Matthew Flinders

“ The loss of anchors we had this day sustained, deterred me from any more attempting the small passages through the Barrier Reef; in these, the tide runs with extraordinary violence, and the bottom is coral rock; and whether with, or without wind, no situation can be more dangerous. My anxious desire to get out to sea, and reach the North Coast before the unfavourable monsoon should set in, had led me to persevere amongst these intricate passages beyond what prudence could approve; for had the wind come to blow strong, no anchors, in such deep water and upon loose sand, could have held the ship ”

“ Certainly none more likely to be free from disturbance of every kind could have been chosen than these islets in a hidden lagoon of an uninhabited island, situate upon an unknown coast near the antipodes of Europe; nor can anything be more consonant to the feelings, if pelicans have any, than quietly to resign their breath whilst surrounded by their progeny, and in the same spot where they first drew it. Alas for the pelicans! Their golden age is past; but it has much exceeded in duration that of man. ”

“ I tell you, general De Caen, No. The governor in chief at Port Jackson knew too well the dignity of his own nation, either to lay any prohibition upon these commanders, or to demand to see what their journals might contain.
I shall next appeal to you as being the representative in this place of a great nation, which has hitherto shown itself forward to protect and encourage those sciences by which the knowledge of mankind is extended or their condition ameliorated. ”

“ Upon the whole, I satisfied myself of the insularity of this land; and gave to it, shortly after, the name of Thistle's Island, from the master who accompanied me. In our way up the hills, to take a commanding station for the survey, a speckled, yellow snake lay asleep before us. By pressing the butt end of a musket upon his neck, I kept him down whilst Mr. Thistle, with a sail needle and twine, sewed up his mouth; and he was taken on board alive, for the naturalist to examine; but two others of the same species had already been killed, and one of them was seven feet nine inches in length. ”

“ Thus, whatever could bear the name of exact, whether in natural history, geography, or navigation, was yet to be learned of a country possessing five hundred leagues of sea-coast; and placed in a climate and neighbourhood, where the richest productions of both the vegetable and mineral kingdoms were known to exist. A voyage which should have had no other view, than the survey of Torres' Strait and the thorough investigation of the North Coast of Terra Australis, could not have been accused of wanting an object worthy of national consideration. ”

“ His zeal, however, never carried him beyond a sense of dignity: he did not lay out on the yard like a common seaman, but always remained seated upon the cap, to inspect like an officer. This assumption of authority to which, it must be confessed, his rank, though great as a quadruped, did not entitle him amongst men, created no jealousy; for he always found some good friend ready to caress him after the business was done, and to take him down in his arms.
In harbour, the measuring of log and lead lines upon deck, and the stowage of the holds below, were the favourite subjects of his attention. ”

“ I named it Half-way Island. It is scarcely more than a mile in circumference, but appears to be increasing both in elevation and extent. At no very distant period of time, it was one of those banks produced by the washing up of sand and broken coral, of which most reefs afford instances, and those of Torres' Strait a great many. These banks are in different stages of progress: some, like this, are become islands, but not yet habitable; some are above high-water mark, but destitute of vegetation; whilst others are overflowed with every returning tide. ”

“ The new bank is not long in being visited by sea birds; salt plants take root upon it, and a soil begins to be formed; a cocoa nut, or the drupe of a pandanus is thrown on shore; land birds visit it and deposit the seeds of shrubs and trees; every high tide, and still more every gale, adds something to the bank; the form of an island is gradually assumed; and last of all comes man to take possession. ”

“ In Mr George Bass, surgeon of the Reliance, I had the happiness to find a man whose ardour for discovery was not to be repressed by any obstacles, nor deterred by danger; and with this friend a determination was formed of completing the examination of the east coast of New South Wales, by all such opportunities as the duty of the ship and procurable means could admit. ”

“ At night the wind again blew strong from the south-east; but the desire to arrive at Wreck Reef overcoming my apprehensions, the schooner was made snug and we persevered. Our inability to carry sail was so much the more provoking, that this wind was as fair as could be wished; but whilst the Cumberland could scarcely bear a close-reefed main sail and jib without danger of oversetting, the Rolla went along under double-reefed top sails in great tranquillity; and to avoid parting company was obliged to keep her courses up, and to back a top sail from time to time. ”

“ The seal fishery in Bass' Strait was carried on with ardour--many boats were employed in catching and preparing fish along the coast--sloops and schooners were upon the stocks--various detached settlements were in a course of establishment, and more in project. And all this, with the commerce carried on from Sydney to Parramatta and the villages at the head of the port, and to those on the rivers falling into Broken and Botany Bays, made the fine harbour of Port Jackson a lively scene of business, highly interesting to the contemplator of the rise of nations. ”

“ The stormy appearance of the night induced me to stretch in, under this reef; and finding there was shelter from the east winds, we came to an anchor in 5 fathoms, coarse sand: the Nautilus followed; but not liking the place, captain Bishop preferred keeping the sea. On sounding round the sloop, I found the bottom every where foul, and that there were no means of escape in case of a shift of wind; therefore, after killing a few seals upon the granitic rocks, we weighed the anchor, ran two leagues to the southward, and then hauled the wind under storm sails for the night. ”

“ The navigator who should distribute ten thousand cocoa nuts amongst the numerous sand banks of the Great Ocean and Indian Sea, would be entitled to the gratitude of all maritime nations, and of every friend to humanity. I may be thought to attribute too much importance to this object in saying, that such a distribution ought to be a leading article in the instructions for any succeeding voyage of discovery or investigation to these parts; but it is from having suffered ourselves that we learn to appreciate the misfortunes and wants of others. ”

“ At noon, when off Cape Spencer, the wind became variable and light, with very hazy, cloudy weather; and the mercury in my marine barometer had fallen two tenths of an inch. At six in the evening a breeze sprung up at west-north-west; and as I expected a gale would come on, and that as usual it would veer to the south-west, we ceased to follow the coast beyond Cape Spencer, and steered for the land seen in the southern quarter. ”

“ It seems to me, that when the animalcules which form the corals at the bottom of the ocean, cease to live, their structures adhere to each other, by virtue either of the glutinous remains within, or of some property in salt water; and the interstices being gradually filled up with sand and broken pieces of coral washed by the sea, which also adhere, a mass of rock is at length formed. Future races of these animalcules erect their habitations upon the rising bank, and die in their turn to increase, but principally to elevate, this monument of their wonderful labours. ”

“ On a general review of the various objects in Terra Australis, to which investigation might be usefully directed at the commencement of the nineteenth century, and in which natural history, geography, navigation, and commerce were so much interested, the question, Why it should have been thought necessary to send out another expedition? will no longer be asked. But rather it will be allowed that, instead of one, there was ample room for two or three ships; each to be employed for years, and to be conducted with a zeal and perseverance not inferior to the examples given by the best navigators. ”

“ Keppel Bay was discovered and named by captain Cook, who sailed past it in 1770. A ship going in will be much deceived by the colour of the water; for the shores of the bay being soft and muddy, the water running out by the deep channels with the latter part of the ebb, is thick; whilst the more shallow parts, over which the tide does not then set, are covered with sea water, which is clear. Not only are the shores for the most part muddy, but a large portion of the bay itself is occupied by shoals of mud and sand. ”