Latitude, observed to the north and south, 35° 2' 33"
Longitude by time keepers, 135 44
Liguana Isle, the centre nearly, N. 67 W.
Cape Wiles, centre of the cliffs, N. 38 W.
Hill on the east side of Sleaford Bay, N. 77 E.
Isle Williams, E. 2 N.
In the afternoon the wind favoured us by veering to south-by-west, and the passage between the projection of the hill and Isle Williams, (Atlas Plate XVII. View 8.) seeming to be clear, we steered through it with good soundings, the least being 12 fathoms, upon rippling water. Three miles further the main land formed a point, and took the uncommon direction of N. 15° W.; but to the eastward, there was a large piece of land, whether island or main we could not tell, and several small islands lay between. The opening was four miles wide; and we steered into it, passing through ripplings of tide with irregular soundings. No land could be seen to the north-east, but the night was coming on; and as the eastern land sheltered us from the present wind, we ran within half a mile of the shore and anchored in 3½ fathoms. The master was sent to sound about the ship; and finding we had not a sufficient depth for swinging toward the shore, the anchor was tripped and let go further out, in 7 fathoms, on a sandy bottom. No part of the eastern land was visible beyond the bearing of N. 76° E., distant one mile and a half; and the furthest extreme of what we could be certain was main land bore N. 17° W.
A tide from the north-eastward, apparently the ebb, ran more than one mile an hour; which was the more remarkable from no set of tide, worthy to be noticed, having hitherto been observed upon this coast. No land could be seen in the direction from whence it came; and these circumstances, with the trending of the coast to the north, did not fail to excite many conjectures. Large rivers, deep inlets, inland seas, and passages into the Gulph of Carpentaria, were terms frequently used in our conversations of this evening; and the prospect of making an interesting discovery seemed to have infused new life and vigour into every man in the ship.
SUNDAY 21 FEBRUARY 1802
Early in the morning I went on shore to the eastern land, anxious to ascertain its connexion with or separation from the main. There were seals upon the beach, and further on, numberless traces of the kangaroo. Signs of extinguished fire existed everywhere; but they bespoke a conflagration of the woods, of remote date, rather than the habitual presence of men, and might have arisen from lightning, or from the friction of two trees in a strong wind. 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. We were proceeding onward with our prize when a white eagle, with fierce aspect and outspread wing, was seen bounding towards us; but stopping short at twenty yards off, he flew up into a tree. Another bird of the same kind discovered himself by making a motion to pounce down upon us as we passed underneath; and it seemed evident that they took us for kangaroos, having probably never seen an upright animal in the island of any other species. These birds sit watching in the trees, and should a kangaroo come out to feed in the day-time, it is seized and torn to pieces by these voracious creatures. This accounted for why so few kangaroos were seen, when traces of them were met with at every step; and for their keeping so much under thick bushes that it was impossible to shoot them. Their size was superior to any of those found upon the more western islands, but much inferior to the forest kangaroo of the continent.
From a clear spot upon the north-western head of the island I traced the main coast to a cape bearing N. 18° W., where it was lost, but reappeared at a further distance, and extended to N. 2½° W. More to the right were three small islands, which I named Sibsey, Stickney, and Spilsby Islands, but no other land in a north-east, and none in an eastern direction. On the opposite side, six leagues out at sea, there was a small cluster of low islands, and some rocks and breakers at a less distance; these were called Neptune's Isles, for they seemed to be inaccessible to men. In the opening between Thistle's Island and the main are several small isles; and the two southernmost so much contract the entrance of the passage that one mile and a half of its breadth, between the main land and western isle, are alone safe for ships; I gave to this the name of THORNY PASSAGE. The bearings taken at this station, of most importance to the survey, were these:
Hill on the east side of Sleaford Bay, S. 70° 50' W.
Point where the coast turns northward, S. 73 30 W.
Hill of a conic form, on the main land, N. 35 50 W.
Sibsey I., centre, over a nearer low rock, N. 12 0 E.
Stickney Island, centre, N. 26 0 E.
Spilsby Island, centre, N. 33 0 E.
Thistle's I., west side, furthest visible part, S. 35 30 E.
Neptune's Isles, the furthest, centre, S. 5 30 E.
---- two nearer, the extremes, S. 1° E to 4 0 W.
Thistle's Island is about twelve miles long, and from one to two or three in breadth, and in the middle part is high enough to be seen ten or twelve leagues from a ship's deck. The stone of the north-east end was found to be calcareous; but at the top of the north-west head, not less than two hundred feet high, there were many small pieces of granite, rounded to all appearance by attrition in the water. Some of the cliffs on the western side are white, as if composed of chalk, and the soil in general seemed to be sandy; yet the island was pretty well covered with wood, principally eucalyptus and casuarina. No water could be found; and as the ship's hold was becoming very empty, I returned on board, after observing the latitude, with the intention of running over to the main in search of it. But on comparing the longitude observed by lieutenant Flinders with that resulting from my bearings, a difference was found which made it necessary to repeat the observation on shore; and as this would prolong the time too near dusk for moving the ship, Mr. Thistle was sent over with a cutter to the mainland in search of an anchoring place where water might be procured.
The latitude of a small beach on the north end of Thistle's Island was found to be 34° 56'; and longitude, by the time-keepers corrected, 136° 3½', agreeing with thirty sets of lunar observations reduced to a place connected with this by land bearings. The strongest tides set past the ship at the rate of two miles an hour, from the north-north-east and south-south-west; the latter, which appeared to be the flood, ceasing to run at the time of the moon's passage over the meridian. It rose seven feet and a half by the lead line in the night of the 20th; and there were two tides in the twenty-four hours.
At dusk in the evening the cutter was seen under sail, returning from the main land; but not arriving in half an hour, and the sight of it having been lost rather suddenly, a light was shown and lieutenant Fowler went in a boat, with a lanthorn, to see what might have happened. Two hours passed without receiving any tidings. A gun was then fired, and Mr. Fowler returned soon afterward, but alone. Near the situation where the cutter had been last seen he met with so strong a rippling of tide that he himself narrowly escaped being upset; and there was reason to fear that it had actually happened to Mr. Thistle. Had there been daylight, it is probable that some or all of the people might have been picked up; but it was too dark to see anything, and no answer could be heard to the hallooing or to the firing of muskets. The tide was setting to the southward and ran an hour and a half after the missing boat had been last seen, so that it would be carried to seaward in the first instance; and no more than two out of the eight people being at all expert in swimming, it was much to be feared that most of them would be lost.*