The wind was blowing a fresh gale from the South-West directly out of the Gut and impeded us a good deal; but the tide was running with such strength that we were not long before we passed through. This passage is about two miles and a half long, bounded on either side by rocky barren hills rising abruptly from the water. The channel is deep for our boat's lead-line of twenty fathoms did not reach the bottom. At the south end of the gut the land opened out into another basin which, like the former, is surrounded by low land overrun with mangroves and studded with several islets, occasionally covered by the tide. The course of the river still trended to the south-west, in which direction we continued to pull but found some difficulty from its being very shoal; for in the fair way across there was not more water than eighteen feet at three-quarters' flood. At eleven o'clock, having crossed the basin, we landed on an islet which, like the rest, had been covered by the last high tide. The river had now contracted to the width of one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards and trended by a winding course to the south and south-east, but the water was still as salt as ever although we were at least sixty miles from the sea. As there was now no probability of our extending the examination of this river for any useful purpose we stopped at high water and landed on the bank to examine the country whilst the people dined. We were about two or three miles from the base of a most remarkable quadrangular-shaped mass of hills rising abruptly from an extensive flat plain covered with salt: the sides sloped down with a very steep descent to the base and the top of the range was circumvented with cliffs which, protruding at intervals, so perfectly resembled the bastions and ramparts of a formidable fortress that it wanted only the display of a standard to render the illusion complete. It was named Mount Cockburn in compliment to Vice-Admiral Sir George Cockburn, G.C.B., one of the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty. The accompanying drawing of this remarkable range of hills was taken from the west point of the south entrance of the gut.
All around us bore the most desolate appearance. The grass, which was quite dry, wanted but a spark and a breeze to set the whole country in flames. The soil on which it grows, which is about two feet above the high watermark, is a stiff clay; covered with a slight incrustation of salt on which the tracks of native dogs were noticed; several smokes were observed at a distance but no natives were seen. The tide had now began to ebb; and as there was no inducement to detain us for the next day to examine it farther we set off on our return; and on our way landed for bearings on the small islet in the middle of the Inner Basin. We also went on shore in two places on the west bank within the Gut; at the first we found the marks of an encampment of a tribe of natives: eight or nine spots of circular form were cleared away amongst the grass and in the centre of each were the ashes of a small fire, close to which we noticed some large flattened stones with a smaller one lying upon them, which the natives probably use for the purpose of bruising or grinding the seeds of plants and breaking shellfish. The impressions of dogs' feet were observed about the fireplaces, as well as the recent tracks of kangaroos. The only animal that we saw during our excursion was a small kangaroo-rat; it was skipping about the rocks near the sea. A ravine, of appearance the most favourable for our search for water, was selected from a great many as most likely to afford it; and we landed for that purpose; but we met with our usual bad success; torrents had once poured down it, the effects of which alone were left. Recent traces of kangaroos were again seen here: these animals can require but little drink unless the dew that is nightly deposited is sufficient for the purpose of quenching their thirst, for we did not see a drop of fresh water in any part we landed at.
We reached the vessel a short time before sunset and terminated the examination of this gulf, which at one time bore so flattering an appearance as to leave little doubt of our being able to complete our water, and that even with facility. I felt so much disappointed that two or three small openings, which probably served but to drain the vast plains of inundated country that environ the hills on the shores of this gulf, were passed by unheeded; among which was the extensive branch that trended to the south-east under Mount Connexion; this opening appeared to possess a similar character with that we had just been employed in exploring.
September 25 to 26.
On the 26th we got under weigh to return; but, having to work against a contrary breeze, made no farther progress than the anchorage occupied on the 23rd. The smokes of many fires were seen during the day; but in this country where everything is so parched and dry a fire will lie dormant a considerable time, and as the breeze springs up the flames will kindle and run along in the direction of the wind for many miles.
September 27.
The next day at half-past twelve o'clock when the ebb tide began to make, the wind freshened up from South-East and soon carried us into the narrows: it then veered round to the eastward, and after half an hour's calm a strong sea-breeze set in against us; but the tide being in our favour we made quick progress until half an hour before the time of low water, when we anchored under the north-west end of Adolphus Island.
I have this day to record the death of one of the crew, William Nicholls, who, for some time past, and particularly during the last three days, had been suffering from a dropsical complaint; his death was occasioned by suffocation, having very imprudently laid down with his head to leeward while we were under sail: this poor fellow had been for nearly three months on our sick list; he was a native of Norfolk Island, and, when in health, had been one of my most useful and attentive men.
September 28.
He was interred the next morning on shore; in memorial whereof the north-west point of the island was named after him. Soon after noon the ebb tide made, and we worked out against a strong northerly breeze, which gave us a good opportunity of ascertaining the soundings and breadth of the channel. The tide however did not serve to carry us out of the gulf, and at low water we dropped the anchor near a bank on the western side in six fathoms, sandy bottom, out of the influence of the tide; which in the mid-channel was observed to run with great strength.
After sunset the clouds began to collect in the South-East and threatened the approach of bad weather; but in our situation the anchor, although we had but one, was our best security.
September 29.
At two o'clock in the morning heavy clouds rose in the East-South-East and the wind freshened from that direction; it however soon after veered back to South-East and enabled us to weigh. The weather was cloudy and dark, but as the plan of the gulf had been already roughly formed, and our soundings laid down, I was sufficiently aware of the course we had to steer. The only event to be dreaded was that, in getting under weigh, the cutter might cast with her head inshore, when we should certainly have been thrown upon the bank; our fears however upon this point were happily groundless, and our course being unimpeded, we made quick way towards Lacrosse Island, which was passed at daylight.
Having now cleared this extraordinary inlet which was named Cambridge Gulf in honour of His Royal Highness the Viceroy of Hanover, we bore up along shore to the westward, sufficiently near to it to have perceived any opening that might exist, and to make such remarks as were necessary for its delineation. At sunset we were off Cape St. Lambert of the French and their Mount Casuarina was also seen. M. de Freycinet's description of the hill is very correct, but at the distance which we were it was only visible when it bore between South and West-South-West; for the land in that bearing intervened and concealed it. Large fires were burning three or four miles inland.
September 30.
At sunset we hauled off shore for the night; and the next morning saw Mount Casuarina again bearing south; its latitude was found to be 14 degrees 23 minutes 15 seconds, and its longitude 127 degrees 36 minutes 50 seconds East of Greenwich, which is 3 minutes 10 seconds to the westward of the situation that the French have assigned to it.
Hence the shore takes a north-westerly trend. At noon we were two miles and a half from Cape Rulhieres when our latitude was 13 degrees 51 minutes 58 seconds; at seven miles in a North 37 degrees West direction from the cape, which is a stony point, is Captain Baudin's Lesueur Island, a low flat sandy island. We passed between it and the main, and had soundings with fifteen fathoms.
In passing a projection of land which appeared to be an island and off which is a considerable reef, the bottom shoaled to eight fathoms but as quickly deepened again to no bottom with fifteen fathoms. This probable island may perhaps be the second Lesueur Island, which is laid down upon the French chart; but I have doubts of it; for I do not think it could be distinguished as an island at the distance Captain Baudin was from the shore. The land now extended towards a point which was called Cape Londonderry, whence it took a westerly direction. On arriving up with the reef which extends off Cape Londonderry we hauled off to the northward and passed the ensuing night under easy sail, during which our soundings were between forty and forty-six fathoms. A very large natives' fire was burning about two or three miles inland, but the Indians did not show themselves. Last night our people caught a porpoise, which helped to diminish the bad effect of salt provisions.
We were now very weak-handed; three men, besides Mr. Bedwell who was still an invalid, being ill, considerably reduced our strength; insomuch that being underweigh night and day, with only one spare man on the watch to relieve the masthead look-out, the lead, and the helm, there was great reason to fear the fatigue would very much increase the number of complaints. Since leaving Port Jackson we had never been free from sickness, but it was confined principally to two or three individuals who were not able to endure the very great heat. Upon the whole we thought ourselves very fortunate that, considering the frequency of illness on board and the violence of the diseases by which some of our people had been attacked, particularly in the cases of Mr. Bedwell and Mr. Cunningham, we had only lost one man; and this from a complaint which even medical assistance might not, perhaps, have cured; and by an accident which could not have been prevented, for our people were at the moment so busily employed in working the vessel through a dangerous navigation that the unfortunate man's situation was not known until the vital spark was nearly extinct, and too far gone for any human means to save his life. The thermometer now ranged between 80 and 87 degrees in the shade; and the fast approach of the sun (the declination of which was 3 degrees South) was daily felt.
CHAPTER 8.
Examination of the coast between Cape Londonderry and Cape Voltaire, containing the surveys of Sir Graham Moore's Islands, Eclipse Islands, Vansittart Bay, Admiralty Gulf, and Port Warrender.
Encounter with the natives of Vansittart Bay.
Leave the coast at Cassini Island for Coepang.
Obliged to bear up for Savu.
Anchor at Zeeba Bay, and interview with the rajah.
Some account of the inhabitants.
Disappointed in not finding water.
Leave Zeeba Bay, and beat back against the monsoon to Coepang.
Complete wood and water, and procure refreshments.
Return to Port Jackson.
Pass the latitude assigned to the Tryal Rocks.
Arrival in Sydney Cove.
1819. October 1.
We had now reached a part of the coast which, excepting a few of the islands that front it, the French expedition did not see: we should therefore have commenced its examination with more pleasure had we been in a state better fitted for the purpose; for we were rapidly consuming our stock of water without any prospect of finding a supply at this season; and this, added to the loss of our anchors, considerably lessened the satisfaction we should otherwise have felt in viewing the prospect before us.
After a calm and sultry morning a breeze from the North-East carried us towards the land, the situation of which was pointed out by the smoke of natives' fires. A little before three o'clock it was seen from the deck and as we stood towards it we narrowly escaped striking on a part of the shoal that extends off Cape Londonderry: our course was then directed towards some broken land in the South-West which proved to be a group of islands with a considerable sinuosity in the coast behind them; the eastern head of the bay was called Cape Talbot after the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Between this and Cape Londonderry the coast is very low and defended by an extensive reef, which in many parts was dry.
During the night we stood off shore.
October 2.
And at daylight were eight miles from the islands. At nine o'clock, being calm, we anchored to the north of the group, which was named Sir Graham Moore's, in compliment to the gallant admiral then holding a seat at the Admiralty Board. The principal island is more elevated than the rest and has a flat tabular summit: it bore from the anchorage South 19 degrees East three miles and a half.
The sea-breeze set in from North-West with the change of tide; as soon as the sun's meridional altitude was observed we got under sail and steered to the West-South-West; but were soon after obliged to alter the course to avoid a shoal on which the sea was breaking within fifty yards of us. After passing this danger we found ourselves in a deep channel the seaward limit of which was formed by an extensive reef connected with Jones' Island. At sunset we anchored within one mile and a half of the shore in five fathoms and a half, soft sandy mud, off the entrance of a considerable bight or bay; which appeared to be so nearly blocked up by a reef of dry rocks that it was doubtful whether we should be able to penetrate without going round the Eclipse Islands; these islands were so named in consequence of an eclipse of the moon that took place in the evening; and the flat-topped mount which is conspicuous on the principal island of the group was named Eclipse Hill.
October 3.
The next morning was passed in examining the reefs to the southward; we first landed on the south-east end of Long Island, where a set of bearings and a tolerable view up the bay were obtained. Long Island is of a rugged character and formed principally of large water-worn masses of quartzose sandstone superincumbent upon a basis of the same rock. The spaces between them were occupied by a variety of plants, the examination of which fully employed Mr. Cunningham: natives' traces and fireplaces, and the remains of a turtle-feast were observed; but there were no signs of the islands having been very recently visited by the Indians: we afterwards landed upon some dry rocks that lie in the mid-channel, and whilst I was occupied in taking bearings the boat's crew fished, but with little success on account of the rapidity of the tide.
October 4.
After this we found and examined a tolerably wide and deep channel on the eastern side of the Middle Rocks; through which, as it appeared to be free from danger, the cutter was worked the next morning, and afterwards anchored near the western side of the bay; where the verdant appearance of the grass and trees that clothed the sides of the hills induced me to land for the purpose of searching for water; we were, however, disappointed: large streams of water had evidently very lately poured down the gullies; but there was not the least vestige of any remaining.
On the beach of one of the sandy bays the traces of natives were more numerous than usual; for we counted as many as forty small fireplaces arranged in a straight line along the beach; near to each were lying the stones on which the Indians had evidently been bruising seeds, particularly of the fruit of a new species of sterculia, the husks of which were strewed about: near the fireplaces were the remains of two huts; one of them was thrown down, but the other was perfect enough to give us an idea of its form and for us to recognise its resemblance to some we had seen on the East coast.
A curious implement was found on the shore, the use of which we could not at all conjecture, unless it had belonged to the Malays; it was fifteen feet long and five inches in diameter, and composed of three saplings firmly and closely united and covered with grass secured to it by rope twisted of strips of bark; it might have been a fender for the purpose of hanging between the Malay proas when moored together, to prevent their being injured by their sides coming in contact.
The shores and hills were thickly scattered over with large masses of a dark red-coloured sandstone covered with a crust of quartz; the latter substance was not however found in a crystallized state. Everything bore the most parched and arid appearance; the country was certainly seen by us at the most disadvantageous season; but although the hills are thickly wooded the dwarf and stunted habit of the trees is a proof, if we had required it, of the shallow and unproductive quality of the soil. The smoke of three or four large fires were noticed on the opposite side of the bay, the flames of which blazed up as the seabreeze set in. Recent and numerous tracks of the kangaroo were observed in all directions. Fish were abundant, but none were caught. Before returning on board we visited two other places in the bay to make further search for water, but with no better success; and we began to despair of finding any upon the coast.
October 5.
We weighed the next day with the sea-breeze, and anchored in the south-east corner of the bay: in the evening we landed on a projecting point close to the anchorage and ascended its summit, which was so thickly covered with climbing plants that it was called Vine Head. From this station an extensive view was obtained of the bottom of the bay; and as it was nearly low water the time was favourable for my purpose. Near the anchorage was a small mangrove opening, the entrance of which was blocked up by a dry mud bank.
When we landed we found a piece of wood upon the beach with a nail-hole in it: it had probably been part of a Malay proa; for a fleet of such visitors, consisting of twenty-six vessels on the trepang fishery, was seen in this neighbourhood by the French in 1801;* and, according to their report, annually visit this part of the coast.
(*Footnote. Freycinet Terres Australes page 24.)
This day was spent in examining the shores of the bottom of the bay. We first pulled up the arm to the eastward of Vine Head which trends in for one mile, and then examined the bay on its western side, which was found to be both shoal and rocky. We next rowed inside of Jar Island whose peaked summit forms a very good mark for the channel between the Middle and Long Rocks. In pulling towards the west side of the bay, at the back of Jar Island, a native was perceived running along the rocky shore towards the point we were steering for; round which, as we passed it yesterday, there appeared to be a deep cave or inlet. As we pulled along the shore we were amused in watching how nimbly the Indian leaped from rock to rock: he was alone and unarmed. At one time we pulled close to the shore and endeavoured to entice him to approach us, but he stood looking at us from the summit of a rocky eminence close to the beach, without attending to our invitations; and, upon our repeating them and resting on our oars, he retreated towards the smoke of a fire that was burning behind the mangroves on the south shore at the bottom of the inlet into which we were pulling; on approaching it we found that the native had already arrived and given the alarm to a family of Indians, consisting of three men, two women, and four children, who had been cooking their repast.
As soon as our approach was discovered the women took their baskets and moveables and hurried away with the children, whilst the men seized their spears to protect their retreat; but as our object was not to alarm these poor savages, we pulled over to the opposite shore, which was about sixty yards across, and landed: Mr. Cunningham and I then ascended a steep hill that rose immediately from the shore, the summit of which promised to afford us a prospect of the surrounding land. The view however from this eminence, although extensive, did not answer my expectation: a low country of an arid and barren appearance extended to the southward; the northern part of the land on which we were appeared to be that described by the French as Bougainville Island, but it was now clearly and distinctly ascertained to be a peninsula: our view to the north-west was intercepted by higher hills than those we were upon. After taking all the bearings that the confined prospect permitted, without having very materially improved my knowledge of the surrounding country, I began to think of returning to the boat, and on looking towards the natives perceived that they had left the tree and were standing about fifty yards farther back, attentively engaged in consultation and in watching our movements: besides their spears they carried short pieces of wood like throwing sticks, and one of them also held in his hand a shield. After some deliberation they moved quickly forward towards the foot of the hill on which we were, evidently with an intention of intercepting our return to the boat, but when we began to descend the hill they stopped and slowly retired to their former station; had they persevered they would have easily cut off our retreat, and as we had forgotten the precaution of arming ourselves the consequence might have been serious. This movement of the natives made us suspicious of no very friendly intentions on their part and hurried our return to the boat; but, the descent being steep and strewed with rocks which were concealed by grass higher than our middles, we did not reach the bottom of the hill without several bruises.
Upon re-embarking we perceived that the natives had again ascended the tree to watch our movements; but when they saw the boat pulling across the stream towards them they leaped down and retired among the trees. After repeated calls which had not the effect of inducing them to approach, we rowed out of the cove, and, on passing a projecting point that was less wooded than other parts, Mr. Cunningham expressed a wish to collect some specimens of the plants that were growing upon it. Whilst meditating upon the propriety of landing so near to the natives, whose conduct we had already some reason to suspect, a dog which we had before seen with them came from behind a bush near the water's edge and walked up to its knees in the water towards us; the boat was backed in and we endeavoured to entice it within our reach by throwing some food; but the animal, upon discovering that we were strangers, became shy, and after smelling about ran back towards a bush about fifty yards off; from which the natives, who had all the time been concealed behind it, rushed out and with loud shouts ran towards us: upon reaching the water's edge they threw several stones, one of which nearly struck the boat; they then prepared their spears, when it was found necessary to deter them by firing a musket over their heads; the noise of which had the desired effect; for, struck with a sudden panic at the report which echoed through the trees, they turned and fled; and as they scampered off two more balls were fired over them, which, if possible, increased the rapidity of their flight until the trees concealed them from our view; after this we neither heard nor saw anything more of them.
This circumstance gave the name of Encounter Cove to the inlet. On our return we called at Jar Island and walked over it, but with difficulty, on account of the confused heaps of rugged stones that were strewed over its rocky surface. The spinifex that grew in the interstices of the rocks was also no inconsiderable hindrance to our movements. Behind the beach was a large basin full of salt water that, in the wet season, would doubtless furnish fresh, since it appeared to have been formed by the runs from the rocks, the upper surfaces of which were hollowed out by the effect of the rain: these holes or cisterns are probably full of water in the wet season.
On the beach we found a broken earthen pot which decidedly proved the fact of the Malays visiting this part of the coast and explained the mischievous disposition of the natives. Before we returned to the cutter we landed on some rocks in the bay, at the back of Jar Island, to fish, but having very little success we did not delay, and by sunset reached the vessel.
October 7.
On the 7th we left the anchorage under Vine Head, and by the aid of a breeze from the North-West worked out of the western entrance of the bay, which appeared to be quite free from danger of every sort.
At sunset we anchored in the outer part of the entrance in nine fathoms and a half, muddy bottom. On the west side of the peninsula we passed three bays, from one to two miles deep and one mile broad; in each of these inlets there appeared to be good anchorage.
The bay was named Vansittart after the late Chancellor of the Exchequer.
October 8.
At daylight (8th) we weighed and stood out to the North-West between Troughton Island and Cape Bougainville. Round the latter projection the land trends so deeply in to the southward that it was lost to view; but two flat-topped islands were seen in the South-South-West, which afterwards proved to be some of Captain Baudin's Institute Isles; we were now obliged to steer down the western side of the cape, for our further progress to the westward was stopped by a considerable reef extending north and south parallel with the land of Cape Bougainville. During the afternoon we had the wind and tide against us so that we made no progress. Some bights in the coast were approached with the intention of anchoring in them but the water was so deep and the ground so unfavourable for it that the stream anchor was eventually dropped in the offing in twenty-two fathoms: where during the night the tide set with unusual velocity and ran at the rate of one knot and three-quarters per hour.
October 9.
In the morning a view from the masthead enabled me to see a confused mass of rocks and islets in the South-West. At eight o'clock the flood tide commenced and the anchor being weighed, we steered towards the bottom of the gulf; on our way to which the positions of several small rocks and islets, which form a part of this archipelago, were fixed. At noon our latitude was 14 degrees 7 minutes 15 seconds, when the hill, which we ascended over Encounter Cove in Vansittart Bay, was seen bearing South 88 1/2 degrees East. The land to the southward was still far distant but with a fresh sea breeze we made rapid progress towards it and by four o'clock entered an extensive port at the bottom of the gulf and anchored in a bay on its western shore, land-locked, in four fathoms and three-quarters, mud. In finding this anchorage we considered ourselves fortunate for the freshness of the breeze in so dangerous a situation made me feel uneasy for our only anchor, which we must have dropped at night, however exposed our situation might have been: by midnight the breeze fell and we had a dead calm.
October 10.
The next day we landed on the west head of the bay, Crystal Head, where the meridional altitude of the sun was observed and sights for the chronometers taken; in the evening we ascended its summit and by a bearing of the land of Cape Bougainville the survey was connected with Vansittart Bay.
In the morning a young kangaroo was started by Mr. Cunningham but made its escape; the traces of these animals were very numerous on the sides of the hills; several birds new to us were seen, and we also found about the bushes the tail-feathers of the Cuculus phasianus (Index Orn. Sup. page 30). The summit of Crystal Head is of flat tabular form; and the sides, which are both steep and rugged, are covered with stunted trees and high grass, now quite dry: the geology of this part is principally of siliceous sandstone; and on the beach we found large detached water-worn masses of the same rock, incrusted with quartz and epidote in a crystallized state.
(*Footnote. The Centropus phasianus Tem. anal. plate 24.
Polophilus phasianus Shaw's Gen. Zool. volume 9 page 48 plate 11. Zool. Misc. plate 46.
Pheasant Cuckow Gen. Syn. sup. 11 page 137.)
No natives were seen; but, from the large fires that were burning, a numerous party was probably collected at the bottom of the port.
October 11.
On the 11th we got under weigh and anchored again at a few miles further up the port, near a small rocky island where the latitude was observed to be 14 degrees 32 minutes 45 seconds. In the afternoon Mr. Roe and Mr. Cunningham accompanied me in the whale-boat to examine the bottom of the port; which was found to terminate in two inlets winding under either side of a bold prominent range of steep rocky hills, thickly clothed with stunted trees. We pulled up the south-eastern arm; and having proceeded as far as prudence allowed, for from not calculating upon being absent long we had brought no provisions, we returned on board with the intention of examining it further on the following day. In rowing back, a kangaroo was seen skipping over the hills; and an alligator was lying asleep on the beach, but it rushed into the water as we passed the spot.
October 12.
The next day Mr. Roe, accompanied by Mr. Cunningham, explored both arms; and from his report the plan is made: but as they are merely salt-water inlets, they are of little importance. During the absence of the boat the state of our provisions and water was examined, on both of which, as we had anticipated, the rats had made considerable havoc; two of the casks were quite empty from holes gnawed by these animals to get at the water; and several were so short of their contents that we had but a fortnight's allowance left: this discovery induced me to determine on taking the first opportunity that should offer of leaving the coast and resorting to Timor; for, besides our want of water, several of the crew were attacked by scurvy, so that it was also necessary to visit it to procure some fresh provisions for them.
Port Warrender, which name was bestowed upon this fine harbour, is of considerable extent; the land is very rugged and rocky; but although the soil is shallow the hills on the western side are thickly covered with grass and trees; which grew so luxuriantly in the gullies and bore so verdant an appearance that fresh hopes were revived of finding water; we were however very soon convinced of its being entirely destitute of it.
On the eastern side of the port the land is much broken and fronted by several islands which were named after Sir John Osborn, one of the Lords of the Admiralty; among them is a conspicuous steep rocky head, like Mount Cockburn in Cambridge Gulf; it appeared to be perfectly inaccessible.
October 13.
At daylight (13th) we left the port; we had very little wind during the day and by sunset had only reached an anchorage off Point Pickering, so named after a late much-respected friend.
A bay trends to the westward of Point Pickering, which was called Walmsley Bay; it probably affords good anchorage.
October 14.
During the night we had lightning from the North-West, and the next day the wind was so light that we did not make much progress; an anchorage was occupied during the ensuing night to the eastward of Point Biggs, half a mile to the northward of a small rocky island in ten fathoms and a half, muddy bottom. Every succeeding day the weather was getting more and more unfavourable for our purpose; which increased my anxiety to escape from this labyrinth of islands and shoals; for we had evidently no time to spare in order to leave the coast before the rainy season should commence.
The whole of this gulf is admirably formed for the trepang fishery and the animal is extremely abundant among the reefs. Both fish and turtle are plentiful, the latter are of very large size; none however were taken to determine its species. We have seen very few inhabitants on this part of the coast but at this season they are doubtless divided into small detached parties for the greater facility of procuring sustenance, and of making their reservoirs of water, wherever they may be, last longer.
October 15.
The next day, after an ineffectual attempt to pass out through the islands in the vicinity of Cape Voltaire, we anchored about midway between three of high flat-topped form; and at night the boat was despatched to the easternmost island, to watch for turtle, but it returned without having seen any. During the night the wind blew a moderate breeze from South-West with dark cloudy weather.
October 16.
At daylight we weighed, but from light baffling winds it was some time before we cleared the islands. The tide however swept us out and drifted us half a mile to windward of a small peaked island which must be the Pascal Island of the French: this islet is of small size but remarkable for its conical shape and having, as it were, its apex cut off. It is surrounded by a rocky shoal of small extent.
The wind had now veered to West-North-West and obliged our passing to the eastward of Cassini Island (of Captain Baudin); and, from the immense numbers of turtle-tracks that were seen upon its beach, we would gladly have anchored near it, had a convenient place offered; but the bottom was so deep that we could not with safety drop our anchor. The plan given by M. de Freycinet of this archipelago is so defective that many of his islands could not be recognised; but those which were made out preserve his names. Cassini Island is sufficiently well placed by him, and was a useful point for the sake of comparing our longitudes. In the space between Cape Bougainville and Cape Voltaire, which was named the Admiralty Gulf, we have given positions to at least forty islands or islets.
Having now emerged from the archipelago of islands which front this part of the north-west coast we seized the opportunity of taking leave of it for the present and directed our course for Timor. At 4 hours 19 minutes p.m., when the centre of Cassini Island bore South 4 degrees 30 minutes West, distance 6 minutes 8 seconds by survey, sights for the chronometers made the centre of the island in 125 degrees 41 minutes 22 seconds, which is 2 minutes 32 seconds to the eastward of the longitude assigned to its centre in M. de Freycinet's chart.
October 20.
On the 20th in the evening after a succession of damp weather with squalls of thunder, lightning, and rain, and variable baffling winds, a fresh breeze set in from East-South-East.
October 21.
At six o'clock the next morning it settled in the South-East with heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, and afterwards the weather cleared up. As soon as day dawned, sail was made to the North-West and before noon we hauled up North-North-West to allow for a westerly current; at two p.m. the weather clouded in and was followed by squalls of wind and rain from the North-East, which, after passing over us, returned again from the westward with more rain but less wind.
October 22.
At daylight (22nd) we saw the Island of Rottee, but instead of being, according to our account, to windward of it, we were very little to the eastward of its south-west end; having been set forty-three miles to the westward since yesterday noon. During the day, as the wind was at South-East, we endeavoured to pass round its windward side, but the current was setting with such strength to the westward that, finding we had lost ground during the night, we bore up the next morning for the island of Savu, a proceeding which, if we should succeed in procuring refreshments and fresh water there, would be more advantageous than going to Timor: for in the first place there was less chance of incurring sickness among the crew; and secondly we should be farther advanced on our voyage back. Captain Cook, on his visit to Savu in 1770, found a Dutch resident there; and I recollected having been assured by Mr. Hazaart, the Resident at Timor, that the people were well-disposed towards the English: Captain Horsburgh also mentions in his description of Savu that the Dutch have residents on all these islands; and, as a corroboration of these accounts, I had been informed by the master of a merchant schooner at Port Jackson, who had lately been among these islands, that abundance of good water could be procured there. Opposed to this last report, Captain Cook says, "We were upon the coast at the latter end of the dry season (September), when there had been no rain for seven months, and we were told, that when the dry season continues so long, there is no running stream of fresh water upon the whole island, but only small springs, which are at a considerable distance from the sea side:"* this conflicting account was discouraging; but as we had lately had much rain it was hoped that there would be a sufficiency in the springs for our use.
(*Footnote. Hawkesworth Coll. volume 3 page 277.)
October 24.
Having fully weighed all these circumstances we bore up for Savu, and at four p.m. on the 24th anchored in Zeba Bay, on the north-west side of the island. The bank on which the anchor was dropped was so steep that, although the anchor was in twelve fathoms, the vessel was, at the length of forty fathoms of cable, in twenty-two fathoms. As we were bringing up, two muskets were fired from the shore, and a white flag, or rather a rag, was suspended to a pole, around which a group of people had collected. This flag gave us no very favourable idea of the respectability of the place, and the meaning of the muskets we could not divine, nor indeed ever did discover, unless it was that we had anchored on bad ground: the boat was then hoisted out and I went on shore, accompanied by Messrs. Bedwell and Cunningham, to where the flag was displayed. On approaching the shore three people came down to direct us to the proper landing place; for in all other parts of the beach a heavy surf was breaking. We were then conducted to a hut in the rear of the flagstaff, where we found from fifteen to twenty persons assembled; two of whom appeared, by their dress and from the respect paid to them by the rest, to be chiefs. To these I addressed myself and inquired for the Dutch resident, but soon found there was none, and that one of those to whom we were speaking was the Rajah himself. I afterwards found he was the identical Amadima of whom interesting mention is made by Peron in his historical account of Captain Baudin's expedition.*
(*Footnote. Peron tome 1 pages 119, 151, 161, and 162.)
My inquiries were made partly by signs and partly by a few terms in the Malay language that we had collected from Captain Cook,* and from Labillardiere's account of D'Entrecasteaux's voyage. Aer (water) was among the foremost of our inquiries, to which we added the terms for pigs, sheep, fowls, and coconuts, (vavee, doomba, mannu, and nieu). Everything but water was plentiful and could be supplied by paying for them in rupees or bartering them for gunpowder. On repeating the question for water, their constant reply was, trada aer! trada aer! (no water, no water). No misunderstanding could have taken place, for on our inquiry, thinking it was for present use, they brought us some to drink. They afterwards conducted us to a shallow well or spring in which there were about ten or fifteen gallons; and this was all there was near the sea.
(*Footnote. Hawkesworth Coll. volume 3 page 298.)
Amadima, on our landing, sent a horseman to the town with a message, who soon after returned with a paper which was shown to us; but, the substance being in Dutch, we could not understand its purport; the sum of seventy-four rix-dollars was, however, sufficiently plain to show that money was wanted, and this conjecture was afterwards strengthened by a petition whispered in my ear by Amadina himself for sato rupee (one rupee); but, not having provided myself with any, I could not satisfy his wants.
Gunpowder was in great request among them and we were given to understand that we might obtain everything we required, excepting water, for money or for gunpowder. Trada aer was so often repeated that we re-embarked quite disappointed.
On our way to the boat we were accompanied by the whole mob, which had now increased to forty or fifty people: all the men were armed with cresses, and two amongst them had swords and spears; but there was no appearance of hostility or of any unfriendly disposition towards us. When they saw our empty barica in the boat they intimated by signs that we might fill it, and Mr. Bedwell and Mr. Cunningham accordingly accompanied one of our people to the well to take advantage of their offer; for a few gallons of water were now of great importance to us.
We then took a friendly leave of these islanders under the full expectation on their part of our returning in the morning with rupees and powder to barter with their commodities; whereas I had quite determined to leave the bay the moment that the day dawned.
The two following modes of proceeding were now only left to us; namely, either to beat back to Coepang which bore East by North 120 miles, or to bear up and pass through the straits of Lombock or Allas, and go to Madura or Sourabaya for water, of which, on a reduced allowance, we had enough on board for fifteen days.
To do the first would probably take a week or ten days, even if favoured by the wind. At Coepang we could procure everything we wanted; and the only arguments against such a measure were the probable length of the voyage, and when there, the chance of being delayed until the adverse monsoon should set in against us, by which our return to Port Jackson would be perhaps prevented. To undertake the second would, from our being weakly manned, subject us to danger from the Malay piratical proas in passing the Straits; but as the latter mode of proceeding could be resorted to in the event of our failing in the other, our united opinion was that, of the two plans, the better was to go to Timor. Upon this decision all hands were immediately set to work to fill our empty water-casks with salt water and to get all the weighty things off the deck into the hold, in order to give the vessel more stability.
October 25.
This was completed by night and at break of day we left the anchorage with a fresh breeze from East-South-East.
Considering the short time we were on shore it would be the greatest presumption for me to say anything respecting Savu, when so good an account is already before the public in Captain Cook's voyage.* Every circumstance that we could compare with it is still correct, except that the women appear to have lost the decency he describes them to possess; for there were several whom curiosity and the novelty of our arrival had brought down to see us, naked to the hips, which alone supported a petticoat or wrapper of blue cotton stuff that exposed their knees.
(*Footnote. Hawkesworth Coll. Volume 3 page 277 et seq.)
The beach was lined with the areca, or fan-palm tree, from which the well-known liquor called toddy is procured. During our conference with these people they were all busily employed in eating the fruit spike of the piper betle,* which they first thickly covered with shell-lime; after chewing it for some time, they spit it out into the hand of the attendant slave who completes the exhaustion of this luxurious morceau by conveying it to his own mouth.
(*Footnote. Persoon, in his description of areca catechu, makes the following observation: E fructu ab extima pellicula libero, simul cum foliis piperis betle, addito pauxillo calcis ex ostreis, fit masticatorium, quod Indiani continue volvunt in ore, ut malus anhelitus corrigatur, et dentes ac stomachus roborentur. Persoon, Syn. Plant. pars. 2. 577.)
They have a small-sized breed of horses at Savu, similar to that of Rottee; and pigs, sheep, and poultry appeared to be very plentiful. No observations were taken during our stay in Zeba Bay. The tides were scarcely perceptible and their rise and fall uncertain from the steep bank on which we had anchored.
After quitting the bay we made every possible progress towards Timor; and as long as we kept between the Islands of Savu and Rottee we found no perceptible current against us, although the wind was constantly from the South-East.
October 26.
On the 26th the contents of one of our remaining casks of water was found to be so bad that it could not be used for any purpose; upon examination it turned out that the cask had been constructed at Port Jackson of the staves of old salt-provision barrels. This loss, amounting to two days' water, we could but ill spare: two or three gallons were collected from the rain which fell during the evening; and this trifling supply, although it had a tarry taste, was acceptable in our present circumstances.
The next morning was calm. A small coasting proa was seen to the northward but soon afterwards lost sight of, steering towards Timor.
October 28.
At daylight (28th) land was seen bearing East 1/2 North; at noon our latitude was nine degrees 45 minutes 32 seconds; and by the morning and evening sights for the chronometers a current had set us to the North 81 degrees West at nearly one mile and a quarter per hour. The wind, hanging between South-East and South-South-East, prevented our tacking to the southward to get out of the current, which, on our first experiencing it, was thought to have been occasioned by a set through the strait of Rottee; it was however afterwards found that we were on the southern edge of the current that sets to the westward, down the north coast of Timor, and that between Rottee and Savu the current is of trifling consequence.
October 29.
The next morning land was again indistinctly seen bearing East 12 degrees South. At ten a.m. it was clearly visible, as well as a peaked hill which bore East 1/2 North. We were now in a current setting rapidly to the westward and soon lost a great portion of the ground that we had been so long toiling to gain. In the evening the wind veering to East-South-East enabled us to steer to the southward and to get out of the influence of the current.
October 30 to 31.
From this to the 31st we had made little progress to the eastward; but in the afternoon a breeze set in from West-South-West and brightened our prospects: our water being now nearly expended, no time was to be lost, and we steered for the Strait of Rottee in order to pass through that of Samow; but the wind was so light that, not being sufficiently advanced before dark, we bore up, and passed round the west side of Pulo Samow with a breeze from South-East which continued during the night...
1819. November 1.
And by daylight had carried us near the north-west end of the island; at nine a.m. the sea breeze set in from South-West and West, and gradually increasing, we happily succeeded in arriving off the town of Coepang where we moored at one-fifth of a mile from the flagstaff of Fort Concordia, bearing South 14 1/2 degrees East.
Mr. Roe went on shore soon after anchoring to wait upon the Resident, and to inform him of the purport of our visit: he found that our former friend Mr. Hazaart was at Batavia, and that his place was temporarily supplied by Mr. Halewyn; from whom we experienced such assistance and attention as enabled us to complete our wood and water and to obtain refreshments for the crew by the eighth day.
November 1 to 9.
The refreshments consisted of sheep, coconuts, limes, bananas, mangoes, and the Jaca fruit. The sheep weighed from twelve to sixteen pounds and were charged at about seven shillings and seven pence each. Limes were very scarce, and oranges, pompions, and other vegetables which were most wanted, were not to be procured at this season. Honey was very plentiful and good and was preferred by our people to the gulah, of which we got large quantities last year.
The weather during the first three or four days of our stay was fine but afterwards damp and showery with a succession of land winds, which affected us all with colds; so that we lost no time in leaving the bay the moment that our wants were supplied, which was at sunset on the ninth.
From the secretary to the government we obtained information that Captain de Freycinet of the French Corvette L'Uranie had visited Coepang in October last, and remained there fifteen days. L'Uranie was fitting out at Toulon when we left England in 1817 for a voyage round the world, and was expected on her way to touch upon the western coasts of New Holland; but it appeared that the only place which Captain De Freycinet visited was Shark's Bay on the western coast; he remained there a short time for the purpose of swinging his pendulum, and of completing the astronomical observations that had been previously made during Commodore Baudin's voyage. We also heard that the master and four of the crew of the ship Frederick, the wreck of which we had seen at Cape Flinders, had arrived at Coepang in a ship that was in company with her at the time of the accident; but what became of the Frederick's longboat, which left the wreck with twenty-three of the crew, in company with the master's boat, in which were ONLY FOUR OR FIVE people, never afterwards transpired.
November 10.
After leaving Coepang the wind, which freshened up from the East by North, continued steady until the following day, when we were at noon in 10 degrees 36 minutes 47 seconds South, the summit of Savu bearing North 83 degrees West. The wind then fell and veered to South-South-East, but towards evening freshened from South-East and South-East by South.
November 11.
By eight o'clock we steered a South-West course, and passed the islands of Savu and Benjoar; the breeze then freshening veered round to the eastward and brought on heavy rain with much thunder and lightning.
November 12 to 14.
After passing the meridian of Sandelwood Island, the wind varied between north and south by way of east, often suddenly changing eight or ten, and sometimes thirteen points of the compass at once.
November 15.
On the 15th we were at noon in latitude 15 degrees 14 minutes 7 seconds and longitude 115 degrees 2 minutes when the wind changed to West-North-West and cleared up the weather: it then gradually veered round by South-West and South-South-West to the south-east trade.
November 21.
At noon on the 21st we had reached the latitude assigned to the Tryal Rocks by the Dutch sloop, namely, 19 degrees 32 minutes 30 seconds; our longitude was 108 degrees 8 minutes 36 seconds. Other accounts place these rocks in 20 degrees 50 minutes; we therefore stood on with caution, for the wind and the currents to the North-West were too strong for us to lie to with safety for the night.
November 22.
At two a.m. being in latitude 20 degrees 41 minutes 14 seconds and longitude 107 degrees 11 minutes 36 seconds we sounded without success with ninety fathoms of line, and at four o'clock, having ran seven miles on a South-West by South course, had no bottom with ninety-five fathoms: at noon our latitude was 21 degrees 23 minutes 24 seconds, and longitude 106 degrees 41 minutes, when no bottom was reached with eighty fathoms.
The wind continued with little variation between South-East by South and South-East by East until we reached the latitude of 27 1/2 degrees and 102 degrees 20 minutes East; here we had light southerly winds for two days after which the South-East winds carried us as far as 32 degrees South and 99 degrees 45 minutes East; between this and 34 degrees South we had variable light airs from East-South-East to South-South-West. Afterwards alternate northerly and southerly winds, with fine weather and top-gallant breezes, carried us as far as latitude 38 degrees and longitude 117 1/2 degrees. From this we ran along the south coast of New Holland, with strong gales between South-South-West and West; but on approaching Bass Strait the winds hung to the southward, and veering afterwards to South-East we were driven to the northward.
1819. December 24.
On the 24th December at eight p.m. we made the land between Cape Northumberland and Cape Buffon.
December 27.
But from light baffling winds had advanced no farther by noon (27th) than four or five miles South-South-West of Lady Julia Percy's Isle. This island is incorrectly laid down in Captain Flinders' chart, owing to the very unfavourable weather which he experienced in passing this part of the coast; we found it to lie East 3 degrees South (true) seventeen miles and a half from Lawrence Island: a second island has a place in Captain Flinders' chart, but we saw nothing of it. The coast also lies farther back in proportion to the error of the island's position.
1820. January 2.
At four o'clock p.m. 2nd January we entered Bass Strait by the channel on the north side of King's Island.
January 12.
After passing through the strait we experienced so much bad weather and contrary gales of wind that we did not arrive at Port Jackson until the morning of the 12th, having been absent thirty-five weeks and four days.
The result of our proceedings during this voyage has been the survey of 540 miles of the northern coast, in addition to the 500 that were previously examined. Besides which we had made a running survey of that portion of the intertropical part of the east coast that is situated between the Percy Isles and Torres Strait; a distance of 900 miles; the detailed survey of which had never before been made, for Captain Cook merely examined it in a cursory manner as he passed up the coast. The opportunity, therefore, was not lost of making such observations on our voyage as enabled me to present to the public a route towards Torres Strait infinitely preferable on every account to the dangerous navigation without the reefs, which has hitherto been chiefly used.
As it was not intended that I should make the survey of this extensive tract of coast I did not feel myself authorized to examine in any very detailed way the bottom of every bay or opening that presented itself; but merely confined myself to laying down the vessel's track and the positions of various reefs that were strewed on either side of it; and also to fixing the situations of the head-lands. In doing this enough has been effected to serve as the precursor of a more particular examination of the coast, the appearance of which, from its general fertile and mountainous character, made me regret the necessity of passing so hastily over it.
CHAPTER 9.
Equipment for the third voyage.
Leave Port Jackson.
Loss of bowsprit, and return.
Observations upon the present state of the colony, as regarding the effect of floods upon the River Hawkesbury.
Re-equipment and final departure.
Visit Port Bowen.
Cutter thrown upon a sandbank.
Interview with the natives, and description of the country about Cape Clinton.
Leave Port Bowen.
Pass through the Northumberland, and round the Cumberland Islands.
Anchor at Endeavour River.
Summary of observations taken there.
Visit from the natives.
Vocabulary of their language.
Observations thereon in comparing it with Captain Cook's account.
Mr. Cunningham visits Mount Cook.
Leave Endeavour River, and visit Lizard Island.
Cape Flinders and Pelican Island.
Entangled in the reefs.
Haggerston's Island, Sunday Island, and Cairncross Island.
Cutter springs a leak.
Pass round Cape York.
Endeavour Strait.
Anchor under Booby Island.
Remarks upon the Inner and Outer routes through Torres Strait.
1820. June 21.
In preparing our little vessel for a third voyage, it became requisite to give her a considerable repair; and among many other things there was an absolute necessity for her being fresh coppered; but from the pretended scarcity of copper sheathing in the colony and other circumstances that opposed the measure, we found more than a common difficulty in effecting it. The cutter was careened at a place appointed for the purpose on the east side of Sydney Cove; and whilst undergoing her repair the crew lived on board a hulk hired for the occasion. This offered so favourable an opportunity for destroying the rats and cockroaches with which she was completely overrun, a measure that, from the experience of our last voyage, was considered absolutely necessary for our comfort as well as for our personal safety, that, as soon as the operation of coppering and caulking was finished, she was secured alongside of the hulk, and there immersed in the water for several days, by which process we hoped effectually to destroy them.
Upon the vessel being raised and the water pumped out, I was rejoiced to find that the measure appeared to have had the desired effect; but, before we left Port Jackson, she was again infested by rats, and we had not been long at sea before the cockroaches also made their appearance in great numbers. In sinking the cutter it seemed, in respect to the insects, that we had only succeeded in destroying the living stock, and that the eggs, which were plentifully deposited in the recesses and cracks of the timbers and sides, proved so impervious to the sea-water, that no sooner had we reached the warmer climate, than they were hatched, and the vessel was quickly repossessed by them; but it was many months before we were so annoyed by their numbers as had been the case during the last voyage.
Our crew, after they had returned the stores and fitted the standing rigging, were paid their wages; when, with only two exceptions, they were at their own wish discharged, and it was some time before a new crew was collected. Whilst we were repairing the defects, H.M. store-ship Dromedary arrived from England and brought us a selection of stores, for the want of which we should otherwise have been detained many months.
By this ship orders were received from the Admiralty to rig the cutter with rope manufactured from the New Zealand hemp (Phormium tenax) but there was a considerable difficulty in procuring enough even for a boom-sheet. This specimen was prepared by a rope-maker of the colony, and the result of the trial has fully justified the good opinion previously formed of its valuable qualities.
In my communication to the Admiralty in June, 1818 from Timor, I had mentioned the necessity of a medical man being attached to the vessel; and upon my last return I found one had arrived with an appointment to the Mermaid; but, to my great mortification, he was unable to join, from being afflicted with mental derangement which continued so long and so severely that I was under the necessity of sending him back to England. We had now every prospect of encountering a third voyage without the assistance of a surgeon. Hitherto we had been fortunate in not having materially suffered from the want of so valuable an officer; but it was scarcely probable we could expect to continue upon such a service much longer without severe sickness. As any assistance therefore was preferable to none, I accepted the proffered services of a young man who was strongly recommended by his Excellency the Governor, and he was on the point of joining me, when a surgeon of the navy, Mr. James Hunter, who had just arrived in charge of a convict ship, volunteered his services which were gladly accepted, and he was immediately attached to the Mermaid's establishment.
The accession of a surgeon to our small party relieved me of a greater weight of anxiety than I can describe; and when it is considered that Mr. Hunter left an employment of a much more lucrative nature to join an arduous service in a vessel whose only cabin was scarcely large enough to contain our mess-table, and which afforded neither comfort nor convenience of any description, I may be allowed here to acknowledge my thanks for the sacrifice he made.
After all our defects were repaired, and we were otherwise quite ready for sea, we were detained nearly a month before our crew was completed.
June 14.
And it was not until the 14th of June that we left Port Jackson.
For a day or two previous to our departure the weather had been very unsettled; and when we sailed, there was every appearance of an approaching gale of wind: we had however been detained so long in collecting a crew that I was glad to sail the moment we were ready: besides I hoped to get to the northward before the threatening storm commenced. Unfortunately however we had no sooner put to sea than it set in; and by the time we were abreast of Smoky Cape the wind, after flying about, fixed itself in the eastern board, and blew extremely hard with thick weather and heavy rain.
June 20 to 22.
The gale lasted with little intermission during the 20th and 21st; and at four o'clock the next morning we had the misfortune to lose our bowsprit by the vessel's plunging into a head sea. We had however made a sufficient offing to enable us to keep away two points, so that, by rigging the wreck of the bowsprit, which was barely long enough to spread the storm jib, we contrived to steer a course we had every reason to think would carry her clear of Port Stevens. We continued to run to the southward until the afternoon, when, supposing we had passed that port, we bore away to the South-West. At midnight the gale fell, and the wind changed to the westward.
June 23.
At daylight land was seen to windward, which, from the distance we had ran, was supposed to be about Port Stevens; but we found ourselves at noon by a meridional observation, off Jervis Bay; so that the current during the gale had set us one hundred and fifty miles to the southward, and for the last twenty-four hours at the rate of nearly three knots per hour.
June 24.
Owing to this we did not arrive at Port Jackson until the following day at noon; and it was sunset before the cutter anchored in the cove.
It appeared on our arrival that the weather had been even worse on the land than we had experienced it at sea. The Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers had been flooded, by which the growing crops had been considerably injured, but happily the colony has long ceased to suffer from these once much-dreaded inundations: a great portion of upland country out of the reach of the waters is now cultivated, from which the government stores are principally supplied with grain. Individuals who, from obstinacy, persist in the cultivation of the low banks of the Hawkesbury, alone suffer from these destructive floods, which have been known to rise in a few hours to the height of eighty feet above the usual level of the river's bed. The evil, however, deposits its own atonement; and the succeeding crop, if it escapes a flood, repays the settlers for their previous loss: this it is that emboldens them to persist in their ill-advised temerity. At no very distant period a time will arrive when these very lands, the cultivation of which has caused so much distress to the colony and ruin to individuals, will, by being laid down in grass for the purposes of depasturing cattle, become a considerable source of wealth to their possessors.
There has been no general want of grain in the colony since the year 1817, although there have been several floods upon the Hawkesbury and the other rivers that fall into it, which have greatly distressed the farmers of that district. One of the arguments, therefore, with which the enemies of colonizing in New South Wales have hitherto armed themselves, in order to induce emigrants to give the preference to Van Diemen's Land, falls to the ground.
We were fortunate in finding in the naval yard, a spar of the New Zealand cowrie pine (dammara) large enough for our bowsprit.
1820. July 13.
And on the 13th of July, having had our damages repaired, we resumed our voyage under more favourable omens, for we sailed with a fair wind and fine weather.
July 17.
On the 17th July we were off Moreton Bay, and in the afternoon communicated with a whaler which heaved in sight off the Cape (Moreton). My object was to learn whether she had heard any tidings of a boat belonging to the Echo whaler, which ship had been lately wrecked on the Cato's bank: one of her boats, with part of her crew, arrived at Sydney a few days before we sailed; but another boat, in which the master and the remainder of her people embarked, had not been heard of; and I entertained hopes that this vessel had picked them up, but, on the master's coming on board, I found that he was quite ignorant of her loss.
It so happened that both ships belonged to the same owner, Messrs. Bennetts of London; and we had the satisfaction of afterwards hearing that the information we had thus afforded proved useful; for the vessel subsequently succeeded in finding the boat, and preserving the lives of the crew. After giving our visitor some information respecting the coast and the reef off Cape Moreton, which he claimed as his discovery, but which, much to his surprise, we showed him already laid down on Captain Flinders' chart of 1801, he returned to his ship, and we resumed our course to the northward.
July 18.
At nine o'clock the next evening, having passed Indian Head in the morning, we rounded Breaksea Spit, and at midnight brought to the wind in order to make Lady Elliot's Island.
July 19.
But, finding at daylight that a current had drifted us past it, we steered on, and at ten o'clock discovered a group of low woody islets. They were named Bunker's Isles. It has been since ascertained that they abound with turtle and beche de mer, the latter of which, if not both, will at some future time become of considerable importance to the coasting trade of New South Wales.
July 20.
On the 20th we anchored on the south side of Port Bowen, in the entrance of the inlet that extends to the southward within the projection of Cape Clinton; but in doing this we were unfortunate enough to get aground, and receive very serious damage. After passing the Cape and hauling round its inner trend towards the sandy bay, we had to beat to windward to reach the anchorage, and, in the act of tacking on the western side of the inlet, the tide swept us upon a sandbank, over which, as the wind was blowing obliquely upon it, the cutter continued to drive until the sails were taken in and an anchor laid out astern to check her; but before we could extricate her from the dangerous situation in which she was placed, it was found necessary to lay out another bower-anchor, for there was a rolling swell upon the bank, and every time it left her she struck very hard upon the ground. Happily the tide was flowing, and as soon as the vessel floated she was warped into a secure birth within the heads of the inlet.
During the time that the cutter had been on the bank, which was two hours and a half, she was continually striking; and at one time we heard a loud crash which gave us reason to fear that some serious damage had happened. At first it was thought either that the pintles of the rudder were broken or that the stern-post was rent; but upon examination both appeared to have escaped; and as no leak was observed during the night I indulged the hope that the noise was not occasioned by any accident that would inconvenience us, or oblige our premature return to Port Jackson. That this hope proved to be fallacious will soon appear; and, had the extent of the damage received been discovered before we left this anchorage, I should not have ventured further up the coast, but have immediately returned to Port Jackson. Had the tide been falling when the vessel struck, instead of the reverse, our situation must have been attended with more serious damage, if not our total loss; and therefore, comforted by an ideal security, we consoled ourselves under our comparatively good fortune.
July 21.
The next day was spent in watering, getting provisions to hand in the hold, and refitting some temporary damage to the rigging. Mr. Hunter and Mr. Cunningham ranged about the vicinity of the shore whilst Mr. Roe, with a boat's crew, was employed in filling our empty water-casks from a gully at the back of the beach.
Soon after the watering-party commenced their work some shrill voices were heard near them among the trees: in a short time two natives made their appearance and were easily persuaded to approach. They were unarmed, and communicated with confidence, and apparently were disposed to be friendly; one of them gave Mr. Roe a fishing-line spun and twisted of strips of bark, to the end of which was attached a hook made from a turtle-shell.
Our gentlemen revisited the shore in the afternoon but without seeing the natives. In wandering about they discovered some stumps of trees close to the beach that bore marks of having been felled with a sharp instrument; and near some huts they found several strips of canvas lying on the ground, from which it would appear that the place had recently been visited by Europeans.
July 22.
I landed the next morning with a theodolite in order to obtain some bearings from the summit of the hill over the beach, but my intention was frustrated by a visit from the natives, five of whom made their appearance upon the hills as the boat arrived at the shore. The party consisted of three men and two boys: one of the men carried a spear, another had a boomerang* of a smaller size but otherwise similar to that which the Port Jackson natives use; and the boys each carried a short branch of a tree in their hands: they met us halfway and allowed us to approach with our muskets, a circumstance which dispelled all suspicion of any unfriendly feeling towards us; nor do I think any did exist when we first met.
(*Footnote. The boomerang is a very formidable weapon; it is a short, curved piece of heavy wood, and is propelled through the air by the hand in so skilful a manner that the thrower alone knows where it will fall. It is generally thrown against the wind and takes a rapid rotary motion. It is used by the natives with success in killing the kangaroo, and is, I believe, more a hunting than a warlike weapon. The size varies from eighteen to thirty inches in length, and from two to three inches broad. The shape is that of an obtuse angle rather than a crescent: one in my possession is twenty-six inches long, its greatest breadth two inches and a half, thickness half an inch, and the angle formed from the centre is 140 degrees. Boomerang is the Port Jackson term for this weapon, and may be retained for want of a more descriptive name. There is a drawing of it by M. Lesueur in Plate 22 Figure 6 of Peron's Atlas; it is there described by the name of sabre a ricochet. This plate may, by the way, be referred to for drawings of the greater number of the weapons used by the Port Jackson natives, all of which, excepting the identical boomerang, are very well delineated. M. Lesueur has however failed in his sabre a ricochet.)
In order to divert them and obtain as much information as we could whilst the boat's crew were filling the water-casks, we seated ourselves on the grass and commenced a conversation that was perfectly unintelligible to each other, accompanied with the most ridiculous gestures, a species of buffoonery that is always acceptable to the natives of this part of the world, and on more than one occasion has been particularly useful to us. An attempt was made to procure a vocabulary of their language, but without success, for we were soon obliged from their impatience to give it up. Not so easily, however, were they diverted from their object, for every article of our dress, and everything we carried, they asked for with the greatest importunity; our refusal disappointed them so much that they could not avoid showing the hostile feelings they had evidently begun to entertain towards us. Seeing this, I took an opportunity of convincing them of our power, and after some difficulty persuaded the native that carried the spear to throw it at a paper-mark placed against a bush at the distance of twelve yards. He launched it twice, but, much to his mortification, without striking the object. Mr. Hunter then fired and perforated the paper with shot, which increased the shame that the native and his companions evidently felt upon the occasion: Mr. Hunter then killed a small bird that was skipping about the branches of an overhanging tree; upon the bird being given to them, they impatiently and angrily examined it all over, and particularly scrutinized the wound that caused its death.