E. and S. S. E.
At ten o'clock, a projection which merited the name of Rocky Point bore S. 74° E., five miles; and here the direction of the coast was changed to east, for near seven miles, when it formed a bight by again trending south-eastward. The shore round the bight is high, and at the back were several bare peaks which, from their whiteness, might have been thought to be covered with snow; but their greatest elevation of perhaps 1200 feet, combined with the height of the thermometer at 62°, did not admit the supposition. These peaks are probably what Tasman named De Witt's Isles, from his distance having been too far off to distinguish the connecting land, and I therefore called the highest of them, lying in 43° 9½' south, Mount De Witt.
This morning, two sets of distances of the sun west of the moon were observed, and our situation at noon was as follows:
Latitude, 43° 7' S.
Longitude from the lunar observations, 145 16 E.
Rocky Point, distant six or seven miles, N. 3 W.
Mount De Witt, S. 77 E.
Highest of two smaller hills, at the S. extreme, S. 59 E.
It afterwards appeared, that these smaller hills stood upon the extremity of a point; and in honour of the noble admiral with whose victory we had become acquainted, it was named POINT ST. VINCENT.
The western breeze died away in the evening, and the sloop was drifted in by the swell, and perhaps by a tide, towards an opening round Point St. Vincent. This opening is indicated in the small chart which accompanies the voyage of M. Marion, but does not appear to have been seen by any other navigator. Our bearings of the land, at sunset, deduced from the sun's amplitude and sextant angles, were as follow:
Mount De Witt, N. 18° E.
Point St. Vincent, distant five miles, N. 57 E.
Steep head on the east side of the opening, dist. 8 m. N. 86 E.
Pyramidal rock, lying off a cliffy head, S. 46 E.
At a further distance, and in the same bearing with the pyramidal rock, was a steep, jagged point, which proved to be the south-west cape of Van Diemen's Land. Our latitude at this time was 43° 18½', the passage of the moon having allowed me to get an observation at four o'clock; from whence to eight, our position had changed only one-and-half mile to the east.
It remained nearly calm all night; and on the 13th, at daybreak, I was much surprised to find our situation near ten miles to the southward, instead of being in the same place. This circumstance, and a breeze which arose at north, precluded me from examining the opening as I had intended; for a width of three or four miles at the entrance, and the form of the mountains behind, made it probable that a considerable river discharged itself there; and the offset during the night strengthened the supposition. At six o'clock,
Mount De Witt bore North.
Point St. Vincent, N. 7° E.
Steep head on the east side of the opening, W. 27 E.
Pyramidal rock, off the cliffy head, N. 33 E.
South-west Cape, the extreme. S. 82 E.
We were then steering for the South-west Cape, and at nine I set Mount De Witt over it at N. 22° W., our distance from the cape being then about three miles.
Seven islands and rocks were counted to the eastward, lying at different distances from the coast; and the wind having veered to west, permitted us to pass within them. At noon, the shore to the north being too near for the sun's altitude to be observed, its supplement was taken to the south, and gave the latitude 43° 27½'. A steep head which lies N. 79° E. four or five miles from the south-west Cape, then bore S. 74° W, three miles;* whence the latitude of the Cape should be 43° 29', which is 10 less than given by captain Furneaux, and 8' by captain Cook. This difference naturally excited some suspicion of an error in the observation, and I measured the supplement in the same manner on the following noon, when it gave 2' 40" less than the latitude determined by D'Entrecasteaux in Storm Bay. The South-west Cape is therefore placed 2' 40" further south than my observation gave it; that is, in latitude 43° 32'.** The longitude of the Cape, from the observations taken off Rocky Point and brought forward by the survey, would be 145° 47'; but its situation in 146° 7', by captain Cook, appears to be preferable: D'Entrecasteaux places it in 146° 0'.
[* This head opened round the Cape at E. 14° N.. magnetic, the sloop's head being E. by N.; and shut at W. 20° S., when the head was north. In the first case I allow 3½° east variation, and in the last, 8°; which makes them agree as nearly as can be expected from bearings taken under sail.]
[** Captain Furneaux says (in Cook's second Voyage, Vol. I. page 109), that on March 9, 1773, at noon, the South-west Cape bore north, four leagues; and by referring to the Astronomical Observations, p. 193, I find that his latitude was 43° 45 2/3', which would place the Cape in 43° 33 2/3'; nevertheless the captain says it is in 43° 39', and it is so laid down in his chart. The observation by which captain Cook appears to have fixed the South-west Cape, is that of Jan. 24, 1777, at noon; when he says, "our latitude was 43° 47' south" (Third Voyage, Vol. I. p. 93.) But the Astronomical Observations of that voyage show (p. 101), that the observed latitude on board the Resolution was 43° 42½'; which would make the Cape in 43° 32½' south. I consulted captain King's journal at the Admiralty, but found no observed latitude marked by him on that day.]
The nearest land, at noon, was a steep head bearing N. 66° E., one mile and a half; and between this, and the head which bore S. 74° W., the shore forms a sandy bay four miles deep, where it is probable there may be good anchorage, if two clumps of rock, which lie in the entrance, will admit of a passage in. After taking bearings of Maatsuyker's Isles and the different headlands, we bore away eastward, and passed another deep, sandy bight, probably the same in which Mr. Cox anchored in 1789. At two o'clock, the
South-west Cape, distant 15 or 16 miles, bore W. 2° S.
A steep head at the furthest extreme,
which proved to be the South Cape, S. 72° E.*
[* The magnetic bearing of the South-west Cape was W. 5° S., and that of the South Cape E. 15° S. The true variation I believe to have been 8° E.; but as the sloop's head was at east, no more than 3° are allowed, from a system which will be hereafter explained. It seemed necessary to say this, because the formation of the south end of Van Diemen's Land in my chart, differs from that given by captain Cook, and from those of most others.
In Bayly's Astronomical Observations, page 192, it appears that six sets of variations were observed on board the Resolution, Mar. 24, 1777, off the South Cape; the mean result of which was 4° 43' east. Next morning six other sets were taken near the same place, and the mean variation came out 10°8' east. In captain King's journal, I found the same observations entered, and that the ship's head was E. by N. ½ N. in the first case, and N. W. by W. in the second. This, with the example in the Francis, page cxxvi {The relevant paragraph begins "Whilst passing round the north end. . ." ebook Ed.}, and that in the Norfolk on the preceding page {a few paragraphs above this point. ebook Ed.}, may serve to show, for the present, that corrections are required to the variation, according to the direction of the vessel's head.]
At this time we were one mile within, or north of the largest of the islands; and saw with some surprise, for it is three miles from the main, that its grassy vegetation had been burnt. From hence we steered for the easternmost isle, lying off a wide open bight in the coast, and afterwards
