by west to north-east, and the reef from west to north-east distant one mile.  I was now tolerably certain that we should be clear of New Holland in the afternoon.