Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Volume II Part 30

March 24 : At Sea : 17 4 North : 35 40 : 54 23 3/4 : North : 11 3 : Correct to 3/4 degree.

March 31 : At Sea : 29 33 North : 38 35 : 65 25 : North : 10 59 : Correct to 1 degree.

APPENDIX A. SECTION 10.

UPON THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS OF THE FIXED POINTS OF THE SURVEY.

The observations for determining the longitudes of the various parts of the coast were taken with a circle and a s.e.xtant by Troughton: besides these valuable instruments we had three chronometers of Arnold's make, namely, 413 (box) 2054 (pocket) and 394 (pocket); of which the two first were supplied by the Admiralty. At the end of the fourth year, in consequence of 394 having stopped, a fourth chronometer, made by Parkinson and Frodsham (Number 287 box) was purchased in the colony, and proved to be a most excellent watch.

The situations of the following places, which were either fixed by us or adapted from other authorities, served as the basis of the chronometrical determination of the longitudes of the intermediate parts.

The flagstaff of FORT MACQUARIE on the north-east head of Sydney Cove in PORT JACKSON (the Cattle Point of Flinders, and otherwise Bennelong Point) is in lat.i.tude 33 degrees 51 minutes 28 seconds South and longitude 151 degrees 15 minutes 26 East, being, according to the ensuing table, the mean of all the observations that have been taken.

Lat.i.tude (in degrees minutes seconds) observed by:

Captain Flinders, in 1795 and 1802: 33 51 45.6.

De Freycinet in 1802: 33 51 21.

King (reduced) 1817: 33 51 18.

Sir T. Brisbane (reduced) 1822: 33 51 30.

Mean Lat.i.tude of Fort Macquarie 33 51 28.

Longitude (in degrees minutes seconds) observed by:

Captain Cook, reduced from his observations at Botany Bay, 1770: 151 11 32.

Captain Hunter, 1788: 151 19 43.

Lieutenant Dawes 1788: 151 18 50.

Lieutenant Bradley: 151 20 38.

Malespina: 151 17 53.

Messrs. Broughton and Crosley, 1795: 151 9 3.

Captain Flinders, 1795-6: 151 17 12.

Ditto 1802: 151 11 49.

Captain De Freycinet, 1802: 151 8 32.

M. D'Espinosa by an eclipse of sun and occultation of Jupiter 1st and 2nd Satellites, 1793: 151 12 45.

Governor Bligh, 1806, eclipse of sun: 151 17 49.

Captain P.P. King, 1817, eclipse of sun, calculated by Mr. Rumker: 151 17 29.

Sir Thomas Brisbane, 1822 (the mean of six eclipses places his observatory in 151 degrees 15 minutes 20 seconds): 151 15 32.

Mr. Rumker, eclipse of sun at Parramatta, reduced to Fort Macquarie: 151 17 30.

Mean Longitude of Fort Macquarie 151 15 26.

PERCY ISLAND (Number 2). The longitude of the south-west end of this island is by Captain Flinders' observation in 150 degrees 13 minutes East.

ENDEAVOUR RIVER. The observatory, which was placed within a few yards of the sh.o.r.e on the south side of the entrance (the summit of the highest bush near the extremity of the opposite sandy beach, bearing by compa.s.s West 3 degrees 40 minutes South) was found to be situated in lat.i.tude 15 degrees 27 minutes 4 seconds, and longitude 145 degrees 10 minutes 49 seconds. (See note, Appendix A.)

GOULBURN ISLANDS. The observations were taken upon Bottle Rock, the largest of two rocky islets at the north end of South-west Bay; but the results were so doubtful and unsatisfactory, that the longitude determined by the chronometers was preferred. The following are the observations that were taken to fix its situation, namely:

Lat.i.tude by fourteen meridional alt.i.tudes of the sun l. l. on the sea-horizon, taken in various parts of the bay, and reduced by survey to Bottle Rock 11 37 24.

The difference of longitude between Bottle Rock and Ca.s.sini Island by chronometers, taken in:

1819: 7 40 47.

1820: 7 40 00.

1821: 7 38 28.

Mean difference between Ca.s.sini Island and Bottle Rock: 7 39 45.

Longitude of Ca.s.sini Island from Careening Bay, by survey: 125 38 46.

Longitude of Bottle Rock, by chronometer, from Ca.s.sini Island: 133 18 31.

The mean of the results of the lunar distances that were taken during the years 1818 and 1819, gave for the longitude of the rock 133 degrees 31 minutes 58 seconds East. On our last voyage the mean of the Bathurst's and d.i.c.k's watches made it 133 degrees 19 minutes 40 seconds, which was finally adapted, since it accorded better with the chronometrical difference between its meridian and that of Ca.s.sini Island. I have never been able to account for this extraordinary disagreement between the results of the lunar distances and the chronometers, since the former were taken with the sun on both sides of the moon, and seemed to be very good.

CAREENING BAY. This place was fixed by a series of observations, in lat.i.tude 15 degrees 6 minutes 18 seconds South, and 125 degrees 0 minutes 46 seconds East. (See Appendix A. in a note.)

KING GEORGE THE THIRD'S SOUND. The longitude of this place was adapted from the observations and survey of Captain Flinders, as follows; namely:

The tent on the east sh.o.r.e of the entrance of Oyster Harbour. Lat.i.tude 35 degrees 0 minutes 17 seconds, and longitude 117 degrees 56 minutes 22 seconds.

The sandy beach under the low part of the land of Bald Head (the first sandy bay round the head) is in lat.i.tude 35 degrees 6 minutes, and longitude 117 degrees 58 minutes 6 seconds.

COEPANG, in the Island of Timor. The situation of the flag-staff of FORT CONCORDIA, where our chronometers were rated, is in lat.i.tude 10 degrees 9 minutes 6 seconds, and longitude 123 degrees 35 minutes 46 seconds, according to the observations of Captain Flinders.

APPENDIX B.

CONTAINING A LIST AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SUBJECTS OF NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTED DURING CAPTAIN KING'S SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL AND WESTERN COASTS OF AUSTRALIA.

Previously to the establishment of the British Colony at Port Jackson, in the year 1787, the sh.o.r.es of this extensive continent had been visited by very few navigators who have recorded any account of the productions of its Animal Kingdom. The first authentic report that we have, is that of Vlaming, who is celebrated as the first discoverer of that rara avis, the black swan: next to him followed Dampier, who has handed down to us in his intelligent, although quaint, style, the account of several of the productions of the North-western and Western Coasts; but the harvest was reserved for Banks and Solander, the companions of Cook, whose names are so well and widely known in the fields of science. These distinguished naturalists were the first collectors upon the Coast of New South Wales; and although their labours were not confined to any particular branch of Natural History, yet Botany appeared to be their chief object, of which the Banksian Herbarium yields ample proof.

Among the collectors of Natural History, in the neighbourhood of the colony, since the year 1787, may be recorded the names of White, Paterson, Collins, Brown, Caley, Lewin, Humphreys, and Jamison; and in this interval the coasts have been visited by two English and two French expeditions of discovery; namely, those commanded by Admiral D'Entrecasteaux, Captains Vancouver and Flinders, and Commodore Baudin.

The first merely touched upon the south coast at the Recherche's Archipelago, and on the south sh.o.r.es of Van Diemen's Land; and the second only at King George the Third's Sound, near the South-west Cape; but these opportunities were sufficient to celebrate the names of Labillardiere and Menzies as Australian Botanists, notwithstanding they have been since eclipsed by the more extensive discoveries of Mr. Brown, whose collections of Natural History upon the voyage of Captain Flinders, and his pre-eminent qualifications, have justly raised him to the pinnacle of botanical science upon which he is so firmly and deservedly elevated.

Peron and Lesueur, in Baudin's voyage, extended their inquiries chiefly among the branches of zoological research; but in that expedition each department of Natural History had its separate collector, and the names of Leschenault de la Tour, Riedle, Depuch, and Bailly, will not be forgotten. Unfortunately, the Natural History of this voyage has never yet been given to the world, the death of M. Peron having put a stop to its publication; a few of the subjects, however, have been taken up by MM. Lacepede and Cuvier, and other French naturalists, in the form of monographs, in their various scientific journals; but the greater part is yet untouched, probably from the want of the valuable information which died with its collector. M. Peron, in his historical account of that expedition, notices a few subjects of zoology that were collected by him, but in so vague a manner, that it is with very great doubt that the specimens which we procured, and suspect to be his discoveries, can be compared with his descriptions.

Of the Natural History collections of Captain Flinders and Mr. Brown, no account has been published, excepting the valuable botanical works of the latter gentleman.

With respect to the collection which has been formed upon this expedition, it is to be regretted that the gleanings of the Animal Kingdom, particularly of quadrupeds and birds, should have been so trifling in number; and that the students of Natural History should have suffered disappointment in what might, at first view, be fairly considered to have arisen from neglect and careless attention to the subject; but as the princ.i.p.al, and almost the only, object of the voyage was the survey of the coast, for which purpose a small vessel was justly considered the most advantageous, accommodation for a zoological collection was out of the question. The very few specimens that are now offered to the world were procured as leisure and opportunity offered; but many interesting and extremely curious subjects were in fact obliged to be left behind from want of room, and from our not possessing apparatus for collecting and preserving them.

A botanical collector for the Royal Garden, Mr. Allan Cunningham, was attached to the expedition; and this gentleman did not fail to make a very extensive and valuable collection in his department, the whole of which is preserved at Kew.

In making out the Appendix, every species brought home (excepting three or four fishes) has been mentioned, for the sake of furnishing materials for the students of Geographical Zoology. The distribution of animals is a branch of study that has been very much neglected, which is to be lamented, as it appears likely to offer a very great a.s.sistance to the systematic Physiologist; and for this reason the species found at the Isle of France have been added to the list.

For the catalogue and descriptions of the quadrupeds, reptiles, and sh.e.l.ls, I am under obligation to Mr. J.E. Gray, of the British Museum.