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pp. 4-7.
“In March, 1796, George Bass, Surgeon of H.M.S. ‘Reliance,’ with Matthew Flinders, went as far south as the Lake Illawarra district [in the Tom Thumb], just south of Wollongong, where they clipped the beards of the natives to put them in good humour and secure their friendship.
“On the 3rd december, 1797, Bass left Sydney for the south in a whaleboat with six picked seamen, and discovered Bass Strait.
“On the 5th December, 1797, Bass writes : - ‘At 1 sailed with a fresh sea-breeze at N.E., and at sunset passed the five islands laying off Hat Hill Named by Cook]. It was calm all night, but in the morning we stood along the land with a light air, almost at east, which continued until noon, when our latitude was 34 degrees 36 minutes.’
“Hat Hill is understood to be what is now known as Mount Kembla.
“The southern edge of Bass Point near Shellharbour is in latitude 34 degrees 36 minutes, and as Bass was in this latitude at noon, and sailed on for one hour, it would appear that he subsequently landed at Bombo or Kiama, some 4 or 5 miles to the south.
“On the 6th December he writes : - ‘At 1 the air of wind freshened up into a breeze, but at the same time southerned so much that we could not lay along the land; we therefore went into a bight and anchored.’ In the Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. III, p. 313, it is assumed that Bass anchored in the bight of which Point Bass forms the southern extremity. It would seem certain, however, that he landed some miles to the south and discovered what is now the famous Kiama Bolw-hole. His entry goes on to say : - ‘The shore in this bight, and also for some distance on each side of it, bears evident marks of volcanic fire. Several of the little heads and points are of a basaltic nature: some irregular, other columnar basaltis. Upon landing, I perceived, near the extremity of one of the heads, the rocks laying scattered about in a very irregular manner, and upon examination it appeared that a volcanic eruption had formerly taken place there. The earth for a considerable distance round, in a form approaching that of a circle, seemed to have given way: it was now a green slope. Towards the centre was a deep ragged hole of about 25 or 30 feet in diameter, and on one side of it the sea washed in through a subterraneous passage with a most tremendous noise. The pieces of rock that lay scattered about had all been burnt, but some were in a state of scoria.’
“Judge McFarlane, in his book on Illawarra and Monaro Illawarra and Manaro: Districts of New South Wales, Sydney, 1872], mentions, without comment, that Bass was the discoverer of the Kiama Blow Hole.
“On the 7th December he discovered and named Shoals Haven [Shoalhaven]. He writes : - ‘At five, seeing an opening in the bottom of the bay, we judged it to be an inlet, and ran down to it, but found it to be a shallow lagoon, with a bar breaking across the mouth: we therefore rowed on along the bay for a rocky projecting point that promised fair for affording shelter, and at six came up with it, and found a small river into which we went. This little place, which deserves no better name than Shoals Haven [Shoalhaven], for it is not properly a river, is very narrow at the entrance, the south side which is formed by the rocky point.’ It is, of course, clear that Bass entered Crookhaven, but during his explorations he subsequently discovered the main river and followed it up the southern side, for 8 or 10 miles, where he says the river enters the mountains with high rocky banks. This would be in the vicinity of the present Nowra bridge. Bass considered the soil to be good but ‘the difficulty of shipping off the produce would ever remain a bar to its colonisation, though a nursery of cattle might perhaps be carried on here with advantage.’
“On the 10th December, 1797, Bass reached Jervis Bay, where he stayed a few days. He writes : - ‘The country round the Bay is in general barren.’
“By midday on the 14th Bass was evidently off Ulladulla, though he makes no allusion to the spot, but writes : - ‘At noon our latitude was 35 degrees 16 minutes [this latitude would put Bass due offshore of Lake Conjola], the Pigeon House bearing west.’ At three, passed an island, laying S.E. from the Pigeon House, upon which we observed a pole or stump sticking on so high and conspicuous a part that we had every reason to believe some shipwrecked persons had erected it there. There was too heavy and fiery a following sea for us to dare to haul up for it now; we therefore, left it for our return. At five we entered Bateman Bay.’
“ ‘Bateman Bay falls far short of that respectable figure it makes in the charts, for its depth back is not more than a mile, and its length a mile and three-fourths or two miles. It has a high steep north head, behind which it runs in northerly about a fourth of a mile, but there is no shelter except merely from northerly winds. Even in the furthest corner there is too much surf upon the beach for any boat to lay without constant attendance.’
“ ‘The north and south sides are hilly. Grass grows tolerably luxuriant upon them, but they seem only fit for feeding cattle. The land on the west side is low and wet, but a few grassy risings might afford good sites. The valleys and slopes of several of the little hills at some distance back are capable of cultivation, some of them to great advantage. The only difference remarkable in the vegetable productions is the increased size of the she and swamp oaks.’
“The island on which Bass saw the pole or stump was that known as Murramarang, or Brush Island, and will be referred to later.
“it does not appear to be generally known, nor is the point referred to in the Historical Records, that all of Bass’s remarks about Bateman Bay were referred to that inlet under a misapprehension, for the result of the present investigation into his Journal makes it clear that Bass did not visit Bateman Bay at all, but by some means confused it with an inlet some six or seven miles to the northward known as Durras.
“Let us apply Bass’s description of Bateman Bay to the measurements of Durras Inlet.
“The depth back of Durras Inlet is just under one mile, and its length just under two miles, while it extends northerly one-fourth of a mile behind the north head. The dimensions are, therefore, practically identical with those given by Bass for Bateman Bay. Bass says : - ‘It has a high steep north head.’ The north head of Durras was named Point Upright by Captain Cook. The north side of Durras Inlet rises gradually to a height of over 900 feet and is known as Durras Mountain, while part of the southern side is made up of low ridges, and the western side is an alluvial flat for about a mile, beyond which is a nice sheet of water known as Durras Water or Lake.
“It is well known that Bateman Bay is many times larger than Durras Inlet, its distance across the opening being about four miles and its depth back about five miles. Across the entrance of Bateman Bay are several islands, and in connection with this fact Bass’s subsequent entry is significant. He mentions that two hours after he left the supposed Bateman Bay in his whaleboat it was noon, and ‘our latitude was 35 degrees 43 minutes [This is the exact latitude of the Northern Headland of Batemans Bay], two or three small islands lying close under the shore, bore west.’ It is evident that when taking his latitude he was passing Bateman Bay, the southern headland of which is latitude 35 degrees 42 minutes [This is incorrect. This is offshore of Oaky Beach in the Murramarang National Park]. By nightfall he reached a point near the mouth of the Tuross River, without having noticed the Moruya River.
“On the 19th December, 1797, Bass discovered Twofold Bay, and on his return journey, left it at sunset on the 16th February, 1798, passing Mount Dromedary at 1 a.m. on the following morning. He writes : - ‘At 10 passed Bateman Bay, and about noon landed upon the small island 7 or 8 miles to the northward of it , where we had observed the pole, like a flagstaff, on the 14th December. The pole proved to be a dead stump of a tree, but much taller and straighter than any now growing there. The island however, is too near to the main, and too much frequented by natives for any shipwrecked persons to have remained long upon it. The wind having crawled round so far to the eastward that we could not weather the outermost part of the land to the northward, we stayed here the night. At 8 a.m., a sea breeze setting in at S.E., we stood on to the northward. At noon our latitude was 35 degrees 14 degrees [offshore of Bendalong], the Pigeon House bearing W. by S.’
“It is of interest to know that the intrepid mariner, George Bass, with his party, passed a night on, or anchored beside, Murramarang Island [Brush Island]. It will be noticed that he gives the distance from Bateman Bay as 7 or 8 miles, whereas it is distant about 16 miles from Bateman Bay and about 9 in a direct line miles from Durras Inlet, which is further evidence of the mistaken identification of Bateman Bay. It is not unlikely that amongst the spectators who saw Bass in his whaleboat in this locality, where the parents of the late ‘Maria,’ the very old aborigine who died at Ulladulla in October 1914, and who was a native of the Durras district.
“After his return to Port Jackson, which her reached on 25th February, 1798, Bass pointed out that he had been misled in his identification of certain landmarks in the vicinity of Shoalhaven and Jervis Bay by an erroneous sketch supplied by Lieut. Bowen whose latitude for Cape St. George would place that headland 15 miles north of its true position; but whether this affected the identification of localities so far south of Bateman Bay is not stated.”
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