However, it is evident, that if Captain Lipson continues the
same praiseworthy exertions he has hitherto used, he will deepen the bar
for vessels of any tonnage. Under existing circumstances, it may be as
well to state that any ship arriving off the bar when there is not
sufficient water on it for them to enter the port, will find good
anchorage all round the lightship, particularly a little to the westward
of it. The whole Gulf, indeed, from this point, may be considered as a
safe and extensive roadstead. As regards Port Adelaide itself, I cannot
imagine a securer or a more convenient harbour. Without having any broad
expanse of water, it is of sufficient width for vessels to lie there in
perfect safety, whether as regards the wind or the anchorage.
The head of St. Vincent's Gulf is in latitude 34 1/2 degrees. Between
that point and Port Adelaide, the shore is either lined by mangroves, or
is low and sandy. There are, nevertheless, several inlets similar to, but
much smaller than Port Adelaide, and other commodious anchorages for
small craft along it. The principal of these is the inlet connected with
the Gawler, of which I shall hereafter speak. York Peninsula forms the
western shore of St. Vincent's Gulf, and separates it from that of
Spencer. It is a long, low tongue of land--Cape Spencer, its southern
extremity, being in 35 degrees 17 minutes, and in long.
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