Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 1.djvu/385

Spencer's Gulph.]

Two miles below the place where the observations for the time keeper were taken, was a small cliff of reddish clay on the western shore; and being near it on our return, when the sun was approaching the meridian, I landed to observe the latitude. It was 32° 27′ 56″ south; so that the termination of the gulph may be called in 32° 24½′ without making a greater error than half a mile. Mount Brown bore from thence S. 8o½° E., and its latitude will therefore be 32° 30¼′ south; the longitude deduced from bearings and the time keepers on board, is 138° 0¼′ east.

Our return to the ship was a good deal retarded by going after the black swans and ducks amongst the flats. The swans were all able to fly, and would not allow themselves to be approached; but some ducks of two or three different species were shot, and also several sea pies or red bills. Another set of bearings was taken on the western shore, and at ten in the evening we reached the ship, where Mr. Brown and his party had not been long arrived. The ascent to Mount Brown had proved to be very difficult, besides having to walk fifteen miles on a winding course, before reaching the foot; by perseverance, however, they gained the top at five on the first evening, but were reduced to passing the night without water; nor was any found until they had descended some distance on the following day. The view from the top of Mount Brown was very extensive, its elevation being not less than three thousand feet; but neither rivers nor lakes could be perceived, nor any thing of the sea to the south-eastward. In almost every direction the eye traversed over an uninterruptedly flat, woody country; the sole exceptions being the ridge of mountains extending north and south, and the water of the gulph to the south-westward.

Mr. Brown found the stone of this ridge of craggy mountains to be argillaceous, similar to that of the flat-topped land where I had taken bearings on the west side of the inlet. It is reddish, smooth, close-grained, and rather heavy. Bushes and some small trees grow in the hollows of the rising hills; and between their