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1798             At nine in the morning, we got under weigh, having a strong westerly
February       wind; and weathering Clarkes Island stood on to the southward; the master
Sunday 25     of the schooner having agreed to take a look at the southern land. At noon our observed latitude was 40° 44 ½' south; the largest Swan island bearing N76° to S82° with a small one shut on at the back; and the peak of Cape Barren N5°E.
    We continued steering south south east, with an ebb tide, until I judged our latitude to be 40° 50', and then wore to the north east. In this latitude, captain Furneaux says, the land trends to the westward; and having laid down a [illegible] coast from the south end of the country to this latitude, there can be no doubt but that the shore in sight of Preservation Island is a part of Van Diemen's Land; and as we have great reason to believe, that the whole of the land at present unknown, between it and the long beach is uninhabited; the probability is, that it is unconnected with either of them; and that this coast of Van Diemen's Land, and the before-mentioned long beach, may be the sides of a strait, dividing New South Wales from Van Diemen's Land; but the reasons that M^r Bass saw for the same opinion, seem to put it almost past conjecture.
    When we wore to the north east, the south extreme of the main land bore south south east four or five leagues, and this land N52° to 70°W two or three leagues our distance from the men being four or five miles. Near the shore, the land is not high or uneven, but four or five leagues inland, there are irregular mountains