this coaft, which were fituated within, or in the verge of, the
Tropic.
In this bay Mr. Flinders remained until the 7th, during which
time he had failed round the interior of it, but without being able
to enter any opening that might have led him to a river. It was
deep and extenfive, the foundings in it very irregular, and in feve-
ral places he was prevented by breakers from approaching the
fliore. _ ,(v r ,( , . ...
Hauling up for, an opening which he was defirous of examining,
he came to .a .fmall fandy IHct, which ]ay at the mouth of it.
Being unable,.to find a pafagfi into the op.eniqg^^tji the floop, he
came to an anchor, and went alhore upon this illaud, which, was
furrounded with Ihoal water. The bale , o f it he found to be a hard
ftone, over which was a covering o f fand, mixed with pieces o f
■ coral and Ihells.’ There was a little duller o f palms upon it, and
fome other fmall trees. Two or three large trees were lying upon
the Ihore, thrown down either by wind or the flood, aflifted by
the weight of the trees themfelv.es, which the depth of foil was not
fufficient to fupport.. They were a tough, hard, and dole-grained
wood. Being about half, ebb, the furrpunding Ihoal was dry. On
it were fome thoufand curlews and gulls, and fome pelicans; but
all too Ihy to allow o f his approach within mufquet Ihot. Upon
one of the trees was lluck the cap o f a fmall whale s fcull, and in
one o f the fockets o f the eyes ■ was a bird’s neft apparently o f the
laft fealbn.
This illet mull. at times be vifited by natives; for they found
three fpears, and near them was hidden a fmall Ihield, o f the fame
form and fubftance as that; feen in Pumice-S.ton.e river. The fpears
were of folid wood, o f twelve feet in length, and could not have
been ufed with a throwing-ftick. One of them was barbed with
a fmall piece of fome animal’s bone.
,, From the trending of the lhores o f this harbour, it was divided
into two bays, an upper and a lower b a y ; the former of which was
the
the fmalleft,. and, in comparifon with the latter, refembled the cod
to a feinè. The Ihore bn the eaft fide o f this bay (the upper) was
high, and bounded by white, lleep cliffs ; whence Mr. Flinders Was
induced to hope that a deep channel'might be found there, being
unvvfllihg to beÜéve thaffthèrë was not a good paffage even to the
head' b f a Iheet o f Watèr; of'fifx or feven miles fquare, and into
wtiich inoft probably one or more ftreams of water emptied themfelves.
. . . . .
, With the intentiqn of attempting the eaftern paffage into this
upper bay, he returned on board from his vifit to the iflet, (which
he named Curlew-IJlet, and which is in‘the latitude Of ' *5° 17 ' S.)
and got the floop under weigh ; but waS'obliged to give up the
idea on finding the Ihoal water fo extehfive as to make it probable
that1 it joined a line,pf breakers; and,'the fun beiiig near the
horizon to get clear of the Ihoal water before dark.became a principal
xoncern, and' together “ induced him' to fhape a courff' fbr a
floping hummock off the weft fide of the bay/
The foundings deepened gradually to fix fathoms ; but, Ihoaling
again to three and even two fathoms, Mr Flinders fufpeded that the
flood tide might havefet the veffel to th.e fouthward toward 'the
fliore ; this, however, djd not 'appear to have'happened ; format
day-light the following morning hef fituation was what he fuppbfed
it would be, the Hoping hummock bearing W. ^ .N . and their
diftance off fliore about twO miles, the wind having remained at
S. W. during the whole night.
■ Keeping along the Ihore until nine o’clock, the water fhoaled to
nine feet, and obliged them to haul off to th eN E. Being now to
the northward of wheré Captain Cook had laid down the coaft line,
and the land being vifible at W. 10 ° N. from the deck,' and as' far
as N W from the maft head, he judged it unneceffary to purfue
the refearch any longer, under the fuppofit.on o f there being a
double bay, and therefore continued his courfe for the extrenreof
L L ^