danger to be avoided on entering is a sunken rock on the south side,
having about three feet on it at low water; and it will he necessary,
should the port he settled, that this danger should he buoyed. The bar
extends about two hundred yards; the bottom a soft sand when the water
deepens to two fathoms and a half, and alternately to three fathoms,
when secure anchorage will be found inside the Beacon Rock.

When vessels arrive off the bar, should the wind or tide be adverse to
entering the port, good anchorage will he found in from five to eight
fathoms outside the bar; Tacking Point being shut in by Peaked Hill
Point. When the winds are from the south, round by the west to north, the
bottom a clear sand.

The winds from north-east and south-east, if blowing strong, cause the
water to break across: but as those winds are fair for entering, no
danger is to be apprehended to vessels whose draft of water does not
exceed nine or ten feet. Should however circumstances render it imprudent
or impracticable to enter, the coast may be cleared on either tack, the
indenture of the coast line not being such as to cause it ever to be a
dangerous lee shore.

The port should be entered at or near high water, when, unless it blows
very hard, it seldom breaks on the bar. The tide of ebb runs with great
rapidity, sometimes nearly four miles per hour, owing to the great
quantity of fresh water in the Hastings River, and the narrowness of the
channel. The flood tide seldom exceeds one mile and three quarters per
hour. The tides are however very irregular in their operation, being
considerably influenced by local circumstances. The port is perfectly
capable to receive vessels of the class usually employed on the coasts of
this territory, and is in my opinion far better and safer than many