Flinders Journal – 28 September

Tuesday 28 September, 1802 Upper Head; Northumberland Islands; Percy Isles "Landing at Upper Head is easy ... every where else the shore is very low, fronted with mud banks, and covered, in some places miles deep, with interwoven mangroves ..." (P71) "The stone of Upper Head, and apparently of all the hills in its neighbourhood, is granitic; whilst that of Long Island and West Hill approach nearer to porphyry. At the inner entrance to Thirsty Sound the points are mostly composed of an earth, which is not heavy, is sometimes red, but more frequently white, or mixed; and of a consistence not harder than ochre." (P71) "Long Island, though covered with grass and wood, is stony and incapable of ordinary cultivation. On the main land, the low parts between the mangroves and the hills seemed to be of a tolerably good soil; and ... the vallies there produced good grass and appeared fertile. There seems, indeed, to be a considerable extent of land about Broad Sound and on the peninsula between it and Shoal-water Bay, which, if not calculated to give a rich return to the cultivator of wheat, would support much cattle, and produce maize, sugar and tobacco; and cotton and coffee would grow upon the more rocky sides of the hills, and probably even upon Long Island." (P71) "Fresh water was scarce at this time, none being any where discovered near the sea side, except a small rill at the back of Upper Head ... it can however be scarcely doubted, that fresh water for domestic purposes would be found in most parts of the country." (P72) "Not a single native was seen, either on the shores of Thursday, or Broad Sounds, during the time of our stay. There are kangaroos in the woods, but not in numbers. The shoals all over the sound are frequented by flocks of ducks and curlews; and we saw in the upper part, some pelicans, an individual of a large kind of crane, and another of a white bird, in form resembling a curlew. Many turtle were seen in the water about Long Island, and from the bones scattered around the deserted fire places; this animal seemed to form the principal subsistence of the natives ... Hump-backed whales frequent the entrance of the sound .. the musketoes and sand flies were very troublesome ...we did not see any snakes or other venomous reptiles or insects." (P72-73) "NNW from Break-sea spit, commences a vast mass of reefs ..." (P75)

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