A Voyage to Terra Australis. Matthew Flinders

and rocky. At the end of Whirlpool Reach, the banks of the river opened out so considerably that, from our little boat, it appeared like a sea, the land at the further end being scarcely distinguishable. Fortunately, we got sight of the sloop in Anchor Bight before it was dark, and carried with us another black swan.

      Nov. l0, being under the necessity of going down to Brush Island, to bring the survey up from thence to the position of the sloop, we did not get under way till near noon. The wind was from the westward, and I went forward in the boat to Egg Island, so named from the number of eggs, mostly of the gull and red bill, which were there found. It is small and stony; but covered with grass, and had not been visited by the natives. My next station was on the opposite side of the river, upon a low sandy point which is lengthened by a dry shoal. These project out from the general line of the southern shore, and contract the river to less than half a mile; whereas its width above and below, is one mile and a half. On the east, or lee side of this point and shoal was a flock of swans, in number not less than from three to five hundred; and their cast quills were so intermixed with the sand, as to form a component part of the beach. This countless number of quills gave me an insight into the cause why so many of the swans, though not young birds, were unable to fly: they moult their wing feathers, probably at stated periods, though not, I should think, every year. This sandy projection was named Swan Point.

      On steering southward from thence, I found that the bight in which this great number of birds had assembled, was full of shoals producing the long aquatic grass which forms the principal part, if it be not their sole food. We sailed through the flock, and might have procured a good number, had not the progress of the sloop obliged us to hasten onward to Shoal Point: one incautious bird was caught by his long neck as we sailed past him.

      The change in the direction of the river, from south-east to south, made the extension of a new base necessary. From the end of Shoal Point, I ran thirty-two chains westward, across a small stream of fresh water; and having taken the necessary angles, returned to the sloop, which had then anchored at half a mile from the point, in 4 fathoms. The shoal was dry in the evening, within two cables length of the vessel, and rendered the fresh stream inaccessible to a boat.

      The time of our absence from Port Jackson being restricted to the beginning of January, I did not think it advisable to take the sloop any further up the river; but determined, after devoting one day more to an excursion in the boat, to return and proceed along the north coast of Van Diemen's Land, in prosecution of the main object of the voyage.

      Nov. 11, Mr. Bass landed near Shoal Point, to go as far back into the country as the limited time would permit. I steered from thence over to a red bank on the east side of the river, measured a base of seventy nine chains, and took angles from a variety of stations. At the Crescent Shore, the river was contracted to a quarter of a mile in width, the water was half fresh, and the depth across as follows: 1½, 3, 5½, 8, 8½, 12½, 11, 6, 4 fathoms at half flood.

      The direction of the river, from where the sloop was lying to this part, is nearly S. S. W.; but it then winds round the Crescent Shore, and runs E. S. E. My uppermost station was upon a hill near the water side, at the commencement of this new reach; and from thence the river appeared, at the distance of a mile and a half, to reopen out its banks, and to turn more southward. In an eastern direction, across the wide part, there were three ridges of hills, and beyond them some blue peaks and caps of distant mountains, which I judged to be the same we had seen from Cape Portland; and amongst which the source, or some of the sources of this river most probably arose. The distance of these mountains concurred with the strength of the tides and the depth of water to indicate, that, at the Crescent Shore, the larger half of the river still remained to be explored.*

      [* The chart will show from later examinations, how far the river is navigable, and whence its different sources are derived.]

      The morning of Nov. 12 was foggy and calm. We rowed the sloop down with the assistance of the ebb tide, to Round-head Bay, and anchored in 3½ fathoms. At high water, the anchor was again weighed; and at dusk, having had a breeze, we reached the five-fathom bank in Long Reach, near Watering Cove. From the upper end of Whirlpool Reach to Point Rapid, I went ahead in the boat and examined all the creeks and gullies on the western shore, for watering places. There were drains of fresh water down some of these, but in none, not even in Glen Bight, was there any accessible to boats.

      Nov. 13, we beat down with the ebb tide to Middle Island, and then steered across the basin for the Middle Arm, which was yet totally unexplored; but after many ineffectual attempts to find a passage over the shoals, we came to, in 5 fathoms, near the Shag Rocks, and I went to examine the arm with the boat. From Inspection Head I discovered a narrow channel leading into it, where there was more than sufficient depth for ships; but this arm is altogether of little consequence.

      In the evening, it blew a gale of wind from the north-westward, with hail and rain; and the same weather continuing next day, I employed the time in examining Sea Reach. On the 15th, somewhat finer weather enabled us to get down to Outer Cove, a place opposite to Green Island, where there is room for a larger vessel than the Norfolk to ride at single anchor, in 8 fathoms. The head of the cove is shoal, and the stream that falls into it is salt to a greater distance than a boat can go; nor could any accessible fresh water be found in the neighbourhood. Middle Rock, so named from its situation in the deep channel between the cove and Green Island, is hidden at half flood. Fine muscles were gathered from it, many of them containing small, discoloured pearls, such as are found in those of Adventure Bay.

      From this time to the 20th, the western winds continued to blow strong; and finding, after an ineffectual attempt, that it was impossible to make any progress in the voyage, we remained in port, taking astronomical observations, completing the survey, and examining the country, until a favourable change should take place. At the back of the longest beach near Low Head, and on the same side, I found a deep pool of tolerably good water, at which our casks were again replenished; and when the boat was not employed in this, or other services, the people were sent swan hunting, and never without success.

      Nov. 20. The wind having become moderate at north-west, we beat out of the port with the ebb tide; and at one p.m., took a departure from Low Head. The breeze had then veered to E. N. E.; and when we had run nine leagues, a head on the west side of the port bore S. 53° E., and the furthest visible part of the coast was at west: being then dusk, the wind was hauled off shore.

      We had rainy weather in the night, and the wind shifted back to W. N. W., and blew a fresh gale. This soon raised a high sea, and reduced us to a close-reefed main sail and jib; nor were we without apprehensions of the shore for the following night, so much did the sloop drive to leeward. On the 22nd at noon the gale was more moderate, the wind at W. by S., and the weather permitted an observation to be taken for the latitude; it was 40° 13', and we had land bearing E. N. E. about three leagues distant. So soon as I had satisfied myself that this could be no other than the hilly land lying five leagues to the northward of the Chappell Isles, we bore away before the sea; and by carrying all sail, secured an anchorage in Hamilton's Road before dark.

      It was not safe to move on the 23rd, and there being a lunar eclipse announced in the ephemeris to take place in the following night, I landed to observe it with the telescope of the sextant. The times at which the beginning and end happened by the watch, being corrected from altitudes of the stars Rigel and Sirius observed in an artificial horizon, gave 148° 37½' for the uncorrected longitude of Preservation Island; which is 37' more than was deduced from the lunar distances in the Francis. The penumbra attending the earth's shadow is usually supposed to render this observation uncertain to two or three minutes of time, or more than half a degree of longitude.

      Nov. 24. The gale had subsided to a moderate breeze, and we tried to beat back to the westward; but finding too much sea, bore away into Armstrong's Channel to speak the commander of the Nautilus; that, through him, governor Hunter might be informed of our discoveries thus far, and of the delays experienced from the western winds. I was happy to find captain Bishop proceeding successfully in his sealing business, though slower than he might have done, had the anchorage been nearer to the eastern points.*

      [* Nine thousand skins of the first quality, with several tons of oil, were procured by the Nautilus, and Furneaux's