On the morning of the 15th the wind had shifted to south-east; and the great bank then trending south-westward, we followed it with variable soundings between 3 and 10 fathoms. At ten o'clock the water had deepened to 15; and being then nearer to the west than to the east side of the gulph, and the wind having come more ahead, we tacked to the east-south-east; but in fifty minutes were obliged to steer westward again, having fallen into 3 fathoms on the edge of the bank. This is the narrowest part of the gulph below Point Lowly, the two shores being scarcely more than twenty miles asunder; and of this space, the great eastern bank, if the part where we last had 3 fathoms be connected with it, occupies about eleven, and the shallow water of the west side one or two miles. The soundings we had in stretching westward across the deep channel were, from the shoal, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 12, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5 fathoms, at nearly equal distances asunder, and the last at six miles from the western land.
After sounding across the channel we stood back, lying up south-east, and reached within five miles of the eastern shore, where the anchor was dropped in 4½ fathoms; Barn Hill bearing N. 69° E., and a cliffy projection, named Point Riley after the gentleman of that name in the Admiralty, S. 14° W., two or three leagues. This point was the furthest visible part of the eastern shore; and so low and uniform had the coast been from the head of the gulph, that this was the first mark I had found upon it for the survey. The great eastern bank, which we had already followed about sixty miles, seemed to terminate at Point Riley; and from thence southward the gulph greatly enlarges its breadth. The situation of the point is about 33° 53' south and 137° 30' E.
TUESDAY 16 MARCH 1802
We got under way at six in the morning, and the wind being from the south-eastward made a good stretch along the coast until noon. A patch of breakers then lay five miles to the south-east; but the land was ten miles distant, and some white sandy cliffs, four or five leagues from Point Riley, bore S. 52° E. The intermediate coast, as also that which extends several leagues to the north of the point, is low and sandy; but at a few miles back it rises to a level land of moderate elevation, and is not ill clothed with small trees. In the afternoon we had to beat against a southern wind; and the coast in that part being too open for anchorage, this was continued all night and the next morning [WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH 1802]; but with so little profit that the same land was still in sight at noon, and our situation found to be as follows
Latitude, observed to the north and south, 34° 15' 24"
Longitude by time keepers, 137 24½
North extreme near the sandy cliffs, dist. 6 miles, N. 19 E.
Low red cliffs, south end dist. 6 or 7 miles, S. 54 E.
At six in the evening, the reddish cliffs were brought to bear N. 44° E., and a long point, or an island lying off a point, bore S. 43° W. two leagues. Our distance from a cliffy islet, close under the shore, was two or three miles, but the breakers from it were only half a mile off, and the depth was 4 fathoms.
THURSDAY 18 MARCH 1802
On the 18th, in the morning, we fetched to windward of the island-like point, to which I gave the name of Point Pearce, in compliment to Mr. Pearce of the Admiralty. Its latitude is 34° 28½' south and longitude 137° 21' east. On the south side of this point or island, for I could not fully ascertain its connection, the shore falls back seven or eight miles to the east, and then trends southward. It is low and very sandy, but rises gradually to a level country of the same description as that near Point Riley. At sunset the land was seen as far as south-west-by-south; and the wind favouring us a little, we made a stretch for it. A fire upon the shore served as a mark to steer by; and on approaching it at ten o'clock, the anchor was let go in 6 fathoms, upon a bottom of coarse sand and small stones, the weather being fine, and wind moderate off the land.
The howling of dogs was heard during the night, and at daylight [FRIDAY 19 MARCH 1802] the shore was found to be distant two or three miles, and was woody, rising land, but not of much elevation. A remarkable point, which I named Corny Point, bearing S 73° W. three miles, was the furthest land visible to the westward; its latitude, from meridian observations of Jupiter and the moon, is 34° 52' South, and longitude from the time-keepers 137° 6½' east. Between this point and Point Pearce, twenty-eight miles to the north-north-east, is a large bay, well sheltered from all southern winds, and none others seem to blow with much strength here. The land trends eastward about seven leagues, from Corny Point to the head of the bay; but what the depth of water may be there, or whether any fresh stream fall into it, I am not able to state; the land, however, was better wooded, and had a more fertile appearance than any before seen in the neighbourhood. I called this HARDWICKE BAY, in honour of the noble earl of that title.
Several observations for the variation of the compass had been taken whilst beating in the neighbourhood of Point Pearce. On its north side, eight miles from the shore, an amplitude with the ship's head S. W. by S. gave 4° 38' east; at E. by N., when fourteen miles off, another gave 1° 13' east; but azimuths three or four miles nearer in, 0° 10' west; and at S. E., when six miles off, 0° 35' west. On the south side of Point Pearce, the head being S. S. W., and the land distant thirteen miles, an amplitude gave 3° 15' east. These different observations, which were all taken with the surveying compass, being corrected upon the principles and by the proportion explained in the Appendix No. II. to the second volume, will be respectively, 2° 51', 4° 21' furthest from the land, 2° 58', 1° 41' nearest the land, and 2° 1' east. The mean is 2° 46' east; which may be taken for the true variation at three or four leagues off Point Pearce in 1802; but close in with the shore, I suspect it was less by 1°, or perhaps 2°.