The north-east part of King’s Island extends south-east-by-east, three or four leagues.  The shore is mostly of sand, and behind the beach it was washed or blown up in great ridges, but partly overspread with a kind of dog grass which kept the sand together.  In general the land is low; but some little eminences appeared at a distance, and at the north end of the island there is a short range of hills, moderately high and covered with wood.  Granite seemed to be the basis of the shore where we landed.  Behind the front ridges of sand was a brush wood, so thick as to be almost impenetrable; but whilst I was occupied in taking bearings, the botanists found some openings in the brush, and picked up so many plants as to make them desirous of a further examination.  We returned on board at dusk, with our womats, the seal and a kangaroo; the last being of a middle size between the small species of the lesser islands and the large kind found at Kangaroo Island and on the continent.  It appeared indeed, all along the South Coast, that the size of the kangaroo bore some proportion to the extent of land which it inhabited.

SATURDAY 24 APRIL 1802

In the morning the wind blew fresh from the southward.  A boat was sent on shore with Mr. Brown and his party; and at eleven o’clock, when they returned, we got under way.

A small lake of fresh water was found at a little distance behind the sandy ridges in front of the shore.  This was surrounded by a good vegetable soil; and the number of plants, collected near it was greater than had before been found upon any one island.  The small lake is too far from the sea side for a ship to obtain water from it conveniently; but two little streams which drained from the sand hills made it probable that fresh water might have been obtained anywhere at this time by digging.  The water of these rills was tinged red, similar to that obtained at King George’s Sound and to the pools I had before seen at Furneaux’s Islands; and as the stone in these places is granite, and water so discoloured was not found any where else, it seems very probable that the discolouring arises from the granite and granitic sand.

Two more womats were killed this morning; and a skull was picked up which was thought to be of a small dog, but more probably was that of an opossum.

From the observations taken whilst beating up to the anchorage, the top of the highest hill at the north end of King’s Island will be in latitude 39 deg. 361/2’ south, and longitude 143 deg. 54’ east.  The variation of the compass, taken on the binnacle with the ship’s head at south, was 7 deg. 59’ east; but ten leagues to the eastward it was 11 deg. 52’, with the head west-south-west, or reduced to the meridian, 8 deg. 43’ east.  The tides set one mile and a half an hour past the ship, northwest-by-west and south-east-by-east, nearly as the coast lies; that from the eastward running nearly eight hours, and turning about two hours after the moon had passed the meridian; but, which tide was the flood, or what the rise, we did not remain long enough to determine.