Of Thirsty Sound as a harbour, very little can be said in praise; the north-east and east winds throw in a good deal of sea, and there is not room for more than three or four ships, without running up into the narrow part; and what the depth may be there I did not examine, but saw that there were shoals. The entrance of the sound may be known by two round hills, one on each side, lying nearly north and south, one mile and a half from each other: the northernmost is Pier Head. The surrounding country is clothed with grass and wood; but on the Long-Island side the grass is coarse, the trees are thinly scattered, and the soil is every where too stony for the cultivation of grain. There were many traces of natives, though none recent. Judging from what was seen round the fire places, turtle would seem to be their principal food; and indeed several turtle were seen in the water, but we had not dexterity enough to take any of them. In fishing with the seine, at a small beach two miles up the sound, we always had tolerably good success; but no fresh water accessible to boats could be found in the neighbourhood. The _latitude_ of Pier Head, from an observation made at the top in an artificial horizon, is 22° 6' 53" S. _Longitude_ from thirteen sets of distances of the sun west of the moon, observed by lieutenant Flinders, 149° 47' 50"; but by the survey and the fixed position in Broad Sound, with which the time-keepers agreed, it will be more correctly 150° 0' 10" E. Captain Cook specifies the situation of Thirsty Sound to be in latitude 22° 10', longitude 149° 42' (Hawkesworth, III, 128); but in the chart published by Mr. Dalrymple, it is 22° 7' and 149° 36', which agrees nearer with the deductions of Mr. Wales (_Astron. Obs._ p. 135). In either case it appears, that my longitude was getting more eastward from captain Cook as we advanced further along the coast. WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 1802 The tides in Thirsty Sound were neaped at this time, and the rise, judging by the lead line, was from ten to twelve feet; but captain Cook says, "at spring tides the water does not rise less than sixteen or eighteen feet," which I have no doubt is correct. It ceases at _ten hours and three quarters after_ the moon passes over and under the meridian.