P.M. Sighted our Bower anchor suspecting it to
be foul, found it so. Having found a quantity of oysters, mussels and
shellfish at low water to-day gave the shore a strict search at low water
and plainly perceived that a company of 6 or 8 men would not run any
hazard of being starved here for several months from the vast quantity of
shellfish to be found. We also have these some days past found feeding on
seaweed many hundreds of a very handsome shell very scarce where we were
in April last.
"Thursday, February 11th. This evening a snake 6 feet long was killed in
the road to the well.
"Friday, February 12th. A.M. Hoisted in launch, took up kedge intending
to sail if wind came to anything, it however kept constantly falling calm
and then a light air would spring up for a few minutes; this kind of
weather obliged me to keep fast. At noon heard distant thunder around us.
"Saturday, February 13th. From 7 P.M. till 10 P.M. constant loud thunder,
vivid lightning and very hard rain later part, till 9 A.M. Was calm then.
A breeze sprung up at east. Hove up our B.* (* Bower, that is anchor.)
and hung by the kedge, by this time it fell calm and our hopes of getting
to sea vanished, needless to observe this kind of weather is as
destructive to the intent of this cruise as gales at sea. I took a walk
along the beach far enough to see all the entrances to this port and by
ascending an eminence was confirmed in my opinion that several of those
dangerous sand rollers had shifted their berths and by so doing had
rendered the channel narrower than hithertofore.
"Sunday, February 14th...At 5 A.M. weighed and made all sail down the
port, by 8 A.M. Grant's Point bore east by north distant 10 miles and
Cape Shanks north-west distant 7 miles; kept running down the land. A.M.
At half-past 10 South Head of the new Harbour or Port north by east 8
miles distant; by noon the island at entrance of harbour bore north half
a mile distant. At this time we had a view of this part of the spacious
harbour, its entrance is wide enough to work any vessel in, but, in 10
fathoms. Bar stretches itself a good way across, and, with a strong tide
out and wind in, the ripple is such as to cause a stranger to suspect
rock or shoals ahead. We carried in with us water from 14 to 16 fathoms.
Kept standing up the port with all sail set.
"Monday, February 15th. P.M. Working up, the port with a very strong ebb
against us, we however gained ground. The southern shore of this noble
harbour is bold high land in general and not clothed as all the land at
Western Point is with thick brush but with stout trees of various kinds
and in some places falls nothing short, in beauty and appearance, of
Greenwich Park. Away to the eastward at the distance of 20 miles the land
is mountainous, in particular there is one very high mountain which in
the meantime I named Arthur's Seat from its resemblance to a mountain of
that name a few miles from Edinburgh...to the north-east by north, about
5 miles from the south shore lies a cluster of small rocky islands and
all round them a shoal of sand; plenty of swans and pelicans were found
on them when the boat was down, from which I named them Swan Isles. To
the north-east by east there is an opening, and from our masthead no land
could be seen in it. The northern shores are low with a sandy beach all
along. At half-past 3 P.M. we got to anchor in a sandy cove in 7 fathoms
water, bottom fine sand - Swan Isles bearing north-east by north distance
5 miles, a bold rocky point which I named Point Paterson east-south-east
1 1/2 miles, a long sandy point named Point Palmer west, 1 1/2 miles, and
the nearest point of the shore south-west 1/2 of a mile distant.
"I went on shore and walked through the woods a couple of miles. The
ground was hard and pleasant to walk on. The trees are at a good distance
from each other and no brush intercepts you. The soil is good as far as
we may be judges. I saw several native huts and very likely they have
burnt off several hundred acres of ground. Young grass we found springing
up over all the ground we walked; the only birds we saw were a few
parrots. We found some shells on the beach and returned on board. I have
named this harbour Port King* (* Governor King afterwards renamed the
harbour Port Phillip in honour of the first Governor of New South Wales.)
in honour of Governor P.G. King under whose orders I act. Set a third
watch of the people with an officer. In the morning sent the gig to Swan
isles for swans and on board we caught a few rock fish. At noon the gig
returned with 3 live and 4 dead swans.
"Tuesday, February 16th. After dinner I took a walk through the woods of
this part of the country, attended by one soldier and our carpenter to
examine the wood. To describe this part I walked through is simply to say
that it nearly resembles a walk on Blackheath and the Park if we set out
of question the houses and gardens of the latter. The hills and valleys
rise and fall with inexpressible elegance.
