A Voyage to Terra Australis/Volume 1

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
1376040A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume I1814Matthew Flinders

A

V O Y A G E

TO

TERRA AUSTRALIS;

UNDERTAKEN FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPLETING THE DISCOVERY OF THAT VAST COUNTRY,

AND PROSECUTED IN THE YEARS

1801, 1802, and 1803,

IN

HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP THE INVESTIGATOR,

AND SUBSEQUENTLY IN THE ARMED VESSEL PORPOISE AND CUMBERLAND SCHOONER.

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE

SHIPWRECK OF THE PORPOISE,

ARRIVAL OF THE CUMBERLAND AT MAURITIUS, AND IMPRISONMENT OF THE COMMANDER DURING SIX YEARS AND A HALF IN THAT ISLAND.




BY MATTHEW FLINDERS,

COMMANDER OF THE INVESTIGATOR.




IN TWO VOLUMES, WITH AN ATLAS.

VOL. I.


LONDON:



PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. CLEVELAND-ROW,

AND PUBLISHED BY G. AND W. NICOL, BOOKSELLERS TO HIS MAJESTY,
PALL-MALL.

1814.

TO

THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE JOHN, EARL SPENCER,

THE RIGHT HON. JOHN, EARL OF ST. VINCENT,

THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES PHILIP YORKE,

AND THE

RIGHT HON. ROBERT SAUNDERS, VISCOUNT MELVILLE,

WHO, AS

FIRST LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY,


SUCCESSIVELY HONOURED THE INVESTIGATOR'S VOYAGE

WITH THEIR PATRONAGE,


THIS ACCOUNT OF IT IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY

THEIR LORDSHIPS

MOST OBLIGED, AND

MOST OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT;


MATTHEW FLINDERS.

London, May 20, 1814.

PREFACE.




The publication in 1814 of a voyage commenced in 1801, and of which all the essential parts were concluded within three years, requires some explanation. Shipwreck and a long imprisonment prevented my arrival in England until the latter end of 1810; much had then been done to forward the account, and the charts in particular were nearly prepared for the engraver; but it was desirable that the astronomical observations, upon which so much depended, should undergo a re-calculation, and the lunar distances have the advantage of being compared with the observations made at the same time at Greenwich; and in July 1811, the necessary authority was obtained from the Board of Longitude. A considerable delay hence arose, and it was prolonged by the Greenwich observations being found to differ so much from the calculated places of the sun and moon, given in the Nautical Almanacks of 1801, 2 and 3, as to make considerable alterations in the longitudes of places settled during the voyage; and a reconstruction of all the charts becoming thence indispensable to accuracy, I wished also to employ in it corrections of another kind, which before had been adopted only in some particular instances.

A variety of observations with the compass had shown the magnetic needle to differ from itself sometimes as much as six, and even seven degrees, in or very near the same place, and the differences appeared to be subject to regular laws; but it was so extraordinary in the present advanced state of navigation, that they should not have been before discovered and a mode of preventing or correcting them ascertained, that my deductions, and almost the facts were distrusted; and in the first construction of the charts I had feared to deviate much from the usual practice. Application was now made to the Admiralty for experiments to be tried with the compass on board different ships; and the results in five cases being conformable to one of the three laws before deduced, which alone was susceptible of proof in England, the whole were adopted without reserve, and the variations and bearings taken throughout the voyage underwent a systematic correction. From these causes the reconstruction of the charts could not be commenced before 1813, which, when the extent of them is considered, will explain why the publication did not take place sooner; but it is hoped that the advantage in point of accuracy will amply compensate the delay.

Besides correcting the lunar distances and the variations and bearings, there are some other particulars, both in the account of the voyage and in the Atlas, where the practice of former navigators has not been strictly followed. Latitudes, longitudes, and bearings, so important to the seaman and uninteresting to the general reader, have hitherto been interwoven in the text; they are here commonly separated from it, by which the one will be enabled to find them more readily, and the other perceive at a glance what may be passed. I heard it declared that a man who published a quarto volume without an index ought to be set in the pillory, and being unwilling to incur the full rigour of this sentence, a running title has been affixed to all the pages; on one side is expressed the country or coast, and on the opposite the particular part where the ship is at anchor or which is the immediate subject of examination; this, it is hoped, will answer the main purpose of an index, without swelling the volumes. Longitude is one of the most essential, but at the same time least certain data in hydrography; the man of science therefore requires something more than the general result of observations before giving his unqualified assent to their accuracy, and the progress of knowledge has of late been such, that a commander now wishes to know the foundation upon which he is to rest his confidence and the safety of his ship; to comply with this laudable desire, the particular results of the observations by which the most important points on each coast are fixed in longitude, as also the means used to obtain them, are given at the end of the volume wherein that coast is described, as being there of most easy reference.

The deviations in the Atlas from former practice, or rather the additional marks used, are intended to make the charts contain as full a journal of the voyage as can be conveyed in this form; a chart is the seaman's great, and often sole guide, and if the information in it can be rendered more complete without introducing confusion, the advantage will be admitted by those who are not opposers of all improvement. In closely following a track laid down upon a chart, seamen often run at night, unsuspicious of danger if none be marked; but some parts of that track were run in the night also, and there may consequently be rocks or shoals, as near even as half a mile, which might prove fatal to them; it therefore seems proper that night tracks should be distinguished from those of the day, and they are so in this Atlas, I believe, for the first time. A distinction is made between the situations at noon where the latitude was observed, and those in which none could be obtained; and the positions fixed in longitude by the time keepers are also marked in the track, as are the few points where a latitude was obtained from the moon.

It has appeared to me, that to show the direction and strength of the winds, with the kind of weather we had when running along these coasts, would be an useful addition to the charts; not only as it would enable those who may navigate by them alone to form a judgment of what is to be expected at the same season, but also that it may be seen how far circumstances prevented several parts of the coast being laid down so correctly as others. This has been done by single arrows, wherever they could be marked without confusion; they are more or less feathered, proportionate to the strength of wind intended to be expressed, and the arrows themselves give the direction. Under each is a short or abridged word, denoting the weather; when this weather prevailed in a more than usual degree a line is drawn under the word, and when in an excessive degree there are two lines. Single arrows being thus appropriated to the winds, the tides and currents are shown by double arrows, between which is usually marked the rate per hour.

On the land, the shading of the hills gives a general idea of their elevation, and it has been assisted by saying how far particular hills and capes are visible from a ship's deck in fine weather; this will be useful to a seaman on first making the land, be a better criterion to judge of its height, and those hills not so marked may be more nearly estimated by comparison. Behind different parts of the coast is given a short description of their appearance, which it is conceived will be gratifying to scientific, and useful to professional men. The capes and hills whose positions are fixed by cross bearings taken on shore or from well ascertained points in the track, as also the stations whence bearings were observed with a theodolite, have distinguishing marks; which, with all others not before in common use, are explained on the General Chart, Plate I.

To have laid down no more than the lands and dangers seen in the Investigator and other vessels under my command, would have left several open spaces, and obliged the seaman to have recourse to other charts where the difference of positions might have perplexed; the discoveries and examinations of former navigators which come within the sphere of each sheet, are therefore incorporated with, or added to mine, but so marked as to be distinctly known. In making the combination, alterations in their longitudes were frequently necessary to agreement; and that they might be made with every regard to accuracy, the charts of the former discoveries were compared with the astronomical observations, narratives, or manuscript journals, when such could be had, and the alterations introduced where there seemed to be the best authority. This has been done with the charts of the east coast of New South Wales, published by Mr. Dalrymple from the manuscripts, as it should appear, of captain Cook; and since it may be thought presumptuous in me to have made alterations in any work of so great a master, this case is selected for a more particular explanation.

Time keepers were in their infancy in 1768, when captain Cook sailed upon his first voyage, and he was not then furnished with them; his longitude was therefore regulated only by occasional observations of lunar distances and some few of Jupiter's satellites, which even in the present improved state of instruments and tables, require to be connected by time keepers before satisfactory conclusions can be drawn. Errors of greater or less magnitude were thence unavoidable; at Cape Gloucester, where I quitted the East Coast, my longitude was 20½' greater than captain Cook's chart,— at Cape York where the survey was again resumed, it was 58½'; and to incorporate the intermediate parts, it was necessary not only to carry his scale of longitude 20½' more west, but also to reduce the extent of the coast. The chart was compared with the narrative and chart in Hawkesworth, and the log book of the Endeavour with them all; when it was found that reductions might be made in various places upon one or more of the above authorities, for differences between them were frequent and sometimes considerable, and in one instance alone a reduction of 12′ in the chart was obtained. It is said in Hawkesworth (III, 202), "As soon as we got within side the reef (through Providential Channel) we anchored in nineteen fathom;" and afterwards (p. 204), that the channel "bore E. N. E. distant ten or twelve miles." In the first chart the distance is 14½ miles, and nearly the same in that which accompanies the narrative; but in the log book it is said to be 2½ miles only, which corresponds with having anchored as soon as they got within the reef, and has been adopted. In some cases it was not easy to make a choice between these different authorities; but I have commonly followed the narrative and log book when they were found to specify with precision, and they generally produced such corrections to the chart as brought the longitudes of places nearer to my positions. Captain Cook's track in Plates XI. XII. and XIII. is laid down afresh from the log book; and many soundings, with some other useful particulars not to be found in the original chart, are introduced, for the benefit of any navigator who may follow the same route.

The reconstruction of the charts in the Atlas was done upon various scales, but that no error might escape unseen, the least was of ten inches to a degree of longitude; they were then reduced by Mr. Thomas Arrowsmith to four inches, this being thought sufficiently large for a general sailing scale; and each reduced sheet was scrupulously compared by me with the original before it went into the engravers hands, and the proof impressions with the drawing until no errors were found. To those who may read this voyage with a view to geographical information, a frequent reference to the Atlas is earnestly recommended; for many particulars are there marked which it would have been tedious to describe, and should any thing appear obscure in the narrative the charts will generally afford an elucidation.

From the general tenour of the explanations here given, it will perhaps be inferred that the perfection of the Atlas has been the principal object of concern; in fact, having no pretension to authorship, the writing of the narrative, though by much the most troublesome part of my labour, was not that upon which any hope of reputation was founded; a polished style was therefore not attempted, but some pains have been taken to render it clearly intelligible. The first quire of my manuscript was submitted to the judgment of a few literary friends, and I hope to have profited by the corrections they had the kindness to make; but finding these to bear more upon redundancies than inaccuracy of expression, I determined to confide in the indulgence of the public, endeavour to improve as the work advanced, and give my friends no further trouble. Matter, rather than manner, was the object of my anxiety; and if the reader shall be satisfied with the selection and arrangement, and not think the information destitute of such interest as might be expected from the subject, the utmost of my hopes will be accomplished.

N.B. Throughout this narrative the variation has been allowed upon the bearings, and also in the direction of winds, tides, &c; the whole are therefore to be considered with reference to the true poles of the earth, unless it be otherwise particularly expressed; and perhaps in some few cases of the ship's head when variations are taken, where the expression by compass, or magnetic, may have been omitted.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.



IN THE FIRST VOLUME.

INTRODUCTION.

PRIOR DISCOVERIES IN TERRA AUSTRALIS.

SECTION I.

North Coast.

Preliminary Remarks: Discoveries of the Duyfhen; of Torres; Carstens; Pool; Pietersen; Tasman; and of three Dutch vessels. Of Cook; McCluer; Bligh; Edwards; Bligh and Portlock; and Bampton and Alt. Conclusive Remarks.Page vii to xlviii


SECTION II.

Western Coasts.

Preliminary Observations. Discoveries of Hartog: Edel: of the ship Leeuwin: the Vianen: of Pelsert: Tasman: Dampier: Vlaming: Dampier. Conclusive Remarks. xlix to lxvii


SECTION III.

South Coast.

Discovery of Nuyts. Examination of Vancouver: of d'Entrecasteaux. Conclusive Remarks.lxviii to lxxiv


SECTION IV.

East Coast, with Van Diemen's Land


PART I.

Preliminary Observations. Discoveries of Tasman; of Cook; Marion; and Furneaux. Observations of Cook; Bligh; and Cox. Discovery of D'Entrecasteaux. Hayes. lxxv to xciv


Preliminary Information. Boat expeditions of Bass and Flinders. Clarke. Shortland. Discoveries of Bass to the southward of Port Jackson; of Flinders; and of Flinders and Bass. Examinations to the northward by Flinders. Conclusive Remarks.xcv to cciv

BOOK I.

Transactions from the Beginning of the Voyage to the Departure from Port Jackson.


CHAPTER I.

Appointment to the Investigator. Outfit of the ship. Instruments, books, and charts supplied, with articles for presents and barter. Liberal conduct of the Hon. East-India Company. Passage round to Spithead. The Roar sand. Instructions for the execution of the voyage. French passport, and orders in consequence. Officers and company of the Investigator, and men of science who embarked. Account of the time keepers. Page 1 to 16


Departure from Spithead. Variation of the compass. The Dezertas. Arrival at Madeira. Remarks on Funchal. Political state of the island. Latitude and longitude. Departure from Madeira. The island St. Antonio. Foul winds; and remarks on them. The ship leaky. Search made for Isle Sable. Trinidad. Saxemberg sought for. Variation or the compass. State of the ship's company, on arriving at the Cape of Good Hope. Refitment at Simon's Bay. Observatory set up. The astronomer quits the expedition. Rates of the time keepers. Some remarks on Simon's Bay. 17 to 43


Departure from False Bay. Remarks on the passage to Terra Australis. Gravity of sea water tried. Cape Leeuwin, and the coast from thence to King George's Sound. Arrival in the Sound. Examination of the harbours. Excursion inland. Country, soil, and productions. Native inhabitants: Language and anatomical measurement. Astronomical and nautical observations.44 to 72


Departure from King George's Sound. Coast from thence to the Archipelago of the Recherche. Discovery of Lucky Bay and Thistle's Cove. The surrounding country, and islands of the Archipelago. Astronomical and nautical observations. Goose-Island Bay. A salt lake. Nautical observations. Coast from the Archipelago to the end of Nuyts' Land. Arrival in a bay of the unknown coast. Remarks on the preceding examination.73 to 103


Fowler's Bay. Departure from thence. Arrival at the Isles of St. Francis. Correspondence between the winds and the marine barometer. Examination of the other parts of Nuyts Archipelago, and of the main coast. The Isles of St. Peter. Return to St. Francis. General remarks on Nuyts' Archipelago. Identification of the islands in the Dutch chart. 104 to 119

Prosecution of the discovery of the unknown coast. Anxious Bay. Anchorage at Waldegrave's and at Flinders Islands. The Investigator's Group. Coffin's Bay. Whidbey's Isles. Differences in the magnetic needle. Cape Wiles. Anchorage at Thistle's Island. Thorny Passage. Fatal accident. Anchorage in Memory Cove. Cape Catastrophe, and the surrounding country. Anchorage in Port Lincoln, and refitment of the ship. Remarks on the country and inhabitants. Astronomical and nautical observations. 120 to 151


Departure from Port Lincoln. Sir Joseph Banks' Group. Examination of the coast, northward. The ship found to be in a gulph. Anchorage near the head of the gulph. Boat expedition. Excursion to Mount Brown. Nautical observations. Departure from the head, and examination of the east side of the gulph. Extensive shoal. Point Pearce. Hardwicke Bay. Verification of the time keepers. General remarks on the gulph. Cape Spencer and the Althorpe Isles. New land discovered: Anchorage there. General remarks on Kanguroo Island. Nautical observations.152 to 173


Departure from Kanguroo Island. Examination of the main coast, from Cape Spencer eastward. The Investigator's Strait. A new gulph discovered. Anchorage at, and examination of the head. Remarks on the surrounding land. Return down the gulph. Troubridge Shoal. Yorke's Peninsula. Return to Kanguroo Island. Boat expedition to Pelican Lagoon. Astronomical observations. Kanguroo Island quitted. Back-stairs Passage. The coast from Cape Jervis, eastward. Meeting, and communication with Le Géographe. Remarks upon the French discoveries on the South Coast. 174 to 193.


Examination of the coast resumed. Encounter Bay. The capes Bernouilli and Jaffa. Baudin's Rocks. Differences in the bearings on tacking. Cape Buffon, the eastern limit of the French discovery. The capes Northumberland and Bridgewater of captain Grant. Danger from a south-west gale. King's Island, in Bass' Strait: Anchorage there. Some account of the island. Nautical observations. New Year's Isles. Cape Otway, and the north-west entrance to Bass' Strait. Anchorage in, and examination of Port Phillip. The country and inhabitants. Nautical observations. 194 to 220.


Departure from Port Phillip. Cape Schanck. Wilson's Promontory, and its isles. Kent's Groups, and Furneaux's Isles. Hills behind the Long Beach. Arrival at Port Jackson. Health of the ship's company. Refitment and supply of the ship. Price of provisions. Volunteers entered. Arrangement for the succeeding part of the voyage. French ships. Astronomical and nautical observations. 221 to 239


Of the winds and currents on the south coast of Terra Australis, and in Bass' Strait. Uusual progress of the gales. Proper seasons for sailing eastward, and for going westward: best places of shelter in either case, with some instructions for the Strait. 240 to 251


Account of the observations by which the Longitudes of places on the north coast of Terra Australis have been settled. 255 to 269





IN THE SECOND VOLUME.




BOOK II.

TRANSACTIONS DURING THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TERRA AUSTRALIS, FROM THE TIME OF LEAVING PORT JACKSON TO THE RETURN TO THAT PORT.




Departure from Port Jackson, with the Lady Nelson. Examination of various parts of the East Coast, from thence to Sandy Cape. Break-sea Spit. Anchorage in Hervey's Bay, where the Lady Nelson joins after a separation. Some account of the inhabitants. Variations of the compass. Run to Bustard Bay. Port Curtis discovered, and examined. Some account of the surrounding country. Arrival in Keppel Bay, and examination of its branches, one of which leads into Port Curtis. Some account of the natives, and of the country round Keppel Bay. Astronomical and nautical observations. 1 to 32


The Keppel Isles, and coast to Cape Manifold. A new port discovered and examined. Harvey's Isles. A new passage into Shoal-water Bay. View from Mount Westall. A boat lost. The upper parts of Shoal-water Bay examined. Some account of the country and inhabitants. General remarks on the bay. Astronomical and nautical observations. 33 to 52


Departure from Shoal-water Bay, and anchorage in Thirsty Sound. Magnetical

observations. Boat excursion to the nearest Northumberland Islands. Remarks on Thirsty Sound. Observations at West Hill, Broad Sound. Anchorage near Upper Head. Expedition to the head of Broad Sound: another round Long Island. Remarks on Broad Sound, and the surrounding country. Advantages for a colony. Astronomical observations, and remarks on the high tides. 53 to 76


The Percy Isles: anchorage at No. 2. Boat excursions. Remarks on the Percy Isles; with nautical observations. Coral reefs: courses amongst them during eleven days search for a passage through, to sea. Description of a reef. Anchorage at an eastern Cumberland Isle. The Lady Nelson sent back to Port Jackson. Continuation of coral reefs; and courses amongst them during three other days. Cape Gloucester. An opening discovered, and the reefs quitted. General remarks on the Great Barrier; with some instruction relative to the opening. 77 to 104


Passage from the Barrier Reefs to Torres' Strait. Reefs named Eastern Fields. Pandora's Entrance to the Strait. Anchorage at Murray's Islands. Communication with the inhabitants. Half-way Island. Notions on the formation of coral islands in general. Prince of Wales's Islands, with remarks on them. Wallis' Isles. Entrance into the Gulph of Carpentaria. Review of the passage through Torres' Strait.

105 to 123

Examination of the coast on the east side of the Gulph of Carpentaria. Landing at Coen River. Head of the Gulph. Anchorage at Sweers' Island. Interview with Indians at Horse-shoe Island. Investigator's Road. The ship found to be in a state of decay. General remarks on the islands at the Head of the Gulph, and their inhabitants. Astronomical and nautical observations. 124 to 150


Departure from Sweers' Island. South side of C. Van Diemen examined. Anchorage at Bountiful Island: turtle and sharks there. Land of C. Van Diemen proved to be an island. Examination of the main coast to Cape Vanderlin. That cape found to be one of a group of islands. Examination of the islands; their soil, &c. Monument of the natives. Traces of former visitors to these parts. Astronomical and nautical observations. 151 to 176


Departure from Sir Edward Pellew's Group. Coast from thence westward. Cape Maria found to be an island. Limmen's Bight. Coast northward to Cape Barrow; landing on it. Circumnavigation of Groote Eylandt. Specimens of native art at Chasm Island. Anchorage in North west Bay, Groote Eylandt; with remarks and nautical observations. Blue-mud Bay. Skirmish with the natives. Cape Shield. Mount Grindall. Coast to Caledon Bay. Occurrences in that bay, with remarks on the country and inhabitants. Astronomical and nautical observations. 177 to 218


Departure from Caledon Bay. Cape Arnhem. Melville Bay. Cape Wilberforce, and Bromby's Isles. The English Company's Islands: meeting there with vessels from Macassar. Arnhem Bay. The Wessel's Islands. Further examination of the North Coast postponed. Arrival at Coepang Bay, in Timor. Remarks and astronomical observations. 219 to 259


Departure from Timor. Search made for the Trial Rocks. Anchorage in Goose-Island Bay. Interment of the boatswain, and sickly state of the ship's company. Escape from the bay, and passage through Bass' Strait. Arrival at Port Jackson. Losses in men. Survey and condemnation of the ship. Plans for continuing the survey; but preparation finally made for returning to England. State of the colony at Port Jackson.260 to 281


Of the winds, currents, and navigation along the east coast of Terra Australia, both without and within the tropic; also on the north coast. Directions for sailing from Port Jackson, through Torres' Strait, towards India or the Cape of Good Hope. Advantages of this passage over that round New Guinea. 282 to 294





BOOK III

OCCURRENCES FROM THE TIME OF QUITTING PORT JACKSON IN 1803, TO ARRIVING IN ENGLAND IN 1810.




Departure from Port Jackson in the Porpoise, accompanied by the Bridgewater and Cato. The Cato's Bank. Shipwreck of the Porpoise and Cato in the night. The crews get on a sand bank; where they are left by the Bridgewater. Provisions saved. Regulations on the bank. Measures adopted for getting back to Port Jackson. Description of Wreck-Reef Bank. Remarks on the loss of M. de la Pérouse.295 to 314

Departure from Wreck-Reef Bank in a boat. Boisterous weather. The Coast of New South Wales reached, and followed. Natives at Point Look-out. Landing near Smoky Cape; and again near Port Hunter. Arrival at Port Jackson on the thirteenth day. Return to Wreck Reef with a ship and two schooners. Arrangements at the Bank. Account of the reef, with nautical and other remarks. 315 to 333


Passage in the Cumberland to Torres Strait. Eastern Fields and Pandora's Entrance. New channels amongst the reefs. Anchorage at Half-way Island, and under the York Isles. Prince of Wales's Islands further examined. Booby Isle. Passage across the Gulph of Carpentaria. Anchorage at Wessel's Islands. Passage to Coepang Bay, in Timor; and to Mauritius, where the leakiness of the Cumberland makes it necessary to stop. Anchorage at the Baye du Cap, and departure for Port Louis. 334 to 358


Arrival at Port Louis (or North-West) in Mauritius. Interview with the French governor. Seizure of the Cumberland, with the charts and journals of the Investigator's voyage; and imprisonment of the commander and people. Letters to the governor, with his answer. Restitution of some books and charts. Friendly act of the English interpreter. Propositions made to the governor. Humane conduct of captain Bergeret. Reflections on a voyage of discovery. Removal to the Maison Despeaux or Garden Prison. 359 to 389


Prisoners in the Maison Despeaux or Garden Prison. Application to admiral Linois. Spy-glasses and swords taken. Some papers restored. Opinions upon the detention of the Cumberland. Letter of captain Baudin. An English squadron arrives off Mauritius: its consequences. Arrival of a French officer with despatches, and observations thereon. Passages in the Moniteur, with remarks. Mr. Aken liberated. Arrival of cartels from India. Application made by the marquis Wellesley. Different treatment of English and French prisoners. Prizes brought to Mauritius in sixteen months. Departure of all prisoners of war. Permission to quit the Garden Prison. Astronomical observations. 390 to 417


Parole given. Journey into the interior of Mauritius. The governor's country seat. Residence at the Refuge, in that Part of Wilhems Plains called Vacouas. Its situation and climate, with the mountains, rivers, cascades, and views near it. The Mare aux Vacouas and Grand Bassin. State of cultivation and produce of Vacouas; its black ebony, game, and wild fruits; and freedom from noxious insects. 418 to 438

Occupations at Vacouas. Hospitality of the inhabitants. Letters from England. Refusal to be sent to France repeated. Account of two hurricanes, of a subterraneous stream and circular pit. Habitation of La Pérouse. Letters to the French marine minister, National Institute, &c. Letters from Sir Edward Pellew. Caverns in the Plains of St. Piérre. Visit to Port Louis. Narrative transmitted to England. Letter to captain Bergeret on his departure for France. 439 to 455
Effects of repeated disappointment on the mind. Arrival of a cartel, and of letters from India. Letter of the French marine minister. Restitution of papers. Applications for liberty evasively answered. Attempted seizure of private letters. Memorial to the marine minister. Encroachments made at Paris on the Investigator's discoveries. Expected attack on Mauritius produces an abridgment of Liberty. Strict blockade. Arrival of another cartel from India. State of the public finances in Mauritius. French cartel sails for the Cape of Good Hope. 456 to 477


A prospect of liberty, which is officially confirmed. Occurrences during eleven weeks residence in the town of Port Louis and on board the Harriet cartel. Parole and certificates. Departure from Port Louis, and embarkation in the Otter. Eulogium on the inhabitants of Mauritius. Review of the conduct of general De Caen. Passage to the Cape of Good Hope, and after seven weeks stay, from thence to England. Conclusion. 478 to 496





APPENDIX.

Account of the observations by which the Longitudes of places on the east and north coasts of Terra Australis have been settled. 498 to 511


On the errors of the compass arising from attractions within the ship, and others from the magnetism of land; with precautions for obviating their effects in marine surveying. 512 to 532


General Remarks, geographical and systematical, on the Botany of Terra Australis. By Robert Brown, F.R.S. Acad. Reg. Scient. Berolin. Corresp. Naturalist to the voyage. 533

A LIST OF THE PLATES,

WITH DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.





IN VOLUME I.

View from the south side of King George's Sound. to face p. 60
Entrance of Port Lincoln, taken from behind Memory Cove. 138
View on the north side of Kanguroo Island. 184
View of Port Jackson, taken from the South Head. 227





IN VOLUME II.

View of Port Bowen, from behind the Watering Gully. 38
View of Murray's Islands, with the natives offering to barter. 110
View in Sir Edward Pellew's Group—Gulph of Carpentaria. 172
View of Malay Road, from Pobassoo's Island. 233
View of Wreck-Reef Bank, taken at low water. 312





IN THE ATLAS.

Plate.
I. General Chart of Terra Australis and the neighbouring lands, from latitude 7° to 44° south, and longitude 102° to 165° east.
II. Particular chart of the South Coast, from Cape Leeuwin to the Archipelago of the Recherche.
III. Ditto from the Archipelago of the Recherche to past the head of the great Australian Bight.
IV. Ditto from the head of the great Australian Bight to past Encounter Bay.
V. Ditto from near Encounter Bay to Cape Otway at the west entrance of Bass' Strait.
VI. Ditto from Cape Otway, past Cape Howe, to Barmouth Creek.
VII. Particular chart of Van Diemen's Land.
VIII. Particular chart of the East Coast, from Barmouth Creek to past Cape Hawke.
IX. Ditto from near Cape Hawke to past Glass-house Bay.
X. Ditto from Glass-house Bay to Broad Sound.
XI. Ditto from Broad Sound to Cape Grafton.
XII. Ditto from Cape Grafton to the Isle of Direction.
XIII. Particular chart of the East Coast from the I. of Direction to Cape York, and of the North Coast from thence to Pera Head; including Torres' Strait and parts of New Guinea.
XIV. A particular chart of the North Coast, from Torres' Strait to Point Dale and the Wessel's Islands, including the whole of the Gulph of Carpentaria.
XV. The north-west side of the Gulph of Carpentaria, on a large scale.
XVI. Particular chart of Timor and some neighbouring islands.
XVII. Fourteen views of headlands, &c. on the south coast of Terra Australis.
XVIII. Thirteen views on the east and north coasts, and one of Samow Strait.

And
Ten plates of selected plants from different parts of Terra Australis.



THE READER IS REQUESTED TO CORRECT THE FOLLOWING

ERRATA.

Vol. I. Page xcv, xcvi, various places, for Philip, read Phillip,
cix, margin, for Pl. VII, read PI. VI.
cxxi, line 26, insert in the margin (Atl. PI. VI.)
clxxiii, ——24, insert in the margin (Atl. Pi. VII.)
13, ——for uivre, read suivre.
123, ——title, for From Nuyts' Archipelago, read Investigator's Group.
148, ——18, for heat, read head.
153, ——31, for Point Donington, read Cape Donington.
200, —— 8, for 4¼°, 7° 5¾° , read respectively 5°, 6½°, 5° 54′.
——12, for 5° 35′ read 5° 33′.
256, ——28, 29, for diminished, read corrected.
Vol. II. 73, ——21, for second, read first.
150, ——3, 4, for three hours and a quarter before the moon came to, read nine hours and three quarters after the moon passed.
227, ——title, for Gulph of Carpentaria, read Melville Bay.
471, ——30, for Coraline, read Caroline.