The latitude of our anchorage in Memory Cove was 34° 58' south, and longitude 135° 56½' east. The variation observed on the binnacle by lieutenant Flinders, when the ship's head was S. by W., was 2° 38' east, or corrected for one point of western deviation from the magnetic meridian, 2° 0' east. In the bearings taken on the eastern side of the high land behind the cove, the variation appeared to be 3° 20', but upon the summit it was 1° 40', being less than on board the ship.
The soil of the land round Memory Cove, and of Cape Catastrophe in general, is barren; though the vallies and eastern sides of the hills are covered with brushwood, and in the least barren parts there are small trees of the genus eucalyptus. The basis stone is granite, mostly covered with calcareous rock, sometimes lying in loose pieces; but the highest tops of the hills are huge blocks of granite. Four kangaroos, not larger than those of Thistle's Island, were seen amongst the brushwood; and traces of natives were found so recent, that although none of the inhabitants were seen, they must have been there not longer than a day before. Water does consequently exist somewhere in the neighbourhood, but all our researches could not discover it.
Before quitting Memory Cove a boat was sent to haul a seine upon the beach, which was done with such success that every man had two meals of fish and some to spare for salting. In the morning [THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY 1802] we sailed for the new discovered inlet, and at two o'clock passed round the projection which had been set at N. 18° W. from Thistle's Island. It formed the south side of the entrance to the new opening, and is named CAPE DONINGTON. Our soundings in passing it were from 7 to 9 fathoms, and in steering south-westward we left an island four miles long, named Boston Island, on the starboard hand, and passed two islets on the other side, called Bicker Isles, which lie off Surfleet Point. On the depth of water diminishing to 5 fathoms we tacked, and presently came to an anchor on the west side of this point in 4½ fathoms, soft grey sand. We were then three miles within the entrance, and the nearest shore was a beach half a mile distant, lying under a hill which had been seen from Thistle's Island. This is a ridge of moderately high land about two miles long, but when seen to the north or south it assumes a conical form. I named it Stamford Hill; and there being a good deal of wood scattered over it, a hope was given of procuring water by digging at the foot. A boat was sent to make the experiment this evening, at the back of the beach; but the water which flowed into the pit was quite salt; and notwithstanding the many natives huts about, no fresh water could be found.
Boston Island at the entrance of the port being also woody and of some elevation, the boat was sent next morning [FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY 1802] to search there for water; and in the mean time I landed with the botanists, and ascended Stamford Hill to ascertain the nature of this inlet and take angles. The port was seen to terminate seven or eight miles to the west-south-west; but there was a piece of water beyond it, apparently a lake or mere, from which we, might hope to obtain a supply, if no more convenient watering place could be found. Betwixt Cape Donington at the entrance, and Surfleet Point, was a large cove with a sandy beach at the head, capable of sheltering a fleet of ships, if the depth should be sufficient, as it appeared to be, to receive them; this was named Spalding Cove. Wood was not wanting there, but no stream of water could be distinguished. On the north side of the port, higher up, was a projecting piece of land, with an island lying off it nearly one mile in length. This island, which was named Grantham Island, contracts the width of that part to one mile and three-quarters; whereas above and below it the width is from two to three miles.
The eastern entrance to the port, between Boston Island and Cape Donington, is one mile and a half wide; the western entrance, betwixt the island and what was called Kirton Point, is larger, and appeared to be as deep as the first, in which we had from 7 to 9 fathoms. From Kirton Point, northward, the shore curves back to the west, and makes a semicircular sweep round the island, forming an outer bay which was named Boston Bay. It is terminated by Point Boston, a low point one mile and a half from the north end of the island; but whether the water between them be deep was not ascertained. From Point Boston the shore takes another sweep to the west and northward, and comes out again three or four leagues to the north-east, at a low but somewhat cliffy projection, to which I gave the name of Point Bolingbroke. The large bight within received the appellation of Louth Bay; and two low islands in it, of which the largest is more than a mile in length, were called Louth Isles. At Point Bolingbroke the land appeared to trend north or westward, and could no further be perceived from Stamford Hill.
Three small isles had been seen from Thistle's Island and their bearings set, and the discovery of them was now augmented by several others, forming a cluster to the eastward of Point Bolingbroke. This was called SIR JOSEPH BANKS' GROUP, in compliment to the Right Honourable president of the Royal Society, to whose exertion and favour the voyage was so much indebted.
Of the numerous bearings taken with a theodolite from the top of Stamford Hill, those which follow were the most important to the connexion of the survey.
[SOUTH COAST. PORT LINCOLN.]
The port which formed the most interesting part of these discoveries I named PORT LINCOLN, in honour of my native province; and having gained a general knowledge of it and finished the bearings, we descended the hill and got on board at ten o'clock. The boat had returned from Boston Island, unsuccessful in her search for water; and we therefore proceeded upward, steering different courses to find the greatest depth. Soon after one o'clock we anchored in 4 fathoms, soft bottom, one mile from the beach at the furthest head of the port, and something less from the southern shore.
Fresh water being at this time the most pressing of our wants, I set off the same afternoon, with a party, to examine the lake or mere discovered from Stamford Hill. The way to it was over low land covered with loose pieces of calcareous rock; the soil was moist in some places, and, though generally barren, was overspread with grass and shrubs, interspersed with a few clumps of small trees. After walking two miles we reached the lake, but to our mortification the water was brackish and not drinkable; the distance, besides, from Port Lincoln was too great to roll casks over a stony road. This piece of water was named Sleaford Mere. It is one mile broad, and appeared to be three or four in length. The shore was a whitish, hardened clay, covered at this time with a thin crust, in which salt was a component part. The sun being too near the horizon to admit of going round the mere, our way was bent towards the ship; and finding a moist place within a hundred yards of the head of the port, I caused a hole to be dug there. A stratum of whitish clay was found at three feet below the surface, and on penetrating this, water drained in, which was perfectly sweet though discoloured; and we had the satisfaction to return on board with the certainty of being able to procure water, although it would probably require some time to fill all our empty casks.
SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY 1802
Early in the morning a party of men was sent with spades to dig pits; and the time-keepers and astronomical instruments, with two tents, followed under the charge of Mr. Flinders. I went to attend the digging, leaving orders with Mr. Fowler to moor the ship and send on shore empty casks. The water flowed in pretty freely, and though of a whitish colour, and at first somewhat thick, it was well tasted. Before the evening the observations for the rates of the time-keepers were commenced; and the gunner was installed in the command of a watering party, and furnished with axes to cut wood at such times as the pits might require to be left for replenishing.
The necessary duties being all set forward under the superintendance of proper officers, I employed the following days in surveying and sounding. The direction of the port was too remote from the meridian to obtain a base line from differences of latitude, which, when observed in an artificial horizon, and at stations wide apart, I consider to be the best; nor was there any convenient beach or open place where a base line could be measured. It was therefore attempted in the following manner: Having left orders on board the ship to fire three guns at given times, I went to the south-east end of Boston Island with a pendulum made to swing half-seconds. It was a musket ball slung with twine, and measured 9.8 inches from the fixed end of the twine to the centre of the ball. From the instant that the flash of the first gun was perceived to the time of hearing the report I counted eighty-five vibrations of the pendulum, and the same with two succeeding guns; whence the length of the base was deduced to be 8.01 geographic miles.* A principal station in the survey of Port Lincoln was a hill on the north side called Northside Hill, which afforded a view extending to Sleaford Mere and Bay and as far as Cape Wiles on one side, and to the hills at the beak of Coffin's Bay on the other. A great part of the bearings taken from hence crossed those from Stamford Hill very advantageously.
[* This length was founded on the supposition, that sound travels at the rate of 1142 feet in a second of time, and that 6060 feet make a geographic mile. A base of 15' 24" of latitude was afterwards obtained from observations in an artificial horizon, and of 25' 17" of longitude from the time keepers with new rates, both correct, as I believe, to a few seconds. From this long base and theodolite bearings, the first base appeared to be somewhat too short; for they gave it 8.22 instead of 8.01 miles. The length of the pendulum in the first measurement was such as to swing half seconds in England; and I had not thought it, in this case, worth attention, that by the laws of gravity and the oblate spheroid, the pendulum would not swing so quick in the latitude of 35°. I must leave it to better mathematicians to determine from the data and the true length of a geographic mile in this latitude, whether the base ought to have been 8.22 as given by the observations and bearings: it was proved to be sufficiently near for all the purposes of a common nautical survey.]
Amongst the various excursions made by the scientific gentlemen, one was directed to Sleaford Mere, of which they made the circuit. The two southern branches were found to terminate within a hundred yards of the head of Sleaford Bay, with which the mere had been suspected to have a communication from its water being not quite fresh; but they are separated by a stony bank too high for the surf ever to pass over it. At the head of the bay a boat's sail and yard were seen floating, and no doubt had belonged to our unfortunate cutter: after being set out to sea by the tide, it had been driven up there by the late south-east winds.
WEDNESDAY 3 MARCH 1802
The refitment of the ship being nearly completed on the 3rd of March, lieutenant Fowler was sent round to Memory Cove in a boat, to make a final search along the shores and round the islands in Thorny Passage for the bodies of our late shipmates, which the sea might have thrown up. On the 4th [THURSDAY 4 MARCH 1802] the last turn of water was received, and completed our stock up to sixty tons; and the removal of our establishment from the shore waited only for the observation of a solar eclipse, announced in the nautical ephemeris for this day. The morning was cloudy, with rain; but towards noon the weather cleared up, and I had the satisfaction to observe the eclipse with a refracting telescope of forty-six inches focus, and a power of about two hundred. The beginning took place at 1h 12' 37.8" of apparent time, and the end at 3h 36' 11.8". So soon as the observation was concluded, the tents and astronomical instruments were carried on board, the launch was hoisted in, and everything prepared for going down the port on the following morning.
Many straggling bark huts, similar to those on other parts of the coast were seen upon the shores of Port Lincoln, and the paths near our tents had been long and deeply trodden; but neither in my excursions nor in those of the botanists had any of the natives been discovered. This morning, however, three or four were heard calling to a boat, as was supposed, which had just landed; but they presently walked away, or perhaps retired into the wood to observe our movements. No attempt was made to follow them, for I had always found the natives of this country to avoid those who seemed anxious for communication; whereas, when left entirely alone, they would usually come down after having watched us for a few days. Nor does this conduct seem to be unnatural; for what, in such case, would be the conduct of any people, ourselves for instance, were we living in a state of nature, frequently at war with our neighbours, and ignorant of the existence of any other nation? On the arrival of strangers, so different in complexion and appearance to ourselves, having power to transport themselves over, and even living upon an element which to us was impassable, the first sensation would probably be terror, and the first movement flight. We should watch these extraordinary people from our retreats in the woods and rocks, and if we found ourselves sought and pursued by them, should conclude their designs to be inimical; but if, on the contrary, we saw them quietly employed in occupations which had no reference to us, curiosity would get the better of fear; and after observing them more closely, we should ourselves seek a communication. Such seemed to have been the conduct of these Australians; and I am persuaded that their appearance on the morning when the tents were struck was a prelude to their coming down, and that had we remained a few days longer, a friendly communication would have ensued. The way was, however, prepared for the next ship which may enter this port, as it was to us in King George's Sound by captain Vancouver and the ship Elligood, to whose previous visits and peaceable conduct we were most probably indebted for our early intercourse with the inhabitants of that place. So far as could be perceived with a glass, the natives of this port were the same in personal appearance as those of King George's Sound and Port Jackson. In the hope of conciliating their good will to succeeding visitors, some hatchets and various other articles were left in their paths, or fastened to stumps of the trees which had been cut down near our watering pits.
In expressing an opinion that these people have no means of passing the water, it must be understood to be a deduction from our having met with no canoe, or the remains of any about the port; nor with any tree in the woods from which a sufficient size of bark had been taken to make one. Upon Boston Island, however, there were abundant marks of fire; but they had the appearance, as at Thistle's Island, of having been caused by some conflagration of the woods several years before, rather than of being the small fire-places of the natives.
There are kangaroos on the main land but none were caught; our efforts, both in hunting and fishing, were indeed very confined, and almost wholly unsuccessful. What has been said of the neck of land between the head of the port and Sleaford Mere may be taken as a description of the country in general; it is rocky and barren, but has a sufficient covering of grass, bushes, and small trees not to look desolate. The basis stone is granitic, with a super-stratum of calcareous rock, generally in loose pieces; but in some parts, as at Boston Island, the granite is found at the surface or immediately under the soil. Behind the beach, near our watering pits, the calcareous stone was so imperfectly formed that small shells and bits of coral might be picked out of it. This fact, with the saltness of Sleaford Mere and of a small lake on the south side of the port, accords with the coral found upon Bald Head and various other indications before mentioned to show that this part, at least, of Terra Australis cannot have emerged very many centuries from the sea, the salt imbibed by the rocks having not yet been all washed away by the rains. In the mountains behind Port Jackson, on the East Coast, at a vastly superior elevation, salt is formed in some places by the exhalation of the water which drips from the grit-stone cliffs.
Port Lincoln is certainly a fine harbour; and it is much to be regretted that it possesses no constant run of fresh water, unless it should be in Spalding Cove, which we did not examine. Our pits at the head of the port will, however, supply ships at all times; and though discoloured by whitish clay, the water has no pernicious quality, nor is it ill tasted. This and wood, which was easily procured, were all that we found of use to ships; and for the establishment of a colony, which the excellence of the port might seem to invite, the little fertility of the soil offers no inducement. The wood consists principally of the eucalyptus and casuarina.
Of the climate we had no reason to speak but in praise; nor were we incommoded by noxious insects. The range of the thermometer on board the ship was from 66° to 78° and that of the barometer from 29.4 to 30.20 inches. The weather was generally clouded, the winds light, coming from the eastward in the mornings and southward after noon. On shore the average height of the thermometer at noon was 76°.
The latitude of our tents at the head of Port Lincoln, from the mean of four meridian observations of the sun taken from an artificial horizon, was 34° 48' 25" S.
The longitude, from thirty sets of distances of the sun and stars from the moon (see Table IV of the Appendix to this volume), was 135 44 51" E.
These observations, being reduced to Cape Donington at the entrance of the port, will place it in latitude 34° 44' south, longitude 135° 56½' east.
No corresponding observation of the solar eclipse appears to have been made under any known meridian, and from the nature of circumstances, the error of the moon's place could not be observed at Greenwich; the distances would therefore seem most worthy of confidence, and are adopted; but the longitude deduced from the eclipse, as recalculated by Mr. Crosley from Delambre's solar tables of 1806, and the new lunar tables of Burckhardt of 1812, differs but very little from them: it is 135° 46' 8" east.
The rates of the time keepers, deduced from equal altitudes on, and between Feb. 27 and March 4, and their errors from mean Greenwich time, at noon there on the last day of observation, were found to be as under:
Earnshaw's No.543 slow Oh 30' 30.54" and losing 8.43" per day.
Earnshaw's No.520 slow 1h 9' 7.72" and losing 18.82" per day.
Arnold's No. 176 altered its rate prodigiously on March 1st, and on the 2nd it stopped. His watch, No. 1736, varied in its rate from 7.81" to 1.90", so that it continued to be used only as an assistant.
The longitude given by the time keepers with the King-George's-Sound rates, on Feb. 27, the first day of observation at the tents, was by
But by allowing a rate accelerating in arithmetic progression, from those at King George's Sound to what were obtained at this place, the mean longitude by the two first time keepers would be 135" 52' 16", or 7' 25" to the east of the lunar observations; which quantity, if the positions of the Sound and of Port Lincoln be correct, is the accumulation of their irregularity during fifty-seven days. In laying down the coasts and islands from the Sound up to Cape Wiles, the longitudes are taken from the time keepers according to the accelerated rates, corrected by an equal proportion of the error 7' 25" in fifty-seven days. From Cape Wiles to the head of Port Lincoln the survey is made from theodolite bearings and observed latitudes, without the aid of the time keepers.
The Dip of the south end of the needle, taken at the tents, was nearly the same as in K. George's Sound, being 64° 27'
Variation of the theodolite at the same place, 1° 39' E.
And the bearings from different stations in the port were conformable to this variation, except at Cape Donington, where, at a station on the north-western part, it appeared to be as much as 4½° east.
The observations for the variation on board the ship, at anchor in the lower part of the port, gave 2° 23' west, when the ship's head was eastward, and 0° 53' east, at south-south-east. According to the first, which were taken by lieutenant Flinders whilst the ship lay under Stamford Hill, the true variation should be 0° 51' east; but by the second, observed by myself near Cape Donington, 2° 7' east, or nearly the same as was found in Memory Cove. Were the mean taken, it would be 1° 29', or 10' less than at the head of the port.
From Mr. Flinders` remarks upon the Tide, it appeared that the rise did not exceed three-and-half feet; and that, like Princess Royal Harbour, there was only one high water in twenty-four hours, which took place at night, about eleven hours after the moon's passage over the meridian, or one hour before it came to the lower meridian; yet at Thorny Passage, which is but a few leagues distant, there were two sets of tide in the day. This difference, in so short a space, appears extraordinary; but it may perhaps be accounted for by the direction of the entrance to the port, which is open to the north-east, from whence the ebb comes.
FRIDAY 5 MARCH 1802
On the 5th of March in the morning we ran down the harbour, and anchored under Cape Donington at the entrance of Spalding Cove in 7 fathoms, soft mud; the north-western extremity of the point bearing N. 16° E., one mile, and partly hiding Point Bolingbroke. In the evening, lieutenant Fowler returned from his search. He had rowed and walked along the shore as far as Memory Cove, revisited Thistle's Island, and examined the shores of the isles in Thorny Passage, but could find neither any traces of our lost people nor fragments of the wreck. He had killed two or three kangaroos upon Thistle's Island.
SATURDAY 6 MARCH 1802
On the following morning I landed at Cape Donington to take some further bearings, and Mr. Evans, the acting master, was sent to sound across the entrance of Spalding Cove, and between Bicker Isles and Surfleet Point, where a small ship-passage was found. The boat was afterwards hoisted up; and our operations in Port Lincoln being completed, we prepared to follow the unknown coast to the northward, or as it might be found to trend.
Departure from Port Lincoln.
Sir Joseph Banks' Group.
Examination of the coast, northward.
The ship found to be in a gulph.
Anchorage near the head of the gulph.
Boat expedition.
Excursion to Mount Brown.
Nautical observations.
Departure from the head, and examination of the east side of the gulph.
Extensive shoal.
Point Pearce.
Hardwicke Bay.
Verification of the time keepers.
General remarks on the gulph.
Cape Spencer and the Althorpe Isles.
New land discovered: Anchorage there.
General remarks on Kangaroo Island.
Nautical observations.
[SOUTH COAST. SPENCER'S GULPH.]
SATURDAY 6 MARCH 1802
At ten in the morning of March 6 we sailed out of Port Lincoln, and skirted along the east side of Boston Island and the entrance of Louth Bay. In the afternoon we passed within two miles of Point Bolingbroke, and at six in the evening came to an anchor in 10 fathoms, off the north side of Kirkby Island, which is the nearest to the point of any of Sir Joseph Banks' Group, and had been seen from Stamford Hill. A boat was lowered down to sound about the ship, and I went on shore to take bearings of the different islands; but they proved to be so numerous that the whole could not be completed before dark.
SUNDAY 7 MARCH 1802
I landed again in the morning with the botanical gentlemen, taking Arnold's watch and the necessary instruments for ascertaining the latitude and longitude. Twelve other isles of the group were counted, and three rocks above water; and it is possible that some others may exist to the eastward, beyond the boundary of my horizon, for it was not extensive. The largest island seen is four or five miles long, and is low and sandy, except at the north-east and south ends; it was called Reevesby Island, and names were applied in the chart to each of the other isles composing this group. The main coast extended northward from Point Bolingbroke, but the furthest part visible from the top of Kirkby Island was not more than four or five leagues distant; its bearing and those of the objects most important to the connection of the survey were these;
Granite forms the basis of Kirkby Island, as it does of the neighbouring parts of the continent before examined; and it is in the same manner covered with a stratum of calcareous rock. The island was destitute of wood, and almost of shrubs; and although there were marks of its having been frequented by geese, none of the birds were seen, nor any other species of animal except a few hair seals upon the shore. This description, unfavourable as it is, seemed applicable to all the group, with the exception of Reevesby and Spilsby Islands, which are higher and of greater extent, and probably somewhat more productive.
The latitude of the north side of Kirkby Island, observed from an artificial horizon, was 34° 33' 1" south, and longitude by timekeepers, 136° 10' 8" east. The variation from azimuths taken on board the ship at anchor, with the head south-by-west (magnetic as usual), was 2° 40' east; which corrected to the meridian would be 2° 2' east, the same nearly as was observed in Memory Cove and at the entrance of Port Lincoln; but an amplitude taken on shore with the surveying theodolite gave 3° 57' east. This seemed extraordinary when, except at Cape Donington, no local attraction of importance had been found in the shores of Port Lincoln, where the stone is the same. It was, however, corroborated by the bearings; for that of Stamford Hill, with 3° 57' allowed, differed only 2' from the back bearing with the allowance of 1° 39'; which is a nearer coincidence than I have generally been able to obtain.
At two in the afternoon the anchor was weighed, and leaving most of Sir Joseph Banks' Group to the right, we steered northward, following the direction of the main land. The coast is very low and commonly sandy, from Boston Bay to the furthest extreme seen from Kirkby Island; but a ridge of hills, commencing at North-side Hill in Port Lincoln, runs a few miles behind it. In latitude 34° 20' this ridge approaches the water side, and in its course northward keeps nearly parallel at the distance of two or three miles. It is moderately elevated, level, destitute of vegetation, and appeared to be granitic. At half-past six, when we hauled off for the night, the shore was five or six miles distant; the furthest part bore N. N. E. ½ E., and a bluff inland mountain was set at N. 71° W., over the top of the front ridge.
The wind was moderate from the south-eastward; and at seven on the following morning [MONDAY 8 MARCH 1802], when the bluff inland mountain was bearing W. 2° N., we resumed our north-eastern course along the shore; which was distant seven miles, and had not changed its appearance. Towards noon the water shoaled to 6 fathoms at three miles from a sandy beach; a lagoon was visible from the mast head, over the beach, and a small inlet, apparently connected with it, was perceived soon afterward. A few miles short of this the ridge of hills turns suddenly from the shore, and sweeps round at the back of the lagoon, into which the waters running off the ridge appeared to be received. The corner hill, where the direction of the ridge is changed, was called Elbow Hill; and since losing sight of the bluff inland mount, it was the first distinguishable mark which had presented itself for the survey; it lies in latitude 33° 43' and longitude 136° 42'. The coast there trends nearly east-by-north, and obliged us to haul close to the wind, in soundings of 7 to 9 fathoms.
We had then advanced more than twenty-five leagues to the north-north-east from Cape Catastrope; but although nothing had been seen to destroy the hopes formed from the tides and direction of the coast near that cape, they were yet considerably damped by the want of boldness in the shores and the shallowness of the water; neither of which seemed to belong to a channel capable of leading us into the Gulph of Carpentaria, nor yet to any very great distance inland.
At two o'clock the shore again took a northern direction, but it was still very low in front, and the depth did not materially increase. Land was presently distinguished on the starbord bow and beam; and before four, an elevated part, called Barn Hill from the form of its top, bore E. 4° N. We continued to follow the line of the western shore, steering north-north-east and north; and the wind being at south, we hauled north-westward at six o'clock, intending to anchor under the shelter of the land. From 7 fathoms the depth diminished to 5, and quickly to seventeen feet; upon which we veered round, ran back into 5 fathoms, and came to an anchor three or four miles off the shore on a sandy bottom. The wind blew fresh, with rainy squalls; but a whole cable being veered out, we rode smoothly all night. The furthest land visible to the northward consisted of detached hummocks of which the highest was called Mount Young in honour of the admiral. Abreast of the ship the land rose gradually from the beach to the ridge of hills which still continued to run behind it; but at this place some back hills were visible over the ridge; and the highest of several hummocks upon the top, which served as a mark in the survey, was named Middle Mount. Observations for the time keepers were taken in the morning [TUESDAY 9 MARCH 1802] before getting under way, and the situation of the anchorage was found to be in
Having obtained the observations, we steered for the outermost of the northern hummocks, with soundings gradually increasing to 12 fathoms; but shoaling on a sudden to 7, upon coral, we hauled to the wind and tacked instantly; finding, however, that the depth did not further decrease, I let the ship go entirely round, and continued the former north-eastern course, with soundings from 7 to 9 fathoms.
At noon, the furthest hummock seen from the anchorage was distant four or five miles; it stands on a projection of low sandy land, and beyond it was another similar projection to which I gave the name of Point Lowly. This was the furthest visible part of the western shore; but the eastern land there approached within seven or eight miles, and extended northward, past it, in a chain of rugged mountains, at the further end of which was a remarkable peak. Our situation and bearings at this time were as follow:
Our prospect of a channel or strait, cutting off some considerable portion of Terra Australis, was lost, for it now appeared that the ship was entered into a gulph; but the width of the opening round Point Lowly left us a consolatory hope that it would terminate in a river of some importance. In steering for the point we came into 4 fathoms, but on hauling to the eastward found 8, although a dry sand-bank was seen in that direction. The depth afterwards diminished to 6, on which the course for Point Lowly was resumed; and we passed it at the distance of a mile and a half, in 9 fathoms water. Here the gulph was found to take a river-like form, but the eastern half of it was occupied by a dry, sandy spit and shoal water. We continued to steer upwards, before the wind; but as the width contracted rapidly, and there was much shoal water, it was under very easy sail, and with an anchor ready to be let go. At four o'clock, in attempting to steer close over to the western side, we came suddenly into 2½ fathoms; the ship was instantly veered to the eastward, and on the water deepening to 7, we let go the anchor and veered out a whole cable; for the wind blew a fresh gale right up the gulph, and between S. 4° W. and 30° E. there was no shelter from the land. At sunset a second anchor was dropped under foot.
We had reached near five leagues above Point Lowly, at the entrance of the narrow part of the gulph; but the shores were low on both sides, and abreast of the ship not so much as four miles asunder. At the back of the eastern shore was the ridge of mountains before mentioned, of which Mr. Westall made the sketch given in the Atlas (Plate XVII. View 10.); and the highest peak toward their northern extremity, afterwards called Mount Brown, bore N. 32° E. On the western side, upwards, there was moderately high, flat-topped land, whose eastern bluff bore N. 36° W., about three leagues, and there the head of the gulph had the appearance of terminating; but as the tide ran one mile an hour past the ship, we still flattered ourselves with the prospect of a longer course, and that it would end in a fresh-water river.
WEDNESDAY 10 MARCH 1802
Early on the following morning, Messrs. Brown, Bauer and Westall, with attendants, set off upon an excursion to the eastern mountains, intending, if possible, to ascend to the top of Mount Brown; and I went away in a cutter, accompanied by the surgeon, to explore the head of the gulph, taking with me Arnold's pocket time-keeper. After crossing the middle shoal, upon which we had 2½ fathoms in the ship, the water deepened to 10, but afterwards diminished to 2, on approaching the mangroves of the western side. Keeping then upwards, I had from 7 to 10 fathoms in the mid-channel, but found shoal water extending a mile, and sometimes more, from the shore and no possibility of landing until we came near the broad, flat-topped hill. From the eastern bluff of this hill, Mount Brown bore N. 62° 20' E., and Mount Arden, a peak nearly at the furthest extreme of the ridge, N. 18° 40' E.; and the inlet was seen to run in a serpentine form to the northward, between low banks covered with mangroves. After taking the bearings we returned to the boat and pursued our course upward along the western shore, having from 4 to 7 fathoms past the bluff; but the inlet was there less than two miles wide, and a league further on it was contracted to one mile, half of which, besides, was occupied by mud flats. These banks were frequented by ducks and other water fowl; and some time being occupied in chasing them, our distance above the ship was not so much as five leagues in a straight line, when the setting sun reminded us of looking out for a place of rest. A landing was effected with some difficulty amongst the mangroves on the eastern shore; and from a small eminence of red earth I set the ship's mast heads at S. 14° E., and Mount Brown N. 85° E.
THURSDAY 11 MARCH 1802
Next morning we continued the examination upwards, carrying 4, 3, and 2 fathoms in mid-channel; but at ten o'clock our oars touched the mud on each side, and it was not possible to proceed further. I then landed and took observations in an artificial horizon for the time-keeper, which gave 4' 34" of longitude to the west of the ship, or only two seconds more than was deduced from the bearings. Mount Brown bore S. 72° E., Mount Arden N. 26° E., and my last station on the eminence of red earth S. 6° E. The inlet wholly terminated at one mile and a half to the N. 16° W.
It seemed remarkable, and was very mortifying, to find the water at the head of the gulph as salt nearly as at the ship; nevertheless it was evident that much fresh water was thrown into it in wet seasons, especially from the eastern mountains. The summits of the ridge lie from three to four leagues back from the water-side, but the greater part of that space seemed to be low, marshy land. To the northward no hill was visible, and to the westward but one small elevation of flat-topped land; all else in those directions was mangroves and salt swamps, and they seemed to be very extensive.
Two miles below the place where the observations for the time-keeper were taken was a small cliff of reddish clay on the western shore; and being near it on our return, when the sun was approaching the meridian, I landed to observe the latitude. It was 32° 27' 56" south, so that the termination of the gulph may be called in 32° 24½' without making a greater error than half a mile. Mount Brown bore from thence S. 80½° E., and its latitude will therefore be 32° 30¼' south; the longitude deduced from bearings and the time-keepers on board is 138° 0¾' east.
Our return to the ship was a good deal retarded by going after the black swans and ducks amongst the flats. The swans were all able to fly, and would not allow themselves to be approached; but some ducks of two or three different species were shot, and also several sea pies or red bills. Another set of bearings was taken on the western shore, and at ten in the evening we reached the ship, where Mr. Brown and his party had not been long arrived. The ascent of Mount Brown had proved to be very difficult, besides having to walk fifteen miles on a winding course before reaching the foot; by perseverance, however, they gained the top at five on the first evening, but were reduced to passing the night without water; nor was any found until they had descended some distance on the following day. The view from the top of Mount Brown was very extensive, its elevation being not less than three thousand feet; but neither rivers nor lakes could be perceived, nor anything of the sea to the south-eastward. In almost every direction the eye traversed over an uninterruptedly flat, woody country; the sole exceptions being the ridge of mountains extending north and south, and the water of the gulph to the south-westward.
Mr. Brown found the stone of this ridge of craggy mountains to be argillaceous, similar to that of the flat-topped land where I had taken bearings on the west side of the inlet. It is reddish, smooth, close-grained, and rather heavy. Bushes and some small trees grown in the hollows of the rising hills; and between their feet and the mangrove swamps near the water there was some tolerably good though shallow soil.
We had seen fires upon the eastern shore opposite to Point Lowly on first entering the head of the gulph, and wherever I had landed there were traces of natives; Mr. Brown found them even to a considerable height up the side of the mountain; and it should therefore seem that the country here is as well inhabited as most parts of Terra Australis, but we had not the good fortune to meet with any of the people.
The observations taken by lieutenant Flinders fixed the position of the ship in latitude 32° 44' 41" south, and longitude by the time keepers 137° 49' 56" east. Twelve sets of distances of the sun and moon gave 137° 50' 9"; but these being all on one side, the time keepers are preferred. Azimuths observed from the binnacle, when the ship's head was between S. by E. and S. S. E., gave 0° 42' east, or 1° 37' east, nearly, for the true variation; and there was no particular attraction upon the theodolite at any of my stations on shore.
We had two flood tides in the day setting past the ship, and they ran at the strongest one mile and a half per hour; the rise appeared to be from six to eight feet, and high water to take place at two hours and a half after the moon passed the meridian. Except in the time of high water, which is considerably later than at Thorny Passage, the tides at the head have a near affinity to those at the entrance of the gulph; whence the great differences at Port Lincoln, intermediately situate, become so much the more extraordinary.
SATURDAY 13 MARCH 1802
Nothing of particular interest having presented itself to detain us at the head of the gulph, we got under way in the morning of the 13th, having a light breeze from the north-westward. The western shore had been followed in going up, and for that reason I proposed to keep close to the east side in returning; but before eight o'clock the water shoaled suddenly from 4 to 2 fathoms, and the ship hung upon a mud bank covered with grass, two or three miles from the shore. A kedge anchor was carried out astern; and in half an hour we again made sail downward, in soundings from 5 to 10 fathoms near the edge of the shoal.
The depth was then 7 fathoms; but there were banks ahead, extending to a great distance from the eastern shore, and in steering westward to pass round them, we had 3½ fathoms for the least water. It afterwards deepened to 7, and we again steered southward, but were not able to get near the land; on the contrary, the shallow water forced us further off as we proceeded. The wind was at west-southwest in the evening; and this not permitting us to lie along the edge of the bank, we came to an anchor in 7 fathoms, soft bottom; being then above four leagues from the eastern low shore, although there was only 3½ fathoms at less than a mile nearer in.
SUNDAY 14 MARCH 1802
In the morning we followed the line of the great eastern shoal, and its direction permitted us to approach nearer to the land, with soundings between 8 and 4 fathoms. A little before noon, after running half an hour in less than 4 fathoms and getting within about six miles of the land, we were obliged to tack and stretch off, the wind having veered to the south-west. Our situation twenty minutes afterward, was in
We beat to windward all the afternoon, and at sunset anchored in 3½ fathoms near the edge of the great bank and seven or eight miles from the land. The shore was low and sandy, but there was a ridge of hills behind it nearly similar to that on the west side of the gulph. Barn Hill lies at the back of this ridge and about twelve miles from the water; and towards the southern end of the ridge was another hill, also some distance inland, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. A middle mount on the west side of the gulph, higher and further back than the one before set, was in sight from this anchorage; and the bearings taken were these:
Mount Br own was no longer visible; but it had been seen this afternoon at the distance of fifty-eight miles, and was sufficiently above the horizon to have been distinguished some miles further from a ship's deck in a perfectly clear day.
MONDAY 15 MARCH 1802
On the morning of the 15th the wind had shifted to south-east; and the great bank then trending south-westward, we followed it with variable soundings between 3 and 10 fathoms. At ten o'clock the water had deepened to 15; and being then nearer to the west than to the east side of the gulph, and the wind having come more ahead, we tacked to the east-south-east; but in fifty minutes were obliged to steer westward again, having fallen into 3 fathoms on the edge of the bank. This is the narrowest part of the gulph below Point Lowly, the two shores being scarcely more than twenty miles asunder; and of this space, the great eastern bank, if the part where we last had 3 fathoms be connected with it, occupies about eleven, and the shallow water of the west side one or two miles. The soundings we had in stretching westward across the deep channel were, from the shoal, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 12, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5 fathoms, at nearly equal distances asunder, and the last at six miles from the western land.
After sounding across the channel we stood back, lying up south-east, and reached within five miles of the eastern shore, where the anchor was dropped in 4½ fathoms; Barn Hill bearing N. 69° E., and a cliffy projection, named Point Riley after the gentleman of that name in the Admiralty, S. 14° W., two or three leagues. This point was the furthest visible part of the eastern shore; and so low and uniform had the coast been from the head of the gulph, that this was the first mark I had found upon it for the survey. The great eastern bank, which we had already followed about sixty miles, seemed to terminate at Point Riley; and from thence southward the gulph greatly enlarges its breadth. The situation of the point is about 33° 53' south and 137° 30' E.
TUESDAY 16 MARCH 1802
We got under way at six in the morning, and the wind being from the south-eastward made a good stretch along the coast until noon. A patch of breakers then lay five miles to the south-east; but the land was ten miles distant, and some white sandy cliffs, four or five leagues from Point Riley, bore S. 52° E. The intermediate coast, as also that which extends several leagues to the north of the point, is low and sandy; but at a few miles back it rises to a level land of moderate elevation, and is not ill clothed with small trees. In the afternoon we had to beat against a southern wind; and the coast in that part being too open for anchorage, this was continued all night and the next morning [WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH 1802]; but with so little profit that the same land was still in sight at noon, and our situation found to be as follows