Bass and his fellow voyager, Lieutenant Flinders, did not hesitate
now to think that they had passed through the strait, and from the
Pacific had entered the southern Indian ocean; for what within the extent
of a vast sea could give birth to the monstrous swell that was rolling in
before their eyes? and the coast was evidently trending towards the SW
cape.
Mr. Bass says (with all the feeling and spirit of an explorer), that 'he
already began to taste the enjoyment resulting from the completion of
this discovery, which had been commenced in the whale-boat, under a
complication of anxieties, hazard, and fatigue, known only to those who
conducted her;' modestly sharing the praises, to which he alone was
entitled, with those who accompanied him.
It was worthy of remark (Mr. Bass says), that the northern shore of the
strait from Wilson's Promontory (seen in the whale-boat) to Western Port
resembled the bluff bold shore of an open sea, with a swell rolling in,
and a large surf breaking upon it; while the southern shore, or what is
the coast of Van Diemen's land, appeared like the inner shore of a
cluster of islands, whose outer parts break off the great weight of the
sea.
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