Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia — Vol. 1 / Performed between the years 1818 and 1822

by Philip Parker King

And at one o'clock the following morning saw the Black Pyramid and soon after entered Bass Strait by the passage on the south side of King's Island. After running into the latitude of Sea Elephant Bay on the east side of King's Island, in an unsuccessful search after some rocks laid down in the French charts but not noticed in those of Captain Flinders, we bore up; and at eleven p.m. passed Sir Roger Curtis Island.

November 29.

And the next day cleared the strait.

1820. December 2.

On the 2nd we were off Mount Dromedary; and the wind blew strong from the East, the weather assuming a threatening appearance.

December 3.

The next day we passed the heads of Jervis Bay at the distance of three or four leagues, and the course was altered to North and North by West parallel to the coast. At noon an indifferent observation for the latitude and a sight of the land, which for a few minutes was visible through the squalls, showed that our situation was very much nearer to the shore than we had expected, a circumstance that was attributed to a current setting into the bight to the northward of Jervis Bay. The wind from the eastward was light and baffling and this, added to the critical situation we were in, made me very anxious to obtain an offing before night for there was every appearance of a gale from the eastward.

After two or three squalls a breeze sprung up from the East-South-East with heavy rain, and a North-North-East course was steered, which should have taken us wide of the coast: having run thirty-seven miles on that course we steered North by East four miles and then North 1/2 West that we might not be more than twenty miles from the shore in the morning and sufficiently near to see the lighthouse on the south head of Port Jackson; but, from an unusual westerly current, we found ourselves, very nearly to our destruction, considerably out of our reckoning.

December 4.

At 2 hours 40 minutes a.m., by the glare of a flash of lightning, the land was suddenly discovered close under our lee: we hauled to the wind immediately but the breeze at the same moment fell, and the swell being heavy, the cutter made but little progress. Sail was made as quickly as possible and as the cutter headed North-North-East there was every likelihood of her clearing the land; but a quarter of an hour afterwards, by the light of another flash, it was again seen close to us, stretching from right ahead to our lee-quarter and so near that the breakers were distinctly seen gleaming through the darkness of the night. A third flash of lightning confirmed our fears as to the dangerous situation we were in; and as there was not room to veer the helm was immediately put a-lee; but, as was feared, the cutter refused stays. We were now obliged to veer as a last resource, and the sails being manoeuvred so as to perform this operation as quickly as possible, we fortunately succeeded in the attempt and the cutter's head was brought to the wind upon the other tack without her striking the rocks: we were now obliged to steer as close to the wind as possible in order to weather the reef on which the sea was breaking, within five yards to leeward of the vessel: our escape appeared to be next to impossible: the night was of a pitchy darkness and we were only aware of our situation from time to time as the lightning flashed: the interval therefore between the flashes, which were so vivid as to illumine the horizon round, was of a most awful and appalling nature, and the momentary succession of our hopes and fears which crowded rapidly upon each other, may be better imagined than described. We were evidently passing the line of breakers very quickly; but our escape appeared to be only possible through the interposition of a Divine Providence, for, by the glare of a vivid stream of forked lightning, the extremity of the reef was seen within ten yards from our lee bow; and the wave which floated the vessel the next moment broke upon the rocks with a surf as high as the vessel's masthead: at this dreadful moment the swell left the cutter, and she struck upon a rock with such force that the rudder was nearly lifted out of the gudgeons: fortunately we had a brave man and a good seaman at the helm, for instantly recovering the tiller, by a blow from which he had been knocked down when the vessel struck, he obeyed my orders with such attention and alacrity that the sails were kept full; so that by her not losing way, she cleared the rock before the succeeding wave flowed from under her, and the next moment a flash of lightning showed to our almost unbelieving eyes that we had passed the extremity of the rocks and were in safety! This sudden deliverance from the brink of destruction was quite unexpected by all on board our little vessel and drew from us a spontaneous acknowledgement of gratitude to the only source from whence our providential escape could be attributed.