lying N. i° . or 2°. E. from i t ; and the intermediate coaft was moftly
beach, but divided at intervals by fhort ftony heads.
Sounding with ten fathoms of line at halfa mile.diftance from the
fhore o f Cape Hawke, they got ground. The two hills here mentioned
by Captain Cook were found to Hand upon the pitch o f the
Cape, and were covered with brufh down to the low cliffs. The
ftrata in thefe cliffs lay forty or fifty degrees from the horizontal
line. From the Cape the coaft falls back, forming a kind o f double
bay. The land was low, and rofe, but very gradually, ridge over
ridge inland to a moderate height, the country looking; pleafant
enough from the fe a ; but the trees appeared fm'all, and mixed with
brufh-wood.
At day-light in the morning o f the 10th they perceived the veffel
to have been carried by an extraordinary current confiderably to the
fouthward of their expected fituation, and at noon their latitude gave
them a difference o f thirty-three miles,'which current they attributed
to their being five or fix leagues off the fhore ; for in the preceding
twenty-four hours, when fhe was clofe in with the fhore, the-difference
between the obfervatxon and the log was eight miles in her
favour.
They found this morning that the floop had unfortunately fprung
a very bad leak, which admitted fo much water as kept one pump
conftantly at work. B y its coming on fuddenly, it was judged not
to have been occafioned by any ftraining of the veffel. It was, however,
a ferious caufe o f alarm ; and the maize with which the floop
had been before loaded was continually choaking up the pumps.
TheSolitarylfleswerefeenonthe n th . Ithad been Mr. Flinders’s
intention to have landed upon fome of thefe iflets, had any inducement
prefented itfelf; but on them he faw not either feal or bird.
They feemed to be covered with fhort brufh; and two o f them
having been lately burnt proved that they were vifited by natives.
In the colour of the rock, and in their general appearance, they
much
much refembled the fmall iflands lying off Tafman’s head, and might
with equal propriety be termed the Miferable as ;the Solitary Ifles.
Some breakers lying between them, Mr. Flinders thinks it would be
dangerous for a Chip to pafs within any of them until they fhould be
better known. At noon the ohferved latitude, was 290. 57'. 25".
fouth. . The country ftill retained fhe fame woody, hilly, and irregular,
though not unpleafing, appearance ; but in running along the
fhore it manifeftly .grew worfe, having more tendency to fand.
The fmall projections o f land which appeared as they failed along
often prefented the delufive appearance of openings behind them ;
and they were the more inclined to entertain thefe hopes, as Captain
Cook palled along this part o f the coaft in the night.
At half paft two a .fmall ifland opened off from a low rocky point,
behind which there was a fmall river running into the S. W .; but
breakers feemed to extend moftly acrofs the entrance. I f there was
any paffage, it would be found on the fouth fide of the ifland.
At half paft three, a peaked hill, Handing four or five miles inland,
and more confpicuous than ufual, bore true Eaft. Before five, the
veffel flood in for what appeared to be an opening, and about dufk
was in the entrance to a wide fhoal bay .; foon after which fhe anchored
in two and a half fathoms, on a hard fiandy bottom.
The objeas in view that induced Mr. Flinders to enter this bay were,
that he might have day-light to run along the remaining part o f the
coaft, which had been paffed by Captain Cook m the night, and to
afcertain a place of fafety to run for, fhould the wind come dead on
the coaft oh his return. The leak in the floop was alfo a material part
o f the inducement; for fhould the place turn out to be of confequenee
enough to be worth expending a few days in its examination, and a
convenient place olfer itfelf for laying her on fhore, he intended in
the interval to get it flopped.
On examining this bay in his boat, he found it to be very fhallow;
the north point o f the entrance into it was only a projecting fpot o f
fandy ground, Having returned to the floop about noon, he landed
G G 2 - on