98 
A VOYAGE TO 
[South Coast. 
1S02. At the termination of the bank and of the second range of 
Wednes.27. cliffs, the coast became sandy, and trended north-eastward about 
three leagues ; after which it turned south-east-by-east, and formed 
the head of the Great Australian Bight, whose latitude I make to be 31 0 
29' south, and longitude 131 0 10' east. In the chart of admiral 
D'Entrecasteaux, the head of the Great Bight is placed in 31 0 36' and 
131 0 27' ; but I think there is an error at least in the latitude, for the 
admiral says, " at day break I steered to get in with the land ; and 
" the wind having returned to south-east, we hauled our starbord 
" tacks on board, being then four or five leagues from the coast. 
" At eleven o'clock, the land was seen a-head, and we veered ship in 
" 32 fathoms, fine sand/'* The latitude observed at noon, as appears 
by the route table, was 3 1° 38' 58" ; and if we suppose the ship, 
lying up south-south-west, to have made 2' of southing in the hour, 
as marked in the chart, she must have been in 31° 37' at eleven 
o'clock ; which is within one mile of the latitude assigned to the 
head of the bight, where the shore curves to the south-east-by-east. 
This does not accord with the land being only then seen a-head, 
since the weather appears to have admitted the sight of it at the 
distance of four or five leagues. If we suppose the admiral, when he 
veered, to have been eight, instead of one mile from the head of the 
Great Bight, and the account strongly favours the supposition, it 
will then agree with my latitude. I had only 27 fathoms in crossing 
the head ; and although it is possible there may be 30 closer in, 
yet in such a place as this the probability is, that the ship having 
the greatest depth of water was the furthest from the land. 
After steering east-north-east, east, and east-south-east, and hav- 
ing seen the beach all round the head of the Great Bight, we hauled 
up parallel to the new direction of the coast, at the distance of six 
* Voyage de D'Entrecasteaux, par M. de Rossel, Tome I. page 220. The 32 fa- 
thoms are, 1 believe, of five French feet each, making very nearly 30 fathoms English 
measure. 
