THE BRITISH CRITIC, For JULY, 1804. Μήθ' οἷς ἐχθαίρεις With those whom you diflike be not too harsh, SOPHOCLES. ART. I. The Narrative of a Voyage of Difcovery, performed. in his Majefty's Veffel the Lady Nelfon, of Sixty Tons Burthen, with Sliding Keels, in the Years 1800, 1801, and 1802, to New South Wales. By James Grant, Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Including Remarks on the Cape de Verd lands, Cape of Good Hope, the hitherto unknown Parts of New Holland, difcovered by him in his Paffage (the first ever attempted from Europe) through the Streight Separating that Island from the Lend difcovered by Van Dieman: together with various Details of his Interviews with the Natives of New South Wales; Obfervations on the Soil, Natural Productions, &c. not known, or very flightly treated of, by former Navigators; with his Voyage Home in the Brig Anna Jofepha round Cape Horn; and an Account of the prefent State of Falkland Islands. To which is prefixed, an Account of the Origin of Sliding Keels, and the Advantages refulting from their Ufe; with an Appendix of Orders, Certificates, and Examinations, relative to the Trial Cutter. The Whole illuftrated with elegant Engrav ings. 4to. 195 pp. 11. 1s. Egerton. 1803. THIS HIS is one of the mofl artlefs, and, at the fame time, interefting Narratives that it has fallen in our way to examine. The gallant and intrepid author undertook a voyage to New Holland, A BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXIV. JULY, 1804. Holland, with the intention of examining its coafts, in a vessel calculated only for fifteen men, and fo very contemptible in its dimenfions, that fhe was univerfally diftinguifhed by the appellation of his Majefty's Tinder-Box. She poffeffed, however, the advantage of having a fliding keel, which Mr. Grant himself confidered, and which ultimately in the event proved, an adequate compenfation for its inferiority of fize. The navigator fays nothing of himfelf, of the peril of his undertaking, or the fuccefs of its accomplishment; and, indeed, introduces very little extraneous matter of any kind. Whereas, if he had poffeffed the too well-known art of book-making, with a little more experience in writing, it would have been very eafy for him to have produced a volume of double capacity and price. He, however, enters immediately on his fubject, by giving a very fuccinct, but fatisfactory account of the origin of fliding keels, which it feems were firft invented by Captain Schank in America. He next points out their general and particular advantages, which seem to be many. They would anfwer better than any other as coafters, and are peculiarly adapted for the coal-trade. They will anfwer better in canals, for corn or mixed cargoes. They have the advantage of all others, in cafe of lofing the rudder; and they will last longer than thofe now in ufe for thefe purposes. These are their advantages as trading veffels; their advantages with refpect to fhips in general ufe are, that they will fail faster, fteer eafier, tack and wear quicker, they will carry more freight and draw lefs water, they will ride ealier at anchor, they will take the ground better, in cafe of fhipwreck or any other accident, they are fafer, and, finally, they will anfwer better as men of war, bombs, fire-fhips, floating-batteries, gun-boats, &c. &c. These inftances of fuperiority are not imputed to this defcription of veffel, from any zeal of private friendship for its inventor, or from any enthufiafm of prejudice; but the experiments were moft of them fairly and fuccefsfully made by Mr. Grant himfelf. The Narrative of the Voyage now commences, and the author defcribes his run from the Thames to the Cape of Good Hope. We fhall not here detain the reader with any extract, as nothing of very particular importance occurred. The tranfactions at the Cape are detailed, in a manner which shows Mr. Grant capable, with very little leisure and reflection, of defcribing the occurrences of a maritime life with ease and energy. The The voyage from the Cape to New Holland will be read with peculiar intereft by all, as fuch a run was never made before, and hardly will again, in fo very fmall a veffel. The author thus fpeaks of himfelf and fhip. "On "On the 7th of October, being completely equipped, I put to fea at eleven A. M. with a fine breeze from the N. W. and bid adieu to many who came down to fee the little veffel depart, most of whom entertained doubts of our ever reaching New South Wales. At four P. M. I got clear out of Falfe Bay, and at feven in the evening Cape Hanglip bore E. N. E. and the Cape of Good Hope N. W. W. diftant five leagues. We had now fresh gales from the W. and W. N. W. which in the night freshened with rain and a confiderable fea. I found that the veffel had loft none of her good qualities; and as the S. E. Monfoon had fet in at this feason, which blows with much force at times, I was determined to keep as much as poffible out of its track, by getting into a higher fouth latitude as fast as I could. It was recommended to me to run down my eafting without going into a higher latitude than the Cape, from an idea that the heaviness of the fea in the latitude of 40 S. would be too much for my veffel to fcud through, owing to the W. winds blowing in thefe latitudes conftantly. all the year round, and generally from the S. and W. thereby occafioning much heavy fea, hail, fleet, &c. Being well affured of the fafety of my veffel, joined to the delays that might attend my keeping in variable latitudes fubject to the ftrong S. E. winds, I profecuted for fome time my couife to the fouthward, judging that on finding ourfelves in too heavy weather we could leave it by hauling to the northward, and keeping in that parallel which beft anfwered my purpofe; at the fame time fecuring a fair W. wind. Independent of this being my own idea, I was encouraged in it by Captain John Ofborn, of his Majefty's fhip Tremendous, an old and experienced officer, whofe attention to me whilft at the Cape, joined to much good advice concerning my voyage, I am happy in having the opportunity to acknowledge, and to fay that I profited by it. "At fix A. M. we had fqually weather with much rain, which by noon cleared off, and we obferved the latitude to be 35° 40' S. I ftill continued running to the fouthward, and found, as we got into an higher latitude, the wind to increase with much rain at times, and in general gloomy and uncomfortable weather, though we had not as yet met with the S. W. winds fo much looked for. In the latitude of 36° and 37° I found that they hung in the N. W. quarter, and shifted to N. and N. E. "On the 10th, I obferved at noon the latitude to be 38° 40′ S. We had much following fea, though not in my opinion wind enough to raise or cause it. The wind had varied from E. N. E. to N. Ŵ. by N. It had every appearance of blowing, and as I have often found fince in thefe high fouthern latitudes, that the fea frequently gets to a great height before the gale comes on, I have also obferved, that after a gale has done blowing for fome time, the fea will continue to rife, break much, and become very troublesome. It is no uncommon thing to find an heavy gale that has continued to blow with great violence, and fteady for many hours, die away in the course of half an hour to almoft a perfect calm. To many who are in large heavy veffels, like thofe in general made ufe of in croffing these feas, fome of the above particulars might be, and I believe are, but little obferved or attended to; but owing to the fmall fize of the Lady Nel A & fon, fon, it became of the utmost importance to me to attend particularly to all thofe evolutions: in larger veffels the fea is not fo much felt. As I obferved above, we had this day no more than a fresh wind with a heavy following fea; infomuch, that the difference of latitude, by obfervation at noon, was fifteen miles more than our distance run. It perhaps might be owing to currents; however, I am inclined to impute it to the power the fea has over the light draught of water of fmall veffels like mine when going before it. Soon after noon it came on to blow very heavy, fo that before night we were obliged to hand every thing except the clofe reefed main-top-fail, and reefed fore-fail. The vefiel feudded through the fea remarkably well, though it had got up to an uncommon height, and fo perpendicular, that when getting over, it appeared as running down a fleep precipice; yet fhe did not hip any water of confequence. From the magnified ftories I had heard at the Cape, I was in fome degree led to believe I fhould not have lefs all the way; I therefore made fome cafting, and endeavoured to keep in this parallel of latitude, until I faw how the weather would turn out. At twelve P. M. it freshened fo much that we were obliged to bunt the fore-fail, and let the veffel run with the clofe-reefed maintop-fail lowered down on the cap all night, which fhe did perfectly eafy and dry. I am aware that many feamen may think feadding under a main-top-fail in a brig is a bad plan in cafe of broaching to, and prefer going under the fore-top-fail; but here is another advantage which veffels with fliding keels have over others. Veffels in general broach to in a fea from not anfwering their helms fufficiently quick, perhaps from the force of the fea depriving, by its lift for a time, the rudder of its power. It is often occafioned in deep-loaded veffels, by their being too much loaded by the head; fo that in all weathers they require a great deal of weather-helm, or as it is termed fteer wild. In thefe cafes, no doubt, a fore top-fail is ferviceable to pay off the vesfel again by. But it has alfo the difadvantage, that it will often bury her more in the fea, and not admit of her being fo lively as the might prove from a fail more in the center. Some are of opinion, that a fore-top-fail makes a veffel lively by the force of the wind, ferving as it were to lift the veffel up; but in fmall fhort ones, in a heavy towering ea, it will be found to impel them much fafter downwards, than in affifting them to rife to it, frequently burying the bowfprit in the water, if not carrying it entirely away. By fuch means every thing may be washed off the decks, and the veffel much ftrained. The fliding keels, in this laft refpect, are particularly ferviceable; because the trim of the veffel, that is, the draught of water at either extremity, may be altered at pleafure; by which means, if properly attended to, fhe may be fteered in the heaviest weather with the greateft cafe, and in general weather without touching the helm at all. In all cafes, a veifel of this defcription can be brought up, or fall off, fafter than her fails can be trimmed to the wind. There is another great advantage, which is, in heaving-to quickly in an heavy fea: this is particularly ufeful in small craft, as I have often experienced, by having the fail ready to let that I intended to lay to under, and watching the paffing of one fea, with proper attention to the keels, and taking the head-fail • quickly off as the helm is put down; by which means, the veffel will be be round head to the next following fea, and would ftay if not prevented by again righting the helm. This cannot be done in other veffels; they must be brought-to gradually, and often fhip many feas before that can be accomplished, as their beam mult neceffarily for a time be expofed, and in deep-loaded veffels, frequently attended with the lofs of every thing on deck from the force of the fea. "The fame heavy weather continued with very little variation, accompanied with hail at times, and heavy rain till the 12th, when it began to moderate, and towards noon the gale had nearly fubfided, but left behind it an high troublesome crofs fea, which made the veffel tumble about a great deal, and fhip fome water at times. As the wind had varied during the gale from N. by E. to W. N. W. hauling back at times to N. N. W. and N. W. I altered our courfe as I found it convenient, keeping the vessel right before the wind, which, as it did not lead us out of our way, I preferred on account of the heavinefs of the fea we had got into, which at times broke much I was therefore, from this circumftance, obliged at all times to have a watchful eye upon the fea, and throw the veffel directly before it, without regarding any particular courfe, by which means the fhipped little water. At noon on the 12th, by obfervation, I found we were in lat. 38° 17′ S. long. by account, 27° 18' E.-We this day had many birds of the Pintadoe and Petterel kind about us. One of the former fpecies, a very beautiful bird, in the height of the gale, from what cause I know not, unless it had overeaten itfelf, fell down on the deck, and vomited a greenish fort of matter as it was falling. One of the men picked it up, and brought it to me, but I ordered it to be laid on the deck, where it scrambled about till it got behind a hencoop, when it lay quiet. I have reafon to believe that aquatic birds, which chiefly prey on the water, and but feldom vifit land, are inca pable of walking, but affift themselves by fcrambling with their feet and wings; at leaft, all I have had an opportunity of obferving did fo. After remaining behind the coop about fifteen minutes, the bird again fcrambled to the fide of the vellel, and dropped into the water, where it appeared for the short time we faw it as lively as any of the others, which were in numbers about us, both in the water and on the wing. It is certain that the black Haglet, which I have feveral times mentioned in this narrative, procures its food by often haraffing and fighting with other birds, particularly a fpecies of gull (called by the feamen the Fisherman) until they throw up the food they have fwallowed, which the other instantly feizes on. Probably this might have been the cause of the Pintadoe taking fhelter with us. Hereafter I shall have occafion to notice these kind of birds." P. 54. A large part of this volume is agreeably occupied in describing the occurrences at New Holland and New South Wales, and here it was that the author began to execute the object for which he was exprefsly fent; namely, to take a sketch of the coaft, and to lay it down as accurately as he could, with fuch remarks and obfervations as he might be able to make. This part of the work is particularly interefting; the author made. many new discoveries, and his general remarks will always be found |