A Voyage to Terra Australis

July 1802, Port Jackson: Matthew Flinders puts to sea again aboard the Investigator, escorted by the little brig Lady Nelson, to explore the east coast of New Holland, which Cook had barely glimpsed.

Where the Endeavour had passed well offshore, Flinders goes in everywhere. He discovers Port Curtis, meets the inhabitants of Keppel Bay, and finds shelter at Port Bowen. In Shoal-water Bay, one evening, the tide tears a boat loose and carries it off into the night. At the head of Broad Sound, the sea draws back for leagues: the tides there exceed thirty feet.

Then comes the Great Barrier Reef. Day after day, the Investigator searches for a way out through a labyrinth of coral, sends the Lady Nelson back to Port Jackson, and at last reaches open sea. At the Murray Islands, canoes laden with coconuts, bananas and bows surround the ship: the islanders cry "tooree!", meaning iron, and the bartering begins. Through Torres Strait, Flinders enters the Gulf of Carpentaria and sails down a coast that only the old Dutch charts had named.

At Sweers Island, the master and the carpenter sound the hull. Their report comes in November: the timber is rotten, and the ship will hardly last more than six months. Should he turn back, or go on charting a continent?