A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 16

_Albatross Island_, for so it was named, is near two miles in length, and sufficiently high to be seen five or six leagues from a ship's deck: its sh.o.r.es are mostly steep cliffs. The lat.i.tude is 40 25', and longitude made by the running survey, 2 7' west of Port Dalrymple; but it afterwards appeared from the Investigator's time keepers, to lie in 144 41' east of Greenwich.

The tide (apparently the ebb) had set so strong to the south-westward, that notwithstanding our efforts to keep up with the island, it was distant five miles when Mr. Ba.s.s returned and the boat was hoisted in. A black lump of rock was then seen three or four leagues to the south-westward, and the following bearings were taken just before making sail.

Albatross Island, N. 75 to 86 E.

Steep-head Island, S. 31 E.

Black. pyramidal rock, S. 59 W.

We kept close to the wind at north-east, in order to fetch Steep-head Island; but were carried so far to leeward by the tide, that soon after four o'clock our situation was as follows:

Albatross Island, N. 18 E.

Sugar-loaf hummock, N. 71 E.

Western part of the barren land, N. 61 E.

Steep-head Island, centre, S. 71 E.

Black, pyramidal rock, N. 77 W.

High black rock, dist. 2 miles, having breakers to the south-westward, S. 18 E.

Besides these islands and rocks, we pa.s.sed another cliffy island four or five miles to the south of Steep-head, and to which I gave the name of _Trefoil Island_, its form appearing to be nearly that of a clover leaf; there were, also, several others of less importance, mostly lying near the barren land. The steep south end of this land was set over the north end of Trefoil at N. 65 E.; and being almost a.s.sured of its separation from Van Diemen's Land, I added it, under the name of _Barren Island_, to the rest of this cl.u.s.ter; and in honour of His Excellency, the governor of New South Wales, I gave to the whole the t.i.tle of HUNTER'S ISLES.

(Atlas Pl. VII.)

The north-west cape of Van Diemen's Land, or island, as it might now be termed, is a steep, black head, which, from its appearance, I call CAPE GRIM. It lies nearly due south, four miles, from the centre of Trefoil, in lat.i.tude 40 44'; the longitude will be 144 43 east, according to the position of Albatross Island made in the Investigator. There are two rocks close to Cape Grim, of the same description with itself. On the north side of the cape, the sh.o.r.e is a low, sandy beach, and trends north-eastward, three or four miles; but whether there be a sufficient depth for ships to pa.s.s between it and Barren Island, has not, I believe, been yet ascertained. To the south of the cape, the black cliffs extend seven or eight miles, when the sh.o.r.e falls back, eastward, to a sandy bay, of which little could be perceived.

Our situation at dusk, was three miles from the cliffs, with Cape Grim bearing N. 18 E. The furthest land, beyond the sandy bay, bore S. 4 E.

four or five leagues, and proved to be near the westernmost point of Van Diemen's Land. The wind being strong at E. N. E. and the night dark and tempestuous, we kept as much under the land as possible; but found ourselves in the morning, Dec. l0, to be driven far to the south-westward. At eight o'clock, the wind having moderated, we made sail, S. E. E; and at noon, were in the following situation.

Lat.i.tude observed, 41 13' S.

Sandy west Pt. of V. D. Land, dist. 10 m. N. 10 W.

Furthest extreme, a low point, S. 22 E.

An inland mount, S. 53 E.

The nearest part of the coast was between two and three miles distant, and consisted of sandy beaches, separated by points which had many straggling rocks lying off them. At the back of the sh.o.r.e, the land was low for two or three miles, and then rose gently to a ridge of barren, low hills. The inland mount, set at S. 53 E., appeared to be the north end of a second chain, much higher, and better wooded, than the front ridge: it lies eight miles back from the sh.o.r.e, and is named _Mount Norfolk_, after my little vessel.

After obtaining the noon's observation and bearings, we steered southward along the sh.o.r.e; and at six o'clock, had pa.s.sed five leagues of the same kind of coast as before described; but the wind then flew round to W. N.

W., and made it necessary to haul further off. At 6 30',

Mount Norfolk bore N. 56 E.

Low, rocky projection, distant four miles, N. 35 E.

Distant mount, at the southern end of the back ridge, and the furthest land in sight, S. 42 E.

Dec. 11. Before five o'clock, we came in with the land a few miles from where it had been quitted in the evening.

Mount Norfolk then bore N. 27 E.

Low, rocky projection, dist. three leagues, N. 12 W.

Two conic rocks, at the southern extreme, S. 42 E.

The wind was moderate at north-west, and we bore away along the sh.o.r.e, which was distant four miles, and much similar to that of the preceding day; but it had no scattered rocks lying in front. Behind some low cliffs, pa.s.sed at seven o'clock, was perceived a small opening like a river, whose course seemed to run northward, between the front and back ridges of hills: a smoke, which arose from the inner side of the opening, was the first seen upon this west coast. I steered a short time for the entrance; but seeing rocks in it, and the wind coming more on sh.o.r.e, hauled off south, to increase our distance.

Two miles from the opening are the conic, and several low rocks, which were pa.s.sed at the distance of one mile and a half. At ten, we kept two points more away, having gained an offing of seven miles; and at noon had,

Lat.i.tude observed, 42 2' S.

Furthest extreme of the coast, S. S. E.

Mount at the southern end of the back ridge, N. 42 E.

A peaked hill, four miles E. S. E. from it, N. 60 E.

The two last appear to have been the smaller mountains seen by TASMAN to the north-east, on his discovering this land Nov. 24, 1642; and I have therefore named the first _Mount Heemskerk_, and the latter _Mount Meehan_, after his two ships. The back ridge of woody hills does not terminate here; but it retreats further inland, and as far as could be perceived through the haze, rises in height to the southward. The extreme of the coast, which bore S. S. E., forms the southern point of a sandy, and rather deep bight, where I thought it probable there might be some small opening; but as the wind blew strong directly into it, there was too much danger in bearing away for its examination.

At three o'clock, we pa.s.sed the southern point of the bight, at the distance of four miles; and the coast then again trended S. S. E., waving in rocky bights and projections. The land here rises by a gentle ascent for two or three miles from the sh.o.r.e; its appearance was smooth and uniform; but it was dest.i.tute of wood, and almost of other vegetation: the back mountains were obscured by the haze.

The heavy south-west swell, which had met us at the entrance of the Indian Ocean, still continued to roll in, and set dead upon this coast; and the wind blew fresh at W. N. W. Under these circ.u.mstances, we looked out for some little beach where in case of necessity, the sloop might be run on sh.o.r.e with a prospect of safety to our lives; for should the wind come three or four points further forward, there was no probability of clearing the land on either tack. No such beach could, however, be discovered; and we therefore carried all possible sail to get past this dreary coast. A remarkable pyramid came in sight in the evening; at eight o'clock it was distant five miles to the east, and seen to be a rock on the north side of a point, which projects two or three miles from the coast line. This point, named _Point Hibbs_ after the colonial master of the Norfolk, is higher than the neck by which it is joined to the back land; and from thence, it appears to have been taken for an island by Tasman; for I consider Point Ebbs and the pyramid to be the two islands laid down by him, in 42 35': their lat.i.tude, by our run from noon, is 42 39'.

We hauled off, upon a wind, at eight o'clock; and at four next morning, Dec. 12, came in again with the same land. At five, when our course was resumed along sh.o.r.e, Point Hibbs was distant two or three miles, and the pyramid, which bore N. 31 E. over its extremity, then appeared like the crown of a hat. The coast to the southward is more irregular in its trending, is of somewhat greater elevation, and not so dest.i.tute of wood as on the north side of the point. At the distance of three leagues we pa.s.sed a cliffy head, with high rocks lying a mile from it; and two leagues further, there were some patches of breakers two miles off the sh.o.r.e: the general trending was between S. by E. and S. S. E.

At ten o'clock, a projection which merited the name of _Rocky Point_ bore S. 74 E., five miles; and here the direction of the coast was changed to east, for near seven miles, when it formed a bight by again trending south-eastward. The sh.o.r.e round the bight is high, and at the back were several bare peaks which, from their whiteness, might have been thought to be covered with snow; but their greatest elevation of perhaps 1200 feet, combined with the height of the thermometer at 62, did not admit the supposition. These peaks are probably what Tasman named De Witt's Isles, from his distance having been too far off to distinguish the connecting land, and I therefore called the highest of them, lying in 43 9' south, _Mount De Witt_.

This morning, two sets of distances of the sun west of the moon were observed, and our situation at noon was as follows:

Lat.i.tude, 43 7' S.

Longitude from the lunar observations, 145 16 E.

Rocky Point, distant six or seven miles, N. 3 W.

Mount De Witt, S. 77 E.

Highest of two smaller hills, at the S. extreme, S. 59 E.

It afterwards appeared, that these smaller hills stood upon the extremity of a point; and in honour of the n.o.ble admiral with whose victory we had become acquainted, it was named POINT ST. VINCENT.

The western breeze died away in the evening, and the sloop was drifted in by the swell, and perhaps by a tide, towards an opening round Point St.

Vincent. This opening is indicated in the small chart which accompanies the voyage of M. Marion, but does not appear to have been seen by any other navigator. Our bearings of the land, at sunset, deduced from the sun's amplitude and s.e.xtant angles, were as follow:

Mount De Witt, N. 18 E.

Point St. Vincent, distant five miles, N. 57 E.

Steep head on the east side of the opening, dist. 8 m. N. 86 E.

Pyramidal rock, lying off a cliffy head, S. 46 E.

At a further distance, and in the same bearing with the pyramidal rock, was a steep, jagged point, which proved to be the south-west cape of Van Diemen's Land. Our lat.i.tude at this time was 43 18', the pa.s.sage of the moon having allowed me to get an observation at four o'clock; from whence to eight, our position had changed only one-and-half mile to the east.

It remained nearly calm all night; and on the 13th, at daybreak, I was much surprised to find our situation near ten miles to the southward, instead of being in the same place. This circ.u.mstance, and a breeze which arose at north, precluded me from examining the opening as I had intended; for a width of three or four miles at the entrance, and the form of the mountains behind, made it probable that a considerable river discharged itself there; and the offset during the night strengthened the supposition. At six o'clock,

Mount De Witt bore North.

Point St. Vincent, N. 7 E.

Steep head on the east side of the opening, W. 27 E.

Pyramidal rock, off the cliffy head, N. 33 E.

South-west Cape, the extreme. S. 82 E.

We were then steering for the South-west Cape, and at nine I set Mount De Witt over it at N. 22 W., our distance from the cape being then about three miles.

Seven islands and rocks were counted to the eastward, lying at different distances from the coast; and the wind having veered to west, permitted us to pa.s.s within them. At noon, the sh.o.r.e to the north being too near for the sun's alt.i.tude to be observed, its supplement was taken to the south, and gave the lat.i.tude 43 27'. A steep head which lies N. 79 E.

four or five miles from the south-west Cape, then bore S. 74 W., three miles;* whence the lat.i.tude of the Cape should be 43 29', which is 10 _less_ than given by captain Furneaux, and 8' by captain Cook. This difference naturally excited some suspicion of an error in the observation, and I measured the supplement in the same manner on the following noon, when it gave 2' 40" _less_ than the lat.i.tude determined by D'Entrecasteaux in Storm Bay. The South-west Cape is therefore placed 2' 40" further south than my observation gave it; that is, in lat.i.tude 43 32'.** The longitude of the Cape, from the observations taken off Rocky Point and brought forward by the survey, would be 145 47'; but its situation in 146 7', by captain Cook, appears to be preferable: D'Entrecasteaux places it in 146 0'.

[* This head opened round the Cape at E. 14 N.. magnetic, the sloop's head being E. by N.; and shut at W. 20 S., when the head was north. In the first case I allow 3 east variation, and in the last, 8; which makes them agree as nearly as can be expected from bearings taken under sail.]