Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 1.djvu/367

Port Lincoln.]

the foot. A boat was sent to make the experiment this evening, at the back of the beach; but the water which flowed into the pit was quite salt; and notwithstanding the many natives huts about, no fresh water could be found.

Boston Island at the entrance of the port being also woody and of some elevation, the boat was sent next morning to search there for water; and in the mean time I landed with the botanists, and ascended Stamford Hill to ascertain the nature of this inlet and take angles. The port was seen to terminate seven or eight miles to the west-south-west; but there was a piece of water beyond it, apparently a lake or mere, from which we might hope to obtain a supply, if no more convenient watering place should be found. Betwixt Cape Donington at the entrance, and Surfleet Point, was a large cove with a sandy beach at the head, capable of sheltering a fleet of ships, if the depth should be sufficient, as it appeared to be, to receive them: this was named Spalding Cove. Wood was not wanting there, but no stream of water could be distinguished. On the north side of the port, higher up, was a projecting piece of land, with an island lying off it nearly one mile in length. This island, which was named Grantham Island, contracts the width of that part to one mile and three quarters; whereas above and below it the width is from two to three miles.

The eastern entrance to the port, between Boston Island and Cape Donington, is one mile and a half wide; the western entrance, betwixt the island and what was called Kirton Point, is larger, and appeared to be as deep as the first, in which we had from 7 to 9 fathoms. From Kirton Point, northward, the shore curves back to the west, and makes a semicircular sweep round the island, forming an outer bay which was named Boston Bay. It is terminated by Point Boston, a low point one mile and a half from the north end of the inland; but whether the water between them be deep, was not ascertained. From Point Boston the shore takes another sweep to the west and northward; and comes out again three or four