Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1.: With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During; The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43.; By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative; Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea.Stokes, John Lort
History
Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1.: With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During; The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43.; By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative; Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea.
Stokes, John Lort
Australia -- Description and travel; Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Natural history -- Australia
While standing towards a small island bearing North and by West five and
a half miles from Point Adieu, we discovered a single rock with
apparently deep water all around it, and just awash at low-water. It bore
North-West and by West three-quarters of a mile from this island, which
resembles Red Island, and Captain King's group of the Rocky Islands, in
that calcined-like appearance which has by turns given them red and brown
for a distinct appellation. In the afternoon we saw the sandbank laid
down in Captain King's chart; it appeared a white rocky islet. The night
was spent beating to the westward, between it and Red Island, against a
light breeze.
April 20.
At daylight, whilst standing to the South-West the water shoaled rapidly
though regularly from 20 to 6 fathoms, we then tacked, Red Island bearing
South-East one mile and a quarter; in standing out (north) the water
deepened suddenly and almost immediately to 15 fathoms. I imagine this
shoal to be a continuation of one laid down by Captain King, extending
two miles south from Red Island: passing the latter on our way to Port
George the Fourth we had 28 to 30 fathoms, two and a half miles from its
North-West side.
April 21.
We continued to make but little progress to the westward, scarcely
averaging more than a mile per hour: the soundings indicating that we
were still on the coral ledge that skirts the whole of this coast,
northward of Cape Leveque; on the raised parts of which are numerous
reefs of an irregular size and almost invariably trending from West to
North-West. The number of these low coral reefs already known, and the
probable number of those yet undiscovered, make this rather a dangerous
sea, and must have a tendency to lessen the value of the North-West coast
of Australia for purposes of forming settlements. In the afternoon we saw
again the reef discovered and named after the Beagle. Steering
West-North-West we passed four miles from its northern side in soundings
varying from 41 to 47 fathoms.
REMARKABLE RIPPLINGS.
April 23.
Towards the close of this day we passed through a line of very remarkable
ripplings, extending in a north and south direction, which we knew
indicated some great inequality in the bottom, but whether from deep to
shoal water was a matter of some anxiety; therefore, with leadsmen in the
chains and the men at their stations for working ship, we glided into
this streak of agitated water, where plunging once or twice she again
passed into the silent deep. We sounded ineffectually with 86 fathoms in
the ripplings; for some time before the soundings had been regular 52 and
55 fathoms fine sand, and four miles beyond it we had 146 fathoms, but
did not succeed afterwards in reaching the bottom with 200 fathoms. This
line of disturbed water, therefore, marks the edge of the bank of
soundings fronting this part of the coast, from which the nearest point,
Cape Leveque, bore South-East 195 miles.
PART FROM THE LYNHER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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