A Voyage to Terra Australis. Matthew Flinders

extremity of a point; and in honour of the noble admiral with whose victory we had become acquainted, it was named POINT ST. VINCENT.

      The western breeze died away in the evening, and the sloop was drifted in by the swell, and perhaps by a tide, towards an opening round Point St. Vincent. This opening is indicated in the small chart which accompanies the voyage of M. Marion, but does not appear to have been seen by any other navigator. Our bearings of the land, at sunset, deduced from the sun's amplitude and sextant angles, were as follow:

      Mount De Witt, N. 18° E.

      Point St. Vincent, distant five miles, N. 57 E.

      Steep head on the east side of the opening, dist. 8 m. N. 86 E.

      Pyramidal rock, lying off a cliffy head, S. 46 E.

      At a further distance, and in the same bearing with the pyramidal rock, was a steep, jagged point, which proved to be the south-west cape of Van Diemen's Land. Our latitude at this time was 43° 18½', the passage of the moon having allowed me to get an observation at four o'clock; from whence to eight, our position had changed only one-and-half mile to the east.

      It remained nearly calm all night; and on the 13th, at daybreak, I was much surprised to find our situation near ten miles to the southward, instead of being in the same place. This circumstance, and a breeze which arose at north, precluded me from examining the opening as I had intended; for a width of three or four miles at the entrance, and the form of the mountains behind, made it probable that a considerable river discharged itself there; and the offset during the night strengthened the supposition. At six o'clock,

      Mount De Witt bore North.

      Point St. Vincent, N. 7° E.

      Steep head on the east side of the opening, W. 27 E.

      Pyramidal rock, off the cliffy head, N. 33 E.

      South-west Cape, the extreme. S. 82 E.

      We were then steering for the South-west Cape, and at nine I set Mount De Witt over it at N. 22° W., our distance from the cape being then about three miles.

      Seven islands and rocks were counted to the eastward, lying at different distances from the coast; and the wind having veered to west, permitted us to pass within them. At noon, the shore to the north being too near for the sun's altitude to be observed, its supplement was taken to the south, and gave the latitude 43° 27½'. A steep head which lies N. 79° E. four or five miles from the south-west Cape, then bore S. 74° W, three miles;* whence the latitude of the Cape should be 43° 29', which is 10 less than given by captain Furneaux, and 8' by captain Cook. This difference naturally excited some suspicion of an error in the observation, and I measured the supplement in the same manner on the following noon, when it gave 2' 40" less than the latitude determined by D'Entrecasteaux in Storm Bay. The South-west Cape is therefore placed 2' 40" further south than my observation gave it; that is, in latitude 43° 32'.** The longitude of the Cape, from the observations taken off Rocky Point and brought forward by the survey, would be 145° 47'; but its situation in 146° 7', by captain Cook, appears to be preferable: D'Entrecasteaux places it in 146° 0'.

      [* This head opened round the Cape at E. 14° N.. magnetic, the sloop's head being E. by N.; and shut at W. 20° S., when the head was north. In the first case I allow 3½° east variation, and in the last, 8°; which makes them agree as nearly as can be expected from bearings taken under sail.]

      [** Captain Furneaux says (in Cook's second Voyage, Vol. I. page 109), that on March 9, 1773, at noon, the South-west Cape bore north, four leagues; and by referring to the Astronomical Observations, p. 193, I find that his latitude was 43° 45 2/3', which would place the Cape in 43° 33 2/3'; nevertheless the captain says it is in 43° 39', and it is so laid down in his chart. The observation by which captain Cook appears to have fixed the South-west Cape, is that of Jan. 24, 1777, at noon; when he says, "our latitude was 43° 47' south" (Third Voyage, Vol. I. p. 93.) But the Astronomical Observations of that voyage show (p. 101), that the observed latitude on board the Resolution was 43° 42½'; which would make the Cape in 43° 32½' south. I consulted captain King's journal at the Admiralty, but found no observed latitude marked by him on that day.]

      The nearest land, at noon, was a steep head bearing N. 66° E., one mile and a half; and between this, and the head which bore S. 74° W., the shore forms a sandy bay four miles deep, where it is probable there may be good anchorage, if two clumps of rock, which lie in the entrance, will admit of a passage in. After taking bearings of Maatsuyker's Isles and the different headlands, we bore away eastward, and passed another deep, sandy bight, probably the same in which Mr. Cox anchored in 1789. At two o'clock, the

      South-west Cape, distant 15 or 16 miles, bore W. 2° S.

      A steep head at the furthest extreme,

      which proved to be the South Cape, S. 72° E.*

      [* The magnetic bearing of the South-west Cape was W. 5° S., and that of the South Cape E. 15° S. The true variation I believe to have been 8° E.; but as the sloop's head was at east, no more than 3° are allowed, from a system which will be hereafter explained. It seemed necessary to say this, because the formation of the south end of Van Diemen's Land in my chart, differs from that given by captain Cook, and from those of most others.

      In Bayly's Astronomical Observations, page 192, it appears that six sets of variations were observed on board the Resolution, Mar. 24, 1777, off the South Cape; the mean result of which was 4° 43' east. Next morning six other sets were taken near the same place, and the mean variation came out 10°8' east. In captain King's journal, I found the same observations entered, and that the ship's head was E. by N. ½ N. in the first case, and N. W. by W. in the second. This, with the example in the Francis, page cxxvi {The relevant paragraph begins "Whilst passing round the north end. . ." ebook Ed.}, and that in the Norfolk on the preceding page {a few paragraphs above this point. ebook Ed.}, may serve to show, for the present, that corrections are required to the variation, according to the direction of the vessel's head.]

      At this time we were one mile within, or north of the largest of the islands; and saw with some surprise, for it is three miles from the main, that its grassy vegetation had been burnt. From hence we steered for the easternmost isle, lying off a wide open bight in the coast, and afterwards hauled up for the South Cape. The wind died away at six o'clock, when the Cape was one mile distant; but thick clouds were gathering in the south and west, and strong gusts with heavy rain presently succeeded. Fortunately, the squalls came from the westward, so that we were enabled to get further from those stupendous cliffs; had they come from the south, the consequences might have been fatal to the Norfolk.

      The first steep head, to the eastward of the South Cape, opened round it at E. 7° N., (allowing 4° east variation,) and a second from the first, at E. 16° N., their distances asunder being each about five miles. It is the middlemost of these three heads which is called South Cape by captain Cook, as appears from the relative situations of his Peaked Hill and of Swilly rock; but he had not the opportunity of seeing the heads opening one from the other, as we had in the Norfolk. I make the latitude of the Cape (adding the 2' 40") to be 43° 37', nearly as captain Furneaux did; and as captain Cook would have done, had his latitude at noon been taken 43° 42½', according to the Astronomical Observations, instead Of 42° 47', as in the voyage.

      Pedro Blame, or Swilly rock, became visible at half past seven, when the squalls had mostly blown over; and the following bearings where then taken:

      South Cape, distant five miles, W. by N.

      East extreme of the next steep head, dist. 2½ miles, N. 14° E.

      Pedro Blanca, S. 33 E.

      Distant land through the haze, N. 60 E.

      At nine o'clock we hauled up for D'Entrecasteauxs Channel, of which I had the sketch of Mr. Hayes, and stood off and on, in the entrance, during the night; the wind blowing hard at west, with dark rainy weather.

      Dec. 14, at four in the morning, our situation was far to leeward; and having no prospect of fetching into the channel, we bore away for Boreel's Isles, which were seen bearing N. 65° E.