Chart of the Intertropical west coasts of Australia as surveyed in the years 1818 to 1822

Rare map showing the coastal surveys made by Phillip Parker King from Western Australia to Keppel Bay in Queensland on four voyages made in the Mermaid and Bathurst between 1818-22. In 1817 King had been instructed by the Admiralty, &#8216to explore, that part of the coast of New Holland…not surveyed or examined by the late Captain Flinders&#8217. He was provided with the recently acquired Mermaid and departed for his first survey in December with a crew that included, the botanist Allan Cunningham, surveyor John Septimus Roe and the aboriginal Bungaree. King had also been further instructed by the Admiralty to search for a river, &#8216likely to lead to an interior navigation into this great continent&#8217. This was a recurring goal of the Admiralty and Colonial Office which had hoped to discover a navigable river comparable to the Mississippi. The Mermaid began its surveying from North West Cape and returned by the same route to Port Jackson 24 July, 1818. On 8 May 1819, the Mermaid made its survey of the east coast, continued around Cape York along the north coast finding Cambridge Gulf and returned to Sydney via the west coast but first stopping at Timor. On 14 June 1820, the Mermaid again sailed up the east coast where King re-visited Endeavour River. Sailing north he continued his survey from Cassini Island and at Careening Bay, the Mermaid was careened for repairs. King finally returned to Sydney via the south west coast and on her return the Mermaid was condemned. King left for his final survey, sailing along the east coast in the ship Dromedary, renamed the Bathurst, and resumed surveying the north-west coast. While on this survey the Bathurst was found to be in poor condition, so King went to Mauritius to have her refitted. They returned to King George&#8217s Sound on 24 December, surveying the south west coast for a few weeks, arriving at Sydney on 25 April, 1822. From, Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia. Performed Between the Years 1818-1822.