'Matthew Flinders'
Vogage past Central Queensland - 1802
SUNDAY 1 AUGUST 1802
In the morning of August 1, the wind was from the southward, and we steered across Hervey's Bay, towards a sloping hummock on the west side, where my examination in the Norfolk had terminated. The soundings increased from 7, gradually to 18 fathoms, and afterwards decreased till half past four in the afternoon; when the sloping hummock bore S. 2° E. eight miles, and we had no more than 3½ fathoms near some dry banks and breakers, which extend out three miles from two shallow inlets in the coast. At dusk the anchor was let go in 6½ fathoms, mud and sand; the shallow inlets to the south being distant 6 miles, and the sloping hummock bearing S. 17° E. In captain Cook's chart, the width of Hervey's Bay is fifty-nine miles, which had appeared to me too great when here in the Norfolk; and I now made the distance, from the north-west extremity of Sandy Cape to a low point running out from the hummock, to be forty three miles by the time keepers. Such errors as this are almost unavoidable without the aid of these instruments, when sailing either along a coast which lies nearly on the same parallel, or where no land is in sight to correct the longitude by bearings. From Port Jackson to Sandy Cape, captain Cook's positions had been found to differ from mine, not more than from 10' east to 7' west; which must be considered a great degree of accuracy, considering the expeditious manner in which he sailed along the coast, and that there were no time keepers on board the Endeavour; but from Sandy Cape northward, where the direction of the coast has a good deal of westing in it, greater differences began to show themselves.
[EAST COAST. NEAR BUSTARD BAY.]
There was a little tide running past the ship in the first part of the night from N. N. W., which appeared to be the flood setting into Hervey's Bay. At daybreak [MONDAY 2 AUGUST 1802] we pursued our course along the shore, at the distance of four or five miles, in soundings between 5 and 9 fathoms. The coast was low, but not sandy; and behind it was a range of hills extending north-westward, and like the flat country, was not ill clothed with wood. There was no remarkable projection till we came to the south head of Bustard Bay; and the night being then at hand, we ran in and anchored on a sandy bottom, in 4½ fathoms, nearly in the same spot where the Endeavour had lain thirty-two years before.
The rocky south head of Bustard Bay, from the survey between the preceding and following noons, should lie in 24° 9' south, and the time keepers placed it in 151° 52' east; or 5' south and 10' east of captain Cook's situation; nor did the form of the Bay correspond to his chart.* The variation observed a few miles from the anchorage, was 8° 20' east, with the ship's head N. W. by N., or 6° 52' reduced to the meridian; nearly as had been found in the morning, when it was 6° 56' corrected. This is a full degree less than it was on the east side of Sandy Cape, and captain Cook's observations show a still greater diminution.
[* The latitude 24° 4' was observed on board the Endeavour, at anchor here; by whom is uncertain, but it was not by captain Cook or Mr. Green. In the Astronomical Observations of the voyage, p. 134, Mr. Wales, in deducing the position of Bustard Bay, takes no notice of this observation, and omits the latitude.]
TUESDAY 3 AUGUST 1802
At daylight we proceeded along the coast; but the wind being very light, were no more than abreast of the north head of Bustard Bay at noon; and the ship being drifted by the tide toward some rocks lying off the head, a boat went to sound amongst them for a passage; in the mean time an air sprung up at north; and having got the ship's head to the eastward, we stretched off from the rocks. This north head lies in latitude 24° 0', as laid down by captain Cook, and bears from the south head N. 44° W., twelve miles; it is moderately high, and behind it is a mass of hummocky, barren hills, which extend far to the westward. A reef lies out as far as two miles from the north head; but within the outer rock above water our boat had 14 fathoms, and there was room for a ship to pass.
Not being able to weather the reef before dark, we worked to windward during the night; bearing down frequently to the Lady Nelson, to prevent separation. At daylight [WEDNESDAY 4 AUGUST 1802], the wind had shifted gradually round, from north to the south-westward; and at noon the north head of Bustard, Bay was brought to bear S. 16° E., four leagues, our latitude being then 23° 48', and longitude 151° 40'. A low island was seen from the mast head, bearing north at the supposed distance of six leagues, of which captain Cook does not make any mention;* and the furthest visible part of the main land was a conspicuous hill, named Mount Larcom, in compliment to captain Larcom of the navy. It bore W. ½° N., ten or eleven leagues; but the coast line between it and the north head of Bustard Bay, seemed to be much broken. [* A cluster of low islands, about fifteen leagues from the coast, was seen in the following year by Mr. Bunker, commander of the Albion, south whaler. He described the cluster to be of considerable extent, and as lying in latitude 23¾°, and longitude about 152½°; or nearly a degree to the eastward of the low isle above mentioned. It is probably to these islands, whose existence captain Cook suspected, that the great flights of boobies he saw in Hervey's Bay retire at night.]
In the afternoon, a breeze from the north-westward enabled us to stretch in for the land; and we anchored soon after sunset in 10 fathoms, brown sand, five or six miles from a projection which received the name of Gatcombe Head; and to the southward of it there was a rather deep bight in the coast. The bearings of the land, taken a few minutes before anchoring, were as under.
'''North head of Bustard Bay, dist. 5 leagues, S. 56° E. Gatcombe Head, S. 86 W. Mount Larcom, N. 80 W. Northern extreme of the coast, N. 46 W.'''
The chain of hills which rises near Bustard Bay, was seen to stretch westward a few miles behind the shore, till it was lost at the back of Mount Larcom. These hills were not destitute of wood, but they had a barren appearance; and the coast was more rocky than sandy. At this anchorage, the flood tide came from the north-by-east, and the ebb set east, half a mile per hour.
[EAST COAST. PORT CURTIS.]
THURSDAY 5 AUGUST 1802
At daylight of the 5th, we closed in with the shore, steering north-westward; and at nine o'clock a small opening was discovered, and water seen over the low front land. The Lady Nelson was ordered to look for anchorage; and at eleven we came to, in 4 fathoms brown sand, one mile from the east point of the opening; and the following bearings were then taken:
'''Southern extreme of the coast, over the east point, S. 36° E. Rocky islet in the middle of the opening, dist. 1½ mile, S. 28 W. Mount Larcom, S. 75 W. Hummock at the northern extreme (C. Capricorn), N. 18 W.'''
The opening was not so much as a mile in width, but from the extent of water within, it was conjectured to have a communication with the bight on the south side of Gatcombe Head; and this being an object worthy of examination, the sails were furled and the boats hoisted out. The naturalist and his companions landed at the west side of the entrance, where some Indians had assembled to look at the ship; but they retired on the approach of our gentlemen, and afterwards taking the advantage of a hillock, began to throw stones at the party; nor would they desist until two or three muskets were fired over their heads, when they disappeared. There were seven bark canoes lying on the shore, and near them hung upon a tree some parts of a turtle; and scoop nets, such as those of Hervey's Bay, were also seen.
I proceeded up the opening in a boat, and lieutenant Murray got under way to follow with the brig; but the tide ran up so rapidly, over a bottom which was rocky and very irregular in depth, that he anchored almost immediately, and came to the middle islet where I was taking angles. We then went over to the west shore, and ascended a hill called in the chart, Hill View; from whence it was evident, that this water did certainly communicate with the bight round Gatcombe Head, and by an opening much more considerable than that in which the vessels were anchored; the port was also seen to extend far to the westward, and I was induced to form a regular plan for its examination. The northern entrance being too full of rocks and shoals for the Lady Nelson to pass, although drawing no more than six feet when the keels were hoisted up, Mr. Murray was desired to go round to the southern opening; and about sunset he got under way.
FRIDAY 6 AUGUST 1802
Early in the morning I went off in the whale boat, with two days provisions, and made nearly a straight course up the port, for a low point on the south shore called South-trees Point. The water was very shallow, with many rocks and dry banks, until the southern entrance was fairly open, when the depth varied between 7 and 3 fathoms; but there was from 6 to 8 close to the low point. This forms the inner part of the southern entrance, and Gatcombe Head, the outer part, lies from it S. 64° E. about four miles; from the head southward, however, the width of the channel is much less, being contracted by banks which extend out from the opposite shore.
Seeing nothing of the brig, I proceeded in the examination, steering westward for a small island four or five miles up the port. This is the southernmost of six islets, lying behind the point of Hill View, and from one of two hillocks upon it, another set of bearings was taken. The depth of water thus far, had varied from 8 fathoms, to six feet upon a middle shoal; after which it deepened to 3, 4, and 7 fathoms, and there was 10 close to the southern islet. The Lady Nelson made her appearance off Gatcombe Head about noon; but not waiting for her, I went to a point on the northern shore, near two miles higher up, where the water was so deep that a ship might make fast to the rocks and trees: the soundings were very irregular from the southern islet, but the least depth was 5 fathoms.
The port was here contracted to one mile in width; but it opened out higher up, and taking a more northern direction, assumed the form of a river. In steering across to the western shore, I carried from 8 to 4, and afterwards from 6 to 2 fathoms; when turning northward for two islets covered with mangroves, the depth increased again to 7 fathoms. We tried to land upon a third islet, it being then sunset; but a surrounding bank of soft mud making the islet inaccessible, we rowed on upwards, and landed with difficulty on the west shore before it became quite dark. The breadth of the stream here was about a mile; and the greatest depth 6 fathoms at low water.
SATURDAY 7 AUGUST 1802
In the morning, a small opening was observed in the opposite, eastern shore; but reserving this for examination in returning, I proceeded upwards with a fair wind, five miles further, when the greatest depth any where to be found was 3 fathoms. The stream then divided into two arms; the largest, about one mile in breadth, continuing its direction to the N. W. by N., and apparently ending a little further up; the other running westward, but the greater part of both occupied by shallow water and mud banks. Upon the point of separation, which is insulated at high water, there were some low, reddish cliffs, the second observed on the west shore; and from thence I set Mount Larcom at S. 15° 15' W., distant seven or eight miles.
This station was nine miles above the steep point, where the port is first contracted, and the steep point is ten from Gatcombe Head; and conceiving it could answer no essentially useful purpose to pursue the examination where a ship could not go, I returned to the small opening in the eastern shore, opposite to where we had passed the night. There was 4 fathoms in the entrance of this little branch; but it presently became shallow, and I landed to ascend a hill which had but little wood at the top. The sea was visible from thence; and the ship at the northern entrance of the port was set at N. 89½° E, and Mount Larcom S. 59½° W. The small, mangrove islets below this branch, were passed on the east side in our way down, there being a narrow channel with from 3 to 5 fathoms in it, close past two trees standing alone in the water; and at sunset we got on board the brig, lying at anchor off South-trees Point.
Lieutenant Murray had found some difficulty in getting into the southern entrance, from a shoal which lay to the S. E. by E., one mile and a half from Gatcombe Head. He passed on the north side of the shoal, and brought deep water as far as South-trees Point; but in steering onward, in mid-channel, had met with other banks, and was obliged to anchor. I desired Mr. Murray to ascertain as he went out, whether there were any channel on the south side of the shoal near Gatcombe Head; and quitting the brig next morning [SUNDAY 8 AUGUST 1802], I landed on the larger island to the south of the point of Hill View, to take angles; and soon after nine o'clock, reached the ship.
During my absence, the botanical gentlemen had been on shore every day, lieutenant Flinders had made astronomical observations, and boats had been employed, though unsuccessfully, in fishing. No Indians had been seen on the east side of the port, and I therefore gave a part of the ship's company leave this afternoon, to land there and divert themselves. At eight in the evening a gun was heard in the offing; and by the guidance of our light, the Lady Nelson returned to her anchorage four hours afterward. Mr. Murray had struck upon a reef, having kept too near the shore in the apprehension of missing the anchorage in the dark; but his vessel did not appear to have sustained any other damage than the main sliding keel being carried away.
As much time having been employed in the examination of this port as the various objects I had in view could permit, we prepared to quit it on the following morning. This part of the East Coast had been passed in the night by captain Cook; so that both the openings escaped his notice, and the discovery of the port fell to our lot. In honour of admiral Sir Roger Curtis, who had commanded at the Cape of Good Hope and been so attentive to our wants, I gave to it the name of PORT CURTIS; and the island which protects it from the sea, and in fact forms the port, was called Facing Island. It is a slip of rather low land, eight miles in length, and from two to half a mile in breadth, having Gatcombe Head for its southern extremity.
The northern entrance to Port Curtis is accessible only to boats; but ships of any size may enter the port by the southern opening. Mr. Murray did not find any passage on the south side of the shoal near Gatcombe Head, but could not say that none existed; he thought the deep channel to be not more than a mile wide; but at half a mile from the head there was from 6 to 10 fathoms, and the channel from thence leads fair up the port to beyond South-trees Point; I suspected, however, from the account given by Mr. Murray, that there might be a second shoal, lying not so much as a mile from the head, and one is marked in the plan accordingly, that ships may be induced to greater caution. There is good anchorage just within Gatcombe Head; and at a small beach there, behind a rock, is a rill of fresh water, and wood is easily to be procured.
I cannot venture to give any other sailing directions for going up this port, than to run cautiously, with a boat ahead and the plan upon the binnacle. Both the bottom and shoals are usually a mixture of sand, with mud or clay; but in the northern entrance, and off some of the upper points and islands where the tides run strong, the ground is in general rocky.
The country round Port Curtis is overspread with grass, and produces the eucalyptus and other trees common to this coast; yet the soil is either sandy or covered with loose stones, and generally incapable of cultivation. Much of the shores and the low islands are overspread with mangroves, of three different species; but that which sends down roots, or rather supporters from the branches, and interweaves so closely as to be almost impenetrable, was the most common. This species, the Rhizophora Mangle of Linnaeus, is also the most abundant in the East and West Indies; but is not found at Port Jackson, nor upon the south coast of this country.
Granite, streaked red and black, and cracked in all directions, appeared to be the common stone in the upper parts of the port; but a stratified argillaceous stone was not unfrequent; and upon the larger island, lying off the point of Hill View, there was a softish, white earth, which I took to be calcareous until it was tried with acids, and did not produce any effervescence.
Traces of inhabitants were found upon all the shores where we landed, but the natives kept out of sight after the little skirmish on the first day of our arrival; they subsist partly on turtle, and possess bark canoes and scoop nets. We saw three turtle lying on the water, but were not so fortunate as to procure any. Fish seemed to be plentiful, and some were speared by Bongaree, who was a constant attendant in my boat; and yet our efforts with the seine were altogether unsuccessful. The shores abound with oysters, amongst which, in the upper parts of the port, was the kind producing pearls; but being small and discoloured, they are of no value. The attempts made near the ship with the dredge, to procure larger oysters from the deep water, were without success.
I saw no quadrupeds in the woods, and almost no birds; but there were some pelicans, gulls, and curlews about the shores and flats. Fresh water was found in small pools on both sides of the northern entrance, and at the point of Hill View I met with some in holes; but that which best merits the attention of a ship, is the rill found by Mr. Murray at the back of the small beach within Gatcombe Head.
The latitude of our anchorage at the northern entrance, from four meridian altitudes of the sun, is 23° 44' 16" south.
Six sets of distances of the sun west of the moon, taken by lieutenant Flinders, would make the longitude 151° 21' 22" east; the two time keepers gave 151° 20' 10"; and fifty sets of distances, reduced from Broad Sound by the survey, which I consider to be the best authority, place the anchorage in 151° 20' 15" east.
These being reduced by the survey to the southern entrance, place Gatcombe Head in latitude 23° 52½° S. longitude 151° 24' E.
No variations were observed at the anchorage; but two amplitudes off Gatcombe Head gave 11° 11', and azimuths with three compasses, 10° 50' east, the ship's head being W. S. W. and W. N. W. These being reduced to the meridian, will give the true variation to be 8° 40' east.
This is an increase of near 2° from Bustard Bay; and seems attributable to the attraction of the granitic land which lay to the westward, and drew the south end of the needle that way.
The rise of tide at the place where I slept near the head of the port, was no more than four feet; but upon the rocky islet in the northern entrance, there were marks of its having risen the double of that quantity. The time of high water was not well ascertained, but it will be between eight and nine hours after the moon's passage over and under the meridian.
MONDAY 9 AUGUST 1902
On getting under way at daylight of the 9th, to prosecute the examination of the coast, the anchor came up with an arm broken off, in consequence of a flaw extending two-thirds through the iron. The negligence with which this anchor had been made, might in some cases have caused the loss of the ship.
[EAST COAST. KEPPEL BAY.]
In following the low and rather sandy shore, northward to Cape Capricorn, we passed within a rocky islet and another composed of rock and sand, four miles south-east of the cape, the soundings being there from 8 to 9 fathoms; and at ten o'clock hauled round for Cape Keppel, which lies from Cape Capricorn N. 80° W., ten miles. The shore is low, with some small inlets in it, and sand banks with shoal water run off more than two miles; at six miles out there is a hummocky island and four rocks, one of which was at first taken for a ship. We passed within these, as captain Cook had before done; and at half past two in the afternoon anchored in Keppel Bay, in 6 fathoms soft bottom, three-quarters of a mile from a head on the east side of the entrance.
My object in stopping at this bay was to explore two openings marked in it by captain Cook, which it was possible might be the entrances of rivers leading into the interior. So soon as the ship was secured, a boat was sent to haul the seine, and I landed with a party of the gentlemen to inspect the bay from an eminence called Sea Hill. There were four places where the water penetrated into the land, but none of these openings were large; that on the west side, in which were two islands, was the most considerable, and the hills near it were sufficiently elevated to afford an extensive view; whereas in most other parts, the shores were low and covered with mangroves. These considerations induced me to begin the proposed examination by the western arm; and early next morning [TUESDAY 10 AUGUST 1802] I embarked in the Lady Nelson, intending to employ her and my whale boat in exploring the bay and inlets, whilst the botanists made their excursions in the neighbourhood of the ship.
The depth in steering for the western arm was from 6 to 9 fathoms, for about one mile, when it diminished quickly to 2, upon a shoal which seemed to run up the bay; the water afterwards deepened to 5 and 7 fathoms, but meeting with a second shoal, the brig was obliged to anchor. I then went on in my boat for the nearest of the two islands, passing over the banks and crossing the narrow, deep channels marked in the plan. The two islands are mostly very low, and the shores so muddy and covered with mangroves, that a landing on the northern and highest of them could be effected only at the west end; but a hillock there enabled me to take an useful set of bearings, including Mount Larcom, which is visible from all parts of this bay, as it is from Port Curtis.
In the afternoon I proceeded up the western arm, having from 3 to 8 fathoms close along the northern shore; and about four miles up, where the width was diminished to one mile, found a landing place, a rare convenience here, and ascended a hill from whence there was a good view. At five or six leagues to the south, and extending thence north-westward, was a continuation of the same chain of hills which rises near Bustard Bay and passes behind Mount Larcom; but at the back of Keppel Bay it forms a more connected ridge, and is rocky, steep, and barren. Within this ridge the land is low, and intersected by various streams, some falling into the western arm at ten or twelve miles above the entrance, and others into the south-west and south arms of the bay. The borders of the western arm, and of its upper branches so far as could be perceived, were over-run with mangroves; whence it seemed probable the water was salt, and that no landing was practicable, higher than this station; the sun also was near setting when my bearings from West-arm Hill were completed; and I therefore gave up the intention of proceeding further, and returned to the northern island in the entrance, to pass the night.
It was high water here at seven in the evening, and the tide fell nine and a half feet; but the morning's tide rose to six and a half only [WEDNESDAY 11 AUGUST 1802]. In rowing out between the two islands, I had from 8 to 3 fathoms; but shoal water in crossing from thence to the entrance of the south-west arm, where again there was 5 to 8 fathoms. A strong wind from the south-eastward did not permit me to go up this arm, and the extensive flats made it impossible to land upon the south side of the bay; and finding that nothing more could be done at this time, I returned to the ship.
The numerous shoals in Keppel Bay rendering the services of the Lady Nelson in a great measure useless to the examination, I directed lieutenant Murray to run out to the hummocky island lying to the north-east from Cape Keppel, and endeavour to take us some turtle; for there were no signs of inhabitants upon it, and turtle seemed to be plentiful in this neighbourhood. He was also to ascend the hills, and take bearings of any island or other object visible in the offing; and after making such remarks as circumstances might allow, to return not later than the third evening.
THURSDAY 12 AUGUST 1802
Next afternoon, I went, accompanied by the naturalist, to examine the eastern arm of the bay, which is divided into two branches. Pursuing the easternmost and largest, with soundings from 6 to 3 fathoms, we came to several mangrove islands, about four miles up, where the stream changed its direction from S. S. E. to E. S. E., and the deepest water was 2 fathoms. A little further on we landed for the night, cutting a path through the mangroves to a higher part of the northern shore; but the swarms of musketoes and sand flies made sleeping impossible to all except one of the boat's crew, who was so enviably constituted, that these insects either did not attack him, or could not penetrate his skin. It was high water here at nine o'clock; and the tide afterwards fell between ten and twelve feet.
FRIDAY 13 AUGUST 1802
In the morning, I set Broad Mount in Keppel Bay at N. 61° 20' W. and Mount Larcom S. 8° 20' E; and we then steered onward in six to eight feet water, amongst various little islands of mud and mangroves; the whole width of the stream being still more than half a mile, nearly the same as at the entrance. Three miles above the sleeping place the water began to increase in breadth, and was 2 fathoms deep; and advancing further, it took a direction more southward, and to our very agreeable surprise, brought us to the head of Port Curtis; forming thus a channel of communication from Keppel Bay, and cutting off Cape Capricorn with a piece of land twenty-five miles in length, from the continent.
I landed on the eastern shore, nearly opposite to the reddish cliffs which had been my uppermost station from Port Curtis, and set
'''Broad Mount in Keppel Bay at N. 60° 45' W. Mount Larcom, S. 16 15 W.'''
Having found one communication, we rowed up the western branch near the reddish cliffs, hoping to get back to Keppel Bay by a second new passage; but after going two miles, with a diminishing depth from 4 fathoms to three feet, we were stopped by mangroves, and obliged to return to the main stream.
The tide was half ebbed when we came to the shallowest part of the communicating channel; and it was with much difficulty that the boat could be got over. A space here of about two miles in length, appears to be dry, or very nearly so, at low water; but it is possible that some small channel may exist amongst the mangroves, of sufficient depth for a boat to pass at all times of tide.
We reached the entrance of the eastern arm from Keppel Bay, with the last of the ebb; and took the flood to go up the southern branch. The depth of water was generally 3 fathoms, on the eastern side, and the width nearly half a mile. This continued three miles up, when a division took place; in the smallest, which ran southward, we got one mile, and up the other, leading south-westward, two miles; when both were found to terminate in shallows amongst the mangroves. It was then dusk; and there being no possibility of landing, the boat was made fast to a mangrove bush till high water, and with the returning ebb, we got on board the ship at eleven o'clock.
The Lady Nelson had returned from the hummocky island, without taking any turtle. No good anchorage was found, nor was there either wood or water upon the island, worth the attention of a ship. Mr. Murray ascended the highest of the hummocks with a compass, but did not see any lands in the offing further out than the Keppel Isles.
SATURDAY 14 AUGUST 1802
I left the ship again in the morning, and went up the southern arm to a little hill on its western shore; hoping to gain from thence a better knowledge of the various streams which intersect the low land on the south side of the bay. This arm is one mile in width, and the depth in it from 3 to 6 fathoms; the shores are flat, as in other parts, and covered with mangroves; but at high water a landing was effected under the South Hill, without much trouble. The sides of this little eminence are steep, and were so thickly covered with trees and shrubs, bound together and intertwisted with strong vines, that our attempts to reach the top were fruitless. It would perhaps have been easier to climb up the trees, and scramble from one to another upon the vines, than to have penetrated through the intricate net work in the darkness underneath.
Disappointed in my principal object, and unable to do any thing in the boat, which could not then approach the shore within two hundred yards, I sought to walk upwards, and ascertain the communication between the south and south-west arms; but after much fatigue amongst the mangroves and muddy swamps, very little more information could be gained. The small fish which leaps on land upon two strong breast fins, and was first seen by captain Cook on the shores of Thirsty Sound, was very common in the swamps round the South Hill. There were also numbers of a small kind of red crab, having one of its claws uncommonly large, being, indeed, nearly as big as the body; and this it keeps erected and open, so long as there is any expectation of disturbance. It was curious to see a file of these pugnacious little animals raise their claws at our approach, and open their pincers ready for an attack; and afterwards, finding there was no molestation, shoulder their arms and march on.
At nine in the evening, the tide brought the boat under the hill, and allowed us to return to the ship. All the examination of Keppel Bay which our time could allow, was now done; but a day being required for laying down the plan of the different arms, I offered a boat on Sunday [15 AUGUST 1802] morning to the botanists, to visit the South Hill, which afforded a variety of plants; but they found little that had not before fallen under their observation. A part of the ship's company was allowed to go on shore abreast of the ship, for no Indians had hitherto been seen there; but towards the evening, about twenty were observed in company with a party of the sailors. They had been met with near Cape Keppel, and at first menaced our people with their spears; but finding them inclined to be friendly, laid aside their arms, and accompanied the sailors to the ship in a good-natured manner. A master's mate and a seaman were, however, missing, and nothing was heard of them all night.
MONDAY 16 AUGUST 1802
At daylight, two guns were fired and an officer was sent up the small inlet under Sea Hill; whilst I took a boat round to Cape Keppel, in the double view of searching for the absentees and obtaining a set of bearings from the top of the cape. This station afforded me a better view of the Keppel Isles than any former one; and to the northward of them were two high peaks on the main land, nearly as far distant as Cape Manifold.
Amongst the number of bearings taken, those most essential to the connection of the survey were as under.
'''Cape Capricorn, outer hummock, S. 79° 30' E. Mount Larcom, S. 6 10 E. The ship at anchor, S. 59 50 W. Highest peak near Cape Manifold, N. 25 10 W. Keppel Isles, outermost, called first lump, N. 0 45 E. Hummocky Island, N. 54° 35' to 61 40 E. '''
On my return to the ship, the master's mate and seaman were on board. The officer had very incautiously strayed away from his party, after natives had been seen; and at sunset, when he should have been at the beach, he and the man he had taken with him were entangled in a muddy swamp amongst mangroves, several miles distant; in which uncomfortable situation, and persecuted by clouds of musketoes, they passed the night. Next morning they got out of the swamp; but fell in with about twenty-five Indians, who surrounded and took them to a fire place. A couple of ducks were broiled; and after the wanderers had satisfied their hunger, and undergone a personal examination, they were conducted back to the ship in safety. Some of the gentlemen went to meet the natives with presents, and an interview took place, highly satisfactory to both parties; the Indians then returned to the woods, and our people were brought on board.
TUESDAY 17 AUGUST 1802
The anchor was weighed at daylight of the 17th, but the wind and tide being unfavourable, it took the whole day to get into the offing; at dusk we came to, in 9 fathoms, mud and sand, having the centre of the hummocky island bearing S. 72° E. two leagues. A sketch of the island and of Cape Keppel was taken by Mr. Westall (Atlas, Plate XVIII. View 5.) whilst beating out of the bay.
Keppel Bay was discovered and named by captain Cook, who sailed past it in 1770. A ship going in will be much deceived by the colour of the water; for the shores of the bay being soft and muddy, the water running out by the deep channels with the latter part of the ebb, is thick; whilst the more shallow parts, over which the tide does not then set, are covered with sea water, which is clear. Not only are the shores for the most part muddy, but a large portion of the bay itself is occupied by shoals of mud and sand. The deep water is in the channels made by the tides, setting in and out of the different arms; and the best information I can give of them, will be found by referring to the plan. The broadest of these channels is about two miles wide, on the east side of the bay; and our anchorage there near Sea Hill, just within the entrance, seems to be the best for a ship purposing to make but a short stay. Wood is easily procured; and fresh water was found in small ponds and swamps, at a little distance behind the beach. This is also the best, if not the sole place in the bay for hauling the seine; and a fresh meal of good fish was there several times procured for all the ship's company.
The country round Keppel Bay mostly consists either of stony hills, or of very low land covered with salt swamps and mangroves. Almost all the borders of the bay, and of the several arms into which it branches, are of this latter description; so that there are few places where it was not necessary to wade some distance in soft mud, and afterwards to cut through a barrier of mangroves, before reaching the solid land.
Mention has been made of the ridge of hills by which the low land on the south side of the bay is bounded. The upper parts of it are steep and rocky, and may be a thousand, or perhaps fifteen hundred feet high, but the lower sloping sides are covered with wood; Mount Larcom and the hills within the ridge, are clothed with trees nearly to the top; yet the aspect of the whole is sterile. The high land near the western arm, though stony and shallow in soil, is covered with grass, and trees of moderate growth; but the best part of the country was that near Cape Keppel; hill and valley are there well proportioned, the grass is of a better kind and more abundant, the trees are thinly scattered, and there is very little underwood. The lowest parts are not mangrove swamps, as elsewhere, but pleasant looking vallies, at the bottom of which are ponds of fresh water frequented by flocks of ducks. Cattle would find here a tolerable abundance of nutritive food, though the soil may perhaps be no where sufficiently deep and good to afford a productive return to the husbandman.
After the mangrove, the most common trees round Keppel Bay are different kinds of eucalyptus, fit for the ordinary purposes of building. A species of Cycas, described by captain Cook (Hawkesworth, III. 220, 221) as a third kind of palm found by him on this coast, and bearing poisonous nuts, was not scarce in the neighbourhood of West-arm Hill. We found three kinds of stone here: a greyish slate, quartz and various granitic combinations, and a soft, whitish stone, saponaceous to the touch; the two first were often found intermixed, and the last generally, if not always lying above them. The quartz was of various colours, and sometimes pure; but never in a state of crystallisation.
Wherever we landed there had been Indians; but it was near the ship only, that any of them made their appearance. They were described by the gentlemen who saw them, as stout, muscular men, who seemed to understand bartering better than most, or perhaps any people we had hitherto seen in this country. Upon the outer bone of the wrist they had the same hard tumour as the people of Hervey's Bay, and the cause of it was attempted, ineffectually, to be explained to one of the gentlemen; but as cast nets were seen in the neighbourhood, there seems little doubt that the manner of throwing them produces the tumours. These people were not devoid of curiosity; but several things which might have been supposed most likely to excite it, passed without notice. Of their dispositions we had every reason to speak highly, from their conduct to our sailors; but particularly to the master's mate and seaman who had lost themselves, and were absolutely in their power. On the morning we quitted the bay, a large party was again seen, coming down to the usual place; which seemed to imply that our conduct and presents had conciliated their good will, and that they would be glad to have communication with another vessel.
It is scarcely necessary to say, that these people are almost black, and go entirely naked, since none of any other colour, or regularly wearing clothes, have been seen in any part of Terra Australis. About their fire places were usually scattered the shells of large crabs, the bones of turtle, and the remains of a parsnip-like root, apparently of fern; and once the bones of a porpoise were found; besides these, they doubtless procure fish, and wild ducks were seen in their possession. There are kangaroos in the woods, and several bustards were seen near Cape Keppel. The mud banks are frequented by curlews, gulls, and some lesser birds. Oysters of a small, crumply kind, are tolerably plentiful; they do not adhere to the rocks, but stick to each other in large masses on the banks; here are also pearl oysters, but not so abundantly as in Port Curtis.
The latitude of our anchorage, from the mean of three meridian altitudes to the north, was 23° 29' 34" south.
Longitude from twenty-four sets of distances of the sun and moon, the particulars of which are given in Table I. of Appendix No. I. to this volume, 151° 0' 28"; but from fifty other sets, reduced by the survey from Broad Sound, the better longitude of the anchorage is 150° 58' 20" east.
According to the time keepers the longitude would be 150° 57' 43"; and in an interval of six days, they were found to err no more than 5" of longitude on the Port-Jackson rates.
From three compasses on the binnacle, lieutenant Flinders observed the variation 6° 48', when the ship's head was north, and 5° 47' when it was south-south-east. This last being reduced to the meridian, the mean of both will be 6° 47' east, nearly the same as in Bustard Bay; but 2° less than was observed off Gatcombe Head. At the different stations round Keppel Bay whence bearings were taken, the variation differed from 5° 10' to 6° 30' east.
Whilst beating off the entrance, I had 7° 52' east variation, from azimuths with the surveying compass when the head was N. W., and from an amplitude, with the head N. by W., 6° 54'; the mean reduced to the meridian. will be for the outside of the bay 6° 16' east.
Captain Cook had 7° 24' near the same situation, from amplitudes and azimuths observed in 1770, with the Endeavour's head W. N. W.
The rise of tide in the entrance of Keppel Bay seems to vary at the neaps and springs, from nine to fourteen feet, and high water to take place nine hours and a half after the moon's passage over and under the meridian; but the morning's tide fell two or three feet short of that at night. The set past the ship was greatest at the last quarter of the flood and first of the ebb, when it ran two-and-half knots, and turned very suddenly. In the offing, the flood came from the eastward, at the rate of one mile per hour.
[EAST COAST. FROM KEPPEL BAY.]
AUGUST 1802
The rocks and islands lying off Keppel Bay to the northward, are numerous and scattered without order; two of them are of greater magnitude than the rest, and captain Cook had attempted to pass between these and the main land, from which they are distant about five miles; but shoal water obliged him to desist. When we got under way in the morning of the 18th [WEDNESDAY 18 AUGUST 1802], our course was directed for the outside of these two islands, and we passed within a mile of them in 9, and from that to 13 fathoms water. They are five miles asunder, and the southernmost and largest is near twelve in circumference; its rocky hills are partly covered with grass and wood, and the gullies down the sides, as also the natives seen upon the island, implied that fresh water was to be had there.
[EAST COAST. CAPE MANIFOLD.]
At the back of the islands the main coast is low and sandy, with the exception of two or three rocky heads; but at a few miles inland there is a chain of hills, moderately elevated and not ill clothed with wood. These hills are a continuation of the same which I had ascended on the west side of Keppel Bay, and extend as far as the two peaks behind Cape Manifold.
After passing the Keppel Isles we steered for a small opening in the coast, seven or eight miles to the north-west, and the Lady Nelson was directed to lead in; but on her making the signal for 3 fathoms, and the inlet appearing to be a sandy cove fit only for boats, we kept on northward, between one and two miles from the shore. At five o'clock, the south-east breeze died away, and a descent of the mercury announcing either little wind for the night or a breeze off the land, a kedge anchor was dropped in 8 fathoms, sandy bottom. The bearings then taken were,
'''Keppel Isles, the first lump, S. 45° E. C. Manifold, east end of the island near it, N. 9 E. Peaked islet in the offing, N. 28½ E. Flat islet, distant four or five leagues, N. 43 E.'''
The two last are called the Brothers., in captain Cook's chart; though described in the voyage as being, one "low and flat, and the other high and round." A perforation in the higher islet admits the light entirely through it, and is distinguishable when it bears nearly south-east.
THURSDAY 19 AUGUST 1802
At seven next morning, having then a light air from the land with foggy weather, we steered northward along the coast; and at noon were in latitude 22° 47¾', and two rocks near the shore bore S. 54° W. two or three miles. From that time until evening, we worked to windward against a breeze from the north-east, which afterwards veered to N. N. W.; and at nine o'clock, a small anchor was dropped in 14 fathoms, two miles from the shore. The Lady Nelson had fallen to leeward; and made no answer to our signals during the night.
FRIDAY 20 AUGUST 1802
At daylight, supposing the brig had passed us by means of a shift of wind to W. N. W., we proceeded along the coast to the island lying off Cape Manifold. This island, with some of the northern hills, had been sketched by Mr. Westall (Atlas, Plate XVIII. View 6.) on the preceding evening; it is slightly covered with vegetation, and lies in latitude 22° 42', and longitude 150° 50'. The cape is formed of several rocky heads and intermediate beaches; and the hills behind, from which the cape was named, rise one over the other to the two peaks set from Cape Keppel, and appeared to be rocky and barren. The easternmost, and somewhat the highest peak, is about four miles from the shore, and lies S. 49° W. from the east end of the island whose situation is above given.
The wind was from the northward at noon, and we were then making a stretch for the land, which was distant four or five miles.
'''Latitude, observed to the north, 34° 36½' C. Manifold, east end of the island, S. 1 W. C. Manifold, the highest peak, S. 30½ W. Small isle (Entrance I.) at the northern extreme, N. 29 W. Peaked islet in the offing, distant 7 miles, S. 61 E.'''
From Cape Manifold the coast falls back to a sandy beach, six miles long, and near it are some scattered rocks. The land is there very low; but at the north end of the beach is a hilly projection, from which we tacked at one o'clock, in 12 fathoms; being then within a mile of two rocks, and two miles from the main land. The brig was seen to the south-eastward, and we made a long stretch off, to give her an opportunity of joining, and at two in the morning [SATURDAY 21 AUGUST 1802] lay by for her; but the wind veering to south-west at five, we stretched in for the land, and approached some rocky islets, part of the Harvey's Isles of captain Cook, of which, and of the main coast as far as Island Head, Mr. Westall made a sketch (Atlas, Plate XVIII. View 7). At half past nine, when we tacked from Harvey's Isles, I was surprised to see trees upon them resembling the pines of Norfolk Island; none such having been before noticed upon this coast, nor to my knowledge, upon any coast of Terra Australis. Pines were also distinguished upon a more southern islet, four miles off, the same which had been the northern extreme at the preceding noon; and behind it was a deep bight in the land where there seemed to be shelter. The breeze had then shifted to south, and the Lady Nelson being to windward, the signal was made for her to look for anchorage; but the brig being very leewardly, we passed her and stood into the bight by an opening between the islets of one mile wide and from 10 to 7 fathoms in depth. On the soundings decreasing to 5, we tacked and came to an anchor near the pine island in the entrance, in 7 fathoms coarse sand, exposed between N. 75° and S. 23° E, and the wind was then at south-east; but having a fair passage by which we could run out to the northward., in case of necessity, I did not apprehend any danger to the vessels.
[EAST COAST. PORT BOWEN.]
Instead of a bight in the coast, we found this to be a port of some extent; which had not only escaped the observation of captain Cook, but from the shift of wind, was very near being missed by us also. I named it PORT BOWEN, in compliment to captain James Bowen of the navy; and to the hilly projection on the south side of the entrance (see the sketch), I gave the appellation of Cape Clinton, after colonel Clinton of the 85th, who commanded the land, as captain Bowen did the sea forces at Madeira, when we stopped at that island
A boat was despatched with the scientific gentlemen to the north side, where the hills rise abruptly and have a romantic appearance; another went to the same place to haul the seine at a small beach in front of a gully between the hills, where there was a prospect of obtaining fresh water; and a third boat was sent to Entrance Island with the carpenters to cut pine logs for various purposes, but principally to make a main sliding keel for the Lady Nelson. Our little consort sailed indifferently at the best; but since the main keel had been carried away at Facing Island, it was as unsafe to trust her on a lee shore, even in moderate weather. On landing at Entrance Island, to take angles and inspect the form of the port, I saw an arm extending behind Cape Clinton to the southward, which had the appearance of a river; a still broader arm ran westward, until it was lost behind the land; and between Entrance Island and Cape Clinton was a space three miles wide, where nothing appeared to obstruct the free passage of a ship into both arms. Finding the port to be worthy of examination, and learning that the seine had been successful and that good water was to be procured, I left orders with lieutenant Fowler to employ the people in getting off pine logs and watering the ship; and early next morning [SUNDAY 22 AUGUST 1802], set off in my whale boat upon an excursion round the port.
From the ship to the inner part of Cape Clinton the soundings were from 5 to 8 fathoms, on a sandy bottom; but close to the innermost point there was no ground at 10 fathoms. From thence I steered up the western arm, passing to the south of a central rock lying a mile out; and got with difficulty to the projection named West-water Head. The arm terminated a little further on; but to the northward, over the land, I saw a long shallow bay at the back of Island Head, and beyond it was the sea. This western arm being full of sandy shoals, and of no utility, if at all accessible to ships, I observed the latitude and took angles, and then returned to the inner part of Cape Clinton. In rowing to the southward, close along the inside of the cape, we had from 3 to 9 fathoms water; but it was too late in the evening to make an examination of the southern arm, and I therefore ascended a hill near the shore, to inspect it. This was called East-water Hill, and I saw from its top, that the southern arm extended S. 16° W. about seven miles, to the foot of the hills behind Cape Manifold, where it terminated in shallows and mangroves. Close under Eastwater Hill there was a small branch running eastward, nearly insulating Cape Clinton; but neither this branch nor the main arm seemed to be deep enough to admit a ship much higher than the cape; and in consequence, I gave up the further examination, and returned on board at seven o'clock.
Amongst the useful bearings for the survey, taken at Eastwater Hill, were the following:
'''Entrance Island, centre, N. 9° 45' E. Peaked Islet in the offing, S. 58 45 E. Cape Manifold, east end of the island, S. 29 40 E. Cape Manifold, highest of the two peaks, S. 3 20 W.'''
By means of this last bearing, the longitude of Port Bowen was connected with Keppel Bay and Port Curtis, independently of the time keepers.
A fresh wind from the south-eastward had blown all day, and raised so much surf on the north side of the port, that our watering there was much impeded; a midshipman and party of men remained on shore with casks all night, and it was not until next evening [MONDAY 23 AUGUST 1802] that the holds were completed and pine logs got on board. The water was very good; it drained down the gully to a little beach between two projecting beads which have rocky islets lying off them. The gully is on the west side of the northern entrance, and will easily be known, since we sent there on first coming to an anchor, in the expectation of finding water, but Mr. Westall's sketch will obviate any difficulty (Atlas, Plate XVIII. View 9).
There were pine trees in the watering gully and on the neighbouring hills; but the best, and also the most convenient, were those upon Entrance Island, some of them being fit to make top masts for ships. The branches are very brittle; but the carpenter thought the trunks to be tough, and superior to the Norway pine, both for spars and planks: turpentine exudes from between the wood and the bark, in considerable quantities.
View of Port Bowen, from behind the Watering Gully.
For a ship wanting to take in water and pine logs, the most convenient place is under Entrance Island, where we lay in the Investigator; indeed fresh water was not found in any other place; but this anchorage is not tenable against a strong south-east wind. At the entrance of the southern arm, just within Cape Clinton, a ship may lie at all times in perfect safety; and might either be laid on shore or be hove down, there being 3 fathoms close to the rocks, at each end of the beach; it is moreover probable, that fresh water might be there found, or be procured by digging at the foot of the hills. In the southern arm the bottom is muddy; but it is of sand in other parts of the port.
Of the country round Port Bowen not much can be said in praise; it is in general either sandy or stony, and unfit for cultivation; nevertheless, besides pines, there are trees, principally eucalyptus, of moderate size, and the vallies of Cape Clinton are overspread with a tolerably good grass. No inhabitants were seen, but in every part where I landed, fires had been made, and the woods of Cape Clinton were then burning; the natives had also been upon Entrance Island, which implied them to have canoes, although none were seen. There are kangaroos in the woods; hawks, and the bald-headed mocking bird of Port Jackson are common; and ducks, sea-pies, and gulls frequent the shoals at low water. Fish were more abundant here than in any port before visited; those taken in the seine at the watering beach were principally mullet, but sharks and flying fish were numerous.
The latitude of the north-west end of Entrance Island, from an observation taken by lieutenant Flinders in an artificial horizon, is 22° 28' 28" south.
Longitude from twelve sets of lunar distances by the same officer, 150° 47' 54"; and by the time keepers, 150° 45' 36"; but from the fifty sets which fix Broad Sound, and the reduction from thence by survey, the more correct situation will be 150° 45' 0" east.
Dip of the south end of the needle, 50° 20'.
Variation from azimuths with the theodolite, 7° 40' east; but on the top of the island, where my bearings were taken, the variation appeared to be 8° 30' east; and 8° in other parts of the port.
The time of high water, as near as it could be ascertained, was ten hours after the moon's passage over and under the meridian, being half an hour later than in Keppel Bay; and the tide rises more than nine feet, but how much was not known; it is however to be presumed, from what was observed to the south and to the north of Port Bowen, that the spring tides do not rise less than fifteen feet.
TUESDAY 24 AUGUST 1802
At daylight of the 24th, we steered out of Port Bowen by the northern passage, as we had gone in. The wind was from the westward; but so light, that when the ebb tide made from the north-west at ten o'clock, it was necessary to drop the kedge anchor for a time. In the evening we came to, in 10 fathoms fine grey sand, one mile and a half from the main; being sheltered between N. E. by E. and E. by S. by the same cluster of small isles upon which the pine trees had been first seen. In the morning [WEDNESDAY 25 AUGUST 1802] we worked onward along the coast, against a breeze at north-west, till ten o'clock; when the tide being unfavourable, an anchor was dropped in 15 fathoms, sand and shells, near three islets, of which the middlemost and highest bore S. 29° E., one mile: these were also a part, and the most northern of Harvey's Isles.
A boat was lowered down, and I landed with the botanical gentlemen on the middle islet; where we found grass and a few shrubs, and also ants, grasshoppers, and lizards. Upon the rocks were oysters of the small, crumply kind, which seemed to indicate that the sea here is not violently agitated; and in the water we saw several large turtle, but were not able to harpoon any of them. Several of the Northumberland Isles were in sight from the top of the islet, and the following observations were taken.
'''Latitude, observed in artificial horizon, 22° 20' 42" Longitude, deduced from survey, 150 42 Peaked Islet in the offing bore S. 35 35 E. Island Head, distant 3 miles, S. 82 45 W. Cape Townshend, the rock near it, N. 57 45 W. Northumberland Isle, the 4th, a peak, N. 43 30 W.'''
When the tide slacked in the afternoon we stretched over towards Island Head, and saw a canoe with two Indians, who made for the shore near a place where the woods were on fire. At dusk we anchored in 18 fathoms, soft mud, in a bight between Island Head and Cape Townshend, at the bottom of which was an opening one mile wide, where captain Cook had suspected an entrance into Shoalwater Bay. The Lady Nelson had fallen to leeward, as usual; and not being come up in the morning [THURSDAY 26 AUGUST 1802], the master was sent ahead of the ship in a boat, and we steered for the opening with a strong flood tide in our favour. From 22 fathoms, the water shoaled to 12, and suddenly to 3, on a rocky bottom, just as we reached the entrance. A kedge anchor was dropped immediately; but seeing that the opening went through, and that the master had deep water further in, it was weighed again, and we backed and filled the sails, drifting up with the tide so long as it continued to run. At nine o'clock the anchor was let go in 6 fathoms, sand and shells, one mile within the entrance, the points of which bore N. 34° and S. 89° E.; but the extent of deep water was barely sufficient for the ship to swing at a whole cable.
[EAST COAST. STRONG-TIDE PASSAGE.]
(Atlas, Plate XI.)
Lieutenant Flinders landed on the north side of the entrance, and observed the latitude 22° 17' 53', from an artificial horizon; and a boat was sent to haul the seine upon a beach on the eastern shore, where fish to give half the ship's company a meal was procured. We had no prospect of advancing up the passage until the turn of tide, at three in the afternoon; and I therefore landed with a party of the gentlemen, and ascended the highest of the hills on the eastern side. From the top of it we could see over the land into Port Bowen; and some water was visible further distant at the back of it, which seemed to communicate with Shoal-water Bay. Of the passage where the ship was lying, there was an excellent view; and I saw not only that Cape Townshend was on a distinct island, but also that it was separated from a piece of land to the west, which captain Cook's chart had left doubtful. Wishing to follow the apparent intention of the discoverer, to do honour to the noble family of Townshend, I have extended the name of the cape to the larger island, and distinguish the western piece by the name of Leicester Island. Besides these, there were many smaller isles scattered in the entrance of Shoal-water Bay; and the southernmost of them, named Aken's Island after the master of the ship, lies in a bight of the western shore. Out at sea there were more of the Northumberland Islands, further westward than those before seen, the largest being not less distant than fifteen leagues; Pier Head, on the west side of Thirsty Sound, was also visible; and in the opposite direction was the highest of the two peaks behind Cape Manifold, the bearing of which connected this station with Port Curtis and Keppel Bay. The view was, indeed, most extensive from this hill; and in compliment to the landscape painter, who made a drawing from thence of Shoal-water Bay and the islands, I named it Mount Westall.* The bearings most essential to the connection of the survey, were these;
'''Pier Head, the northern extreme, N. 62° 40' W. Aken's Island in Shoal-water Bay, N. 86 55 W. Pine Mount, on its west side, S. 80 40 W. Double Mount, S. 56 35 W. Cape Manifold., highest peak behind it, S. 20 10 E. West-water Head in Port Bowen, S. 30 25 E. Northern Harvey's Isles, last station, N. 81 20 E. Cape Townshend, north-east extreme, N. 20 25 W. Northumberland Isles, the 4th, a peak, N. 26 25 W.''' [* A painting was made of this view, and is now in the Admiralty; but it has not been engraved for the voyage.]
Mount Westall and the surrounding hills are stony, and of steep ascent; pines grow in the gullies, and some fresh water was found there, standing in holes. The lower hills are covered with grass and trees, as is also the low land, though the soil be shallow and sandy; the wood is mostly eucalyptus. No natives were seen during our walk, and only one kangaroo.
At dusk in the evening, when we returned on board, I found the Lady Nelson at anchor near us, and two boats absent from the ship. In hauling them up to be hoisted in, the cutter had been upset from the rapidity of the tides, which ran above four knots, the man in her was thrown out, and the boat went adrift. The man was taken up by the Lady Nelson; but the boatswain, who with two men in a small gig had gone after the cutter, was not heard of till next morning [FRIDAY 27 AUGUST 1802], when he returned without any intelligence of his object, having been bewildered in the dark by the rapid tides in a strange place, and in danger of losing himself.
[EAST COAST. SHOAL-WATER BAY.]
On weighing the kedge anchor to go further up the passage, it came up broken near the crown, having in all probability hooked a rock. The Lady Nelson went one mile ahead, a boat was kept sounding close to the ship, and in this manner we drifted up with the flood tide, till half past eight; when another kedge anchor was dropped in 7 fathoms, a short mile from the land on each side, and two from the inner end of the opening. Lieutenant Fowler was immediately sent away in the whale boat, to search for the lost cutter; and in the mean time we weighed with the afternoon's flood, to get through the passage. On approaching a low, triangular island on the eastern shore, the depth diminished quick, and an anchor was let go; but in swinging to it, the ship caught upon a bank of sand and shells where there was no more than twelve feet water. In half an hour the tide floated her off; and the whale boat having returned, but without any information of the cutter, it was kept ahead; and before dark we anchored in 5 fathoms, at the entrance of Shoalwater Bay.
The opening through which we had come was named Strong-tide Passage. It is six miles long, and from one to two broad; but half the width is taken up by shoals and rocks, which extend out from each shore and sometimes lie near the mid-channel; and the rapid tides scarcely leave to a ship the choice of her course. The bottom is rocky in the outer entrance, but in the upper part seems more generally to consist of sand and shells. By the swinging of the ship, it was high water ten hours after the moon's passage, and the rise was thirteen feet by the lead; but at the top of the springs it is probably two or three feet greater; and the rate at which the tides then run, will not be less than five miles an hour. It will be perceived, that I do not recommend any ship to enter Shoal-water Bay by this passage.
SATURDAY 28 AUGUST 1802
In the morning, I went in the whale boat to the westward, both to search for the lost cutter and to advance the survey. In crossing the inner end of Strong-tide Passage, my soundings were 5, 4, 3, 2½, 2, 3 fathoms, to a rock near the south end of Townshend Island, whence it appeared that the deepest water was close to the Shoals on the eastern side. After searching along the shore of Townshend Island., and amongst the rocky islets near it, I crossed the western channel over to the south end of Leicester Island; where a set of bearings was taken, and the latitude observed to be 22° 18' 17" from an artificial horizon. This channel is about one mile wide, and I proceeded up it until a passage out to sea was clearly distinguishable; but although there be from 4 to 7 fathoms with a soft bottom, the deep part is too narrow for a stranger to pass with a ship. I returned on board in the evening, without having discovered any traces of the lost cutter or seen any thing worthy of particular notice; unless it were three of the large bats, called flying foxes at Port Jackson: when on the wing and at a distance, these animals might be taken for crows.
SUNDAY 29 AUGUST 1802
On the following morning, we got up the anchor and steered further into Shoal-water Bay. The land on the western side appeared to be high; and as the botanists were likely to find more employment there, during the time of my proposed expedition to the head of the bay, than they could promise themselves at any other place, I was desirous of leaving the ship on that side, in a situation convenient for them. After running three miles to the westward, mostly in 3 fathoms, we anchored in 6, till four o'clock, and then again weighed. The soundings became very irregular; and at five, seeing a shoal which extended up and down the middle of the bay, we tacked from it and came to, in 5 fathoms soft bottom, it being then low water.
'''Mount Westall bore N. 86° E. Leicester Island, the south end, N. 9 W. Pine Mount, S. 78 W.'''
The western land was still six or seven miles distant, but there was no prospect of getting nearer, without taking time to make a previous examination of the shoal; and I therefore embarked early next morning [MONDAY 30 AUGUST 1802] on board the brig, and proceeded towards the head of the Bay.
Steering south-eastward, in a slanting course up the bay from the middle shoal, we had from 5 to 8 fathoms; and passed a shallow opening in the eastern low shore, four miles above Strong-tide Passage. Three miles higher up there was another opening, near two miles in width; and the wind being then light and foul, I quitted the brig and proceeded three miles up in my boat, when the arm was found to be divided into two branches. Pursuing that which led eastward in a line for Port Bowen, and was three-quarters of a mile wide, I carried a diminishing depth, from 6 fathoms to six feet, above two miles further; and the branch then terminated at the foot of a ridge of hills. I wished much to ascend this ridge, believing that Westwater Head in Port Bowen, lay close at the back; but the shore was so defended by mud flats and interwoven mangroves, that it was impossible to land.
The other branch of the eastern arm led south-eastward, and was a mile wide, with a depth of 6 fathoms as far as two miles above the division; it then separated into three, but the entrances were shallow and the borders every where muddy and covered with mangroves. I therefore returned to the brig which had anchored at the entrance of the branch; and in the night, we dropped out of the eastern arm with the tide, to be ready for going up the bay with the morning's flood.
TUESDAY 31 AUGUST 1802
On the 31st, in steering for the middle of the bay, the brig grounded upon a spit which runs out from the south point of entrance to the eastern arm, and I believe extends so far down the bay as to join the middle shoal near the ship. The bottom was muddy, and the rising tide soon floated her; but our progress being slow, I went onward in the boat and got into a channel of a mile wide, with regular soundings from 6 to 4 fathoms.
Abreast of the eastern arm, the width of the bay had diminished to about four miles; and in advancing upwards, I found it to go on contracting until, at four miles above the arm, the shores were less than one mile asunder, and the head of the bay assumed the form of a river, though the water remained quite salt. The depth here was from 4 to 6 fathoms; and the east side of the contracted part being a little elevated, I was able to land and take a set of angles to fix its position. The width and depth continued nearly the same two miles higher up, to a woody islet in the middle of the channel; where the latitude 22° 37' 6" was observed from an artificial horizon, and more bearings taken.
A ship may get up as high as this islet, for the channel is no where less than half a mile wide, nor the depth in it under 3 fathoms; but there the stream divides into several branches, which appeared to terminate amongst the mangroves, similar to the branches of the eastern arm. The largest runs S. S. E; and I could see three or four miles up it, near to the foot of the hills behind Cape Manifold, where it probably ends, as did the southern arm of Port Bowen.
The islet had been visited by Indians, and several trees upon it were notched, similar to what is done by the people of Port Jackson when they ascend in pursuit of opossums. Upon the main, to the west of the islet, where I walked a mile inland, fire Places and other signs of inhabitants were numerous, and still more so were those of the kangaroo; yet neither that animal nor an Indian was seen. Around the extinguished fires were scattered the bones of turtle, and the shells of crabs, periwinkles, and oysters of the small kind; and in the low grounds I observed many holes, made apparently by the natives in digging for fern roots. An iguana of between two and three feet long, which lay upon the branch of a high tree watching for its prey, was the sole animal killed; but the mud banks are frequented at low water by sea pies of both kinds, curlews, and small cranes.
The soil was stiff, shallow, and often stony; the vegetation consisted of two or three species of eucalyptus and the casuarina, not thickly set nor large--of several kinds of shrubs, amongst which a small grass-tree was abundant--and of grass, with which the rest of the soil was thinly overspread.
After making my observations, I rejoined the Lady Nelson two miles below the woody islet; but the wind blowing fresh up the bay, and the brig being leewardly, went on and with some difficulty landed on the west side, opposite to the entrance of the eastern arm. This part is stony; but equally low with the rest of the shores, and is probably an island at high water. A confined set of bearings was taken here; and the sun being then nearly down and the brig at anchor, I went on board for the night. Next afternoon [WEDNESDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 1802], when the ebb tide enabled the vessel to make progress against the strong north-west wind, we beat down in a channel of between one and two miles wide, with soundings from 2 to 8 fathoms; but they were not regular, for the depth was less in some parts of the middle than at the sides of the channel. The wind moderated in the evening; and being then within three miles of the ship, I quitted the brig, and got on board at sunset.
One object of my research in this expedition had been the lost cutter, and orders had been left with lieutenant Fowler to send again into Strong-tide Passage upon the same errand, but all was without success.
During my absence, the naturalist and other gentlemen had gone over in the launch to the west side of the bay, where they had an interview with sixteen natives; their appearance was described as being much inferior to the inhabitants of Keppel and Hervey's Bays, but they were peaceable, and seemed to be very hungry. They had bark canoes which, though not so well formed, were better secured at the ends than those of Port Jackson; and in them were spears neatly pointed with pieces of quartz, for striking turtle. The number of bones lying about their fire places bespoke turtle to be their principal food; and with the addition of shell fish, and perhaps fern roots, it is probably their sole support.
The same muddy flats which rendered landing so difficult in the upper parts of the bay, run off to some distance from the shore under Double Mount; and the land is low for two or three miles back. The hills then rise, ridge over ridge to a considerable elevation; and at the top are several hummocks, of which two, higher than the rest, obtained for this high land its present name. So far as the gentlemen were able to ascend, the hills were found to be tolerably well covered with pines and other trees; and the soil of the vallies was better than in those near Mount Westall on the opposite side of the bay.
THURSDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 1802
Early on the 2nd the brig rejoined; and the wind being at S. by E., we steered across towards Pine Mount, passing over the shoal in sixteen feet. In crossing the middle channel, our soundings increased to 9, and then diminished to less than 3 fathoms upon a second shoal, the width of the channel here being not quite three miles. On the west side of the second shoal is another channel, nearly as wide as the former; and the greatest depth in it, reduced to low water as usual, was 8 fathoms. The water shoaled again suddenly on approaching the west side of the bay, and obliged us to veer round off; we then steered to pass within Aken's Island, intending to anchor in the West Bight behind it; but the depth not being sufficient for the ship at low water, we came to in 4 fathoms, muddy bottom, one mile from the shore and two from Aken's Island, the east end of which bore N. 27° W.
Pine Mount is a single round hill with a high peaked top, standing about two miles inland from the West Bight; and to obtain a set of bearings from it which should cross those from Mount Westall, had induced me to anchor here; but finding my health too much impaired by fatigue to accomplish a laborious walk, I sent the launch next morning [FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 1802] with the scientific gentlemen, and as an easier task, landed upon Aken's Island and took angles from the little eminence at its north-east end.
At every port or bay we entered, more especially after passing Cape Capricorn, my first object on landing was to examine the refuse thrown up by the sea. The French navigator, La Pérouse, whose unfortunate situation, if in existence, was always present to my mind, had been wrecked, as it was thought, somewhere in the neighbourhood of New Caledonia; and if so, the remnants of his ships were likely to be brought upon this coast by the trade winds, and might indicate the situation of the reef or island which had proved fatal to him. With such an indication, I was led to believe in the possibility of finding the place; and though the hope of restoring La Pérouse or any of his companions to their country and friends could not, after so many years, be rationally entertained, yet to gain some certain knowledge of their fate would do away the pain of suspense; and it might not be too late to retrieve some documents of their discoveries.
Upon the south-east side of Aken's Island, there was thrown up a confused mass of different substances; including a quantity of pumice stone, several kinds of coral, five or six species of shells, skeletons of fish and sea snakes, the fruit of the pandanus, and a piece of cocoa-nut shell without bernacles or any thing to indicate that it had been long in the water; but there were no marks of shipwreck. A seine was hauled upon the small beaches at the south end of the island, and brought on shore a good quantity of mullet, and of a fish resembling a cavally; also a kind of horse mackerel, small fish of the herring kind, and once a sword fish of between four and five feet long. The projection of the snout, or sword of this animal, a foot and a half in length, was fringed with strong, sharp teeth; and he threw it from side to side in such a furious way, that it was difficult to manage him even on shore.
A boat was sent in the evening to the foot of Pine Mount, for the naturalist and his party, but returned without any tidings of them; and it was noon next day [SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1802] before they got on board. They had reached the top of the mount, but were disappointed in the view by the pines and underwood. In returning to the boat, a chase after a kangaroo had led one of the gentlemen out of his reckoning; and this, with the labour of bringing down their prize, had prevented them from reaching the water side that night. Pine Mount is stony, but covered with large trees of the kind denoted by its epithet; the country between it and the water side is grassy, bears timber trees, and is of a tolerably good soil, such as might be cultivated. There are small creeks of salt water in the low land; and in one of them a fish was shot which furnished the party with a dinner.
Pine Mount is composed of the greenstone of the German mineralogists; but in some other parts of the neighbourhood the stone seems to be different, and contains small veins of quartz, pieces of which are also scattered over the surface. At Aken's Island there was some variety. The most common kind was a slate, containing in some places veins of quartz, in a state nearly approaching to crystallization, and in others some metallic substance, probably iron. The basis of most other parts of the island was greenstone; but in the eastern cliffs there was a soft, whitish earth; and on the north-west side of the island, a part of the shore consisted of water-worn grains and small lumps of quartz, of coral, pumice stone, and other substances jumbled together, and concreted into a solid mass.
Speaking in general terms of Shoal-water Bay, I do not conceive it to offer any advantages to ships which may not be had upon almost any other part of the coast; except that the tides rise higher, and in the winter season fish are more plentiful than further to the south. No fresh water was found, unless at a distance from the shore, and then only in small quantities. Pine trees are plentiful; but they grow upon the stony hills at a distance from the water side, and cannot be procured with any thing like the facility offered by Port Bowen. The chart contains the best information I am able to give of the channels leading up the bay, and of the shoals between them; but it may be added, that no alarm need be excited by a ship getting aground, for these banks are too soft to do injury. The shelving flats from the shores are also soft; and with the mangroves, which spread themselves from high water at the neaps, up in the country to the furthest reach of the spring tides, in some places for miles, render landing impossible in the upper parts of the bay, except at some few spots already noticed.
Were an English settlement to be made in Shoal-water Bay, the better soil round Pine Mount and the less difficulty in landing there, would cause that neighbourhood to be preferred. There is not a sufficient depth at low water, for ships to go into the West Bight, by the south side of Aken's Island, and the north side was no otherwise sounded than in passing; but there is little doubt that the depth on the north side is adequate to admit ships, and that some parts of the bight will afford anchorage and good shelter.
The tides do not run strong in Shoal-water Bay, the rate seldom exceeding one knot; but they stir up the soft mud at the bottom., and make the water thick, as in Keppel Bay. I am not able to speak very accurately of the rise in the tide; but it may be reckoned at twelve or fourteen feet at the neaps, and from seventeen to eighteen at the springs. High water takes place about ten hours and a half after the moon's passage; but on the east side of the bay, the flood runs up a full hour later.
The latitude of the north-east end of Aken's Island, from an observation in the artificial horizon, is 22° 21' 35" south.
Longitude from twelve sets of distances of the sun and moon, taken by lieutenant Flinders, and reduced to the same place, 150° 18' 45"; but from the survey, and the position afterwards fixed in Broad Sound, it is preferably 150° 15' 0" east.
Variation from azimuths taken with a theodolite at the same place, 9° 48'; but the bearings on the top of the eminence showed it to be 9° 0'. The variation on shore, on the west side of the bay, may therefore be taken at 9° 24' east.
Upon Mount Westall on the east side, and at the south end of Leicester Island, it was from the bearings 8° 50'. Upon the small islet at the head of the bay, 9° 25'.
At our anchorage on the west side of the bay, Mr. Flinders took azimuths when the ship's head was S. E. by E., which gave 6° 31' by one compass; before he had done, the ship swung to the flood tide with her head W. N. W., and two other compasses then gave 11° 27' and 11° 4': the mean corrected to the meridian, will be 8° 46' east.
At an anchorage towards the east side of the bay, the same officer observed the variation with two compasses, when the head was east, to be 4° 49', or corrected, 7° 21' east.
The difference in Strong-tide Passage, where the land was one mile to the south-south-east on one side, and the same to the west on the other, was still more remarkable; for when the head was N. E. by N., an amplitude gave me 9° 10', or corrected, 10° 34' east.
There might have been an error in any of the ship observations of half a degree; but I am persuaded that the attraction of the land, sometimes to the east and sometimes west, as the ship was near one or the other side of the bay, was the great cause of the difference in the corrected results; and it will presently be seen, that the effect on a neighbouring part of the coast was much more considerable.
'+[EAST COAST. THIRSTY SOUND.]
SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1802+'
At noon September 4, when the botanical gentlemen returned from their excursion to Pine Mount, we made sail out of Shoal-water Bay with a breeze from the eastward. In steering north-west amongst the small islands, the soundings were between 9 and 14 fathoms; and nearly the same afterwards, in keeping at three or four miles from the coast. I intended to go into Thirsty Sound; but not reaching it before dark, the anchor was dropped in 8 fathoms, sandy bottom, when the top of Pier Head bore west, three miles. In the morning [SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 1802] we ran into the Sound, and anchored in 6 fathoms, with the points of entrance bearing N. 16° and S. 67° E., one mile. The carpenters had for some time been employed in making a sliding keel for the Lady Nelson, from the pine logs cut in Port Bowen; and being now finished, it was sent on board.
The botanists landed upon the east shore, preferring the main land for their pursuits; and the launch was sent to haul the seine on that side, at a beach a little way up the Sound. I went to the top of Pier Head and took bearings of the Northumberland Islands, as also of the points and hills of the coast to the east and west; the most essential of them to the connexion of the survey, were as under:
'''Mount Westall, station on the top, S. 63° 20' E. Aken's Island, station on the N. E. end, S. 43 10 E. Pine Mount, S. 25 5 E. Long Island, the north point, distant 8 miles, N. 65 5 W. Peaked Hill, west side of Broad Sound, N. 61 25 W. Northumberland I., a peak, marked h, N. 22 25 W. Northumberland I., No. 3 peak (of Percy Isles), N. 20 10 E.'''
Captain Cook observed, when taking bearings upon the top of Pier Head, "that the needle differed very considerably in its position, even to thirty degrees, in some places more, in others less; and once he found it differ from itself no less than two points in the distance of fourteen feet." (Hawkesworth, III, 126); from whence he concluded there was iron ore in the hills. I determined, in consequence, to make more particular observations, both with the theodolite and dipping needle; and shall briefly state the results obtained on this, and on the following day.
Azimuths were taken, and the bearing of Mount Westall, distant thirty-four miles, was set at S. 63° 28' E. (true), whilst the theodolite remained in the same place; and from a comparison between this bearing and those of the same object at different parts of the head, the variations were deduced. The dip was observed with both ends of the needle, and the face of the instrument changed each time.
'''At the highest top of Pier Head, Var. 3° 25' E. Dip 53° 20' S. West, three yards from it, 6 10 S. E. three yards, 10 5 S. S. E., ten yards, 8 6 52 19 North, four, 6 55 N. E., twenty, 6 50 50 35 N. N. E., one-sixth mile, at the water side, 7 6 50 28 S. E., one-third mile, at ditto, 8 2 50 50'''
There are here no differences equal to those found by captain Cook; but it is to be observed, that he used a ship's azimuth compass, probably not raised further from the ground than to be placed on a stone, whereas my theodolite stood upon legs, more than four feet high. The dipping needle was raised about two feet; and by its greater inclination at the top of the hill, shows the principal attraction to have been not far from thence. The least dip, 50° 28', taken at the shore on the north side of the head, was doubtless the least affected; but it appears to have been half a degree too much, for at Port Bowen, twenty-two miles further south, it was no more than 50° 20'. An amplitude taken on board the ship in the Sound by lieutenant Flinders, when the head was S. S. W., gave variation 8° 39', or corrected to the meridian, 7° 40' east. As Pier Head lay almost exactly in the meridian, from the ship, its magnetism would not alter the direction of the needle; and I therefore consider 7° 40' to be very nearly the true variation, when unaffected by local causes: in Port Bowen, it varied from 7° 40' to 8° 30' east.
Notwithstanding this very sensible effect upon the needle, both horizontally and vertically, I did not find, any more than captain Cook, that a piece of the stone applied to the theodolite drew the needle at all out of its direction; nevertheless I am induced to think, that the attraction was rather dispersed throughout the mass of stone composing Pier Head, than that any mine of iron ore exists in it. The stone is a porphyry of a dark, blueish colour.
MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 1802
On the 6th, at noon, when the observations were finished and I had proposed to quit Thirsty Sound, the wind and tide were both against us. To employ the rest of the day usefully, I went over in the whale boat, accompanied by the landscape painter, to the 6th, 7th, and 8th Northumberland Islands, which, with many low islets and rocks near them, form a cluster three or four leagues to the north-east of the Sound. Orders were left with lieutenant Fowler to get the ship under way as early as possible on the following morning, and come out to meet us.
Nearly mid-way between Pier Head and the cluster, lie some rocks surrounded with breakers; and until they were passed the depth was from 6 to 8 fathoms, and 11 afterwards. We rowed to a beach at the north-west end of the 7th island, proposing there to pass the night, and hoped to turn some turtle; but proofs of natives having lately visited, or being perhaps then on the island, damped our prospects, and still more did the absence of turtle tracks; yet under each tree near the shore were the remains of a turtle feast.
TUESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 1802
In the morning I ascended the highest hill on the 7th island, and took bearings; but the hazy weather which had come on with a strong wind at E. S. E., confined them within a circle of three leagues. This island is somewhat more than a mile in length, and was covered with grass, but almost destitute of wood; the rock is a greenish, speckled stone, with veins of quartz finely inserted, and is something between granite and porphyry. The 6th island is the largest of this little cluster, being two and a half miles long; and it was well covered with wood. We rowed over to it with some difficulty on account of the wind, but could not sound in the channel; it appeared to be deep, its least width three-quarters of a mile, and in fine weather a ship might anchor there and procure pines fit for top masts, at several places in the group. Water was found under the hills on the 6th island; but not in sufficient quantities for the purpose of a ship.
I looked anxiously, but in vain, for lieutenant Fowler to come out of Thirsty Sound; for the wind blew so strong that it was uncertain whether the boat could fetch over, or that it was even safe to attempt it; our provisions, besides, were nearly exhausted, and nothing more substantial than oysters could be procured. Pressed by necessity, we set off under close-reefed sails; and the boat performing admirably, fetched the low neck to leeward of Pier Head, whence another boat took us to the ship; and at high water in the evening, the whale boat floated over the neck and followed.
When Mr. Fowler had weighed in the morning, according to my directions, the ship had driven so near the shore before the stream anchor was at the bows, that he let go the small bower; but the cable parted, and obliged him to drop the best bower, being then in 3 fathoms water with the wind blowing strong into the sound. By means of a warp to the brig, the best bower was shifted into 4 fathoms; and when I got on board, the stream and small bower anchors had just been recovered. The weather tide made at nine in the evening, and we ran into 7 fathoms in the channel; and at daylight stood out of the sound, with the brig in company, having then a moderate breeze at south-east.
Of Thirsty Sound as a harbour, very little can be said in praise; the north-east and east winds throw in a good deal of sea, and there is not room for more than three or four ships, without running up into the narrow part; and what the depth may be there I did not examine, but saw that there were shoals. The entrance of the sound may be known by two round hills, one on each side, lying nearly north and south, one mile and a half from each other: the northernmost is Pier Head. The surrounding country is clothed with grass and wood; but on the Long-Island side the grass is coarse, the trees are thinly scattered, and the soil is every where too stony for the cultivation of grain.
There were many traces of natives, though none recent. Judging from what was seen round the fire places, turtle would seem to be their principal food; and indeed several turtle were seen in the water, but we had not dexterity enough to take any of them. In fishing with the seine, at a small beach two miles up the sound, we always had tolerably good success; but no fresh water accessible to boats could be found in the neighbourhood.
The latitude of Pier Head, from an observation made at the top in an artificial horizon, is 22° 6' 53" S.
Longitude from thirteen sets of distances of the sun west of the moon, observed by lieutenant Flinders, 149° 47' 50"; but by the survey and the fixed position in Broad Sound, with which the time-keepers agreed, it will be more correctly 150° 0' 10" E.
Captain Cook specifies the situation of Thirsty Sound to be in latitude 22° 10', longitude 149° 42' (Hawkesworth, III, 128); but in the chart published by Mr. Dalrymple, it is 22° 7' and 149° 36', which agrees nearer with the deductions of Mr. Wales (Astron. Obs. p. 135). In either case it appears, that my longitude was getting more eastward from captain Cook as we advanced further along the coast.
WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 1802
The tides in Thirsty Sound were neaped at this time, and the rise, judging by the lead line, was from ten to twelve feet; but captain Cook says, "at spring tides the water does not rise less than sixteen or eighteen feet," which I have no doubt is correct. It ceases at ten hours and three quarters after the moon passes over and under the meridian.
On quitting Thirsty Sound we steered north-westward, to pass round a chain of rocks extending six miles out from Pier Head, and behind which there was a bight in Long Island, with some appearance of an opening. It was my intention to examine Broad Sound up to the furthest navigable part, and we hauled up between the north point of Long Island and a cluster of small isles lying three miles to the north-west; but finding the water too shallow, and that it would be more advantageous to begin the examination on the west side, I desired Mr. Murray to lead round the North-point Isles and across the sound. A small reef lies between four and five miles N. E. by E. from the largest and easternmost of these isles; it is covered at half tide, and therefore dangerous, but we had 7 to 8 fathoms at less than a mile distance, on the inside.
At noon, the depth was 8 fathoms, the largest North-point Isle, which is nearly separated into two, was distant four miles, and our situation was as under:
'''Latitude observed to the north, 21° 56' 17" Pier Head top, bore S. 38 E. Northumberland Island, peak marked 'h', N. 15 W. North-point I., westernmost, highest part, S. 56 W. North-point I., largest, S. 37 to 16 W. '''
In steering W. by N., rippling water was seen ahead at one o'clock. and the depth diminishing to 4 fathoms, we hauled a little to the southward and then resumed our course. This rippling seems to have been on a part of the same shoal near which captain Cook anchored in 3 fathoms; for it lies five miles from the North-point Isles, and as he says, "half way between them and three small islands which lie directly without them."
[EAST COAST. BROAD SOUND.]
Our course for the west side of Broad Sound passed close to some low, flat isles, lying to the south-east of the peaked West Hill set from Pier Head. At dusk I sought to anchor behind the hill, for it had the appearance of being separated from the main land; but the water being too shallow, we hauled off upon a wind. At ten o'clock, however, the breeze having become light and the sea gone down, an anchor was dropped in 5 fathoms, sandy bottom; whence the top of West Hill bore N. 68° W. three miles. A flood tide was found running from the N. N. E., one mile and a quarter per hour.
THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 1802
In the morning I landed with the botanical gentlemen, and wished to ascend the top of the hill; but the brush wood was too thick to be penetrable. Upon a projecting head on the north-east side, I took a part, and about half way up the hill on the south-east side, the remainder of a set of bearings, which included many of the Northumberland Isles not before seen, and other of the Flat Isles within Broad Sound. The furthest visible part of the main land towards Cape Palmerston, was distant about five leagues, and behind it was a hill to which, from its form, I gave the name of Mount Funnel; the shore both to the north and south was low, and the Flat Isles to the southward of the ship were mostly over-run with mangroves. I did not go round West Hill, and could not see whether it were connected with the main land, or not; but if joined, it must be by a very low isthmus. The bearings at this station, most essential to the connection of the survey, were these:
'''Main coast, the extremes, N. 1° and S. 10° 45' E. Pier Head, the top, S. 61 25 E. Northumberland Isles, peak marked 'h', N. 61 45 E. Northumberland Isles, high northmost marked 'i', dist. 11 L. N. 19 15 E.'''
The stone of the hill had in it specks of quartz or feldtspath, and was not much unlike that of Pier Head; but it had a more basaltic appearance. A piece of it applied to the theodolite, drew the needle two degrees out of its direction, and yet the bearings did not show any great difference from the true variation; for an amplitude taken on board the ship by Mr. Flinders, when the head was N. N. E, gave 6° 18', or corrected to the meridian, 7° 17' east, and the variation on the eastern side of the hill was 8° 15', according to the back bearing of Pier Head.
From an observation of the sun's upper and lower limbs in an artificial horizon, the latitude was 21° 50' 18", and the ship bore from thence S. 68° E. two miles and a half; the latitude of the ship should therefore have been 21° 51' 14"; but a meridian altitude observed to the north by lieutenant Flinders, gave 21° 49' 54"; and I believe that altitudes from the sea horizon can never be depended on nearer than to one minute, on account of the variability of the horizontal refraction. From this cause it was that, when possible, we commonly observed the latitude on board the ship both to the north and south, taking the sun's altitude one way and his supplement the other, and the mean of the two results was considered to be true; separately, they often differed 1', 2', and even 3', and sometimes they agreed. The observation to the north most commonly gave the least south latitude, but not always, nor was there any regular coincidence between the results and the heights of the barometer or thermometer; though in general, the more hazy the weather, the greater were the differences. At this time, the wind was light from the eastward and weather hazy; the thermometer stood at 72°, and barometer at 30.15 inches.
At two o'clock we got under way to go up Broad Sound, it being then near low water. After steering south-east one mile, the depth rapidly diminished and we tacked; but the ship was set upon a bank of sand, where she hung five minutes and then swung off. I afterwards steered nearer to the shore, in deeper water; and at dusk the anchor was dropped in 5 fathoms, sandy bottom, between the Flat Isles and the main, West Hill bearing N. 35° W. three leagues; the master sounded towards the coast, which was five miles off, and found the deepest water to be on that side. In the morning [FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 1802] the wind had shifted to south, and we beat up in a channel formed by the Flat Isles and the shoals attached to them, on one side, and the shelving banks from the main coast, on the other. We had the assistance of a strong flood tide till eleven o'clock; at which time the anchor was let go, one mile from the north end of the 4th Flat Island.
I landed immediately, with the botanists; and at the south-east end of the island, which is a little elevated, took bearings and the meridian altitude of both limbs of the sun from an artificial horizon. The latitude deduced was 22° 8' 33"; and the ship bearing N. 19° 30' W., two miles, it should have been for her, 22° 6' 40"; but lieutenant Flinders' observation to the north gave 22° 5' 19", or 1' 21" less, nearly as on the preceding day; and it was ascertained that the difference arose neither from the eye nor the instrument. Amongst the bearings were,
'''West Hill, the top, N. 16° 40' W. Northumberland Isles. the peak marked 'h', N. 25 15 E. Long Island, extreme of the north point, N. 73 35 E. Upper Head, on the west shore up Broad Sound, S. 39 55 E.'''
The 4th Flat Isle is about one mile long, and there is a smaller lying off its south-east end; they are a little elevated, and bear grass and small trees; but the shores are covered with mangroves, and surrounded with extensive flats of mud and sand. The main coast, from which they lie two or three miles, is also low, with mangroves and shelving mud banks; but there is a deep channel between, of a mile in width. In the evening, when the flood made, we steered into this channel with a light sea-breeze; but not having time to clear it before dark, the anchor was dropped in 4 fathoms at six o'clock.
My attention was attracted this evening by the vast extent of mud left dry on each side of the channel, and I ordered particular attention to be paid to the tides during the night. At eleven o'clock, when the flood had ceased running, the depth was sounded and the lead line measured, and the same at half past five in the morning [SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 1802] when it was low water; the difference was no less than thirty-two feet, and it wanted a day of being full moon; so that the springs may reach two or three feet higher. The flood set S. by E., but its greatest rate did not exceed one mile and three quarters an hour.
At daylight the wind was south-east, directly against us. We backed and filled, drifting up with the flood between the shoals on each side, and having the Lady Nelson and a boat ahead; but on approaching the end of the channel, our passage into the sound was blocked up by a bank running across, upon which there was not water enough for the ship by a fathom, and we therefore anchored. At nine the tide had risen a fathom. and we passed over into the open sound; the depth immediately increasing to 4 and 7 fathoms, reduced to low water. So long as the flood continued running we worked up the sound; and when it ceased, anchored three miles from a shallow opening in the low western shore, the second which had been observed. We again proceeded upwards with the evening's tide until dusk; and at nine next morning [SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 1802] passed a fifth opening, and anchored abreast of the hilly projection on its east side, which I have named Upper Head, in 4 fathoms, soft bottom, two-thirds of a mile from the shore. This was the first place on the main where there was any prospect of being able to land; for the western shore, thus far up, was equally low, and as much over-run with mangroves and defended by muddy flats, as the shores of Keppel Bay.
It being my intention to explore the head of Broad Sound with the brig and whale boat, a situation where tents could be fixed and an easy communication held with the ship during my absence, was the object now sought; and I immediately went with a party of the gentlemen, to ascertain how far Upper Head was calculated for our purpose. We landed at half flood, without difficulty; and on ascending the hill, obtained a view of the Sound which exceeded my expectations. Amongst the many bearings taken, were the following fixed points in the survey.
'''Pine Mount, of Shoal-water Bay, S. 84° 38' E. Pier Head, the western part, N. 36 7 E. West hill, the top, N. 28 5 W. Flat Isles, the 4th, station there, N. 39 53 W.'''
The breadth of the Sound, from Upper Head over to the inner end of Long Island, appeared to be three leagues, but it contracted upwards, and assumed the same river-like form as Shoalwater Bay; and it was to be feared, from the mangrove shores and muddiness of the water, that it would terminate in the same manner. No shoals could be then distinguished; but towards low water in the evening I again ascended the hill, and saw to my regret, that the upper parts were mostly occupied with banks of mud and sand, many of which were dry, and extended downward past the inner entrance of Thirsty Sound. Amongst the banks were various channels; but that of about two miles wide where the ship lay, was by far the most considerable. The small fifth opening, close on the west side of Upper Head, ran some miles in the low land towards the foot of a ridge of hills, lying three or four leagues at the back of the shore; but the greater part of this inlet was also taken up by mud banks, and the borders covered with mangroves. There was no fresh water at Upper Head, nor did I see any prospect of obtaining wherewith to complete the holds of the two vessels before leaving the coast; unless it were at a place a little higher up on the same side, to which the appearance of another opening between two hills, induced me to move the ship.
MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 1802
Next morning, when the flood made, we drifted upwards, with the Lady Nelson and a boat sounding ahead. After advancing three miles the brig suddenly took the ground, and we dropped a stream anchor; but in swinging to it, the ship was caught upon a bank of quick sand in eleven feet; and the tide running strong upon the broad side, it made her heel in a manner to excite alarm. The sails were immediately clewed down, and the top-gallant yards struck; and it appearing that the stream anchor allowed the ship to drive further up the bank as the tide rose, the best bower was let go, and then she righted and swung to the tide. The Lady Nelson also got off safe; but a part of the after sliding keel was carried away.
I went in a boat to examine the place which had presented the appearance of an opening; but it proved to be only a bending in the shore, and the mud banks and mangroves did not admit of landing; we therefore went back with the returning ebb to Upper Head, and moored the ship nearly in our first situation; where there was something more than 3 fathoms all round, at low water.
TUESDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 1802
On the following morning, the time keepers and other instruments were sent on shore under the charge of lieutenant Flinders, with two of the young gentlemen to assist him, and a guard of marines for the protection of the tents. It had appeared from the survey, that the time keepers were losing more than the Port-Jackson rates supposed; and before quitting this coast for the Gulph of Carpentaria, it was necessary to take fresh observations. Mr. Flinders undertook as usual to perform this service, whilst I should be absent up the Sound; and lieutenant Fowler was directed to examine and air all the stores, and make the ship ready for sea against my return.
Having made these dispositions, I embarked in the Lady Nelson with the naturalist, taking my whale boat and surveying instruments. We had a strong flood tide; and after grounding on a bank, anchored eleven miles above the ship, in 3 fathoms, that being the greatest depth to be found. It was then high water; and the brig being expected to be left dry by the ebb, we prepared for it by mooring, to prevent all chance of settling on the anchor, and hove up the fore and after keels; the new main keel being swelled by the wet, could not be raised, and when it took the ground, the vessel turned about violently and dragged both the anchors, until the keel broke off, and then she lay easy.
At low water, the seamen went out upon the dry flat and found the best bower cable parted, and the anchor so far buried in the quicksand, that it could not be raised. At ten o'clock the flood tide came rolling in, and presently set the brig afloat; the anchor was then weighed with ease, by means of a hawser previously bent to it, and the vessel rode by the small bower, against a tide which ran at the strongest between four and five knots.
WEDNESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 1802
The Lady Nelson again took the ground at six in the morning. On sounding over to the east shore, distant half a mile, I found a small channel leading upwards, with four or five feet more water in it than where the brig lay; the western shore was two miles distant over a silty flat, which was dry at low water and level as a race ground.
At eleven, the flood came in, six or eight inches perpendicular, with a roaring noise; and so soon as it had passed the brig, I set off with Mr. Brown and Mr. Lacy in the whale boat, to follow it up the small channel on the eastern shore; and having a fair wind we outran the tide and were sometimes obliged to wait its rising before we could proceed. At the end of six miles the small channel led across to the western side; and the rare opportunity of a landing place induced me to pitch our tent there for the night: two miles higher up, the whole breadth of the Sound was reduced to half a mile.
The country here was a stiff, clayey flat, covered with grass, and seemed to have been overflowed at spring tides; though the high water of this day did not reach it by five feet. Three or four miles to the southward there were some hills, whence I hoped to see the course of the stream up to its termination; and having time before dark, we set off. The grass of the plain was interspersed with a species of sensitive plant, whose leaves curled up in, and about our footsteps in such a manner, that the way we had come was for some time distinguishable. From the nearest of the small hills, I set the bearings of Double and Pine Mounts, our tent, and the brig at anchor, by which this station was fixed as in the chart; but in order to reconcile the bearings, I found it necessary to allow 12° of east variation.
Towards Double Mount and Shoal-water Bay, the country consisted of gently-rising hills and extensive plains, well covered with wood and apparently fertile. The stream at the head of Broad Sound could not be traced from hence more than three or four miles above the tent; but it may possibly run up much further to the south-eastward, though too small to be distinguished in the wood, or to be navigable for boats. To the south and westward there was a ridge of high land, which appeared to be a prolongation of the same whence the upper branches of Port Bowen and Shoal-water Bay take their rise, and by which the low land and small arms on the west side of Broad Sound are bounded. A similar ridge ran behind Port Curtis and Keppel Bay, and it is not improbable that the two are connected, and of the same substance; for at Port Curtis the basis stone of the country was a granite, and this small hill was the same. It has been more than once observed, that granite is amongst the substances which exert an influence upon the magnetic needle; and it is to the attraction of the ridge of mountains to the south and westward, that I attribute the great variation found in the bearings at this station.
We returned to the tent at sunset; and there passed a disagreeable night amongst musketoes, sand flies, and ants. At four in the morning [THURSDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 1802] the ebb had made, and we embarked in the boat; but the depth of water was so little that we could not proceed, and were obliged to re-land and wait for the following tide; not without apprehension of being left till the next springs came on. At two in the afternoon the flood came up rapidly, and in half an hour it was high water; we set off immediately, and after some trouble from the shoals, reached the brig at five o'clock. Mr. Murray got under way at three the next morning [FRIDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 1802] to beat down to Upper Head, the wind being from the northward; but the Lady Nelson getting aground, I went off with Mr. Brown in my boat, and reached the ship at seven o'clock, and in the evening, the brig arrived.
Lieutenant Fowler had gone through the most essential duties, and the ship was nearly ready for sea; but on landing at the tents I found that the time keepers had been let down, and the business of finding new rates for them was to be recommenced. This accident would require a week to be repaired; and being unwilling to remain so long inactive, I determined to leave Mr. Flinders at Upper Head, and take the ship over to the inner end of Thirsty Sound, where it appeared there was something to correct in captain Cook's chart.
SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 1802
The Lady Nelson had lost two sheets of copper, and the trunks of the sliding keels required some reparation; I therefore desired lieutenant Murray to lay his vessel on shore and get these matters arranged, to cut wood for himself, and be ready to sail in a week for Torres' Strait; and his stock of water was completed out of the Investigator.
SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 1802
On the 19th in the morning we unmoored the ship, and a little before low tide stretched over towards Thirsty Sound; but the numerous shoals to be encountered, and which cannot be concisely described otherwise than in a chart, caused much delay; and it was near noon of the day following [MONDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 1802] before we anchored at the south end of Long Island, in 3 fathoms, and about one mile from the low mangrove shore. At the south end of the island was a small hill, bearing S. 55° E. one mile and a half from the ship, where I landed with a party of the gentlemen; it forms the west point of the inner entrance to Thirsty Sound, as some low red cliffs, one mile and a half distant, do the east point; but a shoal, dry at low water, lies in the middle, and the channels on each side are not calculated for a ship. The small hill was found to be on a detached islet one mile long, the greater part of which is mud covered with mangroves; the hill is partly excavated by an arched way running through it, and the stone is of a mixed red and white colour, and of an ochry consistence. From the highest top, I set:
'''Upper Head, bearing S. 28° 22' W. Double Mount. S. 53 20 E. Pine Mount, S. 61 5 E.'''
These bearings place the inner end of Thirsty Sound in latitude 22° 16'; and curtail the distance of thirty miles from Pier Head in captain Cook's chart, to twelve miles and a half.
TUESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 1802
On the 21st, the botanical gentlemen went over in the launch to the east side of Thirsty Sound, the main land having been always found more productive in the objects of their pursuit, than any island however large. I went to examine along the west side of Long Island; but had not proceeded two miles before an opening presented itself amongst the mangroves. It led to the eastward, and then separated into two branches; and in following that which trended north-east I came into Thirsty Sound, and landed five miles above the inner entrance, at an islet in mid-channel, which had been set from Pier Head and is laid down by captain Cook.
No less than five different pieces of land were found to be cut off from the south end of Long Island, by winding channels amongst the mangroves; and I now saw the prospect of a passage through the middle, leading out at the bight between the north point and Pier Head. A woody and rather elevated islet obscures the inner end of the opening, and seems to have prevented captain Cook's observing this separation when going up Thirsty Sound in his boat. I found in it a good bottom, with 3 to 5 fathoms water, and room for a ship to swing, or sail through as far as the outer opening to sea; but another island lies in the outlet, the bottom is rocky, and the regular depth at low water is not so much as 3 fathoms on either side.
Having taken a second set of angles, and passed out by the new opening, I steered northward along the east side of Long Island; but although the land be high and rather steep, there was seldom so much as 3 fathoms at a mile distance. I landed at the north end of the island, to ascertain better the forms and positions of the North-point Isles; and then, steering southward along the west side, entered a cove where the form of the surrounding land gave a hope of finding fresh water for the ship; but the borders were covered with mangroves, and we could not get sufficiently far up to know whether any part of the stream running through them were fresh. Another set of angles was taken from a hill on the south side of the cove; and the sun being then set, our tent was pitched for the night.
WEDNESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 1802
Next morning I steered onward along the west side of Long Island, landing occasionally to examine the gullies made by the rains; but at this time they were all dry. As far to the south as Westside Islet, the shore is tolerably high and the water deep; and near to the inner end of the islet, where I landed to take angles, there was no bottom with 10 fathoms; but the shore from thence to the ship was low and covered with mangroves, and even the rocky points cannot be approached within half a mile, except by boats.
Not a single Indian was seen during this excursion round Long Island; nor from the length of the grass and appearance of their fire places, do I think they had been there for some months.
THURSDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 1802
Next day I made a further examination of the winding channels at the south end of Long Island; and also went to an inlet on the east side of Broad Sound, the entrance of which is so much obstructed by shoals, that it was difficult to find a sufficient depth, even for the boat. I landed with the naturalist at a low, cliffy head on the north side of the entrance; but not without wading a quarter of a mile in the mud. We saw from thence, that this inlet, though presenting the appearance of a respectable river when the tide was in, had no perceptible breadth at five miles within the land, that it was almost wholly dry at low water, and that the shores were covered with mangroves to a great extent; even the cliffy head where we stood, was surrounded with mangroves, and appeared to be insulated at spring tides.
FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 1802
In the morning of the 24th, we got under way to return to Upper Head; and having the same difficulties to encounter amongst the shoals as before, did not reach our former anchorage until next day [SATURDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 1802]. On landing at the tents, I found, to my no less surprise than regret, that the time keepers had again been let down; and no more than one day's rates had been since obtained. Twenty-five sets of distances of the sun and moon had been taken to correspond with an equal number on the opposite side; and it appeared that lieutenant Flinders being intent upon these, had forgotten to wind up the time keepers on the 22nd at noon.
This fresh difficulty was very embarrassing. To go away for Torres' Strait and the Gulph of Carpentaria without good rates, was to cripple the accuracy of all our longitudes; and on the other hand, the expected approach of the contrary monsoon on the North Coast admitted of no longer delay in Broad Sound. On comparing the last day's rates with those of the four days previously obtained, the letting down did not appear to have produced any material alteration; and I therefore determined to combine the whole together, and to sail immediately.
SUNDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 1802
The following day was occupied in completing the holds with wood, taking on board our shore establishment, and preparing for sea; and next morning [MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 1802] we steered down Broad Sound, with the Lady Nelson in company, keeping near the western side to avoid the middle shoals. On a sea breeze coming in at north, we tacked towards the North-point Isles; and at sunset, the flood tide having then made, anchored in 8 fathoms, upon a bottom of sand and rock, the north-westernmost isle bearing N. 6° E., two leagues. In the morning we passed round the North-point Isles, with a breeze from the south-east; and thus quitted Broad Sound, steering off for the outermost and largest of the Northumberland Islands.
There remains little to be said upon the navigation of Broad Sound, more than what has been related of our courses in it, and what will be found in the chart. The western channel, between the Flat Isles and the main, is not to be recommended; but after steering up the middle of the Sound and passing these isles, the western shore should be kept nearest a-bord. A ship may then reach Upper Head without difficulty, and lie there in perfect safety from all winds, at two-thirds of a mile off; but cannot go higher up the sound without risk of grounding on the banks. From half flood to half ebb, landing is easy at Upper Head, and it is perhaps the sole place on the main possessing that advantage; every where else the shore is very low, fronted with mud banks, and covered, in some places miles deep, with interwoven mangroves, amongst which the tide flows at high water.
The stone of Upper Head, and apparently of all the hills in its neighbourhood, is granitic; whilst that of Long Island and West Hill approach nearer to porphyry. At the inner entrance of Thirsty Sound the points are mostly composed of an earth, which is not heavy, is sometimes red, but more frequently white, or mixed; and of a consistence not harder than ochre.
Long Island, though covered with grass and wood, is stony and incapable of ordinary cultivation. On the main land, the low parts between the mangroves and the hills seemed to be of a tolerably good soil; and according to the report of some of the gentlemen, who made an excursion at the back of Upper Head, the vallies there produce good grass and appeared fertile. There seems, indeed, to be a considerable extent of land about Broad Sound and on the peninsula between it and Shoal-water Bay, which, if not calculated to give a rich return to the cultivator of wheat, would support much cattle, and produce maize, sugar, and tobacco; and cotton and coffee would grow upon the more rocky sides of the hills, and probably even upon Long Island. Should it ever be in contemplation to make an establishment in New South Wales within the tropic, in aid of Port Jackson and the colonies to the southward, this neighbourhood would probably be chosen; and the great rise of tide presents advantages which might be some time turned to account in ship building. On the west side of the sound, near the Flat Isles, the rise at spring tides is not less than thirty, and perhaps reaches to thirty-five feet. At Upper Head it is from twenty at the neaps, to thirty or more at the springs; but the bottom rises so much towards the top of the sound, that the tide there never seems to exceed twelve feet. The time of high water is nearly eleven hours after the moon's passage over and under the meridian; though the flood runs up near an hour on the west side of the sound, after it is high water by the shore.
The places best calculated for the construction of docks, appear to be at the uppermost or 4th Flat Isles, where the shoals form a natural harbour, and at the entrance of the opening near Upper Head, in which is a small islet of sand and rock, not covered with mangroves nor surrounded with mud flats. The pines of Port Bowen, Shoal-water Bay, and the Northumberland Isles, would furnish the necessary spars and lighter planking; and there is no reason to think that the eucalyptus, which grows all over the country, should not be as fit for timbers, etc., as it is found to be further southward. No iron ore was seen in the neighbourhood; but were a colony established and the back ridge of mountains well examined, this and other metallic productions might be found. The attraction which the mountains seemed to have upon the needle, is in favour of this probability; but the iron work might be prepared at Port Jackson where the ore exists, and in whose vicinity there are plenty of coals.
Fresh water was scarce at this time, none being any where discovered near the sea side, except a small rill at the back of Upper Head, little more than adequate to the supply of the tents; it can however be scarcely doubted, that fresh water for domestic purposes would be found in most parts of the country; and there is a season of the year, most probably the height of summer, when rain falls abundantly, as was demonstrated by the torrent-worn marks down the sides of the hills.
Not a single native was seen, either on the shores of Thirsty, or Broad Sounds, during the whole time of our stay.
There are kangaroos in the woods, but not in numbers. The shoals all over the sound are frequented by flocks of ducks and curlews; and we saw in the upper part, some pelicans, an individual of a large kind of crane, and another of a white bird, in form resembling a curlew. Many turtle were seen in the water about Long Island, and from the bones scattered around the deserted fire places, this animal seemed to form the principal subsistence of the natives; but we had not the address to obtain any. Hump-backed whales frequent the entrance of the sound, and would present an object of interest to a colony. In fishing, we had little success with hook and line; and the nature of the shores did not admit of hauling the seine.
The climate here, being one degree within the tropic, was warm at this season, which may be considered as the spring and the driest time of the year. On board the ship, the height of the thermometer did not exceed 76°, with the warm winds from the northward, but at the tents it averaged at noon somewhat above 90°; and the musketoes and sand flies were very troublesome at all places near the mangroves. We did not see any snakes or other venemous reptiles or insects.
The latitude of Upper Head, from six meridian observations in the artificial horizon, is 22° 23' 24" S.
Longitude from fifty sets of distances of the sun and moon, given in Table II of the second Appendix to this Volume, 149° 46' 53" E.
The errors of the time keepers from mean Greenwich time, at noon there Sept. 26, and their mean rates of going during seven days, of which four were before and three after they had been let down the second time, were as under:
Earnshaw's No. 543 slow 2h 3' 37.23" and losing 9.62" per day. Earnshaw's No. 520 slow 3h 29' 15.57" and losing 21.41" per day.
These errors and rates were found by lieutenant Flinders, from equal altitudes taken with a sextant on a stand, and using an artificial horizon of quicksilver.
The longitudes given by the time keepers on Sept. 12 a.m. at Upper Head, with the Port-Jackson rates, were these:
No. 543, 149° 54' 27" east.
No. 520, 149° 53' 47.5" east.
The mean is 7' 14" to the east of the lunars; but on using rates equally accelerated from those at Port Jackson to the above at Upper Head, and commencing the acceleration on Aug. 15, at Keppel Bay, where the time keepers were found to be keeping their former rates, the mean longitude will be 149° 48' 56.6", or 2' 3.6" from the lunar observations; which is therefore the presumable sum of their irregularities after August 15, or in 27.7 days.
In fixing the positions of places along the East Coast, I have made use of the time keepers from Port Jackson to Port Curtis, without any correction. From Port Curtis to Broad Sound, the coast and islands are laid down from theodolite bearings taken on shore, combined with the observed latitudes; and consequently the accuracy in longitude of the first portion depends upon that of Port Jackson and the time keepers, and of the last, upon Upper Head and the survey. These two unconnected longitudes meet at Port Curtis, and the difference between them is there no more than 5".
From observations with the theodolite upon the top of Upper Head, the variation was 8° 37' east; but on moving the instrument ten yards to the south-west, it was 45' less. At two other stations on the west side of the sound, it was 8° 15', and 8° 0'; and on board the ship 7° 17' and 7° 46', corrected. On the east side of the sound it differed at six stations on shore, from 8° to 6°; and on board the ship was 6° 44' corrected. As general results, therefore, but subject to many small deviations, the variation may be taken,
'''On the west side of Broad Sound at 8° 0' E. On the east side 7 0 At the head of the sound it was, at one station 12°, at another 10°; the mean, 11 0'''
The differences between the two sides of the sound, both on shore and on board, are nearly similar to what took place in Shoal-water Bay.
The rise of tide and time of high water have been mentioned; but it may be proper to say what I conceive to be the cause of the extraordinary rise in Broad Sound. From Cape Howe, at the southern extremity of the East Coast, to Port Curtis at the edge of the tropic, the time of high water falls between seven and nine hours after the moon's passage, and the rise does not exceed nine feet; but from thence to the northward, commencing with Keppel Bay, the time becomes later, and the rise augments, till, at Broad Sound, they reach eleven hours, and between thirty and thirty-five feet. The principal flood tide upon the coast is supposed to come from the south-east, and the ebb from the north, or north-west; but from the particular formation of Keppel and Shoal-water Bays, and of Broad Sound, whose entrances face the north, or north-west, this ebb tide sets into them, and accumulates the water for some time, becoming to them a flood. This will, in some degree, account for the later time and greater rise of the tide; and is conformable to what captain Cook says upon the same subject (Hawkesworth, III. 244); but I think there is still a super-adding cause. At the distance of about thirty leagues to the N. N. W. from Break-sea Spit, commences a vast mass of reefs, which lie from twenty to thirty leagues from the coast, and extend past Broad Sound. These reefs, being mostly dry at low water, will impede the free access of the tide; and the greater proportion of it will come in between Break-sea Spit and the reefs, and be late in reaching the remoter parts; and if we suppose the reefs to terminate to the north, or north-west of the Sound, or that a large opening in them there exist, another flood tide will come from the northward, and meet the former; and the accumulation of water from this meeting, will cause an extraordinary rise in Broad Sound and the neighbouring bays, in the same manner as the meeting of the tides in the English and Irish Channels causes a great rise upon the north coast of France and the west coast of England.
That an opening exists in the reefs will hereafter appear; and captain Cook's observations prove, that for more than a degree to the north-west of Broad Sound, the flood came from the northward. I found, when at anchor off Keppel Bay, and again off Island Head, that the flood there came from the east or south-east; but when lying three miles out from Pier Head, there was no set whatever; and I am disposed to think that it is at the entrance of Broad Sound, where the two floods meet each other.
'+[EAST COAST. PERCY ISLES.]
TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 1802+'
On quitting Broad Sound, we steered for the north-easternmost of the Northumberland Islands., which I intended to visit in the way to Torres' Strait. These are no otherwise marked by captain Cook, than as a single piece of land seen indistinctly, of three leagues in extent; but I had already descried from Mount Westall and Pier Head a cluster of islands, forming a distinct portion of this archipelago; and in honour of the noble house to which Northumberland gives the title of duke, I named them Percy Isles.
(Atlas, Plate XI.)
At noon, the observed latitude on both sides was 21° 51' 20"; the west end of the largest North-point Isle bore S. 18° W. three or four leagues, and the Percy Isles were coming in sight ahead. The weather was hazy; and the wind at E. S. E. preventing us from fetching No. 2, the largest isle, we tacked at five o'clock, when it bore S. 31° to 54° E, two or three leagues; No. 5, the north-westernmost of the cluster, bearing N. 24° W., two miles and a half. At dusk the anchor was dropped in 14 fathoms, sandy ground, two or three miles from some rocky islets which lie off the west side of No. 2. The flood tide at this anchorage came from the north-east, one mile per hour.
We got under way again in the morning [WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 1802]; but the wind being light and unfavourable, and the tide adverse, I went off in the whale boat, accompanied by Messrs. Brown and Westall, to examine the passage between the rocky islets and No. 2, directing lieutenant Fowler to follow with the ship when the signal should be made. We first landed at the islets, where the same kind of pine as seen at Port Bowen and other places, was abundant; and leaving the two gentlemen there, I sounded the passage, which was a mile and a half wide, with a sandy bottom of 8 to 13 fathoms deep, and sheltered from all eastern winds. The signal was then made to the ship; and so soon as she was brought to anchor, I went to examine a little cove, or basin, into which the height of the surrounding hills gave expectation of finding a run of fresh water. The entrance is little more than wide enough for the oars of a rowing boat, the basin, within side, is mostly dry at low water, and the borders are over-run with the tiresome mangrove; but when the tide is in, it is one of the prettiest little places imaginable. In searching round the skirts, between the mangroves and feet of the hills, a torrent-worn gully was found with several holes of water; and one in particular, near the edge of the mangroves, where, by cutting a rolling way for the casks, the holds of the two vessels might be filled; and at a beach without side of the entrance to the basin, several hauls of the seine were made with good success.
'+ THURSDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 1802+'
Early next morning, lieutenant Fowler landed with a party of men prepared to cut through the mangroves; but fresh water was discovered to ooze out from amongst them, much below high-water mark; and by digging in the sand at half ebb, our casks might be filled more easily, and with better water than in the gully. Whilst this duty was going on, the carpenters were sent to cut fire wood and pine logs upon the rocky islets, the botanical gentlemen followed their pursuits where it best pleased them, and my time was occupied in surveying. From a hill near the head of the basin, I took bearings of all the objects to the south and westward; amongst which, the five following were the most important to the connexion of the survey.
'''Mount Westall on the main (not distinct), S. 23° 5' E. Northumberland Islands, the 4th, a peak, S. 18 20 E. Northumberland Islands, the 7th, station on the hill, S. 19 30 W. Northumberland Islands, a peaked I. marked 'h', S. 89° 55' to N. 87 35 W. Northumberland Islands, high northmost, marked 'i', N. 57 0 W.'''
The circle was completed in the afternoon, from a higher part of the island near the north point; and the weather being tolerably clear, nearly the whole of the Northumberland Islands were comprehended in the bearings from one or the other station. Two distant pieces of land in the N. W. by N., marked k and k1, situate near the eastern Cumberland Islands of captain Cook, were also distinguished; but to the north-east, where I expected to see a continuation of the reefs discovered by captain Campbell of the brig Deptford, in 1797, neither reef nor island was visible.
SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER 1802
On the 2nd of October, Mr. Brown accompanied me to No. 1, the southernmost of the Percy Isles, which is near five miles long, and the second of the group in magnitude. Fresh water was found in ponds near the shore, and there were clusters of pine trees; but in general, this island is inferior to No. 2, both in soil and productions. Of the two peaked hills upon it, the south-easternmost is highest; but being craggy and difficult to be ascended, my bearings were taken from the western hill. In returning to the ship in the evening, we passed between No. 6 and the east side of No. 2, and round the north end of the latter island, in order to see the form of its coasts: the water was deep, and there appeared to be no hidden dangers.
'+ SUNDAY 3 OCTOBER 1802+'
On the 3rd, Mr. Bauer, the natural-history painter, went with me to the northern Percy Isles, upon each of which is a hill somewhat peaked; but that on No. 3 is much the most so, and the highest; and being thickly covered with pine trees, is called Pine Peak: it lies in 21° 31½' south and 150° 14½' east. My principal object was to take angles for the survey; and not being able to ascend Pine Peak, from its great acclivity, we went onward to the two smaller islands No. 4; and from the top of the easternmost, a third Cumberland Island, marked k2, was distinguished, and the following amongst many other bearings, were taken.
'''Percy Isle No. 3, Pine Peak, distant 2½ miles, S 2° 5' W. The ship, at anchor under No. 2, S. 10 48 W. Northumberland I., the 7th, station, S. 14 0 W. Northumberland I., the peak marked 'h', S. 67 35 W. Northumberland I., the high, northmost, marked 'i', N. 73 10 W. Cumberland I., marked 'k', centre, N. 36 0 W. Cumberland I., marked 'k2', centre, N. 42 50 W.'''
There is no shelter amongst the northern Percy Isles against east winds; but ships may pass between them, taking care to avoid a rock which lies one mile northward from the Pine Peak, and is dry at low water. Nothing was seen on these islands to merit more particular notice; and their forms and situations will be best learned from the chart.
On returning to the ship at nine in the evening, I found lieutenant Fowler had quitted the shore with his tents and people, the holds were completed with water, and both vessels ready for sea.
No. 2, the largest of the Percy Isles, is about thirteen miles in circumference; and in its greatest elevation perhaps a thousand feet. The stone is mostly of two kinds. A concreted mass of different substances, held together by a hard, dark-coloured cement, was the most abundant; I did not see either coral or pumice-stone in the composition, but it otherwise much resembled that of Aken's Island in Shoal-water Bay, and still more a stratum seen at the north-west part of Long Island: it was found at the tops of the highest hills, as well as in the lower parts. The second kind of stone is light, close-grained, and easily splits, but not in layers; it is of a yellowish colour, and probably argillaceous.
The surface of the island is either sandy or stony, or both, with a small proportion of vegetable soil intermixed. It is generally covered with grass and wood; and some of the vallies round the basin might be made to produce vegetables, especially one in which there was a small run, and several holes of fresh water. The principal wood is the eucalyptus, or gum tree, but it is not large; small cabbage palms grow in the gullies, and also a species of fig tree, which bears its fruit on the stem, instead of the ends of the branches; and pines are scattered in the most rocky places.
No inhabitants were seen upon any of the islands, but there were deserted fire places upon all. The Indians probably come over from the main land at certain times, to take turtle, in which they must be much more dexterous than we were; for although many turtle were seen in the water, and we watched the beaches at night, not one was caught. There are no kangaroos upon the Percy Isles; nor did we see any useful birds. The large bats or vampyres, common to this country, and called flying-foxes at Port Jackson, were often found hanging by the claws, with their heads downward, under the shady tops of the palm trees; and one solitary eel of a good size, was caught on clearing out the hole where our water casks had been first intended to be filled.
Pines, fresh water, and fish will be some inducement to visit the Percy Isles; as perhaps may be the hump-backed whales, of which a considerable number was seen in the vicinity. The best and most convenient anchorage, and indeed the only one to be recommended, is that where the Investigator lay, directly off the basin; in mid-channel between No. 2 and the western pine islets. It is sheltered at fourteen points to the eastward, and three towards the west; and there being a clear passage out, both to the north and south, no danger is to be apprehended: the bottom, however, does not hold very well.
A wet dock might be made of the basin without other trouble or expense than a little deepening of the narrow entrance, and throwing a pair of gates across; and were the mud to be cleared out, the basin would contain fifteen or twenty sail of merchant ships with great ease.
The flood tide came from the north and the ebb from the south, past the anchorage; but on the outside, they run south-west and north-east. It is not extraordinary that the rise and fall by the shore did not exactly coincide with the swinging of the ship; but that the time of high water should differ three hours, and the rise twenty feet from Broad Sound, is remarkable. According to Mr. Fowler's observations in the basin, it was high water there eight hours after the moon's passage; and the rise at the neaps and springs appeared to be from eight to twelve feet.
Three meridian observations to the north, taken by lieutenant Flinders, gave the latitude of our anchorage, 21° 39' 31" S.
Longitude, according to the position of Upper Head and the survey from thence, 150° 12' E.
Variation of the needle, observed on the low south-west point of No. 2, 8° 28' E.
Three compasses on board the ship at anchor, gave 5° 34' when the head was east, or corrected to the meridian, 8° 4' E.
Upon the different elevated places whence bearings were taken, the variation differed from 7° 30' to 9° 30' east.
MONDAY 4 OCTOBER 1802
Early in the morning of the 4th, we got under way, with the Lady Nelson in company, to proceed on our voyage to Torres' Strait and the Gulph of Carpentaria. The wind was at E. by N., and we kept close up to weather the northern Percy Isles; for I had a desire to fall in with the reefs laid down by Mr. Campbell, three-quarters of a degree to the eastward, in latitude 21½°; and to ascertain their termination to the north-westward.
EAST COAST. BARRIER REEFS.]
The tide prevented us from weathering the islands till three in the afternoon; we then passed between No. 4 and some rocks lying two miles to the north-east, with 33 fathoms water. During the night we tacked every two hours, working to the eastward, in from 30 to 36 fathoms; and at daylight [TUESDAY 5 OCTOBER 1802], my station on the eastern isle No. 4 bore N. 89° W., four leagues. Nothing was seen in the offing, but in stretching to the N. N. E, reefs were discovered from the mast head a little before noon; and after the observation for the latitude was taken, I set one bearing East to E. by S., two leagues, and another N. 14° W. to 29° E., four or five miles. Our situation was in 21° 15 2/3' south, and longitude from the bearing of the Pine Peak, 150° 34' east.
These reefs were not exactly those seen by Mr. Campbell; but they are probably not more than five or six leagues to the north-westward of them, and form part of the same barrier to the coast. In standing on between the two reefs above set, others, or parts of the same, came in sight ahead; upon which I shortened sail to the three top sails, desired the Lady Nelson to take the lead, and bore away north-westward along the inner side of the northern reef. In an hour we had passed its west end; but another reef came in sight, and for a time obliged us to steer W. by S. At four o'clock we ran northward again, following the direction of the reef on its lee side; and at six anchored in 27 fathoms, coarse sand, in the following situation:
'''Latitude observed from the moon., 21° 4' S. Longitude from bearings, 150 19 E. Nearest part of the reef, dist. 2½ miles, E. ½ S. A smaller reef, distant 3 miles, N. W. ½ N. Percy Isles, Pine Peak of No. 3, S. 9 0 W. Cumberland Island marked 'k', W. 6 0 N.'''
The reefs were not dry in any part, with the exception of some small black lumps, which at a distance resembled the round heads of negroes; the sea broke upon the edges, but within side the water was smooth, and of a light green colour. A further description of these dangers is unnecessary, since their forms and relative positions, so far as they could be ascertained, will be best learned from the chart.
Until midnight, five hours after the moon had passed the meridian, a tide came from S. by E., half a mile per hour. The ship then tended to the N. E. by E.; and this tide, whose rate was one mile, appearing to be the flood, led me to suppose there might be an open sea in that direction. In the morning [WEDNESDAY 6 OCTOBER 1802], I sent a boat to lieutenant Murray with instructions for his guidance in case of separation; and appointed him Murray's Islands in Torres' Strait, discovered by captain Edwards in 1791, for the first rendezvous; cautioning him to be strictly on his guard against the treachery of the natives.
We weighed at seven o'clock, and steered N. N. E., close to the wind; at ten, reefs came in sight, extending from W. by N., to N. by E. ½ E., which we weathered one mile, having 35 fathoms water. Our situation at noon was in latitude 20° 45' 40", from observations to the north and south, and the longitude by time keeper 150° 28'; the east end of the great reef to leeward bore S. W. ½ W. two miles, and it extended in patches to N. 16° W., where, at the distance of two leagues, was either a dry white sand or high breakers but which could not be discerned from the reflection of the sun. Nothing was seen to the north-east, and we now lay up in that direction; but at one o'clock there was a small reef bearing N. ½ E.; and at three, a larger one extended from N. by W. ½ W. to E. N. E., and on the outside of it were such high breakers, that nothing less than the unobstructed waves of the ocean could produce them. We stood on for this reef, until four; and being then one mile off, tacked to the southward, having 33 fathoms, nearly the same depth as before.
The larbord tack was continued to six o'clock, at which time we anchored in 32 fathoms, white sand, shells, and pieces of coral, having neither reef nor danger of any kind in sight; but the smoothness of the water left no doubt of many lying to windward. From the high breakers seen in the afternoon, however, hopes were entertained of soon clearing the reefs; for by this time I was weary of them, not only from the danger to which the vessels were thereby exposed, but from fear of the contrary monsoon setting in upon the North Coast, before we should get into the Gulph of Carpentaria.
At this anchorage, the tide came from between S. W. by S. and W. by S., till midnight; and at two in the morning [THURSDAY 7 OCTOBER 1802] the ship rode north, and afterwards N. E. by E., to the flood; which seemed to imply two openings in the reefs, and one of them near the high breakers. The depth of water changed from 35 to 32 fathoms, in the night; but a part of the difference might arise from irregularities in the bottom.
We got under way at daybreak, and stretched south-east to gain the wind; at nine, a reef was passed on each beam; and at noon, when we tacked to the northward in 20° 58' south and 150° 48' east, there were five others, distant from two to five miles, bearing from S. 20° W., round by the east and north to N. 25° W.; but apparently with passages between most of them. Upon these reefs were more of the dry, black lumps, called negro heads, than had been seen before; but they were so much alike as to be of no use in distinguishing one reef from another; and at high water, nearly the whole were covered.
In the afternoon, a very light wind at north-east left no prospect of weathering the reef before dark, upon which the high breakers had been seen; we therefore tacked to the E. S. E., and anchored at sunset in 84 fathoms, fine white sand, not far from our noon's situation; a reef, partly dry, was then distant one mile and a half, and bore E. ½ S. to S. E. The flood tide here ran something more than one mile an hour, and came from between north and north-west, the ship tending to it at one in the morning.
FRIDAY 8 OCTOBER 1802
At seven, when the flood had done running, the two vessels were lying up E. N. E., with a light breeze from the northward; but a rippling which extended a mile from the reef, caused us to tack until a boat was sent to sound upon it; for the Lady Nelson was so leewardly, that much time was lost in waiting for her. At ten we passed through the rippling, in from 14 to 34 fathoms; and at noon were in latitude 20° 55', and longitude 150° 55' by time keeper. We seemed at this time to be surrounded with reefs; but it was ascertained by the whale boat, that many of these appearances were caused by the shadows of clouds and the ripplings and eddies of tide, and that the true coral banks were those only which had either green water or negro heads upon them. Of these, however, there was a formidable mass, all round ahead, with but one small channel through them; and this I was resolved to attempt, in the hope of its carrying us out to windward of the high breakers.
At two o'clock, the eastern reef, which was a mile distant to leeward and nearly dry, was seen to terminate, whilst the northern reefs extended out of sight to the north-east; the opening between them was a mile and a half wide, and full of ripplings; but having the whale boat ahead, we bore away E. S. E., to go through the least agitated part. Having little wind, and a flood tide making against us, the boat was called back to tow, and the brig directed to take its station by means of her sweeps. Our soundings were irregular in the narrow part, between 24 and 9 fathoms, on rocky ground; but after getting through, we had from 30 to 32, the usual depth in the open places. At sunset, the stream anchor was dropped on a bottom of coral sand and shells; the reefs then in sight extending from about E. S. E., round by the north to N. W., where was the great northern bank. Whether there were any passage through them, could not be discerned; but the breakers on many of the outer parts proved the open sea to be not far distant, and that the waves ran high; whilst within side, the water was as tranquil as in harbour.
The ship rode north-west, till between eight and nine o'clock, when it appeared to be high water, and the depth was 35 fathoms; at 9h 34' the moon passed the meridian, and we were then riding S. by W., to a tide which ran at the strongest one and a quarter mile per hour. Between three and four in the morning [SATURDAY 9 OCTOBER 1802] this tide had done, the depth was 31 fathoms, and the ship afterwards rode N. N. E. till daylight. The first of the flood therefore came from the N. N. E. and the latter part from N. W.; it was high water at one hour before the moon's passage, and the rise at least three fathoms, or eighteen feet. This time of high water coincides with that of Broad Sound; but it is remarkable, that at the Percy Isles, lying between them, it should be three hours earlier. The rise in Broad Sound was five fathoms, and three, or more, amongst the reefs; whereas at the Percy Isles, there was nothing on the shore to indicate a higher tide than two fathoms.
In the morning we steered E. N. E., with a light air from the southward; the brig was ahead, and at half past nine, made the signal for immediate danger; upon which the stream anchor was dropped in 16 fathoms. The tide ran one mile and a half to the E. N. E, and this leading me to expect some opening in that direction, I sent the master to sound past the brig; and on his finding deeper water we followed, drifting with the tide. At eleven he made the signal for being on a shoal, and we came to, in 35 fathoms, broken coral and sand; being surrounded by reefs, except to the westward from whence we had come. On the outside were high breakers, not more than three or four miles distant; these terminated at E. by S., and between them and other reefs further on, there seemed a possibility of finding an outlet; but no access to it could be had, except by a winding circuit amongst the great mass of banks to the southward, which it was not advisable to make upon such an uncertainty. I therefore determined to remain at the present anchorage till low water, when the reefs would be dry, and the channels between them, if any such there were, would be visible: and should nothing better then present itself, to steer north-westward, as close within the line of the high breakers as possible, until an opening should be found.
The latitude observed to the north and south, at this fifth anchorage amongst the reefs, was 20° 53' 15"; longitude by time keeper, 151° 5' east. In the afternoon, I went upon the reef with a party of the gentlemen; and the water being very clear round the edges, a new creation, as it was to us, but imitative of the old, was there presented to our view. We had wheat sheaves, mushrooms, stags horns, cabbage leaves, and a variety of other forms, glowing under water with vivid tints of every shade betwixt green, purple, brown, and white; equalling in beauty and excelling in grandeur the most favourite parterre of the curious florist. These were different species of coral and fungus, growing, as it were, out of the solid rock, and each had its peculiar form and shade of colouring; but whilst contemplating the richness of the scene, we could not long forget with what destruction it was pregnant.
Different corals in a dead state, concreted into a solid mass of a dull-white colour, composed the stone of the reef. The negro heads were lumps which stood higher than the rest; and being generally dry, were blackened by the weather; but even in these, the forms of the different corals, and some shells were distinguishable. The edges of the reef, but particularly on the outside where the sea broke, were the highest parts; within, there were pools and holes containing live corals, sponges, and sea eggs and cucumbers;* and many enormous cockles (chama gigas) were scattered upon different parts of the reef. At low water, this cockle seems most commonly to lie half open; but frequently closes with much noise; and the water within the shells then spouts up in a stream, three or four feet high: it was from this noise and the spouting of the water, that we discovered them, for in other respects they were scarcely to be distinguished from the coral rock. A number of these cockles were taken on board the ship, and stewed in the coppers; but they were too rank to be agreeable food, and were eaten by few. One of them weighed 47½ lbs. as taken up, and contained 3lbs. 2 oz. of meat; but this size is much inferior to what was found by captains Cook and Bligh, upon the reefs of the coast further northward, or to several in the British Museum; and I have since seen single shells more than four times the weight of the above shells and fish taken together. [* What we called sea cucumbers, from their shape, appears to have been the bêche de mer, or trepang; of which the Chinese make a soup, much esteemed in that country for its supposed invigorating qualities.]
There were various small channels amongst the reefs, some of which led to the outer breakers, and through these the tide was rushing in when we returned to the ship; but I could not any where see an opening sufficiently wide for the vessels. Low water took place at a quarter past three, which corresponded with the time of high water observed at the preceding anchorage.
It was too late in the day to begin following the line of the high breakers to the north-westward; but we lifted the anchor to remove further from the eastern reef, which was dry within a mile of the ship. The wind was light at south-east; and in steering westward, with a boat sounding ahead, we got into one of the narrow streams of tide which carried us rapidly to the south-west; nor could the boat assist us across, so much was it twisted about by the whirlpools. At six o'clock, being well clear of the stream, an anchor was dropped upon coral sand, in 30 fathoms; at ten, when the ship swung to the ebb, the depth was 33 fathoms, and 28 at low water; as, however, we had two-thirds of a cable out, some of the difference probably arose from the irregularity of the bottom.
SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER 1802
At daylight we steered N. N. W.; but reefs were presently seen all round in that direction, and the course was altered for the small passage through which we had come on the 8th. Such, however, was the change in the appearance of the reefs, that no passage could then be discovered; and fearing to be mistaken, I dared not venture through, but took a more southern channel, where before no passage had appeared to exist. At nine o'clock, having sandy ground in 32 fathoms, and it being very difficult to distinguish the shoals at high water, the anchor was dropped in latitude 20° 56½' south and longitude 150° 54½' east. Between one and two in the afternoon, we steered W. N. W. and N. W.; and meeting with a small dry reef at four, hauled up northward, following the line of the great northern reefs upon which the high breakers had been seen. At half past five we came to, in 26 fathoms sand and shells, having reefs from S. by E., round by the east and north, to W. by S.; but there were openings at N. N. W. ½ W. and N. E. by E., and we had the pleasure to see high breakers, five or six miles distant in the latter direction. The latitude here, from an observation of the moon, was 20° 49½', and longitude 150° 48' by time keeper.
MONDAY 11 OCTOBER 1802
Next morning, the brig and whale boat went ahead, and we steered north, after them; the eastern opening was choaked up with small reefs, and we had scarcely entered that to the west when Mr. Murray made the signal for danger, and hauled the wind to the southward. We did the same, round two inner shoals; and finding the bottom irregular, and more shallow than usual, dropped the stream anchor in 27 fathoms. The Lady Nelson was carried rapidly to the south-west, seemingly without being sensible of it, and I therefore made the signal of recall; but although favoured by a fresh breeze, she did not get up against the tide till past nine o'clock. We rode a great strain on the stream cable, and the ship taking a sudden sheer, it parted at the clinch and we lost the anchor; a bower was immediately let go; but the bottom being rocky, I feared to remain during the lee tide, and in a short time ordered it to be weighed. Mr. Murray had lost a kedge anchor, and was then riding by a bower; and when the signal was made to weigh, he answered it by that of inability. The tide was, indeed, running past the brig at a fearful rate, and I feared it would pass over her bows; for she lay in one of the narrow streams which came gushing through the small openings in the outer reef. So soon as our anchor was purchased, a boat's crew was sent to her assistance; and just before noon she got under sail.
We beat up till one o'clock, towards the anchorage of the preceding evening; but the reefs being deeply covered, they could not be distinguished one from the other; and having found a good bottom, in 35 fathoms, we came to, and made signal for the brig to do the same. Lieutenant Murray informed me that his anchor had come up with a palm broken off; and having only one bower left, he applied to me for another. Our anchor had swiveled in the stock; and the work required to it, with getting the last stream anchor out of the hold, and sending Mr. Murray two grapnels, which were all that our own losses could allow of being spared, occupied us till the evening. At low water, two reefs were seen, bearing N. 18°to 41° E., a third S. 72° E., and a fourth S. 74° W.; their distances being from two to four or five miles.
The loss of anchors we had this day sustained, deterred me from any more attempting the small passages through the Barrier Reef; in these, the tide runs with extraordinary violence, and the bottom is coral rock; and whether with, or without wind, no situation can be more dangerous. My anxious desire to get out to sea, and reach the North Coast before the unfavourable monsoon should set in, had led me to persevere amongst these intricate passages beyond what prudence could approve; for had the wind come to blow strong, no anchors, in such deep water and upon loose sand, could have held the ship; a rocky bottom cut the cables; and to have been under sail in the night was certain destruction. I therefore formed the determination, in our future search for a passage out, to avoid all narrow channels, and run along, within side the larger reefs, until a good and safe opening should present itself. This plan, which was dictated by a common regard to safety, might carry us far to the north-west, and delay our arrival in the Gulph of Carpentaria; yet I hoped not; for captain Cook had found the flood tide to come from south-east after passing the Cumberland Islands, whereas before, it ran from the northward; a circumstance which seemed to indicate a termination of the reefs, or a great opening in them., to the north or north-west of those islands.
TUESDAY 12 OCTOBER 1802
In the morning., we got under way and steered N. N. W.; but anchored again on finding the flood tide too strong to be stemmed with a light breeze. Our latitude at this tenth anchorage amongst the reefs, was 20° 53' 10", from observations to the north and south, and longitude by time keeper 150° 42' east. At one o'clock our course was resumed, and continued till sunset in clear water; when we came to, in 32 fathoms sand and shells, not far to the south of where the first high breakers had been seen, in the afternoon of the 6th. A dry reef bore N.½ E., distant two and a half, and another E. ½ S. one-and-half miles; and from the mast head others were seen at the back of them, extending from N. W. by N. to near S. E. by E.
WEDNESDAY 13 OCTOBER 1802
On going upon deck next morning at daybreak, to get the ship under way, I found her situation different to that wherein we had anchored in the evening. The wind had been light, and as usual in such cases, the cable was shortened in; and it appeared from the bearings, and from the soundings marked every hour on the log board, that between four and five in the morning, the anchor had been lifted by the tide, or dragged, two miles north-east amongst the reefs, from 33 into 28 fathoms; where it had again caught. This change of place had not been perceived; and it was difficult, from the circumstance having occurred at the relief of the watch, to discover with whom the culpable inattention lay; but it might have been attended with fatal consequences.
Having weighed the anchor, we steered westward with the brig and whale boat ahead, until past ten; when the eastern breeze died away and the stream anchor was dropped in 30 fathoms, fine white sand. The reefs were then covered. and a dry bank, bearing N. W. by W. five or six miles, was the sole object above water; and towards noon it was covered also. Between this bank and the great reef and breakers, was a space which seemed to be open; but it was not sufficiently large, nor did the tide run with that regularity and strength, to induce a belief that, if there were a passage, it could be such as I desired for the vessels. We therefore again steered westward, on a breeze rising at N. W., until reefs were seen extending southward from the dry bank, and we bore away along their eastern side. At sunset, the anchor was dropped in 36 fathoms, near to our situation on the 6th at noon; the dry reefs bearing from S. 20° to N. 21° W., distant from one to three miles.
THURSDAY 14 OCTOBER 1802
At daylight the breeze was still from the north-westward, and our course was pursued to the south and south-west, close round the inner end of the reefs, till they trended west and we could no longer keep in with them. The Pine Peak of the northern Percy Isles, and several of the Cumberland Islands were then in sight; and at noon our situation and bearings were as under.
'''Latitude observed to the north and south, 21° 2' S. Longitude by time keeper, 150 11 E. Pine Peak, S. 6 30 E. Northumberland I., marked 'i', S. 60 40 W. Cumberland I., marked 'k', N. 89° to N. 85 30 W. Cumberland I., six others, S. 75 to N. 54 30 W.'''
The nearest of these isles was little better than a sand bank surrounded with rocks, and was distant two leagues in the direction of N. 54° W. We tacked ship at one, and at four o'clock; and anchored at dusk, in 27 fathoms fine sand, about five miles to the N. N. W. of our noon's situation.
FRIDAY 15 OCTOBER 1802
The wind was at S. by E. in the morning, and we steered northward after the brig, in order to fall in with the reefs and prosecute our search for an opening; in an hour they were visible, and we passed along their west side at the distance of a mile. Before nine o'clock the brig made signal for having only 17 fathoms, other reefs were discovered in the north-west, and the course was altered to pass within them. At eleven we rounded their west end; and at noon were in latitude 20° 38' 58", and from the bearing of the Cumberland Isle k, in longitude 150° 1' east. We were now obliged to steer westward again, having reefs at the distance of two miles, from N. E. by E., to N. W. by W.; and seeing that they extended onward, and the breeze was fresh, I hauled up for the Cumberland Island marked l, the largest yet seen, with the intention of anchoring there for the night. The tide carried us too far to leeward, but we fetched a lesser island, l2, seven miles to the north; and came to, in 17 fathoms grey sand, one mile from a beach on its north-west side, and half a mile from the reef which surrounds the island.
SATURDAY 16 OCTOBER 1802
Early in the morning I landed with a party of the gentlemen, and scrambled through a thick brush and over lumps of rock, to the highest part near the north end of the island. Hazy weather much contracted my view; but several new Cumberland Islands were visible, making up the number to fifteen, of which the greater part had not been seen by captain Cook. Amongst the bearings taken with a theodolite, were those of k and k2, which had been set from No. 4 of the Percy Isles.
k, the extremes, bore S. 48° 30' to 46° 40' E. k2, S. 36 50 to 33 40 E. Ship at anchor, dist. one mile, N. 64 0 W.
From these bearings and the several latitudes, I ascertained the difference of longitude made from Upper Head to the ship, to be 12' 37" west.
This little island l2 is of a triangular shape, and each side of it is a mile long; it is surrounded by a coral reef which, as usual, presented a beautiful piece of marine scenery. The stone which forms the basis of the island, and is scattered loosely over the surface, is a kind of porphyry; a small piece of it, applied to the theodolite, did not affect the needle, although, on moving the instrument a few yards southward, the east variation was increased 2° 23'. Not much vegetable earth was contained amongst the stones on the surface, yet the island was thickly covered with trees and brush wood, whose foliage was not devoid of luxuriance. Pines grow here, but they were more abundant, and seemingly larger, upon some other of the islands, particularly on l3, to the westward. There did not appear to be any fixed inhabitants; but proofs of the island having been visited some months before, were numerous; and upon the larger island l, there was a smoke. The time of high water coincided with the swinging of the ship, and took place one hour before the moon's passage, as it had done amongst the barrier reefs; from ten to fifteen feet seemed to be the rise by the shore, and the flood came from the northward.
We returned on board the ship at noon; but I deferred getting under way till next morning, on account of the wind blowing fresh, and some business to be executed which could not be attended to whilst among the reefs. This gave an opportunity of making further observations by the time keepers, from which it appeared that they gave only 8' 36.3" of longitude west from Upper Head, with the rates there found; whereas by the survey, we had made 12' 37". The time keeper No. 520, taken alone, gave 11' 35.8"; and when the correction, afterwards found necessary in the Gulph of Carpentaria, is applied, the difference becomes 12' 41", almost exactly as by survey. The previous positions of the ship amongst the reefs, and wherever I had not any bearings of fixed points, have therefore been deduced from this time keeper.
The latitude of the anchorage, from observations to the north and south., was 20° 45' 28' S.
Longitude from a chain of bearings, connected with the fixed station in Broad Sound, 149° 34' 12" E.
Variation of the theodolite, observed on the north-west beach of l2, 7° 39' east; but it differed on the north head of the island, from 7° to 9° 23' east, in the space of a few yards.
The variation amongst the Barrier Reefs has not been mentioned; but five azimuths and amplitudes were taken between the 6th, p.m. and the 15th a.m. When corrected to the meridian, the extremes were 7° 53' and 7° 11'; and the mean, in latitude 20° 44', longitude 150° 32', will be 7° 30' east.
SUNDAY 17 OCTOBER 1802
At daylight on the 17th, the breeze was moderate at E. by N., with fine weather; and in steering northward, close to the wind, we passed three miles to leeward of a dry bank of rocks and sand. Several of the Cumberland Islands were in sight at noon, when our situation and the most essential bearings were as under.
'''Latitude, observed to the north and south, 20° 23' 56" Longitude from bearings, 149 33¼ Island l2, station on the north end, S. 5 E. Other isles, large and small, from thence to N. 67½ W. Pentecost I. (of capt. Cook), resembling a tower, S. 89 W. '''
No reefs were in sight, nor in steering N. N. E. and N. E. by N., could any be distinguished from the mast head all the afternoon. At half past five we tacked and bore down to the brig; and then anchored in 31 fathoms, speckled sand and small stones, and sent a boat to lieutenant Murray with orders.
Our latitude here, by an observation of the moon, was 20° 10' south; and now hoping we should not meet with any more interruption from the reefs, I resolved to send the brig back to Port Jackson. The Lady Nelson sailed so ill, and had become so leewardly since the loss of the main, and part of the after keel, that she not only caused us delay, but ran great risk of being lost; and instead of saving the crew of the Investigator, in case of accident, which was one of the principal objects of her attendance, it was too probable we might be called upon to render her that assistance. A good vessel of the same size I should have considered the greatest acquisition in Torres' Strait and the Gulph of Carpentaria; but circumstanced as was the Lady Nelson, and in want of anchors and cables which could not be spared without endangering our own safety, she was become, and would be more so every day, a burthen rather than an assistant to me. Lieutenant Murray was not much acquainted with the kind of service in which we were engaged; but the zeal he had shown to make himself and his vessel of use to the voyage, made me sorry to deprive him of the advantage of continuing with us; and increased my regret at the necessity of parting from our little consort.
The stores and provisions already supplied to the brig, were returned; and Mr. Murray spared us his old launch, to replace, in some sort, the cutter we had lost in Strong-tide Passage. Nanbarre, one of the two natives, having expressed a wish to go back to Port Jackson, was sent to the Lady Nelson in the morning [MONDAY 18 OCTOBER 1802], with two seamen exchanged for the same number of that vessel's crew; and Mr. Denis Lacy, who had been lent, returned back to the Investigator. I wrote to His Excellency governor King, an account of our proceedings and discoveries upon the East Coast; and requested a new boat might be built against our return to Port Jackson, and that the brig should be repaired and equipped ready to accompany me in the following year.
At nine o'clock we got under way, and showed our colours to bid farewell to the Lady Nelson; she steered southward for the Cumberland Islands, whilst our course was directed north-east, close to the wind. The brig was not out of sight when more reefs were discovered, extending from east to N. N. W.; and in pursuance of my plan to avoid small openings, we bore away to run along their inner side. At noon, the latitude was 19° 58' 20", and longitude by time keeper, 149° 37' east. Reefs extended from E. ½ N. to S. ½ E., at the distance of one to three miles; and there were separate patches somewhat further, bearing W. by N. ½ N. and N. N. E. Between the first and last bearing was an opening of a good appearance, and we hauled up for it; but the water having shoaled to 12 fathoms, though no breakers were seen ahead, we kept away again; and from that time till evening, passed a variety of reefs, hauling up between them to look into the openings, and bearing away when repulsed. None of these banks were dry, nor was there much breaking water upon them; which made it probable that they were far within the outer line of the barrier.
The breeze was fresh at south-east, and by sunset we had run eleven leagues upon various courses to the north-westward, with soundings from 14 to 33 fathoms; the bottom being rocky in the shallow, and sandy in the deeper parts. We were steering north-west, at the rate of six knots, when new reefs were discovered, from ahead to abaft the larbord beam; upon which we clapped upon a wind to the southward, and just weathered them, passing through rippling water in 30 fathoms. Upon this occasion I felt very happy that the Lady Nelson was gone, for in all probability she could not have escaped this danger. Being now dark, it was too hazardous to stand on; and therefore, on finding a bottom of grey sand in 34 fathoms, we came to with the best bower, veered to a whole cable, and sent down the top-gallant yards. The latitude here, from a meridian altitude of the moon, was 19° 48 1/3', and the longitude 149° 13½'; there was a small drain of ebb tide from the S. by W., until eleven o'clock, but no run was perceptible afterwards.
TUESDAY 19 OCTOBER 1802
In the morning, we saw the reef from N. ½ E. to W. ½ N., not further distant than two miles, and the northernmost of captain Cook's Cumberland Islands bore S. 56° W., about eight leagues. The wind was at E. S. E, blowing fresh; and our course was pursued along the south side of the reef till nine o'clock; when it terminated, and we steered northward twelve miles, with no soundings at 30 fathoms. Another reef was then seen, bearing from N. ½ E. to W. N. W., and obliged us to steer westward again.
The latitude at noon was 19° 35' 15", and longitude by time keeper 148° 47½'; four reefs then extended from E. by S. to N. W. by W., at the distance of two to five miles; the northern Cumberland Island bore S. 9° E, and the outer of two hills which I judged to be upon Cape Gloucester, S. 39½° W. This bearing, and captain Cook's latitude of the cape, would make its longitude to be 148° 26½', or 15½' east of what that great navigator lays it down; and it is to be observed, that from the time of passing Sandy Cape, my longitude had gradually become more eastward as we advanced along the coast. It has before been said, that captain Cook had no time keeper in his first voyage; nor did he possess many of our advantages in fixing the positions of places; it cannot therefore be thought presumptuous, that I should consider the Investigator's longitude to be preferable.
We ran from noon, five leagues W. ¾ N. along the south side of the reefs; and seeing their termination at two o'clock, steered N. N. W., Holborne Isle then bearing S. 53° W., about four leagues. At half past four we had a small reef two or three miles to the W. S. W., and a larger four miles to the N. E.; and behind this last was one more extensive, with high breakers on the outside, reaching from N. E. by N. to E.½ S. I hauled up with the intention of anchoring under the lee of these reefs, till morning; but not finding sufficient shelter against the sea, we tacked and stretched southward for the clear water between the reefs and the land. At sunset, the variation from amplitude was 5° 39' east; Holborne Isle bore S. by W. from the mast head, and no breakers were in sight. This tack was prolonged, under treble-reefed top sails, till ten o'clock; when a light was seen bearing S. by E. ½ E., probably upon the isle, and we stood to the northward.
The wind blew fresh from the eastward all night, and raised a short swell which tried the ship more than any thing we had encountered from the time of leaving Port Jackson; and I was sorry to find, brought on her former leakiness, to the amount of five inches of water per hour. We tacked to the south, soon after mid-night, and to the northward at three in the morning
[WEDNESDAY 20 OCTOBER 1802].
Holborne Isle was seen bearing S. 6° W., four or five leagues, at daylight; and at seven we passed between three small reefs, of which the easternmost had been set at W. S. W. on the preceding afternoon. In half an hour, when the latitude from the moon was 19° 14', and longitude by time keeper 148° 21½', distant high breakers were seen to the north and eastward; the nearest small reef bore S. W. ½ W., two miles, and a much larger one extended from N. ½ E. to W. by N. The passage between these two being three miles wide, we bore away through it; and in following the south side of the great reef, left another, five or six miles long, on the larbord hand, the passage being equally wide with the former, and the least depth 21 fathoms. Soon after ten o'clock, we steered northward, round the west end of the great reef.
At noon, the latitude from observations to the north and south was 19° 8' 15", and longitude by time keeper, 147° 59' east. No land was in sight, and the high breakers were lost in the eastern quarter; but we had detached reefs in the N. E., the N. E. by N., and W. N. W., distant from two to five miles. Towards the north there was six points of clear water, and I steered onward till near three o'clock; when, besides two new reefs already passed, one on each side, we had five others: two in the E. by N. at the distances of one and five miles. one E. S. E. four miles, another N. W. by W. six miles, and a fifth N. W. by N. three miles. Whether to steer onward amongst these, and trust to finding shelter for the night, or to run south-westward towards the land, and get within all the reefs before night came on, was an important, but difficult point to decide. The reefs in sight were small, and could not afford shelter against the sea which was breaking high upon them; but these breakers excited a hope that we might, even then, be near an opening in the barrier; and although caution inclined to steering back towards the land, this prospect of an outlet determined me to proceed, at least until four o'clock, at the chance of finding either larger reefs for shelter, or a clear sea. We were successful. At four, the depth was 43 fathoms, and no reefs in sight; and at six, a heavy swell from the eastward and a depth of 66 fathoms were strong assurances that we had at length gained the open sea.
The topsails were then treble reefed, and we hauled to the wind, which blew strong at E. S. E., with squally weather. At eight, hove to and sounded: no ground with 75 fathoms; and at twelve, none with 115. But the wind unfortunately headed two points; and the probability of meeting unknown reefs being thereby much increased, I tacked to the southward at one in the morning
THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER 1802
preferring, if we must of necessity be again driven amongst them, to come in where we knew of an opening, rather than where their formation was totally unknown.
At four, tacked ship to the northward, and sounded with 100 fathoms, no bottom. At daylight, no reefs could be seen from the mast head, the wind had moderated its strength, and we made all possible sail to the N. by E.; keeping two points free, to make the ship go through the water. We now considered ourselves entirely clear of the reefs; but at noon high breakers were seen extending from West to N. N. W., at the distance of six or seven miles, and we hauled up a point more to the eastward. Our latitude was 17° 54', longitude 148° 37', and at the depth of 100 fathoms there was no ground; the variation observed in the morning, with three azimuth compasses, was 6° 8' east, corrected to the meridian. Another reef was discovered at two o'clock, lying nearly three leagues to the northward of the former; but although there were many boobies, and tropic and man-of-war birds about, no more dangers had been descried at dusk; nor did we see any more until approaching Torres' Strait.
I shall conclude this chapter with some general remarks on the reefs, which form so extraordinary a barrier to this part of New South Wales; and amongst which we sought fourteen days, and sailed more than five hundred miles, before a passage could be found through them, out to sea.
The easternmost parts of the barrier seen in the Investigator, lie nearly in 21° south and 151° 10' east; but there can be no doubt that they are connected with the reefs lying to the southward, discovered in 1797 by captain Campbell of the brig Deptford; and probably also with those further distant, which captain Swain of the Eliza fell in with in the following year. If so, the Barrier Reefs will commence as far south-eastward as the latitude 22° 50' and longitude about 152° 40', and possibly still further; Break-sea Spit is a coral reef, and a connexion under water, between it and the barrier, seems not improbable. The opening by which we passed out, is in 18° 52', and 148° 2'; so that, did the Barrier Reefs terminate here, their extent would be near 350 miles in a straight line; and in all this space, there seems to be no large opening. Mr. Swain did, indeed, get out at the latitude 22°; but it was by a long, and very tortuous channel.
Of what extent our opening may be, is uncertain; but since captain Cook had smooth water in running to the west and northward to Cape Tribulation, where he first saw the reefs, it should seem to be not very great; certainly, as I think, not exceeding twenty, and perhaps not five leagues. I therefore assume it as a great probability, that with the exception of this, and perhaps several small openings, our Barrier Reefs are connected with the Labyrinth of captain Cook; and that they reach to Torres' Strait and to New Guinea, in 9° south; or through 14° of latitude and 9° of longitude; which is not to be equalled in any other known part of the world.
The breadth of the barrier seems to be about fifteen leagues in its southern part, but diminishes to the northward; for at the Northumberland Islands it is twelve, and near our opening the breadth is not more than seven or eight leagues. The reefs seen in latitude 17¾°, after we got through, being forty leagues from the coast, I consider to be distinct banks out at sea; as I do those discovered by Mons. de Bougainville in 15½°, which lie still further off. So far northward as I explored the Barrier Reefs, they are unconnected with the land; and continue so to latitude 16°; for, as before said, captain Cook saw none until he had passed Cape Tribulation.
An arm of the sea is inclosed between the barrier and the coast, which is at first twenty-five or thirty leagues wide; but is contracted to twenty, abreast of Broad Sound, and to nine leagues at Cape Gloucester; from whence it seems to go on diminishing, till, a little beyond Cape Tribulation, reefs are found close to the shore. Numerous islands lie scattered in this inclosed space; but so far as we are acquainted, there are no other coral banks in it than those by which some of the islands are surrounded; so that being sheltered from the deep waves of the ocean, it is particularly well adapted to the purposes of a coasting trade. The reader will be struck with the analogy which this arm of the sea presents to one in nearly the same latitude of the northern hemisphere. The Gulph of Florida is formed by the coast of America on the west, and by a great mass of islands and shoals on the east; which shoals are also of coral.
On the outside of the barrier, the sea appears to be generally unfathomable; but within, and amongst the reefs, there are soundings every where. Nor is the depth very unequal, where the bottom is sandy; but like the breadth of the reefs and the arm they inclose, it diminishes as we advance northward, from 60 to 48, to 35, and to 30 fathoms near our opening; and to 20 at Cape Tribulation. The further to leeward, the shallower the water, seems to be a law amongst coral reefs.
There is some variation in the tide in different parts of the barrier, but the most general rise is about two fathoms; abreast of the Northumberland Islands, however, where the flood from the south-east seems to meet that from the northward, it is three fathoms, and perhaps more. The time of high water there, and also at the eastern Cumberland Islands, is eleven hours after the moon's passage; but it probably accelerates north-westward, to the opening, and then retards further on: at Endeavour River, captain Cook found it to be high water an hour and a half earlier than is above given.
It has been said, that the width of the opening by which we got out to sea, is uncertain; it is undoubtedly four, and possibly more leagues, but there are many small, unconnected banks in it. To a ship desiring access to any part of the coast, south of Endeavour River, I should certainly recommend her to enter the inclosed sea by the way of Break-sea Spit, if able to choose her own route; but the question is, whether a ship driven by stress of weather, or by accident, to seek the coast, might steer for the opening with a fair prospect of passing through in safety? I certainly think she might; with the precaution of not attempting the passage late in the day. The marks to be given for it, are, the latitude 18° 52', longitude 148° 2', variation 6° east with the ship's head north or south, and the soundings. When right off the opening, bottom will be found at from 70 to 40 fathoms before any reefs come in sight; whereas, if breakers be seen and no soundings can be obtained, it may be certainly concluded that the ship is not in the fair way for this opening, and probably, that no large opening exists in that part of the barrier. On getting soundings and afterwards making the reefs near the situation above given, a ship should push through the first opening of two miles wide that presents itself, and steer south-westward amongst the inner reefs for the land; and it will not be many hours, perhaps minutes, before she will find smooth water and anchoring ground. The commander who proposes to make the experiment, must not, however, be one who throws his ship's head round in a hurry, so soon as breakers are announced from aloft; if he do not feel his nerves strong enough to thread the needle, as it is called, amongst the reefs, whilst he directs the steerage from the mast head, I would strongly recommend him not to approach this part of New South Wales.