Memoirs of
Hydrography Including Brief Biographies of the Principal Officers who
Have Served in H.M. Naval Surveying Service Between the Years 1750 and
1885 By Llewellyn Styles Dawson
The discovery of the
Strait which separates New Holland from Van Diemen's land, was made in a
whale sloop, commanded by Mr. Bass, the surgeon of the Reliance. This vessel
may be said to have been consecrated to that great discovery, and hazardous
navigation; for it is preserved in the harbour with a fort of religious
veneration; some snuff boxes have been made out of its keel, of which the
possessors are both prod and jealous; and the governor himself thought he
could not make a more acceptable present to our chief, than a piece of the
wood of this sloop, encased in a large silver toothpick box; round which
were engraved the principal particulars of the discovery of Bass
Straits.....M Peron