Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 1.djvu/404

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The variation from an amplitude, observed when the ship's head was south-eastward, was 2° 50′ east; but the compass being upon a stand out of its usual place, I cannot deduce the true variation, but took it to be 4° 40′ east, nearly as found at the preceding anchorage.

Early in the morning, I went in a boat, accompanied by the naturalist, to examine more closely the head of the gulph. We carried from 4 to 3 fathoms water four miles above the ship, when it shoaled to fifteen and eight feet, which brought us to mud flats, nearly dry; but by means of a small channel amongst them we got within half a mile of the shore, and walked to it upon a bank of mud and sand.

It was then ten o'clock, and the tide was out; so that I judged the time of high water to be about seven hours after the moon's passage, or three hours later than at Kanguroo Island; and the ordinary rise appeared to be six or eight feet. An observation of the sun's meridian altitude from the artificial horizon, showed the landing place to be in latitude 34° 8′ 52″, and the uppermost water might be 30″ less; whence the extent of this inlet, from Cape Jervis on the east side of the entrance, is 1° 30′ of latitude.

Microscopic shells of various kinds, not larger than grains of wheat, were heaped up in ridges at high-water mark; further back the shore was sandy, but soon rose, in an undulating manner, to hills covered with grass; and the several clumps of trees scattered over them gave the land a pleasing appearance from the water side. We set off in the afternoon for the Hummock Mount, which stands upon a northern prolongation of the hills on the west side of the inlet, and about eight miles from the water; but finding it could not be reached in time to admit of returning on board the same evening, I ascended a nearer part of the range, to inspect the head of the inlet. It was almost wholly occupied by flats, which seemed to be sandy in the eastern part and muddy to the westward. These flats abounded with rays; and had we been