1803.
October.
Thursday 20.
perceived. At three o'clock, in steering westward, the last reefs were out of sight astern; and nothing more had been seen at seven, when we hauled to the wind for the night. An amplitude observed at sunset, with the schooner's head W. by S., gave 6° 2′ east variation.
Friday 21.We tacked every two or three hours, until daylight; and then bore away W.S.W. by compass, to make the south side of the Pandora's Entrance, which I had not seen in the Investigator. Soon after eight o'clock, breakers came in sight; and we stood off and on till noon, to fix their latitude and longitude, and ascertain our position with respect to Murray's Islands before entering the Strait. The sun was vertical, and therefore difficult to be observed; but in taking Mr. Aken's observation on one side and mine on the other, which differed only 3½′, the mean latitude 10° 0½′, could not be far wrong. The reef in sight was shown by this observation to be on the south side of the Pandora's Entrance, as I wished; and its north end will lie in 10° 59′ south, and longitude by the time keeper 144° 40′ east. We bore away so soon as the observation was obtained, and in passing close round the north end, got soundings at two casts, in 7 and 5 fathoms.
This reef lies N.N.E. and S.S.W., and is about seven miles long with a breadth from one to three miles; its form is nearly that of a boot, and the outer edges are probably dry at low tide; but there was a considerable space within, where the water looked blue, as if very deep. The origin of that class of islands which abound in the Great Ocean, under the names of Bow, Lagoon, &c, may here be traced. The exterior bank of coral will, in the course of years, become land, as in them; whilst the interior water will preserve its depth to a longer period, and form a lagoon, with no other outlet than perhaps one or two little openings for canoes or boats. In Mr. Dalrymple's chart of the Pandora's track, there is a dry bank marked on the north-west part of the reef; but this commencement of the metamorphosis was not visible to us, probably from its being covered by the tide, for it was then near high water. In some future