The expedition sailed thence in less than a month with a detachment of the 3rd regiment and forty-five convicts, in addition to the party of Royal Marines that had been embarked before the Tamar left England.

The establishment was placed under the command of Captain Barlow of the 3rd regiment.

A merchant ship, the Countess of Harcourt, was taken up to convey the stores and provisions, and the Lady Nelson, colonial brig, was also placed at the disposal of the commandant.
Lieutenant Roe, in describing this voyage to me, writes: "We had a very favourable passage to the northward, and in less than three weeks cleared Torres Strait by the route you recommended to Captain Bremer, without encountering any accident.

We nevertheless saw several shoals that, in our former voyages in the Mermaid and Bathurst, were not noticed; by reason of the greater altitude of the Tamar's masthead affording a much more extensive view on either side of our course." The particulars of these discoveries of Lieutenant Roe are given in the Appendix, under the description of the North-East Coast, in the order in which they occur.
Having cleared Torres Strait the Tamar anchored in Port Essington.
Lieutenant Roe then says, "Having brought the ship to anchor off Table Point in Port Essington, all the boats were hoisted out and the marines landed, when, an union-jack being fixed upon a conspicuous tree near the extremity of the point, formal possession was taken of the north coast of Australia, between the meridians of 129 and 136 degrees East of Greenwich.

The marines fired three volleys, and the Tamar a royal salute, upon the occasion.
"Our first object being to find water, parties were despatched in various directions for that purpose; but after traversing many miles of country, and coasting a great deal of the port, only one place was discovered (the low sandy east point of entrance to Inner Harbour) where any was to be procured, and it was then only obtained by digging deep holes in the sand.