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BOOK 1. - AUSTRALIAN DISCOVERY BY SEA

XV. THE DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT

[CAPTAIN COOK's map of New Holland represented that country and Van Diemen's Land as one. Cook had the idea that there was a strait dividing them, and intended to investigate the matter, but was misled by Captain Furneaux of the Adventure, the companion vessel to Cook's Resolution during his voyage of 1772-4. Furneaux had become separated from Cook during rough weather, and had actually sailed into the eastern entrance to the strait. He reported his conviction that he had merely been in a deep gulf, and Cook accepted his estimate, though with some doubt. It was left for the naval surgeon George Bass, in a whaleboat with a crew of six bluejackets, to discover the strait which now bears his name, in 1798. The narrative which follows, though not written in the first person, was Bass's story, written afresh by Flinders, in his Voyage to Terra Australis*. Flinders undoubtedly had access to Bass's papers, which, unfortunately, have disappeared.]

[* This is one of several works by Flinders available in full on the Project Gutenberg Australia website at Flinders' listing]

In December 1797, Mr. George Bass obtained leave to make an expedition to the southward; and he was furnished with a fine whale-boat and six weeks' provisions by the governor, and a crew of six seamen from the ships. He sailed Dec. 3, in the evening; but foul and strong winds forced him into Port Hacking and Watta-Mowlee. On the 5th, in latitude 34° 38', he was obliged to stop in a small bight of the coast, a little south of Alowrie. The points of land there are basaltic; and on looking round amongst the burnt rocks scattered over a hollowed circular space behind the shore, Mr. Bass found a hole of twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter, into which the sea washed up by a subterraneous passage.

Dec. 6 he passed a long sloping projection which I have called Point Bass, lying about three leagues south of Alowrie. Beyond this point the coast forms a sandy bay of four or five leagues in length, containing two small inlets; and the southernmost being accessible to the boat, Mr. Bass went in and stopped three days. This little place was found to deserve no better name than Shoals Haven. The entrance is mostly choaked up by sand, and the inner part with banks of sand and mud; there is, however, a small channel sufficiently deep for boats. The latitude was made to be 34° 52' south; the sloping Point Bass, to the northward, bore N. 12° E., and a steep head at the southern extremity of the bay, S. 35° E. The tide was found to rise seven or eight feet, and the time of high water to be about eight hours and a half after the moon passed over the meridian.

The great chain of high land, called the Blue Mountains, by which the colony at Port Jackson is prevented from extending itself to the west, appeared to Mr. Bass to terminate here, near the sea-coast. The base of this southern extremity of the chain he judged to extend twenty-five or thirty miles in a southwestern direction from Point Bass; after which it turns northwestward. In the direction of west from Shoals Haven, and in all the space to the south of that line, was an extensive, flat country, where a party desirous of penetrating into the interior might reasonably hope to avoid those impediments which, at the back of Port Jackson, have constantly proved insurmountable.

In an excursion from the boat towards the southern end of the mountains, Mr. Bass fell in with a considerable stream, which he traced down to the shore, about three miles north of Shoals Haven: this is the first inlet of the long bay, which had been observed from the sea, with a bar running across the entrance. The soil on the southern bank of this stream he compared, for richness, to the banks of the Hawkesbury; and attributes this unusual fertility to the same cause-repeated inundations. In fact the stream has since been found to descend from the mountains at twelve or fifteen miles from the coast, and to run along their southern extremity to the sea; so that it performs the same office here that the Hawkesbury does further north-that of being a channel for the waters which descend from the high back land; but as, in the heavy rains, it is also unequal to the task, the banks are overflowed, and the low country to the south and west is inundated and fertilised. There are, however, at the back of Shoals Haven, many thousand acres of open ground, whose soil is a rich vegetable mould, and now beyond the reach of the floods.

Dec. 10.—The boat left Shoals Haven and entered Jervis Bay, a large open place of very unpromising appearance. On the north side of the entrance, between Point Perpendicular and Long Nose, there is a small cove, where a ship's boat might lie at half tide; and with a hose fill water from the back of the beach, at two pits which appeared to be always full. The best anchorage for ships seemed to be on the east side of the bay, between Long Nose and the northern beach, though they would not, even there, be entirely landlocked. Bowen's Island lies a quarter of a mile from the south side of the entrance, but the passage between does not admit anything larger than boats. There is a small beach at the back of the island, off which ships might anchor in 8 fathoms sandy bottom, and be sheltered as far round as south-east; but with the wind nearer to east they would be exposed.

The east shore of Jervis Bay runs, for twelve or fifteen miles, so near to north from the entrance that it is not, at the head, more than four hundred yards across to the shore of the long outer bay. The piece of land, which is thus made a narrow peninsula, is rather high, with a face of steep cliffs toward the sea. The rocks on the inner side bear strong marks of volcanic fire; and being disposed in parallel layers, their inclination to the west is very evident: quantities of pumice stone were scattered along the shores.

The country round the bay is mostly barren. On the eastern side it is rocky, with heath and brushwood, the west is low, swampy, and sandy, with some partial exceptions; but on the south side there are grassy spaces amongst the brush-wood which might afford pasturage for cattle.

Jervis Bay was quitted Dec. 13, and at noon the Pigeon House bore W. by N. In the evening Mr. Bass stopped in a cove which Point Upright shelters from northern winds; and he employed the next day in looking round the country. The vallies and slopes of the hills were found to be generally fertile; but there being nothing of particular interest in this place, it was quitted on the 15th. Some small islands lying close under the shore (in Bateman Bay) bore west at noon; and the night was passed at anchor under a point, in latitude 36° 00', where, the wind being foul on the 16th, Mr. Bass laid the boat on shore, and proceeded to examine the surrounding country.

At eight or nine miles from the coast is a ridge of hummocky hills, extending to the southward; but the space between these hills and the sea is low, and in great part occupied by salt swamps. The sea was found to have an entrance at the back of the point, and to form a considerable lagoon, which communicated with the swamps by means of several branching arms. The soil, as may be supposed, was generally bad, the sloping sides of some of the hills being alone capable of any utility. In a round of twelve or fourteen miles Mr. Bass could not find a drop of fresh water or see a native. There were, however, many huts, and he traced the paths from them down to holes dug in the lowest grounds; but these were then all dried up, and the country in general seemed to be suffering from drought.

Dec. 17.—The wind having veered to N.N.W., the boat was launched, and proceeded to the southward. Mount Dromedary was passed at eleven; and an island of about two miles in circuit was seen lying off it, a few miles to the eastward: the latitude at noon was 36° 23'. At four the fair breeze died away, and a strong wind, which burst forth from the south, obliged Mr. Bass to run for a gap in the land which had just before been noticed. Here, on a little beach at the mouth of an inlet, across which the sea was breaking, the boat was hauled up for the night. Next morning, the inlet being free of breakers, he entered the prettiest little model of a harbour he had ever seen. Unfortunately it is but a model; for although the shelter within be complete for small craft, yet the depth over the bar is too small even for boats, except at high water, when there is eight or nine feet. This little place was named Barmouth Creek, and lies, according to Mr. Bass's computation, in 36° 47' south. The country round, so far as was examined, is rocky and barren near the sea; and towards the head of the creek it is low and penetrated by the salt swamps.

Dec. 19.—At daylight Mr. Bass continued his course to the southward, with a fair breeze. At seven he discovered Two-fold Bay; but unwilling to lose a fair wind, reserved the examination of it for his return. At five in the evening the wind came at S.S.W.; and he anchored under the lee of a point, but could not land. A sea breeze from E.N.E. next day enabled him to continue onward; and at eleven he bore away west, round Cape Howe, whose latitude was observed to be 37° 30'. In the evening he landed at the entrance of a lagoon, one mile north of the Ram Head, in order to take in as much fresh water as possible; for it was to be feared that a want of this necessary article might oblige him to discontinue his pursuit at a time when, from the coast being unexplored, it would become more than ever interesting.

Dec. 21.-A gale set in at W.S.W., and continued for nine days without intermission. This time was employed in examining the country, which, though hilly in external appearance, was found to be mostly low, sandy, and wet. The hills have a slight covering of green upon them, but consist of little else than sand; and from what could be seen of the back country, the soil there is scarcely better. The vallies are overgrown with long grass, ferns, brushwood, and climbing plants, so as to be almost impenetrable; yet even there the soil is good for nothing.

At every land place, from Jervis Bay to Barmouth Creek, the fresh water had been observed to diminish both in quantity and quality; and upon this coast of sand the difficulty of procuring it was expected to be very great. It was, on the contrary, plentiful; there being many little runs which drained out from the sand-hills, and either trickled over the rocky spots at their feet or sank through the beaches into the sea.

The western gale being at length succeeded by a breeze at E.N.E., Mr. Bass left the Ram Head early on the 31st. His course was W. by S., close to a low, sandy coast; the beach being interrupted by small, rocky points not oftener than once in ten or fifteen miles. The back land consisted of short ridges of irregular hills, lying at no great distance from the sea. At noon the latitude was 37° 42'; and the distance run from the Ram Head, by computation, was thirty or thirty-five miles.

The furthest land seen by captain Cook is marked at fifteen leagues from the Ram Head, and called Point Hicks; but at dusk Mr. Bass had run much more than that distance close along the shore, and could perceive no point or projection which would be distinguishable from a ship; the coast continued to be straight, low, and sandy, similar to what had been passed in the morning. There arose many large smokes from behind the beach; probably from the sides of lagoons, with which there was reason to think the back country abounded.

The breeze continuing to be fresh and favourable, Mr. Bass ventured to steer onward in the night, and kept the shore close aboard. At two in the morning the increased hollowness of the waves made him suspect the water was becoming shallow; and he hauled off for an hour until there was sufficient daylight to distinguish the land. It was still low, level, and sandy, and trended S.W. by W., nearly as the boat was steering. At seven o'clock high land appeared at a considerable distance in the south-west; and the beach then trended in the same direction. It, however, changed soon afterward to run nearly west; and Mr. Bass quitted it to keep on his course for the high land. The latitude at noon was 38° 41'; and the difference made from the noon before, upon the average course of S.W. by W., makes the distance run 107 miles; which, added to the preceding thirty or thirty-five, gives the length of the beach from the Ram Head to be about 140 miles.

The high land extended from the bearing of S.W. by S. to W.N.W., and was distant in the latter direction two or three leagues. North of it there was a deep bight; and further eastward, two or three places in the Long Beach which had the appearance of inlets. To the south there were several rocky islets; and great numbers of petrels, and other sea-birds, were flying about the boat.

From the latitude of the high land, Mr. Bass considered it to be that seen by captain Furneaux (or supposed to have been seen) in 39°; and consequently that he had traced the unknown space between Point Hicks and Furneaux's Land. His course was now steered to pass round this land; but on coming abreast of the rocky islets, a hummock appeared above the horizon in the S.E. by S., and presently a larger one at S. ½ W.; and being unable to fetch the first, he steered for the latter, which proved to be an island; and at six in the evening he anchored under its lee. Vast numbers of gulls and other birds were roosting upon it, and on the rocks were many seals; but the surf would not admit of landing. This island was judged to be thirty miles, S. by W., from the situation at noon.

Jan. 2.—The wind was strong at E.N.E.; and Mr. Bass being apprehensive that the boat could not fetch the high main land determined to steer southward for the islands, in the hope of procuring some rice from the wreck of the ship Sydney Cove to eke out his provisions. The wind, however, became unfavourable to him, veering to E.S.E.; so that with the sea which drove the boat to leeward, the course to noon was scarcely so good as S.S.W. The latitude observed was then 39° 51'; and no land being in sight, the prospect of reaching Furneaux's Islands became very faint. At four o'clock an accident caused it to be totally given up: water was observed to rush in fast through the boat's side, and made it absolutely necessary to go upon the other tack. The latitude to which Mr. Bass supposed himself arrived was something to the south Of 40°; and the weather was clear enough for land of moderate height to have been seen five leagues further had there been any within that distance.

The boat was then kept north-eastward, towards Furneaux's Land. At nine in the evening the wind blew hard at S.E. by E., accompanied by a hollow, irregular sea, which put our enterprising discoverer and his boat's crew into the greatest danger; but the good qualities of his little bark, with careful steerage, carried him through this perilous night. On the 3rd, at six o'clock, the land was seen; and in the afternoon, whilst standing in to look for a place of shelter, a smoke and several people were observed upon a small island not far from the main coast. On rowing up, they proved to be, not natives, to Mr. Bass's great surprise, but Europeans. They were convicts who, with others, had run away with a boat from Port Jackson, in the intention of plundering the wreck of the Sydney Cove; and not being able to find it, their companions, thinking their number too great, had treacherously left them upon this island whilst asleep. These people were seven in number; and during the five weeks they had been on this desert spot had subsisted on petrels, to which a seal was occasionally added. Mr. Bass promised to call at the island on his return; and in the meantime proceeded to the west side of the high main land, where he anchored, but could not get on shore.

Jan. 4.—The wind being at north-east, he continued his course onward, steering W.N.W. round an open bay; and afterwards N.W. by W., as the coast generally trended. The shore consisted of long, shallow bights in which the land was low and sandy; but the intermediate rocky points were generally steep, with a ridge of hills extending from them into the interior as far as could be distinguished. In the evening an inlet was discovered, with many shoals at the entrance; and the deep channel being not found till a strong tide made it unattainable, Mr. Bass waited for high water; he then entered a spacious harbour which, from its relative position to the hitherto known parts of the coast, was named Western Port. It lies, according to the boat's run, about sixty miles N.W. by W. ½ W. from Furneaux's Land; and its latitude is somewhere about 38° 25' south. The time of high water is near half an hour after the moon's passage over the meridian, and the rise of tide from ten to fourteen feet.

The examination of this new and important discovery, the repairs of the boat, and the continuance of strong winds kept Mr. Bass thirteen days in Western Port. His sketch of it has since been superseded by the more regular examination of ensign Barralier, copied into the chart, where its form, situation, and extent will be best seen. The land upon its borders is, generally, low and level; but the hills rise as they recede into the country, and afford an agreeable prospect from the port. Wherever Mr. Bass landed he found the soil to be a light, brown mould, which becomes peaty in the lowest grounds. Grass and ferns grow luxuriantly, and yet the country is but thinly timbered. Patches of brush wood are frequent, particularly on the eastern shore, where they are some miles in extent; and there the soil is a rich, vegetable mould. The island (since called Phillip Island) which shelters the port is mostly barren, but is covered with shrubs and some diminutive trees.

Mr. Bass had great difficulty in procuring good water, arising, as he judged, from unusual dryness in the season; and the head of the winding creek on the east side of the port was the sole place where it had not a brackish taste. The mud banks at the entrance of the creek may be passed at half tide by the largest boats; and within it there is at all times a sufficient depth of water.

No more than four natives were seen, and their shyness prevented communication; the borders of the port, however, bore marks of having been much frequented, but the want of water seemed to have occasioned a migration to the higher lands. Kangaroos did not appear to be numerous; but black swans went by hundreds in a flight, and ducks, a small, but excellent kind, by thousands; and the usual wild-fowl were in abundance.

The seventh week of absence from Port Jackson had expired by the time Mr. Bass was ready to sail from Western Port; and the reduced state of his provisions forced him, very reluctantly, to turn the boat's head homeward.

Jan. 18-At daylight he sailed with a fresh wind at west, which increased to a gale in the afternoon, with a heavy swell from the south-west; and he sought shelter behind a cape since named Cape Liptrap. Next morning he ran over to the islands on the west side of Furneaux's Land; but was obliged to return to his former place of shelter, where a succession of gales kept him until the 26th. A quantity of petrels had been taken on the islands, and this week of detention was mostly employed in salting them for the homeward bound voyage.

At length Mr. Bass was able to execute the project he had formed for the seven convicts. It was impossible to take them all into the boat; therefore to five, whom he set upon the main land, he gave a musket, half his ammunition, some hooks and lines, a light cooking kettle, and directions how to proceed in their course toward Port Jackson. The remaining two, one of whom was old and the other diseased, he took into the boat with the consent of the crew, who readily agreed to divide the daily bannock into nine with them. He then bore away, with a fresh wind at west, round Furneaux's Land.

From Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, Mr. Bass was detained by eastern gales from proceeding on his return. The boat lay in Sealers Cove, whilst he occupied the time in examining Wilson's Promontory. The height of this vast cape, though not such as would be considered extraordinary by seamen, is yet strikingly so from being contrasted with the low, sandy land behind it; and, the firmness and durability of its structure make it worthy of being, what there was reason to believe it, the boundary point of a large strait, and a corner-stone to the new continent. It is a lofty mass of hard granite, of about twenty miles long, by from six to fourteen in breadth. The soil upon it is shallow and barren; though the brush wood, dwarf gum trees, and some smaller vegetation, which mostly cover the rocks, give it a deceitful appearance to the eye of a distant observer.

Looking from the top of the promontory to the northward, there is seen a single ridge of mountains, which comes down, out of the interior country, in a southern direction for the promontory; but sloping off gradually to a termination, it leaves a space of twelve or sixteen miles of low, sandy land between them. This low land is nearly intersected by a considerable lagoon on the west, and a large shoal bay, named Corner Inlet, on the east side; and it seemed probable that this insulated mass of granite has been entirely surrounded by the sea at no very distant period of time.

There were no inhabitants on Wilson's Promontory; but, upon the sandy neck, some were seen near the borders of the inlets. The few birds were thought to have a sweeter note than those of Port Jackson.

Four small, barren islands lie seven or eight miles to the northeast from Sealers Cove. The northernmost of them was visited, and found to be about one mile and a half in circuit, ascending gradually from the shore to a hill of moderate elevation in the centre. There was neither tree nor shrub upon it; but the surface was mostly covered with tufts of coarse grass, amongst which the seals had everywhere made paths and the petrels their burrows. Mr. Bass was of opinion that upon these islands, and those lying scattered round the promontory, which are all more or less frequented by seals, a commercial speculation on a small scale might be made with advantage. The place of shelter for the vessel would be Sealers Cove, on the main land; which, though small, and apparently exposed to east winds, would be found convenient and tolerably secure: fresh water is there abundant, and a sufficiency of wood at hand to boil down any quantity of blubber likely to be procured.

The observed latitude of the cove was 38° 50'; and the rise of tide found to be ten or eleven feet, ten hours and a quarter after the moon passed over the meridian. The flood, after sweeping south-westward along the great eastern beach, strikes off for the Seal Islands and the promontory, and then runs westward, past it, at the rate of two or three miles an hour: the ebb tide sets to the eastward. "Whenever it shall be decided", says Mr. Bass in his journal, "that the opening between this and Van Diemen's Land is a strait, this rapidity of tide, and the long south-west swell that seems to be continually rolling in upon the coast to the westward will then be accounted for."

Feb. 2.—Mr. Bass sailed to Corner Inlet; and next day fell in with the five convicts, whom he put across to the long beach, but was himself unable to proceed until the 9th in consequence of foul winds. Corner Inlet is little else than a large flat, the greater part of it being dry at low water. There is a long shoal on the outside of the entrance, which is to be avoided by keeping close to the shore of the promontory; but when the tide is out the depth, except in holes, nowhere exceeds 21 fathoms. A vessel drawing twelve or thirteen feet may lie safely under the high land from which there are some large runs of most excellent water. The tide rises a foot less here than in Sealers Cove, and flows a hour later; arising, probably, from the flood leaving it in an eddy, by setting past and not into the inlet.

Feb. 9.—Corner Inlet was quitted with a strong south-west wind, and Mr. Bass steered E. by N. along the shore. At the distance of five miles he passed the mouth of a shallow opening in the low sandy beach, from which a half-moon shoal stretches three miles to the south-eastward. Four or five miles further a lesser opening of the same kind was passed; and by noon, when the latitude was 38° 43' (probably 38° 46'), he had arrived at the point of the long beach which, in going out, had been quitted to steer for the promontory. His general course from thence was N.E. by E. along the shore until nine o'clock, when, judging the coast must begin to trend more easterly, he again steered E. by N.; the wind blowing a fresh gale at W.S.W., with a following sea. At daylight, Feb. 10, the beach was distant two miles, and trending parallel to the boat's course.

The western gale died away in the morning, and was succeeded by one from the eastward. The boat was in no condition to struggle against a foul wind; and Mr. Bass, being unwilling to return to Corner Inlet, ventured through a heavy surf and took refuge upon the beach, having first observed the latitude to be 37° 47' south.

The country at the back of the beach consisted of dried-up swamps and barren sand-hills. Some natives came down with very little hesitation, and conducted themselves amicably: they appeared never to have seen or heard of white people before.

Feb. 11.—The foul wind had ceased to blow, and the clouds threatened another gale from the south-west. So soon as there was sufficient daylight the boat was launched, and at four the same afternoon anchored under the Ram Head. Mr. Bass was kept there till the 14th in the evening, when a strong breeze sprung up suddenly at south-west, and he sailed immediately, passing Cape Howe at ten o'clock. By noon of the 15th he had reached Two-fold Bay, where the latitude was observed to be 36° 53' south; and having ascertained that Snug Cove, on its north-west side, afforded shelter for shipping, he steered northward, and passed Mount Dromedary soon after midnight. At noon, Feb. 16, Mr. Bass landed upon a small island lying under the shore to the south-east of the Pigeon House, to examine a pole which he had before observed, and supposed might have been set up as a signal by shipwrecked people; but it proved to be nothing more than the dead stump of a tree, much taller and more straight than the others. He sailed next morning; but the wind hung so much in the north and east quarters that he was forced successively into Jervis Bay, Shoals Haven, and Port Hacking; and it was not until the 24th at night that our adventurous discoverer terminated his dangerous and fatiguing voyage by entering within the heads of Port Jackson.

It should be remembered that Mr. Bass sailed with only six weeks' provisions; but with the assistance of occasional supplies of petrels, fish, seal's flesh, and a few geese and black swans, and by abstinence, he had been enabled to prolong his voyage beyond eleven weeks. His ardour and perseverance were crowned, in despite of the foul winds which so much opposed him, with a degree of success not to have been anticipated from such feeble means. In three hundred miles of coast, from Port Jackson to the Ram Head, he added a number of particulars which had escaped captain Cook; and will always escape any navigator in a first discovery unless he have the time and means of joining a close examination by boats to what may be seen from the ship.

Our previous knowledge of the coast scarcely extended beyond the Ram Head; and there began the harvest in which Mr. Bass was ambitious to place the first reaping-hook. The new coast was traced three hundred miles; and instead of trending southward to join itself to Van Diemen's Land, as captain Furneaux had supposed, he found it, beyond a certain point, to take a direction nearly opposite, and to assume the appearance of being exposed to the buffetings of an open sea. Mr. Bass, himself, entertained no doubt of the existence of a wide strait, separating Van Diemen's Land from New South Wales; and he yielded with the greatest reluctance to the necessity of returning before it was so fully ascertained as to admit of no doubt in the minds of others. But he had the satisfaction of placing at the end of his new coast an extensive and useful harbour, surrounded with a country superior to any other known in the southern parts of New South Wales.

A voyage expressly undertaken for discovery in an open boat, and in which six hundred miles of coast, mostly in a boisterous climate, was explored, has not, perhaps, its equal in the annals of maritime history. The public will award to its high-spirited and able conductor, alas! now no more, an honourable place in the list of those whose ardour stands most conspicuous for the promotion of useful knowledge.

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