Bass Strait

“ Together they discovered the Hunter River; Bass in a second voyage discovered Western Port; and again together they sailed through Bass Strait, proving Tasmania to be an island.
1795. On arriving at Port Jackson, in September it appeared that the investigation of the coast had not been greatly extended beyond the three harbours; and even in these some of the rivers were not altogether explored.
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 obstacle, nor deterred by danger ”

“ Passing along two miles from it, we had a depth of from 8 to 12 and 15 fathoms. As we approached the northern end, the character of the coast changed, it being formed by rocky points with small sand bays intervening. The reef laid down by the French, two miles from the N.E. extremity of the island, we found to be only half a mile S.S.W. from it, one of the many errors we discovered in the French chart of the strait. It is a small ugly ledge quite beneath the water, and from the absence of rocky points on the low sandy shore it fronts, is quite unlooked for. ”

“ The number of vessels which are now in the habit of passing through Bass Strait, and the doubts which have recently been expressed, not only of the just position of the dangers it is known to contain, but of the existence of others, show the necessity of this survey being executed with that care and fidelity which will give confidence to all future navigators ”

“ This greatly increases the difficulty of the overland communication between Port Phillip and the available land on Port Western, travellers being compelled to take a very circuitous road in order to avoid this almost impassable tract, and reach the banks of Bass river, where the best soil is found, and which has been named after the enterprising man whose memory must for ever remain intimately connected with this part of the world. ”

“ An incident that appealed to Flinders' dry sense of humour occurred in reference to a chart of Bass Strait which Baudin had with him. This chart was one which had been drawn from George Bass's sketch by Flinders himself, and incorporated with his own more scientific chart of the north coast of Tasmania and the adjacent islands. Bass had traversed, in his whale-boat, the southern coast of Victoria as far as Westernport, but not being a surveyor he had furnished only a rough outline of the lay of the shore. ”

“ Bass, the bold explorer of Bass Strait, in company with some other gentlemen, visited these pasture lands in 1797, and from Mount Taurus, on the Nepean River, took a straight course to the coast, where a whale boat was sent to meet them. Their .experience was of the usual kind. After leaving the fertile grazing lands appropriated by the cattle, they crossed a succession of barren ridges, gradually growing worse and worse until the sea was reached. ”

“ I noticed here a trappean dyke, but the general formation of this end of King Island exactly corresponded with that about Captain Smith's house, which shows that it is a continuous ridge of granite. The south-eastern shore is rather steep, and the ground which rises abruptly over it is almost denuded of wood.
Leaving Seal Bay—from the south point of which we saw the principal dangers at this extremity of Bass Strait, Reid's rocks bearing E. by S. 1⁄4 S. 12 miles—we coasted round the eastern shore and anchored off a sandy bay about the centre of the island. ”

“ Tasmania and Victoria were separated by the foundering of Bass Strait, and at the same time the formation of the rift valley of Spencer Gulf, and Lake Torrens, isolated the South Australian highlands from the Eyre Peninsula and the Westralian plateau. Earth movements are still taking place both along Bass Strait and the Great Valley of South Australia, and apparently along the whole length of the southern coast of Australia. ”

“ I entered this way in the Investigator, during the night; but what a ship on discovery may do is not to be given as an example to others, whose sole objects are expedition and safety. The outlet by the pass called Banks' Strait, between Furneaux's Islands and Cape Portland, is perfectly safe; but is out of the way for a ship bound to Port Jackson.
It has been observed that the winds are commonly favourable for making a passage to the westward, through Bass' Strait and along the South Coast, in the months of January, February, and March. ”

“ We scarcely found any ripplings in the entrance, an occurrence of extreme rarity; for it will readily be imagined that a body of water required to fill a bay thirty miles deep and twenty broad, passing through an entrance one mile and a half in width, must rush with great violence; and when we take into account the extreme unevenness of the bottom (soundings varying from 40 to 25 and even 9 fathoms) no surprise can be felt that such a stream, particularly when opposed to a strong wind, should raise a dangerous sea. ”

“ The flood-streams setting to the westward through Banks Strait, and to the south-westward past the north-west end of Flinders, meet about ten miles to the westward of the Chappell Isles, when their united stream curves round by south to west, becoming gradually weaker, and soon after passing the mouth of the Tamar ceasing to be felt at all, leaving in the middle of Bass Strait a large space free from tidal influence as far as the production of progressive motion is concerned, that given to it from the entrances being neutralized by their mutual opposition. ”

“ Indeed, whatever advantage Port Jackson may possess, it suffers from a grave disadvantage in the narrowness of its entry. Two frigates could by themselves blockade the most numerous fleet within. Westernport would in certain eventualities offer an advantageous position. Moreover, the navigation of Bass Strait is very dangerous. The winds there are terrible. Before negotiating the strait, ships from Europe, fatigued by a long voyage, require succour and shelter. ”

“ The Lady Nelson brig had been in Bass Strait, and surveyed Western port, where she found a very good harbour. She had also been, in company with the Francis (colonial schooner) , to Hunter river, where they took in between them 45 tons of coal, which were exchanged with the master of the Cornwallis, for a quantity of nails and iron, articles that were much wanted; thus, for the first time, making the natural produce of the country contribute to its wants. ”

“ It appears, by accounts which have been received from New South Wales, that the voyage of the small brig Lady Nelson, commanded by Lieutenant Grant, was (notwithstanding her size, being only 60 tons burden, and the distance she had to sail) effected without her meeting with any material accident; she arriving in December 1801. Her commander was so perfectly acquainted with her good qualities, that he ventured to make the land of New Holland, in latitude 38 degrees 00 minutes south, coasting for some distance toward the eastward, and sailing through Bass Strait, in his way up to Port Jackson. ”

“ Rounding this we anchored on the eastern side of it in Seal Bay—a wild anchorage, the swell constantly rolling in with too much surf to allow of our commencing a series of tidal observations. This bay, in the mouth of which lies a small cluster of rocks, is separated from the one on the opposite side, by a strip of low sandy land, which, as I have said, may easily be overlooked by vessels coming from the westward. A ship indeed has been lost from fancying that the sea was clear south of the black cliffs that skirt the shore down from Fitzmaurice Bay. ”

“ From the Archipelago to Cape Leeuwin it seems best to keep at a distance from the land, unless under the necessity of stopping in that neighbourhood; for the current runs strong near the shore, and with the advantage of an offing of twenty or thirty leagues, a ship may lie clear of the cape with a wind which might otherwise keep her beating for many days.
There appears to be no place of shelter against western gales, between Bass' Strait and Kangaroo Island; but there are then, besides various anchorages under that island, the bays and coves at the entrance of Spencer's Gulph ”

“ A rapid stream, thrown out of its course, hemmed in by numerous reefs, and passing over a bottom so uneven as to cause a change in the soundings from 12 to 26, and then 18 fathoms, with a ripple or line of broken water across the mouth renders it impossible in strong N.W. winds for a stranger to detect the channels, and raises so much sea that the pilots cannot reach the vessels that arrive off the mouth.
As the Beagle passed through the west channel, the shear or first beacon on the west reefs was on with a round-topped hill some distance up the river. ”

“ BASS, GEORGE (d. 1812?) , the discoverer of Bass's Strait, was born at Asworthy, near Sleaford, in Lincolnshire. On the death of his father, who was a farmer, his mother removed to Boston, and after being apprenticed to a surgeon there he obtained his diploma in London, and was appointed surgeon on board H.M.S. Reliance. This vessel being ordered to Sydney in 1795, Bass there found ample opportunity to indulge his passion for exploring. ”

“ Twelve days were spend in the harbour. The weather was bad; and to this cause in the main we may attribute the paucity of the observations made, and the defective account given of the port itself. It contains two islands: Phillip Island, facing the strait, and French Island, the larger of the two, lying between Phillip Island and the mainland. Bass was not aware that this second island was not part of the mainland. Its existence was first determined by the Naturaliste, one of the ships of Baudin's French expedition, in 1802. Bass's men had great difficulty in procuring good water. ”

“ The greater part of the southern shore lies in a bight, whose western extreme is Hunter's Isles, and the NW Cape of Van Diemen's land. Now as the swell comes from the southward, as well as the westward, it must, after striking upon the northwest part of the southern shore, evidently run on in a direction somewhat diagonal with the two sides of the strait, until it expands itself upon the northern shore, where both swell and surf are found. But to the southward of this diagonal line the swell must quickly take off, and totally disappear, long before it can reach the shore to make a surf. ”

“ We now examined the coast to Circular Head, under the north side of which we anchored in 7 fathoms on the morning of the 18th, after spending a day under the S.E. corner off Robbins Island, where we found good anchorage in westerly winds. Making too free with the shore with a low sun ahead, we grounded for a short time on a shingle spit extending off the low point N.W. from Circular Head. Three quarters of a mile E.N.E. from this point is a dangerous rocky ledge just awash, on which several vessels have run. By keeping the bluff extreme of Circular Head open it may always be avoided. ”

“ A few patches of coarse grass may be seen on some sheltered spots. Sealers, I am informed, have landed upon it on certain rare occasions of fine weather, and have been repaid for their daring by capturing a few fur-seals from the rookery that there exists. The Black Pyramid from some points of view, greatly resembles Curtis Island, near the eastern entrance of the Strait. A mile and a half from its eastern side, there was only 24 fathoms, which was the least water we were in during the night. ”

“ He climbed half way up the rigging of the spanker mast and clung to the ratlines. “We’ll hit Bass Straits tonight!”
Then Father slid down the rigging to the deck and spoke to the mate:
“The Straits are a helluva passage to make at night. There’s no moon out to navigate by. All hands on deck—stand by.”
Although the Straits are one hundred miles across, that leaves little room for a sailing ship to beat and tack in. There is a channel of deep water running through the center of the Straits where the currents are less deadly. The sweep of the Pacific meets the rushing tides of the Indian Ocean. ”

“ On some occasions, however, the bold outline of the mountains is relieved against a clear sky, and their loftiest points catch the first rays of the morning sun, as it rises from the eastern ocean. Many small islands are dispersed over the sea in front of this promontory, and partake of its character, being apparently the tops of mountains thrusting themselves up from the deep, and suggesting the belief that new countries are about to be disclosed. Passing Port Western, generally called Western Port, a high mound on the south-eastern extremity of Grant Island was the most conspicuous object. ”

“ Its depth varies from six to seven fathoms, whilst the width is half a mile. The most remarkable object, however, is the helmet-shaped headland, rising abruptly from the sea to the height of 480 feet, and forming the S.E. extreme of Grant Island. It is the more conspicuous from the circumstance that all the rest of the island is covered with low hills, clothed in an almost impervious scrub. The land at the head of the inner of the two bays I have alluded to in describing Port Western, partakes of the same character, and is intersected by a number of creeks. ”

“ Nothing indeed is so calculated to fill the heart of the navigator with pride, as the consciousness that he has widened the sphere of geographical science, and added new seas and new lands to the known world.
The south end of Hunter Island is about three miles from a point of the mainland, called Woolnorth; but from the rocks and inlets that encumber the passage and the rapid rush of the tide it is only navigable for small vessels with great caution. Point Woolnorth is a rather low sloping point composed of the same rock as Hunter Island. ”