Flinders
and Bass
1798.
The little time there was for examining the coast, confined my observations to what were necessary for giving it the formation it has in the chart. The country is hilly, and Mr. Bass found it impenetrable from the closeness of the tall brush wood, although it had been partially burnt not long before. There was very little soil spread over the rock and sand, and the general aspect was that of sterility. Several deserted fire places, strewed round with the shells of the sea ear, were found upon the shore.
The south-west wind died away in the night; and at six next morning, Dec. 9, we got under way with a light air at south-east. After rounding the north-east point of the three-hummock land, our course westward was pursued along its north side.
A large flock of gannets was observed at daylight, to issue out of the great bight to the southward; and they were followed by such a number of the sooty petrels as we had never seen equalled. There was a stream of from fifty to eighty yards in depth, and of three hundred yards, or more, in breadth; the birds were not scattered, but flying as compactly as a free movement of their wings seemed to allow; and during a full hour and a half, this stream of petrels continued to pass without interruption, at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of the pigeon. On the lowest computation, I think the number could not have been less than a hundred millions; and we were thence led to believe, that there must be, in the large bight, one or more uninhabited islands of considerable size.[1]
From the north-east point of the three-hummock land, the shore trended W. 1° N. three miles.; then S. 39° W. four miles, to a rocky point, forming the south-west extremity of what was then ascertained to be Three-hummock Island. The channel which separates
- ↑ Taking the stream to have been fifty yards deep by three hundred in width, and that it moved at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and allowing nine cubic yards of space to each bird, the number would amount to 151,500,000. The burrows required to lodge this quantity of birds would be 75,750,000; and allowing a square yard to each burrow, they would cover something more than 18½ geographic square miles of ground.
