and at sunset, Coal Island, in the entrance of Port Hunter, bore N. 9°
W., five or six miles. This port was discovered in 1797 by the late
captain John Shortland, and lies in 32° 56' south, longitude 151° 43'
east.

We passed Port Stephens a little before midnight; and the breeze being
fresh at W. by S., the Lady Nelson was left astern, and we lay to for an
hour next morning [FRIDAY 23 JULY 1802], to wait her coming up. The land
was then scarcely visible, but a north course brought us in with the
Three Brothers (Atlas Plate IX.); and at four in the afternoon, they bore
from S. 56° to 65° W., the nearest land being a low, but steep point,
distant four or five miles in the first direction. The Three Brothers lie
from one to five miles behind the shore, at the eastern extremity of a
range of high land, coming out of the interior country. The northernmost
hill is the broadest, most elevated, and nearest to the water side; and
being visible fifty miles from a ship's deck, is an excellent landmark
for vessels passing along the coast: its latitude is 31° 43' south, and
longitude 152° 45' east.

To the northward of the Three Brothers there is four leagues of low. and
mostly sandy shore; and after passing it, we came up with a projection,
whose top is composed of small, irregular-shaped hummocks, the
northernmost of them being a rocky lump of a sugar-loaf form; further on,
the land falls back into a shallow bight, with rocks in it standing above
water. When abreast of the projection, which was called _Tacking Point_,
the night was closing in, and we stood off shore, intending to make the
same part next morning; for some of this coast had been passed in the
dark by captain Cook, and might therefore contain openings.

SATURDAY 24 JULY 1802