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 Passage.
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 ship 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. 64½° 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.
The wind fixed itself at south-east, and it took us two days to work back
against it as far as Troubridge Hill [SATURDAY 27 MARCH 1802]. The shore
is generally low and sandy; but with the exception of one very low point,
it may be approached within two miles. Many tacks were made in these two
days from the northern land across to Kangaroo Island, and gave
opportunities of sounding the intermediate strait. From 45 fathoms, in
the middle of the western entrance, the depth diminished quickly to 25,
then more slowly to 20 after which it is irregular between 12 and 20
fathoms, as far as the mouth of the second inlet. Of the two sides, that
of Kangaroo Island is much the deepest; but there is no danger in any
part to prevent a ship passing through the strait with perfect
confidence, and the average width is twenty-three miles. It was named
INVESTIGATOR'S STRAIT, after the ship. The bottom is mostly broken
shells, mixed with sand, gravel or coral, and appeared to hold well.
From two amplitudes taken to the north-north-west of Point Marsden, and
near the middle of the strait, the variation was 1° 49' east; the ship's
head being south-south-east in one case, and north-east-by-north in the
other. The true variation deduced from these, is 3° 20' east; which is 1°
7' greater than at Cape Spencer, and 0° 53' less than at the anchorage
near Kangaroo Head.
At noon of the 27th, the eastern wind died away; and we dropped a kedge
anchor in 15 fathoms, about two miles from Point Marsden, where the
following observations and bearings were taken.
Latitude, observed to the north, 35° 31' 38"
Longitude by time keepers, 137 42
Kangaroo I., furthest western extreme, S. 82 W.
do., Point Marsden, west side, S. 26 W.
do., innermost head up Nepean Bay, S. 27 E.
do., furthest eastern extreme, S. 57½ E.
Cape Jervis, south extreme, S. 73 E.
No set of tide was observable until three o'clock, when it made gently to
the north-east, towards the new inlet; and a breeze springing up at
south-east soon afterward, we pursued the same course, and were well
within the entrance at eight o'clock. Fires were seen ahead; but the
soundings being regular, and increasing, we kept on until midnight; when
the land was seen also, and we stood back for two hours. At daylight
[SUNDAY 28 MARCH 1802] I recognised Mount Lofty, upon the highest part of
the ridge of mountains which, from Cape Jervis, extends northward behind
the eastern shore of the inlet. The nearest part of the coast was distant
three leagues, mostly low, and composed of sand and rock, with a few
small trees scattered over it; but at a few miles inland, where the back
mountains rise, the country was well clothed with forest timber, and had
a fertile appearance. The fires bespoke this to be a part of the
continent.
Light airs and calms prevailed during the morning, and the ship had very
little way until noon, when a breeze sprung up at south-west. Our
situation was then in
Latitude, observed to the north and south, 35° 4' 13"
Longitude by time keepers, 138 23
Mount Lofty bore N. 71 E.
Southern extreme toward Cape Jervis, S. 17 W.
Northern extreme, trees above the water, N. 32 E.
The situation of Mount Lofty was found from hence and from some other
cross bearings, to be 34° 59' south and 138° 42' east. No land was
visible so far to the north as where the trees appeared above the
horizon, which showed the coast to be very low, and our soundings were
fast decreasing. From noon to six o'clock we ran thirty miles to the
northward, skirting a sandy shore at the distance of five, and thence to
eight miles; the depth was then 5 fathoms, and we dropped the anchor upon
a bottom of sand, mixed with pieces of dead coral.
MONDAY 29 MARCH 1802
In the morning, land was seen to the westward, and also a hummocky
mountain, capped with clouds, apparently near the head of the inlet.
Azimuths with the surveying compass, taken when the ship's head was
south-eastward, gave 2° 27' east variation; but an amplitude taken at the
same anchorage on the preceding evening, when the head was south-by-west,
showed 5° 22' east. These corrected to the meridian, will be severally 4°
43' and 4° 44' east; or half a degree more than was observed near
Kangaroo Head. The observations at this anchorage and the bearings taken
were as follow:
Latitude observed from the moon, 34° 36' S.
Longitude by time keepers, 138 18 E.
Mount Lofty, S. 41½° E.
Nearest shore, distant 7 miles, N. E. to N.
Hummock mount, highest top, N. 12½ W.
Western land, furthest extremes, N. 51° to S. 65 W.
There being almost no wind in the morning, we remained at anchor until
nine o'clock, to set up afresh the rigging of the new top masts; and I
took a boat to sound upon a rippling near the ship, but found the same
depth of 5 fathoms. Very little progress was made until noon, at which
time shoal water obliged us to steer westward. At three the soundings had
increased from 3½ to 10 fathoms, which was the deepest water to be found;
for it became shallower on approaching the western shore. After steering
various northwardly courses, we anchored at sunset in 5 fathoms, sand,
shells and broken coral; the shores then appeared to close round at the
distance of seven or eight miles; and the absence of tide gave no
prospect of finding any river at the head of the inlet.
According to lieutenant Flinders' observations, the situation of the
anchorage was in
Latitude, 34° 16' 36"
Longitude by time keepers, 138 6
Mount Lofty, dist. 17 leagues, bore, S. 35 E.
Hummock Mount, highest part, N. 5 E.
A low sandy point, dist. 3 or 4, miles, N. 69 E.
A low point covered with mangroves, N. 53 W.
The variation from an amplitude, observed when the ship's head was
south-eastward, was 2° 50' east; but the compass being upon a stand out
of its usual place, I cannot deduce the true variation, but took it to
be; 4° 40' east, nearly as found at the preceding anchorage.
TUESDAY 30 MARCH 1802
Early in the morning I went in a boat, accompanied by the naturalist, to
examine more closely the head of the gulph. We carried from 4 to 3
fathoms water four miles above the ship, when it shoaled to fifteen and
eight feet, which brought us to mud flats, nearly dry; but by means of a
small channel amongst them we got within half a mile of the shore, and
walked to it upon a bank of mud and sand.
It was then ten o'clock, and the tide was out; so that I judged the time
of high water to be _about seven hours after_ the moon's passage, or
three hours later than at Kangaroo Island; and the ordinary rise appeared
to be six or eight feet. An observation of the sun's meridian altitude
from the artificial horizon showed the landing-place to be in latitude
34° 8' 52", and the uppermost water might be 30" less; whence the extent
of this inlet, from Cape Jervis on the east side of the entrance, is 1°
30' of latitude.
Microscopic shells of various kinds, not larger than grains of wheat,
were heaped up in ridges at high-water mark; further back the shore was
sandy, but soon rose, in an undulating manner, to hills covered with
grass; and several clumps of trees scattered over them gave the land a
pleasing appearance from the water side. We set off in the afternoon for
the Hummock Mount, which stands upon a northern prolongation of the hills
on the west side of the inlet, and about eight miles from the water; but
finding it could not be reached in time to admit of returning on board
the same evening, I ascended a nearer part of the range to inspect the
head of the inlet. It was almost wholly occupied by flats, which seemed
to be sandy in the eastern part and muddy to the westward. These flats
abounded with rays; and had we been provided with a harpoon, a boat load
might have been caught. One black swan and several shags and gulls were
seen.
I found the grass upon these pleasant-looking hills to be thinly set, the
trees small, and the land poor in vegetable soil. The mountainous ridge
on the east side of the inlet passes within a few miles of Hummock Mount,
and appeared to be more sandy; but the wood upon it was abundant, and of
a larger growth. Between the two ranges is a broad valley, swampy at the
bottom; and into it the water runs down from both sides in rainy weather,
and is discharged into the gulph, which may be considered as the lower
and wider part of the valley.
This eastern ridge is the same which rises at Cape Jervis; from whence it
extends northward towards Barn Hill and the ridge of mountains on the
east side of Spencer's Gulph. If it joins that ridge, as I strongly
suspect, its length, taking it only from Cape Jervis to Mount Arden, will
be more than seventy leagues in a straight line. There are some
considerable elevations on the southern part; Mount Lofty is one of them,
and its height appeared nearly equal to that of Mount Brown to the north,
or about three thousand feet. Another lies six or seven miles to the
north-by-east of the Hummock Mount, near the head of this inlet, and
seems to have been the hill set from Spencer's Gulph, at the anchorage of
March 14, in the evening, when it was distant ten or eleven leagues and
appeared above the lower range in front of Barn Hill.
From my station on the western hills of the new inlet, across to
Spencer's Gulph, the distance was not more than thirty miles; but as I
did not ascend the highest part of the range, the water to the westward
could not be seen. Had the Hummock Mount been within my reach, its
elevation of near fifteen hundred feet would probably have afforded an
extensive view, both across the peninsula and of the country to the
northward.
[SOUTH COAST. GULPH OF ST. VINCENT.]
In honour of the noble admiral who presided at the Board of Admiralty
when I sailed from England, and had continued to the voyage that
countenance and protection of which Earl Spencer had set the example, I
named this new inlet the GULPH OF ST. VINCENT. To the peninsula which
separates it from Spencer's Gulph I have affixed the name of YORKE'S
PENINSULA, in honour of the Right Honourable Charles Philip Yorke, who
followed the steps of his above-mentioned predecessors at the Admiralty.
WEDNESDAY 31 MARCH 1802
On the 31st at daylight we got under way to proceed down the gulph, and
having followed the eastern shore in going up, I wished to trace the
coast of the peninsula in returning; but the wind being nearly at south,
it could only be done partially. At two in the afternoon we tacked in 3
fathoms from the eastern shoals, and at sunset in the same depth one mile
from the western side; our distance from the head of the gulph being then
about ten leagues, and the furthest land of the peninsula bearing S. 3°
E. The western hills come down nearly to the water-side here, and have
the same pleasant appearance as at the head of the gulph, being grassy,
with clumps of wood scattered over them; the coast-line is somewhat
cliffy, and not so low as the eastern shore.
THURSDAY 1 APRIL 1802
During the night the wind veered round to east, and at three in the
morning to north-east; and a fire being seen on the eastern shore, the
fore top sail was laid to the mast. At daybreak we made sail west for the
land of the peninsula; and at half-past nine it was less than five miles
distant, being very low and sandy. The northern extreme then in sight
appeared to be the same land set in the evening at S. 3° E.; the other
extreme was not far from Troubridge Hill, on the west side of the
entrance to the gulph; and near it was an extensive bank, part of it dry,
which I called _Troubridge Shoal_. The bearings taken at this time were,
Northern extreme of the west shore, N. 2° E.
Southern extreme, distant 7 miles, S. 42 W.
Troubridge Shoal, dry part S. 13° W. to 9 E.
Cape Jervis, S. extreme of high land, S. 18 E.
Mount Lofty, N. 85 E.
We now hauled the wind to the south-east, and weathered the dry part of
Troubridge Shoal; but passed amongst several patches of discoloured water
in soundings from 4 to 3½ fathoms. At noon, when our latitude observed on
both sides was 35° 9' 38" and longitude by time keepers 138° 4½', the
shoal was distant three leagues to the west-north-west; Cape Jervis bore
S. 12°, and Mount Lofty N. 72° E.
Our examination of the gulph of St. Vincent was now finished; and the
country round it had appeared to be generally superior to that on the
borders of Spencer's Gulph. Yorke's Peninsula between them is singular in
its form, bearing some resemblance to a very ill-shaped leg and foot. The
length of the southern part, from Cape Spencer to the sandy point near
Troubridge Shoal, is about forty-five miles; and from thence northward,
to where the peninsula joins the main land, about sixty miles. Its least
breadth is from the head of Hardwicke Bay to the Investigator's Strait,
where it appears to be not more than three leagues.
[SOUTH COAST. KANGAROO ISLAND]
Having now made myself acquainted with the shores of the continent up to
Cape Jervis, it remained to pursue the discovery further eastward; but I
wished to ascertain previously whether any error had crept into the
time-keepers' rates since leaving Kangaroo Island, and also to procure
there a few more fresh meals for my ship's company. Our course was in
consequence directed for the island, which was visible from aloft; but
the winds being very feeble, we did not pass Kangaroo Head until eleven
at night. I purposed to have run up into the eastern cove of Nepean Bay,
but finding the water to shoal from 12 to 7 fathoms, did not think it
safe to go further in the dark, and therefore dropped the anchor about
three-quarters of a mile from the shore, and two miles to the
south-west-by-west of our former anchorage.
FRIDAY 2 APRIL 1802
Early on the following morning a party was sent to shoot kangaroos,
another to cut wood, and the naturalists went to pursue their researches.
The observations taken by lieutenant Flinders, compared with those of
March 24th, showed the timekeepers to have erred 2' 10" of longitude to
the west in the nine days we had been absent; and they had not,
consequently, lost quite so much upon a medium as the Port Lincoln rates
supposed. This small error, which principally affected the Gulph of St.
Vincent, has been corrected in the longitudes there specified and in the
chart by an equal proportion.
The kangaroos were found to be less numerous than at the first anchoring
place, and they had become shy, so that very few were killed. Those few
being brought off, with a boat load of wood, we got under way at daylight
next morning to prosecute the examination of the coast beyond Cape
Jervis; but the timekeepers had stopped, from having been neglected to be
wound up on the preceding day. We therefore came to an anchor again; and
as some time would be required to fix new rates, the ship was moored so
soon as the flood tide made. I landed immediately, to commence the
necessary observations, and a party was established on shore, abreast of
the ship, to cut more wood for the holds. Lieutenant Fowler was sent in
the launch to the eastward, with a shooting party and such of the
scientific gentlemen as chose to accompany him; and there being skins
wanted for the service of the rigging, he was directed to kill some
seals.
SUNDAY 4 APRIL 1802
On the 4th I was accompanied by the naturalist in a boat expedition to
the head of the large eastern cove of Nepean Bay; intending if possible
to ascend a sandy eminence behind it, from which alone there was any hope
of obtaining a view into the interior of the island, all the other hills
being thickly covered with wood. On approaching the south-west corner of
the cove, a small opening was found leading into a considerable piece of
water; and by one of its branches we reached within little more than a
mile of the desired sandy eminence. After I had observed the latitude 35°
50' 2" from an artificial horizon, we got through the wood without much
difficulty, and at one o'clock reached the top of the eminence, to which
was given the name of _Prospect Hill_. Instead of a view into the
interior of the island, I was surprised to find the sea at not more than
one and half or two miles to the southward. Two points of the coast
towards the east end of the island bore S. 77° E., and the furthest part
on the other side, a low point with breakers round it, bore S. 33° W., at
the supposed distance of four or five leagues. Between these extremes a
large bight in the south coast was formed; but it is entirely exposed to
southern winds, and the shores are mostly cliffy. Mount Lofty, on the
east side of the Gulph of St. Vincent, was visible from Prospect Hill at
the distance of sixty-nine miles, and bore N. 40° 40' E.
The entrance of the piece of water at the head of Nepean Bay is less than
half a mile in width, and mostly shallow; but there is a channel
sufficiently deep for all boats near the western shore. After turning two
low islets near the east point the water opens out, becomes deeper, and
divides into two branches, each of two or three miles long. Boats can go
to the head of the southern branch only at high water; the east branch
appeared to be accessible at all times, but as a lead and line were
neglected to be put into the boat, I had no opportunity of sounding.
There are four small islands in the eastern branch; one of them is
moderately high and woody, the others are grassy and lower; and upon two
of these we found many young pelicans, unable to fly. Flocks of the old
birds were sitting upon the beaches of the lagoon, and it appeared that
the islands were their breeding-places; not only so, but from the number
of skeletons and bones there scattered, it should seem that they had for
ages been selected for the closing scene of their existence. Certainly
none more likely to be free from disturbance of every kind could have
been chosen than these islets in a hidden lagoon of an uninhabited
island, situate upon an unknown coast near the antipodes of Europe; nor
can anything be more consonant to the feelings, if pelicans have any,
than quietly to resign their breath whilst surrounded by their progeny,
and in the same spot where they first drew it. Alas for the pelicans!
Their golden age is past; but it has much exceeded in duration that of
man.
I named this piece of water _Pelican Lagoon_. It is also frequented by
flocks of the pied shag, and by some ducks and gulls; and the shoals
supplied us with a few oysters. The surrounding country is almost
everywhere thickly covered with brushwood; and the soil appeared to be
generally of a good quality, though not deep. Prospect Hill and the parts
around it are more sandy; and there seemed to be swamps at the head of
both branches of the lagoon. The isthmus which separates the southern
branch from the sea is low, but rises gradually up the cliffs of the
coast.
Not being able to return on board the same night, we slept near the
entrance of the lagoon. It was high water by the shore, on the morning of
the 5th [MONDAY 5 APRIL 1802], at six o'clock; but on comparing this with
the swinging of the ship, it appeared that the tide had then been running
more than an hour from the westward. The rise in the lagoon seemed to be
from four to eight feet.
A few kangaroos had been obtained during my absence, as also some seal
skins; but one of the sailors having attacked a large seal incautiously,
received a very severe bite in the leg and was laid up. After all the
researches now made in the island, it appeared that the kangaroos were
much more numerous at our first landing-place, near Kangaroo Head, than
elsewhere in the neighbourhood. That part of the island was clearer of
wood than most others; and there were some small grass plats which seemed
to be particularly attractive and were kept very bare. Not less than
thirty emus or cassowaries were seen at different times; but it so
happened that they were fired at only once, and that ineffectually. They
were most commonly found near the longest of the small beaches to the
eastward of Kangaroo Head, where some little drainings of water oozed
from the rocks. It is possible that with much time and labour employed in
digging, water might be procured there to supply a ship; and I am sorry
to say that it was the sole place found by us where the hope of procuring
fresh water could be entertained.
Having received on board a good stock of wood, the launch was hoisted in
and every thing prepared for going to sea. Next morning [TUESDAY 6 APRIL
1802], so soon as the sun was sufficiently elevated to be observed in the
artificial horizon, I landed to take the last set of observations for the
time-keepers; after which the anchor was weighed, and we steered out of
Nepean Bay with a light breeze from the south-west. Towards noon it fell
calm, and finding by the land that the ship was set westward, an anchor
was dropped nearly in our first place off Kangaroo Head; and Mr. Westall
took the sketch given in the Atlas. (Atlas Plate XVII. View 11.)
The rates of the time keepers were obtained, for the sake of expedition,
from single altitudes of the sun's upper and lower limbs, taken from a
quicksilver horizon with a sextant fixed on a stand; the time being noted
from Arnold's watch, compared with Earnshaw's time keepers before going
on shore and immediately after returning. From the altitudes of the 3rd,
4th, and 6th, in the morning, the rates of the two time keepers and their
errors from mean Greenwich time, reduced to noon there on the last day,
were as under.
Earnshaw's No. 543, fast 0h 0' 18.03" and losing 8.46" per day.
No. 520, slow 0 45 29.66 and losing 18.07" per day.
In deducing these errors, the longitude given by the time keepers on our
first arrival from Spencer's Gulph, which I consider to be equally good
with that of Port Lincoln, was used, with a correction of -1' 20" for the
change of place. The medium of the Port Lincoln rates was something
greater than that now found; which corresponded with the time keepers
having given the longitude of Kangaroo Head less on the second than on
the first arrival. This was some proof that the letting down had not
affected the rates, and tended to give me confidence in their accuracy.
The _variation_ observed on shore, with the theodolite,
was 5° 48' east. Do. with azimuth compass, No. 1 with the theodolite,
was 2° 58' east.
For this difference between the instruments, I find it difficult to
account satisfactorily; but it is the same way, and nearly similar in
quantity to what was observed in Lucky Bay. The true variation on board
the ship, deduced from azimuths taken at anchor two miles to the
north-east, and using the compasses No. 1 and 2, was as before mentioned,
4° 13', nearly the mean of the above; but the bearings taken with the
theodolite at Kangaroo Head and Prospect Hill showed only 2½° east, as
compared with the bearings on board the ship. There can be little doubt
of the existence of magnetic substances in the lands about here, more
particularly, as I think, in Yorke's Peninsula; and there will presently
be occasion to notice more instances of their effect.
The approach of the winter season, and an apprehension that the discovery
of the remaining unknown part of the South Coast might not be completed
before a want of provisions would make it necessary to run for Port
Jackson, prevented me from stopping a day longer at Kangaroo Island than
was necessary to obtaining rates for the time-keepers, and consequently
from examining the south and west parts of that island. The direction of
the main coast and the inlets it might form were the most important
points to be now ascertained; and the details of particular parts, which
it would interfere too much with those objects to examine, were best
referred to the second visit, directed by my instructions to be made to
this coast. When, therefore, the rising of a breeze made it advisable to
get under way from Kangaroo Head, which was not until two in the
afternoon, we proceeded for the eastern outlet of the Investigator's
Strait, in order to prosecute the discovery beyond Cape Jervis.
The wind was at south-east; and the tide being against us, but little
progress was made until the evening, when it became favourable. Our
soundings were irregular, and some rocky islets being seen without side
of the opening, I stood in at nine o'clock, to look for anchorage at the
east end of Kangaroo Island; and finding no shelter there, we ran a
little to leeward into a small bay which I had observed before dark, and
anchored at half past ten, in 4½ fathoms, on a bottom of hard sand. At
daylight [WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL 1802], the following bearings were taken.
East point of the little bay, dist. 1½ mile, East.
West point, distant three miles, N. 38° W.
Cape Jervis, inner low point, N. 3 W.
Eastern extreme of the coast, N. 65 E.
The bay is perfectly sheltered from all southern winds; and as there were
several spots clear of wood near the beach, it is probable that the
kangaroos, and perhaps cassowaries, might be numerous. We did not stop to
land, but got under way so soon as the bearings were taken, to beat out
of the strait against the south-east wind; so little was gained, however,
after working all the day, that at eight in the evening the ship was
still off the east end of Kangaroo Island.
This part of the Investigator's Strait is not more, in the narrowest
part, than seven miles across. It forms a private entrance, as it were,
to the two gulphs; and I named it _Back-stairs Passage_. The small bay
where we had anchored is called the _Ante-chamber_; and the cape which
forms the eastern head of the bay and of Kangaroo Island, and lies in 35°
48' south and 138° 13' east, received the appellation of _Cape
Willoughby_. Without side of the passage, and almost equidistant from
both shores, there are three small, rocky islets near together, called
the _Pages_, whose situation is in latitude 35° 46½' and longitude 138°
21' east; these are the sole dangers in Back-stairs Passage, and two of
them are conspicuous. Our soundings in beating through were from 8 to 23
fathoms; and in a strong rippling of tide like breakers there was from 10
to 12, upon a bottom of stones and shells.
At eight in the evening we tacked from Cape Willoughby; and having passed
to windward of the Pages, stretched on east and north-eastward until four
in the morning [THURSDAY 8 APRIL 1802]. Land was then seen under the lee,
and a tack made off shore till daylight, when we stood in with the wind
at east-south-east. At nine the land was distant five miles, and of a
very different aspect to that of Cape Jervis. As far as six leagues from
the cliffy southern extremity of the Cape the land is high, rocky and
much cut by gullies or ravines; a short, scrubby brush-wood covers the
seaward side, and the stone appeared to be slaty, like the opposite
cliffs of Kangaroo Island. But here the hills fall back from the sea, and
the shore becomes very low with some hummocks of sand upon it; and the
same description of coast prevailed as far as could be seen to the
eastward.
Our situation at nine o'clock, when we tacked to the south, was as
follows;
Longitude by time keepers, 138° 47½'
Cape Jervis, two southern parts, bore S. 84 W.
A round hummock, N. 85 W.
A rocky islet, under the land, N. 62 W.
Furthest visible part of the sandy coast, S. 87 E.
Before two in the afternoon we stretched eastward again, and at four a
white rock was reported from aloft to be seen ahead. On approaching
nearer it proved to be a ship standing towards us, and we cleared for
action, in case of being attacked. The stranger was a heavy-looking ship,
without any top-gallant masts up; and our colours being hoisted, she
showed a French ensign, and afterwards an English jack forward, as we did
a white flag. At half-past five, the land being then five miles distant
to the north-eastward, I hove to, and learned, as the stranger passed to
leeward with a free wind, that it was the French national ship _Le
Géographe_, under the command of captain NICOLAS BAUDIN. We veered round
as Le Géographe was passing, so as to keep our broadside to her, lest the
flag of truce should be a deception; and having come to the wind on the
other tack, a boat was hoisted out, and I went on board the French ship,
which had also hove to.
As I did not understand French, Mr. Brown, the naturalist, went with me
in the boat. We were received by an officer who pointed out the
commander, and by him were conducted into the cabin. I requested captain
Baudin to show me his passport from the Admiralty; and when it was found
and I had perused it, offered mine from the French marine minister, but
he put it back without inspection. He then informed me that he had spent
some time in examining the south and east parts of Van Diemen's Land,
where his geographical engineer, with the largest boat and a boat's crew,
had been left, and probably lost. In Bass Strait captain Baudin had
encountered a heavy gale, the same we had experienced in a less degree on
March 21 in the Investigator's Strait. He was then separated from his
consort, _Le Naturaliste_; but having since had fair winds and fine
weather, he had explored the South Coast from Western Port to the place
of our meeting without finding any river, inlet or other shelter which
afforded anchorage. I inquired concerning a large island said to lie in
the western entrance of Bass Strait; but he had not seen it, and seemed
to doubt much of its existence.
Captain Baudin was communicative of his discoveries about Van Diemen's
land; as also of his criticisms upon an English chart of Bass Strait
published in 1800. He found great fault with the north side of the
strait, but commended the form given to the south side and to the islands
near it. On my pointing out a note upon the chart, explaining that the
north side of the strait was seen only in an open boat by Mr. Bass, who
had no good means of fixing either latitude or longitude, he appeared
surprised, not having before paid attention to it. I told him that some
other and more particular charts of the Strait and its neighbourhood had
been since published; and that if he would keep company until next
morning, I would bring him a copy, with a small memoir belonging to them.
This was agreed to, and I returned with Mr. Brown to the Investigator.
It somewhat surprised me that captain Baudin made no enquiries concerning
my business upon this unknown coast, but as he seemed more desirous of
communicating information, I was happy to receive it; next morning
[FRIDAY 9 APRIL 1802], however, he had become inquisitive, some of his
officers having learned from my boat's crew that our object was also
discovery. I then told him, generally, what our operations had been,
particularly in the two gulphs, and the latitude to which I had ascended
in the largest; explained the situation of Port Lincoln, where fresh
water might be procured; showed him Cape Jervis, which was still in
sight; and as a proof of the refreshments to be obtained at the large
island opposite to it, pointed out the kangaroo-skin caps worn by my
boat's crew, and told him the name I had affixed to the island in
consequence. At parting the captain requested me to take care of his boat
and people in case of meeting with them; and to say to Le Naturaliste
that he should go to Port Jackson so soon as the bad weather set in. On
my asking the name of the captain of Le Naturaliste, he bethought himself
to ask mine; and finding it to be the same as the author of the chart
which he had been criticising, expressed not a little surprise, but had
the politeness to congratulate himself on meeting me.
The situation of the Investigator, when I hove to for the purpose of
speaking captain Baudin, was 35° 40' south and 138° 58' east. No person
was present at our conversations except Mr Brown; and they were mostly
carried on in English, which the captain spoke so as to be understood. He
gave me, besides what is related above, some information of his losses in
men, separations from his consort, and of the improper season at which he
was directed to explore this coast; as also a memorandum of some rocks he
had met with, lying two leagues from the shore, in latitude 37° 1', and
he spoke of them as being very dangerous.
I have been the more particular in detailing all that passed at this
interview from a circumstance which it seems proper to explain and
discuss in this place.
At the above situation of 35° 40' south and 138° 58' east, the
_discoveries_ made by captain Baudin upon the South Coast have their
termination to the west; as mine in the Investigator have to the
eastward. Yet Mons. Peron, naturalist in the French expedition, has laid
a claim for his nation to the discovery of all the parts between _Western
Port_ in Bass Strait, and _Nuyts' Archipelago_; and this part of New
South Wales is called _Terre Napoléon_. My Kangaroo Island, a name which
they openly adopted in the expedition, has been converted at Paris into
_L'Isle Decrés_; Spencer's Gulph is named _Golfe Bonaparte_; the Gulph of
St. Vincent, _Golfe Josephine_; and so on along the whole coast to Cape
Nuyts, not even the smallest island being left without some similar stamp
of French discovery.*
[* The most remarkable passages on the subject are the following, under
the title of _Terre Napoléon_.
"De ce grand espace (the south coast of Terra Australis), la partie seule
qui du Cap Leuwen s'étend aux îles St. Pierre et St. François, écoit
connue lors de notre départ d'Europe. Découverte par les Hollandois en
1627, elle avoit été, dans ces derniers temps, visitée par VANCOUVER et
surtout par DENTRECASTEAUX; mais ce dernier navigateur n'ayant pu
lui-même s'avancer au-delà des îles St. Pierre et St. François, qui
forment la limite orientale de la terre de Nuyts, et les Anglois n'ayant
pas porté vers le Sud leurs recherches plus loin que le port Western, il
en résultoit que toute la portion comprise entre ce dernier point et la
terre de Nuyts étoit encore inconnue au moment où nous arrivions sur ces
rivages." p. 316. That is on March 30, 1802. M. Peron should have said,
not that the south coast from Western Port to Nuyts' Land was then
unknown; but that it was unknown _to them_; for captain Grant of the Lady
Nelson had discovered the eastern part, from Western Port to the
longitude 140¼°, in the year 1800, before the French ships sailed from
Europe; and on the west I had explored the coast and islands from Nuyts'
land to Cape Jervis in 138° 10', and was, on the day specified, at the
head of the Gulph of St. Vincent.
"Dans ce moment, le capitaine Anglois nous héla, en nous dernandant si
nous n'étions pas l'un des deux vaisseaux partis de France pour faire des
découvertes dans l'hemisphère Austral. Sur notre réponse affirmative, il
fit aussitôt mettre une embarcation a la mer, et peu d'instans après nous
le reçûmes à bord. Nous apprîmes que c'étoit le capitaine FLINDERS,
celui-là même qui avoit déja fait la circonnavigation de la terre de
Diémen; que son navire se nommoit _the Investigator_; que, parti d'Europe
depuis huit mois dans le dessein de compléter la reconnoissance de la
Nouvelle Hollande et des archipels du grand Océan équatorial, il se
trouvoit, depuis environs trois mois, à la terre de Nuyts; que, contrarié
par les vents, il n'avoit pu pénétrer, comme il en avoit eu le projet,
derrière les îles St. Pierre et St. François; que, lors de son départ
d'Angleterre," etc. p. 324, 325.
"En nous fournissant tous ces détails. M. FLINDERS se montra d'une grande
réserve sur ses opérations particulières. Nous apprimes toutefois par
quelques-uns de ses matelots, qu'il avoit eu beaucoup à souffrir de ces
mêmes vents de la partie du Sud qui nous avoient êtê si favorables, et ce
fut alors sur-tout que nous pûmes apprécier davantage toute la sagesse de
nos propres instructions. Après avoir conversé plus d'une heure avec
_nous_," (no person except Mr. Brown was present at my conversation with
captain Baudin, as I have already said), "le capitaine FLINDERS repartit
pour son bord, promettant de revenir le lendemain matin nous apporter une
carte particulière de la rivière _Dalrymple_, qu'il venait de publier en
Angleterre. Il revint en effet, le 9 avril, nous la remettre, et bientôt
après nous le quittâmes pour reprendre la suite de nos tra vaux
géographiques." p. 325.
"L'île principale de ce dernier groupe" (their _Archipel Berthier_) "se
dessine sous la forme d'un immense hamaçon." (Thistle's Island seems to
he here meant.) "Indépendamment de toutes ces îles, il en existe encore
plus de vingt autres disséminées aux environs de la pointe occidentale du
golfe et en déhors de son entée: chacune d'elles fut désignée par un de
ces noms honorables dont notre patrie s'enorgueillit à juste titre." p.
327.
_Voyage de Découverte aux Terres Australes_, rédigé par M. F. Peron,
Naturaliste de l'expédition, etc. Paris, 1807.]
It is said by M. Peron, and upon my authority too, that the Investigator
had not been able to penetrate behind the Isles of St. Peter and St.
Francis; and though he doth not say directly that no part of the before
unknown coast was discovered by me, yet the whole tenor of his Chap. XV
induces the reader to believe that I had done nothing which could
interfere with the prior claim of the French.
Yet M. Peron was present afterwards at Port Jackson when I showed one of
my charts of this coast to captain Baudin, and pointed out the limits of
his discovery; and so far from any prior title being set up at that time
to Kangaroo Island and the parts westward, the officers of the Géographe
always spoke of them as belonging to the Investigator. The first
lieutenant, Mons. Freycinet, even made use of the following odd
expression, addressing himself to me in the house of governor King, and
in the presence of one of his companions, I think Mons. Bonnefoy:
"Captain, if we had not been kept so long picking up shells and catching
butterflies at Van Diemen's Land, you would not have discovered the South
Coast before us."
The English officers and respectable inhabitants then at Port Jackson can
say if the prior discovery of these parts were not generally
acknowledged; nay, I appeal to the French officers themselves, generally
and individually, if such were not the case. How then came M. Peron to
advance what was so contrary to truth? Was he a man destitute of all
principle? My answer is, that I believe his candour to have been equal to
his acknowledged abilities; and that what he wrote was from over-ruling
authority, and smote him to the heart; he did not live to finish the
second volume.
The motive for this aggression I do not pretend to explain. It may have
originated in the desire to rival the British nation in the honour of
completing the discovery of the globe; or be intended as the forerunner
of a claim to the possession of the countries so said to have been first
discovered by French navigators. Whatever may have been the object in
view, the question, so far as I am concerned, must be left to the
judgment of the world; and if succeeding French writers can see and admit
the claims of other navigators as clearly and readily as a late most able
man of that nation* has pointed out their own in some other instances, I
shall not fear to leave it even to their decision.
[* M. DE FLEURIEU.]