State Library of NSW
New Wales En Coast of New Holland Between which & the Main their appear'd to be a good passage, thro' which we might pass by running to Seaward of the Shoals on our Sarboard bow which was now [?] near us, whereupon we wore & bro.d too & sent away the pinnace & yawl to direct us clear of the Shoals & then stood after them having got round the SEn point of the Shoals we steer'd NW along the SW or inside of it keeping a good lookout at the Masthead having another Shoal on our Sarboard side. but we found a good Channel of a Mile broad between them wherein were from 10 to 14 fa.ms. At 11 o'clock being nearly the length of the Islands abovementioned & desiring to pass between them & the Main, the yawl being thrown a stern by falling in upon a part of the Shoal she could not get over we bro.d the ship too & sent away the Long[?] which we had a stern & rigg'd to keep in Shore upon our Sarboard bows & the pinnace on our Starboard for altho' there appear'd nothing in the Passage yet I thought it necessary to take this method because we had a strong flood which carried us on end very fast. & it did not want much of high water, as soon as the Boats were ahead we stood after them & got through by noon at which time we were by observation in the Lat of 10:36:30S. the nearest part of the Main & which we soon after found to be the Northernmost body W. southerly distant 3 or 4 miles. the Islands which form'd the passage beforementioned extending from No. to N75° E dist.ce 2 or 3 Miles. at the same time we saw Islands at a good distance off extending from NbW to WNW & behind them another chain of high land which we likewise judged to be Islands, the Main land we thought extended as far as No71°W but this we found to be Islands the point of the Main [deleted words indecipherable] which forms one side of the passage before [margin] York Cape[/margin] mentioned & which is the Northern Promontary of this Country I have named York Cape in honour of his late Royal Highness the Duke of York. it lies in the Long.de of 218° 24'W. the No point in the Lat.de of 10'.39So. & the Cs point in 10°4' the land over & to the Southward of this last point is rather low & very flatt as far inland as the Eye could reach & looks barren, to the Southward of the Cape the Shore forms a large open bay which I called Newcastle bay wherein are some small low Islands & Shoals & the [margin] Newcastle Bay[margin] land all about it is very low flatt & sandy, the last Northern part of the Cape is rather more hilly & the shore forms some small bays wherein there appear'd to be good anchorage & the vallies appear to be tolerably well cloathed with wood. close to the E point of the Cape are 3 sand Islands & a small Ledge of rocks spitting off from one of them. there is also an Island laying close to the No. point. the other Islands before spoke of lay about 4 miles without these. only two of them are of any extent the Southerm.st is the largest & much higher than any part of the Main land on
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