The wind throughout has been steady at South-East, occasionally varying a point or two towards east.
APPEARANCE OF THE COAST.
September 18th.
For the last three days the coast has appeared as a strip of low land, backed by mountain ranges of moderate elevation.* We observed several openings, apparently creeks or mouths of rivers, and saw much smoke and some canoes, but our distance from the shore was too great to allow of communication.

In the evening we stood off to seaward, and during the night, while trying to avoid it, probably passed over the assigned position of a reef laid down on one of the charts as having been seen in 1804, but without being able to confirm or disprove its existence.** (*Footnote.

From the haze involving distant objects--less frequent (as we afterwards had reason to believe) during the westerly monsoon--the much higher Owen Stanley Range was not then visible; it had also, probably from the same cause, quite escaped the notice of D'Urville who passed this portion of the coast at the distance of about eight or nine miles.) (**Footnote.

Although this reef does not exist in the position assigned to it, I may state that its presence upon the charts rests upon the authority of Coutance; Freycinet, rejecting Coutance's longitude of Cape Deliverance and adopting that of D'Entrecasteaux, has laid down the reef in question as bearing West-South-West from Point Hood, at a distance of twelve leagues.

Another but smaller reef is stated on the same authority to exist five leagues South-East 1/4 East from Cape Rodney.) PASSAGE ALONG THE COAST.
September 19th.
Passed Mount Astrolabe, a series of long flat-topped ridges parallel with the coast, but were unable clearly to identify the Cape Passy of D'Urville where his running survey terminated, and where the Astrolabe and Zelee bore away to the westward for Torres Strait.
September 20th.
During the forenoon the Bramble was observed to windward, and in the afternoon she was sent inshore to look for anchorage.