Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia — Vol. 2 / Performed between the years 1818 and 1822

by Philip Parker King

The shore to CAPE DOMETT was very indistinctly seen. It occupies an extent of forty-five miles, and is fronted by extensive reefs, which project for twenty-three miles; the north extremity of the shoal water is twenty-six miles, nearly due west from Cape Pearce. It terminates with a narrow point, and then trends in to the South-West towards the coast.

The Medusa Bank fronts the entrance of Cambridge Gulf; it projects from the coast, near Cape Domett, to the North-West for seventeen miles, and terminates with a narrow spit, thirteen miles north from Lacrosse Island, in latitude 14 degrees 30 1/2 minutes. Both these banks are of sand, and their edges are very steep to. They are covered with large quantities of mollusca, which are also abundant in the sea in their vicinity.

CAMBRIDGE GULF extends from Lacrosse Island in a South-South-Westerly direction for sixty-four miles. The entrance, between Cape Domett and Cape Dussejour, is twelve miles wide; but Lacrosse Island, under which there is good anchorage for vessels going in or out of the gulf, divides the entrance into two channels. The western entrance is about two miles and a half wide, and is deepest near the island: but, at a mile from the shore, we had no bottom with fourteen and seventeen fathoms. The reefs project from Cape Dussejour for nearly three miles. On the eastern side of Lacrosse Island, within half a mile of the point, we had seven fathoms, and there was every appearance of the channel being deep in the neighbourhood of Cape Domett. Shakspeare Hill, the situation of which is in latitude 14 degrees 47 minutes 55 seconds, and longitude 128 degrees 24 minutes, is a conspicuous object on this promontory: it is high and rocky, and, at a distance, has the appearance of being insulated, like Lacrosse Island.

Having entered the gulf, it trends to the South-South-West for twenty-three miles to Adolphus Island, where it is divided into two arms, of which the westernmost is the principal. At ten miles from Lacrosse Island, the channel is narrowed by shoals to a width of five miles, the shores being twelve miles apart. The land on the western side of the gulf is high and rocky; but the opposite shore is very low, and apparently marshy. The bottom is of sand, as are the banks on either side, and affords good anchorage: the tide stream runs with great strength in mid-channel, but is easily avoided by anchoring upon the weather shore near the edge of the bank.

The channels on either side of Adolphus Island are called the East and West Arms. The East Arm is from one to two miles and a half wide, and four or five fathoms deep. At ten miles it is joined by an arm that washes the south side of Adolphus Island, and the united streams trend together in a South-East direction, under the foot of Mount Connexion, for a considerable distance. This inlet was not examined. The West Arm extends down the west side of Adolphus Island for seven miles; it is then divided by a projecting point under View Hill; and, whilst one runs to the eastward and unites with the East Arm, the other continues to trend to the southward, and then opens out to an extensive basin eleven miles in length, and from four to six in breadth; and, at seven miles, gradually contracts as it winds under the base of the Bastion Hills: before, however, you arrive at the basin, the stream is divided by several islands and rocky islets, that narrow the channel in some parts to the width of half a mile, in which the depth is very great, and the tide runs with great strength.

At the entrance of the basin the high rocky character of the west shore is superseded by low mangrove banks, with here and there a detached hill rising from a plain of low marshy land, that, at the time of our visit, was covered with a salt incrustation, occasioned by the evaporation of the sea, which, apparently, had lately flooded the low lands to a great extent: some of these plains are seven and eight miles in diameter. The hills rise abruptly; those we examined are of sandstone formation. The basin is very shoal, but there is a narrow channel in the centre, with from five to nine fathoms water. The shore, opposite the Bastion Hills, is low, and the gulf trends gradually round to the South-West for five miles, when it is contracted into a narrow communication, called The Gut, leading to an interior shoal basin, strewed with low marshy islands, which the tide covers. This basin terminates to the southward in a narrow stream, winding under the base of Mount Cockburn; and there also appeared to be several others falling into the basin more to the westward. The water was salt at the extremity of our exploration. The Gut leading to it is two miles long, and not so much as a quarter of a mile wide: in some parts we had nineteen fathoms, but in others it was deeper; it runs through a chasm in the hills, which rise abruptly, and occasionally recede and form bights, in which, in the wet season, the rains form some very considerable mountain torrents. No fresh water was seen in any part of the gulf; but as it was near the end of the dry season when we were there, it might probably be found in a more advanced season in every part of the western side, where the land is high and the gullies numerous: there is, however, no durable freshwater stream without the Gut. An alligator was observed swimming about, but very few fish were noticed.

The coast extends from Cape Dussejour to Cape Londonderry, a distance of ninety-five miles, without an opening, and with but few sinuosities of any consequence. The coast is chiefly rocky, with here and there a few sandy beaches: but the shore generally is open and exposed: there are many parts, however, where a boat might land; particularly behind BUCKLE HEAD, and a little farther on at REVELEY ISLAND: at the latter place there is a gully in the hills, at the back of the bay, which may probably produce fresh water: this bay is near Captain Baudin's MOUNT CASUARINA, a flat-topped hill, that is conspicuous from the sea. The mount is only visible between the bearings of South and West-South-West, and may be seen at the distance of seven or eight leagues. It is situated at six miles from the shore, in latitude 14 degrees 23 minutes 15 seconds, and longitude 127 degrees 36 minutes 50 seconds.

The coast is here but slightly wooded, and sufficiently elevated to conceal the interior; no part of which, excepting Mount Casuarina, could be seen. It is fronted by rocks, but they do not appear to extend more than two miles from the shore. At CAPE RULHIERES, the coast trends more westerly. To the westward of this cape are two sandy bays, in which boats might effect a landing; but they are open and exposed to the northward. To the eastward of it there are some reefs which project for more than two miles from the shore; and, at the west head of the westernmost of the bays, is an island with a reef extending for nearly three miles from it: behind the island is another bay, that appeared to be fronted by the above reef. In the offing, and at the distance of six miles from the shore, is LESUEUR ISLAND; it is about two miles in circumference, and surrounded by a coral reef, that extends for one mile and a half from its north-east end. At this part the coast is more verdant in appearance than to the eastward of Cape Rulhieres, particularly for ten miles to the South-East of Cape Londonderry; in which space there are several sandy bays, with the shores wooded to the brink of the beach: at about five miles from the cape is a small boat harbour, at the back of which a gully in the hills appeared promising for the search for fresh water, more particularly on account of the verdant appearance of the trees near it.

CAPE LONDONDERRY is a low rocky point; it is easily recognised by the reef that extends from it, and the trend of the land, which takes from it a westerly direction; there are also two small sandy islets, Stewart's Islets, at a little more than two miles from it, encompassed by the reef. The cape is in 13 degrees 44 minutes South, and 126 degrees 53 minutes 50 seconds East.

The land then extends to the westward for nearly eleven miles, to CAPE TALBOT; it is fronted by the reef that commences at Cape Londonderry, and projects from the shore for nearly five miles, but to the eastward of the cape a ship may approach it within two miles.