CHAPTER 6. THE RELIANCE AND THE TOM THUMB.

Governor Hunter. Captain Waterhouse. Flinders' passion for exploring new countries. Joins the Reliance. Hunter on the strategic importance of the Cape. Sailing of Reliance and Supply for New South Wales. Flinders' observations. Arrival at Port Jackson. George Bass. The Tom Thumb. Exploration of George's River. A perilous cruise. Meeting with aboriginals. The midshipman as valet. Port Hacking. Patching up the Reliance. Voyage to South Africa.

Bass in the Blue Mountains. Supposed strait isolating Van Diemen's Land. Bass's whaleboat voyage. Wilson's Promontory. Escaped convicts. Discovery of Westernport. Return to Port Jackson.

The wreck of the Sydney Cove. Discovery of Kent's Islands. Biological notes. Seals. Sooty petrels. The wombat. Point Hicks.

Flinders in command of the Norfolk. Bass's association with him. Twofold Bay. Discovery of Port Dalrymple. Bass Strait demonstrated. Black swans. Albatross Island. Tasmanian aboriginals.