Flinders
and Bass
1798.
fetch into Adventure Bay, did the same by Cape Frederick Henry.[1] At noon, this cape bore S. 13° W. eight miles, and Fluted Cape was behind it in the same bearing. I proposed to enter the Derwent River; but on making a stretch toward Betsey's Island,[2] it appeared that the Henshaw's Bay of Hayes, instead of being a shallow bight, was a deep opening; and as the north-west wind blew out of the Derwent, we stretched on, seven miles above the island, and came to an anchor in 10 fathoms, sandy ground. This opening is the North Bay of D'Entrecasteaux; but I was totally ignorant, at that time, of its having ever been entered.
Dec. 15, the wind being at north-west, we passed a sloping island (Isle St. Aignan of D'Entrecasteaux), and steered north-eastward, to explore the inlet. After running three-and-half miles, with soundings from 13 no bottom, to 5 fathoms, we anchored under a small island, which lies S. 75° W., one mile and a half, from Point Renard, the uppermost station of the French boats. This small spot received the descriptive name of Isle of Caves, and lies in the passage from North Bay to a large extent of water which appeared to the eastward, and which the French boats did not explore.
From the Isle of Caves we ran six miles, E.S.E. up the new bay, for Smooth Island. The width of the entrance, from Point Renard to Green Head, is two miles, the soundings are from 6 to 16 fathoms, and there are no dangers. Smooth Island, behind which we anchored in 4 fathoms, and where I again landed to take bearings, is three quarters of a mile long, and covered with grass and a few small trees. It had been visited by the natives, as had the Isle of- ↑ This name, given by captain Furneaux, is altered in D'Entrecasteaux's voyage to that of Cape Trobriand. The captain was undoubtedly mistaken in his ideas concerning Frederik Hendrik's Bay; but this does not appear to be a sufficient reason for changing the established name of this cape, unless Tasman had applied it to some other land, which is not the case.
- ↑ This is the Isle Willaumes, of D'Entrecasteaux; but it was known to me from the sketch of captain Hayes, and is still to the colonists, under the name of Betsey's Island.
