maturity; but the wood is hard and solid, and it may thence be supposed to grow slowly. With these considerations I should be inclined to fix the period at not less than ten, nor more than twenty years before our arrival. This brings us back to La Perouse. He was in Botany Bay in the beginning of 1788; and if he did pass through Torres’ Strait, and come round to this coast, as was his intention, it would probably be about the middle or latter end of that year, or between thirteen and fourteen years before the Investigator. My opinion is not favourable to this conjecture; but I have furnished all the _data_ to enable the reader to form his own judgment upon the cause which might have prostrated the woods of these islands.
The soil of that part of Kangaroo Island examined by us was judged to be much superior to any before seen, either upon the south coast of the continent or upon the islands near it, with the exception of some portions behind the harbours of King George’s Sound. The depth of the soil was not particularly ascertained; but from the thickness of the wood it cannot be very shallow. Some sand is mixed with the vegetable earth, but not in any great proportion; and I thought the soil superior to some of the land cultivated at Port Jackson, and to much of that in our stony counties in England.
Never perhaps had the dominion possessed here by the kangaroo been invaded before this time. The seal shared with it upon the shores, but they seemed to dwell amicably together. It not unfrequently happened that the report of a gun fired at a kangaroo near the beach brought out two or three bellowing seals from under bushes considerably further from the water-side. The seal, indeed, seemed to be much the most discerning animal of the two; for its actions bespoke a knowledge of our not being kangaroos, whereas the kangaroo not unfrequently appeared to consider us to be seals.
The _latitude_ of the landing place near Kangaroo Head from an observation in the artificial horizon, was 35 deg. 43′ 0″ south; and the _longitude_ of our anchorage by timekeepers, 137 deg. 58′ 31″ east. This last, being deduced from observations only four days after the proof had of the time keepers having gone correctly since leaving Port Lincoln, should be as accurate, or very nearly so, as the longitude of that port.
The _variation_ observed from two compasses on board, with the head south-westward, was 6 deg. 31′ east; but when the ship swung to a tide coming from east-north-east, the change in the bearings of different objects showed the variation to be about 4 deg. less. The true variation I deduce to be 4 deg. 13′ east; which is an increase upon what was observed on the west side of Cape Spencer, of 2 deg.; although the distance be no more than twenty-four leagues, and the previous increase from Cape Catastrophe had been almost nothing. It seems probable that the existence of magnetic bodies in the land to the north-westward, and perhaps also in Kangaroo Island and Cape Jervis, was the cause of this change in the direction of the needle.
From appearances on the shore, I judged the rise of _tide_ to be about six feet. The flood came from the east-north-east, twice in the day, and by the swinging of the ship, ceased at _two hours and a half after_ the moon’s passage; but the time of high water was afterwards found to be later by one hour and a half.
CHAPTER VIII.
Departure from Kangaroo Island.
Examination of the main coast, from Cape Spencer eastward. The Investigator’s Strait.
A new gulph discovered. Anchorage at, and examination of the head. Remarks on the surrounding land.
Return down the gulph.
Troubridge Shoal.
Yorke’s Peninsula.
Return to Kangaroo Island.
Boat expedition to Pelican Lagoon.
Astronomical observations.
Kangaroo Island quitted.
Back-stairs Passage.
The coast from Cape Jervis, eastward. Meeting, and communication with Le Geographe. Remarks upon the French discoveries on the South Coast.
[SOUTH COAST. INVESTIGATOR’S STRAIT.]
WEDNESDAY 24 MARCH 1802
March 24 in the morning, we got under way from Kangaroo Island in order to take up the examination of the main coast at Cape Spencer, where it had been quitted in the evening of the 20th, when the late gale commenced. The wind had continued to blow fresh from the southward, but had now moderated, and was at south-west. We steered north-westward from ten o’clock till six in the evening, and then had sight of land extending from N. 62 deg. W. to a low part terminating at N. 17 deg. E. distant three leagues. A hummock upon this low part was named _Troubridge Hill_, and at first it makes like an island. Nothing was visible to the eastward of the low land; whence I judged there to be another inlet or a strait between it and Cape Jervis. Soon after dusk the wind veered to south-by-east, on which we steered south-westward, and continued the same course until four in the morning [THURSDAY 25 MARCH 1802]; when the largest Althorp Isle being seen to the north-west, the ship was hove to, with her head eastward; and at daylight, before making sail, the following bearings were taken of the lands to the northward, but no part of Kangaroo Island was visible.
Wedge I. (of Gambier’s Isles), highest part, N. 641/2 deg. W. Althorpe Isle, largest, distant 6 miles, N. 83 deg. to 78 W. Cape Spencer, south point, N. 44 W. Furthest extreme of the northern land, N. 44 E.
The wind fixed itself at south-east, and it took us two days to work back against it as far as Troubridge Hill [SATURDAY 27 MARCH 1802]. The shore is generally low and sandy; but with the exception of one very low point, it may be approached within two miles. Many tacks were made in these two days from the northern land across to Kangaroo Island, and gave opportunities of sounding the intermediate strait. From 45 fathoms, in the middle of the western entrance, the depth diminished quickly to 25, then more slowly to 20 after which it is irregular between 12 and 20 fathoms, as far as the mouth of the second inlet. Of the two sides, that of Kangaroo Island is much the deepest; but there is no danger in any part to prevent a ship passing through the strait with perfect confidence, and the average width is twenty-three miles. It was named INVESTIGATOR’S STRAIT, after the ship. The bottom is mostly broken shells, mixed with sand, gravel or coral, and appeared to hold well.
From two amplitudes taken to the north-north-west of Point Marsden, and near the middle of the strait, the variation was 1 deg. 49′ east; the ship’s head being south-south-east in one case, and north-east-by-north in the other. The true variation deduced from these, is 3 deg. 20′ east; which is 1 deg. 7′ greater than at Cape Spencer, and 0 deg. 53′ less than at the anchorage near Kangaroo Head.
At noon of the 27th, the eastern wind died away; and we dropped a kedge anchor in 15 fathoms, about two miles from Point Marsden, where the following observations and bearings were taken.
Latitude, observed to the north, 35 deg. 31′ 38″ Longitude by time keepers, 137 42 Kangaroo I., furthest western extreme, S. 82 W. do., Point Marsden, west side, S. 26 W. do., innermost head up Nepean Bay, S. 27 E. do., furthest eastern extreme, S. 571/2 E. Cape Jervis, south extreme, S. 73 E.
No set of tide was observable until three o’clock, when it made gently to the north-east, towards the new inlet; and a breeze springing up at south-east soon afterward, we pursued the same course, and were well within the entrance at eight o’clock. Fires were seen ahead; but the soundings being regular, and increasing, we kept on until midnight; when the land was seen also, and we stood back for two hours. At daylight [SUNDAY 28 MARCH 1802] I recognised Mount Lofty, upon the highest part of the ridge of mountains which, from Cape Jervis, extends northward behind the eastern shore of the inlet. The nearest part of the coast was distant three leagues, mostly low, and composed of sand and rock, with a few small trees scattered over it; but at a few miles inland, where the back mountains rise, the country was well clothed with forest timber, and had a fertile appearance. The fires bespoke this to be a part of the continent.
Light airs and calms prevailed during the morning, and the ship had very little way until noon, when a breeze sprung up at south-west. Our situation was then in
Latitude, observed to the north and south, 35 deg. 4′ 13″ Longitude by time keepers, 138 23 Mount Lofty bore N. 71 E.
Southern extreme toward Cape Jervis, S. 17 W. Northern extreme, trees above the water, N. 32 E.
The situation of Mount Lofty was found from hence and from some other cross bearings, to be 34 deg. 59′ south and 138 deg. 42′ east. No land was visible so far to the north as where the trees appeared above the horizon, which showed the coast to be very low, and our soundings were fast decreasing. From noon to six o’clock we ran thirty miles to the northward, skirting a sandy shore at the distance of five, and thence to eight miles; the depth was then 5 fathoms, and we dropped the anchor upon a bottom of sand, mixed with pieces of dead coral.
MONDAY 29 MARCH 1802
In the morning, land was seen to the westward, and also a hummocky mountain, capped with clouds, apparently near the head of the inlet. Azimuths with the surveying compass, taken when the ship’s head was south-eastward, gave 2 deg. 27′ east variation; but an amplitude taken at the same anchorage on the preceding evening, when the head was south-by-west, showed 5 deg. 22′ east. These corrected to the meridian, will be severally 4 deg. 43′ and 4 deg. 44′ east; or half a degree more than was observed near Kangaroo Head. The observations at this anchorage and the bearings taken were as follow:
Latitude observed from the moon, 34 deg. 36′ S. Longitude by time keepers, 138 18 E. Mount Lofty, S. 411/2 deg. E. Nearest shore, distant 7 miles, N. E. to N. Hummock mount, highest top, N. 121/2 W. Western land, furthest extremes, N. 51 deg. to S. 65 W.
There being almost no wind in the morning, we remained at anchor until nine o’clock, to set up afresh the rigging of the new top masts; and I took a boat to sound upon a rippling near the ship, but found the same depth of 5 fathoms. Very little progress was made until noon, at which time shoal water obliged us to steer westward. At three the soundings had increased from 31/2 to 10 fathoms, which was the deepest water to be found; for it became shallower on approaching the western shore. After steering various northwardly courses, we anchored at sunset in 5 fathoms, sand, shells and broken coral; the shores then appeared to close round at the distance of seven or eight miles; and the absence of tide gave no prospect of finding any river at the head of the inlet.
According to lieutenant Flinders’ observations, the situation of the anchorage was in
Latitude, 34 deg. 16′ 36″ Longitude by time keepers, 138 6 Mount Lofty, dist. 17 leagues, bore, S. 35 E. Hummock Mount, highest part, N. 5 E. A low sandy point, dist. 3 or 4, miles, N. 69 E. A low point covered with mangroves, N. 53 W.
The variation from an amplitude, observed when the ship’s head was south-eastward, was 2 deg. 50′ east; but the compass being upon a stand out of its usual place, I cannot deduce the true variation, but took it to be; 4 deg. 40′ east, nearly as found at the preceding anchorage.
TUESDAY 30 MARCH 1802
Early in the morning I went in a boat, accompanied by the naturalist, to examine more closely the head of the gulph. We carried from 4 to 3 fathoms water four miles above the ship, when it shoaled to fifteen and eight feet, which brought us to mud flats, nearly dry; but by means of a small channel amongst them we got within half a mile of the shore, and walked to it upon a bank of mud and sand.
It was then ten o’clock, and the tide was out; so that I judged the time of high water to be _about seven hours after_ the moon’s passage, or three hours later than at Kangaroo Island; and the ordinary rise appeared to be six or eight feet. An observation of the sun’s meridian altitude from the artificial horizon showed the landing-place to be in latitude 34 deg. 8′ 52″, and the uppermost water might be 30″ less; whence the extent of this inlet, from Cape Jervis on the east side of the entrance, is 1 deg. 30′ of latitude.
Microscopic shells of various kinds, not larger than grains of wheat, were heaped up in ridges at high-water mark; further back the shore was sandy, but soon rose, in an undulating manner, to hills covered with grass; and several clumps of trees scattered over them gave the land a pleasing appearance from the water side. We set off in the afternoon for the Hummock Mount, which stands upon a northern prolongation of the hills on the west side of the inlet, and about eight miles from the water; but finding it could not be reached in time to admit of returning on board the same evening, I ascended a nearer part of the range to inspect the head of the inlet. It was almost wholly occupied by flats, which seemed to be sandy in the eastern part and muddy to the westward. These flats abounded with rays; and had we been provided with a harpoon, a boat load might have been caught. One black swan and several shags and gulls were seen.
I found the grass upon these pleasant-looking hills to be thinly set, the trees small, and the land poor in vegetable soil. The mountainous ridge on the east side of the inlet passes within a few miles of Hummock Mount, and appeared to be more sandy; but the wood upon it was abundant, and of a larger growth. Between the two ranges is a broad valley, swampy at the bottom; and into it the water runs down from both sides in rainy weather, and is discharged into the gulph, which may be considered as the lower and wider part of the valley.
This eastern ridge is the same which rises at Cape Jervis; from whence it extends northward towards Barn Hill and the ridge of mountains on the east side of Spencer’s Gulph. If it joins that ridge, as I strongly suspect, its length, taking it only from Cape Jervis to Mount Arden, will be more than seventy leagues in a straight line. There are some considerable elevations on the southern part; Mount Lofty is one of them, and its height appeared nearly equal to that of Mount Brown to the north, or about three thousand feet. Another lies six or seven miles to the north-by-east of the Hummock Mount, near the head of this inlet, and seems to have been the hill set from Spencer’s Gulph, at the anchorage of March 14, in the evening, when it was distant ten or eleven leagues and appeared above the lower range in front of Barn Hill.
From my station on the western hills of the new inlet, across to Spencer’s Gulph, the distance was not more than thirty miles; but as I did not ascend the highest part of the range, the water to the westward could not be seen. Had the Hummock Mount been within my reach, its elevation of near fifteen hundred feet would probably have afforded an extensive view, both across the peninsula and of the country to the northward.
[SOUTH COAST. GULPH OF ST. VINCENT.]
In honour of the noble admiral who presided at the Board of Admiralty when I sailed from England, and had continued to the voyage that countenance and protection of which Earl Spencer had set the example, I named this new inlet the GULPH OF ST. VINCENT. To the peninsula which separates it from Spencer’s Gulph I have affixed the name of YORKE’S PENINSULA, in honour of the Right Honourable Charles Philip Yorke, who followed the steps of his above-mentioned predecessors at the Admiralty.
WEDNESDAY 31 MARCH 1802
On the 31st at daylight we got under way to proceed down the gulph, and having followed the eastern shore in going up, I wished to trace the coast of the peninsula in returning; but the wind being nearly at south, it could only be done partially. At two in the afternoon we tacked in 3 fathoms from the eastern shoals, and at sunset in the same depth one mile from the western side; our distance from the head of the gulph being then about ten leagues, and the furthest land of the peninsula bearing S. 3 deg. E. The western hills come down nearly to the water-side here, and have the same pleasant appearance as at the head of the gulph, being grassy, with clumps of wood scattered over them; the coast-line is somewhat cliffy, and not so low as the eastern shore.
THURSDAY 1 APRIL 1802
During the night the wind veered round to east, and at three in the morning to north-east; and a fire being seen on the eastern shore, the fore top sail was laid to the mast. At daybreak we made sail west for the land of the peninsula; and at half-past nine it was less than five miles distant, being very low and sandy. The northern extreme then in sight appeared to be the same land set in the evening at S. 3 deg. E.; the other extreme was not far from Troubridge Hill, on the west side of the entrance to the gulph; and near it was an extensive bank, part of it dry, which I called _Troubridge Shoal_. The bearings taken at this time were,
Northern extreme of the west shore, N. 2 deg. E. Southern extreme, distant 7 miles, S. 42 W. Troubridge Shoal, dry part S. 13 deg. W. to 9 E. Cape Jervis, S. extreme of high land, S. 18 E. Mount Lofty, N. 85 E.
We now hauled the wind to the south-east, and weathered the dry part of Troubridge Shoal; but passed amongst several patches of discoloured water in soundings from 4 to 31/2 fathoms. At noon, when our latitude observed on both sides was 35 deg. 9′ 38″ and longitude by time keepers 138 deg. 41/2′, the shoal was distant three leagues to the west-north-west; Cape Jervis bore S. 12 deg., and Mount Lofty N. 72 deg. E.
Our examination of the gulph of St. Vincent was now finished; and the country round it had appeared to be generally superior to that on the borders of Spencer’s Gulph. Yorke’s Peninsula between them is singular in its form, bearing some resemblance to a very ill-shaped leg and foot. The length of the southern part, from Cape Spencer to the sandy point near Troubridge Shoal, is about forty-five miles; and from thence northward, to where the peninsula joins the main land, about sixty miles. Its least breadth is from the head of Hardwicke Bay to the Investigator’s Strait, where it appears to be not more than three leagues.
[SOUTH COAST. KANGAROO ISLAND]
Having now made myself acquainted with the shores of the continent up to Cape Jervis, it remained to pursue the discovery further eastward; but I wished to ascertain previously whether any error had crept into the time-keepers’ rates since leaving Kangaroo Island, and also to procure there a few more fresh meals for my ship’s company. Our course was in consequence directed for the island, which was visible from aloft; but the winds being very feeble, we did not pass Kangaroo Head until eleven at night. I purposed to have run up into the eastern cove of Nepean Bay, but finding the water to shoal from 12 to 7 fathoms, did not think it safe to go further in the dark, and therefore dropped the anchor about three-quarters of a mile from the shore, and two miles to the south-west-by-west of our former anchorage.
FRIDAY 2 APRIL 1802
Early on the following morning a party was sent to shoot kangaroos, another to cut wood, and the naturalists went to pursue their researches. The observations taken by lieutenant Flinders, compared with those of March 24th, showed the timekeepers to have erred 2′ 10″ of longitude to the west in the nine days we had been absent; and they had not, consequently, lost quite so much upon a medium as the Port Lincoln rates supposed. This small error, which principally affected the Gulph of St. Vincent, has been corrected in the longitudes there specified and in the chart by an equal proportion.
The kangaroos were found to be less numerous than at the first anchoring place, and they had become shy, so that very few were killed. Those few being brought off, with a boat load of wood, we got under way at daylight next morning to prosecute the examination of the coast beyond Cape Jervis; but the timekeepers had stopped, from having been neglected to be wound up on the preceding day. We therefore came to an anchor again; and as some time would be required to fix new rates, the ship was moored so soon as the flood tide made. I landed immediately, to commence the necessary observations, and a party was established on shore, abreast of the ship, to cut more wood for the holds. Lieutenant Fowler was sent in the launch to the eastward, with a shooting party and such of the scientific gentlemen as chose to accompany him; and there being skins wanted for the service of the rigging, he was directed to kill some seals.
SUNDAY 4 APRIL 1802
On the 4th I was accompanied by the naturalist in a boat expedition to the head of the large eastern cove of Nepean Bay; intending if possible to ascend a sandy eminence behind it, from which alone there was any hope of obtaining a view into the interior of the island, all the other hills being thickly covered with wood. On approaching the south-west corner of the cove, a small opening was found leading into a considerable piece of water; and by one of its branches we reached within little more than a mile of the desired sandy eminence. After I had observed the latitude 35 deg. 50′ 2″ from an artificial horizon, we got through the wood without much difficulty, and at one o’clock reached the top of the eminence, to which was given the name of _Prospect Hill_. Instead of a view into the interior of the island, I was surprised to find the sea at not more than one and half or two miles to the southward. Two points of the coast towards the east end of the island bore S. 77 deg. E., and the furthest part on the other side, a low point with breakers round it, bore S. 33 deg. W., at the supposed distance of four or five leagues. Between these extremes a large bight in the south coast was formed; but it is entirely exposed to southern winds, and the shores are mostly cliffy. Mount Lofty, on the east side of the Gulph of St. Vincent, was visible from Prospect Hill at the distance of sixty-nine miles, and bore N. 40 deg. 40′ E.
The entrance of the piece of water at the head of Nepean Bay is less than half a mile in width, and mostly shallow; but there is a channel sufficiently deep for all boats near the western shore. After turning two low islets near the east point the water opens out, becomes deeper, and divides into two branches, each of two or three miles long. Boats can go to the head of the southern branch only at high water; the east branch appeared to be accessible at all times, but as a lead and line were neglected to be put into the boat, I had no opportunity of sounding. There are four small islands in the eastern branch; one of them is moderately high and woody, the others are grassy and lower; and upon two of these we found many young pelicans, unable to fly. Flocks of the old birds were sitting upon the beaches of the lagoon, and it appeared that the islands were their breeding-places; not only so, but from the number of skeletons and bones there scattered, it should seem that they had for ages been selected for the closing scene of their existence. Certainly none more likely to be free from disturbance of every kind could have been chosen than these islets in a hidden lagoon of an uninhabited island, situate upon an unknown coast near the antipodes of Europe; nor can anything be more consonant to the feelings, if pelicans have any, than quietly to resign their breath whilst surrounded by their progeny, and in the same spot where they first drew it. Alas for the pelicans! Their golden age is past; but it has much exceeded in duration that of man.
I named this piece of water _Pelican Lagoon_. It is also frequented by flocks of the pied shag, and by some ducks and gulls; and the shoals supplied us with a few oysters. The surrounding country is almost everywhere thickly covered with brushwood; and the soil appeared to be generally of a good quality, though not deep. Prospect Hill and the parts around it are more sandy; and there seemed to be swamps at the head of both branches of the lagoon. The isthmus which separates the southern branch from the sea is low, but rises gradually up the cliffs of the coast.
Not being able to return on board the same night, we slept near the entrance of the lagoon. It was high water by the shore, on the morning of the 5th [MONDAY 5 APRIL 1802], at six o’clock; but on comparing this with the swinging of the ship, it appeared that the tide had then been running more than an hour from the westward. The rise in the lagoon seemed to be from four to eight feet.
A few kangaroos had been obtained during my absence, as also some seal skins; but one of the sailors having attacked a large seal incautiously, received a very severe bite in the leg and was laid up. After all the researches now made in the island, it appeared that the kangaroos were much more numerous at our first landing-place, near Kangaroo Head, than elsewhere in the neighbourhood. That part of the island was clearer of wood than most others; and there were some small grass plats which seemed to be particularly attractive and were kept very bare. Not less than thirty emus or cassowaries were seen at different times; but it so happened that they were fired at only once, and that ineffectually. They were most commonly found near the longest of the small beaches to the eastward of Kangaroo Head, where some little drainings of water oozed from the rocks. It is possible that with much time and labour employed in digging, water might be procured there to supply a ship; and I am sorry to say that it was the sole place found by us where the hope of procuring fresh water could be entertained.
Having received on board a good stock of wood, the launch was hoisted in and every thing prepared for going to sea. Next morning [TUESDAY 6 APRIL 1802], so soon as the sun was sufficiently elevated to be observed in the artificial horizon, I landed to take the last set of observations for the time-keepers; after which the anchor was weighed, and we steered out of Nepean Bay with a light breeze from the south-west. Towards noon it fell calm, and finding by the land that the ship was set westward, an anchor was dropped nearly in our first place off Kangaroo Head; and Mr. Westall took the sketch given in the Atlas. (Atlas Plate XVII. View 11.)
The rates of the time keepers were obtained, for the sake of expedition, from single altitudes of the sun’s upper and lower limbs, taken from a quicksilver horizon with a sextant fixed on a stand; the time being noted from Arnold’s watch, compared with Earnshaw’s time keepers before going on shore and immediately after returning. From the altitudes of the 3rd, 4th, and 6th, in the morning, the rates of the two time keepers and their errors from mean Greenwich time, reduced to noon there on the last day, were as under.
Earnshaw’s No. 543, fast 0h 0′ 18.03″ and losing 8.46″ per day. No. 520, slow 0 45 29.66 and losing 18.07″ per day.
In deducing these errors, the longitude given by the time keepers on our first arrival from Spencer’s Gulph, which I consider to be equally good with that of Port Lincoln, was used, with a correction of -1′ 20″ for the change of place. The medium of the Port Lincoln rates was something greater than that now found; which corresponded with the time keepers having given the longitude of Kangaroo Head less on the second than on the first arrival. This was some proof that the letting down had not affected the rates, and tended to give me confidence in their accuracy.
The _variation_ observed on shore, with the theodolite, was 5 deg. 48′ east. Do. with azimuth compass, No. 1 with the theodolite, was 2 deg. 58′ east.
For this difference between the instruments, I find it difficult to account satisfactorily; but it is the same way, and nearly similar in quantity to what was observed in Lucky Bay. The true variation on board the ship, deduced from azimuths taken at anchor two miles to the north-east, and using the compasses No. 1 and 2, was as before mentioned, 4 deg. 13′, nearly the mean of the above; but the bearings taken with the theodolite at Kangaroo Head and Prospect Hill showed only 21/2 deg. east, as compared with the bearings on board the ship. There can be little doubt of the existence of magnetic substances in the lands about here, more particularly, as I think, in Yorke’s Peninsula; and there will presently be occasion to notice more instances of their effect.
The approach of the winter season, and an apprehension that the discovery of the remaining unknown part of the South Coast might not be completed before a want of provisions would make it necessary to run for Port Jackson, prevented me from stopping a day longer at Kangaroo Island than was necessary to obtaining rates for the time-keepers, and consequently from examining the south and west parts of that island. The direction of the main coast and the inlets it might form were the most important points to be now ascertained; and the details of particular parts, which it would interfere too much with those objects to examine, were best referred to the second visit, directed by my instructions to be made to this coast. When, therefore, the rising of a breeze made it advisable to get under way from Kangaroo Head, which was not until two in the afternoon, we proceeded for the eastern outlet of the Investigator’s Strait, in order to prosecute the discovery beyond Cape Jervis.
The wind was at south-east; and the tide being against us, but little progress was made until the evening, when it became favourable. Our soundings were irregular, and some rocky islets being seen without side of the opening, I stood in at nine o’clock, to look for anchorage at the east end of Kangaroo Island; and finding no shelter there, we ran a little to leeward into a small bay which I had observed before dark, and anchored at half past ten, in 41/2 fathoms, on a bottom of hard sand. At daylight [WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL 1802], the following bearings were taken.
East point of the little bay, dist. 11/2 mile, East. West point, distant three miles, N. 38 deg. W. Cape Jervis, inner low point, N. 3 W. Eastern extreme of the coast, N. 65 E.
The bay is perfectly sheltered from all southern winds; and as there were several spots clear of wood near the beach, it is probable that the kangaroos, and perhaps cassowaries, might be numerous. We did not stop to land, but got under way so soon as the bearings were taken, to beat out of the strait against the south-east wind; so little was gained, however, after working all the day, that at eight in the evening the ship was still off the east end of Kangaroo Island.
This part of the Investigator’s Strait is not more, in the narrowest part, than seven miles across. It forms a private entrance, as it were, to the two gulphs; and I named it _Back-stairs Passage_. The small bay where we had anchored is called the _Ante-chamber_; and the cape which forms the eastern head of the bay and of Kangaroo Island, and lies in 35 deg. 48′ south and 138 deg. 13′ east, received the appellation of _Cape Willoughby_. Without side of the passage, and almost equidistant from both shores, there are three small, rocky islets near together, called the _Pages_, whose situation is in latitude 35 deg. 461/2′ and longitude 138 deg. 21′ east; these are the sole dangers in Back-stairs Passage, and two of them are conspicuous. Our soundings in beating through were from 8 to 23 fathoms; and in a strong rippling of tide like breakers there was from 10 to 12, upon a bottom of stones and shells.
At eight in the evening we tacked from Cape Willoughby; and having passed to windward of the Pages, stretched on east and north-eastward until four in the morning [THURSDAY 8 APRIL 1802]. Land was then seen under the lee, and a tack made off shore till daylight, when we stood in with the wind at east-south-east. At nine the land was distant five miles, and of a very different aspect to that of Cape Jervis. As far as six leagues from the cliffy southern extremity of the Cape the land is high, rocky and much cut by gullies or ravines; a short, scrubby brush-wood covers the seaward side, and the stone appeared to be slaty, like the opposite cliffs of Kangaroo Island. But here the hills fall back from the sea, and the shore becomes very low with some hummocks of sand upon it; and the same description of coast prevailed as far as could be seen to the eastward.
Our situation at nine o’clock, when we tacked to the south, was as follows;
Longitude by time keepers, 138 deg. 471/2′ Cape Jervis, two southern parts, bore S. 84 W. A round hummock, N. 85 W.
A rocky islet, under the land, N. 62 W. Furthest visible part of the sandy coast, S. 87 E.
Before two in the afternoon we stretched eastward again, and at four a white rock was reported from aloft to be seen ahead. On approaching nearer it proved to be a ship standing towards us, and we cleared for action, in case of being attacked. The stranger was a heavy-looking ship, without any top-gallant masts up; and our colours being hoisted, she showed a French ensign, and afterwards an English jack forward, as we did a white flag. At half-past five, the land being then five miles distant to the north-eastward, I hove to, and learned, as the stranger passed to leeward with a free wind, that it was the French national ship _Le Geographe_, under the command of captain NICOLAS BAUDIN. We veered round as Le Geographe was passing, so as to keep our broadside to her, lest the flag of truce should be a deception; and having come to the wind on the other tack, a boat was hoisted out, and I went on board the French ship, which had also hove to.
As I did not understand French, Mr. Brown, the naturalist, went with me in the boat. We were received by an officer who pointed out the commander, and by him were conducted into the cabin. I requested captain Baudin to show me his passport from the Admiralty; and when it was found and I had perused it, offered mine from the French marine minister, but he put it back without inspection. He then informed me that he had spent some time in examining the south and east parts of Van Diemen’s Land, where his geographical engineer, with the largest boat and a boat’s crew, had been left, and probably lost. In Bass Strait captain Baudin had encountered a heavy gale, the same we had experienced in a less degree on March 21 in the Investigator’s Strait. He was then separated from his consort, _Le Naturaliste_; but having since had fair winds and fine weather, he had explored the South Coast from Western Port to the place of our meeting without finding any river, inlet or other shelter which afforded anchorage. I inquired concerning a large island said to lie in the western entrance of Bass Strait; but he had not seen it, and seemed to doubt much of its existence.
Captain Baudin was communicative of his discoveries about Van Diemen’s land; as also of his criticisms upon an English chart of Bass Strait published in 1800. He found great fault with the north side of the strait, but commended the form given to the south side and to the islands near it. On my pointing out a note upon the chart, explaining that the north side of the strait was seen only in an open boat by Mr. Bass, who had no good means of fixing either latitude or longitude, he appeared surprised, not having before paid attention to it. I told him that some other and more particular charts of the Strait and its neighbourhood had been since published; and that if he would keep company until next morning, I would bring him a copy, with a small memoir belonging to them. This was agreed to, and I returned with Mr. Brown to the Investigator.
It somewhat surprised me that captain Baudin made no enquiries concerning my business upon this unknown coast, but as he seemed more desirous of communicating information, I was happy to receive it; next morning [FRIDAY 9 APRIL 1802], however, he had become inquisitive, some of his officers having learned from my boat’s crew that our object was also discovery. I then told him, generally, what our operations had been, particularly in the two gulphs, and the latitude to which I had ascended in the largest; explained the situation of Port Lincoln, where fresh water might be procured; showed him Cape Jervis, which was still in sight; and as a proof of the refreshments to be obtained at the large island opposite to it, pointed out the kangaroo-skin caps worn by my boat’s crew, and told him the name I had affixed to the island in consequence. At parting the captain requested me to take care of his boat and people in case of meeting with them; and to say to Le Naturaliste that he should go to Port Jackson so soon as the bad weather set in. On my asking the name of the captain of Le Naturaliste, he bethought himself to ask mine; and finding it to be the same as the author of the chart which he had been criticising, expressed not a little surprise, but had the politeness to congratulate himself on meeting me.
The situation of the Investigator, when I hove to for the purpose of speaking captain Baudin, was 35 deg. 40′ south and 138 deg. 58′ east. No person was present at our conversations except Mr Brown; and they were mostly carried on in English, which the captain spoke so as to be understood. He gave me, besides what is related above, some information of his losses in men, separations from his consort, and of the improper season at which he was directed to explore this coast; as also a memorandum of some rocks he had met with, lying two leagues from the shore, in latitude 37 deg. 1′, and he spoke of them as being very dangerous.
I have been the more particular in detailing all that passed at this interview from a circumstance which it seems proper to explain and discuss in this place.
At the above situation of 35 deg. 40′ south and 138 deg. 58′ east, the _discoveries_ made by captain Baudin upon the South Coast have their termination to the west; as mine in the Investigator have to the eastward. Yet Mons. Peron, naturalist in the French expedition, has laid a claim for his nation to the discovery of all the parts between _Western Port_ in Bass Strait, and _Nuyts’ Archipelago_; and this part of New South Wales is called _Terre Napoleon_. My Kangaroo Island, a name which they openly adopted in the expedition, has been converted at Paris into _L’Isle Decres_; Spencer’s Gulph is named _Golfe Bonaparte_; the Gulph of St. Vincent, _Golfe Josephine_; and so on along the whole coast to Cape Nuyts, not even the smallest island being left without some similar stamp of French discovery.*
[* The most remarkable passages on the subject are the following, under the title of _Terre Napoleon_.
“De ce grand espace (the south coast of Terra Australis), la partie seule qui du Cap Leuwen s’etend aux iles St. Pierre et St. Francois, ecoit connue lors de notre depart d’Europe. Decouverte par les Hollandois en 1627, elle avoit ete, dans ces derniers temps, visitee par VANCOUVER et surtout par DENTRECASTEAUX; mais ce dernier navigateur n’ayant pu lui-meme s’avancer au-dela des iles St. Pierre et St. Francois, qui forment la limite orientale de la terre de Nuyts, et les Anglois n’ayant pas porte vers le Sud leurs recherches plus loin que le port Western, il en resultoit que toute la portion comprise entre ce dernier point et la terre de Nuyts etoit encore inconnue au moment ou nous arrivions sur ces rivages.” p. 316. That is on March 30, 1802. M. Peron should have said, not that the south coast from Western Port to Nuyts’ Land was then unknown; but that it was unknown _to them_; for captain Grant of the Lady Nelson had discovered the eastern part, from Western Port to the longitude 1401/4 deg., in the year 1800, before the French ships sailed from Europe; and on the west I had explored the coast and islands from Nuyts’ land to Cape Jervis in 138 deg. 10′, and was, on the day specified, at the head of the Gulph of St. Vincent.
“Dans ce moment, le capitaine Anglois nous hela, en nous dernandant si nous n’etions pas l’un des deux vaisseaux partis de France pour faire des decouvertes dans l’hemisphere Austral. Sur notre reponse affirmative, il fit aussitot mettre une embarcation a la mer, et peu d’instans apres nous le recumes a bord. Nous apprimes que c’etoit le capitaine FLINDERS, celui-la meme qui avoit deja fait la circonnavigation de la terre de Diemen; que son navire se nommoit _the Investigator_; que, parti d’Europe depuis huit mois dans le dessein de completer la reconnoissance de la Nouvelle Hollande et des archipels du grand Ocean equatorial, il se trouvoit, depuis environs trois mois, a la terre de Nuyts; que, contrarie par les vents, il n’avoit pu penetrer, comme il en avoit eu le projet, derriere les iles St. Pierre et St. Francois; que, lors de son depart d’Angleterre,” etc. p. 324, 325.
“En nous fournissant tous ces details. M. FLINDERS se montra d’une grande reserve sur ses operations particulieres. Nous apprimes toutefois par quelques-uns de ses matelots, qu’il avoit eu beaucoup a souffrir de ces memes vents de la partie du Sud qui nous avoient ete si favorables, et ce fut alors sur-tout que nous pumes apprecier davantage toute la sagesse de nos propres instructions. Apres avoir converse plus d’une heure avec _nous_,” (no person except Mr. Brown was present at my conversation with captain Baudin, as I have already said), “le capitaine FLINDERS repartit pour son bord, promettant de revenir le lendemain matin nous apporter une carte particuliere de la riviere _Dalrymple_, qu’il venait de publier en Angleterre. Il revint en effet, le 9 avril, nous la remettre, et bientot apres nous le quittames pour reprendre la suite de nos tra vaux geographiques.” p. 325.
“L’ile principale de ce dernier groupe” (their _Archipel Berthier_) “se dessine sous la forme d’un immense hamacon.” (Thistle’s Island seems to he here meant.) “Independamment de toutes ces iles, il en existe encore plus de vingt autres disseminees aux environs de la pointe occidentale du golfe et en dehors de son entee: chacune d’elles fut designee par un de ces noms honorables dont notre patrie s’enorgueillit a juste titre.” p. 327.
_Voyage de Decouverte aux Terres Australes_, redige par M. F. Peron, Naturaliste de l’expedition, etc. Paris, 1807.]
It is said by M. Peron, and upon my authority too, that the Investigator had not been able to penetrate behind the Isles of St. Peter and St. Francis; and though he doth not say directly that no part of the before unknown coast was discovered by me, yet the whole tenor of his Chap. XV induces the reader to believe that I had done nothing which could interfere with the prior claim of the French.
Yet M. Peron was present afterwards at Port Jackson when I showed one of my charts of this coast to captain Baudin, and pointed out the limits of his discovery; and so far from any prior title being set up at that time to Kangaroo Island and the parts westward, the officers of the Geographe always spoke of them as belonging to the Investigator. The first lieutenant, Mons. Freycinet, even made use of the following odd expression, addressing himself to me in the house of governor King, and in the presence of one of his companions, I think Mons. Bonnefoy: “Captain, if we had not been kept so long picking up shells and catching butterflies at Van Diemen’s Land, you would not have discovered the South Coast before us.”
The English officers and respectable inhabitants then at Port Jackson can say if the prior discovery of these parts were not generally acknowledged; nay, I appeal to the French officers themselves, generally and individually, if such were not the case. How then came M. Peron to advance what was so contrary to truth? Was he a man destitute of all principle? My answer is, that I believe his candour to have been equal to his acknowledged abilities; and that what he wrote was from over-ruling authority, and smote him to the heart; he did not live to finish the second volume.
The motive for this aggression I do not pretend to explain. It may have originated in the desire to rival the British nation in the honour of completing the discovery of the globe; or be intended as the forerunner of a claim to the possession of the countries so said to have been first discovered by French navigators. Whatever may have been the object in view, the question, so far as I am concerned, must be left to the judgment of the world; and if succeeding French writers can see and admit the claims of other navigators as clearly and readily as a late most able man of that nation* has pointed out their own in some other instances, I shall not fear to leave it even to their decision.
[* M. DE FLEURIEU.]
CHAPTER IX.
Examination of the coast resumed.
Encounter Bay.
The capes Bernouilli and Jaffa.
Baudin’s Rocks.
Differences in the bearings on tacking. Cape Buffon, the eastern limit of the French discovery. The capes Northumberland and Bridgewater of captain Grant. Danger from a south-west gale.
King’s Island, in Bass’ Strait: Anchorage there. Some account of the island.
Nautical observations.
New Year’s Isles.
Cape Otway, and the north-west entrance to Bass’ Strait. Anchorage in, and examination of Port Phillip. The country and inhabitants.
Nautical observations.
[SOUTH COAST. ENCOUNTER BAY]
FRIDAY 9 APRIL 1802
I returned with Mr. Brown on board the Investigator at half past eight in the morning, and we then separated from Le Geographe; captain Baudin’s course being directed to the north-west, and ours to the southward. We had lost ground during the night, and the wind was very feeble at east, so that the French ship was in sight at noon, and our situation was as follows:
Latitude observed, 35 deg. 44′ Longitude by time keepers, 138 53 Cape Jervis bore N. 821/2 W. Hummock at the east end of the high land, N. 41/2 E. Nearest sandy hillock, dist. 3 or 4 leagues, N. 65 E.
At the place where we tacked from the shore on the morning of the 8th, the high land of Cape Jervis had retreated from the waterside, the coast was become low and sandy, and its trending was north-east; but after running four or five leagues in that direction it curved round to the south-eastward, and thus formed a large bight or bay. The head of this bay was probably seen by captain Baudin in the afternoon; and in consequence of our meeting here, I distinguished it by the name of ENCOUNTER BAY. The succeeding part of the coast having been first discovered by the French navigator, I shall make use of the names in describing it which he or his country men have thought proper to apply; that is, so far as the volume published enables me to make them out; but this volume being unaccompanied with charts, and containing few latitudes and longitudes by which the capes and bays can be identified, I must be excused should any errors be committed in the nomenclature.
There was no wind from noon to two o’clock; and it appeared by the lead that the ship was drifted to the west-north-west, probably by a flood tide. On a breeze springing up from the southward we stretched in for the shore; and at six in the evening it was four miles distant, being sandy and generally very low; but there were several hillocks upon it high enough to be seen four or five leagues from a ship’s deck, and one of them, more bluff than the rest, and nearly destitute of vegetation, bore N. 17 deg. E. Next day [SATURDAY 10 APRIL 1802] at noon our situation was within three miles of the land, but very little advanced beyond that of the preceding day, our latitude being 35 deg. 49 1/3′, and the bluff hummock in sight bearing N. 22 deg. W.
A tide or current setting along the shore appeared to retard us considerably, for at sunset we were not so much as two miles from the noon’s place; the hummock then bore N. 25 deg. W., and the furthest part of the coast south-east-by-east from the mast head.
An amplitude taken in the morning, with the ship’s head west-by-south, gave 5 deg. 11′ _east_ variation; and in the afternoon, when the land was only three miles distant and the head south-east, azimuths with the same compass gave 0 deg. 50′ _west_. These, corrected to the meridian in the mode I have adopted, will be severally 1 deg. 57′ and 1 deg. 30′ east; and the mean 1 deg. 44′. The variation had therefore _decreased_ considerably since leaving Kangaroo Island, contrary to the natural order; which proves that the quick increase on passing Yorke’s Peninsula, was owing to some peculiar attraction, either in that or the neighbouring lands. Whilst beating through the Back-stairs Passage, I had observed an amplitude when the ship’s head was south-south-west, which gave the extraordinary variation of 2 deg. 41′ east, or reduced to the meridian, 1 deg. 27′ east; although we were then not so much as four miles from the anchorage where it had been found 4 deg. 13′ east. Another amplitude was observed at eight leagues to the east of Cape Willoughby, when the head was north-east-half-east, and gave 2 deg. 5′ east variation, or reduced, 4 deg. 36′. This last is correspondent with what was observed near Kangaroo Head and in the Gulph of St. Vincent; but the variation of 1 deg. 27′ in the passage is totally irregular, and must I think be ascribed to an attraction either in Cape Jervis to the north-east, or in the east end of Kangaroo Island to the south-east, or to both. When the great variation Of 4 deg. 36′ was obtained, both these lands were to the west; and when afterwards the 1 deg. 57′ and 1 deg. 30′ were observed, the nearest land was again to the eastward of the ship; and nearest in the last case.
The winds continued to be light and unfavourable; but by taking advantage of the changes in direction, and keeping further from the land, out of the tide or current, we had gained eight leagues by noon of the 11th [SUNDAY 11 APRIL 1802]. About twenty miles of coast beyond what had been set as the furthest extreme on the preceding day, was then in sight (Atlas Plate V.); and our situation and bearings were as follow:
Latitude by corrected log, 36 deg. 11′ Longitude by time keepers. 139 291/2 Northern extreme, from the mast head, N. 10 E. Nearest part, distant 7 or 8 miles, N. 59 E. A broad patch of white sand, N. 78 E. Southern extreme, from the mast head, S. 66 E.
At one o’clock we bore away along the coast with a light breeze from the north-eastward; and having run five leagues, tacked to seaward soon after dark. Next morning [MONDAY 12 APRIL 1802] we again followed the coast at the distance of from five to three miles; and at noon a somewhat projecting part, which appears to be the _Cape Bernouilli_ of the French navigators, was three or four miles distant to the east. Its latitude is 36 deg. 33′ and longitude 139 deg. 51′; and about six miles to the south-south-east there are two low, black rocks lying close under the shore.
[SOUTH COAST. TOWARDS CAPE NORTHUMBERLAND.]
From Encounter Bay to this slight projection the coast is little else than a bank of sand, with a few hummocks on the top, partially covered with small vegetation; nor could anything in the interior country be distinguished above the bank. The shore runs waving between east-south-east and south-south-east; but to form what is called Cape Bernouilli it trends south, and then curves back south-eastward into a bight. The land then becomes better clothed with bushes and small trees; and it also differs from the more northern part in that some little risings of back land were visible.
Our soundings were more shallow along this part of the coast than before. The depth in passing Cape Bernouilli was from 8 to 12 fathoms; and on tacking out of the southern bight, at half past five in the evening, it was no more than 6, at three miles from the shore. We then saw land extending as far out as S. 29 deg. W., which was the south head of the bight, and appears to be the _Cape Jaffa_ of the French; but I do not find that they have given any name to the bight or bay, although much more deserving than some other sinuosities in the coast on which that honour is conferred.
This evening the variation from azimuths was 1 deg. 25′ east, taken when the ship’s head was S. S. E. 1/2 E.; which being corrected upon the same principle as before, is 3 deg. 0′ east, and showed the variation to be now increasing, according to the regular order.
During the night, we worked up successfully against a south-south-east wind, for at six in the morning [TUESDAY 13 APRIL 1802] the low, outer extreme of Cape Jaffa bore N. 15 deg. E., six or seven miles. The shore is sandy, but rises from the beach to a moderate elevation, and is then well clothed with small wood. About three leagues to the south of the cape is a cluster of low rocks, apparently the same of which captain Baudin had given me information; they do not, however, lie exactly in the situation expressed in his memorandum, and are not more than two miles from the land. We called them _Baudin’s Rocks_; and since no name is applied to them in M. Peron’s account of their voyage, the appelation is continued.
Four miles beyond the rocks is a point of moderate elevation; sandy, but mostly overspread with bushes. This is their _Cape Lannes_; and on its north side is a small bay, called the _Baye de Rivoli_, with a sandy shore and open to west winds. The bearings of these places, and our situation at noon, half an hour after tacking from Baudin’s Rocks, were as under;
Latitude, observed to the north 37 deg. 71/4′ Longitude by time keepers, 139 41
Cape Jaffa, extreme, N. 2 E. Baudin’s Rocks, distant 3 miles, N. 70 E. Rivoli Bay, about the middle, S. 72 E. Cape Lannes, distant 4 or 5 miles, S. 46 E. Furthest extreme of the coast, S. 38 E.
WEDNESDAY 14 APRIL 1802
For the last two days there had been a little current in our favour, and notwithstanding that the winds had been mostly adverse, we made some progress along the coast; but on opening out the land beyond Cape Lannes, the current took a northern direction, and at noon of this day we were no further advanced than to have that cape bearing N. 86 deg. E. at the distance of nine or ten miles. The furthest part of the coast then visible was a peaked sandy hummock, bearing S. 681/2 deg. E. In the night, the wind came more off the land, and permitted us to make an advantageous tack to the southward; and at noon next day [THURSDAY 15 APRIL 1802], when we had reached in again with the coast, our situation was in
Latitude observed, 37 deg. 231/2′ Longitude by time keepers, 139 50 Cape Lannes, west extreme, bore N. 13 W. The peaked sandy hummock, dist. 5 miles, N. 29 E. Furthest extreme, S. 59 E.
In the evening we got sight of a projecting and somewhat elevated part which lies ten leagues to the south-eastward of Cape Lannes, and appears to be the _Cape Buffon_ of the French navigators. The intermediate coast is similar to that between Encounter Bay and Cape Bernouilli, with the sole difference that the hummocks upon the sandy bank are somewhat higher: nothing inland appeared above them.
The wind was again favourable in the night for making a long stretch to the southward; and it was prolonged to the next day at noon [FRIDAY 16 APRIL 1802], when our distance from the coast was judged to be ten leagues; but no part of it was in sight, and we had then got out of soundings, there being no bottom at 200 fathoms. The latitude was 37 deg. 57′ south, and longitude from six sets of distances of stars east and west of the moon, 139 deg. 39′, but by the time keepers corrected, 139 deg. 45′ east. Not more than seven or eight leagues from this situation, there should lie an island according to the account given by captain Turnbull of the Britannia south whaler, who saw it in his passage out to Port Jackson. Having thick weather at the time, he was not able to ascertain its latitude or longitude, otherwise than by the log; and as it was not in sight from our mast head, its position must be considered as very uncertain.
The variations observed this day, with the same compass always on the binnacle, were as under:
By morning’s amplitude, ship’s head S. E. by S. 2 deg. 39′ east. By morning’s azimuth, ship’s head S. S. E. 2 2 By evening’s azimuth, ship’s head N. E. 2 2
The mean, reduced to the meridian, will be 4 deg. 5′ east. Nine leagues to the north, and half the distance nearer to the land, an amplitude had been taken with the ship’s head in the meridian, which gave 4 deg. 8′ east.
On the three preceding days many tacks had been made from the shore, and I had frequently taken bearings just before the helm was put down; and so soon as the ship was round and the compass steady, they were again taken. Differences always took place; and without any exception the bearings required a _greater_ allowance of variation to the right after tacking, when the head was _westward_, than before, when eastward; agreeing with the differences so frequently found in the azimuths and amplitudes, which had always been to show a greater east or less west variation when the head was on the west side of the meridian. The least average difference in any one of five sets of bearings was 5 deg., the greatest 61/2 deg., and the mean 5 deg. 54′; and according to the system adopted in correcting the variations, explained in the Appendix No. II. to the second volume, the mean difference arising from the five changes in the direction of the ship’s head, should be 5 deg. 33′.
The eastern wind died away at noon of the 16th, and the ship scarcely had steerage way until after midnight; a breeze then sprung up from the north-westward, and we steered north-east to make the land near Cape Buffon. At half-past seven [SATURDAY 17 APRIL 1802] the cape bore N. 1 deg. W. seven miles, and was ascertained to be in nearly 37 deg. 36′ south and 140 deg. 10′ east. There is a bight in the coast on its north side where the land was not distinctly seen all round, owing probably to its being a low beach. At nine o’clock we bore away southward, keeping at the distance of two or three miles from the shore. It was the same kind of hummock-topped bank as before described; but a ridge of moderately high hills, terminated to the southward by a bluff, was visible over it, three or four leagues inland; and there was a reef of rocks lying in front of the shore. At noon, two larger rocks were seen at the southern end of the reef, and are those called by the French the _Carpenters_. They lie one or two miles from a sandy projection named by them _Cape Boufflers_; and here a prior title to discovery interferes.
On arriving at Port Jackson I learned, and so did captain Baudin, that this coast had been before visited. Lieutenant (now captain) James Grant, commander of His Majesty’s brig Lady Nelson, saw the above projection, which he named _Cape Banks_, on Dec. 3, 1800; and followed the coast from thence through Bass Strait.* The same principle upon which I had adopted the names applied by the French navigators to the parts discovered by them will now guide me in making use of the appellations bestowed by captain Grant.
[* See _A Voyage in the Lady Nelson to New South Wales_, by James Grant. London, 1803. This voyage was published four years previously to M. Peron’s book; but no more attention was paid at Paris to captain Grant’s rights than to mine; his discoveries, though known to M. Peron and the French expedition in 1802, being equally claimed and named by them.]
The termination to the west of that part of the South Coast discovered by captain Baudin in Le Geographe has been pointed out; and it seems proper to specify its commencement _to the east_, that the extent of his _Terre Napoleon_ may be properly defined. The beginning of the land which, of all Europeans, was first seen by him, so far as is known, cannot be placed further to the south-east than Cape Buffon; for the land is laid down to the northward of it in captain Grant’s chart, though indistinctly. The Terre Napoleon is therefore comprised between the latitudes 37 deg. 36′ and 35 deg. 40′ south, and the longitudes 140 deg. 10′ and 138 deg. 58′ east of Greenwich; making, with the windings, about fifty leagues of coast, in which, as captain Baudin truly observed, there is neither river, inlet nor place of shelter, nor does even the worst parts of Nuyts’ Land exceed it in sterility.
At noon of the 17th we were in
Latitude observed, 37 deg. 471/2′ Longitude by time keepers, 140 161/2 Cape Buffon bore N. 26 W. Reef of rocks, (nearest part dist. 21/2 miles) N. 51 deg. to S. 42 E. Hills behind the coast, N. 38 to N. 79 E. Sandy hummock on _West_* Cape Banks S. 44 E.
[* The addition of West is made to the name, to distinguish it from Cape Banks on the East Coast, named by captain Cook. It is to be regretted, that navigators often apply names in so careless a manner as to introduce confusion into geography.]
In the afternoon the wind veered to the southward, and we tacked from the shore, not being able to weather the Carpenters at the south end of the reef. A long swell rolled in at this time, and seemed to announce a gale from the southward, yet the wind died away in the night, and at daybreak [SUNDAY 18 APRIL 1802] a light breeze sprung up at north-west, and enabled us to close in with the land. We passed the Carpenters at the distance of four miles; but at two in the afternoon the wind again died away. A cliffy point, which proved to be the _Cape Northumberland_ of captain Grant, was then in sight, as also were two inland mountains lying to the north-east; the nearest is his _Mount Schanck_, of a flat, table-like form; the further one, Mount Gambier, is peaked. The following bearings were taken whilst lying becalmed.
West C. Banks, sandy hummock, dist. 2 leagues, N. 2 deg. W. Mount Schanck, N. 70 E.
Cape Northumberland, dist. 3 or 4 leagues, S. 82 E.
The long swell from the southward still prevailed, and the barometer was fast falling; but at seven in the evening a breeze sprung up once more from the north-west, and after stretching a little off from the shore, we laid to for the greater part of the night. At daylight [MONDAY 19 APRIL 1802] the wind was at north-north-west, and blew fresh, with squally weather. We reached in for the land; and at eight,
C. Northumberland, dist. 6 or 7 miles, bore N. 32 deg. W. Mount Schanck, N. 1 W.
Furthest extreme, obscured by haze, S. 66 E.
Close to Cape Northumberland are two pointed rocks resembling the back fins of sharks; and on its eastern side were heavy breakers, extending more than a mile from the shore. The situation of the cape, as near as it could be ascertained, is in 38 deg. 2′ south and 140 deg. 371/2′ east.
Beyond Cape Northumberland the coast was found to trend east-by-north, but curved afterwards to east-by-south; it was higher than we had lately seen and not so barren; nevertheless, the shrubs and small trees did not more than half cover the sandy surface. We pursued the round of the coast at the distance of four or five miles, having three reefs in the top-sails on account of the squally weather. At ten o’clock, in a clear interval, land was seen bearing S. 51 deg. E.; and a thick squall with rain coming on, in which the wind shifted suddenly from north-north-west to south-west, we were forced to haul close up and let out the third reefs in order to weather the coast. A constant succession of rainy squalls prevented us from knowing how the land lay for some time, nor could an observation for the latitude be obtained; but at half-past noon our anxiety was relieved by distinguishing the furthest extreme, a bold, cliffy, cape, bearing S. 721/2 deg. E., broad on the lee bow.
[SOUTH COAST. OFF CAPE BRIDGEWATER.]
This high projection was the _Cape Bridgewater_ of captain Grant. A hill upon it slopes to the edge of the cliffs in which the cape is begirt toward the sea; and on the land side it descends so low that the connection of the hill with the main could not be clearly discerned. To the northward, and nearly in a line with the first, are two other hills almost equal to it in elevation. As we passed Cape Bridgewater, a second cliffy head opened at S. 731/2 deg. E., and a further round the last at N. 83 deg. E. These are the _Capes Nelson_ and _Sir W. Grant_, though differing considerably in relative position from what they are laid down in captain Grant’s chart.
At two o’clock, the weather having become somewhat finer, I ventured to bear away along the coast; and presently a small island with two hummocks on it and a rock nearer to the shore were visible: these are _Lawrence’s Isles_. The bearings of the land at four were,
C. Bridgewater, top of the hill, dist. 4 leagues, N. 44 deg. W. Cape Nelson, the south-west extreme, N. 21 W. Cape Sir W. Grant, east part of the cliffs, N. 12 E. Lawrence’s double Isle, dist. 3 leagues, N. 25 E.
Before six we hauled the wind off shore; having set the double isle at N. 43 deg. W., six or seven miles, and seen the land indistinctly as far as east-north-east.
During the night there were squalls of wind with hail and rain, but tolerably moderate weather in the intervals. At daylight [TUESDAY 20 APRIL 1802], we bore away for the land; and at half past seven, the
Hill on Cape Bridgewater bore N. 66 deg. W. Lawrence’s double isle, N. 53 W. A cliffy, flat-topped isle, west extreme, N. 16 E.
This last is _Lady Julia Percy’s Isle_; and when it bore N. 64 deg. E. five miles, we steered eastward along the coast. At some distance inland, to the northward of Lady Percy’s Isle, a round hill was distinguished; but the shore was scarcely perceptible through the squalls and haze: what little of it could be seen, appeared to be sandy and of moderate elevation.
At eleven, the land was perceived to the eastward, and we hauled up east-south-east. Our latitude at noon, from an indifferent double altitude, was 38 deg. 331/2′ and it is upon this uncertain observation, that the correctness of the neighbouring lands in the chart principally depend; I do not, therefore, specify here either the latitudes or longitudes. The coast was seen to leeward at times, and appeared to he moderately high; we ran along it at the distance of five, and from that to eight miles, clewing down the treble-reefed top sails occasionally, and setting them after the squalls were passed. At two o’clock, the land appeared to be trending south-east, which obliged us to haul up to the wind and take in close reefs; and the gale increasing, the fore and mizen top sails were handed.
It was seldom that the weather would allow of any thing being distinguished beyond two miles; and when the night came on we were quite uncertain of the trending of the coast. At eight o’clock, by favour of moon light and a short cessation of rain, land was perceived on the lee beam; it seemed to be a head of considerable elevation, and was judged to be from three to six miles off. The fore and mizen top-sails and reefed main-sail were immediately set, notwithstanding the danger to the masts; and there being much sea running, the ship was kept one point from the wind to make her go through the water. We had no chance of clearing the land on the other tack, and therefore our sole hope was that the coast might not trend any further to the southward.
WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 1802
At two in the morning the strength of the gale obliged us to take in the fore and mizen top sails and main sail; and we had soundings in 45 fathoms, small stones. Our anxiety was great until daylight, when it was dissipated by not finding any land near us; and in the course of the morning the wind moderated, the barometer began to ascend, and the weather became even fine. Our latitude at noon was 39 deg. 101/2′ and longitude 144 deg. 22′; the last being 22′ more than given by the log. High land was then visible astern, extending from about N. 50 deg. to 17 deg. W., at the supposed distance of twelve or fifteen leagues.
[SOUTH COAST. BASS’ STRAIT.]
We were now entered into Bass’ Strait; and the subsiding of the sea made me suspect that the large island, concerning which I had made inquiry of captain Baudin, was to windward. The south part of this island was discovered by Mr. Reid in a sealing expedition from Port Jackson; and before quitting New South Wales in 1799, I had received an account of its lying to the north-west of Hunter’s Isles. It afterwards appeared that the northern part was seen in January 1801 by Mr. John Black, commander of the brig Harbinger, who gave to it the name of KING’S ISLAND.* Of this I was ignorant at the time; but since it was so very dangerous to explore the main coast with the present south-west wind, I was desirous of ascertaining the position of this island before going to Port Jackson, more especially as it had escaped the observation of Captain Baudin.
[* _Grant’s Voyage to New South Wales_, page 86.]
Our soundings in the afternoon, and until four in the morning [THURSDAY 22 APRIL 1802] when we tacked to the westward, were from 35 to 28 fathoms, sand and shells. At eight o’clock, land was seen to the south-west; and at noon our
Latitude observed was 39 deg. 311/4′ Longitude by time keepers, 144 16
King’s Island, south extreme, bore S. 18 W. King’s Island, a middle hummock, S. 37 W. King’s Island, northern extreme, S. 74 W. High main land from the mast head, N. 23 W.
We tacked to the south-south-east at three o’clock, working up for King’s Island, which was distant about five or six leagues directly to windward. In the night we lay up south, parallel with the east side of the island; but the soundings having diminished to 16 fathoms, I feared we might be approaching a reef of rocks lying off the south-east end, of which Mr. Reid had spoken. We therefore tacked to the northward at eleven o’clock; and after beating until three in the following afternoon [FRIDAY 23 APRIL 1802], got to an anchor in 9 fathoms, fine sand, under the north-east end of King’s Island; the nearest part of the shore being distant a short half mile, and the extremes bearing S. 37 deg. E. and N. 69 deg. W.
A boat was immediately hoisted out, and I landed with the botanical gentlemen. On stepping out of the boat I shot one of those little bear-like quadrupeds called _Womat_; and another was afterwards killed. A seal, of a species different to any yet seen by us, was also procured; its phippers behind were double when compared to the common kinds of seal, and those forward were smaller, and placed nearer to the head; the hair was much shorter, and of a blueish, grey colour; the nose flat and broad; and the fat upon the animal was at least treble the usual quantity. I never saw the sea elephant, and possibly this might have been a young female; but there was no appearance of any trunk. A top-mast studding-sail boom, not much injured, was lying near the landing-place; and as I afterwards learned that the wreck of a vessel had been found upon the west side of the island, this boom had probably drifted from thence.
The north-east part of King’s Island extends south-east-by-east, three or four leagues. The shore is mostly of sand, and behind the beach it was washed or blown up in great ridges, but partly overspread with a kind of dog grass which kept the sand together. In general the land is low; but some little eminences appeared at a distance, and at the north end of the island there is a short range of hills, moderately high and covered with wood. Granite seemed to be the basis of the shore where we landed. Behind the front ridges of sand was a brush wood, so thick as to be almost impenetrable; but whilst I was occupied in taking bearings, the botanists found some openings in the brush, and picked up so many plants as to make them desirous of a further examination. We returned on board at dusk, with our womats, the seal and a kangaroo; the last being of a middle size between the small species of the lesser islands and the large kind found at Kangaroo Island and on the continent. It appeared indeed, all along the South Coast, that the size of the kangaroo bore some proportion to the extent of land which it inhabited.
SATURDAY 24 APRIL 1802
In the morning the wind blew fresh from the southward. A boat was sent on shore with Mr. Brown and his party; and at eleven o’clock, when they returned, we got under way.
A small lake of fresh water was found at a little distance behind the sandy ridges in front of the shore. This was surrounded by a good vegetable soil; and the number of plants, collected near it was greater than had before been found upon any one island. The small lake is too far from the sea side for a ship to obtain water from it conveniently; but two little streams which drained from the sand hills made it probable that fresh water might have been obtained anywhere at this time by digging. The water of these rills was tinged red, similar to that obtained at King George’s Sound and to the pools I had before seen at Furneaux’s Islands; and as the stone in these places is granite, and water so discoloured was not found any where else, it seems very probable that the discolouring arises from the granite and granitic sand.
Two more womats were killed this morning; and a skull was picked up which was thought to be of a small dog, but more probably was that of an opossum.
From the observations taken whilst beating up to the anchorage, the top of the highest hill at the north end of King’s Island will be in _latitude_ 39 deg. 361/2′ south, and _longitude_ 143 deg. 54′ east. The _variation_ of the compass, taken on the binnacle with the ship’s head at south, was 7 deg. 59′ east; but ten leagues to the eastward it was 11 deg. 52′, with the head west-south-west, or reduced to the meridian, 8 deg. 43′ east. The _tides_ set one mile and a half an hour past the ship, northwest-by-west and south-east-by-east, nearly as the coast lies; that from the eastward running nearly eight hours, and turning about two hours after the moon had passed the meridian; but, which tide was the flood, or what the rise, we did not remain long enough to determine.
The time was fast approaching when it would be necessary to proceed to Port Jackson, both on account of the winter season, and from the want of some kinds of provisions. Before this took place I wished to finish as much of the South Coast as possible, and would have recommenced at Cape Bridgewater had the wind been favourable; but it still blew fresh from the southward, and all that part remained a lee shore. I determined, however, to run over to the high land we had seen on the north side of Bass’ Strait, and to trace as much of the coast from thence eastward as the state of the weather and our remaining provisions could possibly allow.
In steering north-north-west from King’s Island, two small isles were seen lying off the north-west side; the first opening from the northern extreme at S. 50 deg., and the second being clear of it at S. 36 deg. W. These are the same which Mr. Black named New Year’s Isles; and his Harbinger’s Reefs were seen to extend, in patches, nearly two leagues from the north end of King’s Islands; but there is, as I afterwards learned, one or more passages between the reefs, and another between them and the island.*
[* The New Year’s Isles form a small roadsted, in which the brig Harrington from Port Jackson, commanded by Mr. W. Campbell, had rode out the south-west gale; and was lying there at this time, engaged in a sealing speculation. Bass’ Strait had not been discovered much above two years, and it was already turned to purposes of various utility; a strong proof of enterprising spirit in the colonists of New South Wales.]
At three in the afternoon the northern land was in sight, and the highest hills of King’s Island were sinking below the horizon as seen from the deck. Their distance was twenty-five miles; and consequently the elevation of them is between four and five hundred feet above the level of the sea. At five o’clock a bluff head, the most projecting part of the northern land, was distant three or four leagues; it was Captain Grants’
Cape Otway, and bore N. 54 deg. W. The extremes of the land, N. 58 W. to 23 deg. E.
We then hauled to the wind and stood off and on; at daylight [SUNDAY 25 APRIL 1802] bore away for the land with a moderate breeze from the southward; and at eight o’clock, when Cape Otway bore N. 69 deg. W. ten miles we steered north-eastward along the shore. On the west side of Cape Otway the coast falls back somewhat to the north, and projects again at the distance of ten or eleven miles, where it is not, as I think, more than three leagues to the east of the headland seen under the lee at eight in the evening of the 20th. From Cape Otway, eastward, the shore trends east-north-east about three leagues, to a projection called Cape Patton, and according to Captain Grant a bay is formed between them; but at three leagues off nothing worthy of being called a bay could be perceived. Beyond Cape Patton the coast took a more northern direction to a point with a flat-topped hill upon it, and further than this it was not visible.
The whole of this land is high, the elevation of the uppermost parts being not less than two thousand feet. The rising hills were covered with wood of a deep green foliage, and without any vacant spaces of rock or sand; so that I judged this part of the coast to exceed in fertility all that had yet fallen under observation.
Cape Otway lies very nearly in latitude 38 deg. 51′ south and longitude 143 deg. 29′ east. The width of the north-west entrance to Bass’ Strait, between this cape on the north and King’s Island to the south, is therefore sixteen leagues; and with the trifling exception of the Harbinger’s Reefs, which occupy not quite two leagues of the southern part, the passage is free from danger. In such parts of it as we got soundings the depth was between 38 and 50 fathoms.
At noon, the wind had veered to the south-east, which being directly upon the shore, I did not think it prudent to follow the land too closely; and we therefore kept up nearly to the wind. In the course of the afternoon, land came in sight to the eastward; and the bearings taken at sunset were these:
Furthest extreme towards C. Otway, S. 73 deg. W. Furthest connected part to the northward, N. 18 W. Two small distant peaks, N. 1 W. Bluff head, like the N. end of an island, N. 63 E. Extreme of the eastern land, N. 83 E.
Between the first and last of these bearings there was a deep bight formed, at the head of which no other land than the two small peaks could be perceived.
MONDAY 26 APRIL 1802
In the morning we kept close to an east-south-east wind, steering for the land to the north-eastward; and at nine o’clock captain Grant’s Cape Schanck, the extreme of the preceding evening, was five leagues distant to the N. 88 deg. E., and a rocky point towards the head of the bight bore N. 12 deg. E. On coming within five miles of the shore at eleven o’clock we found it to be low, and mostly sandy, and that the bluff head which had been taken for the north end of an island was part of a ridge of hills rising at Cape Schanck. We then bore away westward in order to trace the land round the head of the deep bight; and a noon, the situation of the ship and principal bearings were as under:
Latitude observed, 38 deg. 22′ Longitude by time keepers, 144 311/2 Cape Schanck, S. 68 deg. E. The rocky point, distant 6 or 7 miles, N. 48 E. Highest of two inland peaks, N. 15 W. A square-topped hill near the shore, N. 28 W. Extr. of the high land towards C. Otway, S. 56 W.
On the west side of the rocky point there was a small opening, with breaking water across it; however, on advancing a little more westward the opening assumed a more interesting aspect, and I bore away to have a nearer view. A large extent of water presently became visible within side; and although the entrance seemed to be very narrow, and there were in it strong ripplings like breakers, I was induced to steer in at half-past one, the ship being close upon a wind and every man ready for tacking at a moment’s warning. The soundings were irregular between 6 and 12 fathoms until we got four miles within the entrance, when they shoaled quick to 23/4. We then tacked; and having a strong tide in our favour, worked to the eastward between the shoal and the rocky point, with 12 fathoms for the deepest water. In making the last stretch from the shoal the depth diminished from 10 fathoms quickly to 3, and before the ship could come round, the flood tide set her upon a mud bank and she stuck fast. A boat was lowered down to sound, and finding the deep water lie to the north-west, a kedge anchor was carried out; and having got the ship’s head in that direction, the sails were filled and she drew off into 6 and 10 fathoms; and it being then dark, we came to an anchor.
[SOUTH COAST. PORT PHILLIP.]
The extensive harbour we had thus unexpectedly found I supposed must be Western Port, although the narrowness of the entrance did by no means correspond with the width given to it by Mr. Bass. It was the information of captain Baudin, who had coasted along from thence with fine weather, and had found no inlet of any kind, which induced this supposition; and the very great extent of the place, agreeing with that of Western Port, was in confirmation of it. This, however, was not Western Port, as we found next morning [TUESDAY 27 APRIL 1802]; and I congratulated myself on having made a new and useful discovery; but here again I was in error. This place, as I afterwards learned at Port Jackson, had been discovered ten weeks before by lieutenant John Murray, who had succeeded captain Grant in the command of the Lady Nelson. He had given it the name of PORT PHILLIP, and to the rocky point on the east side of the entrance that of _Point Nepean_.
Our situation was found in the morning to be near two miles from the south shore, and the extreme towards Point Nepean bore N. 83 deg. W., two leagues. About three miles to the north-by-west were some dry rocks, with bushes on them, surrounded with mud flats; and they appeared to form a part of the same shoal from which we had three times tacked in 21/2 and 3 fathoms. The mud bank where the ship had grounded is distinct from the middle shoal; but I am not certain that it is so from the south shore, from which it is one mile distant. The Bluff Mount (named _Arthur’s Seat_ by Mr. Murray, from a supposed resemblance to the hill of that name near Edinburgh) bore S. 76 deg. E.; but from thence the shore trended northward so far that the land at the head of the port could not be seen even from aloft. Before proceeding any higher with the ship I wished to gain some knowledge of the form and extent of this great piece of water; and Arthur’s Seat being more than a thousand feet high and near the water-side, presented a favourable station for that purpose.
After breakfast I went away in a boat, accompanied by Mr. Brown and some other gentlemen, for the Seat. It was seven or eight miles from the ship; and in steering nearly a straight course for it we passed over the northern skirt of the shoal where the ship had touched; but afterwards had from 7 to 5 fathoms nearly to the shore. Having observed the latitude there from an artificial horizon, I ascended the hill; and to my surprise found the port so extensive, that even at this elevation its boundary to the northward could not be distinguished. The western shore extended from the entrance ten or eleven miles in a northern direction to the extremity of what, from its appearance, I called _Indented Head_; beyond it was a wide branch of the port leading to the westward, and I suspected might have a communication with the sea; for it was almost incredible that such a vast piece of water should not have a larger outlet than that through which we had come.
I took an extensive set of bearings from the clearest place to be found on the north-western, bluff part of the hill; and we afterwards walked a little way back upon the ridge. From thence another considerable piece of water was seen, at the distance of three or four leagues; it seemed to be mostly shallow; but as it appeared to have a communication with the sea to the south, I had no doubt of its being Mr. Bass’s Western Port.
Arthur’s Seat and the hills and vallies in its neighbourhood were generally well covered with wood; and the soil was superior to any upon the borders of the salt water which I have had an opportunity of examining in Terra Australis. There were many marks of natives, such as deserted fire-places and heaps of oyster shells; and upon the peninsula which forms the south side of the port a smoke was rising, but we did not see any of the people. Quantities of fine oysters were lying upon the beaches, between high and low water marks, and appeared to have been washed up by the surf; a circumstance which I do not recollect to have observed in any other part of this country.
WEDNESDAY 28 APRIL 1802
We returned on board at dusk in the evening; and at daylight the anchor was weighed with the intention of coasting round the port with the ship. The wind was at north-east, but the flood tide was in our favour; and having made a stretch toward the middle shoals, we tacked and ran east-south-east along their south side, until past eight, when, the flood having ceased, we came to in 7 fathoms. At slack water in the afternoon we again steered eastward, but were soon obliged to anchor for want of wind; and I found that this slow mode of proceeding was not at all suited to the little time for which we had provisions remaining, besides that there was much probability of getting frequently aground; the plan of examining the port with the ship was therefore abandoned.
Having left orders with Mr. Fowler, the first lieutenant, to take the ship back to the entrance, I went in a boat early next morning [THURSDAY 29 APRIL 1802] with provisions for three days, in order to explore as much of the port as could be done in that time. Round the east end of the middle shoals I carried 6 and 7 fathoms; and keeping north-eastward, had 8 and 9 fathoms at a mile or more from the shore, and 4 close past the second rocky point above Arthur’s Seat. The wind being at north-west, I was obliged to land behind some rocks more than two miles short of the third point, but walked to it with my surveying instruments. This was nine miles from the Seat, and the furthest part of the shore seen from thence; further on the shore falls back more eastward, in long sandy beaches, and afterwards curves to the north-west; but it was lost to sight long before joining the land on the west side of the port. After taking angles and observing for the latitude and longitude, I rowed to windward for Indented Head, five leagues off. At the end of the first mile and a half the depth was 11 fathoms, but afterwards no bottom at 12 until within two miles of the western shore, where it was 9 fathoms. We landed at nine o’clock at night, near the uppermost part which had yet been seen.
FRIDAY 30 APRIL 1802
In the morning a fire was perceived two hundred yards from the tent; and the Indians appeared to have decamped from thence on our landing. Whilst I was taking angles from a low point at the north-easternmost part of Indented Head, a party of the inhabitants showed themselves about a mile from us; and on landing there we found a hut with a fire in it, but the people had disappeared, and carried off their effects. I left some strips of cloth, of their favourite red colour, hanging about the hut, and proceeded westward along the shore to examine the arm of the port running in that direction.
Three natives having made their appearance abreast of the boat, we again landed. They came to us without hesitation, received a shag and some trifling presents with pleasure, and parted with such of their arms as we wished to possess without reluctance. They afterwards followed us along the shore; and when I shot another bird, which hovered over the boat, and held it up to them, they ran down to the water-side and received it without expressing either surprise or distrust. Their knowledge of the effect of fire-arms I then attributed to their having seen me shoot birds when unconscious of being observed; but it had probably been learned from Mr. Murray.
At noon I landed to take an observation of the sun, which gave 38 deg. 7′ 6″ for the latitude; my position being nearly at the northern extremity of Indented Head. Some bearings were taken from the brow of a hill a little way back; and after a dinner of which the natives partook, we left them on friendly terms to proceed westward in our examination. The water became very shallow abreast of a sandy point, whence the shore trends nearly south-west; and there being no appearance of an opening to the sea this way, I steered across the western arm, as well to ascertain its depth as with the intention of ascending the hills lying behind the northern shore. Two of the peaks upon these hills had been set from the ship’s deck at sunset of the 25th, at the distance of thirty-seven miles; and as their elevation must consequently be a thousand feet, or more, I expected to obtain from thence such a view of the upper parts of the port as would render the coasting round it unnecessary.
The width of the western arm was found to be six miles; and the soundings across augmented regularly to 6 fathoms in mid channel, and then decreased in the same way; but there was less than 3 fathoms at two miles from the northern shore. That side is indeed very low and marshy, with mud banks lying along it; and we had difficulty in finding a dry place to pitch the tent, and still more to procure wood wherewith to cook the ducks I had shot upon the banks.
SATURDAY 1 MAY 1802
At day dawn I set off with three of the boat’s crew for the highest part of the back hills called _Station Peak_. Our way was over a low plain, where the water appeared frequently to lodge; it was covered with small-bladed grass, but almost destitute of wood, and the soil was clayey and shallow. One or two miles before arriving at the feet of the hills we entered a wood where an emu and a kangaroo were seen at a distance; and the top of the peak was reached at ten o’clock. My position was then 21′ of latitude from Point Nepean, in the direction of N. 28 deg. 30′ W., and I saw the water of the port as far as N. 75 deg. E., at the distance of seven or eight leagues; so that the whole extent of the port, north and south, is at least thirty miles. The extremity of the western arm bore S. 15 deg. 45′ W., which makes the extent, east and west, to be thirty-six miles; but there was no communication with the sea on that side, nor did the western arm appear to be navigable beyond seven miles above where I had crossed it. Towards the interior there was a mountain bearing N. 11 deg. E., eleven leagues distant; and so far the country was low, grassy and very slightly covered with wood, presenting great facility to a traveller of penetrating inland.
I left the ship’s name on a scroll of paper, deposited in a small pile of stones upon the top of the peak; and at three in the afternoon reached the tent, much fatigued, having walked more than twenty miles without finding a drop of water. Mr. Lacy, the midshipman of the boat, had observed the latitude at the tent from an artificial horizon to be 38 deg. 2′ 22″; and Station Peak bore from thence N. 47 deg. W.
In the evening we rowed back to Indented Head, and landed there soon after dark. Fires had been seen moving along the shore, but the people seemed to have fled; though we found two newly erected huts with fires in them, and utensils, which must have belonged to some of the people before seen, since there was boiled rice in one of the baskets. We took up our quarters here for the night, keeping a good watch; but nothing was seen of the Indians till we pushed off from the shore in the morning [SUNDAY 2 MAY 1802], when seven showed themselves upon a hill behind the huts. They ran down to examine their habitations, and finding every thing as they had left it, a little water excepted of which we were in want, they seemed satisfied; and for a short time three of them followed the boat.
Along the north-east and east sides of Indented Head I found the water to be shoal for nearly a mile off; but on approaching the entrance of what Mr. Murray called Swan Harbour, but which I have taken the liberty to converting into _Swan Pond_, it became somewhat deeper. Seeing swans there, I rowed into it after them, but found the place full of mud banks, and seldom more than three or four feet in depth. Three of the birds were caught; and at the south side of the entrance, upon the sandy peninsula, or island as it is when the tide is in, I shot some delicate teal, and found fresh water in small ponds.
The ship was lying about three miles within the mouth of the port, near to the south shore; and after I had taken bearings at two stations on the sandy peninsula, we steered a straight course for her, sounding all the way. It appeared that there was a passage up the port of a mile wide between the middle banks and the western shore, with a depth in it from 3 to 41/2 fathoms. On the western extremity of the banks I had 21/2 fathoms, and afterwards 5, 7, 4, 7, 8, 9, 9 to the ship.
Lieutenant Fowler had had a good deal of difficulty in getting back to the entrance of the port; owing in part to the western winds, and partly from the shoals, which do not seem to lie in any regular order. He had touched upon one of these, where there was ten feet on one side of the ship, and on the other 5 fathoms. This seems to have been a more eastern part of the same shoal upon which we had before grounded; but no danger is to be feared from these banks to a flat-floored ship.
I find it very difficult to speak in general terms of Port Phillip. On the one hand it is capable of receiving and sheltering a larger fleet of ships than ever yet went to sea; whilst on the other, the entrance, in its whole width, is scarcely two miles, and nearly half of it is occupied by the rocks lying off Point Nepean, and by shoals on the opposite side. The depth in the remaining part varies from 6 to 12 fathoms; and this irregularity causes the strong tides, especially when running against the wind, to make breakers, in which small vessels should be careful of engaging themselves; and when a ship has passed the entrance, the middle shoals are a great obstacle to a free passage up the port. These shoals are met with at four miles directly from the entrance, and extend about ten miles to the east-south-east, parallel with the south shore; they do not seem, however, to be one connected mass, for I believe there are two or three deep openings in them, though we had not time to make an examination.
No runs of fresh water were seen in any excursions; but Mr. Charles Grimes, surveyor-general of New South Wales, afterwards found several, and in particular a small river falling into the northern head of the port. Mr. Grimes was sent by governor King, in 1803, to walk round, and survey the harbour; and from his plan I have completed my chart of Port Phillip. The parts of the coast left unshaded are borrowed from him, and the soundings written at right angles are those of his companion, lieutenant Robbins.
The country surrounding Port Phillip has a pleasing, and in many parts a fertile appearance; and the sides of some of the hills and several of the vallies are fit for agricultural purposes. It is in great measure a grassy country, and capable of supporting much cattle, though better calculated for sheep. To this general description there are probably several exceptions; and the southern peninsula, which is terminated by Point Nepean, forms one, the surface there being mostly sandy, and the vegetation in many places little better than brush wood. Indented Head, at the northern part of the western peninsula, had an appearance particularly agreeable; the grass had been burned not long before, and had sprung up green and tender; the wood was so thinly scattered that one might see to a considerable distance; and the hills rose one over the other to a moderate elevation, but so gently that a plough might every where be used. The vegetable soil is a little mixed with sand, but good, though probably not deep, as I judged by the small size of the trees.
The most common kinds of wood are the _casuarina_ and _eucalyptus_, to which Mr. Grimes adds the _banksia_, _mimosa_ and some others; but the timber is rarely sound, and is not large.
Were a settlement to be made at Port Phillip, as doubtless there will be some time hereafter, the entrance could be easily defended; and it would not be difficult to establish a friendly intercourse with the natives, for they are acquainted with the effect of fire-arms and desirous of possessing many of our conveniences. I thought them more muscular than the men of King George’s Sound; but, generally speaking, they differ in no essential particular from the other inhabitants of the South and East Coasts except in language, which is dissimilar, if not altogether different to that of Port Jackson, and seemingly of King George’s Sound also. I am not certain whether they have canoes, but none were seen.
In the woods are the kangaroo, the emu or cassowary, paroquets, and a variety of small birds; the mud banks are frequented by ducks and some black swans, and the shores by the usual sea fowl common in New South Wales. The range of the thermometer was between 61 deg. and 67 deg.; and the climate appeared to be as good and as agreeable as could well be desired in the month answering to November. In 1803, colonel Collins of the marines was sent out from England to make a new settlement in this country; but he quitted Port Phillip for the south end of Van Diemen’s Land, probably from not finding fresh water for a colony sufficiently near to the entrance.
Point Nepean is in _latitude_ 38 deg. 18′ south. The _longitude_ from twelve sets of distances taken by lieutenant Flinders in the port, and six others by me ten days before arriving, the particulars of which are given in Table V. of the Appendix to this volume, is 144 deg. 301/2′ east; but these observations being mostly on one side of the moon, the corrected longitude by time keepers, 144 deg. 38′ east, is preferred.
No observations were taken in the port for the _variation_ of the compass; but at seven leagues to the south-south-west of Point Nepean, azimuths gave 3 deg. 41′ when the ship’s head was at N.E. by E. 1/2 E., and an amplitude at N. N. E. 1/2 E., 6 deg. 48′ east. The mean of these, corrected to the meridian, will be 7 deg. 30′, or half a degree less than at King’s Island; I therefore take the variation in Port Phillip to have been generally, 7 deg., though at some stations it seemed to have been no more than 6 deg. 30′ east.
The rise of _tide_ is inconsiderable in the upper parts of the port; near the entrance it is from three to six feet. By the swinging of the ship, which, however, varied at different anchorages, it appeared to be high water _two hours and a half after_ the moon’s passage; but at Point Nepean the time of high water by the shore is said by Mr. Grimes to be only _one hour after_ the moon. At Western Port, Mr. Bass found high water to take place half an hour after the moon’s passage, and the tide to rise from ten to fourteen feet. This great increase, in a place so near, seems extraordinary; but may perhaps be accounted for by the meeting of the tides from two entrances, whilst Port Phillip has only one, and that very narrow.
CHAPTER X.
Departure from Port Phillip.
Cape Schanck.
Wilson’s Promontory, and its isles. Kent’s Groups, and Furneaux’s Isles.
Hills behind the Long Beach.
Arrival at Port Jackson.
Health of the ship’s company.
Refitment and supply of the ship.
Price of provisions.
Volunteers entered.
Arrangement for the succeeding part of the voyage. French ships.
Astronomical and nautical observations.
[SOUTH COAST. BASS’ STRAIT.]
MONDAY 3 MAY 1802
On the 3rd of May at daylight the anchor was weighed to go out of Port Phillip with the last half of the ebb; and the wind being from the westward, we backed, filled and tacked occasionally, dropping out with the tide. When the entrance was cleared, and five miles distant, Mr. Westall took a view of it (Atlas Plate XVII, View 13.), which will be an useful assistance in finding this extensive but obscure port; and at eleven o’clock, when we bore away eastward to pass Cape Schanck, he sketched that cape and the ridge of hills terminating at Arthur’s Seat (View 14). Cape Schanck is a cliffy head, with three rocks lying off, the outermost of which appears at a distance like a ship under sail: the latitude is 38 deg. 29′ or 30′ south, and longitude 144 deg. 53′ east. It will always be desirable for vessels to get sight of this cape before they run far into the great bight for Port Phillip; and if the wind blow strong from the southward it will be unsafe to run without having seen it.
Cape Schanck is also an excellent mark for ships desiring to go into Western Port, of which it forms the west side of the principal entrance; but as there are many breakers and shoals on that side, which extend almost to mid-channel, it will be necessary to give the cape a wide berth by keeping over to Phillip Island on the starboard hand.
At noon, Cape Schanck bore N. 36 deg. W. five or six miles; the breeze was fresh from the westward, with cloudy weather, and we steered for Point Grant, at the east side of the entrance into Western Port. There is a square-topped rock surrounded with a reef lying off the point; but the Lady Nelson has passed between them, with 3 fathoms water. On reaching within a mile of this reef, at one o’clock, I set
C. Schanck, distant 9 or 10 miles, at N. 85 deg. W. A cliffy head up the entrance, distant 5 miles, N. 16 W. Square-topped rock, N. 85 E. Cape Wollamai, S. 801/2 E.
We then steered eastward along the south side of Phillip Island, and passed a needle-like rock lying under the shore. Cape Wollamai is the east end of the island, and forms one side of the small, eastern entrance to the port; and at three o’clock when it bore, N. 14 deg. E., five or six miles, its longitude was ascertained by means of the time-keepers to be 145 deg. 25′ east: the latitude deduced from bearings is 38 deg. 33′ south. _Wollamai_ is the native name for a fish at Port Jackson, called sometimes by the settlers light-horseman, from the bones of the head having some resemblance to a helmet; and the form of this cape bearing a likeness to the head of the fish, induced Mr. Bass to give it the name of Wollamai.
We ran south-eastward along the shore, at the rate of six or seven knots, until sunset; when a steep head, supposed to be the Cape Liptrap of captain Grant, was seen through the haze, and our bearings of the land were,
Cape Wollamai, distant six leagues, N. 49 deg. W. A low projection, distant seven miles, N. 21 E. Cape Liptrap, S. 50 E.
We soon afterwards hauled to the wind off shore, under treble-reefed top-sails; and the gale increasing, with much swell from the south-westward, the close reefs were taken in. At midnight, tacked to the northward, and stood off and on till daybreak [TUESDAY 4 MAY 1802]; the wind being strong at west, and weather squally with rain. We then bore away for the land, which was seen to leeward; and at seven, the bearings of the principal parts were as under:
Land indistinct, apparently C. Liptrap, N. 5 deg. W. Wilson’s Promontory, south extreme, S. 85 E. A peaked I. (Rodondo of captain Grant), S. 71 E.
Besides Rodondo, which lies about six miles to the south-by-east of the promontory, I distinguished five or six less conspicuous isles, lying along the south and west sides of this remarkable headland; these are called Glennie’s Isles. To the N. 88 deg. E. from Rodondo, and distant about two leagues, was a small island which appears to have been one of Moncur’s Isles; and in steering south-eastward we got sight of the Devil’s Tower, and of the high island and rocks named Sir Roger Curtis’ Isles. These names were given by captain Grant in 1800; but he was not the discoverer of the places to which they are applied. They are all laid down upon my chart of 1799, on the authority of Mr. Bass; and when it is considered that this enterprising man saw them from an open boat, in very bad weather, their relative positions to Wilson’s Promontory will be thought surprisingly near the truth. Unfortunately the situation of the promontory itself, owing to some injury done to his quadrant, is considerably in error, being twelve or fourteen miles wrong in latitude. A reef is mentioned by captain Grant as lying to the southward between Rodondo and Moncur’s Isles; and a rock, level with the water, was seen in the same situation by the ships Gato and Castle of Good Hope, from which last it received the appropriate name of _Crocodile Rock_. This also was seen by Mr. Bass, and laid down in its relative situation; but in the Investigator I was not sufficiently near to get sight of this important danger.
We continued to steer south-eastward, round all these islands, having a fresh gale at west-south-west with squally weather; and at noon our situation was in
Latitude observed, 39 deg. 35′ Longitude by time keepers, 146 30 Rodondo bore N. 15 W.
Sir R. Curtis’ Island, the peak, dist. 7 miles, N. 46 E. (The Devil’s Tower being nearly on with the north side.) Two pointed rocks, N. 57 deg. and 62 E.
Wilson’s Promontory was no longer visible; but from the best bearings I had been able to obtain in such blowing weather, its south-eastern extremity lies in latitude 39 deg. 111/2′ south, and longitude 146 deg. 24′ east.
Not seeing any more islands to the southward from the masthead, we bore away east soon after noon to make Kent’s Groups; and before three o’clock they both came in sight, as did an island to the northward, which seems to have been one of the small cluster discovered by Mr. John Black, and named Hogan’s Group. The longitude by time keepers at this time was 146 deg. 58′ east, and the following bearings were taken:
Sir R. Curtis’ Island, the peak, N. 71 deg. W. Hogan’s highest Island, from the mast head, N. 5 E. Kent’s large Group, south end of the eastern I. N. 70 E. Small Group, dist. 6 or 7 miles, hiding the north-west end of the large group, N. 52 deg. to 45 E.
In steering past the south sides of the two groups at the distance of four to six miles, I was enabled to correct their positions; and also that of the pyramid, which was set at S. 41/2 deg. E. ten miles at four o’clock. When these lands had been laid down in the Francis and Norfolk in 1798, it was without the assistance of a time keeper, and therefore liable to considerable errors in longitude.
At five in the evening I thought myself fortunate to get a sight of Furneaux’s great island through the haze; and also of a small, craggy isle which had been before fixed relatively to the inner Sister. To obtain the positions of these places by our timekeepers was to me an important object; since they were connected with the former survey of Furneaux’s Islands and the north-eastern part of Van Diemen’s Land. The bearings taken at five were,
Furneaux’s great I., hills on the west part, S. 48 deg. E. Small craggy isle, S. 69 E. Kent’s large Group, extremes, N. 7 deg. to 47 W. Small Group, the largest isle, N. 77 W. A small rock, not seen before, N. 88 E.
The hills upon Furneaux’s great island, which I believe, but could not certainly ascertain to have been upon the westernmost point, will therefore lie very nearly S. 48 deg. E., from the bluff south-west end of Kent’s large Group, instead of S. 38 deg. E., as before marked. This places the great island 10′ of longitude further east from the group, than was given by my run in the Francis during the night of Feb. 8, 1798.
We passed to the northward of the small new rock at the distance of three miles, and I judged it to lie four, or four-and-half leagues from the eastern side of Kent’s large Group. No kind of danger was observed between them, but it was then nearly dark; and the wind being fresh and favourable, and not having more than ten days provisions in the ship, I felt it necessary to leave this and some other parts of Bass’ Strait to a future examination; and we steered onward, east-north-east for Port Jackson.
WEDNESDAY 5 MAY 1802
At daylight of the 5th the course was altered more northward; and at noon, land was seen from the mast head to the north-north-west, probably some of the hills at the back of the Long Beach, and distant not less than twenty leagues: our latitude was 38 deg. 32′ south and longitude 149 deg. 35′ east. The wind had then moderated and having shifted to north-west we kept close up to make Cape Howe. At four, hove to and sounded, but no bottom could be had with 90 fathoms; the land extended in patches from west-north-west distant twenty-five or more leagues to near the Ram Head at north; and consequently the hills at the back of the Long Beach must be of considerable elevation, superior to any other land _near the sea_ in the southern, or perhaps any part of New South Wales.
THURSDAY 6 MAY 1802
On the wind shifting to the east side of north, next day, I tacked to get in with the land; being desirous of running near to as much of the coast, and correcting its longitude in our way to Port Jackson, as could be done without loss of time; but at noon the wind veered back, and our north-eastern course was resumed. The land could not then be further distant than nine or ten leagues; but no part of it was in sight, nor from the dullness of the weather could any observation be taken.
[EAST COAST. PORT JACKSON.]
FRIDAY 7 MAY 1802
After a squally night the wind fixed at west-by-north; and at daybreak of the 7th the land was visible from west to north-west, and our course was parallel to it (Atlas Plate VIII). At noon, the latitude was 36 deg. 24′ south, and longitude 151 deg. 16′ east; Mount Dromedary was in sight bearing N. 85 deg. W., and by the difference of longitude, was distant fifty-two miles: I estimate its highest south part to lie in 36 deg. 19′ south, and 150 deg. 11′ east. The wind returned to the north-west in the afternoon, and we lost sight of the land; but becoming fairer afterwards, and the southern current not having much strength, by four next day [SATURDAY 8 MAY 1802] the heads of Port Jackson were in sight. At dusk the flag-staff upon the South Head bore west-south-west, and our distance from the shore was seven or eight miles.
I tried to beat up for the port in the night, being sufficiently well acquainted to have run up in the dark, had the wind permitted; but we were still to leeward in the morning [SUNDAY 9 MAY 1802], and Mr. Westall made a good sketch of the entrance (Atlas Plate XVIII. View 1). At one o’clock, we gained the heads, a pilot came on board, and soon after three the Investigator was anchored in Sydney Cove.
There was not a single individual on board who was not upon deck working the ship into harbour; and it may be averred that the officers and crew were, generally speaking, in better health than on the day we sailed from Spithead, and not in less good spirits. I have said nothing of the regulations observed after we made Cape Leeuwin; they were little different from those adopted in the commencement of the voyage, and of which a strict attention to cleanliness and a free circulation of air in the messing and sleeping-places formed the most essential parts. Several of the inhabitants of Port Jackson expressed themselves never to have been so strongly reminded of England as by the fresh colour of many amongst the Investigator’s ship’s company.
So soon as the anchor was dropped, I went on shore to wait upon his Excellency Philip Gidley King, Esq., governor of New South Wales, and senior naval officer upon the station; to whom I communicated a general account of our discoveries and examinations upon the South Coast, and delivered the orders from the Admiralty and Secretary of State. These orders directed the governor to place the brig Lady Nelson under my command, and not to employ the Investigator on other service than that which was the object of the voyage; and His Excellency was pleased to assure me that every assistance in the power of the colony to render should be given to forward a service so interesting to his government, and to himself. The Lady Nelson was then lying in Sydney Cove; but her commander, lieutenant Grant, had requested permission to return to England, and had sailed six months before.
Besides the Lady Nelson, there were in the port His Majesty’s armed vessel Porpoise, the Speedy, south-whaler, and the Margaret privateer; also the French national ship _Le Naturaliste_, commanded by captain Hamelin, to whom I communicated captain Baudin’s intention of coming to Port Jackson so soon as the bad weather should set in. Le Geographe’s boat had been picked up in Bass’ Strait by Mr. Campbell of the brig Harrington, and the officers and crew were at this time on board Le Naturaliste.
MAY 1802
The duties required to fit the ship for prosecuting the voyage with success being various and extensive, Cattle Point, on the east side of Sydney Cove, was assigned to us by the governor for carrying on some of