Cape Clinton, on the south side of Port …

Rare c.19th hand coloured coastal profile of Cape Clinton, Port Bowen, Queensland by William Westall, artist on board Matthew Flinders seminal survey of the Australia coast on the Investigator.

[EAST COAST. PORT BOWEN.]  Instead of a bight in the coast, we found this to be a port of some extent; which had not only escaped the observation of captain Cook, but from the shift of wind, was very near being missed by us also. I named it PORT BOWEN, in compliment to captain James Bowen of the navy; and to the hilly projection on the south side of the entrance (see the sketch), I gave the appellation of Cape Clinton, after colonel Clinton of the 85th, who commanded the land, as captain Bowen did the sea forces at Madeira, when we stopped at that island  A boat was despatched with the scientific gentlemen to the north side, where the hills rise abruptly and have a romantic appearance; another went to the same place to haul the seine at a small beach in front of a gully between the hills, where there was a prospect of obtaining fresh water; and a third boat was sent to Entrance Island with the carpenters to cut pine logs for various purposes, but principally to make a main sliding keel for the Lady Nelson. Our little consort sailed indifferently at the best; but since the main keel had been carried away at Facing Island, it was as unsafe to trust her on a lee shore, even in moderate weather. On landing at Entrance Island, to take angles and inspect the form of the port, I saw an arm extending behind Cape Clinton to the southward, which had the appearance of a river; a still broader arm ran westward, until it was lost behind the land; and between Entrance Island and Cape Clinton was a space three miles wide, where nothing appeared to obstruct the free passage of a ship into both arms. Finding the port to be worthy of examination, and learning that the seine had been successful and that good water was to be procured, I left orders with lieutenant Fowler to employ the people in getting off pine logs and watering the ship; and early next morning [SUNDAY 22 AUGUST 1802], set off in my whale boat upon an excursion round the port.  From the ship to the inner part of Cape Clinton the soundings were from 5 to 8 fathoms, on a sandy bottom; but close to the innermost point there was no ground at 10 fathoms. From thence I steered up the western arm, passing to the south of a central rock lying a mile out; and got with difficulty to the projection named West-water Head. The arm terminated a little further on; but to the northward, over the land, I saw a long shallow bay at the back of Island Head, and beyond it was the sea. This western arm being full of sandy shoals, and of no utility, if at all accessible to ships, I observed the latitude and took angles, and then returned to the inner part of Cape Clinton. In rowing to the southward, close along the inside of the cape, we had from 3 to 9 fathoms water; but it was too late in the evening to make an examination of the southern arm, and I therefore ascended a hill near the shore, to inspect it. This was called East-water Hill, and I saw from its top, that the southern arm extended S. 16° W. about seven miles, to the foot of the hills behind Cape Manifold, where it terminated in shallows and mangroves. Close under Eastwater Hill there was a small branch running eastward, nearly insulating Cape Clinton; but neither this branch nor the main arm seemed to be deep enough to admit a ship much higher than the cape; and in consequence, I gave up the further examination, and returned on board at seven o’clock.  Amongst the useful bearings for the survey, taken at Eastwater Hill, were the following:  Entrance Island, centre,                 N. 9° 45′ E. Peaked Islet in the offing,              S. 58 45  E. Cape Manifold, east end of the island,   S. 29 40  E. Cape Manifold, highest of the two peaks, S.  3 20  W. By means of this last bearing, the longitude of Port Bowen was connected with Keppel Bay and Port Curtis, independently of the time keepers.

From: Flinders, M. A Voyage to Terra Australis, undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty’s Ship The Investigator and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland schooner. 

References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 756.
Tooley, R.V. The Mapping of Australia. London 1979 : pp. 77-79.
Perry, T. & Prescott, D. A guide to maps of Australia in books published 1780-1830. Canberra 1996 : 1814..

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 589314
Royal Collection Trust UK: RCIN 1054637
Silent World Foundation, Sydney.: SKU SF000813
State Library Victoria: CCF 919.4 F64V