A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 36

Several observations for the variation of the compa.s.s had been taken whilst beating in the neighbourhood of Point Pearce. On its north side, eight miles from the sh.o.r.e, an amplitude with the s.h.i.+p's head S. W. by S.

gave 4 38' east; at E. by N., when fourteen miles off, another gave 1 13' east; but azimuths three or four miles nearer in, 0 10' _west_; and at S. E., when six miles off, 0 35' _west_. On the south side of Point Pearce, the head being S. S. W., and the land distant thirteen miles, an amplitude gave 3 15' east. These different observations, which were all taken with the surveying compa.s.s, being corrected upon the principles and by the proportion explained in the Appendix No. II. to the second volume, will be respectively, 2 51', 4 21' furthest from the land, 2 58', 1 41' nearest the land, and 2 1' east. The mean is 2 46' east; which may be taken for the true variation at three or four leagues off Point Pearce in 1802; but close in with the sh.o.r.e, I suspect it was less by 1, or perhaps 2.

Having remained at anchor until the sun was high enough to admit of observations for the time keepers, we got under way at half past seven o'clock; and the coast round Corny Point being found to trend S. 27 W., nearly in the wind's eye, I stretched westward across the gulph towards Thistle's Island, in order to compare the time keepers with the longitudes of places before settled. Our lat.i.tude at noon, observed on both sides, was 34 50' 10"; Spilsby Island, the south-eastern most of Sir Joseph Banks' Group, was seen bearing N. 56 W., and the eastern bluff of Wedge Island, the central and largest of Gambier's Isles, bore S. 16 W. Gambier's Isles, four in number besides two peaked rocks, had been first seen from the high land behind Memory Cove. They lie nearly in the centre of the entrance to the gulph; and the lat.i.tude of Wedge Island is 3511' south, and longitude 136 29' east. Soon after four in the afternoon, I had the following bearings:

Wedge Island, highest part, S. 21 E.

Thistle's Island, highest part, S. 29 W.

C. Catastrophe, former station on the S. E. point, S. 53 W.

Stamford Hill, former station at the top, N. 86 W.

Sibsey Island, centre, N. 33 W.

Stickney Island, N. 11 W.

Spilsby Island, N. 17 E.

The longitude deduced from these bearings was 30 22" east, from the head of Port Lincoln, and that resulting from observations for the time keepers taken in the same place, was 30 53"; showing a difference of no more than 0' 31" to the east, since quitting the port. This quant.i.ty in a sea observation is so small and uncertain, that I considered the time keepers to have gone correctly from March 4, when the last observations in Port Lincoln had been made, up to this time; and that the lunar observations taken in the interval might be reduced back to the head of the port by their means, and used to fix its longitude without any further correction.

Besides the bearings above given, there was a rocky islet four miles distant in the S. 78 W.; part of a ledge of low rocks which extended towards the north end of Thistle's Island, and may possibly be connected with the rock set from thence. This ledge is marked _dangerous_, in the particular chart.

Having satisfactorily ascertained the going of the time keepers, we tacked and stretched back for the coast on the east side of the gulph; but did not get sight of it before dark. At six on the following morning [SAt.u.r.dAY 20 MARCH 1802],

Corny Point, dist. 5 or 6 leagues, bore N. 63 E.

A cliffy head, distant 10 miles, S. 85 E.

Furthest extreme, a cliffy point, S. 21 E.

Wedge Island, eastern bluff, S. 49 W.

Thistle's Island, highest part, West.

An amplitude taken when the s.h.i.+p's head was south-by-east, gave variation 1 25' east, and azimuths at south-south-east, 1 10': the mean, reduced to the meridian, is 2 13' east, or a few minutes more than had been found on the west side of the gulph, and half a degree less than off Point Pearce.

The tide appeared to set us along the sh.o.r.e to the southward, although, from what was observed at Thistle's Island, it should have been the time of flood. With its a.s.sistance, and the wind having become less unfavourable, we were enabled to make a course for the furthest land.

This proved to be a cape, composed of three cliffy points, near the northern part of which lay a cl.u.s.ter of black rocks. The southernmost cliff bore at noon E. 4 S. six or seven miles, and beyond it there was no main coast visible; but three small islands, with several rocks and a reef, were seen to lie as far as five miles to the southward, out from the cape.

Although the continuation of the main coast was not to be distinguished beyond the cape, yet there was land in sight at the distance of seven or eight leagues, from about south to S. 18 W. Whether this land were an island or a part of the continent, and the wide opening to the eastward a strait or a new inlet, was uncertain; but in either case, the investigation of the gulph was terminated; and in honour of the respectable n.o.bleman who presided at the Board of Admiralty when the voyage was planned and s.h.i.+p put into commission, I named it SPENCER'S GULPH. The cliffy-pointed cape which forms the east side of the entrance, and lies in 35 18' south and 136 55' east, was named CAPE SPENCER; and the three isles lying off it, with their rocks, _Althorp Isles_.

A line drawn from the nearest part of Cape Catastrophe to Cape Spencer will be forty-eight miles long, and so much is the entrance of the gulph in width. Gambier's Isles lie not far from the middle of the line; and if we measure upward from them, the gulph will be found, without regard to the small windings, to extend one hundred and eighty-five miles into the interior of the country. For the general exactness of its form in the chart I can answer with tolerable confidence, having seen all that is laid down, and, as usual, taken every angle which enters into the construction. Throughout the whole extent of the sh.o.r.es the water line was almost every where distinguished; the only exceptions being small portions at the head of Hardwicke and Louth Bays, of a bight near Point Lowly, and of the low land at the back of the great Eastern Shoal.

At noon, when off Cape Spencer, the wind became variable and light, with very hazy, cloudy weather; and the mercury in my marine barometer had fallen two-tenths of an inch. At six in the evening a breeze sprung up at west-north-west; and as I expected a gale would come on, and that as usual it would veer to the south-west, we ceased to follow the coast beyond Cape Spencer, and steered for the land seen in the southern quarter. The Althorp Isles were pa.s.sed at eight o'clock, at the distance of eight or nine miles; and the wind being fresh at west, we made short trips during the night between the two lands, not knowing what might be in the s.p.a.ce to leeward. At daylight [SUNDAY 21 MARCH 1802] the s.h.i.+p was nearly in mid-channel, between the southern land and Cape Spencer, and nothing was seen to the eastward. It then blew a fresh gale at south-west, with much sea running; we stretched south-west under close-reefed top-sails, to get under the lee of the southern land; and at eight o'clock, when the largest Althorp Isle bore N. 32 W., it was distant six or seven miles to the south, and extended from S. 61 W. to 79 E. as far as the eye could reach. It was rather high and cliffy; but there was nothing by which to judge of its connection with the main.

At ten o'clock we were close under the land; and finding the water tolerably smooth, had shortened sail with the intention of anchoring near a small, sandy beach; but the situation proving to be too much exposed, we steered eastward along the sh.o.r.e under two close-reefed topsails and fore-sail, the wind blowing strong in squalls from the south-west. The furthest land seen ahead at noon was a projecting point, lower than the other cliffs; it bore E. 7 S., four leagues, and and lies in 35 33'

south and 137 41' east. It was named _Point Marsden_, in compliment to the second secretary of the Admiralty; and beyond it the coast was found to trend southward into a large bay containing three coves, any one of which promised good shelter from the gale. This was called NEPEAN BAY. in compliment to the first secretary (now Sir Evan Nepean, Bart.), and we hauled up for it; but the strength of the wind was such that a headland forming the east side of the bay was fetched with difficulty. At six in the evening we came to anchor in 9 fathoms, sandy bottom, within a mile of the sh.o.r.e; the east extreme bearing S. 76 E., and the land near Point Marsden, on the west side of Nepean Bay, N. 61 W., six leagues. A piece of high land, seemingly unconnected, bore from N. 45 to 78 E.; but no land could be distinguished to the northward.

Neither smokes nor other marks of inhabitants had as yet been perceived upon the southern land, although we had pa.s.sed along seventy miles of its coast. It was too late to go on sh.o.r.e this evening; but every gla.s.s in the s.h.i.+p was pointed there, to see what could be discovered. Several black lumps, like rocks, were pretended to have been seen in motion by some of the young gentlemen, which caused the force of their imaginations to be much admired; next morning [MONDAY 22 MARCH 1802], however, on going toward the sh.o.r.e, a number of dark-brown kangaroos were seen feeding upon a gra.s.s-plat by the side of the wood and our landing gave them no disturbance. I had with me a double-barrelled gun, fitted with a bayonet, and the gentlemen my companions had muskets. It would be difficult to guess how many kangaroos were seen; but I killed ten, and the rest of the party made up the number to thirty-one, taken on board in the course of the day; the least of them weighing sixty-nine, and the largest one hundred and twenty-five pounds. These kangaroos had much resemblance to the large species found in the forest lands of New South Wales, except that their colour was darker, and they were not wholly dest.i.tute of fat.

After this butchery, for the poor animals suffered themselves to be shot in the eyes with small shot, and in some cases to be knocked on the head with sticks, I scrambled with difficulty through the brushwood, and over fallen trees, to reach the higher land with the surveying instruments; but the thickness and height of the wood prevented anything else from being distinguished. There was little doubt, however, that this extensive piece of land was separated from the continent; for the extraordinary tameness of the kangaroos and the presence of seals upon the sh.o.r.e concurred with the absence of all traces of men to show that it was not inhabited.

[SOUTH COAST. KANGAROO ISLAND.]

The whole s.h.i.+p's company was employed this afternoon in skinning and cleaning the kangaroos; and a delightful regale they afforded, after four months' privation from almost any fresh provisions. Half a hundred weight of heads, forequarters and tails were stewed down into soup for dinner on this and the succeeding days; and as much steaks given, moreover, to both officers and men as they could consume by day and by night. In grat.i.tude for so seasonable a supply I named this southern land KANGAROO ISLAND.

TUESDAY 23 MARCH 1802

Next day was employed in s.h.i.+fting the topmasts on account of some rents found in the heels. The scientific gentlemen landed again to examine the natural productions of the island, and in the evening eleven more kangaroos were brought on board; but most of these were smaller, and seemed to be of a different species to those of the preceding day. Some of the party saw several large running birds; which, according to their description, seemed to have been the emu or ca.s.sowary.

Not being able to obtain a distinct view from any elevated situation, I took a set of angles from a small projection near the s.h.i.+p, named _Kangaroo Head_; but nothing could be seen to the north, and the sole bearing of importance, more than had been taken on board, was that of a high hill at the extremity of the apparently unconnected land to the eastward: it bore N. 39 10' E., and was named _Mount Lofty_. The nearest part of that land was a low point bearing N. 60 E. nine or ten miles; but the land immediately at the back was high, and its northern and southern extremes were cliffy. I named it CAPE JERVIS, and it was afterwards sketched by Mr. Westall. (Atlas Plate XVII. View 12.)

All the cliffs of Kangaroo Island seen to the west of the anchorage had the appearance of being calcareous, and the loose stones scattered over the surface of Kangaroo Head and the vicinity were of that substance; but the basis in this part seemed to be a brown slate, lying in _strata_ nearly horizontal, and _laminae_ of quartz were sometimes seen in the interstices. In some places the slate was split into pieces of a foot long, or more, like iron bars, and had a s.h.i.+ning, ore-like appearance; and the _strata_ were then further from the horizontal line than I observed them to be elsewhere.

A thick wood covered almost all that part of the island visible from the s.h.i.+p; but the trees in a vegetating state were not equal in size to the generality of those lying on the ground, nor to the dead trees standing upright. Those on the ground were so abundant that in ascending the higher land a considerable part of the walk was made upon them. They lay in all directions, and were nearly of the same size and in the same progress towards decay; from whence it would seem that they had not fallen from age, nor yet been thrown down in a gale of wind. Some general conflagration, and there were marks apparently of fire on many of them, is perhaps the sole cause which can be reasonably a.s.signed; but whence came the woods on fire? That there were no inhabitants upon the island, and that the natives of the continent did not visit it, was demonstrated, if not by the want of all signs of such visit, yet by the tameness of the kangaroo, an animal which, on the continent, resembles the wild deer in timidity. Perhaps lightning might have been the cause, or possibly the friction of two dead trees in a strong wind; but it would be somewhat extraordinary that the same thing should have happened at Thistle's Island, Boston Island and at this place, and apparently about the same time. Can this part of Terra Australis have been visited before, unknown to the world? The French navigator, La Perouse, was ordered to explore it, but there seems little probability that he ever pa.s.sed Torres'

Strait.

Some judgment may be formed of the epoch when these conflagrations happened from the magnitude of the growing trees; for they must have sprung up since that period. They were a species of _eucalyptus_, and being less than the fallen trees, had most probably not arrived at maturity; but the wood is hard and solid, and it may thence be supposed to grow slowly. With these considerations I should be inclined to fix the period at not less than ten, nor more than twenty years before our arrival. This brings us back to La Perouse. He was in Botany Bay in the beginning of 1788; and if he did pa.s.s through Torres' Strait, and come round to this coast, as was his intention, it would probably be about the middle or latter end of that year, or between thirteen and fourteen years before the Investigator. My opinion is not favourable to this conjecture; but I have furnished all the _data_ to enable the reader to form his own judgment upon the cause which might have prostrated the woods of these islands.

The soil of that part of Kangaroo Island examined by us was judged to be much superior to any before seen, either upon the south coast of the continent or upon the islands near it, with the exception of some portions behind the harbours of King George's Sound. The depth of the soil was not particularly ascertained; but from the thickness of the wood it cannot be very shallow. Some sand is mixed with the vegetable earth, but not in any great proportion; and I thought the soil superior to some of the land cultivated at Port Jackson, and to much of that in our stony counties in England.

Never perhaps had the dominion possessed here by the kangaroo been invaded before this time. The seal shared with it upon the sh.o.r.es, but they seemed to dwell amicably together. It not unfrequently happened that the report of a gun fired at a kangaroo near the beach brought out two or three bellowing seals from under bushes considerably further from the water-side. The seal, indeed, seemed to be much the most discerning animal of the two; for its actions bespoke a knowledge of our not being kangaroos, whereas the kangaroo not unfrequently appeared to consider us to be seals.

The _lat.i.tude_ of the landing place near Kangaroo Head from an observation in the artificial horizon, was 35 43' 0" south; and the _longitude_ of our anchorage by timekeepers, 137 58' 31" east. This last, being deduced from observations only four days after the proof had of the time keepers having gone correctly since leaving Port Lincoln, should be as accurate, or very nearly so, as the longitude of that port.

The _variation_ observed from two compa.s.ses on board, with the head south-westward, was 6 31' east; but when the s.h.i.+p swung to a tide coming from east-north-east, the change in the bearings of different objects showed the variation to be about 4 less. The true variation I deduce to be 4 13' east; which is an increase upon what was observed on the west side of Cape Spencer, of 2; although the distance be no more than twenty-four leagues, and the previous increase from Cape Catastrophe had been almost nothing. It seems probable that the existence of magnetic bodies in the land to the north-westward, and perhaps also in Kangaroo Island and Cape Jervis, was the cause of this change in the direction of the needle.

From appearances on the sh.o.r.e, I judged the rise of _tide_ to be about six feet. The flood came from the east-north-east, twice in the day, and by the swinging of the s.h.i.+p, ceased at _two hours and a half after_ the moon's pa.s.sage; but the time of high water was afterwards found to be later by one hour and a half.

CHAPTER VIII.

Departure from Kangaroo Island.

Examination of the main coast, from Cape Spencer eastward.

The Investigator's Strait.

A new gulph discovered. Anchorage at, and examination of the head.

Remarks on the surrounding land.

Return down the gulph.

Troubridge Shoal.

Yorke's Peninsula.

Return to Kangaroo Island.

Boat expedition to Pelican Lagoon.

Astronomical observations.

Kangaroo Island quitted.

Back-stairs Pa.s.sage.

The coast from Cape Jervis, eastward.

Meeting, and communication with Le Geographe.

Remarks upon the French discoveries on the South Coast.

[SOUTH COAST. INVESTIGATOR'S STRAIT.]

WEDNESDAY 24 MARCH 1802

March 24 in the morning, we got under way from Kangaroo Island in order to take up the examination of the main coast at Cape Spencer, where it had been quitted in the evening of the 20th, when the late gale commenced. The wind had continued to blow fresh from the southward, but had now moderated, and was at south-west. We steered north-westward from ten o'clock till six in the evening, and then had sight of land extending from N. 62 W. to a low part terminating at N. 17 E. distant three leagues. A hummock upon this low part was named _Troubridge Hill_, and at first it makes like an island. Nothing was visible to the eastward of the low land; whence I judged there to be another inlet or a strait between it and Cape Jervis. Soon after dusk the wind veered to south-by-east, on which we steered south-westward, and continued the same course until four in the morning [THURSDAY 25 MARCH 1802]; when the largest Althorp Isle being seen to the north-west, the s.h.i.+p was hove to, with her head eastward; and at daylight, before making sail, the following bearings were taken of the lands to the northward, but no part of Kangaroo Island was visible.

Wedge I. (of Gambier's Isles), highest part, N. 64 W.

Althorpe Isle, largest, distant 6 miles, N. 83 to 78 W.

Cape Spencer, south point, N. 44 W.

Furthest extreme of the northern land, N. 44 E.