BASS STRAIT. DANNEVIG. 351 



King Island and adjacent regions is rocky on account of the 

 strong currents and heavy seas, and the accumulation of 

 anything but coarse sand is prevented in the passage to the 

 south from King Island, where in most places the rocks are 

 laid bare. Eastwards from this entrance we find finer sand 

 (and shell) thrown forward like a ridge or bar, which in a 

 semicircle extends from King Island to Tasmania. A small 

 eddy is formed in the corner between Circular Head and the 

 Three Hummocks, where in consequence fine sand and mud 

 are met with, but the area is not great. 



To the north from King Island the main body of water 

 enters the Strait in a north-easterly direction, and here also 

 do we find a central channel with rough bottom, where coarse 

 sand gradually replaces the outside rocky conditions. At 

 the north end of the island the flow of the waters is accentu- 

 ated and cut into the western edge of the bank, throwing the 

 sand eastward so that an extensive bank or shoal is met with 

 to the north-east and east from the island and extending far 

 into the Strait. The bottom here consists of moderately fine 

 sand and shell. 



The channel mentioned continues first in the direction of 

 Port Phillip, with a gradually decreasing depth from 60 to 

 48 fathoms ; it then sweeps to the east past Western Port, and 

 following for some distance the contour of Victoria it ulti- 

 mately terminates in a central basin to the north from 

 Tasmania, where the depth ranges from 45 to 53 fathoms. 

 The surveys of the " Endeavour " suggest that the shallowest 

 portion at present of this channel is 44 or 45 fathoms (to the 

 south from Western Port). While, as explained, the strong 

 water currents will have a tendency to remove deposits 

 within their tracks, so will the more quiescent conditions 

 invite accumulation ; this, however, will also be proportionate 

 to the nature of the materials and distance from source of 

 supply. In the western section we find the relatively shallow 

 " tail " bank to the east and north-east from King Island, and 

 also, as mentioned, between the latter place and the Three 

 Hummocks. These accumulations being adjoining, the supply 

 froin the west consists mainly of the heaviest material, and 

 the nature of the sand becomes finer towards the centre of 

 the Strait, where the depth is also the greatest. 



The central area of Bass Strait is now left for consideration. 

 The channel entering from the west along the Victorian coast 

 has already been referred to, and may readily be traversed 

 from the diagram. As far as can be ascertained the shallowest 

 portion of that channel is 44 to 45 fathoms, to the south from 



