Eye-draught of
Port Melville.
Villages of Cooee
and of Oonting.
passage might be buoyed: a large ship will probably find
it expedient to warp in and out.
The eye-draught, with the directions on it, render
much further notice here, superfluous; The harbour is
secure, an d : sufficiently-capacious ¡for a numerous fleet. I t
extends'in a north and south direction for about two miles,
varying in breadth and form in a very remarkable manner;
a t the lower or north end there are two basons of; a circular
form, and have from nine to fifteen fathoms, soft' bottom;
these are about one-third of a-mile across. At some places
the steep rocks which form'the banks, approach within an
hundred yards of one another; here the,waterjis (sixteen,
eighteen,(and twenty fathoms. ,There.are:manyrfin.e coves,
some'With shelving "shores; and others'steep-to. Every part
of the harbour is secured from the sea; and many parts from
all winds - it is well calculated for the re-equipment of ships,
for it is not . only secure as an anchorage, but offers conveniences
for landing men and stores, and also for heaving
down or careening a ship.
There are several large villages on the shores of an
extensive bay, communicating with the sea to the northeastward,
at the upper or south end of the line of harbours,
and one called Oonting on the west side of the lower
harbour; there is another of some extent, on the south side
of Herbert’s Island, called Cooee.
By permission of Captain Maxwell, I have named this
excellent harbour, Port Melville, in honour of Lord Viscount
Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty.
From the top of a range of hills which we ascended,
rising on the south side of the upper bay of Port Melville,
we could see the south-west corner of the great western’
bay, the whole range of Port Melville, and the coasts
adjacent.
The latitude of Herbert’s Island, which lies directly off
the entrance of Port Melville, is 26° 424-’ north, by meridian Mcl,ille-
altitude of the sun observed on shore. Its longitude, which
is also the longitude of Port Melville, is 127 55’ east, or 17
east of Napakiang observatory. The Sugar Loaf bears from
the centre of the island, west 41° north, about ten miles.
As the whole part of this coast is skirted by dangerous
coral reefs, the greatest attention should be paid to the lead,
and the ship ought to be put about the instant that the water
shoals to eight, seven, or six fathoms. On running in for
the west end of Herbert’s Island, on the morning of the 11th
of October, we passed over a coral ledge having nine fathoms
on it. The west point of Herbert’s Island bore at this time
south 8° 40' west, distant four or five miles. Before and after
passing this we had from thirty to sixty fathoms; whether it
was shoaler than nine fathoms at any place, was not ascertained,
but the circumstance is deserving of notice, and
ought to teach the necessity of constant vigilance, when
near coral reefs.
The cluster of islands to the northward of Port Melville | | |P W
lies between 26° 54' and 27° 41' north, the north end of the
northern one being in longitude 127 57 east, or 19/ east of
the observatory. I t does not appear that there is any
good anchorage about them ; and there are dangerous reefs
off the south and south-western ones.
The north end of the Great Loo-choo lies in 26° 521' Hope Point,
north, and this is probably within one, or at most two miles
d