islands lying together* which will be. seen, after passing the
Promenfefy/and to which*,, on! passage.'out,: I had-given the
name of Moacur^s. Island, n o t suspecting a cluster of islands,
Was them.
On the.4th May we;were in sight of Cape Dromedary,- bedring
half S.-distant lj§ <>r±17 mites; ,jWe;had now much
variable, wet,, and: squally.weather, and after.havin'g'fhe next
day atnoOmgqtan observation in 34° ■ 40'. IS: 'there came.ori a'staqt
gafeftom. the Nr and .lb which on,the’6th had,, drivenjus back
into. lat. 36/v8 S; Cape Dromedary .then beating E . by il.seven
or eight miles/;#.From /every allowance, I could, possibly make,
I. found the current had, at .least,, set us fifty'miles backAoj the.
southward» I think itnecessary.to mention this; circuitstance,
as. I judge, the. current has no.patticula®seburse;along,the;cpast ;
b u t most probably changes with the'wind!] On my'passage font
'I found'a strong.drift from ther southwards albng- the/ eQj&tetp’-,
w^dSythe.north.; and I know,some have imagined *the4currei£t
runnings against "the wind, raises that short heavy swell^found
along the coast of. New Holland, but except th a t particular
■Met; I have not any further proof to. offer, upon..t|fist head.
When, abreast the. mouth .of the. Straits,* weffound that coramo;
tionin the sea; whiehded. first to a_conjebtupe that.thhre^was. an,
openingrin the land from east to west. > Governor-Hunter, in
his printed Journal; pages. 12.4 and 125; observes upon the w fe
bability of such an opening.between;the latitudes, 39°jmdA2°‘S.
That gentleman, therefore,, was, the first, who ever suggested,
such'an »idea,-and, no doubt, eneduraged .the,, search»; for.it,
which the . enterprising spirit of Mr. Bass, befpre-mentioned,;ef-
fected, giving his own name very deservedly.and. justly to', the.
'Strait;;;Through a successionbad^wq^ther, andtafter.beiilg
obliged to . put; into.Botany-Bay, forl twenty-four hours, wq, ar-.
rived af Port»Jackson, on»the, 14th May', 1801.
I, had not/from- the time;of-my d^D^Efeuj’e, a sick mari among’
my ship's, company, one*,.man only ‘,i©xcepted, ^hosei skull had.
been fraetyied. Hei,fp|nytdyum^ illy from the fatigue;
and feqpstkqi wet;,;^a||he^ w^bxperierac’ew during the;
Voyage, iifo,u<t recoveredt-soon?afterw»e- came in. without any.as--
sistanefe/from medicine^! 14Khe»4uniavourablfnse^of the weather
psqypnted > medrord/b^mpleting, the whole ! of; m|dinstructions
bwijM had*the' satisfaetiqn^||i'l'st! in. Botany^BM; to .leara; by* a
letter.:from Governor, King, th a t he w,as 'well pieased . with.what
I, had. 4one. f .
Nelson.w,asnow; ordered;tel receive- on board Lieu-
ten ant-,fyoVernorl|lslb^elpater^^^ him .to Hunter’s,
'Rjyerjl which, frQm the, abunfdapcdjp^Gq'al^lfouhd on* its.banks,»
h^fof)tajnedithe/name o f ,CoalrRivpri, .Theipbj ectf oy age;
was-.t%mafeq,. a soryeyrof the; riv.qr,. to gain a^knowledge; of .its-
natural pt®djl'£tipns, and whatevertelse.,might appear, worthy of
•.observation., (|jjaving all thiugspn.readiness, we set sail on; the
dOth q£ J ude|- witfej the Frances?, schooner,,; which latteX,- vesseli
was tpib^buded>wath coals.,,'. With Cq^pnel Paterson^ys’e'iW*
,cej|fedf^mb,(Sard Dr. Harris, Surgeon of^the^New.South Wales:
^pyps, v,®nsign. Barreillier {the,Surveyed,. and a. numbenfof
workmen and labourers,* for* the. purpose rof putting' and; sawing,
1 im-ber; digging and loading^coals, and otherin^^ary*works»
With*;us,'likewise Wept oq'^ of, the;'natives, named Bangaree,.,
At the mouth of the'harbour we fell in with the ship Ccynwallis,,
haori-ng convicts,on .board from, England ; and on» thedfJth, a t
noonw.e had an .observation hr the latl;&8^35';S4the north head
of Broken Bay, bearing by*S^ distanced 0- or, 12? miles dd*
. , Qn.the n ex td ajtth e weather wass variable,.and,hgyhig had a
person sent, on board, as a pilot, who had lately sailed from Sydney
to „the riv.er. for coals;. I; thought I could rpjyron his .know-;:
ledge of the place, but herein I proved tovbe mistaken. He was.