A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 42

[SOUTH COAST. Ba.s.s' STRAIT.]

MONDAY 3 MAY 1802

On the 3rd of May at daylight the anchor was weighed to go out of Port Phillip with the last half of the ebb; and the wind being from the westward, we backed, filled and tacked occasionally, dropping out with the tide. When the entrance was cleared, and five miles distant, Mr.

Westall took a view of it (Atlas Plate XVII, View 13.), which will be an useful a.s.sistance in finding this extensive but obscure port; and at eleven o'clock, when we bore away eastward to pa.s.s Cape Schanck, he sketched that cape and the ridge of hills terminating at Arthur's Seat (View 14). Cape Schanck is a cliffy head, with three rocks lying off, the outermost of which appears at a distance like a ship under sail: the lat.i.tude is 38 29' or 30' south, and longitude 144 53' east. It will always be desirable for vessels to get sight of this cape before they run far into the great bight for Port Phillip; and if the wind blow strong from the southward it will be unsafe to run without having seen it.

Cape Schanck is also an excellent mark for ships desiring to go into Western Port, of which it forms the west side of the princ.i.p.al entrance; but as there are many breakers and shoals on that side, which extend almost to mid-channel, it will be necessary to give the cape a wide berth by keeping over to Phillip Island on the starboard hand.

At noon, Cape Schanck bore N. 36 W. five or six miles; the breeze was fresh from the westward, with cloudy weather, and we steered for Point Grant, at the east side of the entrance into Western Port. There is a square-topped rock surrounded with a reef lying off the point; but the Lady Nelson has pa.s.sed between them, with 3 fathoms water. On reaching within a mile of this reef, at one o'clock, I set

C. Schanck, distant 9 or 10 miles, at N. 85 W.

A cliffy head up the entrance, distant 5 miles, N. 16 W.

Square-topped rock, N. 85 E.

Cape Wollamai, S. 80 E.

We then steered eastward along the south side of Phillip Island, and pa.s.sed a needle-like rock lying under the sh.o.r.e. Cape Wollamai is the east end of the island, and forms one side of the small, eastern entrance to the port; and at three o'clock when it bore, N. 14 E., five or six miles, its longitude was ascertained by means of the time-keepers to be 145 25' east: the lat.i.tude deduced from bearings is 38 33' south.

_Wollamai_ is the native name for a fish at Port Jackson, called sometimes by the settlers light-horseman, from the bones of the head having some resemblance to a helmet; and the form of this cape bearing a likeness to the head of the fish, induced Mr. Ba.s.s to give it the name of Wollamai.

We ran south-eastward along the sh.o.r.e, at the rate of six or seven knots, until sunset; when a steep head, supposed to be the Cape Liptrap of captain Grant, was seen through the haze, and our bearings of the land were,

Cape Wollamai, distant six leagues, N. 49 W.

A low projection, distant seven miles, N. 21 E.

Cape Liptrap, S. 50 E.

We soon afterwards hauled to the wind off sh.o.r.e, under treble-reefed top-sails; and the gale increasing, with much swell from the south-westward, the close reefs were taken in. At midnight, tacked to the northward, and stood off and on till daybreak [TUESDAY 4 MAY 1802]; the wind being strong at west, and weather squally with rain. We then bore away for the land, which was seen to leeward; and at seven, the bearings of the princ.i.p.al parts were as under:

Land indistinct, apparently C. Liptrap, N. 5 W.

Wilson's Promontory, south extreme, S. 85 E.

A peaked I. (Rodondo of captain Grant), S. 71 E.

Besides Rodondo, which lies about six miles to the south-by-east of the promontory, I distinguished five or six less conspicuous isles, lying along the south and west sides of this remarkable headland; these are called Glennie's Isles. To the N. 88 E. from Rodondo, and distant about two leagues, was a small island which appears to have been one of Moncur's Isles; and in steering south-eastward we got sight of the Devil's Tower, and of the high island and rocks named Sir Roger Curtis'

Isles. These names were given by captain Grant in 1800; but he was not the discoverer of the places to which they are applied. They are all laid down upon my chart of 1799, on the authority of Mr. Ba.s.s; and when it is considered that this enterprising man saw them from an open boat, in very bad weather, their relative positions to Wilson's Promontory will be thought surprisingly near the truth. Unfortunately the situation of the promontory itself, owing to some injury done to his quadrant, is considerably in error, being twelve or fourteen miles wrong in lat.i.tude.

A reef is mentioned by captain Grant as lying to the southward between Rodondo and Moncur's Isles; and a rock, level with the water, was seen in the same situation by the ships Gato and Castle of Good Hope, from which last it received the appropriate name of _Crocodile Rock_. This also was seen by Mr. Ba.s.s, and laid down in its relative situation; but in the Investigator I was not sufficiently near to get sight of this important danger.

We continued to steer south-eastward, round all these islands, having a fresh gale at west-south-west with squally weather; and at noon our situation was in

Lat.i.tude observed, 39 35'

Longitude by time keepers, 146 30 Rodondo bore N. 15 W.

Sir R. Curtis' Island, the peak, dist. 7 miles, N. 46 E.

(The Devil's Tower being nearly on with the north side.) Two pointed rocks, N. 57 and 62 E.

Wilson's Promontory was no longer visible; but from the best bearings I had been able to obtain in such blowing weather, its south-eastern extremity lies in lat.i.tude 39 11' south, and longitude 146 24' east.

Not seeing any more islands to the southward from the masthead, we bore away east soon after noon to make Kent's Groups; and before three o'clock they both came in sight, as did an island to the northward, which seems to have been one of the small cl.u.s.ter discovered by Mr. John Black, and named Hogan's Group. The longitude by time keepers at this time was 146 58' east, and the following bearings were taken:

Sir R. Curtis' Island, the peak, N. 71 W.

Hogan's highest Island, from the mast head, N. 5 E.

Kent's large Group, south end of the eastern I. N. 70 E.

Small Group, dist. 6 or 7 miles, hiding the north-west end of the large group, N. 52 to 45 E.

In steering past the south sides of the two groups at the distance of four to six miles, I was enabled to correct their positions; and also that of the pyramid, which was set at S. 4 E. ten miles at four o'clock. When these lands had been laid down in the Francis and Norfolk in 1798, it was without the a.s.sistance of a time keeper, and therefore liable to considerable errors in longitude.

At five in the evening I thought myself fortunate to get a sight of Furneaux's great island through the haze; and also of a small, craggy isle which had been before fixed relatively to the inner Sister. To obtain the positions of these places by our timekeepers was to me an important object; since they were connected with the former survey of Furneaux's Islands and the north-eastern part of Van Diemen's Land. The bearings taken at five were,

Furneaux's great I., hills on the west part, S. 48 E.

Small craggy isle, S. 69 E.

Kent's large Group, extremes, N. 7 to 47 W.

Small Group, the largest isle, N. 77 W.

A small rock, not seen before, N. 88 E.

The hills upon Furneaux's great island, which I believe, but could not certainly ascertain to have been upon the westernmost point, will therefore lie very nearly S. 48 E., from the bluff south-west end of Kent's large Group, instead of S. 38 E., as before marked. This places the great island 10' of longitude further east from the group, than was given by my run in the Francis during the night of Feb. 8, 1798.

We pa.s.sed to the northward of the small new rock at the distance of three miles, and I judged it to lie four, or four-and-half leagues from the eastern side of Kent's large Group. No kind of danger was observed between them, but it was then nearly dark; and the wind being fresh and favourable, and not having more than ten days provisions in the ship, I felt it necessary to leave this and some other parts of Ba.s.s' Strait to a future examination; and we steered onward, east-north-east for Port Jackson.

WEDNESDAY 5 MAY 1802

At daylight of the 5th the course was altered more northward; and at noon, land was seen from the mast head to the north-north-west, probably some of the hills at the back of the Long Beach, and distant not less than twenty leagues: our lat.i.tude was 38 32' south and longitude 149 35' east. The wind had then moderated and having shifted to north-west we kept close up to make Cape Howe. At four, hove to and sounded, but no bottom could be had with 90 fathoms; the land extended in patches from west-north-west distant twenty-five or more leagues to near the Ram Head at north; and consequently the hills at the back of the Long Beach must be of considerable elevation, superior to any other land _near the sea_ in the southern, or perhaps any part of New South Wales.

THURSDAY 6 MAY 1802

On the wind shifting to the east side of north, next day, I tacked to get in with the land; being desirous of running near to as much of the coast, and correcting its longitude in our way to Port Jackson, as could be done without loss of time; but at noon the wind veered back, and our north-eastern course was resumed. The land could not then be further distant than nine or ten leagues; but no part of it was in sight, nor from the dullness of the weather could any observation be taken.

[EAST COAST. PORT JACKSON.]

FRIDAY 7 MAY 1802

After a squally night the wind fixed at west-by-north; and at daybreak of the 7th the land was visible from west to north-west, and our course was parallel to it (Atlas Plate VIII). At noon, the lat.i.tude was 36 24'

south, and longitude 151 16' east; Mount Dromedary was in sight bearing N. 85 W., and by the difference of longitude, was distant fifty-two miles: I estimate its highest south part to lie in 36 19' south, and 150 11' east. The wind returned to the north-west in the afternoon, and we lost sight of the land; but becoming fairer afterwards, and the southern current not having much strength, by four next day [SAt.u.r.dAY 8 MAY 1802] the heads of Port Jackson were in sight. At dusk the flag-staff upon the South Head bore west-south-west, and our distance from the sh.o.r.e was seven or eight miles.

I tried to beat up for the port in the night, being sufficiently well acquainted to have run up in the dark, had the wind permitted; but we were still to leeward in the morning [SUNDAY 9 MAY 1802], and Mr. Westall made a good sketch of the entrance (Atlas Plate XVIII. View 1). At one o'clock, we gained the heads, a pilot came on board, and soon after three the Investigator was anch.o.r.ed in Sydney Cove.

There was not a single individual on board who was not upon deck working the ship into harbour; and it may be averred that the officers and crew were, generally speaking, in better health than on the day we sailed from Spithead, and not in less good spirits. I have said nothing of the regulations observed after we made Cape Leeuwin; they were little different from those adopted in the commencement of the voyage, and of which a strict attention to cleanliness and a free circulation of air in the messing and sleeping-places formed the most essential parts. Several of the inhabitants of Port Jackson expressed themselves never to have been so strongly reminded of England as by the fresh colour of many amongst the Investigator's ship's company.

So soon as the anchor was dropped, I went on sh.o.r.e to wait upon his Excellency Philip Gidley King, Esq., governor of New South Wales, and senior naval officer upon the station; to whom I communicated a general account of our discoveries and examinations upon the South Coast, and delivered the orders from the Admiralty and Secretary of State. These orders directed the governor to place the brig Lady Nelson under my command, and not to employ the Investigator on other service than that which was the object of the voyage; and His Excellency was pleased to a.s.sure me that every a.s.sistance in the power of the colony to render should be given to forward a service so interesting to his government, and to himself. The Lady Nelson was then lying in Sydney Cove; but her commander, lieutenant Grant, had requested permission to return to England, and had sailed six months before.

Besides the Lady Nelson, there were in the port His Majesty's armed vessel Porpoise, the Speedy, south-whaler, and the Margaret privateer; also the French national ship _Le Naturaliste_, commanded by captain Hamelin, to whom I communicated captain Baudin's intention of coming to Port Jackson so soon as the bad weather should set in. Le Geographe's boat had been picked up in Ba.s.s' Strait by Mr. Campbell of the brig Harrington, and the officers and crew were at this time on board Le Naturaliste.

MAY 1802

The duties required to fit the ship for prosecuting the voyage with success being various and extensive, Cattle Point, on the east side of Sydney Cove, was a.s.signed to us by the governor for carrying on some of our employments, whilst others were in progress on board the ship and in the dockyard. On the morning after our arrival we warped to a convenient situation near the point, and sent on sh.o.r.e the tents, the sailmakers and sails, and the cooper with all the empty casks. Next day the observatory was set up, and the time-keepers and other astronomical instruments placed there under the care of lieutenant Flinders, who, with Mr.

Franklin, his a.s.sistant, was to make the necessary observations and superintend the various duties carrying on at the same place; and a small detachment of marines was landed for the protection of the tents.

I had found the barricade of the quarter deck to stand so high, as to be not only an obstacle to beating to windward, but a great inconvenience to surveying the coast; for when the wind was on the side next to the land, there were no means of taking bearings over it but by standing on the top of the binnacle; or otherwise by removing the compa.s.s to different places, which I had found could not be done without materially changing the variation. These inconveniences being stated to the governor, his permission was obtained to reduce it so low as that it might be overlooked in all cases; and an order was given that four convict carpenters, and such other a.s.sistance from the dockyard should be furnished as was necessary.

To supply the place of the cutter we had lost at the entrance of Spencer's Gulf, I contracted for a boat to be built after the model of that in which Mr Ba.s.s made his long and adventurous expedition to the strait. It was twenty-eight feet seven inches in length over all, rather flat floored, head and stern alike, a keel somewhat curved, and the cut-water and stern post nearly upright; it was fitted to row eight oars when requisite, but intended for six in common cases. The timbers were cut from the largest kind of banksia, which had been found more durable than mangrove; and the planking was of cedar. This boat was constructed under the superintendance of Mr. Thomas Moore, master builder to the colony; and proved, like her prototype, to be excellent in a sea, as well as for rowing and sailing in smooth water. The cost at Port Jackson was no more than 30.; but this was owing to some of the materials being supplied from the public magazines.

Whilst these branches of our refitment were going on, a thorough examination was made and survey taken of all the ship's stores; as well for the purpose of sending away those unserviceable and replacing them with others so far as they could be obtained, as with a view to enable the warrant officers to pa.s.s their accounts and obtain their pay up to this time; a precaution which the nature of our voyage rendered more peculiarly necessary. After the surveys were ended, the seamen were employed in stripping and re-rigging the masts, and preparing the hold to receive a fresh stock of provisions and water; the naturalist and his a.s.sistants, as also the two painters, made excursions into the interior of the country; and my time was mostly occupied in constructing the fair charts of our discoveries and examinations upon the south coast, for the purpose of their being transmitted to the secretary of the Admiralty.