3 S&
1769. which I called C a p e C o l v i l l e , in honour o f the Right Ho-
November. , , , - . . . . &
<.— *— j nourable Lord Colville.
Friday 24.
Cape Colville lies in latitude 36° a6', longitude 1940 27'; it
rifes directly from the fea, to a confiderable height, and is
remarkable for a lofty rock, which Hands to the pitch of the
point, and may be diftinguifhed at a very great diftance.
From the fouth point of this Cape the river runs in a diredt
line S. by E. and is no where lefs than three leagues broad
for the diftance of fourteen leagues above the Cape, and
there it is contracted to a narrow ftream, but continues the
fame courfe through a low flat country, or broad valley,
which lies parallel with the fea coaft, and the end of which
we could not fee. On the eaft fide of the broad part of this
river the land is tolerably high and hilly; on „the weft fide it
is rather low, but the whole is covered with verdure and
wood, and has the appearance of great fertility, though
there were but a few fmall fpots which had been cultivated.
At the entrance of the narrow part of the river the land is
covered with mangroves and other fhrubs; but farther,
there are immenfe woods of perhaps the fineft timber in the
world, of which fome account has already been given: in
feveral places the wood extends to the very edge of the
water, and where it is at a little diftance, the intermediate
fpace is marfliy, like fome parts of the banks of the Thames
in Englandi t is probable that the river contains plenty of
filh, for we faw poles Hack up in many places to fet nets for
catching them, but of what kinds I do not know. The
greateft depth of water that we found in this river was fix and
twenty fathom, which gradually decreafed to one fathom
and an half r in the mouth of the frefh water ftream it is
from four to three fathom, but there are large flats and fand
banks lying before it. A fhip of moderate draught may,
notwithftanding, go a long way up this river with a flowing
tide,
tide, for it rifes perpendicularly near ten feet, and at the full 1769-
_ , • • 1 • 1 i • , . - November. and change o f the moon, it is high water about nine o clock.
Friday z\.
Six leagues within Cape Colville, under the eaftem Ihore,
are feveral fmall iflands, which, together with the main, feem
to form good harbours; and oppofite to thefe iflands, under
the weftern Ihore, lie other iflands, by which it is alfo probable
that good harbours may be formed: but if there are
no harbours about this river, there is good anchoring in
every part of it where the depth of water is fufficient, for it
is defended from the fea by a chain of iflands of different extent,
which lie crofs the mouth of it, and which I have, for
that reafon, called B a r r i e r I s l a n d s : they ftretch N. W. and
S. E. ten leagues. The fouth end of the chain lies N. E. between
two and three leagues from Cape Colville ; and the
north end lies N. E. four leagues and an half from Point
Rodney. Point Rodney lies W. N. W. nine leagues from Cape
Colville, in latitude 36° 15' S. longitude 184° 53' W.
The natives refiding about this river do not appear to be
numerous, confidering the great extent of the country. But
they are a ftrong, well-made, and active people, and all of
them paint their bodies with red oker and oil from head to
foot, which we had not feen before. Their canoes were
large and well built, and adorned with carving, in as good
a tafte as any that we had feen upon the coaft.
We continued to ftand along the Ihore till night, with the
main land on one fide, and iflands on the other, and then
anchored in a bay, with fourteen fathom and a fandy bottom.
We had no fooner come to an anchor, than we tried our
lines, and in a fhort time caught near one hundred fifh,
which the people called Sea-bream; they weighed from fix
to eight pounds a piece, and confequently would fupply the
whole fhip’s company with food for two days. 1 From the
v Z z 2 fuccefs