A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 30

Return to St. Francis.

General remarks on Nuyts' Archipelago.

Identification of the islands in the Dutch chart.

THURSDAY 28 JANUARY 1802

(Atlas, Plate IV.)

The bay in which we anch.o.r.ed on the evening of January 28, at the extremity of the before known south coast of Terra Australis, was named FOWLER'S BAY, after my first lieutenant; and the low, cliffy point which shelters it from southern winds and, not improbably, is the furthest point (marked B) in the Dutch chart, was called POINT FOWLER. The botanical gentlemen landed early on the following morning [FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 1802] to examine the productions of the country, and I went on sh.o.r.e to take observations and bearings, and to search for fresh water.

The cliffs and rocks of Point Fowler are calcareous, and connected with the main land by a low, sandy isthmus of half a mile broad. Many traces of inhabitants were found, and amongst others, some decayed spears; but no huts were seen, nor anything to indicate that men had been here lately. Upon the beach were the foot marks of dogs, and some of the emu or ca.s.sowary. I found in a hole of the low cliffs one of those large nests which have before been mentioned, but it contained nothing, and had been long abandoned.

No fresh water was discovered round the sh.o.r.es of the bay, nor was there any wood large enough for fuel nearer than the brow of a hill two or three miles off. Two teal were shot on the beach, whence it seemed probable that some lake or pond of fresh water was not far distant; a sea-pie and a gull were also shot, and a few small fish caught alongside.

These const.i.tuted everything like refreshment obtained here, and the botanists found the scantiness of plants equal to that of the other productions; so that there was no inducement to remain longer.

Fowler's Bay, however, may be useful to a ship in want of a place of shelter. It is open to the three points of the compa.s.s between south-east-by-south and east-south-east; and it was evident, from plants growing close to the water side, that a swell capable of injuring a vessel at anchor was seldom if ever thrown into it.

The _lat.i.tude_ of the east extremity of Point Fowler is 32 1' south.

_Longitude_ of the point, deduced from twenty-two sets of distances (see Table III of the Appendix to this volume) is 132 30'; but that given by time keepers with accelerated rates and supplemental correction, as explained at the end of Chap. VI, and in the Appendix, is preferred, and is 132 27' east.

The _variation_ observed upon the binnacle, with the ship's head east-south-east, was 3 11' west by the surveying compa.s.s; and in the offing, with the head north-north-east, it was 1 41' west. These, corrected, will be 0 19' and 0 30'; and therefore the variation allowed upon the bearings on sh.o.r.e was 0 25' west.

The wind was at south-east-by-south at one in the afternoon, when the anchor was weighed to beat out of the bay. At half past five we were three miles from a cliffy head which had been taken for an island at the anchorage, and set at N 77 E. The sh.o.r.e forms a small bight on the east side of this head, and then stretches south-south-eastward in a sandy beach, with a ridge of barren land behind. At sunset we pa.s.sed to windward of Point Fowler, and stood off to sea for the night.

[SOUTH COAST. NUYTS' ARCHIPELAGO.]

SAt.u.r.dAY 30 JANUARY 1802

Cape Nuyts bore north, two or three leagues, soon after daylight, and the wind was then at east; but as the day advanced it veered to the south-east, and permitted us to make a stretch toward the furthest land.

At five in the evening we tacked near some low, whitish cliffs, which had been seen from the mast head when in Fowler's Bay; they were two or three miles off, and the furthest land visible from the deck bore S. 63 E. at no great distance. The coast here is broken into sandy beaches and small, cliffy points, and the same ridge of barren land runs behind it, but the elevation is not great.

SUNDAY 31 JANUARY 1802

At three in the afternoon of the 31st we reached in again with the coast, about four leagues beyond our situation on the preceding day. The depth at two miles off sh.o.r.e was 7 fathoms on a coral bottom; the northern extreme bore N. 58 W., and a low point on the other side, named _Point Bell_, S. 45 E., seven miles. To seaward, a flat rock bore W. 3 S., one mile and a half; it is the largest of four which were called _Sinclair's Rocks_, and lie scattered at the distance of two or three miles off the coast. We stood off at this time; but so little could be gained upon the south-east winds that when we came in next morning [MONDAY 1 FEBRUARY 1802] it was almost exactly in the same spot, and Point Bell was not pa.s.sed until late in the afternoon; the weather, also, was adverse to the examination, being so hazy that the highest land could not be seen beyond three or four leagues.

At half-past six in the evening, when we tacked to stand off for the night, Point Bell bore N. 68 W. four miles. It lies in 32 16' south and 133 5' east; and there is a broad, flat rock, surrounded with breakers, one mile to the westward. The main coast beyond the point forms some bights, and is divided betwixt sand and rock, as before described: its general trending is nearly east. A small island, somewhat elevated, lies six miles to the south-east of Point Bell, and has a ledge of rocks and islets extending from it a league to the north-eastward, and a separate islet one or two miles to the east: these obtained the name of _Purdie's Isles_. After we had tacked in 9 fathoms, a wave was perceived to break upon a sunken rock within less than half a mile of the ship; and I think it would be dangerous to pa.s.s between Point Bell and Purdie's Isles.

TUESDAY 2 FEBRUARY 1802

At noon of the 2nd February no land was in sight. The weather was still hazy, and the wind at south-east; but in the afternoon it favoured us two points, and we got sight of a higher and larger island than any before seen on this part of the coast. At half-past four, being then near a smaller isle and several rocks, we tacked towards the large island which was six or seven miles to the southward; and soon after eight in the evening got to an anchor in a little sandy bay on its north side. The depth was 6 fathoms in pa.s.sing the north-west point of the bay, but 10 within side, on a fine sandy bottom, where the anchor was dropped. At daylight [WEDNESDAY 3 FEBRUARY 1802] we found ourselves hall a mile from the sh.o.r.e, and the extremes bearing from N. 32 W., round by the west and south, to S. 77 E.; and at the distance of two miles we were sheltered by four small islands, extending from N. 41 to 88 E. The master was sent to sound in the bay; but the bottom was everywhere good, and nothing found to injure the cables. The scientific gentlemen landed upon their respective pursuits; and I followed them to take angles for my survey, and see what could be procured for the ship's company.

The island is nearly three miles long, north-west and south-east, and is moderately high and cliffy at the ends; the middle part is a sandy isthmus, not more than half a mile broad, but the breadth of the higher ends is from one-and-half to two miles. This island is the central one of a group; for besides the four small isles to the north-east, there are two close to the west end, and two others, something larger, lying off to the southward. I call these the ISLES OF ST. FRANCIS; in the persuasion that the central one is that named St. Francis by Nuyts. Independently of the eight isles and a rock, surrounding this Isle St. Francis, I set from the north-east point three other islands. The first, named _Lacy's Isle_, bore N. 28 E., seven miles; and two miles from it to the north-west there is an islet and a separate rock above water surrounded with breakers, the same near which we had tacked at half-past four on the preceding evening. The second was called _Evans' Isle_, and bore N. 49 E. eleven miles, and the third to which the name of _Franklin_ was given, bore N. 81 E. sixteen miles. All these are much inferior in magnitude to the central island of St. Francis.

For several days before anchoring here we had observed large flocks of sooty petrels; and I found the surface of the island, where it was sandy and produced small shrubs, to be full of their burrows. Penguins, similar to those of Furneaux's Islands, had their burrows nearer to the water-side. A small species of kangaroo, was also found, and at some preceding season the island had been frequented by geese; but at this time, the vegetation being almost burnt up, they seemed to have quitted it from want of food. The heat was, indeed, such as to make walking a great fatigue; and this was augmented by frequently sinking into the bird holes and falling upon the sand. The thermometer stood at 98 in the shade, whilst it was at 78 on board the ship.

Where the surface is not of sand it consists of calcareous rock, mostly in loose pieces; but the stone which forms the basis of the island is heavy and of a close grain, and was judged to be porphyry. In the crevices of a low calcareous cliff, at the south-east side of the bay, I found some thin cakes of good salt, incrusted upon a stone containing _laminae_ of quartz.

A party was sent on sh.o.r.e at dusk to collect petrels, and in less than two hours returned with sufficient to give four birds to every man in the ship. Early in the morning [THURSDAY 4 FEBRUARY 1802] the boats were again sent upon the same errand, and to haul the seine; but the birds were gone off to sea for the day, and no fish were caught. A small kangaroo was brought off, as also a yellow snake, which was the second killed on this island. The great heat deterred the naturalists from going on sh.o.r.e this morning, for the very little variety in the vegetable productions presented no inducement to a repet.i.tion of their fatigue. I landed to see what further could be discovered of the neighbouring islands; and we then prepared to get under way so soon as the breeze set in from the south-eastward, which it usually did about noon, after a few hours of calm or of light airs.

The small bay in the Isle St. Francis, which I call _Petrel Bay_, affords excellent shelter for two or three ships; but no fresh water, not even to rinse our mouths, could be found at this time; and a few scattered bushes were the nearest approach to wood upon the island. Petrels, penguins, and a few hair seals may be procured, and probably some geese in the wet season.

I had hitherto observed upon this coast that the south-east and east winds produced the same effect upon the barometer as at the Cape of Good Hope, in keeping the mercury high, commonly at or above 30 inches and the more fresh was the wind, the higher it stood; but within the last few days the barometer was much lower with the same winds, and at this time was at 29.74. The dense haze which prevailed might possibly have caused the change, but I suspected another reason for it. Winds coming off the land, I had remarked, had a tendency to depress the mercury, and sea winds to make it rise, though no change took place in the weather; and it therefore seemed probable, as the trending of the coast beyond these islands was unknown, that the south-east and east winds came off the land, and not from the sea, as before; in which case the unknown coast would be found trending to the southward, a conjecture which, it will be seen, was verified. That there was no entrance to a strait, nor any large inlet near these islands, was almost demonstrated by the insignificance of the tides; for neither in Fowler's Bay nor at this Isle St. Francis could any set be perceived; nor was there any rise by the sh.o.r.e worthy of notice.

At half-past one we left Petrel Bay; and having pa.s.sed between the small isles to the north-east, steered for Evans' Island, and toward the Isles of St. Peter, which were expected to lie beyond it. At five o'clock, we pa.s.sed between Evans' Island and some rocks above water, with breakers round them, lying three miles to the eastward. An island, equally high with that of St. Francis, was then seen to the north, and low land extended from it to N. 45 E., which had some appearance of being part of the main. We steered for these lands; and seeing an opening between them at sunset, I attempted it in the hope of getting anchorage for the night; but the water shoaled suddenly, from 4 fathoms to sixteen feet upon rocks, and obliged me to veer on the instant. We then stood back to the southward till eight o'clock, and nothing being perceived in the way of the ship's drift, hove to for the night.

FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY 1802

The wind was north-east in the morning; and at half-past four o'clock we filled the sails and steered eastward until eight, when the central island of St. Francis bore N. 71 W., and Franklin's Isles, for there are two, besides rocks, were distant four leagues, the small opening between them bearing N. 28 W. To the south-eastward of these islands, at the distance of eleven miles, is a low projection of the main land, to which the name of _Point Brown_ was given, in compliment to the naturalist; and four leagues further, in the same line, was a cliffy head, called _Cape Bauer_ after the painter of natural history. Between these projections there was a wide s.p.a.ce where no land was visible, and for which we accordingly steered on the wind veering more to the northward. The atmosphere was still hazy, more especially about the horizon, and no observations worthy of confidence could be taken for either lat.i.tude or longitude. At noon,

Franklin's Isles bore N. 48 to 56 W.

Point Brown, distant four miles, N. 34 W.

Cape Bauer, south extremity, dist. 3 leagues, S. 50 E.

No land was yet visible ahead; and there being much refuse from the sh.o.r.e, as well as seaweed floating about, some hopes of finding a river were entertained. At half-past two, however, low, sandy land was seen from the mast head, nearly all round, the depth had diminished from 19 to 7 fathoms, and the water was much discoloured in streaks at less than a mile from the ship. Smokes Were rising in three different places; but as the wind was unfavourable, and there was no prospect of any opening sufficiently large to admit the Investigator, I gave up the further examination of this place, and called it STREAKY BAY.

There remained nearly forty miles of s.p.a.ce between Point Bell and Point Brown, in which the main coast had not been seen. This it was necessary to explore; but the wind being then at north-north-east, I steered to the southward, to gain some further knowledge of the coast in that direction before dark.

West of Cape Bauer, and distant four miles, there is a low island, extensively surrounded with rocks and breakers, which I called _Olive's Island_. We pa.s.sed between it and the cape, and observed the cliffs of the latter to be stratified, and apparently calcareous. Another cliffy and somewhat higher projection opened from it at S. 1 W., distant seven miles, the intermediate low land forming a bight four or five miles deep, which is mostly skirted by a sandy beach. This projection I named _Point Westall_, in compliment to the landscape painter; and at six in the evening, when it bore north-east-by-east two or three miles, we veered round to the northward. Beyond Point Westall the coast takes a more eastern direction, the first land which opened out from it being at S.

43 E.: this was a third cliffy projection, terminating another sandy bight in the coast. No hill nor anything behind the sh.o.r.e could be perceived, but it does not certainly follow that there are no hills in the back country, for the haze was too thick to admit of the sight extending beyond four or five leagues.

The wind having veered to east-north-east, we kept to the northward all night, under easy sail; and at daylight [SAt.u.r.dAY 6 FERBRUARY 1802], the lands around us were in the following bearings:

I. St. Francis, the largest southern cliffs, N. 80 W.

Lacy's Isle, centre, N. 57 W.

Evans' Isle, centre, N. 43 W.

Franklin's Isles, extremes, N. 29 to 10 W.

Point Brown, south extremity, N. 65 E.

Cape Bauer, north extremity, S. 78 E.

Olive's Island, centre, S. 67 E.

Cliffy Head beyond Point Westall, S. 45 E.

All sail was made to fetch between Franklin's Isles and Point Brown, in order to follow the course of the main land as close as possible; but finding, after several tacks, the impossibility of weathering the isles, we bore away; and at noon hauled up north-north-east round them. The wind was light at east, and the weather fine over head; but there was so dense a haze below that, the true horizon could not be distinguished from several false ones, and we had six or seven different lat.i.tudes from as many observers: those taken by me to the north and south differed 19 minutes. This dense haze, from its great refractive power, altered the appearance of objects in a surprising manner: a sandy beach seemed to be a chalky cliff, and the lowest islands to have steep sh.o.r.es. The thermometer stood, at this time, at 82 and the barometer at 29.60 inches.

On the north side of Point Brown the sh.o.r.e formed a large open bay, into which we hauled up as much as the wind would permit, pa.s.sing near to a reef of rocks and breakers, two miles to the north-north-east of Franklin's Isles. At half-past two the water had shoaled to 5 fathoms; and not being able to distinguish any inlet, we then bore away westward along the land. The number of smokes rising from the sh.o.r.es of this wide, open place induced me to give it the name of SMOKY BAY.

At four o'clock we pa.s.sed the small opening which had been unsuccessfully attempted in the evening of the 4th, and hauled up northward under the lee of the island forming its western side. The mainland then came in sight ahead; but between it and the islands was a s.p.a.ce five or six miles wide, which had the appearance of being the entrance to a river. No land was visible to the north-east; and besides quant.i.ties of gra.s.s and branches of trees or bushes floating in the water, there was a number of long, gauze-winged insects topping about the surface, such as frequent fresh-water lakes and swamps. In order to form a judgment of how much fresh was mixed with the salt water, or whether any, I had some taken up for the purpose of ascertaining its specific gravity; but before the experiment could be made, the depth diminished to 3 fathoms, and low land was distinguished nearly all round. We then veered ship; and at seven o'clock came to an anchor in 6 fathoms, off a small beach on the north side of the western and smallest island, being sheltered at all points except between S. 58 and N. 80 W.

The specific gravity of the water taken up proved to be 1.034, or .008 greater than the water of the Southern Indian Ocean, westward of the Island Amsterdam, although the temperature in which it was weighed was higher by 14. This circ.u.mstance, with the shallowness of the inlet and the land having been seen to close round so nearly, made me give up the intention of attempting to proceed any higher up, since no river of importance was to be expected.

Great flocks of sooty petrels were observed coming in from sea to the island, and at the first dawn next morning [SUNDAY 7 FEBRUARY 1802] a boat was sent to collect a quant.i.ty of them, and to kill seals; but the birds were already moving off, and no more than four seals, of the hair kind, were procured. The botanists preferred going on sh.o.r.e to the more eastern land, which, though low, was much more extensive than the island nearer to the ship; and in fact it was not yet ascertained whether it were not a part of the main. I went to the higher island with a theodolite to take bearings; and as the survey had shown that no dependence was to be placed in any observations taken on board the ship during the last five days, I took with me the necessary instruments for determining the lat.i.tude and longitude.

Granite was found to compose the rocks of the sh.o.r.e, and seemed to be the basis of the island; but it was covered with a crust of calcareous stone, in some places fifty feet thick. The soil at the top was little better than sand, but was overspread with shrubs, mostly of one kind, a whitish velvety plant--(_artriplex reniformis_ of Brown),* nearly similar to what is called at Port Jackson, Botany Bay greens. Amongst these the petrels had everywhere undermined; and from the excessive heat of the sun, the reflection from the sand, and frequently stepping up to the mid-leg in the burrows, my strength was scarcely equal to reaching the highest hill near the middle of the island. I had no thermometer, but judged the temperature could scarcely be less than 120; and there was not a breath of air stirring. My fatigue was, however, rewarded by an extensive set of bearings, and I overlooked the lower and larger island to the eastward, and saw the water behind it communicating with Smoky Bay. That low land and the island upon which I stood, being the north-easternmost of this archipelago, must, I conceive, be the ISLES OF ST. PETER in Nuyts' chart, notwithstanding their relatively small distance from those of St.

Francis. The bay to the northward, between these islands and the mainland, I named DENIAL BAY, as well in allusion to St. Peter as to the deceptive hope we had formed of penetrating by it some distance into the interior country. The bearings most essential to the survey, taken from this station were these,

Point Brown, sandy hillocks on it, S. 52 0' E.

Franklin's Isles, the extremes, S. 49 15' to 33 45 E.

Evans' Isle, centre, S. 23 0 W.

Isles of St. Francis, southernmost, the centre S. 34 0 W.