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.
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:
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:
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:
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,
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.
The Percy Isles: anchorage at No. 2.
Boat excursions.
Remarks on the Percy Isles; with nautical observations.
Coral reefs: courses amongst them during eleven days search for a passage through, to sea.
Description of a reef.
Anchorage at an eastern Cumberland Isle.
The Lady Nelson sent back to Port Jackson.
Continuation of coral reefs; and courses amongst them during three other days.
Cape Gloucester.
An opening discovered, and the reefs quitted.
General remarks on the Great Barrier; with some instruction relative to the opening.
[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.
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.
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:
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.