Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia — Vol. 2: Performed between the years 1818 and 1822King, Philip Parker
History
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia — Vol. 2: Performed between the years 1818 and 1822
King, Philip Parker
Australia -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Australia
Between reef a and the shoal off the south-west Hope Island there is a
passage two miles wide, with twelve fathoms: a is about half a mile in
diameter, with a few rocks above water; its centre is in 15 degrees 43
minutes 20 seconds, two miles from the shore, and three miles North 55
degrees West from the south west Hope.
b is about a mile and a quarter long, and has a dry rock at its north
end, the latitude of which is 15 degrees 39 minutes 20 seconds: it is
divided from Endeavour Reef by a channel of nearly a mile wide, and
fifteen fathoms deep: abreast of the south end of b, on the western edge
of Endeavour Reef, there is a dry rock, in latitude 15 degrees 39 minutes
55 seconds.
ENDEAVOUR REEF is nine miles long; it lies in a North-West direction; the
north end, in 15 degrees 39 minutes South, bears due from the North-east
Hope.
c is covered, and not quite half a mile in length; its latitude is 15
degrees 32 minutes: it lies four miles from the shore.
d is rather larger, and has some dry rocks on its north end, in latitude
15 degrees 29 minutes 30 seconds. Between c and d and the shore the
passage is from three to four miles wide, and in mid-channel the depth is
seven and eight fathoms.
On the south side of Point Monkhouse there is a bay having a small
opening at the bottom, but not deep enough for ships: it was this bay
that Captain Cook first examined in search of a place to repair his ship.
On steering along the shore between Point Monkhouse and the entrance of
Endeavour River, the bottom is of sand and of irregular depth. A spit of
sand was passed over with only two and a half fathoms on it when the
summit of Mount Cook bore South 66 degrees West (magnetic) and the outer
extreme of Point Monkhouse South 18 degrees West (magnetic). One mile off
shore the shoal soundings continued with two and a half fathoms until it
bore South 59 degrees West (magnetic) when the depth was three, and three
and a half fathoms.
ENDEAVOUR RIVER. The entrance of this river, in latitude 15 degrees 27
minutes 4 seconds, and longitude 145 degrees 10 minutes 49 seconds,*
forms a very good port for small vessels; and, in a case of distress,
might be useful for large ships, as it proved to our celebrated navigator
Captain Cook, who, it is well known, repaired his ship there after having
laid twenty-three hours upon a coral reef.
(*Footnote. The situation of the observatory at Endeavour River was found
by lunar distances, taken during my visits to that place in 1819 and
1820, as follows:
Latitude by meridional altitudes of the sun, taken in the artificial
horizon, being the mean of twenty-seven observations: 15 degrees 27
minutes 4 seconds.
Longitude by twenty-five set of distances (sun West of first quarter of
the moon) containing one hundred and seventeen sights, with the sextant:
144 degrees 52 minutes 16 seconds.
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