Page 353

Voyages in the Southern Hemisphere, Vols. II - III

Table of Contents On this day ... 24 November 1769 Endeavour Voyage Maps James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia Transcript of Cook's Journal Joseph Banks's Journal Sydney Parkinson's Journal Mercury Bay to the Bay of Islands Index Search Contact us

Mercury Bay to the Bay of Islands (continued) Cape Colville lies in latitude 36° 26’, longitude 194° 27’; it rises directly from the sea to a considerable height, and is remarkable for a lofty rock, which stands to the pitch of the point, and may be distinguished at a very great distance. From the south point of this Cape the river runs in a direct line S. by E. and is no where less than three leagues broad for the distance of fourteen leagues above the Cape, and there it is contracted to a narrow stream, but continues the same course through a low flat country, or broad valley, which lies parallel with the sea coast, and the end of which we could not see. On the east side of the broad part of this river the land is tolerably high and hilly; on the west side it is rather low, but the whole is covered with verdure and wood, and has the appearance of great fertility, though there were but a few small spots which had been cultivated. At the entrance of the narrow part of the river the land is covered with mangroves and other shrubs; but farther, there are immense woods of perhaps the finest timber in the world, of which some account has already been given: in several places the wood extends to the very edge of the water, and where it is at a little distance, the intermediate space is marshy, like some parts of the banks of the Thames in England: it is probable that the river contains plenty of fish, for we saw poles stuck up in many places to set nets for catching them, but of what kinds I do not know. The greatest depth of water that we found in this river was six and twenty fathom, which gradually decreased to one fathom and an half: in the mouth of the fresh water stream it is from four to three fathom, but there are large flats and sand banks lying before it. A ship of moderate draught may, notwithstanding, go a long way up this river with a flowing tide, for it rises perpendicularly near ten feet, and at the full and change of the moon, it is high water about nine o’clock. Voyaging Accounts © Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 356 - 357, 2004 Published by kind permission of the Library To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/353.html