TRANSCRIPTION
ON THE MORNING of the 16th [6 January] we went on the port tack in order to stand in for the coast. My intention was to anchor in the first bay opposite the entrance to the second* gulf. The first time I visited this coast, this bay, and even the one after it, had looked as if it must offer some good shelter from North-East through South to West; but the weather then did not allow me to examine it thoroughly, nor the one to the West of it which is much deeper, but has shallow water at its mouth and for a fairly long way out to sea. I found there only 5 to 6 fathoms, sandy bottom.
Having entered the first of the bays just mentioned, we anchored in 8 fathoms, bottom of sand and weeds, which led me to think that we would find good holding. We immediately moored across with a small kedge anchor so that the current should not cause us to run over our cable, as had happened several times.
As soon as the ship was moored, the boats were put down and I sent parties off to examine the coast. These were to learn its outline and, above all, to see if there were not some fresh water in various ravines that we could see, which appeared to open out on to the shore. Citizens Bonnefoi and Ransonnet were each put in charge of a boat for this exploration, with orders for one to begin on the West side of the bay and the other on the East so as to meet in the inlet to the South. Citizen Ransonnet, who had the West section, was instructed to make a large fire on a prominent point in order to indicate to the Casuarina that we were in this bay, should she happen to arrive overnight.
At about eleven o'clock a third boat left with the carpenters to cut some suitable wood for the building of our longboat, most of the frames of which we had made since our departure from King Island.
* Sic. Baudin probably meant to say the second bay and thefirst gulf
t 'Herbier' (sic) = herbe.
