On July 20, lieutenant Fowler quitted the Investigator, with the crew selected for him, and took the command of His Majesty's armed vessel Porpoise; and on the following day I went on board with the rest of my officers and people, to go with him as passengers. Amongst other preparations for the voyage, a green house was set up on the quarter deck of that ship; and the plants collected in the Investigator from the south, the east, and north coasts of Terra Australis were deposited in it, to be conveyed to His Majesty's botanical garden at Kew; and as we had had the misfortune to lose the gardener of the expedition, and Mr. Brown, the naturalist, remained behind, a man from Port Jackson was engaged to take care of the plants during the passage.
The examination of Torres' Strait was one of the most important articles of my instructions which had been executed only in part; and although I could not pretend to make any regular survey in the Porpoise, it was yet desirable to pass again through the strait, and lay down as many more of its dangers as circumstances would admit; and this being represented to governor King, the following paragraph was made an article in lieutenant Fowler's orders.
"The objects which captain Flinders will have to finish in his route through Torres' Strait, requires that he should be assisted with boats, people, and have the entire direction of the ship as to the courses she is to steer, making and shortening sail, anchoring, and every other prompt attention to his directions as connected with his survey. You are therefore further required to comply with every direction he may give you, to enable him to execute the orders of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; and as it will be necessary that the most expeditious route should be followed, for the purpose of ascertaining the length of time it will take to make the voyage from hence to England, by Torres' Strait, and to enable captain Flinders to be in England as early as possible, you will take especial care to lose no time in getting to England by the route captain Flinders may indicate."
AUGUST 1803
In the beginning of August, the Porpoise was nearly ready to sail; and two ships then lying in Sydney Cove, bound to Batavia, desired leave to accompany us through the Strait. These were the Hon. East-India-Company's extra-ship Bridgewater, of about 750 tons, commanded by E. H. Palmer, Esq., and the ship Cato of London, of about 450 tons, commanded by Mr. John Park. The company of these ships gave me pleasure; for if we should be able to make a safe and expeditious passage through the strait with them, of which I had but little doubt, it would be a manifest proof of the advantage of the route discovered in the Investigator, and tend to bring it into general use. On the 10th [WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST 1803] I took leave of my respected friend the governor of New South Wales, and received his despatches for England; and lieutenant Fowler having given a small code of signals to the Bridgewater and Cato, we sailed out of Port Jackson together, at eleven o'clock of the same morning, and steered north-eastward for Torres' Strait.
Mr. Inman had re-delivered to me the two time-keepers, with a table of their rates deduced from equal altitudes, but the No. 543 had gone so very irregularly, as not to be entitled to any confidence; the error of No. 520 from mean Greenwich time at noon there on the 2nd, and its rate of going during the twenty-five preceding days were as under:
Earnshaw's No. 520, fast, 0h 49' 54.85" and losing 33.38" per day.
[EAST COAST. STEERING NORTHWARD.]
(Atlas, Plate I.)
The winds were light, and mostly from the eastward during the first two days of our quitting Port Jackson; and not being able to get far enough from the land to avoid the southern current, it had retarded us 35' on the 12th at noon [FRIDAY 12 AUGUST 1803], when the islands of Port Stephens were in sight. On the following day the wind became more steady in the south-western quarter, and as our distance from the land increased, the current abated; and on the 15th, when the latitude was 27° 27', longitude 156° 22', and distance from the coast about fifty leagues, the set was something in our favour. The wind was then at south, and our course steered was north for twenty-four hours, then N. by W.; and on the 17th at noon [WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST 1803] we were in latitude 23° 22', longitude 155° 34', and had the wind at S. E. by S. (Atlas, Plate X.)