ourindooroopilly.com title    Home     Close Window

Readings from Primary Sources on Moreton Bay & Brisbane

These "Readings" from Cook's original journal are reprinted from J.G. Steele, The Explorers of the Moreton Bay District 1770-1830, Brisbane, 1972. J.G. Steele used text from Beaglehole who produced a "very accurate copy of Cook's original journal" (Steele) - J.C. Beaglehole (ed.), The Journals of Captain James Cook (2 vols; Cambridge: 1955, for the Hakluyt Society), I, 318-19.
Note that Footnotes are per J.G. Steele.
Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook made his Australian landfall in the H.M.S. "Endeavour" near Point Hicks on 20 April 1770. He then sailed north. On 17 May, the ship passed about a league (just short of 5 kilometres) east of a reef lying off a point Cook then named Point Danger. By sunset he had arrived at a point he named Point Lookout (north Stradbroke island). During the night, they were driven off shore and in the morning came within sight of another point which Cook named Cape Morton. The shallow bight between Point Lookout and Cape Morton, he named Morton Bay. From a position at least 18 miles north-east of Cape Moreton Cook saw and named the Glass Houses (now called the Glasshouse Mountains), and the northern entrance to the present Moreton Bay, he named Glass House Bay.
Extract from a copy of Cook's Journal
THURSDAY
17TH		   Winds southerly mostly a fresh breeze with which in the p.m. we steered along shore. N¾E at the distance of about 2 leagues off.1 Between 4 and 5 we discovered breakers2 on our larboard bow; our depth of water at this time was 37 fathoms. At sun-set the northernmost land3 in sight bore NBW; the breakers NWBW distant 4 miles and the northernmost land set at noon, which formed a point which I named Point Lookout, bore west distant 5 or 6 miles (Latitude 27°6').4 On the north side of this point the shore forms a wide open bay which I have named Morton Bay,5 in the bottom of which the land is so low that I could but just see it from the top mast head. The breakers I have mentioned lies about 3 or 4 miles from Point Lookout. At this time we had a great sea from the southward which broke prodigious high upon them. Stood on NNE until 8 o'clock when, being past the breakers and having deepened our water to 52 fathoms, we brought to until 12 o'clock, then made sail again to the NNE. At 4 in the a.m. we sounded and had 135 fathoms. At day light I found that we had in the night got much farther northward and from the shore than I expected from the course we steered, for we were at least 6 or 7 leagues off, and therefore hauled in NWBW having the advantage of a fresh gale at SSW; the northernmost land seen last night bore from us at this time SSW distant 6 leagues. This land I named Cape Morton,6 it being the north point of the bay of the same name (Latitude 26°56', Longitude 206°28'). From Cape Morton the land trends away farther than we could see, for there is a small space where we could see no land;7 some on board8 was of opinion that there is a river there because the sea looked paler than usual; upon sounding we found 34 fathoms water, and a fine white sandy bottom, which alone is sufficient to change the apparent colour of sea water without the assistance of rivers. The land need only be as low here as it is in a thousand other places upon the coast to have made it impossible for us to have seen it at the distance we were off. Be this as it may it was a point that could not be cleared up as we had the wind, but should anyone be desirous of doing it that may come after me, this place may always be found by three hills9 which lay to the northward of it in the latitude of 26°53' south. These hills lay but a little way inland and not far from each other; they are very remarkable on account of their singular form of elevation which very much resembles glass houses, which occasioned me giving them that name; the northernmost of the three is the largest and highest.10 There are likewise several other peaked hills inland to the northward of these but they are not near so remarkable. At noon we were by observation in the latitude of 26°28' south, which was 10 miles to the northward of the log, a circumstance that has not happened since we have been on the coast before. Our course and distance run since yesterday noon was NBW 80 miles, which brought us into the longitude of 206°46'. At this time we were about 2 or 3 leagues from the land and in 24 fathoms water. A low bluff point11 which was the south point of an open sandy bay bore N 62° W distant 3 leagues and the northernmost point of land in sight bore N¼E. Several smokes seen today and some pretty far inland.
1. Off what is now Jumpinpin.
2. Flat Rock.
3. Cape Moreton.
4. This measurement was considerably in error. Flinders offered an explanation in July 1799.
5. After James Douglas, the fourteenth Earl of Morton, who was President of the Royal Society. This bay is on the eastern side of Moreton Island; the present Moreton Bay is on the western side.
6. The present Cape Moreton.
7. The northern entrance to the present Moreton Bay, called Glass House Bay on Cook's chart.
8. Including Joseph Banks who "was led to conclude that the bottom of the bay might open into a large river".
9. Three of the Glasshouse mountains, probably Beerwah (1823 feet), Tibrogargan (1160 feet) and the higher of the two Tunbubudlas (1025 feet). Crookneck (Coonowrin, 1230 feet) was not visible as a distinct mountain, since from Cook's position, it was immediately in front of Beerwah.
10. Cook was referring to Beerwah. But the most northerly of the larger Glass Houses is actually Crookneck.
11. Noosa Head.