Mr. BASS'S WESTERN - WHALEBOAT VOYAGE"
Speaker - Mrs. Valda Cole - (W.Keir) 1998 Annual Dinner

The Society's 1998 Annual Dinner, held at the Traralgon East Senior Citizens' Centre on Friday, 11th September, brought together members and friends for not only a social event but also the opportunity to hear Valda Cole speak on the journeyings of George Bass.

President Jim Hood welcomed Members, our Guest Speaker, Valda Cole, and her co-author and husband, Harry Cole, and friends from the Moe, Morwell and Rosedale Historical Societies.

Valda is a Life Member of the Hastings-Westernport Historical Society, a Member of the R.H.S.V. and the recipient of an R.H.S.V. Award of Merit. She has had 3 books published, the latest being "Mr. Bass's Western Port -  The Whaleboat Voyage", co-authored with Harry Cole.

Her narrative started out from George Bass's birth-place, Aswarby, Lincolnshire, U.K. (Matthew Flinders was born in nearby Donnington.)

George Bass studied medicine and graduated with a Diploma to be a Member of the Company of Surgeons. He did a further course and gained experience as a ship's surgeon's mate, leading to his appointment as Surgeon when he joined the "Reliance", sailing from Deptford to Australia in 1795, under Captain Henry Waterhouse. Also aboard on this voyage was the Governor- Designate (N.S.W.) Captain John Hunter, and Matthew Flinders, 2nd Lieutenant.

After a short while spent in Sydney, Bass and Flinders, young adventurous men of 24 and 21 years respectively, applied to Governor Hunter to make an exploratory voyage in a small boat to Botany Bay. The Governor thought well of them from his observations during the voyage on the "Reliance" and fitted them out with a small boat. Bass, Flinders and a young lad made their way down the coast exploring Botany Bay and the Georges River, which ultimately led to the establishment of Bankstown.

Five months later, they made another voyage, in a slightly bigger boat (the "Tom Thumb"), this time entering the Illawarra estuary south of Port Kembla.

Although trained for Medicine, George Bass was an explorer by nature, as was Flinders who was a trained cartographer. Thus, it was Flinders who was directed to draw up charts recording details of Bass's and his own journeys.

George Bass made an overland trip with Governor Hunter, Judge Advocate David Collins and Captain Waterhouse, to the Camden area, in 1795-1796, and then another, with 2 companions, crossing the Blue Mountains.

In September 1796, Bass was again on the "Reliance", for a journey to the Cape of Good Hope via Norfolk island and Cape Horn, to pick up live stock. A couple more excursions were made, one overland, the other down the south coast of N.S.W. to investigate a report on the sighting of a coal deposit near what is now Coalcliff.

The possibility of there being a strait between Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales had been conjectured by a number of explorers, including James Cook, and others, and Governor Hunter wanted to have the question resolved. George Bass applied to undertake the task.

Bass was fitted out with an open whaleboat, a crew of 6 men (including John Thistle although at no time did Bass mention any of the crew by name in his records) and stores for a 6 week journey. They left Port Jackson on 2nd December 1797. His Journal of the 12 week voyage has been lost without trace, but a "clerk's copy" had been made, and that, together with with information provided by Flinders' later descriptions, records in the Admiralty, British Museum and Libraries, with charts held by the U.K. Hydrographic Office, provide the basis of current knowledge.

They travelled down the New South Wales coast, stopping at Little Harbour, and near Kiama. They tried to enter the Shoalhaven River but found the entrance closed so continued on to the Crookhaven River. They spent 3½ days at Jervis Bay checking on existent data, and were off the coast near Ulladulla by noon on 13th December. On they went to Bateman's Bay, to Tuross Head, to an inlet that he named Barmouth Creek, and Twofold Bay (on 19th December). They rounded Cape Howe on the 20th and reached Ram Head where they were delayed by a S.W. x W. gale that lasted for 10 days. However, they didn't waste time and spent their days investigating and assessing the country and its vegetation.

When the winds abated and they tried to lift anchor they found that it had become embedded in the sand and they lost it. They continued their voyage on 30th December, hoping that they would be able to recover the anchor on their return journey. (They were unsuccessful in their attempt to salvage the anchor on the way home. )

On around the southern coastline they went, now in uncharted territory, noting Point Hicks, Cape Conran and the low-lying country of the 90 Mile Beach before the "high hummocky land" that Bass assumed to be Furneaux's Land (Wilson's Promontory) came into view on New Years Day. They followed down the coast of the promontory and Bass decided to continue sailing southward with the idea of reaching Van Diemen's Land, following its northern coastline and returning to the mainland. But it was not to be, as on 3rd January the boat was shipping water and there was a strong wind blowing, forcing him to turn back to Furneaux's Land.

After reaching the promontory, they followed round the west coast, noting the flora and fauna and watching for fresh water, until they found the entrance to what was to be named Western Port (4th January, 1798).

Bass spent 13 days exploring, making "eye sketches" of the land and charting the channels and shoals of the bay, also the rise and fall of the tides, mentioning the two passages - the east and west passages.

They departed from Western Port on 18th January and once again met with more gale-force winds, causing delays. They called in at an island to collect birds for salting down to provision their homeward journey, and called in at Seal Island on 28th January to examine its commercial possibilities .

Bass wrote an extensive report on Furneaux's Land, describing the terrain and vegetation and noting the run of the tides with the indications of there being a strait, before returning to Corner Inlet which they explored and described in detail. Here he met up with the 5 abandoned convicts encountered on his outward passage, but was only able to take the two most needy (one old, the other ill) on board; however, he took the others across to the mainland, gave them food, a gun, a compass and fishing line and hooks and advised them to set off and walk around the coast to Sydney. Nothing was heard of these men again.

On his way home, Bass called in at Ram Head, passed Cape Howe, called in and made an assessment of Twofold Bay and reached Jervis Bay on 17th February, arriving at Port Jackson on 24th February, ending a 12 week journey and having discovered Western Port and Twofold Bay and established the almost  certainty of the existence of a strait.

On their return the men were welcomed enthusiastically; they were wined and dined, entertained, talks were given, all in celebration of George Bass's successful voyage. (A celebration of the bi-centenary of their momentous journey was held concurrently in Western Port, Victoria, and in George Bass's own village church at Aswarby, Lincolnshire, in January 1998.)

During their journey, they saw smoke from fires back from the coast- line from time to time but only saw few aborigines. Bass noted the very dry condition of the land which led him to think that this might be why he didn't see more of the inhabitants near the coast. They met a few aborigines near Marlo who were helpful in lending assistance to relaunch their boat, and also in Western Port but these people were too shy and couldn't be approached.

In Matthew Flinders' charts, which Governor Hunter directed him to draw up from details of his own and George Bass's journeys, he meticulously noted, where appropriate, that the information recorded was taken from Mr. Bass's Eye Sketches and Records.

In October 1798, George Bass, in the "Norfolk" under Captain Matthew Flinders, with John Thistle of the "whaleboat voyage" on board, circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land thereby proving beyond doubt the existence of the strait.

Valda and Harry Cole have spent years in their persistent and highly successful research and are to be congratulated on their very readable and most interesting book, "Mr. Bass's Western Port, The Whaleboat Voyage", published by the Hastings-Western Port Historical Society Inc. in conjunction with the South Eastern Historical Association. It has many photos, charts and numerous extracts from Logs and other archive documents.

We again thank Valda and Harry Cole for sharing the results of their exciting research with us and their handsome gift of a copy of their book together with copies of some of the charts.