Gedday,

 Apologies for being so quiet.  I was away in Indonesia last week and have been a bit busy since returning.

Anyway, at the airport I bought a book, edited by Tim Flannery, titled "The explorers".  the book consists of a collection of original writings by Australian explorers.  Have a read of this excerpted from "Terra Australis"  by Matthew Flinders, published in London in 1814, and being an account/diary of his circumnavigation of Australia in 1802-1803.  This passage is from 17 February 1803 when he is up on the Top End, on the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

"According to Pobassoo, from whom my information was principally obtained, sixty prows belonging to the Rajah of Boni, and carrying one thousand men, had left Macassar with the north-west monsoon, two months before, upon an expedition to this coast......"

and later, entered on the same date:

"My numberless questions were answered patiently, and with apparent sincerity; Pobassoo even stopped one day longer, at my desire, than he had intended, for the north-west monsoon, he said, would not blow quite a month longer, and he was rather late."
 

This is fascinating for a number of reasons:
a)  It is an extraordinarily early reference to the northwest monsoon in the context of northern Australia.  When I read it, I wondered if Flinders actually did say that or whether it had been edited by Flannery to make it understandable to modern readers.  I wandered over to the Rare Books Collection in the State Library yesterday and requested that I see the original 1814 edition.  I did, and confirmed the quotation is exactly as reproduced.

b) Pobassoo, the chief of the group from Macassar, spoke to Flinders in Malay through Flinders' cook who was Malay.  Thus presumably the term used would have been Musim baratlaut, meaning northwest season.  My guess is that the word "monsoon" was substituted by Flinders and was presumably the standard translation at the the time.  Does anyone have any further historic information on this?

c)  I wonder why the chief wanted to get home while the northwest monsoon was still blowing.  When he was returning to Macassar that would be against the wind.  Do any of you meteorological historians out there have any further info on this?
 

cheers

John McB

Roger Atkinson
John,

>c)  I wonder why the chief wanted to get home while the northwest monsoon
>was still blowing.  When he was returning to Macassar that would be
>against the  wind.  Do any of you meteorological historians out there have
>any further info on this?

Better a stiff breeze on the nose than no breeze at all?
Roger A (who's sailed that trip).