The bay is perfectly sheltered from all southern winds; and as there were several spots clear of wood near the beach, it is probable that the kangaroos, and perhaps cassowaries, might be numerous. We did not stop to land, but got under way so soon as the bearings were taken, to beat out of the strait against the south-east wind; so little was gained, however, after working all the day, that at eight in the evening the ship was still off the east end of Kangaroo Island.
This part of the Investigator's Strait is not more, in the narrowest part, than seven miles across. It forms a private entrance, as it were, to the two gulphs; and I named it Back-stairs Passage. The small bay where we had anchored is called the Ante-chamber; and the cape which forms the eastern head of the bay and of Kangaroo Island, and lies in 35° 48' south and 138° 13' east, received the appellation of Cape Willoughby. Without side of the passage, and almost equidistant from both shores, there are three small, rocky islets near together, called the Pages, whose situation is in latitude 35° 46½' and longitude 138° 21' east; these are the sole dangers in Back-stairs Passage, and two of them are conspicuous. Our soundings in beating through were from 8 to 23 fathoms; and in a strong rippling of tide like breakers there was from 10 to 12, upon a bottom of stones and shells.
At eight in the evening we tacked from Cape Willoughby; and having passed to windward of the Pages, stretched on east and north-eastward until four in the morning [THURSDAY 8 APRIL 1802]. Land was then seen under the lee, and a tack made off shore till daylight, when we stood in with the wind at east-south-east. At nine the land was distant five miles, and of a very different aspect to that of Cape Jervis. As far as six leagues from the cliffy southern extremity of the Cape the land is high, rocky and much cut by gullies or ravines; a short, scrubby brush-wood covers the seaward side, and the stone appeared to be slaty, like the opposite cliffs of Kangaroo Island. But here the hills fall back from the sea, and the shore becomes very low with some hummocks of sand upon it; and the same description of coast prevailed as far as could be seen to the eastward.
Our situation at nine o'clock, when we tacked to the south, was as follows;
Before two in the afternoon we stretched eastward again, and at four a white rock was reported from aloft to be seen ahead. On approaching nearer it proved to be a ship standing towards us, and we cleared for action, in case of being attacked. The stranger was a heavy-looking ship, without any top-gallant masts up; and our colours being hoisted, she showed a French ensign, and afterwards an English jack forward, as we did a white flag. At half-past five, the land being then five miles distant to the north-eastward, I hove to, and learned, as the stranger passed to leeward with a free wind, that it was the French national ship Le Géographe, under the command of captain NICOLAS BAUDIN. We veered round as Le Géographe was passing, so as to keep our broadside to her, lest the flag of truce should be a deception; and having come to the wind on the other tack, a boat was hoisted out, and I went on board the French ship, which had also hove to.
As I did not understand French, Mr. Brown, the naturalist, went with me in the boat. We were received by an officer who pointed out the commander, and by him were conducted into the cabin. I requested captain Baudin to show me his passport from the Admiralty; and when it was found and I had perused it, offered mine from the French marine minister, but he put it back without inspection. He then informed me that he had spent some time in examining the south and east parts of Van Diemen's Land, where his geographical engineer, with the largest boat and a boat's crew, had been left, and probably lost. In Bass Strait captain Baudin had encountered a heavy gale, the same we had experienced in a less degree on March 21 in the Investigator's Strait. He was then separated from his consort, Le Naturaliste; but having since had fair winds and fine weather, he had explored the South Coast from Western Port to the place of our meeting without finding any river, inlet or other shelter which afforded anchorage. I inquired concerning a large island said to lie in the western entrance of Bass Strait; but he had not seen it, and seemed to doubt much of its existence.
Captain Baudin was communicative of his discoveries about Van Diemen's land; as also of his criticisms upon an English chart of Bass Strait published in 1800. He found great fault with the north side of the strait, but commended the form given to the south side and to the islands near it. On my pointing out a note upon the chart, explaining that the north side of the strait was seen only in an open boat by Mr. Bass, who had no good means of fixing either latitude or longitude, he appeared surprised, not having before paid attention to it. I told him that some other and more particular charts of the Strait and its neighbourhood had been since published; and that if he would keep company until next morning, I would bring him a copy, with a small memoir belonging to them. This was agreed to, and I returned with Mr. Brown to the Investigator.
It somewhat surprised me that captain Baudin made no enquiries concerning my business upon this unknown coast, but as he seemed more desirous of communicating information, I was happy to receive it; next morning [FRIDAY 9 APRIL 1802], however, he had become inquisitive, some of his officers having learned from my boat's crew that our object was also discovery. I then told him, generally, what our operations had been, particularly in the two gulphs, and the latitude to which I had ascended in the largest; explained the situation of Port Lincoln, where fresh water might be procured; showed him Cape Jervis, which was still in sight; and as a proof of the refreshments to be obtained at the large island opposite to it, pointed out the kangaroo-skin caps worn by my boat's crew, and told him the name I had affixed to the island in consequence. At parting the captain requested me to take care of his boat and people in case of meeting with them; and to say to Le Naturaliste that he should go to Port Jackson so soon as the bad weather set in. On my asking the name of the captain of Le Naturaliste, he bethought himself to ask mine; and finding it to be the same as the author of the chart which he had been criticising, expressed not a little surprise, but had the politeness to congratulate himself on meeting me.
The situation of the Investigator, when I hove to for the purpose of speaking captain Baudin, was 35° 40' south and 138° 58' east. No person was present at our conversations except Mr Brown; and they were mostly carried on in English, which the captain spoke so as to be understood. He gave me, besides what is related above, some information of his losses in men, separations from his consort, and of the improper season at which he was directed to explore this coast; as also a memorandum of some rocks he had met with, lying two leagues from the shore, in latitude 37° 1', and he spoke of them as being very dangerous.
I have been the more particular in detailing all that passed at this interview from a circumstance which it seems proper to explain and discuss in this place.
At the above situation of 35° 40' south and 138° 58' east, the discoveries made by captain Baudin upon the South Coast have their termination to the west; as mine in the Investigator have to the eastward. Yet Mons. Peron, naturalist in the French expedition, has laid a claim for his nation to the discovery of all the parts between Western Port in Bass Strait, and Nuyts' Archipelago; and this part of New South Wales is called Terre Napoléon. My Kangaroo Island, a name which they openly adopted in the expedition, has been converted at Paris into L'Isle Decrés; Spencer's Gulph is named Golfe Bonaparte; the Gulph of St. Vincent, Golfe Josephine; and so on along the whole coast to Cape Nuyts, not even the smallest island being left without some similar stamp of French discovery.*
[* The most remarkable passages on the subject are the following, under the title of Terre Napoléon.
"De ce grand espace (the south coast of Terra Australis), la partie seule qui du Cap Leuwen s'étend aux îles St. Pierre et St. François, écoit connue lors de notre départ d'Europe. Découverte par les Hollandois en 1627, elle avoit été, dans ces derniers temps, visitée par VANCOUVER et surtout par DENTRECASTEAUX; mais ce dernier navigateur n'ayant pu lui-même s'avancer au-delà des îles St. Pierre et St. François, qui forment la limite orientale de la terre de Nuyts, et les Anglois n'ayant pas porté vers le Sud leurs recherches plus loin que le port Western, il en résultoit que toute la portion comprise entre ce dernier point et la terre de Nuyts étoit encore inconnue au moment où nous arrivions sur ces rivages." p. 316. That is on March 30, 1802. M. Peron should have said, not that the south coast from Western Port to Nuyts' Land was then unknown; but that it was unknown to them; for captain Grant of the Lady Nelson had discovered the eastern part, from Western Port to the longitude 140¼°, in the year 1800, before the French ships sailed from Europe; and on the west I had explored the coast and islands from Nuyts' land to Cape Jervis in 138° 10', and was, on the day specified, at the head of the Gulph of St. Vincent.
"Dans ce moment, le capitaine Anglois nous héla, en nous dernandant si nous n'étions pas l'un des deux vaisseaux partis de France pour faire des découvertes dans l'hemisphère Austral. Sur notre réponse affirmative, il fit aussitôt mettre une embarcation a la mer, et peu d'instans après nous le reçûmes à bord. Nous apprîmes que c'étoit le capitaine FLINDERS, celui-là même qui avoit déja fait la circonnavigation de la terre de Diémen; que son navire se nommoit the Investigator; que, parti d'Europe depuis huit mois dans le dessein de compléter la reconnoissance de la Nouvelle Hollande et des archipels du grand Océan équatorial, il se trouvoit, depuis environs trois mois, à la terre de Nuyts; que, contrarié par les vents, il n'avoit pu pénétrer, comme il en avoit eu le projet, derrière les îles St. Pierre et St. François; que, lors de son départ d'Angleterre," etc. p. 324, 325.
"En nous fournissant tous ces détails. M. FLINDERS se montra d'une grande réserve sur ses opérations particulières. Nous apprimes toutefois par quelques-uns de ses matelots, qu'il avoit eu beaucoup à souffrir de ces mêmes vents de la partie du Sud qui nous avoient êtê si favorables, et ce fut alors sur-tout que nous pûmes apprécier davantage toute la sagesse de nos propres instructions. Après avoir conversé plus d'une heure avec nous," (no person except Mr. Brown was present at my conversation with captain Baudin, as I have already said), "le capitaine FLINDERS repartit pour son bord, promettant de revenir le lendemain matin nous apporter une carte particulière de la rivière Dalrymple, qu'il venait de publier en Angleterre. Il revint en effet, le 9 avril, nous la remettre, et bientôt après nous le quittâmes pour reprendre la suite de nos tra vaux géographiques." p. 325.
"L'île principale de ce dernier groupe" (their Archipel Berthier) "se dessine sous la forme d'un immense hamaçon." (Thistle's Island seems to he here meant.) "Indépendamment de toutes ces îles, il en existe encore plus de vingt autres disséminées aux environs de la pointe occidentale du golfe et en déhors de son entée: chacune d'elles fut désignée par un de ces noms honorables dont notre patrie s'enorgueillit à juste titre." p. 327.
Voyage de Découverte aux Terres Australes, rédigé par M. F. Peron, Naturaliste de l'expédition, etc. Paris, 1807.]
It is said by M. Peron, and upon my authority too, that the Investigator had not been able to penetrate behind the Isles of St. Peter and St. Francis; and though he doth not say directly that no part of the before unknown coast was discovered by me, yet the whole tenor of his Chap. XV induces the reader to believe that I had done nothing which could interfere with the prior claim of the French.
Yet M. Peron was present afterwards at Port Jackson when I showed one of my charts of this coast to captain Baudin, and pointed out the limits of his discovery; and so far from any prior title being set up at that time to Kangaroo Island and the parts westward, the officers of the Géographe always spoke of them as belonging to the Investigator. The first lieutenant, Mons. Freycinet, even made use of the following odd expression, addressing himself to me in the house of governor King, and in the presence of one of his companions, I think Mons. Bonnefoy: "Captain, if we had not been kept so long picking up shells and catching butterflies at Van Diemen's Land, you would not have discovered the South Coast before us."
The English officers and respectable inhabitants then at Port Jackson can say if the prior discovery of these parts were not generally acknowledged; nay, I appeal to the French officers themselves, generally and individually, if such were not the case. How then came M. Peron to advance what was so contrary to truth? Was he a man destitute of all principle? My answer is, that I believe his candour to have been equal to his acknowledged abilities; and that what he wrote was from over-ruling authority, and smote him to the heart; he did not live to finish the second volume.
The motive for this aggression I do not pretend to explain. It may have originated in the desire to rival the British nation in the honour of completing the discovery of the globe; or be intended as the forerunner of a claim to the possession of the countries so said to have been first discovered by French navigators. Whatever may have been the object in view, the question, so far as I am concerned, must be left to the judgment of the world; and if succeeding French writers can see and admit the claims of other navigators as clearly and readily as a late most able man of that nation* has pointed out their own in some other instances, I shall not fear to leave it even to their decision.
[* M. DE FLEURIEU.]
Examination of the coast resumed.
Encounter Bay.
The capes Bernouilli and Jaffa.
Baudin's Rocks.
Differences in the bearings on tacking.
Cape Buffon, the eastern limit of the French discovery.
The capes Northumberland and Bridgewater of captain Grant.
Danger from a south-west gale.
King's Island, in Bass' Strait: Anchorage there.
Some account of the island.
Nautical observations.
New Year's Isles.
Cape Otway, and the north-west entrance to Bass' Strait.
Anchorage in, and examination of Port Phillip.
The country and inhabitants.
Nautical observations.
[SOUTH COAST. ENCOUNTER BAY]
FRIDAY 9 APRIL 1802
I returned with Mr. Brown on board the Investigator at half past eight in the morning, and we then separated from Le Géographe; captain Baudin's course being directed to the north-west, and ours to the southward. We had lost ground during the night, and the wind was very feeble at east, so that the French ship was in sight at noon, and our situation was as follows:
At the place where we tacked from the shore on the morning of the 8th, the high land of Cape Jervis had retreated from the waterside, the coast was become low and sandy, and its trending was north-east; but after running four or five leagues in that direction it curved round to the south-eastward, and thus formed a large bight or bay. The head of this bay was probably seen by captain Baudin in the afternoon; and in consequence of our meeting here, I distinguished it by the name of ENCOUNTER BAY. The succeeding part of the coast having been first discovered by the French navigator, I shall make use of the names in describing it which he or his country men have thought proper to apply; that is, so far as the volume published enables me to make them out; but this volume being unaccompanied with charts, and containing few latitudes and longitudes by which the capes and bays can be identified, I must be excused should any errors be committed in the nomenclature.
There was no wind from noon to two o'clock; and it appeared by the lead that the ship was drifted to the west-north-west, probably by a flood tide. On a breeze springing up from the southward we stretched in for the shore; and at six in the evening it was four miles distant, being sandy and generally very low; but there were several hillocks upon it high enough to be seen four or five leagues from a ship's deck, and one of them, more bluff than the rest, and nearly destitute of vegetation, bore N. 17° E. Next day [SATURDAY 10 APRIL 1802] at noon our situation was within three miles of the land, but very little advanced beyond that of the preceding day, our latitude being 35° 49 1/3', and the bluff hummock in sight bearing N. 22° W.
A tide or current setting along the shore appeared to retard us considerably, for at sunset we were not so much as two miles from the noon's place; the hummock then bore N. 25° W., and the furthest part of the coast south-east-by-east from the mast head.
An amplitude taken in the morning, with the ship's head west-by-south, gave 5° 11' east variation; and in the afternoon, when the land was only three miles distant and the head south-east, azimuths with the same compass gave 0° 50' west. These, corrected to the meridian in the mode I have adopted, will be severally 1° 57' and 1° 30' east; and the mean 1° 44'. The variation had therefore decreased considerably since leaving Kangaroo Island, contrary to the natural order; which proves that the quick increase on passing Yorke's Peninsula, was owing to some peculiar attraction, either in that or the neighbouring lands. Whilst beating through the Back-stairs Passage, I had observed an amplitude when the ship's head was south-south-west, which gave the extraordinary variation of 2° 41' east, or reduced to the meridian, 1° 27' east; although we were then not so much as four miles from the anchorage where it had been found 4° 13' east. Another amplitude was observed at eight leagues to the east of Cape Willoughby, when the head was north-east-half-east, and gave 2° 5' east variation, or reduced, 4° 36'. This last is correspondent with what was observed near Kangaroo Head and in the Gulph of St. Vincent; but the variation of 1° 27' in the passage is totally irregular, and must I think be ascribed to an attraction either in Cape Jervis to the north-east, or in the east end of Kangaroo Island to the south-east, or to both. When the great variation Of 4° 36' was obtained, both these lands were to the west; and when afterwards the 1° 57' and 1° 30' were observed, the nearest land was again to the eastward of the ship; and nearest in the last case.
The winds continued to be light and unfavourable; but by taking advantage of the changes in direction, and keeping further from the land, out of the tide or current, we had gained eight leagues by noon of the 11th [SUNDAY 11 APRIL 1802]. About twenty miles of coast beyond what had been set as the furthest extreme on the preceding day, was then in sight (Atlas Plate V.); and our situation and bearings were as follow:
At one o'clock we bore away along the coast with a light breeze from the north-eastward; and having run five leagues, tacked to seaward soon after dark. Next morning [MONDAY 12 APRIL 1802] we again followed the coast at the distance of from five to three miles; and at noon a somewhat projecting part, which appears to be the Cape Bernouilli of the French navigators, was three or four miles distant to the east. Its latitude is 36° 33' and longitude 139° 51'; and about six miles to the south-south-east there are two low, black rocks lying close under the shore.
[SOUTH COAST. TOWARDS CAPE NORTHUMBERLAND.]
From Encounter Bay to this slight projection the coast is little else than a bank of sand, with a few hummocks on the top, partially covered with small vegetation; nor could anything in the interior country be distinguished above the bank. The shore runs waving between east-south-east and south-south-east; but to form what is called Cape Bernouilli it trends south, and then curves back south-eastward into a bight. The land then becomes better clothed with bushes and small trees; and it also differs from the more northern part in that some little risings of back land were visible.
Our soundings were more shallow along this part of the coast than before. The depth in passing Cape Bernouilli was from 8 to 12 fathoms; and on tacking out of the southern bight, at half past five in the evening, it was no more than 6, at three miles from the shore. We then saw land extending as far out as S. 29° W., which was the south head of the bight, and appears to be the Cape Jaffa of the French; but I do not find that they have given any name to the bight or bay, although much more deserving than some other sinuosities in the coast on which that honour is conferred.
This evening the variation from azimuths was 1° 25' east, taken when the ship's head was S. S. E. ½ E.; which being corrected upon the same principle as before, is 3° 0' east, and showed the variation to be now increasing, according to the regular order.
During the night, we worked up successfully against a south-south-east wind, for at six in the morning [TUESDAY 13 APRIL 1802] the low, outer extreme of Cape Jaffa bore N. 15° E., six or seven miles. The shore is sandy, but rises from the beach to a moderate elevation, and is then well clothed with small wood. About three leagues to the south of the cape is a cluster of low rocks, apparently the same of which captain Baudin had given me information; they do not, however, lie exactly in the situation expressed in his memorandum, and are not more than two miles from the land. We called them Baudin's Rocks; and since no name is applied to them in M. Peron's account of their voyage, the appelation is continued.
Four miles beyond the rocks is a point of moderate elevation; sandy, but mostly overspread with bushes. This is their Cape Lannes; and on its north side is a small bay, called the Baye de Rivoli, with a sandy shore and open to west winds. The bearings of these places, and our situation at noon, half an hour after tacking from Baudin's Rocks, were as under;
WEDNESDAY 14 APRIL 1802
For the last two days there had been a little current in our favour, and notwithstanding that the winds had been mostly adverse, we made some progress along the coast; but on opening out the land beyond Cape Lannes, the current took a northern direction, and at noon of this day we were no further advanced than to have that cape bearing N. 86° E. at the distance of nine or ten miles. The furthest part of the coast then visible was a peaked sandy hummock, bearing S. 68½° E. In the night, the wind came more off the land, and permitted us to make an advantageous tack to the southward; and at noon next day [THURSDAY 15 APRIL 1802], when we had reached in again with the coast, our situation was in
In the evening we got sight of a projecting and somewhat elevated part which lies ten leagues to the south-eastward of Cape Lannes, and appears to be the Cape Buffon of the French navigators. The intermediate coast is similar to that between Encounter Bay and Cape Bernouilli, with the sole difference that the hummocks upon the sandy bank are somewhat higher: nothing inland appeared above them.
The wind was again favourable in the night for making a long stretch to the southward; and it was prolonged to the next day at noon [FRIDAY 16 APRIL 1802], when our distance from the coast was judged to be ten leagues; but no part of it was in sight, and we had then got out of soundings, there being no bottom at 200 fathoms. The latitude was 37° 57' south, and longitude from six sets of distances of stars east and west of the moon, 139° 39', but by the time keepers corrected, 139° 45' east. Not more than seven or eight leagues from this situation, there should lie an island according to the account given by captain Turnbull of the Britannia south whaler, who saw it in his passage out to Port Jackson. Having thick weather at the time, he was not able to ascertain its latitude or longitude, otherwise than by the log; and as it was not in sight from our mast head, its position must be considered as very uncertain.
The variations observed this day, with the same compass always on the binnacle, were as under:
The mean, reduced to the meridian, will be 4° 5' east. Nine leagues to the north, and half the distance nearer to the land, an amplitude had been taken with the ship's head in the meridian, which gave 4° 8' east.
On the three preceding days many tacks had been made from the shore, and I had frequently taken bearings just before the helm was put down; and so soon as the ship was round and the compass steady, they were again taken. Differences always took place; and without any exception the bearings required a greater allowance of variation to the right after tacking, when the head was westward, than before, when eastward; agreeing with the differences so frequently found in the azimuths and amplitudes, which had always been to show a greater east or less west variation when the head was on the west side of the meridian. The least average difference in any one of five sets of bearings was 5°, the greatest 6½°, and the mean 5° 54'; and according to the system adopted in correcting the variations, explained in the Appendix No. II. to the second volume, the mean difference arising from the five changes in the direction of the ship's head, should be 5° 33'.
The eastern wind died away at noon of the 16th, and the ship scarcely had steerage way until after midnight; a breeze then sprung up from the north-westward, and we steered north-east to make the land near Cape Buffon. At half-past seven [SATURDAY 17 APRIL 1802] the cape bore N. 1° W. seven miles, and was ascertained to be in nearly 37° 36' south and 140° 10' east. There is a bight in the coast on its north side where the land was not distinctly seen all round, owing probably to its being a low beach. At nine o'clock we bore away southward, keeping at the distance of two or three miles from the shore. It was the same kind of hummock-topped bank as before described; but a ridge of moderately high hills, terminated to the southward by a bluff, was visible over it, three or four leagues inland; and there was a reef of rocks lying in front of the shore. At noon, two larger rocks were seen at the southern end of the reef, and are those called by the French the Carpenters. They lie one or two miles from a sandy projection named by them Cape Boufflers; and here a prior title to discovery interferes.
On arriving at Port Jackson I learned, and so did captain Baudin, that this coast had been before visited. Lieutenant (now captain) James Grant, commander of His Majesty's brig Lady Nelson, saw the above projection, which he named Cape Banks, on Dec. 3, 1800; and followed the coast from thence through Bass Strait.* The same principle upon which I had adopted the names applied by the French navigators to the parts discovered by them will now guide me in making use of the appellations bestowed by captain Grant.
[* See A Voyage in the Lady Nelson to New South Wales, by James Grant. London, 1803. This voyage was published four years previously to M. Peron's book; but no more attention was paid at Paris to captain Grant's rights than to mine; his discoveries, though known to M. Peron and the French expedition in 1802, being equally claimed and named by them.]
The termination to the west of that part of the South Coast discovered by captain Baudin in Le Géographe has been pointed out; and it seems proper to specify its commencement to the east, that the extent of his Terre Napoléon may be properly defined. The beginning of the land which, of all Europeans, was first seen by him, so far as is known, cannot be placed further to the south-east than Cape Buffon; for the land is laid down to the northward of it in captain Grant's chart, though indistinctly. The Terre Napoléon is therefore comprised between the latitudes 37° 36' and 35° 40' south, and the longitudes 140° 10' and 138° 58' east of Greenwich; making, with the windings, about fifty leagues of coast, in which, as captain Baudin truly observed, there is neither river, inlet nor place of shelter, nor does even the worst parts of Nuyts' Land exceed it in sterility.
At noon of the 17th we were in
[* The addition of West is made to the name, to distinguish it from Cape Banks on the East Coast, named by captain Cook. It is to be regretted, that
In the afternoon the wind veered to the southward, and we tacked from the shore, not being able to weather the Carpenters at the south end of the reef. A long swell rolled in at this time, and seemed to announce a gale from the southward, yet the wind died away in the night, and at daybreak [SUNDAY 18 APRIL 1802] a light breeze sprung up at north-west, and enabled us to close in with the land. We passed the Carpenters at the distance of four miles; but at two in the afternoon the wind again died away. A cliffy point, which proved to be the Cape Northumberland of captain Grant, was then in sight, as also were two inland mountains lying to the north-east; the nearest is his Mount Schanck, of a flat, table-like form; the further one, Mount Gambier, is peaked. The following bearings were taken whilst lying becalmed.
The long swell from the southward still prevailed, and the barometer was fast falling; but at seven in the evening a breeze sprung up once more from the north-west, and after stretching a little off from the shore, we laid to for the greater part of the night. At daylight [MONDAY 19 APRIL 1802] the wind was at north-north-west, and blew fresh, with squally weather. We reached in for the land; and at eight,
Close to Cape Northumberland are two pointed rocks resembling the back fins of sharks; and on its eastern side were heavy breakers, extending more than a mile from the shore. The situation of the cape, as near as it could be ascertained, is in 38° 2' south and 140° 37½' east.
Beyond Cape Northumberland the coast was found to trend east-by-north, but curved afterwards to east-by-south; it was higher than we had lately seen and not so barren; nevertheless, the shrubs and small trees did not more than half cover the sandy surface. We pursued the round of the coast at the distance of four or five miles, having three reefs in the top-sails on account of the squally weather. At ten o'clock, in a clear interval, land was seen bearing S. 51° E.; and a thick squall with rain coming on, in which the wind shifted suddenly from north-north-west to south-west, we were forced to haul close up and let out the third reefs in order to weather the coast. A constant succession of rainy squalls prevented us from knowing how the land lay for some time, nor could an observation for the latitude be obtained; but at half-past noon our anxiety was relieved by distinguishing the furthest extreme, a bold, cliffy, cape, bearing S. 72½° E., broad on the lee bow.
[SOUTH COAST. OFF CAPE BRIDGEWATER.]
This high projection was the Cape Bridgewater of captain Grant. A hill upon it slopes to the edge of the cliffs in which the cape is begirt toward the sea; and on the land side it descends so low that the connection of the hill with the main could not be clearly discerned. To the northward, and nearly in a line with the first, are two other hills almost equal to it in elevation. As we passed Cape Bridgewater, a second cliffy head opened at S. 73½° E., and a further round the last at N. 83° E. These are the Capes Nelson and Sir W. Grant, though differing considerably in relative position from what they are laid down in captain Grant's chart.
At two o'clock, the weather having become somewhat finer, I ventured to bear away along the coast; and presently a small island with two hummocks on it and a rock nearer to the shore were visible: these are Lawrence's Isles. The bearings of the land at four were,
Before six we hauled the wind off shore; having set the double isle at N. 43° W., six or seven miles, and seen the land indistinctly as far as east-north-east.
During the night there were squalls of wind with hail and rain, but tolerably moderate weather in the intervals. At daylight [TUESDAY 20 APRIL 1802], we bore away for the land; and at half past seven, the
This last is Lady Julia Percy's Isle; and when it bore N. 64° E. five miles, we steered eastward along the coast. At some distance inland, to the northward of Lady Percy's Isle, a round hill was distinguished; but the shore was scarcely perceptible through the squalls and haze: what little of it could be seen, appeared to be sandy and of moderate elevation.
At eleven, the land was perceived to the eastward, and we hauled up east-south-east. Our latitude at noon, from an indifferent double altitude, was 38° 33½' and it is upon this uncertain observation, that the correctness of the neighbouring lands in the chart principally depend; I do not, therefore, specify here either the latitudes or longitudes. The coast was seen to leeward at times, and appeared to he moderately high; we ran along it at the distance of five, and from that to eight miles, clewing down the treble-reefed top sails occasionally, and setting them after the squalls were passed. At two o'clock, the land appeared to be trending south-east, which obliged us to haul up to the wind and take in close reefs; and the gale increasing, the fore and mizen top sails were handed.
It was seldom that the weather would allow of any thing being distinguished beyond two miles; and when the night came on we were quite uncertain of the trending of the coast. At eight o'clock, by favour of moon light and a short cessation of rain, land was perceived on the lee beam; it seemed to be a head of considerable elevation, and was judged to be from three to six miles off. The fore and mizen top-sails and reefed main-sail were immediately set, notwithstanding the danger to the masts; and there being much sea running, the ship was kept one point from the wind to make her go through the water. We had no chance of clearing the land on the other tack, and therefore our sole hope was that the coast might not trend any further to the southward.
WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 1802
At two in the morning the strength of the gale obliged us to take in the fore and mizen top sails and main sail; and we had soundings in 45 fathoms, small stones. Our anxiety was great until daylight, when it was dissipated by not finding any land near us; and in the course of the morning the wind moderated, the barometer began to ascend, and the weather became even fine. Our latitude at noon was 39° 10½' and longitude 144° 22'; the last being 22' more than given by the log. High land was then visible astern, extending from about N. 50° to 17° W., at the supposed distance of twelve or fifteen leagues.
[SOUTH COAST. BASS' STRAIT.]
We were now entered into Bass' Strait; and the subsiding of the sea made me suspect that the large island, concerning which I had made inquiry of captain Baudin, was to windward. The south part of this island was discovered by Mr. Reid in a sealing expedition from Port Jackson; and before quitting New South Wales in 1799, I had received an account of its lying to the north-west of Hunter's Isles. It afterwards appeared that the northern part was seen in January 1801 by Mr. John Black, commander of the brig Harbinger, who gave to it the name of KING'S ISLAND.* Of this I was ignorant at the time; but since it was so very dangerous to explore the main coast with the present south-west wind, I was desirous of ascertaining the position of this island before going to Port Jackson, more especially as it had escaped the observation of Captain Baudin.
[* Grant's Voyage to New South Wales, page 86.]
Our soundings in the afternoon, and until four in the morning [THURSDAY 22 APRIL 1802] when we tacked to the westward, were from 35 to 28 fathoms, sand and shells. At eight o'clock, land was seen to the south-west; and at noon our
We tacked to the south-south-east at three o'clock, working up for King's Island, which was distant about five or six leagues directly to windward. In the night we lay up south, parallel with the east side of the island; but the soundings having diminished to 16 fathoms, I feared we might be approaching a reef of rocks lying off the south-east end, of which Mr. Reid had spoken. We therefore tacked to the northward at eleven o'clock; and after beating until three in the following afternoon [FRIDAY 23 APRIL 1802], got to an anchor in 9 fathoms, fine sand, under the north-east end of King's Island; the nearest part of the shore being distant a short half mile, and the extremes bearing S. 37° E. and N. 69° W.
A boat was immediately hoisted out, and I landed with the botanical gentlemen. On stepping out of the boat I shot one of those little bear-like quadrupeds called Womat; and another was afterwards killed. A seal, of a species different to any yet seen by us, was also procured; its phippers behind were double when compared to the common kinds of seal, and those forward were smaller, and placed nearer to the head; the hair was much shorter, and of a blueish, grey colour; the nose flat and broad; and the fat upon the animal was at least treble the usual quantity. I never saw the sea elephant, and possibly this might have been a young female; but there was no appearance of any trunk. A top-mast studding-sail boom, not much injured, was lying near the landing-place; and as I afterwards learned that the wreck of a vessel had been found upon the west side of the island, this boom had probably drifted from thence.
The north-east part of King's Island extends south-east-by-east, three or four leagues. The shore is mostly of sand, and behind the beach it was washed or blown up in great ridges, but partly overspread with a kind of dog grass which kept the sand together. In general the land is low; but some little eminences appeared at a distance, and at the north end of the island there is a short range of hills, moderately high and covered with wood. Granite seemed to be the basis of the shore where we landed. Behind the front ridges of sand was a brush wood, so thick as to be almost impenetrable; but whilst I was occupied in taking bearings, the botanists found some openings in the brush, and picked up so many plants as to make them desirous of a further examination. We returned on board at dusk, with our womats, the seal and a kangaroo; the last being of a middle size between the small species of the lesser islands and the large kind found at Kangaroo Island and on the continent. It appeared indeed, all along the South Coast, that the size of the kangaroo bore some proportion to the extent of land which it inhabited.
SATURDAY 24 APRIL 1802
In the morning the wind blew fresh from the southward. A boat was sent on shore with Mr. Brown and his party; and at eleven o'clock, when they returned, we got under way.
A small lake of fresh water was found at a little distance behind the sandy ridges in front of the shore. This was surrounded by a good vegetable soil; and the number of plants, collected near it was greater than had before been found upon any one island. The small lake is too far from the sea side for a ship to obtain water from it conveniently; but two little streams which drained from the sand hills made it probable that fresh water might have been obtained anywhere at this time by digging. The water of these rills was tinged red, similar to that obtained at King George's Sound and to the pools I had before seen at Furneaux's Islands; and as the stone in these places is granite, and water so discoloured was not found any where else, it seems very probable that the discolouring arises from the granite and granitic sand.
Two more womats were killed this morning; and a skull was picked up which was thought to be of a small dog, but more probably was that of an opossum.
From the observations taken whilst beating up to the anchorage, the top of the highest hill at the north end of King's Island will be in latitude 39° 36½' south, and longitude 143° 54' east. The variation of the compass, taken on the binnacle with the ship's head at south, was 7° 59' east; but ten leagues to the eastward it was 11° 52', with the head west-south-west, or reduced to the meridian, 8° 43' east. The tides set one mile and a half an hour past the ship, northwest-by-west and south-east-by-east, nearly as the coast lies; that from the eastward running nearly eight hours, and turning about two hours after the moon had passed the meridian; but, which tide was the flood, or what the rise, we did not remain long enough to determine.
The time was fast approaching when it would be necessary to proceed to Port Jackson, both on account of the winter season, and from the want of some kinds of provisions. Before this took place I wished to finish as much of the South Coast as possible, and would have recommenced at Cape Bridgewater had the wind been favourable; but it still blew fresh from the southward, and all that part remained a lee shore. I determined, however, to run over to the high land we had seen on the north side of Bass' Strait, and to trace as much of the coast from thence eastward as the state of the weather and our remaining provisions could possibly allow.
In steering north-north-west from King's Island, two small isles were seen lying off the north-west side; the first opening from the northern extreme at S. 50°, and the second being clear of it at S. 36° W. These are the same which Mr. Black named New Year's Isles; and his Harbinger's Reefs were seen to extend, in patches, nearly two leagues from the north end of King's Islands; but there is, as I afterwards learned, one or more passages between the reefs, and another between them and the island.*
[* The New Year's Isles form a small roadsted, in which the brig Harrington from Port Jackson, commanded by Mr. W. Campbell, had rode out the south-west gale; and was lying there at this time, engaged in a sealing speculation. Bass' Strait had not been discovered much above two years, and it was already turned to purposes of