This outer island is nearly a mile long, E. by N. and W. by S., and mostly destitute of wood; but one valley was thickly covered, and so interlaced with vines as to be impenetrable. The latitude observed to the north and south, at the sandy west point, was 12° 52' 59" south.

We re-joined the ship at one o'clock, and steered northward, without side of the islets and rocks which lie scattered along the shore as far as Mount Alexander. Amongst these are three near to each other, with hummocks upon them, which, as in many points of view they seem to make but one island, may probably have been meant by the northernmost of the three isles in the Dutch chart.

The wind had been from the southward, but on closing in with the coast at Mount Alexander it came from N. W. by N., and edged us off a little from the land. At sunset the shore was three or four miles distant, and

We steered on till eight o'clock, and then anchored in 21 fathoms, blue mud. At daylight [FRIDAY 11 FEBRUARY 1803], the shore was found to be distant four or five miles; the furthest part then seen was near the eastern extremity of Arnhem's Land, and this having no name in the Dutch chart, is called CAPE ARNHEM.

From Mount Alexander to Cape Arnhem there is nine leagues of waving sandy coast; it affords only one small opening, which is on the south side of a cliffy point, with two islets lying off the entrance, and may probably afford shelter for boats.

At eight in the morning we passed Cape Arnhem, a smooth grassy projection which rises gently from the water's edge into the country, but is no where of much elevation; a broad rock lies near the south-eastern extremity, and its position was ascertained to be 12° 19' south, and 137° 1' east. Strong ripplings of a tide or current extended some distance off the cape, and in passing through them we had irregular soundings between 27 and 18 fathoms; beyond Cape Arnhem the shore trended N. W. by N., in rocky points and shallow bights, but the wind being from that direction, we could not follow it closely. The furthest land visible at noon was a flat-topped hill which I call Mount Saunders, and nearer to us was a higher and more woody hill, also flat-topped and steep at its north end, to which is given the name of Mount Dundas; their bearings, and our position at this time were as under:

We tacked to the westward in the afternoon, and an island came in sight, lying to the north of the two mounts, with several rocks and islets scattered on its north-east side. At sunset the wind died away, and a stream anchor was dropped in 16 fathoms sandy ground; our situation being five miles from the shore under Mount Dundas, and three from the nearest rocky islets to the north-west. The flood tide set gently to the westward, and induced me to suppose there might be a passage within the island and rocks, and in the morning [SATURDAY 12 FEBRUARY 1803] our endeavours were used to reach it; but the winds being light and mostly contrary, the evening came before we got through. An anchor was then dropped in 4 fathoms, coarse sand, one mile and a half from the sandy shore under Mount Saunders, and three miles from the south-west end of the island. The passage is more than two miles wide, and our soundings in working through it were between 4½ and 6 fathoms on a gravelly bottom; but afterwards we had little more in some places than 3 fathoms.

[NORTH COAST. MELVILLE BAY.]

Two natives, with a canoe, had been seen upon the island; and as our boat stood that way, sounding ahead of the ship, they waved and called to the people. The island is about five miles long, and between one and two in breadth; it is low, mostly destitute of wood, and the shores in general are sandy; and not being laid down in the Dutch chart, I distinguish it, with the islets and rocks to the north and north-east, by the name of Melville Isles: the south end which forms the passage, lies in 12° 8½' south, and 136° 52' east. In the opposite shore, between Mount Saunders and Dundas, is a sandy bight where ships would be sheltered from all winds except those at north-east, if the water be deep enough for them. The trees upon the hills showed a dark-green foliage; but the low land, especially under Mount Saunders, was sandy and barren, and so continued for seven miles westward, to a low point near a woody islet. Further on, the coast took a northern direction, and was seen from the mast head as far as N. N. W.; but no other part could be set from the deck than the highest of several eminences on the back land, named Mount Bonner, which proved to be an useful mark in the survey. The bearings taken at this anchorage were principally these:

SUNDAY 13 FEBRUARY 1803

In the morning we steered westward, with a light air of wind at south and a flood tide in our favour; and having passed over some ripplings near the anchorage, our soundings became regular, increasing from 7 to 12 fathoms. On a breeze setting in at north-west, the course was directed towards a bight behind the woody islet; and a little before noon its appearance became so promising, that I steered into it before the wind. In passing the islet and sandy point we had from 10 to 7 fathoms, in an opening of four miles wide; and a bay of considerable extent then lay before us. In the middle of the bay were three rocks, and to the north-east of them a headland, beyond which the water extended eastward; we steered to pass between these till the depth diminished to 4 fathoms, when we tacked and let go the anchor in the north-eastern part of the bay, in 5 fathoms, muddy bottom; the sandy point at the entrance bore W. by N., one mile and a quarter, and the largest of some granitic rocks in front of the beach, N. by W. half a mile.

A boat was sent to haul the seine on the beach, and I went there with the botanical gentlemen. The depth was 5 fathoms close to the shore, even within the rocks; and the ship might have been placed there in perfect security, though the room was scarcely sufficient to allow of swinging at single anchor. I called the largest of the rocks which form the south-east side of this snug little place, Harbour Rock; and the sandy point at the entrance of the bay is named Point Dundas. After the seine had been hauled with good success, I walked to the extremity of the point; and from a hillock of sand a little way back, took a set of bearings to commence the survey, in which was included the bluff north end of Mount Saunders at N. 74° 55' E. Many foot-marks of men, dogs, and small kangaroos were observed on the beach., but neither natives nor quadrupeds were seen.

MONDAY 14 FEBRUARY 1803

Early next morning a party of men was sent to cut wood, and the botanical gentlemen landed on Point Dundas upon their pursuits; I went to examine the north-eastern part of the bay, where the water extended two miles above the ship; but the depth in it presently diminished to 2½ fathoms, and to 1 near the end. Beyond a low isthmus there, a piece of water was seen communicating with the south-eastern part of the bay, and making a peninsula of the high rocky land named Drimmie Head; at high water, indeed, it is an island, for the tide then flows over some parts of the isthmus. After taking two sets of bearings, I rowed southward along the shore of Drimmie Head; and from a hill near the south-west extremity obtained a good view of the bay, and saw the western coast as far northward as a cliffy cape which was named after William Wilberforce, Esq., the worthy representative of Yorkshire. The principal bearings from hence were,

Leaving Drimmie Head, I steered over to the middlemost of the three rocks in the bay, with a depth of water from 3 to 6½ fathoms, on muddy ground. These rocks lie nearly due south from Point Dundas, and I proposed to observe the latitude on both sides from thence, whilst lieutenant Flinders did the same at the point, that a base line for the survey might be obtained from the difference; but the difficulty of finding a convenient position disappointed me, and no satisfactory base was obtained here; so that the extent of this bay in the chart is rather uncertain.

My course from the three rocks was directed S. S. E., for the south side of the bay; the distance was three miles, and the depth for half the way from 5 to 3 fathoms, but afterwards shoal. Upon some low cliffs there, partly composed of pipe clay, a few bearings were taken; and after walking a little way inland, to examine the country, I rowed back to a small island near the south extremity of Drimmie Head, with soundings mostly between 3 and 6½ fathoms; but there is no ship passage between it and the head. Having taken some additional bearings and looked over the islet, I returned on board in the evening; passing in the way near a rock, dry at half tide, but round which, at a ship's length, there is 2½ to 3 fathoms.

TUESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 1803

Some further bearings and observations were taken on the 15th, and my intention to sail on the following morning being frustrated by a fresh wind at north-west, with unsettled weather, Messieurs Brown and Bauer accompanied me [WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 1803] in a boat excursion to the eastern part of the bay. We first landed at the islet near Drimmie Head, that Mr. Brown might examine its mineralogy; and then steered three miles eastward for a low projection covered with mangroves, growing on rocks of strongly impregnated iron stone. Coasting along the mangrove shore from thence northward, and after landing at one other place, we came to the isthmus which connects Drimmie Head to the land of Point Dundas; and it being near high water, the boat was got over the isthmus by a small passage through the mangroves, and we reached the ship at one o'clock, where every thing was prepared for weighing the anchor.

This bay is unnoticed in the Dutch chart, and I name it MELVILLE BAY, in compliment to the Right Hon. Robert Saunders Dundas, viscount Melville, who, as first lord of the Admiralty, has continued that patronage to the voyage which it had experienced under some of his predecessors. It is the best harbour we found in the Gulph of Carpentaria; the entrance is from the N. N. W., four miles wide, and free from danger; and within side, the sole dangers not conspicuous, are a sandy spit running half a mile to the S. S. E. from Point Dundas, and the Half-tide Rock. This lies half a mile from the north-west part of Drimmie Head, and bears (true as usual),

Melville Bay every where affords good holding ground, the bottom being either mud or sand; and there is depth for a ship to run between the three rocks in the middle of the bay and Drimmie Head, and steer eastward until the head is brought to bear N. N. W., at the distance of one or two miles; but the most convenient anchorage is just within the entrance, between Point Dundas and Harbour Rock, where a ship may lie close to the sandy beach in from 3 to 5 fathoms. Even within the rock there is depth enough; and were moorings laid down, four or five sail might swing there in perfect security. We obtained here fire wood, and a tolerable supply of fish; and had water been wanted, it might have been obtained by digging at the foot of the small hills to the north-east of Harbour Rock, since a hole made there by the natives was found to contain good water.

The stone on the north side of Melville Bay is a granitic composition of quartz, mica, and coarse garnets; the garnets are large, and give the stone a plum-pudding-like appearance, and when polished, it would be beautiful: over the granite is a crust of calcareous rock in many places. On the south side of the bay the stone is argillaceous, but frequently mixed with ferruginous grains; and on the south-east side the rocks are of iron ore, of which a small piece drew the needle of my theodolite 8° from the meridian. The bearings taken here were found to have been 50° wrong; but too late to ascertain whether the error arose from the attraction of the shore, or from the needle having been placed at 310° by mistake, instead of 360°.

There did not appear to be any rich soil on the borders of the bay; but on the south and eastern sides the country was covered with an agreeable intermixture of grass and trees, and better adapted for cattle than any I have seen in so low a latitude. The soil, though not deep, would produce most things suited to the climate; for the heat and moisture do so much for vegetation, that very little earth seems necessary to its support. On the south side the trees are mostly different species of eucalyptus, growing tall and straight, though not large; whereas on the sandy parts of Point Dundas, a casuarina, of the same species as seen at Coen River and other parts of the gulph, was most abundant, and served us for fuel. A santalum, more nearly allied to the true sandel wood than any before seen in this country, was found on the borders of the bay.

No inhabitants were perceived, nor any fresh traces of them; but as dogs were seen twice, it is probable the natives were watching us at no great distance; they had visited all the places where I landed, and should therefore seem to possess canoes. Traces of the same strangers, of whom mention has been so often made, were found here; and amongst others were partitions of frame work and part of a large earthen jar. Kangaroos appeared to be rather numerous in the woods, brown doves and large white pigeons were tolerably plentiful, and a bird nearly black, of the size and appearance of a hen, was shot; there were also cockatoos, both black and white, and a beautiful species of paroquet not known at Port Jackson. The aquatic birds were blue and white cranes, sea-pies, and sand-larks. Besides fish, our seine usually brought on shore many of the grey slugs or sea cucumbers, but not so abundantly as in Caledon Bay.

We were not here pestered so much with the black flies as before; but the musketoes and sand flies were numerous and fierce. Most of the bushes contained nests made by a small green ant; and if the bush were disturbed, these resentful little animals came out in squadrons, and never ceased to pursue till the disturber was out of sight. In forcing our way amongst the underwood, we sometimes got our hair and clothes filled with them; and as their bite is very sharp, and their vengeance never satisfied, there was no other resource than stripping as expeditiously as possible.

The sun was at this time very near the zenith, which not only prevented the latitude from being observed in the artificial horizon, but rendered the observations from the sea horizon, to the north and south at the same noon, liable to inaccuracies; and in consequence, our positions in this neighbourhood may not be very correct.

The latitude of Point Dundas, from one double observation, was 12° 13' 50"; but from the bearing of Mount Saunders, it is taken to be 12° 13' 0" S.

Longitude by survey from Caledon Bay, being 1' greater than by time keepers,136° 41' 40" E.

Variation of the theodolite on Harbour Rock,1° 13' east.

And except in the doubtful instance of the iron-stone shore on the south-east side of the bay, the bearings in other parts did not differ more than 20' from it.

The greatest rise of tide here, according to the marks on shore, did not seem to have exceeded eight feet. High water took place nearly five hours before, and seven hours after the moon's passage over the meridian; which is nearly two hours and a half earlier than in Caledon Bay, as that is earlier than in Blue-mud Bay, further south in the gulph.

[NORTH COAST. GULPH OF CARPENTARIA.]

WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 1803

At two in the afternoon of the 16th, the wind being moderate at N. N. W., we worked out of Melville Bay; and anchored at dusk, five miles from the entrance in 13 fathoms, sand and mud. Next morning [THURSDAY 17 FEBRUARY 1803], in following the line of the western shore with a breeze off the land, we passed three rocks lying out from a point under Mount Bonner; and further on, six or seven miles short of Cape Wilberforce, there was a small shallow opening. From the north part of this cliffy cape, a chain of islands and rocks extends out three or four leagues to the E. N. E., which I call Bromby's Isles, after my worthy friend the Rev. John Bromby of Hull. One of these is cliffy, and two miles long; the rest are smaller, and the whole seemed to be connected by rocks under water; but between Cape Wilberforce and the nearest islet was a space three-quarters of a mile wide, towards which we worked up against a fresh wind at W. N. W. At noon, the two cliffy parts of the cape bore S. ¼ E. and W. ¼ N., from one to two miles; and the latter, which is the north extremity, was ascertained to lie in 11° 52' south, and 136° 33' east.

At this time the weather became squally with much rain; but after numberless tacks, made under double-reefed top sails and courses in the narrow passage, with soundings from 10 to 18 fathoms, we cleared it at two o'clock, and stretched southwestward as the main coast was found to trend; and thus was the examination of the Gulph of Carpentaria finished, after employing one hundred and five days in coasting along its shores and exploring its bays and islands. The extent of the Gulph in longitude, from Endeavour's Strait to Cape Wilberforce, is 5½° and in latitude 7°; and the circuit, excluding the numerous islands and the openings, is little less than four hundred leagues. It will be remarked that the form of it, given in the old charts, is not very erroneous, which proves it to have been the result of a real examination; but as no particulars were known of the discovery of the south and western parts, not even the name of the author, though opinion ascribed it with reason to Tasman, so the chart was considered as little better than a representation of fairy land, and did not obtain the credit which it was now proved to have merited. Henceforward, the Gulph of Carpentaria will take its station amongst the conspicuous parts of the globe in a decided character.

[NORTH COAST. ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS.]

After clearing the narrow passage between Cape Wilberforce and Bromby's Isles, we followed the main coast to the S. W.; having on the starbord hand some high and large islands, which closed in towards the coast ahead so as to make it doubtful whether there were any passage between them. Under the nearest island was perceived a canoe full of men; and in a sort of roadsted, at the south end of the same island, there were six vessels covered over like hulks, as if laid up for the bad season. Our conjectures were various as to who those people could be, and what their business here; but we had little doubt of their being the same, whose traces had been found so abundantly in the Gulph. I had inclined to the opinion that these traces had been left by Chinese, and the report of the natives in Caledon Bay that they had fire arms, strengthened the supposition; and combining this with the appearance of the vessels, I set them down for piratical Ladrones who secreted themselves here from pursuit, and issued out as the season permitted, or prey invited them. Impressed with this idea, we tacked to work up for the road; and our pendant and ensign being hoisted, each of them hung out a small white flag. On approaching, I sent lieutenant Flinders in an armed boat, to learn who they were; and soon afterward we came to an anchor in 12 fathoms, within musket shot; having a spring on the cable, and all hands at quarters.

Every motion in the whale boat, and in the vessel along-side which she was lying, was closely watched with our glasses, but all seemed to pass quietly; and on the return of lieutenant Flinders, we learned that they were prows from Macassar, and the six Malay commanders shortly afterwards came on board in a canoe. It happened fortunately that my cook was a Malay, and through his means I was able to communicate with them. The chief of the six prows was a short, elderly man, named Pobassoo; he said there were upon the coast, in different divisions, sixty prows, and that Salloo was the commander in chief. These people were Mahometans, and on looking into the launch, expressed great horror to see hogs there; nevertheless they had no objection to port wine, and even requested a bottle to carry away with them at sunset.

The weather continued squally all night, with frequent heavy rain, and the wind blew strong; but coming off the islands, the ship rode easily. In the morning [FRIDAY 18 FEBRUARY 1803], I went on board Pobassoo's vessel, with two of the gentlemen and my interpreter, to make further inquiries; and afterwards the six chiefs came to the Investigator, and several canoes were along-side for the purpose of barter. Before noon, five other prows steered into the road from the S. W., anchoring near the former six; and we had more people about the ship than I chose to admit on board, for each of them wore a short dagger or cress by his side. My people were under arms, and the guns were exercised and a shot fired at the request of the chiefs; in the evening they all retired quietly, but our guns were kept ready and half the people at quarters all night. The weather was very rainy; and towards morning [SATURDAY 19 FEBRUARY 1803], much noise was heard amongst the prows. At daylight they got under sail, and steered through the narrow passage between Cape Wilberforce and Bromby's Isles, by which we had come; and afterwards directed their course south-eastward into the Gulph of Carpentaria.

My desire to learn every thing concerning these people, and the strict look-out which it had been necessary to keep upon them, prevented me attending to any other business during their stay. According to Pobassoo, from whom my information was principally obtained, sixty prows belonging to the Rajah of Boni, and carrying one thousand men, had left Macassar with the north-west monsoon, two months before, upon an expedition to this coast; and the fleet was then lying in different places to the westward, five or six together, Pobasso's division being the foremost. These prows seemed to be about twenty-five tons, and to have twenty or twenty-five men in each; that of Pobassoo carried two small brass guns, obtained from the Dutch, but the others had only muskets; besides which, every Malay wears a cress or dagger, either secretly or openly. I inquired after bows and arrows, and the ippo poison, but they had none of them; and it was with difficulty they could understand what was meant by the ippo.

The object of their expedition was a certain marine animal, called trepang. Of this they gave me two dried specimens; and it proved to be the beche-de-mer, or sea cucumber which we had first seen on the reefs of the East Coast, and had afterwards hauled on shore so plentifully with the seine, especially in Caledon Bay. They get the trepang by diving, in from 3 to 8 fathoms water; and where it is abundant, a man will bring up eight or ten at a time. The mode of preserving it is this: the animal is split down one side, boiled, and pressed with a weight of stones; then stretched open by slips of bamboo, dried in the sun, and afterwards in smoke, when it is fit to be put away in bags, but requires frequent exposure to the sun. A thousand trepang make a picol, of about 125 Dutch pounds; and one hundred picols are a cargo for a prow. It is carried to Timor, and sold to the Chinese, who meet them there; and when all the prows are assembled, the fleet returns to Macassar. By Timor, seemed to be meant Timor-laoet; for when I inquired concerning the English, Dutch, and Portuguese there, Pobassoo knew nothing of them: he had heard of Coepang, a Dutch settlement, but said it was upon another island.

There are two kinds of trepang. The black, called baatoo, is sold to the Chinese for forty dollars the picol; the white, or grey, called koro, is worth no more than twenty. The baatoo seems to be what we found upon the coral reefs near the Northumberland Islands; and were a colony established in Broad Sound or Shoalwater Bay, it might perhaps derive considerable advantage from the trepang. In the Gulph of Carpentaria, we did not observe any other than the koro, or grey slug.

Pobassoo had made six or seven voyages from Macassar to this coast, within the preceding twenty years, and he was one of the first who came; but had never seen any ship here before. This road was the first rendezvous for his division, to take in water previously to going into the Gulph. One of their prows had been lost the year before, and much inquiry was made concerning the pieces of wreck we had seen; and a canoe's rudder being produced, it was recognised as having belonged to her. They sometimes had skirmishes with the native inhabitants of the coast; Pobassoo himself had been formerly speared in the knee, and a man had been slightly wounded since their arrival in this road: they cautioned us much to beware of the natives.*

[* A question suggests itself here: Could the natives of the west side of the Gulph of Carpentaria have learned the rite of circumcision from these Malay Mahometans? From the short period that the latter had frequented the coast, and the nature of the intercourse between the two people, it seems to me very little probable.]

They had no knowledge of any European settlement in this country; and on learning the name Port Jackson, the son of Pobassoo made a memorandum of it as thus, (foreign characters), writing from left to right. Until this time, that some nutmegs were shown to them, they did not know of their being produced here; nor had they ever met with cocoa nuts, bananas, or other edible fruits or vegetables; fish, and sometimes turtle, being all they procured. I inquired if they knew of any rivers or openings leading far inland, if they made charts of what they saw, or used any charts? To all which Pobassoo answered in the negative. There was a river at Timor, into which the ship could go; and he informed me of two turtle islands, one of them not far to the north-west of our situation in the road; the other would be seen from the mast head as we sailed along the shore.

I could find no other nautical instrument amongst them than a very small pocket compass, apparently of Dutch manufacture; by this their course is directed at sea, without the aid of any chart or astronomical observation. They carry a month's water, in joints of bamboo; and their food is rice, cocoa nuts, and dried fish, with a few fowls for the chiefs. The black gummotoo rope, of which we had found pieces at Sir Edward Pellew's Group, was in use on board the prows; and they said it was made from the same palm whence the sweet syrup, called gulah, is obtained.

My numberless questions were answered patiently, and with apparent sincerity; Pobassoo even stopped one day longer at my desire, than he had intended, for the north-west monsoon, he said, would not blow quite a month longer, and he was rather late. I rewarded his trouble and that of his companions with several presents, principally iron tools, which they seemed anxious to possess; and he begged of me an English jack, which he afterwards carried at the head of his squadron. He also expressed a desire for a letter, to show to any other ship he might meet; and I accordingly wrote him a note to captain Baudin, whom it seemed probable he might encounter in the Gulph, either going or returning.

So soon as the prows were gone, the botanical gentlemen and myself proceeded to make our examinations. The place where the ship was anchored, and which I call Malay Road, is formed by two islands: one to the S. W.. now named Pobassoo's Island, upon which was a stream of fresh water behind a beach; the other to the north, named Cotton's Island, after captain Cotton of the India directory. The opening between them is nearly half a mile wide; but the water being shallow, the road is well sheltered on the west side, and the opposite main coast lies not further off to the east than three miles; so that N. E. is the sole quarter whence much swell can come. I landed upon Cotton's Island; and ascending a high cliff at the south-east end, saw Mount Saunders and the northernmost Melville Isle over the land of Cape Wilberforce. Cotton's Island extends six or seven miles to the north. and beyond it, to the north-east, was another large island, which I called Wigram's, whose south-east part is also a high cliff. Further off were two small isles; and at a greater distance another, named Truant Island, from its lying away from the rest. Pobassoo's Island intercepted my view to the S. W.; but on moving back to a higher station, two other islands were seen over it, close to each other; to the furthest and largest I gave the name of Inglis, and to the nearer that of Bosanquet. In the west also, and not more than three miles distant, was an island of considerable size, which was distinguished by the name of Astell. The general trending of all these islands is nearly N. E. by E., parallel with the line of the main coast and of Bromby's Isles. In the Dutch chart, if they be marked at all, it is as main land, and without distinctive appellation; I have therefore applied names to each, mostly after gentlemen in the East-India directory; and in compliment to that respectable body of men, whose liberal attention to this voyage was useful to us and honourable to them, the whole cluster is named the ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS.