A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 10

Early in the morning I landed with a party of the gentlemen, and scrambled through a thick brush and over lumps of rock, to the highest part near the north end of the island. Hazy weather much contracted my view; but several new c.u.mberland Islands were visible, making up the number to fifteen, of which the greater part had not been seen by captain Cook. Amongst the bearings taken with a theodolite, were those of 'k' and 'k2', which had been set from No. 4 of the Percy Isles.

'k', the extremes, bore S. 48 30' to 46 40' E.

'k2', S. 36 50 to 33 40 E.

Ship at anchor, dist. one mile, N. 64 0 W.

From these bearings and the several lat.i.tudes, I ascertained the difference of longitude made from Upper Head to the ship, to be 12' 37"

west.

This little island _l2_ is of a triangular shape, and each side of it is a mile long; it is surrounded by a coral reef which, as usual, presented a beautiful piece of marine scenery. The stone which forms the basis of the island, and is scattered loosely over the surface, is a kind of porphyry; a small piece of it, applied to the theodolite, did not affect the needle, although, on moving the instrument a few yards southward, the east variation was increased 2 23'. Not much vegetable earth was contained amongst the stones on the surface, yet the island was thickly covered with trees and brush wood, whose foliage was not devoid of luxuriance. Pines grow here, but they were more abundant, and seemingly larger, upon some other of the islands, particularly on _l3_, to the westward. There did not appear to be any fixed inhabitants; but proofs of the island having been visited some months before, were numerous; and upon the larger island _l_, there was a smoke. The time of high water coincided with the swinging of the ship, and took place one hour before the moon's pa.s.sage, as it had done amongst the barrier reefs; from ten to fifteen feet seemed to be the rise by the sh.o.r.e, and the flood came from the northward.

We returned on board the ship at noon; but I deferred getting under way till next morning, on account of the wind blowing fresh, and some business to be executed which could not be attended to whilst among the reefs. This gave an opportunity of making further observations by the time keepers, from which it appeared that they gave only 8' 36.3" of longitude west from Upper Head, with the rates there found; whereas by the survey, we had made 12' 37". The time keeper No. 520, taken alone, gave 11' 35.8"; and when the correction, afterwards found necessary in the Gulph of Carpentaria, is applied, the difference becomes 12' 41", almost exactly as by survey. The previous positions of the ship amongst the reefs, and wherever I had not any bearings of fixed points, have therefore been deduced from this time keeper.

The _lat.i.tude_ of the anchorage, from observations to the north and south., was 20 45' 28' S.

_Longitude_ from a chain of bearings, connected with the fixed station in Broad Sound, 149 34' 12" E.

_Variation_ of the theodolite, observed on the north-west beach of _l2_, 7 39' east; but it differed on the north head of the island, from 7 to 9 23' east, in the s.p.a.ce of a few yards.

The variation amongst the Barrier Reefs has not been mentioned; but five azimuths and amplitudes were taken between the 6th, p.m. and the 15th a.m. When corrected to the meridian, the extremes were 7 53' and 7 11'; and the mean, in lat.i.tude 20 44', longitude 150 32', will be 7 30'

east.

SUNDAY 17 OCTOBER 1802

At daylight on the 17th, the breeze was moderate at E. by N., with fine weather; and in steering northward, close to the wind, we pa.s.sed three miles to leeward of a dry bank of rocks and sand. Several of the c.u.mberland Islands were in sight at noon, when our situation and the most essential bearings were as under.

Lat.i.tude, observed to the north and south, 20 23' 56"

Longitude from bearings, 149 33 Island l2, station on the north end, S. 5 E.

Other isles, large and small, from thence to N. 67 W.

Pentecost I. (of capt. Cook), resembling a tower, S. 89 W.

No reefs were in sight, nor in steering N. N. E. and N. E. by N., could any be distinguished from the mast head all the afternoon. At half past five we tacked and bore down to the brig; and then anch.o.r.ed in 31 fathoms, speckled sand and small stones, and sent a boat to lieutenant Murray with orders.

Our lat.i.tude here, by an observation of the moon, was 20 10' south; and now hoping we should not meet with any more interruption from the reefs, I resolved to send the brig back to Port Jackson. The Lady Nelson sailed so ill, and had become so leewardly since the loss of the main, and part of the after keel, that she not only caused us delay, but ran great risk of being lost; and instead of saving the crew of the Investigator, in case of accident, which was one of the princ.i.p.al objects of her attendance, it was too probable we might be called upon to render her that a.s.sistance. A good vessel of the same size I should have considered the greatest acquisition in Torres' Strait and the Gulph of Carpentaria; but circ.u.mstanced as was the Lady Nelson, and in want of anchors and cables which could not be spared without endangering our own safety, she was become, and would be more so every day, a burthen rather than an a.s.sistant to me. Lieutenant Murray was not much acquainted with the kind of service in which we were engaged; but the zeal he had shown to make himself and his vessel of use to the voyage, made me sorry to deprive him of the advantage of continuing with us; and increased my regret at the necessity of parting from our little consort.

The stores and provisions already supplied to the brig, were returned; and Mr. Murray spared us his old launch, to replace, in some sort, the cutter we had lost in Strong-tide Pa.s.sage. _Nanbarre_, one of the two natives, having expressed a wish to go back to Port Jackson, was sent to the Lady Nelson in the morning [MONDAY 18 OCTOBER 1802], with two seamen exchanged for the same number of that vessel's crew; and Mr. Denis Lacy, who had been lent, returned back to the Investigator. I wrote to His Excellency governor King, an account of our proceedings and discoveries upon the East Coast; and requested a new boat might be built against our return to Port Jackson, and that the brig should be repaired and equipped ready to accompany me in the following year.

At nine o'clock we got under way, and showed our colours to bid farewell to the Lady Nelson; she steered southward for the c.u.mberland Islands, whilst our course was directed north-east, close to the wind. The brig was not out of sight when more reefs were discovered, extending from east to N. N. W.; and in pursuance of my plan to avoid small openings, we bore away to run along their inner side. At noon, the lat.i.tude was 19 58'

20", and longitude by time keeper, 149 37' east. Reefs extended from E.

N. to S. E., at the distance of one to three miles; and there were separate patches somewhat further, bearing W. by N. N. and N. N. E.

Between the first and last bearing was an opening of a good appearance, and we hauled up for it; but the water having shoaled to 12 fathoms, though no breakers were seen ahead, we kept away again; and from that time till evening, pa.s.sed a variety of reefs, hauling up between them to look into the openings, and bearing away when repulsed. None of these banks were dry, nor was there much breaking water upon them; which made it probable that they were far within the outer line of the barrier.

The breeze was fresh at south-east, and by sunset we had run eleven leagues upon various courses to the north-westward, with soundings from 14 to 33 fathoms; the bottom being rocky in the shallow, and sandy in the deeper parts. We were steering north-west, at the rate of six knots, when new reefs were discovered, from ahead to abaft the larbord beam; upon which we clapped upon a wind to the southward, and just weathered them, pa.s.sing through rippling water in 30 fathoms. Upon this occasion I felt very happy that the Lady Nelson was gone, for in all probability she could not have escaped this danger. Being now dark, it was too hazardous to stand on; and therefore, on finding a bottom of grey sand in 34 fathoms, we came to with the best bower, veered to a whole cable, and sent down the top-gallant yards. The lat.i.tude here, from a meridian alt.i.tude of the moon, was 19 48 1/3', and the longitude 149 13'; there was a small drain of ebb tide from the S. by W., until eleven o'clock, but no run was perceptible afterwards.

TUESDAY 19 OCTOBER 1802

In the morning, we saw the reef from N. E. to W. N., not further distant than two miles, and the northernmost of captain Cook's c.u.mberland Islands bore S. 56 W., about eight leagues. The wind was at E. S. E, blowing fresh; and our course was pursued along the south side of the reef till nine o'clock; when it terminated, and we steered northward twelve miles, with no soundings at 30 fathoms. Another reef was then seen, bearing from N. E. to W. N. W., and obliged us to steer westward again.

The lat.i.tude at noon was 19 35' 15", and longitude by time keeper 148 47'; four reefs then extended from E. by S. to N. W. by W., at the distance of two to five miles; the northern c.u.mberland Island bore S. 9 E, and the outer of two hills which I judged to be upon Cape Gloucester, S. 39 W. This bearing, and captain Cook's lat.i.tude of the cape, would make its longitude to be 148 26', or 15' east of what that great navigator lays it down; and it is to be observed, that from the time of pa.s.sing Sandy Cape, my longitude had gradually become more eastward as we advanced along the coast. It has before been said, that captain Cook had no time keeper in his first voyage; nor did he possess many of our advantages in fixing the positions of places; it cannot therefore be thought presumptuous, that I should consider the Investigator's longitude to be preferable.

We ran from noon, five leagues W. N. along the south side of the reefs; and seeing their termination at two o'clock, steered N. N. W., Holborne Isle then bearing S. 53 W., about four leagues. At half past four we had a small reef two or three miles to the W. S. W., and a larger four miles to the N. E.; and behind this last was one more extensive, with high breakers on the outside, reaching from N. E. by N. to E. S. I hauled up with the intention of anchoring under the lee of these reefs, till morning; but not finding sufficient shelter against the sea, we tacked and stretched southward for the clear water between the reefs and the land. At sunset, the variation from amplitude was 5 39' east; Holborne Isle bore S. by W. from the mast head, and no breakers were in sight.

This tack was prolonged, under treble-reefed top sails, till ten o'clock; when a light was seen bearing S. by E. E., probably upon the isle, and we stood to the northward.

The wind blew fresh from the eastward all night, and raised a short swell which tried the ship more than any thing we had encountered from the time of leaving Port Jackson; and I was sorry to find, brought on her former leakiness, to the amount of five inches of water per hour. We tacked to the south, soon after mid-night, and to the northward at three in the morning [WEDNESDAY 20 OCTOBER 1802]. Holborne Isle was seen bearing S. 6 W., four or five leagues, at daylight; and at seven we pa.s.sed between three small reefs, of which the easternmost had been set at W. S. W. on the preceding afternoon. In half an hour, when the lat.i.tude from the moon was 19 14', and longitude by time keeper 148 21', distant high breakers were seen to the north and eastward; the nearest small reef bore S. W. W., two miles, and a much larger one extended from N. E. to W.

by N. The pa.s.sage between these two being three miles wide, we bore away through it; and in following the south side of the great reef, left another, five or six miles long, on the larbord hand, the pa.s.sage being equally wide with the former, and the least depth 21 fathoms. Soon after ten o'clock, we steered northward, round the west end of the great reef.

At noon, the lat.i.tude from observations to the north and south was 19 8'

15", and longitude by time keeper, 147 59' east. No land was in sight, and the high breakers were lost in the eastern quarter; but we had detached reefs in the N. E., the N. E. by N., and W. N. W., distant from two to five miles. Towards the north there was six points of clear water, and I steered onward till near three o'clock; when, besides two new reefs already pa.s.sed, one on each side, we had five others: two in the E. by N.

at the distances of one and five miles. one E. S. E. four miles, another N. W. by W. six miles, and a fifth N. W. by N. three miles. Whether to steer onward amongst these, and trust to finding shelter for the night, or to run south-westward towards the land, and get within all the reefs before night came on, was an important, but difficult point to decide.

The reefs in sight were small, and could not afford shelter against the sea which was breaking high upon them; but these breakers excited a hope that we might, even then, be near an opening in the barrier; and although caution inclined to steering back towards the land, this prospect of an outlet determined me to proceed, at least until four o'clock, at the chance of finding either larger reefs for shelter, or a clear sea. We were successful. At four, the depth was 43 fathoms, and no reefs in sight; and at six, a heavy swell from the eastward and a depth of 66 fathoms were strong a.s.surances that we had at length gained the open sea.

The topsails were then treble reefed, and we hauled to the wind, which blew strong at E. S. E., with squally weather. At eight, hove to and sounded: no ground with 75 fathoms; and at twelve, none with 115. But the wind unfortunately headed two points; and the probability of meeting unknown reefs being thereby much increased, I tacked to the southward at one in the morning [THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER 1802]; preferring, if we must of necessity be again driven amongst them, to come in where we knew of an opening, rather than where their formation was totally unknown.

At four, tacked ship to the northward, and sounded with 100 fathoms, no bottom. At daylight, no reefs could be seen from the mast head, the wind had moderated its strength, and we made all possible sail to the N. by E.; keeping two points free, to make the ship go through the water. We now considered ourselves entirely clear of the reefs; but at noon high breakers were seen extending from West to N. N. W., at the distance of six or seven miles, and we hauled up a point more to the eastward. Our lat.i.tude was 17 54', longitude 148 37', and at the depth of 100 fathoms there was no ground; the variation observed in the morning, with three azimuth compa.s.ses, was 6 8' east, corrected to the meridian. Another reef was discovered at two o'clock, lying nearly three leagues to the northward of the former; but although there were many b.o.o.bies, and tropic and man-of-war birds about, no more dangers had been descried at dusk; nor did we see any more until approaching Torres' Strait.

I shall conclude this chapter with some general remarks on the reefs, which form so extraordinary a barrier to this part of New South Wales; and amongst which we sought fourteen days, and sailed more than five hundred miles, before a pa.s.sage could be found through them, out to sea.

The easternmost parts of the barrier seen in the Investigator, lie nearly in 21 south and 151 10' east; but there can be no doubt that they are connected with the reefs lying to the southward, discovered in 1797 by captain Campbell of the brig Deptford; and probably also with those further distant, which captain Swain of the Eliza fell in with in the following year. If so, the Barrier Reefs will commence as far south-eastward as the lat.i.tude 22 50' and longitude about 152 40', and possibly still further; Break-sea Spit is a coral reef, and a connexion under water, between it and the barrier, seems not improbable. The opening by which we pa.s.sed out, is in 18 52', and 148 2'; so that, did the Barrier Reefs terminate here, their extent would be near 350 miles in a straight line; and in all this s.p.a.ce, there seems to be no large opening. Mr. Swain did, indeed, get out at the lat.i.tude 22; but it was by a long, and very tortuous channel.

Of what extent our opening may be, is uncertain; but since captain Cook had smooth water in running to the west and northward to Cape Tribulation, where he first saw the reefs, it should seem to be not very great; certainly, as I think, not exceeding twenty, and perhaps not five leagues. I therefore a.s.sume it as a great probability, that with the exception of this, and perhaps several small openings, our Barrier Reefs are connected with the Labyrinth of captain Cook; and that they reach to Torres' Strait and to New Guinea, in 9 south; or through 14 of lat.i.tude and 9 of longitude; which is not to be equalled in any other known part of the world.

The breadth of the barrier seems to be about fifteen leagues in its southern part, but diminishes to the northward; for at the Northumberland Islands it is twelve, and near our opening the breadth is not more than seven or eight leagues. The reefs seen in lat.i.tude 17, after we got through, being forty leagues from the coast, I consider to be distinct banks out at sea; as I do those discovered by Mons. de Bougainville in 15, which lie still further off. So far northward as I explored the Barrier Reefs, they are unconnected with the land; and continue so to lat.i.tude 16; for, as before said, captain Cook saw none until he had pa.s.sed Cape Tribulation.

An arm of the sea is inclosed between the barrier and the coast, which is at first twenty-five or thirty leagues wide; but is contracted to twenty, abreast of Broad Sound, and to nine leagues at Cape Gloucester; from whence it seems to go on diminishing, till, a little beyond Cape Tribulation, reefs are found close to the sh.o.r.e. Numerous islands lie scattered in this inclosed s.p.a.ce; but so far as we are acquainted, there are no other coral banks in it than those by which some of the islands are surrounded; so that being sheltered from the deep waves of the ocean, it is particularly well adapted to the purposes of a coasting trade. The reader will be struck with the a.n.a.logy which this arm of the sea presents to one in nearly the same lat.i.tude of the northern hemisphere. The Gulph of Florida is formed by the coast of America on the west, and by a great ma.s.s of islands and shoals on the east; which shoals are also of coral.

On the outside of the barrier, the sea appears to be generally unfathomable; but within, and amongst the reefs, there are soundings every where. Nor is the depth very unequal, where the bottom is sandy; but like the breadth of the reefs and the arm they inclose, it diminishes as we advance northward, from 60 to 48, to 35, and to 30 fathoms near our opening; and to 20 at Cape Tribulation. The further to leeward, the shallower the water, seems to be a law amongst coral reefs.

There is some variation in the tide in different parts of the barrier, but the most general rise is about two fathoms; abreast of the Northumberland Islands, however, where the flood from the south-east seems to meet that from the northward, it is three fathoms, and perhaps more.

The time of high water there, and also at the eastern c.u.mberland Islands, is _eleven hours after_ the moon's pa.s.sage; but it probably accelerates north-westward, to the opening, and then r.e.t.a.r.ds further on: at Endeavour River, captain Cook found it to be high water an hour and a half earlier than is above given.

It has been said, that the width of the opening by which we got out to sea, is uncertain; it is undoubtedly four, and possibly more leagues, but there are many small, unconnected banks in it. To a ship desiring access to any part of the coast, south of Endeavour River, I should certainly recommend her to enter the inclosed sea by the way of Break-sea Spit, if able to choose her own route; but the question is, whether a ship driven by stress of weather, or by accident, to seek the coast, might steer for the opening with a fair prospect of pa.s.sing through in safety? I certainly think she might; with the precaution of not attempting the pa.s.sage late in the day. The marks to be given for it, are, the lat.i.tude 18 52', longitude 148 2', variation 6 east with the ship's head north or south, and the soundings. When right off the opening, bottom will be found at from 70 to 40 fathoms before any reefs come in sight; whereas, if breakers be seen and no soundings can be obtained, it may be certainly concluded that the ship is not in the fair way for this opening, and probably, that no large opening exists in that part of the barrier. On getting soundings and afterwards making the reefs near the situation above given, a ship should push through the first opening of two miles wide that presents itself, and steer south-westward amongst the inner reefs for the land; and it will not be many hours, perhaps minutes, before she will find smooth water and anchoring ground. The commander who proposes to make the experiment, must not, however, be one who throws his ship's head round in a hurry, so soon as breakers are announced from aloft; if he do not feel his nerves strong enough to thread the needle, as it is called, amongst the reefs, whilst he directs the steerage from the mast head, I would strongly recommend him not to approach this part of New South Wales.

CHAPTER V.

Pa.s.sage from the Barrier Reefs to Torres' Strait.

Reefs named Eastern Fields.

Pandora's Entrance to the Strait.

Anchorage at Murray's Islands.

Communication with the inhabitants.

Half-way Island.

Notions on the formation of coral islands in general.

Prince of Wales's Islands, with remarks on them.

Wallis' Isles.

Entrance into the Gulph of Carpentaria.

Review of the pa.s.sage through Torres' Strait.