A Voyage to Terra Australis. Matthew Flinders

the east point of the opening bore N. ¼ W. seven miles, and the top of Mount Dromedary was visible above the haze; but no observation could be taken for the latitude.

      Soon after noon, land was in sight to the S. S. E., supposed to be the Point Dromedary of captain Cook's chart; but, to my surprise, it proved to be an island not laid down, though lying near two leagues from the coast. The whole length of this island is about one mile and a quarter, north and south; the two ends are a little elevated, and produce small trees; but the sea appeared to break occasionally over the middle part. It is probably frequented by seals, since many were seen in the water whilst passing at the distance of two miles. This little island, I was afterwards informed, had been seen in the ship Surprise, and honoured with the name of Montague.

      When captain Cook passed this part of the coast his distance from it was five leagues, and too great for its form to be accurately distinguished. There is little doubt that Montague Island was then seen, and mistaken for a point running out from under Mount Dromedary; for its distance from the mount, and bearing of about N. 75° E., will place it in 36° 17', or within one minute of the latitude assigned to the point in captain Cook's chart.

      (Atlas Pl. VI.)

      At six in the evening, Mount Dromedary was set at N. 40° W. five leagues. We steered S. S. W. until two in the morning, when the land was so near as made it necessary to alter the course; and at daybreak of the 4th, the shore was not more than three miles distant; it was moderately high and rocky, and at the back were many hummocky hills. Having been much upon deck in the night, I then retired to rest; and in the mean time, the schooner passed Mr. Bass's Two-fold Bay without its being noticed. At nine we came abreast of a smooth, sloping point which, from its appearance, and being unnoticed in captain Cook's chart, I named GREEN CAPE. The shore, for about seven miles to the northward, lies N. 16° W., and is rocky and nearly straight, and well covered with wood: the Cape itself is grassy. On the south side, the coast trends west, three or four miles, into a sandy bight, and then southward to Cape Howe.

      The latitude at noon was 37° 25', giving a current of twenty miles to the south, in two days; Green Cape bore N. by E. four leagues, and Cape Howe S. by W. five or six miles. Captain Cook lays down the last in 37° 26', in his chart; but the above observation places it in 37° 30½', which I afterwards found to agree with an observation of Mr. Bass, taken on the west side of the cape. The shore abreast of the schooner was between one and two miles distant; it was mostly beach, lying at the feet of sandy hillocks which extend from behind Green Cape to the pitch of Cape Howe. There were several fires upon the shore; and near one of them, upon an eminence, stood seven natives, silently contemplating the schooner as she passed.

      On coming abreast of Cape Howe, the wind chopped round to the south-west, and the dark clouds which settled over the land concealed it from our view; we observed, however, that it trended to the west, but sought in vain for the small island mentioned by captain Cook as lying close off the Cape.*

      [* Hawkesworth, Vol. III. p. 80. Mr. Bass sailed close round the cape in his whale boat, but did not ace any island lying there.]

      Our latitude was 38° 30' next day, or 38' south of account, although the wind had been. and was still from that direction. Mr. Reed then steered W. by N., to get in again with the coast; and on the following noon, we were in 38° 16' and, by account, 22' of longitude to the west of Point Hicks. The schooner was kept more northward in the afternoon; at four o'clock a moderately high, sloping hill was visible in the N. by W., and at seven a small rocky point on the beach bore N. 50° W. three or four leagues. The shore extended E. N. E. and W. S. W., and was low and sandy in front; but at some miles distance inland, there was a range of hills with wood upon them, though scarcely sufficient to hide their sandy surface.

      At five in the morning of the 7th, the rocky point bore N. E. ½ N. six or seven miles, and the furthest visible part of the beach W. ½ S. The southern wind had died away in the night; and a breeze springing up at N. E. by E., we steered before it along the same low, sandy shore as seen in the evening. The hills which arose at three or four leagues behind the beach, appeared to retire further back as we advanced westward; they would, however, be visible to a ship in fine weather, long before the front land could be seen.

      The observed latitude at noon was 38° 17' south, and by two sets of distances of the sun east of the moon, reduced up from the morning, the longitude was 147° 37' east.* The beach was six or seven miles distant, but after obtaining the noon's observation, we closed more in; and at two or three miles off, found a sandy bottom with 11 fathoms fathoms of line. Our course along the shore from two to four o'clock, was S. W. ¾ S., with a current in our favour. The beach then trended more to the west; but the breeze having veered to E. by N. and become strong, with much sea, it was considered too dangerous to follow it any longer. At five, the western and most considerable of two shallow-looking openings bore north-west, seven or eight miles; and at sunset, some high and remarkable land was perceived bearing S. W. by W., which proved to be the same discovered by Mr. Bass, and now bearing the name of Wilson's Promontory. It appeared, from a partial view given by a break in the clouds, as if cut in two, and the parts had been removed to some distance from each other: the gap was probably Sealers Cove.

      [* It was 147° 10'; but as I afterwards found that observations of the sun to the east gave 27' less, by this small five inch sextant, and those to the west 27' greater than the mean of both, that correction is here applied; but not any which might be required from errors in the solar or lunar tables.]

      The state of the weather, and the land to leeward, made it necessary to haul up south-eastward, close upon a wind. At day-break of the 8th, neither Wilson's Promontory nor any other land to the northward could be seen; but between the bearings of N. 84° and S. 63° E., six or eight miles distant, there was land rather high and irregular, with a cliffy shore; and a separate cluster of rocky islets bore south to S. 16° W., from three to five miles. We passed close to these last, at six o'clock, and perceived that the tide, which before had set to leeward, was then turned to the east: the moon had just before passed the meridian.

      This small cluster consists of a steep island, near one mile in length, of two smaller round islets, and two or three rocks; one of which obtained the name of Judgment Rock, from its resemblance to an elevated seat. The higher and more considerable land to the eastward was seen, as we advanced, to divide itself also into several parts. This group is principally composed of three islands; and between the largest on the east and two others on the west, there appeared to be a deep channel. The other parts are rocks, which lie scattered mostly off the north-western island. These two clusters were called KENT'S GROUPS, in honour of my friend captain William Kent, then commander of the Supply.

      Our latitude at noon was 39° 38'; the steep island of the small group bore N. 50° W., and the passage through the larger islands N. 12° E., six or eight miles. This observation places the centre of the passage and of the large group, in about 39° 29' south; and from the lunar observations of the preceding day, brought on by log, (for unfortunately I had no time keeper,) it should lie in longitude 147° 25' east. It is, however, to be observed, that a fortuitous compensation of errors can alone render a dead reckoning correct in the way of such tides as we had experienced during the last twenty-four hours.*

      [* The longitude of the large group, as given by my time keepers in a future voyage, is 147° 17'.]

      By keeping the wind to the southward, we came up with a pyramidal-shaped rock through which there is a chasm: it bore W. 8° S. one mile, at four o'clock, when the eastern island of Kents large group was set at N. 17° E., five or six leagues. At six, the pyramid bore N. 38° W. five miles, and high land came in sight to the eastward: one piece extended from N. 75° to S. 87° E., apparently about five leagues distant, and the bluff, southern end of another range of hills bore S. 51° E., something further. Captain Hamilton supposed these to be parts of the land he had seen to the north-west of Preservation Island, where the wreck of his ship was lying; but whether they might belong to Furneaux's Islands or to the main, was unknown to him. He had always gone to, and returned from his island by the east side of this land; and the wind having veered northward, the schooner was kept as much to the north-east as possible, in order to pursue the same track.

      We came up with a low point or island at eleven at night, when the