Latitude 20 degrees 24 minutes south; longitude 114 degrees 37 minutes east, at noon.
9th May.
Richie's Reef cannot be in the position shown on the charts, as we sailed over it, and saw no broken water. At noon found our latitude to be 19 degrees 58 minutes south; longitude 115 degrees 23 minutes east; light winds from the south-east, and a current of half a mile per hour setting to the west or north-west.
10th May.
At daylight sighted Legendre Island to the south-east, distant ten miles. Ran east-north-east till 10 a.m., with fresh breeze; tacked to south-west with wind at east; by noon it fell calm, having fetched to within ten miles of the north end of Delambre Island. At 5 p.m. a light wind from the north-west enabled us to run in and drop anchor at 6.0 in thirteen fathoms, the south end of Delambre bearing east about three miles; at 11.0 a strong breeze sprung up from the south-east, freshening to a gale by 2 a.m. of the 11th. Tide setting to south-west at four miles per hour, with a rise of sixteen feet.
STRONG TIDES PREVENT LANDING.
11th May.
The gale continued to 11 a.m., when it moderated; the tide being full at about noon. Got underweigh at 1 p.m., and stood to the south-west, under topsails, stemming a strong ebb tide to 3.30, when we came to anchor in five fathoms (sand and shells), about three miles from the western shore of the bay, Sloping Head bearing north by east five miles. The water of the bay is much discoloured, being of a deep reddish-brown. In passing down the shore we observed that the whole of what is shown on the chart as a promontory, extending to the north of Sloping Head, is an island, with a channel nearly half a mile wide, separating it from the main; to the outer portion was given the name of Dolphin Island. At 4 p.m. left the ship in the life boat, accompanied by Captain Dixon, Mr. Hall, and four men, and took soundings for six miles to the south-west down the centre of the bay, finding five and six fathoms all the way; the water then shoaled to three fathoms, when, being within a mile of the head of the bay, it became dark. Pulling about two miles to the south-east, it gradually shoaled to one foot, when we grounded, and remained there till 11 p.m., when the tide being at full we pulled for the ship, but not seeing her lights by 1 a.m. on the 12th, and the men being much fatigued, we lay on our oars for an hour, and then took a stretch for two miles to the south-south-east, to get under the shelter of the south-east shore of the bay, when, having no anchor, we lay-to till daylight, by which time the boat had drifted into heavy rollers under the high rocky land at the south-west head of the bay; the wind having risen so much that the boat was only kept afloat by keeping her head to the sea. As we could not observe any spot at which we could land without the risk of swamping the boat and wetting our firearms, we continued pulling towards the ship, the ebb tide assisting us until 2 p.m., when just as all hands were becoming thoroughly tired out, a boat was sent from the Dolphin to our relief, with a timely supply of biscuit and brandy, which, with the assistance of a tow-line, enabled us to reach the ship by 3 p.m., very thankful that we had escaped what at one time appeared likely to have proved a serious disaster.
LANDING EFFECTED.
13th May.