Journals of Australian ExplorationsGregory, Augustus Charles
History
Journals of Australian Explorations
Gregory, Augustus Charles
Australia -- Discovery and exploration
At daylight we found ourselves high and dry, only a narrow channel a few
yards wide being left. Having walked over the mud to Dixon Island to
breakfast, the vicinity was examined for water, but without success. At 6
a.m. the tide came in again so rapidly that it was not without some
little difficulty that we gained our boat, when the wind set in so
strongly from the south-west that, after several hours' almost
ineffectual attempts to work to windward, we again landed not two miles
from our last night's anchorage, the character of the country being
equally unfavourable for landing, as it was cut up by deep mangrove
creeks running far up the valleys into the steep rocky hills, forming a
difficult and unpromising country. The breeze having moderated and
shifted a point more to the westward, we again attempted to beat out into
the bay, but by 9 p.m. had not made more than three miles, when we landed
for the night, leaving two of the party in charge of the boat to keep her
off the rocks when the tide fell.
21st October.
The wind and tide being now in our favour, by 3.30 a.m. we took to our
boat, and arrived on board the Dolphin by 10, when she was very soon got
underweigh for the purpose of taking her closer in to ship the horses;
light and variable winds, however, prevented our working more than a mile
nearer the landing cove by sundown, when we dropped anchor for the night.
22nd October.
With a light west wind the Dolphin was worked into eleven feet water, one
and a quarter miles off the point near the cove; the vessel drawing over
ten feet, brought the mud up to the surface in our wake. Eight horses
were soon swam off without much difficulty, as we all had now some little
experience in this sort of work.
EMBARK FOR FREMANTLE.
23rd October.
By 2 p.m. the remaining six horses and equipment of the Expedition were
all safely shipped, and a conspicuous intimation of our sojourn on the
coast having been painted in large white letters on a pile of granite
rocks near the south corner of the cove, we took our final departure,
getting the Dolphin underweigh by 4, with a light westerly wind, which
carried us through the passage between Hauy and Delambre Islands by 7,
when we hauled up and stood to north-north-west.
24th October.
The wind still holding to the west, we made but little progress, the
Dolphin being only a good sailer in smooth water, or running before the
wind.
Latitude 19 degrees 12 minutes south at noon.
25th October.
By noon observations we were only in latitude 18 degrees 42 minutes;
longitude 113 degrees 32 minutes.
26th October.
The wind veering slightly to the south, we were able to make by noon to
latitude 18 degrees 46 minutes 30 seconds; longitude 111 degrees 47
minutes 30 seconds.
27th October.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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