A Voyage to Terra Australis/Volume 2/Book 2/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII.
1802.
December.
Wednes. 1.
(Atlas,
Plate XIV.)On the 1st of December we got under way, and passed the reef at the south-east end of Sweers' Island. I wished to run close along the north side of this, and of Bentinck's Island, and get in with the main land to the west; but the shoal water and dry banks lying off them presented so much impediment, that we steered north-westward for land which came in sight in that direction. At noon, the land was distant six or seven miles, and appeared to be the inner part of that great projection of the main, represented in the old chart under the name of Cape Van Diemen; but the rocky nature of the shore and unevenness of the surface were so different from the sandy uniformity of the continent, that I much doubted of its connexion. Our situation at this time, and the bearings taken were as under:
Latitude, observed to the north and south, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
16° | 48′ | 29″ | ||
Land of Cape Van Diemen, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. 70° | W. to | 25 | W. | |
A piece apparently separated, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. 18 | W. to | 11 | E. | |
Bentinck's I., highest part at the north end, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. | 15 | E. | ||
A smoke was rising in the direction of Horse-shoe Island, but no land was there visible.
We had a light breeze at E. by N., and steered westward along the rocky shore, at the distance of two or three miles, till five in the evening; when the breeze having shifted to S.W., we tacked and came to an anchor in 6 fathoms, mud and shells. The land was then distant three miles, and extended from N. 61° E. to a point with a clump of high trees on it, which appeared to be the south-west extremity of the northern land and bore N. 84° W. Whether the space between it and the main near Allen's Isle were the entrance of an inlet, or merely a separation of the two lands, could not be distinguished; but the tide set W. by S., into the opening, and there was a low island and many rocks in it. From an amplitude at this anchorage, the variation was 3° 16′ east, corrected to the meridian, nearly the same as at Allen's Isle, five leagues to the south; and a full degree less than in the Investigator's Road.
Thurs. 2.At five next morning we steered for the opening, with light, variable winds. On each side of the low island and rocks there seemed to be passages leading into a large spread of water, like the sea; and our course was directed for the northernmost, until the water shoaled to 2½ fathoms and we tacked to the southward. The south-west point of the northern land then bore N. 74° W. four miles, and the north end of Allen's Isle was seen from the mast head, bearing S. 3° W. five leagues; but that part of the opening between them, not occupied by the main land, seemed to be so choaked with rocks that there was little prospect of a passage for the Investigator. This being the case, and the wind becoming unfavourable to the search, we steered back eastward, along the shore; and at eight in the evening, anchored near the furthest part yet seen in that direction, in 6½ fathoms, sand and shells.
Friday 3.At daylight, the piece of hilly land before judged to be an island, and which still appeared so, bore N. 86° to 28° W., two or three miles, with some nearer rocks lying in front; the northern land extended from behind it to N. 32° E., and we followed its course at the distance of five, and from that to two miles offshore. At noon we approached the eastern extremity, and saw a small island two leagues further out, one of three laid down in the old chart near Cape Van Diemen; it is thickly covered with wood, principally of that softish, white kind, whence it obtained the name of Isle Pisonia. Another and a larger island afterwards opened from the cape; but this could not be one of the three, for it lies so close, that Tasman, or whoever discovered these parts, would scarcely have observed the separation; and in fact, the other two isles presently came in sight to the southward, nearly in the situation assigned to them. The wind being unfavourable to doubling the cape, we bore away for the two islands; and soon after four o'clock, anchored on the south-east side of the outermost, in 6½ fathoms, good holding ground.
Turtle tracks were distinguished on the beach as we rounded the north-east point, and afforded us the pleasurable anticipation of some fresh food. We had explored tropical coasts for several months, without reaping any one of the advantages usually attending it, and been frequently tantalized with the sight of turtle in the water, and of bones and shells round the fire places on shore; but we now hoped to have found a place where the Indians had not forestalled us, and to indemnify ourselves for so many disappointments.
In rowing to the Island, we carried 5 fathoms nearly close to the beach. Several turtle were swimming about, and some perceived above high-water mark, which we ran to secure, but found them dead, and rotten; they appeared to have fallen on their backs in climbing up a steep part of the beach, and not being able to right themselves, had miserably perished. I walked the greater part of the length of the island; and from the highest hillock set the eastern extreme of the island close to Cape Van Diemen, at N. 34¾° W., and Isle Pisonia from N. 22¾° to 19½° W.
During my absence from the boat, the impatient crew, not waiting for the turtle to come on shore, had been attacking them in the water; and had caught three large ones, and broken my harpoon. They had also been scratching out some of the holes, of which the upper part of the sandy beach was full; from one they filled a hat with turtles eggs, and from another took a swarm of young ones, not broader than a crown piece, which I found crawling in every part of the boat. It was then past sunset, and numbers of turtle were collected, waiting only for our departure to take the beach; I therefore hastened to the ship, and sent lieutenant Fowler with a party of men, to remain all night and turn them.
Saturday 4.Next morning, two boats went to bring off the officer and people with what had been caught; but their success had been so great, that it was necessary to hoist out the launch; and it took nearly the whole day to get on board what the decks and holds could contain, without impediment to the working of the ship. They were found by Mr. Brown to be nearly similar to, but not exactly the true green turtle, and he thought might be an undescribed species. We contrived to stow away forty-six, the least of them weighing 250 lbs, and the average about 300; besides which, many were re-turned on shore, and suffered to go away.
This Bountiful Island, for so I termed it, is near three miles long, and generally low and sandy; the highest parts are ridges of sand, overspread with a long, creeping, coarse grass, which binds the sand together, and preserves it from being blown away; grass of the common kind grows in the lower parts, and in one place there were some bushes and small trees. The basis consists partly of a streaked, ochrous earth, and in part of sand, concreted with particles of iron ore. Nothing bespoke this island to have been ever before visited, whence it is probable that the natives of the neighbouring lands do not possess canoes; for with them, the distance of four leagues from Cape Van Diemen would not have been too great to be passed, though too far in a tide's way for such rafts as I saw at Horse-shoe Island.
A kind of bustard, with a very strong bill, and not larger than a hen, was numerous at Bountiful Island; and appeared to subsist upon the young turtle. The effect of instinct is admirable in all cases, and was very striking in these little amphibious creatures. When scratched out from their holes, they no sooner saw the daylight than they made for the water, and with speed, as if conscious that the bustards were watching them; when placed in a direction from the sea, which was done for experiment, they turned themselves and took the straightest course to the water side. But it is not only in the bustards, nor on land alone, that they have enemies to fear; tiger sharks were numerous, and so voracious, that seven were hooked along-side the ship, measuring from five to nine feet in length. These were ready to receive such of the little animals as escape their first enemies; and even one of the full grown turtle had lost a semicircular piece, equal to the tenth part of its bulk, which had been bitten out of its side; and what seemed more extraordinary, the shell had closed, and the place was healed up. Were it not for the immense destruction made of these animals in the different stages of their existence, and that food must in the end fail, their fecundity is such, that all the tropical seas and shores would scarcely afford room for them in a few years. The number of eggs found in the females, and there were few, if any males amongst the forty-six taken here, usually ran from four to seven hundred; and in one weighing 459 lbs, taken earlier in the following season, the number of eggs counted was 1940, as recorded in lieutenant Fowler's journal; but many were not bigger, some not so large as peas. They seem to lay from twenty to a hundred eggs at once, and this is done many times in the season; after which they go very little on shore. In Terra Australis, the season appears to commence in August, and to terminate in January or February.
The latitude of our anchorage, one mile from the south-east side of Bountiful Island, was 16° 41′ south. Lieutenant Flinders observed six sets of lunar distances, which gave 139° 46′ 18″ east longitude; but the time keeper No. 543 made it 14½′ east of Inspection Hill, or in 139° 59½′. The variation of the compass, from azimuth and amplitude observed with the ship's head in the magnetic meridian, was 3° 46′ east; and at my station on shore, an amplitude with the theodolite gave 3° 47′ east. From a little past ten in the morning to eleven at night, the tide ran half a mile an hour to the S.W., and N.E. during the remainder of the twenty-four hours; the first, which seemed to be the flood, was only three hours after the moon, above six hours earlier than in the Investigator's Road; but the time of high water by the shore might be very different: no greater rise than five feet was perceivable by the lead line.
Sunday 5.In the morning of the 5th, we quitted Bountiful Island to resume our examination at Cape Van Diemen; and the weather being rainy, with thunder and lightning, and the wind fresh at N.N.E., we passed round the smaller island, two miles to the south-west, before hauling to the northward. A ten o'clock, Cape Van Diemen was distant three miles, and we tacked to the east; and from that time till evening, continued to work up between the cape and a shoal lying two leagues from it to the E.S.E. This shoal is a narrow ridge of sand, over which we had passed in going to Bountiful Island; but there were now breakers upon a more southern part. It seems to be formed by different sets of tide amongst the islands, and to be steep to; for in passing over, the soundings had been 13, 4, 5, 7, 11 fathoms, almost as quick as the lead could be heaved. At dusk the wind had gone down, and the anchor was dropped in 6 fathoms, sand and shells, in the following situation.
C. Van Diemen, the S.E. extreme, dist. 3 miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. 75° | W. | |
The island close to it, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. 57° | to 21 | W. |
Isle Pisonia, distant 3 miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. 55 | to 61 | E. |
Bountiful I., station on the green hillock, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. 40 | E. | |
That part of Cape Van Diemen above set, is in latitude 16° 32′ south, and longitude 139° 49½′ east.
The tide here set N.N.E. and S.S.W., between the island close to the cape and Isle Pisonia; and at daylightMonday 6. we steered for the middle of the opening. On seeing breakers a-head, the master was sent in the whale boat to sound, and we kept more westward, after him. There were natives upon the island nearest to the land, who seemed to wait in expectation of being visited; but our soundings diminishing to 3 fathoms, and the master having still less, we stood out and were followed by the boat. The wind was then at N.E.; and Isle Pisonia being brought to bear N.W. at nine o'clock, we tacked and weathered it nearly a mile, carrying from 9 to 13 fathoms water. Turtle tracks were very distinguishable upon the beach, but these prognostics, once so much desired, did not now interest us; however, on the wind becoming so light that we could not weather some breakers whilst the lee tide was running, the stream anchor was dropped in 9 fathoms, and I went to the island with the botanical gentlemen.
More holes were scratched in the sand here by the turtle, than even upon the island last quitted; and several of the poor animals were lying dead on their backs. The isle is nothing more than a high sand bank upon a basis of coral rock, which has become thickly covered with wood, and much resembles several of the smaller isles in Torres' Strait. There was no trace of former visitors, though it is not more than four miles from the island where Indians had been seen in the morning; the tides probably run too strong in a narrow, four-fathom channel, close to Isle Pisonia, to be encountered by their rafts.
Tuesday 7.Next morning, the wind was at N.E.; and after weathering a reef which runs out three miles from the island under Cape Van Diemen, we closed in with the land, and steered westward along it with soundings from 9 to 4 fathoms. A low head with white cliffs was passed at nine o'clock, and proved to be the northernmost point of this land; beyond it the coast extended W. by S., in a long sandy beach, and the country was better clothed with trees than on the south side. At noon we came abreast of a low woody point, with a shoal running off, where the coast took a south-west direction; and our situation and bearings were then as under:
Latitude, observed to the north, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
16° | 26′ | |
Longitude, from time keeper and bearings, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
139 | 25 | |
Cliffy north head of this land, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. | 86 | E. |
Woody shoal point, distant two miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. | 35 | E. |
Furthest southern extreme, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. | 29 | W. |
Islet from the mast head, distant 3 leagues, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
North. | ||
From one o'clock till four, we steered S.S.W. past three other small cliffy projections; and I then saw the clump of high trees on the south-west point of this land, bearing S. 31° E. six miles, the same which had been set five days before from the inner side. Our course was continued, to get in with the main land; but in half an hour the depth had diminished to 2½ fathoms, and obliged us to haul out W. by N., close to the wind. The low main coast was then in sight from the mast head to the south-westward, and at dusk we anchored about three leagues off, in 5 fathoms, sandy bottom.
No doubt remained that the land of Cape Van Diemen was an island; for it had been circumnavigated, with the exception of about three leagues, which the rocks and shoal water made impracticable. Its extent is considerable, being thirty-five miles long, and the circumference near ninety, independently of the smaller sinuosities in the coast; I did not land upon any part, but the surface appeared to be more rocky than sandy; and judging from the bushes and trees with which it is mostly covered, there must be some portion, though perhaps a small one, of vegetable soil. In any other part of the world, this would be deemed low land; but here, where even the tops of the trees on the main scarcely exceed a ship's mast head in elevation, it must be called moderately high; for it may in some parts, reach three hundred feet. Several smokes and some natives were seen, and it is reasonable to suppose there are fixed inhabitants, but their number is probably small.
Had not the name of Van Diemen so often occurred in Terra Australis, as to make confusion, I should have extended it from the cape to the whole island; but such being the case, I have taken this opportunity of indulging my gratitude to a nobleman of high character and consideration; who, when governor-general of British India, humanely used his efforts to relieve me from an imprisonment which was super-added to a shipwreck in the sequel of the voyage. This large island is therefore distinguished by the name of Isle Mornington; and to the whole of the group, now discovered to exist at the head of the Gulph of Carpentaria, I have given the appellation of Wellesley's Islands.
Wednes. 8.In the morning of the 8th, the wind was light from the southward, and unfavourable for closing in with the main land; but a water spout brought the wind up from north-east, and obliged us to double reef the top sails. At noon the squalls had mostly passed over, and the shore, which then extended from S.E. by S. to W.S.W., was distant five miles in the nearest part; our latitude being then 16° 42½′ south, and longitude 138° 49′ east. We continued to steer westward till five o'clock, at nearly the same distance from the land, and in soundings between 5 and 3 fathoms; the wind then drew forward, and the trending of the shore being W.N.W., we could barely lie along it. At seven, tacked for deeper water; and in half an hour anchored in 4 fathoms, sand and shells, the land being distant five or six miles, and the furthest extreme from the mast head bearing N. 70° W. A meridian altitude of the star Achernar gave the latitude 16° 39⅔′; and from the sun's western amplitude the variation was 4° 10′, with the ship's head N.W., or 2° 37′ east, corrected to the meridian.
The main land, from Wellesley's Islands to this anchorage, is of the same description as that along which we had previously sailed a hundred and ninety leagues, being a very low, woody country, fronted by a sandy beach; there are some slight wavings in the shore, but so slight, that not any part of it could be set twice. This tedious uniformity began, however, to be somewhat broken; for a range of low hills was perceived at three or four leagues inland, and the sinuosities of the shore were becoming more distinguishable: two smokes were seen during the day.
Thursday 9.Our progress next morning was very little, until the sea breeze set in; and we were then obliged, from the more northern trending of the coast, to keep up to the wind. The soundings varied between 6 and 3 fathoms; and at five in the evening diminished rather suddenly to 2½, on a rocky bottom, two or three miles from the land. We then tacked, and worked to windward till dark, when the anchor was dropped in 4½ fathoms upon rocky ground covered with mud; but as there was little wind and no sea, the anchor held. The observed latitude here, from the moon, was 16° 28′, and longitude by time keeper 138° 6½′ east.
Friday 10.During the night, the wind came as usual off the land; and in the morning we lay up N. by W., nearly parallel to the then direction of the coast. At ten, the sea breeze set in at N. by W.; and from that time until evening we worked to windward, tacking from the shore when the depth diminished to 2½ fathoms, and stretching in again when it increased to 6; the distances from the land being in miles, as nearly as might be what the depth was in fathoms, a coincidence which had been observed in some parts on the east side of the Gulph. At sunset, a hillock upon a projecting point bore N. 73° W. four miles, and behind it was a small opening which answered in situation to the River Van Alphen of the old chart; our last tack was then made from the shore; and at dusk we anchored in 4 fathoms, coarse sand and gravel. Variation from amplitude, with the head W. by N., 4° 45′, or corrected to the meridian, 2° 38′ east, nearly as on the 8th.
Saturday 11.At daylight, we steered northward with a land wind; and when the sea breeze came, stretched W.S.W. towards the shore. At noon,
Latitude observed, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
16° | 11½′ | ||
Longitude by time keeper, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
137 | 53 | ||
The extremes of the land bore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. 21° E. | to | 89 | W. |
Nearest part, dist. 3 miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. | 35 | W. | |
Small opening, supposed R. Van Alphen, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. | 3 | W. | |
The direction of the coast, which had been from north to north-west the day before, was now again W.N.W.; and after making a tack at noon, in 3 fathoms, and stretching off for an hour, we lay along it till near eight o'clock. At that time the depth diminished from 3½, suddenly to 2½ fathoms; and before the helm was put down the ship touched upon a rock, and hung abaft. By keeping the sails full she went off into 3 fathoms, but in five minutes hung upon another rock; and the water being more shallow further on, the head sails were now laid aback. On swinging off, I filled to stretch out by the way we had come; and after another slight touch of the keel we got into deep water, and anchored in 4 fathoms, on a bottom of blue mud. The bad state of the ship would have made our situation amongst these rocks very alarming, had we not cleared them so quickly; but the water was very smooth at this time, and it could not be perceived that any injury had been sustained.
Our distance here from the shore was three miles. It is very low and broken, with many dry rocks and banks lying near it; and in the space of seven or eight miles we had counted five small openings, and behind them some lagoons were perceived from the mast head. The Abel Tasman's River of the old chart is marked in about this situation; and however little these shallow openings and salt lagoons resemble a river, there is no other place to which the name could have been applied.
I was preparing to take altitudes of the star Rigel, to ascertain our longitude at this anchorage, when it was found that the time keepers had stopped, my assistant having forgotten to wind them up at noon. In the morningSunday 12. they were set forward, and altitudes of the sun taken to find their errors from the time under this meridian. The moon and planet Mars had been observed in the night, from which, and the noon's observation following, the latitude of the anchorage was ascertained to be 16° 7½′; and a projection on the west side of the R. Van Alphen, which had been the nearest shore at the preceding noon, was now set at S. 64½° E. From these data and from the log, I ascertained the difference of longitude, from half past ten in the morning of the 11th, when the last observations for the time keepers had been taken, to be 20′ 18″; and that this anchorage was in 137° 37′ 18″ east. The errors from mean Greenwich time were thence obtained; and they were carried on as before, with the rates found at Sweers' Island, which it was to be presumed, had undergone no alteration from the letting down, since none had been caused by former accidents of the same kind. An amplitude taken when the ship's head was W.N.W., gave variation 3° 46′, or 1° 47′ east, corrected to the meridian; being nearly a degree less than on the east side of the River Van Alphen, when the land lay to the west of the ship.
Soon after seven o'clock, the anchor was weighed; and the breeze being at N.W., we stretched off till noon, when the observed latitude from both sides was 16° 2′ 11″, and the land was nine or ten miles distant; but the only part visible from the deck was the range of low hills, two or three leagues behind the shore. We then tacked to the westward, and kept closing in with the coast until sunset; at which time the corrected variation was 1° 47′ east, as on the preceding evening, and the following bearings were taken.
Eastern extreme of the shore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. 31° | E. |
Small opening, dist. 4 or 5 miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. 54 | W. |
Western extreme of the main, a sandy head, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. 75 | W. |
Beyond the head, much higher land than any we had passed in the gulph, was seen from aloft as far as N.W. by N. This I expected was the Cape Vanderlin of the old chart; and if so, there ought to be a large double bay between it and the sandy head; and, in fact, no land was visible there in a space of two points.
Our course along the shore was prolonged till dusk, when we tacked in 3½ fathoms; and on getting 4½, came to an anchor upon fine sandy ground. In the morning,Monday 13. the wind was light from the south-westward, and little progress was made until the sea breeze set in. At noon, our situation was in
Latitude, observed to the north and south, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
15° | 50′ 31″ | ||
Longitude by time keeper, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
137 | 19½ | ||
West extreme of the sandy head, dist. 7 miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. | 24 | W. | |
Land of Cape Vanderlin, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. 28° to | S. | 88 | W. |
Land of, highest part, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. | 56 | W. | |
Land of, sandy east point, dist. 6 miles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
N. | 47 | W. | |
Low islet off the south end, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
S. 77½ to | S. | 85 | W. |
Many rocks are scattered along the east side of this land; some of them are steep, and one, which we approached within a mile soon after one o'clock, resembled the crown of a hat. The whale boat was then sent towards the opening, and we bore away S.W. by S. after her; but the water shoaling fast, and looking worse a-head, we hauled out close to the wind, and worked northward; anchoring at dusk, two or three miles from the east point of the northern land, in 6 fathoms, coarse sand and shells.
The main coast on the south side of the opening had been seen extending W.N.W., two or three leagues from the sandy head; it was low as ever, and there was no appearance of the northern land, which was hilly and rocky, being connected with it; and I therefore called the separated piece Vanderlin's Island. Having no prospect of being able to get the ship up the opening, we proceeded northward next morning,Tuesday 14. along the east side of the island; but the wind being directly contrary, it was sunset before the outermost of the scattered rocks could be weathered; soon afterward the anchor was dropped in 6 fathoms, one mile and a quarter from the north-east point, and something more from the outer rocks which bore S. 63° E. The north point of the island, which is the true Cape Vanderlin, bore N. 71° W., and was distant three or four miles: its utmost extremity lies in 15° 34½′ south, and 137° 8½′ east.
Some Indians had been seen tracking a canoe or raft, along the east side, and a body of thirty-five of them had been there collected, looking at the ship. This comparatively numerous population, and the prospect there was of this island proving more than usually interesting to the naturalists, made me desirous of finding a secure anchorage near it; and in the morningWednes. 15. we landed at the north-east point, which is a peninsula joined to the island by a low sandy neck, and has three hummocks upon it, near the extremity. From the highest of these hummocks, I set two small islands in the offing, to the north-west, where two are laid down in the old chart; and saw more land to the west of Cape Vanderlin, apparently a large and distinct island. The water between them was extensive; and as it promised to afford good shelter, we returned on board after a short examination, in order to work the ship into it.
A hard, close-grained sand stone forms the basis of the north-east point of Vanderlin's Island; but the hummocks and the upper rocks are calcareous, similar to Inspection Hill at the head of the Gulph. The soil is very sandy, and poorly clothed with vegetation; though in the more central parts of the island the hills seemed to be moderately well covered with wood. There were foot marks of men, dogs, and kanguroos, and tracks of turtle near the shore; but none of the men, nor of the animals, were seen.
We got under way soon after ten o'clock, with a breeze from the north-westward, and were obliged to make a long stretch to sea before Cape Vanderlin could be weathered. Towards evening we came in with a small reef, lying N. 40° E. two-and-half miles from the extremity of the cape; and this, with the lateness of the hour, making it hazardous to run into the new opening, we anchored at dusk, under the easternmost of the two small islands in the offing, in 6 fathoms, coral sand and rock. The white beach here seemed to be so favourable a situation for turtle, that an officer with a party of men was sent on shore to watch them; but he returned immediately, on finding the beach to be not sand, but pieces of coral bleached white by the sun, which bore no traces of turtle.
Thurs. 16.I landed early in the morning, with the botanical gentlemen, to take bearings; and amongst them set the craggy north end of the western island, which I call Cape Pellew, at S. 87° W., distant three or four miles. It lies in latitude 16° 30½′, longitude 137° 2′, and there is a rock lying half a mile off to the N.E.; indeed these two small isles and another rock may be considered as also lying off, and appertaining to it. The basis of the easternmost and largest isle was found to be the same close-grained sand stone as at Vanderlin's Island; but the surface consisted of loose pieces of coral, with a slight intermixture of vegetable soil, producing a few shrubs and small bushes: there were no traces either of men or turtle.
On our return to the ship, we steered for the opening between the Capes Vanderlin and Pellew; the wind was from the north-westward, and this being now the most settled quarter for it, we anchored under the western island, in 4½ fathoms soft bottom, half a mile from the shore; with the extremes bearing N. 25° E. one mile, and S. 23° W. two miles. An outer rocky islet near Cape Vanderlin bore N. 70° E., and a small island within half a mile of the ship covered five points in the south-eastern quarter; to the south there was very little land visible, but no sea was to be feared from that side; and the sole direction in which we were not sheltered, was between N.N.E. and E.N.E.
The botanical gentlemen landed abreast of the ship, and lieutenant Flinders went to commence a series of observations for the rates of the time keepers on the small isle, thence called Observation Island. My attention was attracted by a cove in the western shore, upon the borders of which, more abundantly than elsewhere, grew a small kind of cabbage palm, from whence it was called Cabbage-tree Cove. This presented the appearance of a complete little harbour; and supposing it to afford fresh water, was just such a place as I wished for the ship, during the time necessary for making an examination of the islands in my whale boat. I found the cove to run near two miles into the island, and there was a small rill at the head; but unfortunately, the depth at the entrance was insufficient for the ship, being no more than 2 fathoms, and in the upper part it was too shallow even for a boat.
Friday 17. In the morning, a party of men was sent to cut wood at the nearest shore; and there being a sort of beach, uncovered at low tide, the seine was hauled there with some success. A small drain of fresh water ran behind the mangroves at the back of the beach, and by cutting a rolling way to it, our empty casks, it was thought, might be filled; but I hoped to find a better place, and went away in the boat, as well with that object in view as to carry on the survey. From the furthest part of the western island visible from the ship, I found the shore trending S. 73° W., to a point where there was an opening out to the westward, of a mile and a half wide and of considerable depth. About three leagues up the opening were two craggy islands; and beyond them was more extensive land, which proved to be an island also, and from its situation in this group was called West Island. The island whose north end is Cape Pellew, and whose southern extremity I had now reached, was called North Island; and the land opposite to me, which formed the south side of the opening and seemed to be extensive, is marked with the name of Centre Island in the chart. These lands are moderately high, and seemed to form several coves and small inlets, with promise of runs of fresh water; but the weather was too unfavourable to make much examination at this time, and after taking bearings from the south and south-east points of North Island, I returned on board.
Saturday 18.The wooding of the ship was carried on next day; and although the weather remained squally, with frequent heavy rain, some further bearings were obtained, and observations taken for the time keepers. In the morning of the 19th,Sunday 19. the weather cleared, and I took the ship over to Cape Vanderlin; both for the convenience of the survey, and to give the botanical gentlemen a better opportunity of examining that island, which appeared to be the most interesting, as it was the largest of the group. Besides three rocky islets, lying off the west side of the cape, there is a small island one mile to the south-west, and I sought to anchor behind it; but being prevented by a shoal which extends southward from the island, the anchor was dropped half a mile without side, in 4½ fathoms, muddy ground.
After the latitude had been observed, and bearings taken from the island, we crossed over in the boat to Cape Vanderlin. There was a depth of 4 to 7 fathoms between them, with a passage leading in from the north, and a ship would lie here in perfect safety during the south-east monsoon; but with the present north-west winds and squally weather, this otherwise good anchorage was not equal to the place we had quitted. The highest parts of Cape Vanderlin are hillocks of almost bare sand; on the isthmus behind it were many shrubs and bushes, and amongst the latter was found a wild nutmeg, in tolerable abundance. The fruit was small, and not ripe; but the mace and the nut had a hot, spicy taste.
There was no appearance of fresh water here, nor was the ship in a situation safe to remain all night; so soon, therefore, as my bearings were taken from the top of Cape Vanderlin, we returned on board, and steered for the opening between North and Centre Islands. At dusk, the anchor was dropped in 6 fathoms, muddy ground, a little within the opening; where we had land at different distances all round, with the exception of one point to the W.N.W.
Tuesday 21.During the two days we remained here, I examined a shallow bay on the east side of Centre Island, and went to the westward as far as the Craggy Isles, taking bearings from various stations. Several rills of fresh water were found at the heads of little coves, but the depth was not sufficient for the ship to get near any of them; and therefore we returned to our first anchorageWednes. 22. near Cabbage-tree Cove, to cut through the mangroves and get the holds completed with water at the small run there. This duty I left to the care of the first lieutenant, and the rates of the time keepers to be continued by the second; and went away the same afternoon in my boat, upon an excursion of four days, accompanied by Mr. Westall, the landscape painter.
The soundings we had in steering for the west point of Vanderlin's Island and southward along the shore, will be best known from the particular plan of this group. Bearings were taken at two chosen stations; and we stopped in the evening, at the furthest of two small isles near the south-west side of the island, to pass the night without disturbance from the Indians. It then rained and blew hard, with thunder and lightning, and the soil being sandy and destitute of wood to break off the wind, it was with difficulty the tent could be secured; the islet had been visited, and we found the remains of more than one turtle feast. Amongst the bearings set from hence, was a projecting part of the low main land, at S. 19½° W. six or seven miles, and it was the furthest visible.
Thursday 23.We had more moderate weather in the morning, and went on towards the south point of Vanderlin's Island; but stopped two or three miles short of it, at a station whence the south point and the low islet lying off were visible, as also was the sandy head set from the ship on the 12th and 13th; and from the bearings of these objects my survey round Vanderlin's Island became connected. A part of the sandy main coast was distant not more than four miles to the S.S.W., whence it extended as far as S. 62° W.; the water appeared to be too shallow for a ship to pass between it and the island.
A fresh wind from the north-west prevented me from going any further to leeward; and it was with much difficulty that we rowed back to the isle where we had passed the night. Strong squalls again came on towards evening, and the larger isle, lying a mile to the north-west, was chosen for our night's residence, on account of its affording some shelter; but the lightning was so violent and close to us, that I feared to place the tent near the trees, and was surprised in the morning, not to see half of them shivered to pieces; the rain fell in torrents, during a part of the night.
Friday 24.Next morning the weather was better, but the wind still adverse to my project of going over to the south end of Centre Island; by noon, however, we reached a low islet half way across, where I observed the latitude 15° 42′ 47″, and took a set of bearings very useful to the survey; and we afterwards made an attempt to get over, and succeeded. A rocky hillock on the south-east point of Centre Island, was my next station; and from thence we proceeded westward along the south side, to a low islet near the south-west point, for the purpose of landing, the sun being then set; but the islet proving to be a mere mud bank covered with mangroves, we rowed onward to the large South-west Island, in very shallow water; and there passed a night which, happily for the fatigued boat's crew, turned out fine.
Saturday 25.I took azimuths and some bearings in the morning, and we then proceeded northward through a small passage between the Centre and South-west Islands; there was 5 fathoms in the very narrow part, but no deep water within; and without side, it was also very shoal for two or three miles. Near the North-west point of Centre Island lies an islet and two rocks, and from the cliffy north end of the islet another set of bearings was taken; after which we steered eastward, sounding along the north side of Centre Island. It was noon when we reached the north-east point, and I observed the latitude 15° 39′ 35″ upon the south-east end of a rocky islet there, and took more bearings from the top; and in the afternoon, we reached the ship.
Very little has been said upon the islands or their productions, or upon the various traces of native inhabitants and of former visitors found in this, and in former boat excursions; the observations on these heads being intended for the general and conclusive remarks upon this group. These are now to be given; for the wooding and watering were completed on the day after my return,Sunday 26. and the ship was then ready to proceed in the examination of the Gulph.
In the old Dutch chart, Cape Vanderlin is represented to be a great projection from the main land, and the outer ends of North and West Islands to be smaller points of it. There are two indents or bights marked between the points, which may correspond to the openings between the islands; but I find difficulty in pointing out which are the four small isles laid down to the west of Cape Vanderlin; neither does the line of the coast, which is nearly W.S.W. in the old chart, correspond with that of the outer ends of the islands, and yet there is enough of similitude in the whole to show the identity. Whether any change have taken place in these shores; and made islands of what were parts of the main land a century and a half before,—or whether the Dutch discoverer made a distant and cursory examination, and brought conjecture to aid him in the construction of a chart, as was too much the practice of that time,—it is perhaps not now possible to ascertain; but I conceive that the great alteration produced in the geography of these parts by our survey, gives authority to apply a name which, without prejudice to the original one, should mark the nation by which the survey was made; and in compliment to a distinguished officer of the British navy, whose earnest endeavours to relieve me from oppression in a subsequent part of the voyage demand my gratitude, I have called this cluster of islands Sir Edward Pellew's Group.
The space occupied by these islands is thirty-four miles east and west, by twenty-two miles of latitude; and the five principal islands are from seven to seventeen miles in length. The stone which seems to form the basis of the group is a hard, close-grained sand stone, with a small admixture of quartz, and in one or two instances it was slightly impregnated with iron; calcareous, or coral rock was sometimes found at the upper parts, but the hard sand stone was more common. Where the surface is not bare rock, it consists of sand, with a greater or less proportion of vegetable soil, but in no case did I see any near approach to fertility; yet all the larger islands, and more especially the western side of Vanderlin's, are tolerably well covered with trees and bushes, and in some low places there is grass.
As in most other parts of Terra Australis, the common trees here are various species of the eucalyptus, mostly different from, and smaller than those of the East and South Coasts. The cabbage palm, a new genus named by Mr. Brown Livistona inermis, is abundant; but the cabbage is too small to be an interesting article of food to a ship's company; of the young leaves, drawn into slips and dried, the seamen made handsome light hats, excellent for warm weather. The nutmeg was found principally on Vanderlin's Island, growing upon a large spreading bush; but the fruit being unripe, no accurate judgment could be formed of its quality. Amongst the variety of other plants discovered by the naturalist, were two shrubs belonging to the genus Santalum, of which the sandel wood, used as a perfume in the East, is also one; but this affinity to so valuable a tree being not known at the time, from the description of the genus being imperfect, no examination was made of it with that object in view.
All the larger islands seem to possess the kanguroo; for though none were seen, their foot marks were perceptible in most of the sandy places where I landed: the species seemed to be small. In the woods were hawks, pigeons of two kinds, and some bustards; and on the shore were seen a pretty kind of duck and the usual sea fowl. Turtle tracks were observed on most of the beaches, but more especially on the smaller islands, where remains of turtle feasts were generally found.
There were traces of Indians on all the islands, both large and small, but the latter are visited only at times; these people seemed to be equally desirous of avoiding communication with strangers, as those of Wellesley's Islands, for we saw them only once at a distance, from the ship. Two canoes found on the shore of North Island were formed of slips of bark, like planks, sewed together, the edge of one slip overlaying another, as in our clincher-built boats; their breadth was about two feet, but they were too much broken for the length to be known. I cannot be certain that these canoes were the fabrication of the natives, for there were some things near them which appertained, without doubt, to another people, and their construction was much superior to that on any part of Terra Australis hitherto discovered; but their substance of bark spoke in the affirmative. The same degree of doubt was attached to a small monument found on the same island. Under a shed of bark were set up two cylindrical pieces of stone, about eighteen inches long; which seemed to have been taken from the shore, where they had been made smooth from rolling in the surf, and formed into a shape something like a nine pin. Round each of them were drawn two black circles, one towards each end; and between them were four oval black patches, at equal distances round the stone, made apparently with charcoal. The spaces between the oval marks were covered with white down and feathers, stuck on with the yolk of a turtle's egg, as I judged by the gluten and by the shell lying near the place. Of the intention in setting up these stories under a shed, no person could form a reasonable conjecture; the first idea was, that it had some relation to the dead, and we dug underneath to satisfy our curiosity; but nothing was found. This simple monument is represented in the annexed plate, with two of the ducks near it: the land in the back ground is Vanderlin's Island.
Indications of some foreign people having visited this group were almost as numerous, and as widely extended as those left by the natives. Besides pieces of earthen jars and trees cut with axes, we found remnants of bamboo lattice work, palm leaves sewed with cotton thread into the form of such hats as are worn by the Chinese, and the remains of blue cotton trowsers, of the fashion called moormans. A wooden anchor of one fluke, and three boats rudders of violet wood were also found; but what puzzled me most was a collection of stones piled together in a line, resembling a low wall, with short lines running perpendicularly at the back, dividing the space behind into compartments. In each of these were the remains of a charcoal fire, and all the wood near at hand, had been cut down. Mr. Brown saw on another island a similar construction, with not 
Painted by W. Westall, A.R.A. F.L.S. Engraved by John Pye.
View in Sir Edward Pellew's Group—Gulph of Carpentaria.
less than thirty-six partitions, over which was laid a rude piece of frame work; and the neighbouring mangroves, to the extent of an acre and a half, had been cut down. It was evident that these people were Asiatics, but of what particular nation, or what their business here, could not be ascertained; I suspected them, however, to be Chinese, and that the nutmegs might possibly be their object. From the traces amongst Wellesley's Islands, they had been conjectured to be shipwrecked people; but that opinion did not now appear to be correct.
The barometer stood here from 29,96 to 39,62 inches, being highest with the winds at north-east, and lowest with those from the southward; in the heavy squalls of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning from the north-west, the mercury stood at a medium elevation. On board the ship, the average standard of the thermometer was nearly 85°. On shore it was hotter, yet the musketoes were not very troublesome; but the common black flies, from their extraordinary numbers and their impudence, were scarcely less annoying than musketoes; they get into the mouth and nose, and settle upon the face or any other part of the body, with as much unconcern as they would alight on a gum tree; nor are they driven away easily. This was the case on shore, and on board the ship whilst lying at anchor, and for a day or two afterwards; but the society of man wrought a change in the manners even of these little animals. They soon became more cautious, went off when a hand was lifted up, and in three or four days after quitting the land, behaved themselves orderly, like other flies; and though still numerous on board, they gave little molestation. Dampier found these insects equally troublesome on the North-west Coast; for he says (Vol. I. p. 464), speaking of the natives, "Their eye-lids are always half closed, to keep the flies out of their eyes; they being so troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's face; and without the assistance of both hands to keep them off, they will creep into one's nostrils, and mouth too, if the lips are not shut very close." Sir Edward Pellew's Group, as will be seen by a reference to the plan, affords numerous anchorages against both the south-east and north-west monsoon; but unless it should be within the two small isles near the south-west side of Vanderlin's Island, where the depth was not well ascertained, there is not a single harbour, the different bays and coves being too shallow to admit a ship. Wood for fuel is easy to be procured; and water may be had in December, and probably as late as April or May, but I think not afterwards. The most accessible watering place we could find, was at the back of the mangroves near our principal anchorage, within the east point of North Island, where, with some trouble, our casks were filled; and at a beach there, left dry at low water, the seine was hauled with some success. At Vanderlin's Island there are many benches fit for the seine; and indeed it seemed superior to the other islands as well for this, as for every other purpose, when a ship can lie there; it is also the most frequented by the Indians, and may probably have fixed inhabitants.
The latitude of Observation Island, from two meridian altitudes to the north and south, is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
15° | 36′ | 46″ | S. |
Longitude from six sets of distances of the sun east of the moon, given in Table IV. of Appendix No. 1, 137° 6′ 42″; but by the time keeper No. 543 corrected, it is preferably . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
137 | 3 | 15 | E. |
The rates of the time keepers were found from afternoon's altitudes in an artificial horizon, between the 16th and 26th; and the means, with their errors from mean Greenwich time, at noon there on the last day of observation, were as under:
| Earnshaw's No. | 543, | slow | 2ʰ | 29′ | 11″,17 | and losing | 14″,93 | per day |
| 520, | - | 4 | 11 | 37 ,59 | -- | 28 ,25 |
This rate of No. 543 is only 0″,19 more than that found at Sweers' Island, and so far as the six sets of lunars may be relied on, the longitude by this time keeper was not far from the truth; the letting down on the passage therefore did not seem to have produced any change; but in No. 520, the rate is more than 8″ greater, and the longitude was getting 1½′ per day too much to the east, as well before as after it was let down. The coast from Sweers' to Observation Island is consequently laid down by No. 543, with the small accelerating correction arising from the 0″,19 increase of rate in 16,4 days.
Variation of the theodolite, observed on the east side of South-west Island, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
2° 22′ east. |
In the bearings taken at different parts within the group, the variation seemed to differ from 2° 30′ to 1° 30′. The largest variations were on the east sides of the islands, and the smallest on the west sides; seeming to show an attraction of the land upon the south end of the needle. On board the ship, when coasting along the east side of Vanderlin's Island, and the whole group lay to the west, the variation appeared from the bearings to be as much as 4° east.
The best observation made on the tide, was on the 23rd, during my boat excursion to the south end of Vanderlin's Island. On that morning the moon passed over the meridian at sixteen minutes past ten, and the perpendicular movements of the tide were as follows. At seven o'clock, when I left the shore, the tide was falling; on landing at nine it was stationary, and appeared to be low water; at noon it rose fast, and at three was still rising, and continued so to do, but slowly, until seven in the evening. The tide then began to fall; but after subsiding one foot, it rose again until ten o'clock, and had then attained its greatest height. Low water took place therefore about an hour before, and high water at eleven hours and a quarter after the moon passed the meridian: the rise appeared to be from four to seven feet. At Wellesley's Islands high water had taken place an hour and a half earlier, which seems extroardinary, if, as it necesarily must, the flood come from the northward. I think it very probable, that the tide in both places will follow what was observed in King George's Sound on the South Coast; where high water, after becoming gradually later till midnight, happened on the following day before seven in the evening, and then later as before.
The break of three hours in the tide here, is somewhat remarkable: it was not observed amongst Wellesley's Islands, where the tide ran twelve hours each way; but was found to increase as we proceeded west and northward until it became six hours, and the tides assumed the usual course.