An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 2: An Account Of The English Colony In New South Wales, From Its First Settlement In 1788, To August 1801: With Remarks On The Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. Of The Native Inhabitants Of That Country. To Which Are Added, Some Particulars Of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From The Mss. Of Lieutenant-Governor King; And An Account Of The Voyage Performed By Captain Flinders And Mr. Bass.Collins, David
History
An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 2: An Account Of The English Colony In New South Wales, From Its First Settlement In 1788, To August 1801: With Remarks On The Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. Of The Native Inhabitants Of That Country. To Which Are Added, Some Particulars Of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From The Mss. Of Lieutenant-Governor King; And An Account Of The Voyage Performed By Captain Flinders And Mr. Bass.
Collins, David
New South Wales -- Description and travel
The _Norfolk_ passes the strait
Observations thereon
Proceeds to the southward
Passes the S. W. Cape; and S. Cape
Remarks on the latter
De Witt's Isles
Storm Bay Passage
Tasman's Head
Fluted Cape
Frederick Henry Bay
Enter the Derwent river, first seen in the ship _Duke_, of Bengal
Observations on the Derwent
Some natives seen
Particulars of one
Venomous snake
One destroys itself
Comparison between New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land
Arrive at Port Jackson
Advantages of the strait
Mr. Bass and his fellow voyager, Lieutenant Flinders, did not hesitate
now to think that they had passed through the strait, and from the
Pacific had entered the southern Indian ocean; for what within the extent
of a vast sea could give birth to the monstrous swell that was rolling in
before their eyes? and the coast was evidently trending towards the SW
cape.
Mr. Bass says (with all the feeling and spirit of an explorer), that 'he
already began to taste the enjoyment resulting from the completion of
this discovery, which had been commenced in the whale-boat, under a
complication of anxieties, hazard, and fatigue, known only to those who
conducted her;' modestly sharing the praises, to which he alone was
entitled, with those who accompanied him.
It was worthy of remark (Mr. Bass says), that the northern shore of the
strait from Wilson's Promontory (seen in the whale-boat) to Western Port
resembled the bluff bold shore of an open sea, with a swell rolling in,
and a large surf breaking upon it; while the southern shore, or what is
the coast of Van Diemen's land, appeared like the inner shore of a
cluster of islands, whose outer parts break off the great weight of the
sea. The cause of this is immediately obvious, on recollecting that the
swell of the Indian ocean enters the strait from the southward of west.
The greater part of the southern shore lies in a bight, whose western
extreme is Hunter's Isles, and the NW Cape of Van Diemen's land. Now as
the swell comes from the southward, as well as the westward, it must,
after striking upon the northwest part of the southern shore, evidently
run on in a direction somewhat diagonal with the two sides of the strait,
until it expands itself upon the northern shore, where both swell and
surf are found. But to the southward of this diagonal line the swell must
quickly take off, and totally disappear, long before it can reach the
shore to make a surf. Hence arises the difference.
That the swell of the Indian ocean comes, by far the greater part of the
way, from the southward of west, can hardly be doubted, since it is well
known that the prevailing winds are from that quarter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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