The River Inglis is of a good size; but a reef extends off the mouth and some distance to the eastward; it is two miles and a half to the South-South-East of a headland, called Table Cape, the distances between which, Rocky Cape, Circular Head, and Emu Bay, are equal, namely, eleven miles and a half. Rocky Cape has a high pointed summit, with other peaks in the rear; a sunken rock is said to lie a mile and a half north of it; and the coast from thence to Circular Head falls back, forming a bight; five miles to the south-east of it is a sandy bay with a small rivulet running into it. The Sisters, two round hills, 870 feet high, renders the east point remarkable; an islet with a reef of considerable extent fronts it for some distance.
ESCAPED CONVICTS.
One of the pilots at Port Dalrymple, I found, had travelled along the west coast of Tasmania, from Macquarie Harbour to Point Woolnorth. He crossed four or five small rivers; but the country was covered with a low scrub, growing in an impenetrable network along the surface of the soil, so that he could only make progress by keeping the shore. He was landed from a colonial vessel, by a party of convicts who had taken possession of it, and afterwards succeeded in reaching Valdivia, on the west coast of South America. They scuttled the vessel off the harbour's mouth, and came in in the boat, reporting it to have foundered. Being useful artificers in such an out of the way place, few inquiries were made about them, and they were received by the governor as a very acceptable addition to the population. Singular to say, when at Valdivia in 1835, I saw some of these men; they were married, and continued to be regarded as a very great acquisition, although a kind of mystery was attached to them. However, their enjoyment of liberty and repose was destined to be but short. Their whereabouts became known, and a man of war was sent to take them. All but one again effected their escape, in a boat they had just finished for the governor; and they have not since been heard of. The remaining delinquent was afterwards hanged at Hobart, where he gave a detailed and interesting narrative of the whole affair.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE NAVIGATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE TAMAR.
The few quiet days we had during our stay at Port Dalrymple, enabled us satisfactorily to complete the soundings at the entrance. Beacons were also erected on the shore by the Beagle's crew, for guiding vessels through the channels; they, however, require to be kept white, in order to show well against the dark ground behind. I furnished Lieutenant M. Friend, R.N. the port officer, with a few notes on the navigation of the Tamar, which, for the sake of the nautical reader, I give below.*
(*Footnote. The most formidable shoal in the mouth of the Tamar, bearing the name of the Middle Ground, is a rocky patch, with, according to report, only 9 feet on one spot at low-water, spring tides, but the least depth found on it by the (Beagle's) boats was 12 feet. The north extreme of Low Head, in one with the first black cliffy projection to the eastward of it, or the flagstaff on Low Head, open northward of the lighthouse, clears the northern edge of it. The leading marks for entering eastward of the Middle Ground, generally called the Eastern Channel, are the Shear and West Beacons. The latter stands in front of Dr. Browne's house, which is the first inside Point Friend, the western entrance point. The Shear Beacon must be kept a little open to the left or eastward of the West Beacon, until you get abreast of the lighthouse; after which, both beacons should be kept in one. When within two cables and a half of the Shear Beacon, the course should be changed in the direction of the Red Beacon on the Barrel Rock, the first on the eastern side, to avoid a patch of kelp, extending one cable and a half in an easterly direction from the Shear Beacon, the depth, there, at low-water is 9 fathoms, and the least in the channel is 4 fathoms, on a ledge, apparently extending from Low Head to the Middle Ground.
The Western Channel is two cables wide, with a depth, in the shoalest part, of 10 fathoms; it is formed by the Middle Ground on the eastern side, and the Yellow Rock Reef on the western; the latter is an extensive patch of kelp, with a double light-coloured rock near its extremity. The least water on it at low-water is 6 feet; from the Shear Beacon, it bears North 50 degrees West five-tenths of a mile, and from the lighthouse, South 52 degrees West eight-tenths of a mile. The Shear Beacon and the flagstaff at George Town in a line lead over the outer extreme. There is generally a white buoy in its vicinity, and a black one on the western edge of the Middle Ground. The Barrel Rock red beacon, and the high and low white beacons, erected by the Beagle's crew on the shore over Lagoon Bay, kept in one, lead through the Western Channel. When abreast of the Shear Beacon, steer for the next beyond on the west side of the channel, to avoid a long patch of kelp, with three and five fathoms in it, extending two cables and a half to the South-South-West of the Barrel Rock.
The high part of the Western Reef, bearing South by East leads into the fairway of the Western Channel, when will be seen the white beacons over Lagoon Bay. The latter is the second sandy beach inside the lighthouse on the eastern shore. The Western Reefs are those fronting Point Friend; the part above-mentioned, the only spot uncovered at high-water, is a black patch of rocks near their northern extreme.
The only danger near the entrance of the Tamar is the Hebe Reef, named after a ship lost on it in 1808; it occupies a space of a quarter of a mile, chiefly in an east direction. A small portion of its centre is nearly dry at low-water; this part bears South 89 degrees West, three miles and three-tenths from the lighthouse on Low Head; inside it there is a channel of 7 fathoms. The guide for passing northward of it, is a white spot on the North-West extreme of Low Head in one with the lighthouse; the latter will then bear East 16 degrees South.
The shoals, on either side, within the entrance of the river, are marked with beacons. Those on the western shore, have a letter V sideways with a vertical bar on the top; and those on the eastern a dagger. Shoals marked with chequered buoys, may be passed on either side; a red or black buoy, signifies that the danger extends from the eastern shore; and a white one, that it extends from the western.