Tuesday, 29th May, 1770
Fresh gales between the SSE and ESE, hazy weather with some showers of rain in the PM. Having sounded around the ship and found that there was sufficient water for her over the shoal, we at 3 o’clock weighed anchor and set sail, standing to the westward as the land lay, having first sent a boat ahead to sound. At 6 o’clock, we anchored in 10 fathoms on a sandy bottom about 2 miles from the mainland, the westernmost part of which bore WNW, with still a number of islands in sight a long way without us.
At 5 o’clock in the AM, I sent the master with two boats to sound the entrance of an inlet which bore from us west, distant about one league, into which I intended to go with the ship to wait a few days until the moon increased and in the meantime to examine the country. By the time we had got the ship under sail, the boats made the signal for anchorage, upon which we stood in with the ship and anchored in 5 fathoms of water about a league within the entrance of the inlet, which we judged to be a river running a good way inland.
As I observed the tides to flow and ebb something considerable, I had some thoughts of laying the ship ashore to clean her bottom. With this view, both the master and I went to look for a convenient place for that purpose and at the same time to look for fresh water. Not one drop of which we could find, but we met with several places where a ship might be laid ashore with safety.
Wednesday, 30th May, 1770
In the PM, I went again in search of fresh water but had no better success than before. Therefore, I gave up all thoughts of laying the ship ashore, resolving to spend as little time as possible in a place that was unlikely to afford us any sort of refreshment. However, as I had observed from the hills that the inlet ran a good way inland, I thought this a good opportunity to penetrate into the country and see a little of the inland parts.
Accordingly, I prepared for making that excursion in the morning. The first thing I did was to get upon a pretty high hill at the NW entrance of the inlet before sunrise to take a view of the sea coast and islands that lay off it and to take their bearings. I had the azimuth compass with me for that purpose. The needle differed from its true position considerably, even above 30° in some places more and in others less, for I tried it in several locations. I found it differed from itself by over 2 points in the space of 14 feet. The loose stones on the ground had no effect on the needle, so I concluded that it must be due to iron ore in the hill, visible signs of which appeared not only here but in several other places.
As soon as I had finished here, I proceeded up the inlet. I set out with the first of the flood and long before high water, I had got about 8 leagues up it. Its breadth thus far was from 2 to 4 or 5 miles upon a SWBS direction, but here it spread every way and formed a large lake which communicated with the sea to the NW. I not only saw the sea in this direction but found the tide of flood coming strong in from the NW. I also observed an arm of this lake extending to the eastward, and it is not at all improbable that it communicates with the sea in the bottom of the bay which lies to the westward of Cape Townshend. On the south side of the lake is a ridge of pretty high hills which I was desirous of going upon, but as the day was far spent and high water, I was afraid of being bewildered among the shoals in the night, which promised to be rainy and dirty weather, and therefore I made the best of my way to the ship. In this little excursion, I saw only two people at a distance, and these were all we have seen in this place, although we met with several fireplaces and saw smokes at a distance.
This inlet, which I have named Thirsty Sound due to the lack of fresh water, lies in the latitude of 22° 05′ S and longitude 210° 24′ W. It may be known by a group of small islands lying under the shore from 2 to 5 leagues NW of it. There is also another group of islands lying right before it between 3 and 4 leagues out at sea. Over each of the points that form the entrance is a pretty high round hill. The one on the NW is a peninsula surrounded by the sea at high water. The distance from one to the other is about two miles, and it is bold to both shores. Here is good anchorage in 7, 6, 5, and 4 fathoms of water, with very convenient places for laying a ship ashore where at spring tides the tide does not rise less than 16 or 18 feet, and flows at full and change of the moon about 11 o’clock.
We met with no fresh water or any other kind of refreshments. We saw two turtles but caught none, nor any sort of fish or wildfowl except a few small land birds. Here are the same sort of waterfowl as we saw in Botany Bay and Sting Ray Harbour, and like them, so shy that it is hardly possible to get within shot of them. No signs of fertility are seen upon the land; the soil of the uplands is mostly a hard reddish clay and produces several sorts of trees such as we have seen before and some others, and is clear of all underwood. The lowlands are mostly overrun with mangroves and at spring tides, I believe, are overflowed by the sea. I believe in the rainy seasons there are large land floods, as we saw many places with gullies that seemed to have been made by torrents of water coming from the adjacent hills, besides other visible signs of the water having been a considerable height above the common spring tides.
Dr. Solander and I were upon a rising ground up the inlet, which we thought had at one time or another been overflowed by the sea, and if so, a great part of the country must at that time have been laid under water. Up in the lakes or lagoons, I suppose, are shellfish on which the few natives subsist. We found oysters sticking to most of the rocks upon the shore, which were so small as not to be worth the picking off.
Thursday, 31st June, 1770
Winds southerly and SE, dark hazy weather with rain in the PM. Finding no inducement to stay longer in this place, we weighed anchor at 6 in the AM, put to sea, and stood to the NW, taking advantage of a fresh breeze from SSE. We kept outside the group of islands lying inshore and to the NW of Thirsty Sound, as there appeared to be no safe passage between them and the mainland. At the same time, we saw a number of islands extending out to sea as far as we could see. As we sailed in this direction, our depth of water was 10, 8, and 9 fathoms.
At noon, the NW point of Thirsty Sound, which I have named Pier Head, bore S 36° E, distant 5 leagues. The east point of the other inlet, which communicates with the former as I have mentioned before, bore south by west, distant 2½ leagues. The group of islands above mentioned lay between us and the point. The farthest part of the mainland in sight on the other side of the inlet bore NW. Our latitude by observation was 21° 53′.