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Updated: June 20, 2025
The wind was at north and we steered east by north, which is but one point in on the land; yet we decreased our water very fast; for at 4 we had but 9 fathom; the next cast but 7, which frighted us; and we then tacked instantly and stood off: but in a short time the wind coming at north-west and west-north-west we tacked again, and steered north-north-east and then deepened our water again, and had all night from 15 to 20 fathom.
The Entrance of the Bay lies about the Middle of this land. In coming from the Southward it is discover'd before you are abreast of it, which you cannot do in coming from the Northward; the entrance is little more than a Quarter of a Mile broad, and lies in West-North-West. To sail into it keep the South shore on board until within a small bare Island, which lies close under the North Shore.
It is natural, therefore, as I traced the record of our visit and deposited it on Indian Hill, that I should look forward in a mood very far different from that of Wallis, to the speedy fruition of my hopes. October 27. The winds for the last few days had been from West-North-West to North-West, light after midnight to near noon, then moderate and sometimes fresh.
Great quantities of weeds were seen in a line stretching from west-north-west to east-north-east, and a great number of the fishes which are called emperadores, which have a very hard skin and are not fit to eat. Though the admiral paid every attention to these indications, he never neglected those in the heavens, and carefully observed the course of the stars.
Carmichael went out to shoot game; there were kangaroos, and in the way of birds there were emus, crows, hawks, quail, and bronze-winged pigeons; but all we got from his expedition was nil. The horses now being somewhat refreshed by our stay here, we proceeded across the little plain towards another high bluff hill, which loomed over the surrounding country to the west-north-west.
He entered the new stream, which was lined on either bank by troops of hostile natives, from whom he had many narrow escapes, and found it trended for several hundreds of miles in a west-north-west direction, confirming him in his idea of an inland sea; but at a certain point, which he called the great north-west bend, it suddenly turned south and forced its way to the sea at Encounter Bay, where Flinders met Baudin in 1803.
It does not appear that the westerly monsoon blows with any degree of regularity, to the southward of the 13th degree of south latitude; although for some degrees south of that, the weather is influenced by it, and winds between West-North-West and South-West will be experienced, and from the appearances on many parts of the coast, there are no doubt strong gales at times from the westward, that send in a very heavy sea.
We had wind always so scant from the west-north-west, and from west-south-west again, that our traverse was great, running south unto 41 degrees almost, and afterwards north into 51 degrees.
It took us until noon to work our way out to sea; and as soon as we were fairly clear of the barrier reef, everybody went to dinner. The weather had been fine, with moderate breezes from about west-north-west, during the entire period of our sojourn at the island, and we left it under like conditions.
About three leagues to the northward of the south-east point we opened a large, deep bay, secured from west-north-west and south-west winds. There were two other islands that lay to the north-east of it, which secured the bay from north-east winds; one was but small, yet woody; the other was a league long, inhabited, and full of cocoa-nut trees.
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