A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 27

Samow, north-west point, bore N. 48 E.

Tios, dist. 5 miles, the south extreme, S. 60 E.

Rottee, furthest visible parts, S. 51 E. to 18 W.

The island Sauw, or Savu came in sight to the westward next morning [MONDAY 11 APRIL 1803], and also a small isle called Douw or Dowa, lying off the west end of Rottee; at noon, when our lat.i.tude was 10 37' 22"

and longitude 122 35',

Savu bore from the mast head, N. 76 to 88 W.

Rottee, furthest visible parts, S. 84 to 45 E.

Dowa, distant ten miles, S. 35 to 20 E.

We tried for soundings with 230 fathoms of line, without finding ground; and it should appear that there is no bottom amongst these islands at any reasonable depth, unless very near the sh.o.r.es.

The wind was still light; and on the following day [TUESDAY 12 APRIL 1803] we had rain, thunder, and lightning. Savu was seen in a clear interval towards evening, bearing N. 3 W., and another piece of land, apparently Benjoar, was perceived from the mast head to the N. N. W.; this was the last sight we had of these islands, for the breeze freshened up from the eastward, and at noon next day [WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL 1803] our lat.i.tude was 12 20' south.

Having been disappointed in procuring salt provisions and the means of sending an officer to the Admiralty from Coepang, I had necessarily given up the project of going back to the north coast of Terra Australis; but since the decay of the s.h.i.+p did not appear to have advanced so rapidly as was expected, I judged there would not be much hazard in taking this opportunity of executing the article of my instructions, which directed me "to examine as particularly as circ.u.mstances would allow, the bank which extends itself from the Trial Rocks towards Timor." (Atlas, Plate I.) Upon what authority the bank was thus described, I had no information; but that it did not reach so far as either Timor or Rottee, was proved by our having pa.s.sed the west end of the latter island and sounded with more than 200 fathoms without finding bottom. It seemed to me probable, that if such a bank existed and had any connexion to the north-east, it was more likely to be with the Sahul Shoal than with Timor; and I therefore steered a course to get upon the line between the two; proposing afterwards to run westward, across the line of direction from the Rocks to Timor, so as in either case to fall in upon the bank.

We sounded every two hours, and hove to three times a day, to get a greater depth; and in this way ran S. W. until the 16th [SAt.u.r.dAY 16 APRIL 1803] at noon, to lat.i.tude 16 15' and longitude 116 45', without finding bottom with from 100 to 240 fathoms of line. Our course was then W. by S., sounding in the same manner, until the 21st [THURSDAY 21 APRIL 1803] in the morning, to lat.i.tude 17 45' and longitude 107 58', but equally without success as to the bank; and I then hauled to the wind at S. E,. in order to make the rocks themselves.

The Trial Rocks obtained their name from the English s.h.i.+p Trial, which was lost upon them in 1622; but their exact situation seemed not to be well known. Mr. Dalrymple had published a sketch of them upon the authority of a Dutch sloop, apparently sent from Batavia expressly for their examination; and in this they are described to lie in 19 30'

south, eighty leagues from the coast of New Holland; but Arrowsmith in his large chart of the South Sea, laid the Trial Rocks down in 20 40'

south, and 104 30' east, or near double the distance from the coast. The soundings of two East-Indiamen near the rocks, given in the South-Sea chart, stamped this last position with an authority which decided my opinion in its favour, and I accordingly steered for it.

Dull weather, with frequent heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, had prevailed from the time of leaving Coepang, and it produced the same effect upon the health of the s.h.i.+p's company as similar weather had before done in the Gulph of Carpentaria; for we had at this time ten men in the sick list with diarrhoea, and many others were slightly affected.

It seemed possible that the change of food, from salt provisions to the fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables of Timor--a change by which I hoped to banish every appearance of scurvy, might have had an influence in producing the disease; and if so, it was avoiding Scylla to fall upon Charybdis, and was truly unfortunate.

SAt.u.r.dAY 23 APRIL 1803

At noon of the 23rd, we had reached the lat.i.tude 20 50', and were in longitude 105 13' east, without having had soundings at 100 fathoms; I then steered a west course, lying to from eight in the evening till daylight; and at the following noon [SUNDAY 24 APRIL 1803] we observed in 20 49' south, and the longitude was 103 49' east. This was more than half a degree to the west of Mr. Arrowsmith's position, and we neither had soundings at 140 fathoms, nor any thing in sight to betoken the vicinity of land; I therefore ran N. W. to get somewhat to the north of the lat.i.tude 20 40', and at dusk hauled up to the wind, as near to east as the s.h.i.+p could lie, to make further search in that direction.

On the 25th, some tropic birds were seen; and the next day [TUESDAY 26 APRIL 1803], when our lat.i.tude was 20 36' and longitude 104 55', there were several birds of the petrel kind about the s.h.i.+p; very vague signs of land, it is true, but still they gave us hopes; and once we were flattered with the appearance of breakers, and bore away for them, but it was a deception. We continued to stretch eastward all the next day [WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL 1803]; but the wind having veered from south to S.

E., a good deal of northing was made with it; and having reached the lat.i.tude 19 53' and longitude 106 41', without finding bottom, or any more signs of land, I tacked to the S. S. W. and gave up the search.

It should appear from our examination, that the Trial Rocks do not lie in the s.p.a.ce comprehended between the lat.i.tudes 20 15' and 21 south, and the longitudes 103 25' and 106 30' east. That they exist, does not seem to admit of a doubt, and probably they will be found near the situation a.s.signed to them by the Dutch sloop; but no bank can extend in a line from thence at all near to Timor. The variations of the compa.s.s observed during our search for the Trial Rocks, were 3 west with the head N. W., 5 11' at E. by S., and 5 38' at E. S.E.; and the mean, corrected to the meridian, will be 3 43' west, in 20 33' south and 104 20' east longitude.

From the 27th of April we steered eight days to the S. S. W., mostly with south-eastern winds; they were sometimes light, but occasionally fresh, and at these times the s.h.i.+p made five inches of water in the hour. The diarrhoea on board was gaining ground, notwithstanding all the attention paid to keeping the s.h.i.+p dry and well aired, and the people clean and as comfortable as possible. Some of the officers began to feel its attack; and in order to relieve them and the people, now that we had no expectation of meeting danger, I directed the s.h.i.+p's company to be divided into three watches, and put the officers to four; giving Mr.

Denis Lacy, master's mate, the charge of acting lieutenant in the fourth watch.

THURSDAY 5 MAY 1803

On May 5, in lat.i.tude 26 24' and longitude 103 21', the south-east wind died away, and a breeze sprung up from the opposite quarter, which veered afterwards to the S. W., blowing fresh with squally, moist weather. Our course was then directed for Cape Leeuwin, with the wind usually a-beam; the sea being too high for the s.h.i.+p to make good way any nearer. In this pa.s.sage we were accompanied by several petrels, and amongst them by the albatross, the first of which had been seen in the lat.i.tude 23

FRIDAY 13 MAY 1803

On the 13th, we had reached the parallel of Cape Leeuwin, and were steering E. by S., to make it. At six in the evening, tried for soundings with 180 fathoms, without finding ground; but after running S. 67 E.

twenty-six miles, we had 75 fathoms, fine white sand; and at daylight [SAt.u.r.dAY 14 MAY 1803] the land was seen, bearing N. 23 to 52 E. about eight leagues. (Atlas, Plate II.) The soundings should therefore seem not to extend more than ten or twelve leagues to the west, or but little further than the land will be visible in fine weather.

Our lat.i.tude at noon was 34 43', and the land of Cape Leeuwin bore from N. 2 to 22 E.; the uncorrected longitude of the time keepers from Timor made the cape four or five leagues to the east of the position before ascertained, but when corrected, the difference was too small to be perceptible. At six in the evening we had 40 fathoms, coral bottom, at seven leagues from Point D'Entrecasteaux; but the weather was too thick to take any bearings which might improve my former survey. We steered along the coast at the distance of seven or eight leagues, with a fresh breeze and a strong current in our favour; and on the next day [SUNDAY 15 MAY 1803] at noon I set land, which had the appearance of Bald Head, at N. 31 W., distant about five leagues. Mount Gardner and Bald Island were distinguished in the afternoon; but the land was visible at times only, from the haziness of the weather.

[FROM TIMOR. ARCHIPELAGO OF THE RECHERCHE.]

My intention in coming so near the South Coast, was to skirt along the outer parts of the Archipelago of the Recherche, which had before been seen imperfectly; and to stop a day or two in Goose-Island Bay, for the purposes of procuring geese for our sick people, seal oil for our lamps, and a few casks of salt from the lake on Middle Island. It was night [MONDAY 16 MAY 1803] when we approached the archipelago, and I therefore steered to make Termination Island, which is the outermost part; at four in the morning of the 17th [TUESDAY 17 MAY 1803], it was seen about two leagues to the N. E, and we had 62 fathoms on a bottom of white sand.

Mondrain Island was set at daylight, and the positions of many other places were either verified or corrected, during the run to noon; at that time we had 45 fathoms, and a reef was seen which may probably be that marked _Vigie_, in the French chart, and is the more dangerous from the sea breaking upon it only at times. No observation was obtained for the lat.i.tude, but it should be 34 13' south, from the following bearings then taken.

Western Twin, N. 5 W.

A nearer isle, surrounded with breakers, N. 3 E.

Cape Arid, top of the mount on it, N. 53 E.

Middle I., highest top of the mount, N. 66 E.

Douglas's Isles, two appearing in one, N. 80 E.

High breakers, distant 6 miles, S. 42 E.

At one o'clock in steering for Douglas's Isles, a single breaker was seen right ahead of the s.h.i.+p, lying six miles N. E. N. of the former dangerous reef, and about eight from the isles, in a W. by S.

direction. We pa.s.sed to the northward of it, having no ground at 25 fathoms; and as we approached to do the same by the isles, Mr. Charles Douglas, the boatswain, breathed his last; and I affixed his name to the two lumps of land, which seemed to offer themselves as a monument to his memory. We hauled up close along the east side of Middle Island with the wind at west; and at six in the evening anch.o.r.ed in Goose-Island Bay, in 12 fathoms, fine sand, one-third of a mile from the middle rock. and nearly in a line between it and the north-east point of Middle Island.

WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 1803

In the morning, a party of men was sent to kill geese and seals upon the rocky islets to the eastward, and another upon Middle Island to cut wood and brooms. There was now so much more surf upon the sh.o.r.es of the bay than in January of the former year, that we could not land at the eastern beach, behind which lies the salt lake; I therefore went with the master to the middle beach, and being scarcely able to get out of the boat from s...o...b..tic sores, sent him to examine the lake and make choice of a convenient place for filling some casks; but to my surprise he reported that no good salt could be procured, although it had been so abundant before, that according to the testimony of all those who saw the lake, it would have furnished almost any quant.i.ty: this alteration had doubtless been produced by the heavy rains which appeared to have lately fallen. I caused a hole to be dug in a sandy gully, in order to fill a few casks of water, thinking it possible that what we had taken in at Timor might have been injurious; but the water was too salt to be drinkable, although draining from land much above the level of the sea. This may afford some insight into the formation of salt in the lake; and it seems not improbable, that rock salt may be contained in some part of Middle Island.

We remained here three days, cutting wood, boiling down seal oil, and killing geese; but our success in this last occupation was very inferior to what it had been in January 1802, no more than twelve geese being now shot, whereas sixty-five had then been procured. Mr. Douglas was interred upon Middle Island, and an inscription upon copper placed over his grave; William Hillier, one of my best men, also died of dysentery and fever before quitting the bay, and the surgeon had fourteen others in his list, unable to do any duty. At his well-judged suggestion, I ordered the cables, which the small size of the s.h.i.+p had made it necessary to coil between decks, to be put into the holds, our present light state permitting this to be done on clearing away the empty casks; by this arrangement more room was made for the messing and sleeping places; and almost every morning they were washed with boiling water, aired with stoves, and sprinkled with vinegar, for the surgeon considered the dysentery on board to be approaching that state when it becomes contagious.

SAt.u.r.dAY 21 MAY 1803

At daylight of the 21st, having a fresh breeze at N. W., we prepared to depart, and hove short; but the s.h.i.+p driving before the sails were loosed, and there being little room astern, a second bower was dropped and a kedge anchor carried out. This last not holding after the bowers were weighed, a stream anchor was let go; and before the s.h.i.+p brought up, it was again necessary to drop the best bower. At this time we were not more than a cable's length from the rocks of Middle Island; and the s.h.i.+p being exposed to great danger with the least increase of wind, we got a spring on the stream cable and began to heave on the best bower. In the mean time the s.h.i.+p drove with both anchors ahead, which obliged me, on the instant, to cut both cables, heave upon the spring, and run up the jib and stay-sails; and my orders being obeyed with an alacrity not to be exceeded, we happily cleared the rocks by a few fathoms, and at noon made sail to the eastward.

This example proved the anchorage in the eastern part of Goose-Island Bay to be very bad, the sand being so loose as not to hold the s.h.i.+p with two anchors, though the water was smooth and the wind not more than a double-reefed-top-sail breeze; yet further westward, between Goose Island and the west beach, our anchor had held very well before. The most secure situation should seem to be off the east end of the middle beach, between it and the rock, in 4 or 5 fathoms; but I cannot answer for the ground there being good, though to all appearance it should be the best in the bay.

The _lat.i.tude_ observed from an artificial horizon on the middle beach was 34 5' 23" south; and the _longitude_ of the place of observation, a little east of that before fixed by the time keepers from King George's Sound, (Vol. I.), will be 123 9' 37.6" east. Mr. Flinders took three sets of alt.i.tudes between the 18th p.m. and 21st a.m., from which the rates of the time keepers, and their errors from Greenwich time at noon there of the 21st, were found to be as under;

Earnshaw's No. 543, slow 3h 10' 59.53" and losing 19.63" per day.

Earnshaw's No. 520, fast 1h 31' 54.28" and losing 34.07" per day.

At the first observation, the longitudes deduced from the Coepang rates were, by

No. 543--123 33' 37.5" east, No. 520--123 25 22.5 east;

the mean of which is 19' 52.4" more than what I consider to be the true longitude, but on using rates equally accelerated from those at Coepang to what were found above, the error becomes reduced to 12' 11.6" east; which is the sum of the apparent irregularity of the time keepers from April 8 to May 18, or in 40.2 days. The corrections applied to the longitude during the last pa.s.sage, are therefore what arise from the equal acceleration of the rates, and from the proportional part of the 12' 11.6" of irregularity; and when thus corrected, the time keepers did not appear to differ at Cape Leeuwin and Mount Gardner more than 1' from the longitude of the former year.

[SOUTH COAST. TOWARDS PORT JACKSON]

SAt.u.r.dAY 21 MAY 1803

On clearing Goose-Island Bay we steered eastward, with cloudy weather and a fresh breeze which veered to S. S. W. A small round island, with two rocks on its north side, was discovered in the south-eastern part of the archipelago, and also a reef; neither of which I had before seen, nor are they noticed by admiral D'Entrecasteaux. At 3h 40' the following bearings were taken: