January 13.
At daylight the bar was sounded, and a buoy placed on its deepest part to indicate the channel; on which, at that time of tide (about half-flood) there was nine feet water: this was sufficient to allow us to pass it; but in order to prevent delay, I caused the cutter to be lightened as much as possible; and having reduced her draught to seven feet and a half by emptying the water-casks, she was warped over the bar to an anchorage between it and the entrance. As the cutter passed the shoalest part she struck twice, but so lightly as to occasion neither damage nor delay.
January 13 to 16.
An anchorage was taken up in Outer Bay in order to sound the bar whilst the weather was so favourable for the purpose, which employed us until the 16th, when a westerly wind enabled us to enter the harbour; but, from baffling winds and the ebbing tide, and the width of the entrance being only seventy yards, we found a considerable difficulty in effecting it. The anchor was dropped as soon as the cutter was inside, and she was afterwards warped to a more convenient situation out of the strength of the tide.
Here we remained during the evening, in order to obtain bearings from two contiguous stations on the hills. Near one of them we found lying on the rocks a bundle of garments, which, upon examination, were found to be of colonial manufacture; they bore no marks of ever having been worn, and as I afterwards found had been given by Mr. Florance to the natives; who, disliking the confinement of clothes, had abandoned them as useless.
The next day we were employed in moving the vessel up the harbour to Mount Wellington and in the examination of Channel Bay. In doing this a brig passed us on her way out; she proved to be the Sophia of Hobart Town, commanded by Mr. Kelly, the original discoverer of the place. He had just procured a load of pine logs from Pine Cove at the North-East corner of the harbour, and was now homeward bound. In the afternoon we anchored off Round Head and Mr. Kelly came on board to assist me in buoying and examining the channel, which bears his name in my plan, and in which the deepest water in one part is but eight feet. In order that the cutter might pass through this, for it was the only one that communicated with the harbour, we were obliged to buoy it, since the breadth was not more than thirty-five yards, and only six inches deeper than the cutter's draught of water.
January 19 to 21.
While our people were at dinner, a party of natives came to the verge of Round Head, and remained for some time calling to us. As soon as we had dined, we landed, with the intention of communicating with them; they had however left the place, and we returned on board without seeing them: the following day, when I was away with the boat sounding the channels towards Betsey's Island, they came down again, but seeing no boat near the vessel they walked round to the Sophia, which was still at anchor near Mount Wellington: we afterwards found that they had been induced to go on board the brig, and were much pleased with their visit, and gratified with the presents which Mr. Kelly gave them.
On the 21st with a breeze from the North-West we got under weigh and passed through Kelly's Channel; but at eleven o'clock the wind fell, and we were obliged to anchor upon the edge of the bank off River Point; we had not, however, to wait long, for the breeze freshened up again, and we arrived at Pine Cove in time to land and examine the place before sunset.
January 21 to 24.