Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/31

The Forerunners when the active work of examination was impossible, the officers, resting on board the ship, passed the time in conjectures concerning the magnitude and value of this discovery. Thus it was premised to be a large river, a deep inlet, an inland sea, or a passage into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Subsequent observation proved it to be no more and no less than a far-stretching gulf, and it was named after Earl Spencer, then First Lord of the Admiralty.

The pleasant anticipation of Saturday night stood in very human contrast to the domestic sadness of Sunday evening. A grim and disastrous incident formed the beginning of English history in the Gulf Next day (February 21, 1802) Flinders went over to an island eastwards with an old and appreciated companion, Mr. Thistle, the mate of the Investigator. The two had served together, with few breaks, since 1795, and had explored in company many unknown parts of the earth. Late in the afternoon, Thistle, accompanied



by Mr. Taylor (a midshipman) and six sailors, was sent in a cutter to the mainland to take observations on shore. In the twilight those aboard the ship saw the cutter returning under sail. Half an hour elapsed, but the boat did not arrive; and as the sight of it had been lost rather suddenly, a guiding light was shown. Presently, Lieutenant Fowler was sent in search with a lantern. Then two hours passed, and no tidings were received. A gun was fired, and soon Lieutenant Fowler returned. Near where the cutter was last seen he entered a rippling of the tide so strong that his boat was almost upset, and there was reason to believe that the cutter had capsized and thrown its occupants into the water. After vainly hallooing and firing muskets, the ship's company became anxiously silent, and waited for the morning. Earnest search was then made, and the lost cutter was found, bottom upwards, and stove in as if dashed on the rocks. Days were spent in searching