A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 2: Undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802 and 1803, in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland schoonerFlinders, Matthew
History
A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 2: Undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802 and 1803, in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland schooner
Flinders, Matthew
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Voyages and travels
The top of Mount Grindall consists of the same kind of sand stone, with
particles of quartz in it, as seen at Groote Eylandt; but the rocks on
the shore are granite, and one block made a brilliant appearance from the
quantity of mica it contained. There is very little soil on the
surrounding land, the surface being either sandy or stony; it was however
mostly covered with grass and wood, and amongst the trees was a cluster
of the new species of _eugenia_, from which the boat's crew filled their
handkerchiefs with fruit, which they called apples. Two natives were
distinguished upon Round-hill Island; but none at Point Grindall, nor any
thing to show that they had been there recently: the foot-marks of dogs
and kangaroos were both recent and numerous.
Strong squalls from the eastward, with rain, much impeded our return to
the ship in the evening; and from a continuance of the same unfavourable
weather, Point Blane could not be repassed until the afternoon of the
30th [SUNDAY 30 JANUARY 1803]. The wind was then S. E., and we worked to
windward all night, between the main coast and Isle Woodah; and not being
able to weather Cape Shield on the following day [MONDAY 31 JANUARY
1803], we ran to our former anchorage under it, and remained there for
the night.
TUESDAY 1 FEBRUARY 1803
Next morning we stood out of the bay with light winds; and after being
put into some danger by them, in passing the island near Cape Shield, a
breeze sprung up at W. by S. and we proceeded in the examination of the
main coast. The situation of the ship at noon, and the bearings of the
land were as under:
Latitude, observed to the north and south, 13° 20' 16"
Chasm I., centre of the high part, S. 16 E.
Cape Shield, the south extremity, N. 86 W.
Point Arrowsmith, dist. 6 miles, N. 18 W.
Furthest extreme visible from the deck. N. 10 E.
Our course was then directed N. E. by N., parallel with the coast, until
the wind veered round ahead and drove us off to the eastward; at six
o'clock Point Arrowsmith bore W. 2° S., ten or eleven miles, and a round
hummock, beyond the noon's extreme, was then seen at N. 2½° E. The coast
here shows some projections on which are sandy hills, with shallow bights
between them; the hills further back, especially behind Point Arrowsmith,
are better covered with wood, but there was no appearance of fertility in
the country, nor of shelter in the bights.
[NORTH COAST. CALEDON BAY.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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