FRIDAY 17 DECEMBER 1802
In the morning, a party of men was sent to cut wood at the nearest shore; and there being a sort of beach, uncovered at low tide, the seine was hauled there with some success. A small drain of fresh water ran behind the mangroves at the back of the beach, and by cutting a rolling way to it, our empty casks, it was thought, might be filled; but I hoped to find a better place, and went away in the boat, as well with that object in view as to carry on the survey.
From the furthest part of the western island visible from the ship, I found the shore trending S. 73° W., to a point where there was an opening out to the westward, of a mile and a half wide and of considerable depth. About three leagues up the opening were two craggy islands; and beyond them was more extensive land, which proved to be an island also, and from its situation in this group was called West Island. The island whose north end is Cape Pellew, and whose southern extremity I had now reached, was called North Island; and the land opposite to me, which formed the south side of the opening and seemed to be extensive, is marked with the name of Centre Island in the chart. These lands are moderately high, and seemed to form several coves and small inlets, with promise of runs of fresh water; but the weather was too unfavourable to make much examination at this time, and after taking bearings from the south and south-east points of North Island, I returned on board.
SATURDAY 18 DECEMBER 1802
The wooding of the ship was carried on next day; and although the weather remained squally, with frequent heavy rain, some further bearings were obtained, and observations taken for the time keepers. In the morning of the 19th [SUNDAY 19 DECEMBER 1802], the weather cleared, and I took the ship over to Cape Vanderlin; both for the convenience of the survey, and to give the botanical gentlemen a better opportunity of examining that island, which appeared to be the most interesting, as it was the largest of the group. Besides three rocky islets, lying off the west side of the cape, there is a small island one mile to the south-west, and I sought to anchor behind it; but being prevented by a shoal which extends southward from the island, the anchor was dropped half a mile without side, in 4½ fathoms, muddy ground.
After the latitude had been observed, and bearings taken from the island, we crossed over in the boat to Cape Vanderlin. There was a depth of 4 to 7 fathoms between them, with a passage leading in from the north, and a ship would lie here in perfect safety during the south-east monsoon; but with the present north-west winds and squally weather, this otherwise good anchorage was not equal to the place we had quitted. The highest parts of Cape Vanderlin are hillocks of almost bare sand; on the isthmus behind it were many shrubs and bushes, and amongst the latter was found a wild nutmeg, in tolerable abundance. The fruit was small, and not ripe; but the mace and the nut had a hot, spicy taste.
There was no appearance of fresh water here, nor was the ship in a situation safe to remain all night; so soon, therefore, as my bearings were taken from the top of Cape Vanderlin, we returned on board, and steered for the opening between North and Centre Islands. At dusk, the anchor was dropped in 6 fathoms, muddy ground, a little within the opening; where we had land at different distances all round, with the exception of one point to the W. N. W.
TUESDAY 21 DECEMBER 1802
During the two days we remained here, I examined a shallow bay on the east side of Centre Island, and went to the westward as far as the Craggy Isles, taking bearings from various stations. Several rills of fresh water were found at the heads of little coves, but the depth was not sufficient for the ship to get near any of them; and therefore we returned to our first anchorage near Cabbage-tree Cove [WEDNESDAY 22 DECEMBER 1802], to cut through the mangroves and get the holds completed with water at the small run there. This duty I left to the care of the first lieutenant, and the rates of the time keepers to be continued by the second; and went away the same afternoon in my boat, upon an excursion of four days, accompanied by Mr. Westall, the landscape painter.
The soundings we had in steering for the west point of Vanderlin's Island and southward along the shore, will be best known from the particular plan of this group. Bearings were taken at two chosen stations; and we stopped in the evening, at the furthest of two small isles near the south-west side of the island, to pass the night without disturbance from the Indians. It then rained and blew hard, with thunder and lightning, and the soil being sandy and destitute of wood to break off the wind, it was with difficulty the tent could be secured; the islet had been visited, and we found the remains of more than one turtle feast. Amongst the bearings set from hence was a projecting part of the low main land, at S. 19½° W. six or seven miles, and it was the furthest visible.
THURSDAY 23 DECEMBER 1802
We had more moderate weather in the morning, and went on towards the south point of Vanderlin's Island; but stopped two or three miles short of it, at a station whence the south point and the low islet lying off were visible, as also was the sandy head set from the ship on the 12th and 13th; and from the bearings of these objects my survey round Vanderlin's Island became connected. A part of the sandy main coast was distant not more than four miles to the S. S. W., whence it extended as far as S. 62° W.; the water appeared to be too shallow for a ship to pass between it and the island.
A fresh wind from the north-west prevented me from going any further to leeward; and it was with much difficulty that we rowed back to the isle where we had passed the night. Strong squalls again came on towards evening, and the larger isle, lying a mile to the north-west, was chosen for our night's residence, on account of its affording some shelter; but the lightning was so violent and close to us, that I feared to place the tent near the trees. and was surprised in the morning, not to see half of them shivered to pieces: the rain fell in torrents, during a part of the night.
FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 1802
Next morning the weather was better, but the wind still adverse to my project of going over to the south end of Centre Island; by noon, however, we reached a low islet half way across. where I observed the latitude 15° 42° 47", and took a set of bearings very useful to the survey; and we afterwards made an attempt to get over, and succeeded. A rocky hillock on the south-east point of Centre Island, was my next station; and from thence we proceeded westward along the south side, to a low islet near the south-west point, for the purpose of landing, the sun being then set; but the islet proving to be a mere mud bank covered with mangroves, we rowed onward to the large South-west Island, in very shallow water; and there passed a night which, happily for the fatigued boat's crew, turned out fine.
SATURDAY 25 DECEMBER 1802
I took azimuths and some bearings in the morning, and we then proceeded northward through a small passage between the Centre and South-west Islands; there was 5 fathoms in the very narrow part, but no deep water within; and without side, it was also very shoal for two or three miles. Near the north-west point of Centre Island lies an islet and two rocks, and from the cliffy north end of the islet another set of bearings was taken; after which we steered eastward, sounding along the north side of Centre Island. It was noon when we reached the north-east point, and I observed the latitude 15° 39' 35" upon the south-east end of a rocky islet there, and took more bearings from the top; and in the afternoon, we reached the ship.
Very little has been said upon the islands or their productions, or upon the various traces of native inhabitants and of former visitors found in this, and in former boat excursions; the observations on these heads being intended for the general and conclusive remarks upon this group. These are now to be given; for the wooding and watering were completed on the day after my return [SUNDAY 26 DECEMBER 1802], and the ship was then ready to proceed in the examination of the Gulph.
In the old Dutch chart, Cape Vanderlin is represented to be a great projection from the main land, and the outer ends of North and West Islands to be smaller points of it. There are two indents or bights marked between the points, which may correspond to the openings between the islands; but I find difficulty in pointing out which are the four small isles laid down to the west of Cape Vanderlin; neither does the line of the coast, which is nearly W. S. W. in the old chart, correspond with that of the outer ends of the islands, and yet there is enough of similitude in the whole to show the identity. Whether any change have taken place in these shores, and made islands of what were parts of the main land a century and a half before--or whether the Dutch discoverer made a distant and cursory examination, and brought conjecture to aid him in the construction of a chart, as was too much the practice of that time--it is perhaps not now possible to ascertain; but I conceive that the great alteration produced in the geography of these parts by our survey, gives authority to apply a name which, without prejudice to the original one, should mark the nation by which the survey was made; and in compliment to a distinguished officer of the British navy, whose earnest endeavours to relieve me from oppression in a subsequent part of the voyage demand my gratitude I have called this cluster of islands SIR EDWARD PELLEW'S GROUP.
The space occupied by these islands is thirty-four miles east and west, by twenty-two miles of latitude; and the five principal islands are from seven to seventeen miles in length. The stone which seems to form the basis of the group is a hard, close-grained sand stone, with a small admixture of quartz, and in one or two instances it was slightly impregnated with iron; calcareous, or coral rock was sometimes found at the upper parts, but the hard sand stone was more common. Where the surface is not bare rock, it consists of sand, with a greater or less proportion of vegetable soil, but in no case did I see any near approach to fertility; yet all the larger islands, and more especially the western side of Vanderlin's, are tolerably well covered with trees and bushes, and in some low places there is grass.
As in most other parts of Terra Australis, the common trees here are various species of the eucalyptus, mostly different from, and smaller than those of the East and South Coasts. The cabbage palm, a new genus named by Mr. Brown Livistona inermis, is abundant; but the cabbage is too small to be an interesting article of food to a ship's company; of the young leaves, drawn into slips and dried, the seamen made handsome light hats, excellent for warm weather. The nutmeg was found principally on Vanderlin's Island, growing upon a large spreading bush; but the fruit being unripe, no accurate judgment could be formed of its quality. Amongst the variety of other plants discovered by the naturalist, were two shrubs belonging to the genus Santalum, of which the sandel wood, used as a perfume in the East, is also one; but this affinity to so valuable a tree being not known at the time, from the description of the genus being imperfect, no examination was made of it with that object in view.
All the larger islands seem to possess the kangaroo; for though none were seen, their foot marks were perceptible in most of the sandy places where I landed: the species seemed to be small. In the woods were hawks, pigeons of two kinds, and some bustards; and on the shore were seen a pretty kind of duck and the usual sea fowl. Turtle tracks were observed on most of the beaches, but more especially on the smaller islands, where remains of turtle feasts were generally found.
There were traces of Indians on all the islands, both large and small, but the latter are visited only at times; these people seemed to be equally desirous of avoiding communication with strangers, as those of Wellesley's Islands, for we saw them only once at a distance, from the ship. Two canoes found on the shore of North Island were formed of slips of bark, like planks, sewed together, the edge of one slip overlaying another, as in our clincher-built boats; their breadth was about two feet, but they were too much broken for the length to be known. I cannot be certain that these canoes were the fabrication of the natives, for there were some things near them which appertained, without doubt, to another people, and their construction was much superior to that on any part of Terra Australis hitherto discovered; but their substance of bark spoke in the affirmative. The same degree of doubt was attached to a small monument found on the same island. Under a shed of bark were set up two cylindrical pieces of stone, about eighteen inches long; which seemed to have been taken from the shore, where they had been made smooth from rolling in the surf, and formed into a shape something like a nine pin. Round each of them were drawn two black circles, one towards each end; and between them were four oval black patches, at equal distances round the stone, made apparently with charcoal. The spaces between the oval marks were covered with white down and feathers, stuck on with the yolk of a turtle's egg, as I judged by the gluten and by the shell lying near the place. Of the intention in setting up these stones under a shed, no person could form a reasonable conjecture; the first idea was, that it had some relation to the dead, and we dug underneath to satisfy our curiosity; but nothing was found. This simple monument is represented in the annexed plate, with two of the ducks near it: the land in the back ground is Vanderlin's Island.
Indications of some foreign people having visited this group were almost as numerous, and as widely extended as those left by the natives. Besides pieces of earthen jars and trees cut with axes, we found remnants of bamboo lattice work, palm leaves sewed with cotton thread into the form of such hats as are worn by the Chinese, and the remains of blue cotton trousers, of the fashion called moormans. A wooden anchor of one fluke, and three boats rudders of violet wood were also found; but what puzzled me most was a collection of stones piled together in a line, resembling a low wall, with short lines running perpendicularly at the back, dividing the space behind into compartments. In each of these were the remains of a charcoal fire, and all the wood near at hand, had been cut down. Mr. Brown saw on another island a similar construction, with not less than thirty-six partitions, over which was laid a rude piece of frame work; and the neighbouring mangroves, to the extent of an acre and a half, had been cut down. It was evident that these people were Asiatics, but of what particular nation, or what their business here, could not be ascertained; I suspected them, however, to be Chinese, and that the nutmegs might possibly be their object. From the traces amongst Wellesley's Islands, they had been conjectured to be shipwrecked people; but that opinion did not now appear to be correct.
The barometer stood here from 29.96 to 29.62 inches, being highest with the winds at north-east, and lowest with those from the southward; in the heavy squalls of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning from the north-west, the mercury stood at a medium elevation. On board the ship, the average standard of the thermometer was nearly 85°. On shore it was hotter, yet the musketoes were not very troublesome; but the common black flies, from their extraordinary numbers and their impudence, were scarcely less annoying than musketoes; they get into the mouth and nose, and settle upon the face or any other part of the body, with as much unconcern as they would alight on a gum tree; nor are they driven away easily. This was the case on shore, and on board the ship whilst lying at anchor, and for a day or two afterwards; but the society of man wrought a change in the manners even of these little animals. They soon became more cautious, went off when a hand was lifted up, and in three or four days after quitting the land, behaved themselves orderly, like other flies; and though still numerous on board, they gave little molestation. Dampier found these insects equally troublesome on the North-west Coast; for he says (Vol. I. p. 464), speaking of the natives, "Their eye-lids are always half closed, to keep the flies out of their eyes; they being so troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's face; and without the assistance of both hands to keep them off, they will creep into one's nostrils, and mouth too, if the lips are not shut very close."
Sir Edward Pellew's Group, as will be seen by a reference to the plan, affords numerous anchorages against both the south-east and north-west monsoon; but unless it should be within the two small isles near the south-west side of Vanderlin's Island, where the depth was not well ascertained, there is not a single harbour, the different bays and coves being too shallow to admit a ship. Wood for fuel is easy to be procured; and water may be had in December, and probably as late as April or May, but I think not afterwards. The most accessible watering place we could find, was at the back of the mangroves near our principal anchorage, within the east point of North Island, where, with some trouble, our casks were filled; and at a beach there, left dry at low water, the seine was hauled with some success. At Vanderlin's Island there are many beaches fit for the seine; and indeed it seemed superior to the other islands as well for this, as for every other purpose, when a ship can lie there; it is also the most frequented by the Indians, and may probably have fixed inhabitants.
The latitude of Observation Island, from two meridian altitudes to the north and south, is 15° 36' 46" S.
Longitude from six sets of distances of the sun east of the moon, given in Table IV. of Appendix No. 1, 137° 6' 42"; but by the time keeper No. 543 corrected, it is preferably 137° 3' 15" E.
The rates of the time keepers were found from afternoon's altitudes in an artificial horizon, between the 16th and 26th; and the means, with their errors from mean Greenwich time, at noon there on the last day of observation, were as under:
Earnshaw's No. 543, slow 2h 29' 11.17" and losing 14.93" per day Earnshaw's No. 520, slow 4h 11' 37.59" and losing 28.25" per day
This rate of No. 543 is only 0.19" more than that found at Sweers' Island, and so far as the six sets of lunars may be relied on, the longitude by this time keeper was not far from the truth; the letting down on the passage therefore did not seem to have produced any change; but in No. 520, the rate is more than 8" greater, and the longitude was getting 1½' per day too much to the east, as well before as after it was let down. The coast from Sweers' to Observation Island is consequently laid down by No. 543, with the small accelerating correction arising from the 0.19" increase of rate in 16.4 days.
Variation of the theodolite, observed on the east side of South-west Island, 2° 22' east.
In the bearings taken at different parts within the group, the variation seemed to differ from 2° 30' to l° 30'. The largest variations were on the east sides of the islands, and the smallest on the west sides; seeming to show an attraction of the land upon the south end of the needle. On board the ship, when coasting along the east side of Vanderlin's Island, and the whole group lay to the west, the variation appeared from the bearings to be as much as 4° east.
The best observation made on the tide, was on the 23rd, during my boat excursion to the south end of Vanderlin's Island. On that morning the moon passed over the meridian at sixteen minutes past ten, and the perpendicular movements of the tide were as follows. At seven o'clock, when I left the shore, the tide was falling; on landing at nine it was stationary, and appeared to be low water; at noon it rose fast, and at three was still rising, and continued so to do, but slowly, until seven in the evening, The tide then began to fall; but after subsiding one foot, it rose again until ten o'clock, and had then attained its greatest height. Low water took place therefore about an hour before, and high water at eleven hours and a quarter after the moon passed the meridian: the rise appeared to be from four to seven feet. At Wellesley's Islands high water had taken place an hour and a half earlier, which seems extraordinary, if, as it necessarily must, the flood come from the northward. I think it very probable, that the tide in both places will follow what was observed in King George's Sound on the South Coast; where high water, after becoming gradually later till midnight, happened on the following day before seven in the evening, and then later as before.
The break of three hours in the tide here, is somewhat remarkable: it was not observed amongst Wellesley's Islands, where the tide ran twelve hours each way; but was found to increase as we proceeded west and northward until it became six hours, and the tides assumed the usual course.
Departure from Sir Edward Pellew's Group.
Coast from thence westward.
Cape Maria found to be an island.
Limmen's Bight. Coast northward to Cape Barrow: landing on it.
Circumnavigation of Groote Eylandt.
Specimens of native art at Chasm Island.
Anchorage in North-west Bay, Groote Eylandt;
with remarks and nautical observations.
Blue-mud Bay. Skirmish with the natives.
Cape Shield.
Mount Grindall.
Coast to Caledon Bay.
Occurrences in that bay, with remarks on the country and inhabitants.
Astronomical and nautical observations.
[NORTH COAST. GULPH OF CARPENTARIA.]
MONDAY 27 DECEMBER 1802
(Atlas, Plate XIV.)
At daylight of Dec. 27, we got under way from Pellew's Group; and passing between the small isles near Cape Pellew, stretched off to sea with a fresh breeze at W. N. W. At noon the cape bore S. 26° W. four leagues, and towards evening we weathered it, having 10 fathoms water at the distance of five miles; the soundings afterwards diminished gradually to 4½ fathoms, at two miles from West Island, where the anchor was dropped on a muddy bottom, for the night. Next morning [TUESDAY 28 DECEMBER 1802], the wind being still at north-west, we again stretched out to sea; and at noon, when the latitude was 15° 24', Cape Pellew bore S. 60° E. four leagues. We were then standing south-westward; and at three o'clock, West Isle bore from S. 74° E. to about South, the last extreme being hidden by an islet and rock distant two-and-half miles. The main coast was in sight to the south and westward, and we stood for it until six; the ship was then tacked to the north-east, in 3 fathoms, the shore being three miles off, and extending from behind West Island to N. 36° W. It was low, mostly sandy, and covered with wood behind the beaches; and except that some places on the shore were rocky, it altogether resembled the more eastern parts of the gulph. At dusk, the anchor was let go in 6 fathoms, mud and shells.
WEDNESDAY 29 DECEMBER 1802
A small reef was seen in the morning, two miles to the north-east of the ship, and about seven from the coast. We passed half a mile to windward of it with 3½ fathoms, and stretched off to sea until noon, with the usual north-western wind; the latitude was then 15° 7', longitude 135° 40', and we tacked towards the land, which was not in sight from the mast head. At six in the evening it was distant two leagues, and the extremes bore S. 26° E. to 74° W., the first being the same part which had been set at N. 36° W., the evening before. At seven, we tacked from the shore in 3½ fathoms, and on the water deepening to 4, anchored on coarse sandy ground. In working along the shore next day [THURSDAY 30 DECEMBER 1802], we met with a shoal of sand and rocks., as far as three leagues off the land; the outer part, upon which we had less than 2½ fathoms at noon, lying in 15° 13' south and 136° 16' east. After getting clear of this danger, we stretched off until dusk; and then anchored in 9 fathoms, grey sand, some back hills being visible in the S. W. by W., but no part of the low shore.
FRIDAY 31 DECEMBER 1802
We had the wind at W. by S. in the morning, and stood off until noon, nine or ten leagues from the coast; two small lumps of land were then seen, bearing S. 53° and 58° W., and at the mast head they were perceived to join, and apparently to form an island. On the wind veering to the south and eastward we steered for it, and before sunset got to an anchor in a small bay on its south side, in 4 fathoms; the extremes of the island bearing N. 81° E. one mile and a half, to S. 83° W. three miles. The main land was visible three or four leagues to the southward, and a projecting part of the back hills, which at first made like a head land, bore S. 3° W.
A similar error to that at the Capes Van Diemen and Vanderlin has been made here in the Dutch chart, this island being represented as a projection of the main land, and called Cape Maria. To the west of it is marked a large bay or bight, called Limmen's Bogt, where the coast turns north-eastward to a projecting cape without name, which has a shoal, forty miles in length, running out from it; and between this shoal and Cape Maria, is laid down a small island. In these particulars, the old chart was found to be correct as to the general matter of fact, but erroneous in the forms and positions.
SATURDAY 1 JANUARY 1803
Fires were seen at night, upon the island; and early in the morning I landed with the botanical gentlemen, to examine the productions and take bearings. My attention was attracted by something like a native's hut, which proved to be an ant hill composed of red earth, about eight feet high, and formed like a haycock; the inhabitants were the same feeble race of insect as before seen at the Prince of Wales' Islands, and the least pressure was sufficient to crush them. From the highest hill on the south side of the island, I set the furthest visible extremity of the main land to the eastward, near which is a low islet, at S. 21° 50' E.; from thence it extended past the projecting part of the hills to N. 80° W., where it was lost in Limmen's Bight; but re-appearing 16° further north, it was distinguishable to N. 33° W.
The length of the island is about seven miles, N. E. and S. W., by a variable breadth from one to four miles; and its northern extremity, to which I continue the name of Cape Maria, lies in 14° 50' south, and 135° 53½' east. A slaty rock seemed to form its basis; the surface is hilly, well covered with wood, and grass grows up from amongst the loose stones; and notwithstanding its barren soil, the appearance from the ship was green and pleasant. That men were upon the island was shown by the fires, and it was corroborated by the fresh prints of feet upon the sand; but they eluded our search, and we did not find either canoes or habitations.
On returning to the ship at nine o'clock, we stretched southward for the main coast, with the wind at west. When within five or six miles, the water shoaled to 3½ fathoms; and the ship being found to drift to leeward with the tide, a stream anchor was dropped. There seemed to be two tides here in the day, setting nearly east and west, but the rise and fall were so imperceptible by the lead, that it could not be known which was the flood.
The west wind died away at noon, and being succeeded by a sea breeze from the north-eastward, we steered for Limmen's Bight so long as it lasted; and then anchored in 4 fathoms, blue mud, with the island of Cape Maria bearing S. 56° to 86° E., ten or twelve miles. The main land was eight or nine miles off, and visible all round the Bight and as far as N. 6° W.; it was low and woody, and an extensive shelving flat seemed to render it inaccessible to a ship.
At seven in the evening, the land wind came off in a strong squall, with thunder, lightning, and rain; afterwards the weather cleared; and at day light [SUNDAY 2 JANUARY 1803] we followed the line of the coast to the northward. I wished to get as near to it as possible; but the water shoaling to 2½ fathoms when six or seven miles off, we ran out east, till it deepened to 4, and then steered north-eastward, parallel to the line of the shoal. A low rock came in sight to seaward, which I took to be the small island laid down to the north-east of Cape Maria, but it lies nearly north from it. At nine o'clock, when the main land was distant seven miles and the depth 6 fathoms,
Our latitude at noon was 14° 26' 29", and longitude 135° 54½'; the main coast was seven miles off, and seen from the mast head as far as N. N. E. Three miles to the N. 80° E. there were two dry sands, and shoal water extended from them to the north and southward, further than could be distinguished. We had already no more than 3 fathoms; but a sea breeze having set in at E. by S., unfavourably for going without side of the sands, we kept on close to the wind, hoping to find a passage within them. The depth varied between 8 and 4 fathoms, till past five o'clock, when it diminished to 2½, the main coast being distant five or six miles, and the sands out of sight astern; we then tacked, and stretched E. S. E. into 4 fathoms, and anchored at dusk on a bottom of gravel. An observation of the moon gave the latitude here 14° 19'; and the variation from an amplitude, with the head E. by S., was 0° 43' east, or corrected to the meridian upon the principle often before mentioned, 2° 44' east for the true variation.
There is no doubt that the dry banks seen at noon, were meant to be represented in the Dutch chart by the great shoal to the north-east of Cape Maria; but their direction from the cape is there too far eastward; neither do they join to the main land, nor lie out from it more than one-quarter of the distance marked: several turtle were seen in the vicinity of the banks. The main coast in the northern part of Limmen's Bight is not altogether so low as at the head; but the shoal water extends equally far out, and even the southern head of the gulph is not more inaccessible to ships.
We had strong squalls of wind in the night, with rain, thunder, and lightning, and were obliged to drop a second anchor; the wind, however, remained in the north-east, and at daylight [MONDAY 3 JANUARY 1803] we stood for the edge of the shoal. At seven, tacked ship in 3 fathoms; and a breeze coming off the land soon afterward, we steered along the shore until noon, with a good depth of water. Several pieces of distant land, which seemed to be islands of greater elevation than usual, were then seen, from N. by E. to E. S. E.; the main coast was about five miles off, and the furthest part bore north from the mast head. Our latitude at this time was 14° 5', and longitude 136° 6' east.
In the afternoon, the soundings became irregular between 4 and 7 fathoms, and the whale boat was sent ahead; but a fresh wind setting in at N. E., the boat was called back, and in being veered astern, got filled with water, broke adrift, and the two men were thrown out. Another boat was lowered down to save them and I ran the ship to leeward and came to an anchor. The whale boat was picked up, as also one of the men; but the other, William Murray, captain of the fore top, being unable to swim, was unfortunately lost.
The weather remained squally, and wind unsettled during the night. In the morning [TUESDAY 4 JANUARY 1803] our course was continued to the northward, leaving extensive land, which I supposed to be the Groote Eylandt of the old charts, six or eight leagues on the starbord hand. Before commencing the investigation of that island, I wished to trace the main coast further on, and if possible, give the botanists an opportunity of examining its productions; for it was upon the main that they usually made the most interesting discoveries, and only once, since entering the Gulph of Carpentaria, had we been able to land there. At seven o'clock we edged in for the coast; and on coming into 3½ fathoms, dropped the anchor on a bottom of blue mud, within a mile of the shore. No part of Groote Eylandt was in sight; but an island of considerable extent and elevation, not noticed in the old chart, lay six or seven miles to the E. N. E.; and I have called it BICKERTON'S ISLAND, in compliment to admiral Sir Richard Bickerton. Between it and the main coast is an open space, from four to six or seven miles wide, through which, to all appearance from this side, a ship might safely pass.
Whilst the botanical gentlemen landed abreast of the ship, I took the whale boat to a woody islet, five miles off, close to Bickerton's Island, the soundings across the opening in going to it, being from 3 to 7 fathoms. A meridian observation to the north and south, placed the islet in latitude 13° 48' 30", and the points of the opening to the northward bore N. 18° E. and N. 2½° W.; this last was the furthest visible part of the main land; and proving afterwards to be a projecting cape, I named it Cape Barrow, after John Barrow. Esq., author of the interesting travels at the Cape of Good Hope. The islet is about half a mile long, and though many bushes and some trees grew upon it, is little more than a bed of sand. There were holes in the beach, made by turtle; and besides other proofs of the islet being sometimes visited by the Indians, I found four human skulls lying at the back of the shore.
From the woody islet I crossed over to the main land near the ship, and took another set of bearings for the survey. Upon the shore were pieces of bamboo, and other traces of the same foreign people of whom mention has frequently been made; and three small huts were found, so entirely covered with grass that no opening was left; but they were empty, and nothing was buried underneath. On the borders of a small fresh lake the botanists reaped a harvest of new plants, without molestation; indeed no natives were seen any where; but several skeletons were found, standing upright in the hollow stumps of trees; and the skulls and bones being smeared or painted, partly red and partly white, made a very strange appearance. Some kangaroos were perceived at a distance; and judging by their foot-marks on the sand, they were rather numerous. The country near the sea side is stony and barren; further back, it rises gently to a small elevation, and seemed to be moderately well covered with grass and wood.
WEDNESDAY 5 JANUARY 1803
In the morning of the 5th we got under way, and steered eastward for Groote Eylandt, which I now intended to circumnavigate. In passing the south side of Bickerton's Island, we observed in it a deep bight or bay which would afford shelter in the north-west monsoon., if there be depth sufficient for a ship; and the hills at the back being high and woody, there was a probability of its receiving a stream of fresh water. The country round the entrance of the bight, had the appearance of being sandy and sterile.
Between the nearest parts of Groote and Bickerton's Islands is a space of eight miles, which seemed to offer a perfectly safe passage, with soundings, if I may judge from what we had in crossing the south side, between 13 and 17 fathoms; nor can the rather high and woody isle, which lies almost exactly in the middle of the opening, be considered as presenting any obstacle. This isle, from its local position, would seem to be the central one of three laid down in the Dutch chart between Groote Eylandt and the main; but the latitude corresponds with the southernmost. I call it Connexion Island; because my survey round Groote Eylandt was connected by its means, and made in a great measure independent of the time keepers. The centre of Connexion Island, from observations at noon to the north and south, lies in 13° 50½' south; and the longitude, deduced at three o'clock when the extremes bore N. 20° W. to 11° E. four miles, would be 136° 27' from the best time keeper; but from the survey and lunar observations, 136° 24½' east should be more correct.
Our distance from the west side of Groote Eylandt at four o'clock, was not quite three miles, and we then bore away southward along the shore, in 8 to 6 fathoms water. This depth diminished gradually to 4 fathoms, and suddenly from that to 2½; on which we steered off into 7, and then resumed our southern course. Soon after sunset,
In half an hour, the anchor was dropped in 11 fathoms, muddy bottom.
At the north-west end of Groote Eylandt is a bluff head, the termination that way of a range of woody hills from the interior, of which the highest is what was set under the name of Central Hill. On the west side of the island these hills do not come close to the water side, but leave a space of increasing breadth to the southward, where the land is low, sandy, and sterile; and even the hills, though mostly covered with wood, had little of fertility in their appearance: the shore is partly rock, and in part sandy beach.
THURSDAY 6 JANUARY 1803
We had the wind light and variable in the morning, and proceeded to the southward very slowly. The shore trended S. S. E., for some time; and then turning westward to the south-west cape, it formed a bight in the low land three or four miles back, in which there seemed to be much shoal water. There is a sandy hill upon the south-west cape, and a rock lies close to it; and at three or four miles off the soundings were exceedingly irregular, jumping from 7 to 5, and 4 to 11 fathoms, on a rocky bottom. This irregularity, and the meeting of two tides, one from the north and another from the east, caused great ripplings in the water; and with the light winds, retarded our progress round the cape. The extreme south-west point lies in latitude 14° 15' south, and from six sets of lunar distances with stars east and west, the longitude would be 136° 17' east; but according to the survey, 136° 25' is the better situation. An amplitude at sunset gave the variation 1° 9', with the ship's head S. E., or corrected to the meridian, 2° 36' east. We anchored at dusk in 13 fathoms, muddy bottom, five or six miles to the south of the cape.
[NORTH COAST. GROOTE EYLANDT.]
SATURDAY 8 JANUARY 1803
On the 7th and 8th, the winds hung between S. E. and N. N. E.; and the direction of the south side of Groote Eylandt being nearly east, it took us those two days and part of a third, to make the examination, though the extent be little more than twelve leagues. The land here is more sandy than on the west side, and the trees upon the hills are more thinly scattered and present a less agreeable foliage. No islands are laid down near the south side in the Dutch chart; but I counted eight scattered along it, of which the easternmost and largest is more than two miles long; and besides these, there are several rocks. The positions of these rocks and islets, with our courses and soundings amongst them, will be best seen in the chart.
SUNDAY 9 JANUARY 1803
In the afternoon of the 9th, we passed round the south-east rocky point of Groote Eylandt, which lies in 14° 17' south, and 137° 2½' east. The shore then trended northward, to a small cluster of rocks and islets three miles distant; and two miles further was another islet, behind which we anchored in 12 fathoms, coarse sand, in a sandy bight of the great island; but the bight being exposed to south-east winds, and containing much foul ground, the anchorage was far from being good.
MONDAY 10 JANUARY 1803
In the morning, we steered out on the north side of the islet, between it and a low point two miles off, with a boat ahead; our soundings being 9, 6, 4, 2½, 5, 8, and soon afterward 23 fathoms. The low point, which has several rocks near it, lies seven or eight miles northward from the south-east extremity of Groote Eylandt; from thence the shore trends westward about four leagues, and forms a large bight, mostly bounded by a sandy beach; but in the middle of it is a point with many rocks. On the west side of the bight, two or three miles back, are the same woody hills which seem to occupy all the middle of the island; and on this side they terminate to the north-east in a bluff. The depth of water at noon was 19 fathoms, and our situation and principal bearings were as under.
We were then steering across the bight before a south-east wind; but the depth of water becoming less, and the wind more dead on the shore, we hauled up N. by E. for the furthest land in sight. At three o'clock, a small opening was seen under the north-east bluff, but our distance of three leagues was too great to distinguish it accurately. Towards evening, when three miles from the shore, the sounding jumped from 9 to 4 fathoms, and we tacked to the south-east; and the night promising to be fine, anchored at dusk in 19 fathoms, mud and sand, with the north-east point of Groote Eylandt bearing N. 33° W., about seven miles (Atlas, Plate XV.); further out lay two small islands, and a hill upon the outermost was set at N. 10° W. The latitude of this anchorage was ascertained, from altitudes of two stars and the moon, to be 13° 53 1/3' south; and an amplitude with the ship's head N. E. by N., gave variation 2° 57', or 4° 4' east, corrected to the meridian.
TUESDAY 11 JANUARY 1803
We had the wind at N. W. in the morning, and steered close to it on the larbord tack, until noon; when the hill on the outer north-east island, bore S. 89½° W., nine or ten miles. The latitude of the hill is 13° 38¼', and from six sets of distances of stars east and west of the moon, its longitude would be 136° 36'; but from the survey and more numerous observations, it is 137° 0½' east.* After a calm the sea breeze came in, and our course was directed for the north-east point of Groote Eylandt; at sunset we approached a rocky islet three or four miles from the point, and anchored under it in 6½ fathoms, sandy ground, with the point bearing S. 5° E., and the furthest visible part, very low and sandy, S. 63° W. five or six miles. On the other side, the north-east islands extended from N. 32° E. to 39° W., with many small rocks scattered along them; the nearest of which, a split rock, was distant a short mile.
[* The apparent error of 24½' in the first longitude, is greater than should exist in the mean result of six sets of distances. There is an interval of three days in the observations of the moon at Greenwich with which these distances were compared; and it seems probable that a great part of the error might arise from that cause.]
WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 1803
In the morning we steered close to a N. N. W. wind, for the low sandy point, where the shore was found to trend southward; and five or six miles to the west there was other land, moderately high and in some places cliffy, which took nearly a parallel direction; and the bight between them ran so far up towards the north-east bluff of the woody hills, that a junction with the small opening seen on the outside appeared to be probable. A shelving spit extended out from the low point, and on opening the bight our soundings decreased from 6 to 2½ fathoms, which made it necessary to tack; and the wind being adverse to passing within the north-east islands, if indeed there be water enough for a ship, which seemed doubtful, we steered out by the way we had come in.
Having little wind, the isles were not passed till late in the evening, and from the same cause not much progress was made to the westward next day [THURSDAY 13 JANUARY 1803]; but the land was better distinguished than before, and many straggling rocks and two islets were seen to lie off the north end of Groote Eylandt. In the morning of the 14th [FRIDAY 14 JANUARY 1803] we weathered all these, and on the wind dying away, anchored in 11½ fathoms, blue mud; the outer North-point Islet, which lies in 13° 37' south and 136° 45' east, then bore E. 3° S. five miles, and the furthest extreme of a higher cliffy island, S. 38° W. three miles.
I went in a boat to this last island with the botanical gentlemen, intending to take bearings from the uppermost cliffs; but the many deep chasms by which the upper parts are intersected, made it impossible to reach the top in the short time we had to spare, and a few bearings from the eastern low point were all that could be obtained. This was called Chasm Island; it lies one mile and a half from a low point of Groote Eylandt, where the shore trends southward and seemed to form a bay, into which I proposed to conduct the ship.
We found upon Chasm Island a fruit which proved to be a new species of eugenia, of the size of an apple, whose acidity of taste was agreeable; there were also many large bushes covered with nutmegs, similar to those seen at Cape Vanderlin; and in some of the chasms the ground was covered with this fruit, without our being able, for some time, to know whence it came. Several trees shot up in these chasms, thirty or forty feet high, and on considering them attentively, these were found to be the trees whence the nutmegs had fallen; thus what was a spreading bush above, became, from the necessity of air and light, a tall, slender tree, and showed the admirable power in nature to accommodate itself to local circumstances. The fruit was small, and not of an agreeable flavour; nor is it probable that it can at all come in competition with the nutmeg of the Molucca Islands: it is the Myristica insipida of Brown's Prodrom. Nov. Holl. p. 400.
In the steep sides of the chasms were deep holes or caverns, undermining the cliffs; upon the walls of which I found rude drawings, made with charcoal and something like red paint upon the white ground of the rock. These drawings represented porpoises, turtle, kangaroos, and a human hand; and Mr. Westall, who went afterwards to see them, found the representation of a kangaroo, with a file of thirty-two persons following after it. The third person of the band was twice the height of the others, and held in his hand something resembling the whaddie, or wooden sword of the natives of Port Jackson; and was probably intended to represent a chief. They could not, as with us, indicate superiority by clothing or ornament, since they wear none of any kind; and therefore, with the addition of a weapon, similar to the ancients, they seem to have made superiority of person the principal emblem of superior power, of which, indeed, power is usually a consequence in the very early stages of society.
A sea breeze had sprung up from the eastward, and the ship was under way when we returned on board at three in the afternoon. At five we hauled round Chasm Island with 12 fathoms water, which diminished gradually as we proceeded up the bay, to 4½, where the anchor was dropped on a muddy bottom; the south-west end of Chasm Island then bore N. 16° E., three or four miles, and the cliffy end of a smaller isle on the west side of the entrance, N. 29° W. two miles and a half; and except between these two bearings, we were sheltered from all winds. The situation of this bay in Groote Eylandt, led me to give it the name of North-west Bay. It is formed on the east and south by that island; and on the west by a separate piece of land, five or six miles long, which, in honour of the noble possessor of Burley Park, in the county of Rutland, I named Winchilsea Island; and a small isle of greater elevation, lying a short mile to the east of the ship, was called Finch's Island.
SATURDAY 15 JANUARY 1803
Early next morning the botanists landed on Groote Eylandt, and I went to Finch's Island with the second lieutenant, to take bearings and astronomical observations. From the western head, I saw that the bay extended six or eight miles above the ship, to the southward, and that the southern outlet, beyond Winchilsea Island, was about one mile wide; but the whole seemed to be too shallow for any thing larger than boats. Amongst the bearings taken from this station, those most essential to the survey were,