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
There is no other safe passage into the bay than that between the islands
in the entrance and Cape Grey; which cape is remarkable for the round
hummock on its extremity, and lies in latitude 13° 1' south, and
longitude 136° 42' east. The western branch of the bay appeared to be
shallow, and not well sheltered, so that I did not go up it to sound; but
in the eastern branch, which is near three miles wide, there is from 4 to
3 fathoms on blue mud, up to within three-quarters of a mile of a rocky
point at the head; and the rocks of Point Alexander may there be nearly,
if not altogether brought to shut on with those of Cape Grey. Wood for
fuel was plentiful every where, and there was no difficulty in procuring
water from the ponds and holes in the low, sandy land near the shore of
Point Alexander; but from May to December, I doubt whether they would not
all be dried up, as well as the small streams which descended from Mount
Caledon. Our success with the seine was very moderate, more sea slugs, or
what we called sea cucumbers from their shape, being brought on shore
than fish; these differed from what we had seen on the reefs of the East
Coast, in being of a more firm consistence, and of a light brown or grey,
instead of a black colour: when these slugs were pressed with the foot,
they threw out a stream of water to some distance.
The country round Caledon Bay, especially at the heads of the two
branches, is generally low land; Mount Caledon and the hills of the south
side are of granite, and this stone is found in some other parts; but at
Point Alexander the basis is a sand stone, more or less impregnated with
iron, and at Point Middle it is almost iron ore. A piece of this last
stone carried the needle of the theodolite entirely round; yet the
bearings taken from thence did not show any difference from those at
Mount Caledon, and from those upon Point Alexander, taken from a hillock
of sea sand, they did not differ more than half a degree.
So far as our examination went the soil is poor, being either sandy or
stony, with a small mixture in some places of vegetable earth;
notwithstanding which both the grass and wood were luxuriant, owing to
the abundance of rain which had lately fallen, and to the warmth of the
climate: in the dry season, I should judge the country would be almost
burnt up. The _casuarina_ was plentiful in the sandy places, and the
_eucalyptus_ amongst the rocks, where it reached a tolerable size; the
wild nutmeg was found upon Point Middle, and there alone; our apple, the
new species of _eugenia_, grew on Point Alexander and elsewhere, and also
a few other plants bearing small fruits of little use. Foot marks of the
kangaroo were seen in different places, but none of the animals, nor
indeed any quadruped; and birds seemed to be rare, both in the woods and
on the shores.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account