A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 37

The wind fixed itself at south-east, and it took us two days to work back against it as far as Troubridge Hill [SAt.u.r.dAY 27 MARCH 1802]. The sh.o.r.e is generally low and sandy; but with the exception of one very low point, it may be approached within two miles. Many tacks were made in these two days from the northern land across to Kangaroo Island, and gave opportunities of sounding the intermediate strait. From 45 fathoms, in the middle of the western entrance, the depth diminished quickly to 25, then more slowly to 20 after which it is irregular between 12 and 20 fathoms, as far as the mouth of the second inlet. Of the two sides, that of Kangaroo Island is much the deepest; but there is no danger in any part to prevent a ship pa.s.sing through the strait with perfect confidence, and the average width is twenty-three miles. It was named INVESTIGATOR'S STRAIT, after the ship. The bottom is mostly broken sh.e.l.ls, mixed with sand, gravel or coral, and appeared to hold well.

From two amplitudes taken to the north-north-west of Point Marsden, and near the middle of the strait, the variation was 1 49' east; the ship's head being south-south-east in one case, and north-east-by-north in the other. The true variation deduced from these, is 3 20' east; which is 1 7' greater than at Cape Spencer, and 0 53' less than at the anchorage near Kangaroo Head.

At noon of the 27th, the eastern wind died away; and we dropped a kedge anchor in 15 fathoms, about two miles from Point Marsden, where the following observations and bearings were taken.

Lat.i.tude, observed to the north, 35 31' 38"

Longitude by time keepers, 137 42 Kangaroo I., furthest western extreme, S. 82 W.

do., Point Marsden, west side, S. 26 W.

do., innermost head up Nepean Bay, S. 27 E.

do., furthest eastern extreme, S. 57 E.

Cape Jervis, south extreme, S. 73 E.

No set of tide was observable until three o'clock, when it made gently to the north-east, towards the new inlet; and a breeze springing up at south-east soon afterward, we pursued the same course, and were well within the entrance at eight o'clock. Fires were seen ahead; but the soundings being regular, and increasing, we kept on until midnight; when the land was seen also, and we stood back for two hours. At daylight [SUNDAY 28 MARCH 1802] I recognised Mount Lofty, upon the highest part of the ridge of mountains which, from Cape Jervis, extends northward behind the eastern sh.o.r.e of the inlet. The nearest part of the coast was distant three leagues, mostly low, and composed of sand and rock, with a few small trees scattered over it; but at a few miles inland, where the back mountains rise, the country was well clothed with forest timber, and had a fertile appearance. The fires bespoke this to be a part of the continent.

Light airs and calms prevailed during the morning, and the ship had very little way until noon, when a breeze sprung up at south-west. Our situation was then in

Lat.i.tude, observed to the north and south, 35 4' 13"

Longitude by time keepers, 138 23 Mount Lofty bore N. 71 E.

Southern extreme toward Cape Jervis, S. 17 W.

Northern extreme, trees above the water, N. 32 E.

The situation of Mount Lofty was found from hence and from some other cross bearings, to be 34 59' south and 138 42' east. No land was visible so far to the north as where the trees appeared above the horizon, which showed the coast to be very low, and our soundings were fast decreasing. From noon to six o'clock we ran thirty miles to the northward, skirting a sandy sh.o.r.e at the distance of five, and thence to eight miles; the depth was then 5 fathoms, and we dropped the anchor upon a bottom of sand, mixed with pieces of dead coral.

MONDAY 29 MARCH 1802

In the morning, land was seen to the westward, and also a hummocky mountain, capped with clouds, apparently near the head of the inlet.

Azimuths with the surveying compa.s.s, taken when the ship's head was south-eastward, gave 2 27' east variation; but an amplitude taken at the same anchorage on the preceding evening, when the head was south-by-west, showed 5 22' east. These corrected to the meridian, will be severally 4 43' and 4 44' east; or half a degree more than was observed near Kangaroo Head. The observations at this anchorage and the bearings taken were as follow:

Lat.i.tude observed from the moon, 34 36' S.

Longitude by time keepers, 138 18 E.

Mount Lofty, S. 41 E.

Nearest sh.o.r.e, distant 7 miles, N. E. to N.

Hummock mount, highest top, N. 12 W.

Western land, furthest extremes, N. 51 to S. 65 W.

There being almost no wind in the morning, we remained at anchor until nine o'clock, to set up afresh the rigging of the new top masts; and I took a boat to sound upon a rippling near the ship, but found the same depth of 5 fathoms. Very little progress was made until noon, at which time shoal water obliged us to steer westward. At three the soundings had increased from 3 to 10 fathoms, which was the deepest water to be found; for it became shallower on approaching the western sh.o.r.e. After steering various northwardly courses, we anch.o.r.ed at sunset in 5 fathoms, sand, sh.e.l.ls and broken coral; the sh.o.r.es then appeared to close round at the distance of seven or eight miles; and the absence of tide gave no prospect of finding any river at the head of the inlet.

According to lieutenant Flinders' observations, the situation of the anchorage was in

Lat.i.tude, 34 16' 36"

Longitude by time keepers, 138 6 Mount Lofty, dist. 17 leagues, bore, S. 35 E.

Hummock Mount, highest part, N. 5 E.

A low sandy point, dist. 3 or 4, miles, N. 69 E.

A low point covered with mangroves, N. 53 W.

The variation from an amplitude, observed when the ship's head was south-eastward, was 2 50' east; but the compa.s.s being upon a stand out of its usual place, I cannot deduce the true variation, but took it to be; 4 40' east, nearly as found at the preceding anchorage.

TUESDAY 30 MARCH 1802

Early in the morning I went in a boat, accompanied by the naturalist, to examine more closely the head of the gulph. We carried from 4 to 3 fathoms water four miles above the ship, when it shoaled to fifteen and eight feet, which brought us to mud flats, nearly dry; but by means of a small channel amongst them we got within half a mile of the sh.o.r.e, and walked to it upon a bank of mud and sand.

It was then ten o'clock, and the tide was out; so that I judged the time of high water to be _about seven hours after_ the moon's pa.s.sage, or three hours later than at Kangaroo Island; and the ordinary rise appeared to be six or eight feet. An observation of the sun's meridian alt.i.tude from the artificial horizon showed the landing-place to be in lat.i.tude 34 8' 52", and the uppermost water might be 30" less; whence the extent of this inlet, from Cape Jervis on the east side of the entrance, is 1 30' of lat.i.tude.

Microscopic sh.e.l.ls of various kinds, not larger than grains of wheat, were heaped up in ridges at high-water mark; further back the sh.o.r.e was sandy, but soon rose, in an undulating manner, to hills covered with gra.s.s; and several clumps of trees scattered over them gave the land a pleasing appearance from the water side. We set off in the afternoon for the Hummock Mount, which stands upon a northern prolongation of the hills on the west side of the inlet, and about eight miles from the water; but finding it could not be reached in time to admit of returning on board the same evening, I ascended a nearer part of the range to inspect the head of the inlet. It was almost wholly occupied by flats, which seemed to be sandy in the eastern part and muddy to the westward. These flats abounded with rays; and had we been provided with a harpoon, a boat load might have been caught. One black swan and several s.h.a.gs and gulls were seen.

I found the gra.s.s upon these pleasant-looking hills to be thinly set, the trees small, and the land poor in vegetable soil. The mountainous ridge on the east side of the inlet pa.s.ses within a few miles of Hummock Mount, and appeared to be more sandy; but the wood upon it was abundant, and of a larger growth. Between the two ranges is a broad valley, swampy at the bottom; and into it the water runs down from both sides in rainy weather, and is discharged into the gulph, which may be considered as the lower and wider part of the valley.

This eastern ridge is the same which rises at Cape Jervis; from whence it extends northward towards Barn Hill and the ridge of mountains on the east side of Spencer's Gulph. If it joins that ridge, as I strongly suspect, its length, taking it only from Cape Jervis to Mount Arden, will be more than seventy leagues in a straight line. There are some considerable elevations on the southern part; Mount Lofty is one of them, and its height appeared nearly equal to that of Mount Brown to the north, or about three thousand feet. Another lies six or seven miles to the north-by-east of the Hummock Mount, near the head of this inlet, and seems to have been the hill set from Spencer's Gulph, at the anchorage of March 14, in the evening, when it was distant ten or eleven leagues and appeared above the lower range in front of Barn Hill.

From my station on the western hills of the new inlet, across to Spencer's Gulph, the distance was not more than thirty miles; but as I did not ascend the highest part of the range, the water to the westward could not be seen. Had the Hummock Mount been within my reach, its elevation of near fifteen hundred feet would probably have afforded an extensive view, both across the peninsula and of the country to the northward.

[SOUTH COAST. GULPH OF ST. VINCENT.]

In honour of the n.o.ble admiral who presided at the Board of Admiralty when I sailed from England, and had continued to the voyage that countenance and protection of which Earl Spencer had set the example, I named this new inlet the GULPH OF ST. VINCENT. To the peninsula which separates it from Spencer's Gulph I have affixed the name of YORKE'S PENINSULA, in honour of the Right Honourable Charles Philip Yorke, who followed the steps of his above-mentioned predecessors at the Admiralty.

WEDNESDAY 31 MARCH 1802

On the 31st at daylight we got under way to proceed down the gulph, and having followed the eastern sh.o.r.e in going up, I wished to trace the coast of the peninsula in returning; but the wind being nearly at south, it could only be done partially. At two in the afternoon we tacked in 3 fathoms from the eastern shoals, and at sunset in the same depth one mile from the western side; our distance from the head of the gulph being then about ten leagues, and the furthest land of the peninsula bearing S. 3 E. The western hills come down nearly to the water-side here, and have the same pleasant appearance as at the head of the gulph, being gra.s.sy, with clumps of wood scattered over them; the coast-line is somewhat cliffy, and not so low as the eastern sh.o.r.e.

THURSDAY 1 APRIL 1802

During the night the wind veered round to east, and at three in the morning to north-east; and a fire being seen on the eastern sh.o.r.e, the fore top sail was laid to the mast. At daybreak we made sail west for the land of the peninsula; and at half-past nine it was less than five miles distant, being very low and sandy. The northern extreme then in sight appeared to be the same land set in the evening at S. 3 E.; the other extreme was not far from Troubridge Hill, on the west side of the entrance to the gulph; and near it was an extensive bank, part of it dry, which I called _Troubridge Shoal_. The bearings taken at this time were,

Northern extreme of the west sh.o.r.e, N. 2 E.

Southern extreme, distant 7 miles, S. 42 W.

Troubridge Shoal, dry part S. 13 W. to 9 E.

Cape Jervis, S. extreme of high land, S. 18 E.

Mount Lofty, N. 85 E.

We now hauled the wind to the south-east, and weathered the dry part of Troubridge Shoal; but pa.s.sed amongst several patches of discoloured water in soundings from 4 to 3 fathoms. At noon, when our lat.i.tude observed on both sides was 35 9' 38" and longitude by time keepers 138 4', the shoal was distant three leagues to the west-north-west; Cape Jervis bore S. 12, and Mount Lofty N. 72 E.

Our examination of the gulph of St. Vincent was now finished; and the country round it had appeared to be generally superior to that on the borders of Spencer's Gulph. Yorke's Peninsula between them is singular in its form, bearing some resemblance to a very ill-shaped leg and foot. The length of the southern part, from Cape Spencer to the sandy point near Troubridge Shoal, is about forty-five miles; and from thence northward, to where the peninsula joins the main land, about sixty miles. Its least breadth is from the head of Hardwicke Bay to the Investigator's Strait, where it appears to be not more than three leagues.

[SOUTH COAST. KANGAROO ISLAND]

Having now made myself acquainted with the sh.o.r.es of the continent up to Cape Jervis, it remained to pursue the discovery further eastward; but I wished to ascertain previously whether any error had crept into the time-keepers' rates since leaving Kangaroo Island, and also to procure there a few more fresh meals for my ship's company. Our course was in consequence directed for the island, which was visible from aloft; but the winds being very feeble, we did not pa.s.s Kangaroo Head until eleven at night. I purposed to have run up into the eastern cove of Nepean Bay, but finding the water to shoal from 12 to 7 fathoms, did not think it safe to go further in the dark, and therefore dropped the anchor about three-quarters of a mile from the sh.o.r.e, and two miles to the south-west-by-west of our former anchorage.

FRIDAY 2 APRIL 1802

Early on the following morning a party was sent to shoot kangaroos, another to cut wood, and the naturalists went to pursue their researches.

The observations taken by lieutenant Flinders, compared with those of March 24th, showed the timekeepers to have erred 2' 10" of longitude to the west in the nine days we had been absent; and they had not, consequently, lost quite so much upon a medium as the Port Lincoln rates supposed. This small error, which princ.i.p.ally affected the Gulph of St.

Vincent, has been corrected in the longitudes there specified and in the chart by an equal proportion.

The kangaroos were found to be less numerous than at the first anchoring place, and they had become shy, so that very few were killed. Those few being brought off, with a boat load of wood, we got under way at daylight next morning to prosecute the examination of the coast beyond Cape Jervis; but the timekeepers had stopped, from having been neglected to be wound up on the preceding day. We therefore came to an anchor again; and as some time would be required to fix new rates, the ship was moored so soon as the flood tide made. I landed immediately, to commence the necessary observations, and a party was established on sh.o.r.e, abreast of the ship, to cut more wood for the holds. Lieutenant Fowler was sent in the launch to the eastward, with a shooting party and such of the scientific gentlemen as chose to accompany him; and there being skins wanted for the service of the rigging, he was directed to kill some seals.

SUNDAY 4 APRIL 1802

On the 4th I was accompanied by the naturalist in a boat expedition to the head of the large eastern cove of Nepean Bay; intending if possible to ascend a sandy eminence behind it, from which alone there was any hope of obtaining a view into the interior of the island, all the other hills being thickly covered with wood. On approaching the south-west corner of the cove, a small opening was found leading into a considerable piece of water; and by one of its branches we reached within little more than a mile of the desired sandy eminence. After I had observed the lat.i.tude 35 50' 2" from an artificial horizon, we got through the wood without much difficulty, and at one o'clock reached the top of the eminence, to which was given the name of _Prospect Hill_. Instead of a view into the interior of the island, I was surprised to find the sea at not more than one and half or two miles to the southward. Two points of the coast towards the east end of the island bore S. 77 E., and the furthest part on the other side, a low point with breakers round it, bore S. 33 W., at the supposed distance of four or five leagues. Between these extremes a large bight in the south coast was formed; but it is entirely exposed to southern winds, and the sh.o.r.es are mostly cliffy. Mount Lofty, on the east side of the Gulph of St. Vincent, was visible from Prospect Hill at the distance of sixty-nine miles, and bore N. 40 40' E.