Chapter XII: Part II (1)

Preliminary Information. Boat expeditions of Bass and Flinders. Clarke. Shortland. Discoveries of Bass to the southward of Port Jackson; of Flinders; and of Flinders and Bass. Examinations to the northward by Flinders. Conclusive Remarks.

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION.

The year 1788 will ever be a memorable epoch in the history of Terra Australis. On Jan. 18, Captain (now vice-admiral) ARTHUR PHILLIP arrived in Botany Bay, with His Majesty's brig _Supply_; and was followed by the _Syrius_, captain John Hunter, six sail of transports, and three store ships. The purpose of this armament was to establish a colony in New South Wales, over which extensive country Captain Phillip was appointed _Governor_ and _Captain-general_. Botany Bay proved to be an unfavourable situation for the new colony; it was, therefore, abandoned in favour of PORT JACKSON, which lies three leagues to the northward, and was found to be one of the finest harbours in the world.

A history of this establishment at the extremity of the globe, in a country where the astonished settler sees nothing, not even the grass under his feet, which is not different to whatever had before met his eye, could not but present objects of great interest to the European reader; and the public curiosity has been gratified by the perusal of various respectable publications, wherein the proceedings of the colonists, the country round Port Jackson, its productions, and native inhabitants, are delineated with accuracy, and often with minuteness. The subject to be here treated is the progress of maritime geographical discovery, which resulted from the new establishment; and as the different expeditions made for this purpose are in many cases imperfectly, and in some altogether unknown, it has been judged that a circumstantial account of them would be useful to seamen, and not without interest to the general reader. These expeditions are, moreover, intimately connected with the Investigator's voyage, of which they were, in fact, the leading cause.

(Atlas, Plate VIII.)

The first advantage to maritime geography which arose from the new settlement, was a survey of Botany and Broken Bays and Port Jackson, with most of the rivers falling into them. Botany Bay had, indeed, been examined by captain Cook; but of the other two harbours, the entrances alone had been seen. This survey, including the intermediate parts of the coast, was made by captain John Hunter, and was published soon after its transmission to England by governor Phillip.

In the beginning Of 1795, captain (now vice-admiral) Hunter sailed a second time for New South Wales, to succeed captain Phillip in the government of the new colony. He took with him His Majesty's armed vessels Reliance and Supply; and the author of this account, who was then a midshipman and had not long before returned from a voyage to the South Seas, was led by his passion for exploring new countries, to embrace the opportunity of going out upon a station which, of all others, presented the most ample field for his favourite pursuit.

On arriving at Port Jackson, in September of the same year, it appeared that the investigation of the coast had not been greatly extended beyond the three harbours; and even in these, some of the rivers were not altogether explored. Jervis Bay, indicated but not named by captain Cook, had been entered by lieutenant Richard Bowen; and to the north, Port Stephens had lately been examined by Mr C. Grimes, land surveyor of the colony, and by captain W. R. Broughton of H. M. ship Providence; but the intermediate portions of coast, both to the north and south, were little further known than from captain Cook's general chart; and none of the more distant openings, marked but not explored by that celebrated navigator, had been seen.

In Mr George Bass, surgeon of the Reliance, I had the happiness to find a man whose ardour for discovery was not to be repressed by any obstacles, nor deterred by danger; and with this friend a determination was formed of completing the examination of the east coast of New South Wales, by all such opportunities as the duty of the ship and procurable means could admit.

BASS and FLINDERS. 1795.

Projects of this nature, when originating in the minds of young men, are usually termed romantic; and so far from any good being anticipated, even prudence and friendship join in discouraging, if not in opposing them. Thus it was in the present case; so that a little boat of eight feet long, called _Tom Thumb_, with a crew composed of ourselves and a boy, was the best equipment to be procured for the first outset. In the month following the arrival of the ships, we proceeded round in this boat, to Botany Bay; and ascending George's River, one of two which falls into the bay, explored its winding course about twenty miles beyond where Governor Hunter's survey had been carried.

The sketch made of this river and presented to the governor, with the favourable report of the land on its borders, induced His Excellency to examine them himself shortly afterward; and was followed by establishing there a new branch of the colony, under the name of _Bank's Town_.

1796.

A voyage to Norfolk Island interrupted our further proceedings, until March 1796. Mr Bass and myself then went again in Tom Thumb, to explore a large river, said to fall into the sea some miles to the south of Botany Bay, and of which there was no indication in captain Cook's chart.

We sailed out of Port Jackson early in the morning of March 25, and stood a little off to sea to be ready for the sea breeze. On coming in with the land in the evening, instead of being near Cape Solander, we found ourselves under the cliffs near Hat Hill, six or seven leagues to the southward, whither the boat had been drifted by a strong current. Not being able to land, and the sea breeze coming in early next morning from the northward, we steered for two small islets, six or seven miles further on, in order to get shelter; but being in want of water, and seeing a place on the way where, though the boat could not land, a cask might be obtained by swimming, the attempt was made, and Mr Bass went on shore. Whilst getting off the cask, a surf arose further out than usual, carried the boat before it to the beach, and left us there with our arms, ammunition, clothes and provisions thoroughly drenched and partly spoiled. The boat was emptied and launched again immediately; but it was late in the afternoon before every thing was rafted off, and we proceeded to the islets. It was not possible to land there; and we went on to two larger isles lying near a projecting point of the main, which has four hillocks upon it presenting the form of a double saddle, and proved to be captain Cook's _Red Point_. The isles were inaccessible as the others; and it being dark, we were constrained to pass a second night in Tom Thumb, and dropped our stone anchor in 7 fathoms, under the lee of the point.

The sea breeze, on the 27th, still opposed our return; and learning from two Indians that no water could be procured at Red Point, we accepted their offer of piloting us to a river which, they said, lay a few miles further southward, and where not only fresh water was abundant, but also fish and wild ducks. These men were natives of Botany Bay, whence it was that we understood a little of their language, whilst that of some others was altogether unintelligible. Their river proved to be nothing more than a small stream, which descended from a lagoon under Hat Hill, and forced a passage for itself through the beach; so that we entered it with difficulty even in Tom Thumb. Our two conductors then quitted the boat to walk along the sandy shore abreast, with eight or ten strange natives in company.

After rowing a mile up the stream, and finding it to become more shallow, we began to entertain doubts of securing a retreat from these people, should they be hostilely inclined; and they had the reputation at Port Jackson of being exceedingly ferocious, if not cannibals. Our muskets were not yet freed from rust and sand, and there was a pressing necessity to procure fresh water before attempting to return northward. Under these embarrassments, we agreed upon a plan of action, and went on shore directly to the natives. Mr Bass employed some of them to assist in repairing an oar which had been broken in our disaster, whilst I spread the wet powder out in the sun. This met with no opposition, for they knew not what the powder was; but when we proceeded to clean the muskets, it excited so much alarm that it was necessary to desist. On inquiring of the two friendly natives for water, they pointed upwards to the lagoon; but after many evasions our _barica_* was filled at a hole not many yards distant.0

[* A small cask, containing six or eight gallons.]

The number of people had increased to near twenty, and others were still coming, so that it was necessary to use all possible expedition in getting out of their reach. But a new employment arose upon our hands: we had clipped the hair and beards of the two Botany Bay natives at Red Point; and they were showing themselves to the others, and persuading them to follow their example. Whilst, therefore, the powder was drying, I began with a large pair of scissors to execute my new office upon the eldest of four or five chins presented to me; and as great nicety was not required, the shearing of a dozen of them did not occupy me long. Some of the more timid were alarmed at a formidable instrument coming so near to their noses, and would scarcely be persuaded by their shaven friends, to allow the operation to be finished. But when their chins were held up a second time, their fear of the instrument--the wild stare of their eyes--and the smile which they forced, formed a compound upon the rough savage countenance, not unworthy the pencil of a Hogarth. I was almost tempted to try what effect a little snip would produce; but our situation was too critical to admit of such experiments.

Everything being prepared for a retreat, the natives became vociferous for the boat to go up to the lagoon; and it was not without stratagem that we succeeded in getting down to the entrance of the stream, where the depth of water placed us out of their reach.

Our examination of the country was confined, by circumstances, to a general view. This part is called _Alowrie_, by the natives, and is very low and sandy near the sides of the rivulet. About four miles up it, to the north-west, is the lagoon; and behind, stands a semicircular range of hills, of which the highest is Hat Hill. The water in the lagoon was distinctly seen, and appeared to be several miles in circumference. The land round it is probably fertile, and the slopes of the back hills had certainly that appearance. The natives were in nothing, except language, different from those at Port Jackson; but their dogs, which are of the same species, seemed to be more numerous and familiar.

Soon after dark the sea breeze was succeeded by a calm; and at ten o'clock we rowed out of the rivulet, repassed Red Point, and at one in the morning came to an anchor in 5 fathoms, close to the northernmost of the two first rocky islets.* In the afternoon of the 28th, we got on shore under the high land to the north of Hat Hill and were able to cook provisions and take some repose without disturbance. The sandy beach was our bed; and after much fatigue, and passing three nights of cramp in Tom Thumb, it was to us a bed of down.

[* These islets seem to be what are marked as rocks under water in captain Cook's chart. In it, also, there are three islets laid down to the south of Red Point, which must be meant for the double islet lying directly off it, for there are no others. The cause of the point being named _red_, escaped our notice.]

The shore in this part is mostly high and cliffy; and under the cliffs were lying black lumps, apparently of slaty stone, rounded by attrition. These were not particularly noticed, but Mr. Clarke, in his disastrous journey along the coast, afterwards made fires of them; and on a subsequent examination, Mr. Bass found a stratum of coal to run through the whole of these cliffs.

March 29. By rowing hard we got four leagues nearer home; and at night dropped our stone under another range of cliffs, more regular but less high than those near Hat Hill. At ten o'clock, the wind, which had been unsettled and driving electric clouds in all directions, burst out in a gale at south, and obliged us to get up the anchor immediately, and run before it. In a few minutes the waves began to break; and the extreme danger to which this exposed our little bark, was increased by the darkness of the night, and the uncertainty of finding any place of shelter. The shade of the cliffs over our heads, and the noise of the surfs breaking at their feet, were the directions by which our course was steered parallel to the coast.

Mr Bass kept the sheet of the sail in his hand, drawing in a few inches occasionally, when he saw a particularly heavy sea following. I was steering with an oar, and it required the utmost exertion and care to prevent broaching to; a single wrong movement, or a moment's inattention, would have sent us to the bottom. The task of the boy was to bale out the water which, in spite of every care, the sea threw in upon us.

After running near an hour in this critical manner, some high breakers were distinguished ahead; and behind them there appeared no shade of cliffs. It was necessary to determine, on the instant, what was to be done, for our bark could not live ten minutes longer. On coming to what appeared to be the extremity of the breakers, the boat's head was brought to the wind in a favourable moment, the mast and sail taken down, and the oars got out. Pulling then towards the reef during the intervals of the heaviest seas, we found it to terminate in a point; and in three minutes were in smooth water under its lee. A white appearance, further back, kept us a short time in suspense; but a nearer approach showed it to be the beach of a well-sheltered cove, in which we anchored for the rest of the night. So sudden a change, from extreme danger to comparatively perfect safety, excited reflections which kept us some time awake: we thought Providential Cove a well-adapted name for this place; but by the natives, as we afterwards learned, it is called _Watta-Mowlee_.

On landing next morning, March 30, water was found at the back of the beach. The country round the cove is, in general, sandy and barren. No natives were seen, but their traces were recent. The extremity of the reef, which afforded us such signal shelter, bore S.E. by E. from the centre of the beach, the north head of the cove E.N.E.; and except at the intermediate five points of the compass, Watta-Mowlee affords shelter for large boats, with anchorage on a fine sandy bottom.

Between three and four miles to the northward of this cove, we found the river, or rather port, which was the original place of our destination; and it having been a pilot named Hacking, from whom the first information of it had been received, it was named after him: by the natives it is called _Deeban_.

April 1st, was employed in the examination of the port. It is something more than one mile wide in the entrance; but soon contracts to half that space, and becomes shallow. Neither have the three arms, into which it afterwards branches out, any deep channel into them; although, within the second branch, there are from 3 to 8 fathoms. Finding there was no part accessible to a ship, beyond two miles from the entrance, nor any prospect of increasing our small stock of provisions, _Port Hacking_ was quitted early in the morning of April 2.

The shores of the port are mostly rocky, particularly on the north side; but there is no want of grass or wood; and without doubt there are many culturable spots on the sides of the streams which descend, apparently from the inland mountains, into the uppermost branch. Two natives came down to us in a friendly manner, and seemed not to be unacquainted with Europeans. Their language differed somewhat from the Port Jackson dialect; but with the assistance of signs, we were able to make ourselves understood.

After sounding the entrance of Port Hacking in going out, and finding 3½ fathoms water, we steered N.E. by E for Cape Solander; and the same evening Tom Thumb was secured alongside the Reliance in Port Jackson.

In this little expedition, I had no other means of ascertaining the situations of places than by pocket-compass bearings and computed distances; which was done as follows:

South lat. East lon. ° ' ° ' Cliffy south extreme of Cape Solander, lies in 34 2.5 151 12 From thence to Port Hacking, a low curving shore, mostly beach, lies S. W. b. W. 6 miles +3.4 -6 ------------------ Situation of Port Hacking 34 5.9 151 6 From Port Hacking to Watta-Mowlee; low cliffs, but rising gradually to the head of the cove; S. S. W. 3½ miles +3,2 -1,6 ----------------- Situation of Watta-Mowlee 34 9,1 151 4,4 Thence to the end of steep cliffs, nearly straight S. S. W. 4½ miles +4,2 -2,1 To the end of coal cliffs, and commencement of Hat-Hill beach; mostly a high shore, sometimes cliffy, with small beaches at intervals; S. by W. l0 miles, +9.8 -2.4 From thence to Red Point; a curving sandy beach with small rocky points; S.¾ E. 6½ miles +6,4 + 1.1 ----------------- Situation of Red Point 34 29.5 151 1 From Red Pt. to the entrance of Tom Thumb's lagoon; a low, curving sandy beach; S.W. 5 miles +3.5 -4.3 ----------------- Situation of the entrance to Tom Thumb's lagoon 34 33.0 151 56.7 -----------------

CLARKE. 1797 (Atlas, Pl. I.)

After this expedition, the duties of the ship, and a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope by the way of Cape Horn, suspended our projects for some time. On the return of the Reliance to New South Wales, we found there the supra-cargo of the Sydney Cove, a ship from India commanded by Mr. G. A. Hamilton, which, having started a butt end, had been run on shore at Furneaux's Islands and wrecked. Mr. Clarke had left the ship, with the chief mate and others, in the long boat, designing for Port Jackson, in order to procure means for transporting the officers and people, and such part of the cargo as had been saved, to the same place; but being overtaken by a heavy south-east gale, their boat had been thrown on shore near Cape Howe, three-hundred miles from the colony, and stove to pieces.

There was no other prospect of safety for Mr. Clarke and his companions, than to reach Port Jackson on foot; and they commenced their march along the sea shore, scantily furnished with ammunition, and with less provisions. Various tribes of natives were passed, some of whom were friendly; but the hostility of others, and excessive fatigue, daily lessened the number of these unfortunate people; and when the provisions and ammunition failed, the diminution became dreadfully rapid. Their last loss was of the chief mate and carpenter, who were killed by Dilba, and other savages near Hat Hill;* and Mr. Clarke, with a sailor and one lascar, alone remained when they reached Watta-Mowlee. They were so exhausted, as to have scarcely strength enough to make themselves observed by a boat which was fishing off the cove; but were at length conveyed into her, and brought to Port Jackson.

[* This Dilba was one of the two Botany-Bay natives, who had been most strenuous for Tom Thumb to go up into the lagoon, which lies under the hill.]

Mr. Clarke gave the first information of the coal cliffs, near Hat Hill; and from him it was ascertained, that, besides the known bays, many small streams and inlets had interrupted his march along the shore, from Cape Howe to Watta-Mowlee; but that there were none which he had not been able to pass, either at the sea side, or by going a few miles round, into the country. A journal of his route was published in the Calcutta newspapers, some time in 1798.

The colonial schooner Francis had made one voyage to Furneaux's Islands, and brought from thence captain Hamilton, and part of his people and cargo. The same vessel was about to proceed thither a second time, and I was anxious to embrace that opportunity of exploring those extensive and little known lands; but the great repairs required by the Reliance would not allow of my absence. My friend Bass, less confined by his duty, made several excursions, principally into the interior parts behind Port Jackson; with a view to pass over the back mountains, and ascertain the nature of the country beyond them. His success was not commensurate to the perseverance and labour employed: the mountains were impassable; but the course of the river Grose, laid down in Plate VIII, resulted from one of these excursions.

SHORTLAND. 1797. (Atlas, Pl. VIII.)

In September, a small colonial vessel having been carried off by convicts, lieutenant JOHN SHORTLAND, first of the Reliance,* went after them to the northward, in an armed boat. The expedition was fruitless, as to the proposed object; but in returning along the shore from Port Stephens, Mr. Shortland discovered a port in latitude 33°, capable of receiving small ships; and what materially added to the importance of the discovery, was a _stratum of coal_, found to run through the south head of the port, and also pervaded a cliffy island in the entrance. These coals were not only accessible to shipping, but of a superior quality to those in the cliffs near Hat Hill. The port was named after His Excellency governor HUNTER; and a settlement, called _New Castle_, has lately been there established. The entrance is narrow, and the deepest water (about three fathoms) close to the north-west side of the Coal Island; but no vessel of more than three hundred tons should attempt it.

[* Afterwards captain of the _Junon_. He was mortally wounded, whilst bravely defending his Majesty's frigate against a vastly superior force; and died at _Guadaloupe_.]

BASS. 1797.

In December, Mr. GEORGE BASS obtained leave to make an expedition to the southward; and he was furnished with a fine whale boat and six weeks provisions by the governor, and a crew of six seamen from the ships. He sailed Dec. 3., in the evening; but foul and strong winds forced him into _Port Hacking_ and _Watta-Mowlee_. On the 5th, in latitude 34° 38', he was obliged to stop in a small bight of the coast, a little south of _Alowrie_. The points of land there are basaltic; and on looking round amongst the burnt rocks scattered over a hollowed circular space behind the shore, Mr. Bass found a hole of twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter; into which the sea washed up by a subterraneous passage.

Dec. 6., he passed a long sloping projection which I have called _Point Bass_, lying about three leagues south of Alowrie. Beyond this point, the coast forms a sandy bay of four or five leagues in length, containing two small inlets; and the southernmost being accessible to the boat, Mr. Bass went in and stopped three days. This little place was found to deserve no better name than _Shoals Haven_. The entrance is mostly choaked up by sand, and the inner part with banks of sand and mud; there is, however, a small channel sufficiently deep for boats. The latitude was made to be 34° 52' south; the sloping Point Bass, to the northward, bore N. 12° E., and a steep head at the southern extremity of the bay, S. 35° E. The tide was found to rise seven or eight feet, and the time of high water to be about _eight hours and a half after_ the moon passed over the meridian.

The great chain of high land, called the Blue Mountains, by which the colony at Port Jackson is prevented from extending itself to the west, appeared to Mr. Bass to terminate here, near the sea coast. The base of this southern extremity of the chain, he judged to extend twenty-five or thirty miles, in a south-western direction from Point Bass; after which it turns north-westward. In the direction of west from Shoals Haven, and in all the space to the south of that line, was an extensive, flat country, where a party desirous of penetrating into the interior might reasonably hope to avoid those impediments which, at the back of Port Jackson., have constantly proved insurmountable.

In an excursion from the boat towards the southern end of the mountains, Mr. Bass fell in with a considerable stream, which he traced down to the shore, about three miles north of Shoals' Haven: this is the first inlet of the long bay, which had been observed from the sea, with a bar running across the entrance. The soil on the southern bank of this stream he compared, for richness, to the banks of the Hawkesbury; and attributes this unusual fertility to the same cause: repeated inundations. In fact, the stream has since been found to descend from the mountains at twelve or fifteen miles from the coast, and to run along their southern extremity to the sea; so that it performs the same office here that the Hawkesbury does further north--that of being a channel for the waters which descend from the high back land; but as, in the heavy rains, it is also unequal to the task, the banks are overflowed, and the low country to the south and west is inundated and fertilized. There are, however, at the back of Shoals Haven, many thousand acres of open ground, whose soil is a rich vegetable mould, and now beyond the reach of the floods.

Dec. 10. The boat left Shoals Haven and entered _Jervis Bay_, a large open place of very unpromising appearance. On the north side of the entrance, between Point Perpendicular and Long Nose, there is a small cove, where a ship's boat might lie at half tide; and with a hose fill water from the back of the beach, at two pits which appeared to be always full. The best anchorage for ships seemed to be on the east side of the bay, between Long Nose and the northern beach, though they would not, even there, be entirely land-locked. _Bowen's Island_ lies a quarter of a mile from the south side of the entrance, but the passage between does not admit any thing larger than boats. There is a small beach at the back of the island, off which ships might anchor in 8 fathoms sandy bottom, and be sheltered as far round as south-east; but with the wind nearer to east they would be exposed.

The east shore of Jervis Bay runs, for twelve or fifteen miles, so near to north from the entrance, that it is not, at the head, more than four hundred yards across to the shore of the long outer bay. The piece of land, which is thus made a narrow peninsula, is rather high, with a face of steep cliffs toward the sea. The rocks on the inner side bear strong marks of volcanic fire; and being disposed in parallel layers, their inclination to the west is very evident: quantities of pumice stone were scattered along the shores.

The country round the bay is mostly barren. On the eastern side it is rocky, with heath and brush-wood; the west is low, swampy, and sandy, with some partial exceptions; but on the south side there are grassy spaces amongst the brush-wood which might afford pasturage for cattle.

Jervis Bay was quitted Dec. 13., and at noon the Pigeon House bore W. by N. In the evening Mr. Bass stopped in a cove, which Point Upright shelters from northern winds; and he employed the next day in looking round the country. The vallies and slopes of the hills were found to be generally fertile; but there being nothing of particular interest in this place, it was quitted on the 15th. Some small islands lying close under the shore (in Bateman Bay), bore west at noon; and the night was passed at anchor under a point, in latitude 36° 00', where, the wind being foul on the 16th, Mr. Bass laid the boat on shore, and proceeded to examine the surrounding country.

At eight or nine miles from the coast is a ridge of hummocky hills, extending to the southward; but the space between these hills and the sea is low and in great part occupied by salt swamps. The sea was found to have an entrance at the back of the point, and to form a considerable lagoon, which communicated with the swamps by means of several branching arms. The soil, as may be supposed, was generally bad, the sloping sides of some of the hills being alone capable of any utility. In a round of twelve or fourteen miles Mr. Bass could not find a drop of fresh water, or see a native. There were, however, many huts, and he traced the paths from them down to holes dug in the lowest grounds; but these were then all dried up, and the country in general seemed to be suffering from drought.

Dec. 17. The wind having veered to N. N. W., the boat was launched, and proceeded to the southward. Mount Dromedary was passed at eleven; and an island of about two miles in circuit was seen lying off it, a few miles to the eastward: the latitude at noon was 36° 23'. At four, the fair breeze died away, and a strong wind, which burst forth from the south, obliged Mr. Bass to run for a gap in the land, which had just before been noticed. Here, on a little beach at the mouth of an inlet, across which the sea was breaking, the boat was hauled up for the night. Next morning, the inlet being free of breakers, he entered the prettiest little model of a harbour he had ever seen. Unfortunately it is but a model; for although the shelter within be complete for small craft, yet the depth over the bar is too small, even for boats, except at high water, when there is eight or nine feet. This little place was named _Barmouth Creek_, and lies, according to Mr. Bass' computation, in 36° 47' south. The country round, so far as was examined, is rocky and barren near the sea; and towards the head of the creek, it is low and penetrated by the salt swamps.

(Atlas, Pl. VI.)

Dec. 19. At day light Mr. Bass continued his course to the southward., with a fair breeze. At seven he discovered TWO-FOLD BAY; but unwilling to lose a fair wind, reserved the examination of it for his return. At five in the evening the wind came at S. S. W.; and he anchored under the lee of a point, but could not land. A sea breeze from E. N. E. next day, enabled him to continue onward; and at eleven, he bore away west, round _Cape Howe_, whose latitude was observed to be 37° 30'. In the evening he landed at the entrance of a lagoon, one mile north of the _Ram Head_, in order to take in as much fresh water as possible; for it was to be feared that a want of this necessary article might oblige him to discontinue his pursuit, at a time when, from the coast being unexplored, it would become more than ever interesting.

Dec. 21. A gale set in at W. S. W., and continued for nine days without intermission. This time was employed in examining the country, which, though hilly in external appearance, was found to be mostly low, sandy, and wet. The hills have a slight covering of green upon them, but consist of little else than sand; and from what could be seen of the back country, the soil there is scarcely better. The vallies are overgrown with long grass, ferns, brush-wood, and climbing plants, so as to be almost impenetrable; yet even there the soil is good for nothing.

At every landing place, from Jervis Bay to Barmouth Creek, the fresh water had been observed to diminish both in quantity and quality; and upon this coast of sand the difficulty of procuring it was expected to be very great. It was, on the contrary, plentiful; there being many little runs which drained out from the sand hills, and either trickled over the rocky spots at their feet, or sank through the beaches into the sea.

The western gale being at length succeeded by a breeze at E. N. E., Mr. Bass left the Ram Head early on the 31st. His course was W. by S., close to a low, sandy coast; the beach being interrupted by small, rocky points, not oftener than once in ten or fifteen miles. The back land consisted of short ridges of irregular hills, lying at no great distance from the sea. At noon, the latitude was 37° 42'; and the distance run from the Ram Head, by computation, was thirty or thirty-five miles.

The furthest land seen by captain Cook, is marked at fifteen leagues from the Ram Head, and called _Point Hicks_; but at dusk Mr. Bass had run much more than that distance close along the shore, and could perceive no point or projection which would be distinguishable from a ship: the coast continued to be straight, low, and sandy, similar to what had been passed in the morning. There arose many large smokes from behind the beach; probably from the sides of lagoons, with which, there was reason to think, the back country abounded.

1798.

The breeze continuing to be fresh and favourable, Mr. Bass ventured to steer onward in the night, and kept the shore close a-bord. At two in the morning, the increased hollowness of the waves made him suspect the water was becoming shallow; and he hauled off for an hour, until there was sufficient daylight to distinguish the land. It was still low, level, and sandy, and trended S. W. by W., nearly as the boat was steering. At seven o'clock, high land appeared at a considerable distance in the south-west; and the beach then trended in the same direction. It, however, changed soon afterward, to run nearly west; and Mr. Bass quitted it to keep on his course for the high land. The latitude at noon was 38° 41'; and the difference made from the noon before, upon the average course of S. W. by W, makes the distance run 107 miles; which, added to the preceding thirty or thirty-five, gives the length of the beach from the Ram Head, to be about 140 miles.*

[* But the latitude observed appears to be 8' or 10' too little; and if so, the length of the beach would be something more than 150 miles. It is no matter of surprise if observations taken from an open boat, in a high sea, should differ ten miles from the truth; but I judge that Mr. Bass' quadrant must have received some injury during the night of the 31st, for a similar error appears to pervade all the future observations, even those taken under favourable circumstances.]

The high land extended from the bearing of S. W. by S. to W. N. W., and was distant in the latter direction two or three leagues. North of it there was a deep bight; and further eastward, two or three places in the Long Beach which had the appearance of inlets. To the south there were several rocky islets; and great numbers of petrels, and other sea-birds, were flying about the boat.

From the latitude of the high land, Mr. Bass considered it to be that seen by captain Furneaux (or supposed to have been seen), in 39°; and consequently, that he had traced the unknown space between Point Hicks and _Furneaux's Land_. His course was now steered to pass round this land; but on coming abreast of the rocky islets, a hummock appeared above the horizon in the S. E. by S., and presently, a larger one at S. ½ W.; and being unable to fetch the first, he steered for the latter, which proved to be an island; and at six in the evening, he anchored under its lee. Vast numbers of gulls and other birds were roosting upon it, and on the rocks were many seals; but the surf would not admit of landing. This island was judged to be thirty miles, S. by W., from the situation at noon.

Jan. 2. The wind was strong at E. N. E.; and Mr. Bass being apprehensive that the boat could not fetch the high main land, determined to steer southward for the islands, in the hope of procuring some rice from the wreck of the ship Sydney Cove, to eke out his provisions. The wind, however, became unfavourable to him, veering to E. S. E; so that with the sea which drove the boat to leeward, the course to noon was scarcely so good as S. S. W. The latitude observed was then 39° 51'; and no land being in sight, the prospect of reaching Furneaux's Islands became very faint. At four o'clock an accident caused it to be totally given up: water was observed to rush in fast through the boat's side, and made it absolutely necessary to go upon the other tack. The latitude to which Mr. Bass supposed himself arrived, was something to the south of 40°; and the weather was clear enough for land of moderate height to have been seen five leagues further, had there been any within that distance.

The boat was then kept north-eastward, towards Furneaux's Land. At nine in the evening, the wind blew hard at S. E. by E., accompanied by a hollow, irregular sea, which put our enterprising discoverer and his boat's crew into the greatest danger; but the good qualities of his little bark, with careful steerage, carried him through this perilous night. On the 3rd, at six o'clock the land was seen; and in the afternoon, whilst standing in to look for a place of shelter, a smoke and several people were observed upon a small island not far from the main coast. On rowing up, they proved to be, not natives, to Mr. Bass' great surprise, but Europeans. They were convicts who, with others, had run away with a boat from Port Jackson, in the intention of plundering the wreck of the Sydney Cove; and not being able to find it, their companions, thinking their number too great, had treacherously left them upon this island, whilst asleep. These people were seven in number; and during the five weeks they had been on this desert spot, had subsisted on petrels, to which a seal was occasionally added. Mr. Bass promised to call at the island, on his return; and in the mean time, proceeded to the west side of the high main land, where he anchored, but could not get on shore.

Jan. 4. The wind being at north-east, he continued his course onward, steering W. N. W. round an open bay; and afterwards N. W. by W., as the coast generally trended. The shore consisted of long, shallow bights, in which the land was low and sandy; but the intermediate rocky points were generally steep, with a ridge of hills extending from them, into the interior, as far as could be distinguished. In the evening an inlet was discovered, with many shoals at the entrance; and the deep channel being not found till a strong tide made it unattainable, Mr. Bass waited for high water; he then entered a spacious harbour which, from its relative position to the hitherto known parts of the coast, was named WESTERN PORT. It lies, according to the boat's run, about sixty miles N. W. by W. ½ W. from Furneauxs Land; and its latitude is somewhere about 38° 25' south.* The time of high water is near _half an hour_ after the moon's passage over the meridian, and the rise of tide from ten to fourteen feet.

[* The true latitude of the east entrance into Western Port, is about 38° 33' south.]

The examination of this new and important discovery, the repairs of the boat, and the continuance of strong winds, kept Mr. Bass thirteen days in Western Port. His sketch of it has since been superseded by the more regular examination of ensign Barralier, copied into the chart, where its form, situation, and extent will be best seen. The land upon its borders is, generally, low and level; but the hills rise as they recede into the country, and afford an agreeable prospect from the port. Wherever Mr. Bass landed, he found the soil to be a light, brown mould, which becomes peaty in the lowest grounds. Grass and ferns grow luxuriantly, and yet the country is but thinly timbered. Patches of brush wood are frequent, particularly on the eastern shore, where they are some miles in extent; and there the soil is a rich, vegetable mould. The island (since called _Phillip Island_) which shelters the port, is mostly barren, but is covered with shrubs and some diminutive trees.

Mr. Bass had great difficulty in procuring good water, arising, as he judged, from unusual dryness in the season; and the head of the winding creek on the east side of the port, was the sole place where it had not a brackish taste. The mud banks at the entrance of the creek may be passed at half tide by the largest boats; and within it, there is at all times a sufficient depth of water.

No more than four natives were seen, and their shyness prevented communication; the borders of the port, however, bore marks of having been much frequented, but the want of water seemed to have occasioned a migration to the higher lands. Kangaroos did not appear to be numerous; but black swans went by hundreds in a flight, and ducks, a small, but excellent kind, by thousands; and the usual wild fowl were in abundance.

The seventh week of absence from Port Jackson had expired, by the time Mr. Bass was ready to sail from Western Port; and the reduced state of his provisions forced him, very reluctantly, to turn the boat's head homeward.

Jan. 18. At daylight, he sailed with a fresh wind at west, which increased to a gale in the afternoon, with a heavy swell from the south-west; and he sought shelter behind a cape since named _Cape Liptrap_. Next morning, he ran over to the islands on the west side of Furneaux's Land; but was obliged to return to his former place of shelter, where a succession of gales kept him until the 26th. A quantity of petrels had been taken on the islands, and this week of detention was mostly employed in salting them for the homeward bound voyage.

At length, Mr. Bass was able to execute the project he had formed for the seven convicts. It was impossible to take them all into the boat; therefore to five, whom he set upon the main land, he gave a musket, half his ammunition, some hooks and lines, a light cooking kettle, and directions how to proceed in their course toward Port Jackson. The remaining two, one of whom was old and the other diseased, he took into the boat with the consent of the crew, who readily agreed to divide the daily bannock into nine with them. He then bore away, with a fresh wind at west, round Furneaux's Land.*

[* I have continued to make use of the term Furneaux's Land conformably to Mr. Bass' journal; but the position of this land is so different from that supposed to have been seen by captain Furneaux, that it cannot be the same, as Mr. Bass was afterwards convinced. At our recommendation governor Hunter called it WILSON'S PROMONTORY, in compliment to my friend Thomas Wilson, Esq. of London.]

From Jan.26 to Feb. 1, Mr. Bass was detained by eastern gales from proceeding on his return. The boat lay in _Sealers Cove_, whilst he occupied the time in examining Wilson's Promontory. The height of this vast cape, though not such as would be considered extraordinary by seamen, is yet strikingly so from being contrasted with the low, sandy land behind it; and the firmness and durability of its structure make it worthy of being, what there was reason to believe it, the boundary point of a large strait, and a corner stone to the new continent. It is a lofty mass of hard granite, of about twenty miles long, by from six to fourteen in breadth. The soil upon it is shallow and barren; though the brush wood, dwarf gum trees, and some smaller vegetation, which mostly cover the rocks, give it a deceitful appearance to the eye of a distant observer.

Looking from the top of the promontory to the northward, there is seen a single ridge of mountains, which comes down, out of the interior country, in a southern direction for the promontory; but sloping off gradually to a termination, it leaves a space of twelve or sixteen miles of low, sandy land between them. This low land is nearly intersected by a considerable lagoon on the west, and a large shoal bay, named _Corner Inlet_, on the east side; and it seemed probable, that this insulated mass of granite has been entirely surrounded by the sea at no very distant period of time.

There were no inhabitants on Wilson's Promontory; but, upon the sandy neck, some were seen near the borders of the inlets. The few birds were thought to have a sweeter note than those of Port Jackson.

Four small, barren islands lie seven or eight miles to the northeast, from Sealers Cove. The northernmost of them was visited, and found to be about one mile and a half in circuit, ascending gradually from the shore, to a hill of moderate elevation in the centre. There was neither tree nor shrub upon it; but the surface was mostly covered with tufts of coarse grass, amongst which the seals had every where made paths and the petrels their burrows. Mr. Bass was of opinion, that upon these islands, and those lying scattered round the promontory, which are all more or less frequented by seals, a commercial speculation on a small scale might be made with advantage. The place of shelter for the vessel would be Sealers Cove, on the main land; which, though small, and apparently exposed to east winds, would be found convenient and tolerably secure: fresh water is there abundant, and a sufficiency of wood at hand to boil down any quantity of blubber likely to be procured.

The observed latitude of the cove was 38° 50';* and the rise of tide found to be ten or eleven feet, _ten hours and a quarter after_ the moon passed over the meridian. The flood, after sweeping south-westward along the great eastern beach, strikes off for the Seal Islands and the promontory, and then runs westward, past it, at the rate of two or three miles an hour: the ebb tide sets to the eastward. "Whenever it shall be decided," says Mr. Bass in his journal, "that the opening between this and Van Diemen's Land is a strait, this rapidity of tide, and the long south-west swell that seems to be continually rolling in upon the coast to the westward, will then be accounted for."

[* This appears to be from 10' to 15' too little: an error which probably arose from the same cause as others before noticed.]

Feb. 2., Mr. Bass sailed to Corner Inlet; and next day fell in with the five convicts, whom he put across to the long beach.* but was himself unable to proceed until the 9th, in consequence of foul winds. Corner Inlet is little else than a large flat, the greater part of it being dry at low water. There is a long shoal on the outside of the entrance, which is to be avoided by keeping close to the shore of the promontory; but when the tide is out the depth, except in holes, no where exceeds 2½ fathoms. A vessel drawing twelve or thirteen feet may lie safely under the high land, from which there are some large runs of most excellent water. The tide rises a foot less here than in Sealers Cove, and flows an hour later; arising, probably, from the flood leaving it in an eddy, by setting past, and not into the inlet.

[* Nothing more had been beard of these five men., so late as 1803.]

Feb. 9, Corner Inlet was quitted with a strong south-west wind, and Mr. Bass steered E. by N. along the shore. At the distance of five miles, he passed the mouth of a shallow opening in the low sandy beach, from which a half-moon shoal stretches three miles to the south-eastward. Four or five miles further, a lesser opening of the same kind was passed; and by noon, when the latitude was 38° 34' (probably 38° 46'), he had arrived at the point of the long beach, which in going out, had been quitted to steer for the promontory. His general course from thence was N. E. by E. along the shore, until nine o'clock, when judging the coast must begin to trend more eastwardly, he again steered E. b. N.; the wind blowing a fresh gale at W. S. W., with a following sea. At daylight, Feb. 10, the beach was distant two miles, and trending parallel to the boat's course.

The western gale died away in the morning, and was succeeded by one from the eastward. The boat was in no condition to struggle against a foul wind; and Mr. Bass, being unwilling to return to Corner Inlet, ventured through a heavy surf and took refuge upon the beach; having first observed the latitude to be 37° 47' south.

The country at the back of the beach consisted of dried-up swamps and barren sand hills. Some natives came down with very little hesitation, and conducted themselves amicably: they appeared never to have seen or heard of white people before.

(Atlas, Plate VIII.)

Feb. 11. the foul wind had ceased to blow, and the clouds threatened another gale from the south-west. So soon as there was sufficient daylight, the boat was launched, and at four the same afternoon anchored under the Rain Head. Mr. Bass was kept there till the 14th in the evening; when a strong breeze sprung up suddenly at south-west, and he sailed immediately, passing Cape Howe at ten o'clock. By noon of the 15th, he had reached Two-fold Bay, where the latitude was observed to be 36° 53' south;* and having ascertained that _Snug Cove_, on its north-west side, afforded shelter for shipping, he steered northward, and passed Mount Dromedary soon after midnight. At noon, Feb. 16, Mr. Bass landed upon a small island lying under the shore to the south-east of the Pigeon House, to examine a pole which he had before observed, and supposed might have been set up as a signal by shipwrecked people; but it proved to be nothing more than the dead stump of a tree, much taller and more straight than the others. He sailed next morning; but the wind hung so much in the north and east quarters that he was forced successively into Jervis Bay, Shoals Haven, and Port Hacking; and it was not until the 24th at night, that our adventurous discoverer terminated his dangerous and fatiguing voyage, by entering within the heads of Port Jackson.

[* The true latitude of the mouth of Two-fold Bay is 37° 5', showing an error of 12' to the north, nearly similar to what has been specified in the observations near Wilson's Promontory.]