This morning I started off before dawn and opened the most southern of the two mounds of stones which presented the following curious facts:
1. They were both placed due east and west and, as will be seen by the annexed plates, with great regularity.
2. They were both exactly of the same length but differed in breadth and height.
3. They were not formed altogether of small stones from the rock on which they stood, but many were portions of very distant rocks, which must have been brought by human labour, for their angles were as sharp as the day they were broken off; there were also the remains of many and different kinds of seashells in the heap we opened.
My own opinion concerning these heaps of stones had been that they were tombs; and this opinion remains unaltered, though we found no bones in the mound, only a great deal of fine mould having a damp dank smell. The antiquity of the central part of the one we opened appeared to be very great, I should say two or three hundred years; but the stones above were much more modern, the outer ones having been very recently placed; this was also the case with the other heap: can this be regarded by the natives as a holy spot?
We explored the heap by making an opening in the side, working on to the centre, and thence downwards to the middle, filling up the former opening as the men went on; yet five men provided with tools were occupied two hours in completing this opening and closing it again, for I left everything precisely as I had found it. The stones were of all sizes, from one as weighty as a strong man could lift, to the smallest pebble. The base of each heap was covered with a rank vegetation, but the top was clear, from the stones there having been recently deposited.
PASS IN MOUNTAIN RANGE.
In the afternoon we proceeded on our route, travelling nearly north. After marching some distance we traversed at right angles a variety of under-features terminating in sandstone cliffs, but the hills on our right were composed of the same black rock as the chain in which Mount Lyell lies. Private Mustard being ill, I gave him my horse and tried to walk, but injured myself materially by so doing. We were obliged to encamp at the head of a large mangrove inlet.
April 8.
It being Sunday I halted all the morning and only started late in the afternoon. Our route lay through a mountainous country and consequently our progress was slow. Quartz was here largely developed in rocks. We halted this evening in a valley surrounded by mountains.
PASS MOUNT LYELL.
April 9.
We started at dawn and soon found that the valley we had encamped in was the true pass across the range of mountains. It ran in nearly a south-west direction to the foot of Mount Lyell. Here I halted for breakfast; and, on finding my position by cross bearings, which I was now able to do, and comparing it with my position by dead reckoning, was glad to find that the error only amounted to 150 yards. The valley we travelled up in the morning was fertile, connected with several other large ones of similar character, and contained two small lakes, or large ponds of water, the least of which was elevated considerably above the low ground in the neighbourhood. In the afternoon we crossed the mountains by a narrow neck, which is the best pass over this range of hills for anyone travelling to the south and east. We crossed our old track twice in the afternoon and encamped in the evening under a conical hill.
April 10.
Started at dawn, travelling nearly north-west, and crossed the heads of all the streams which I had before seen emptying themselves into the river Glenelg in the opening lying between Mount Sturt and Mount Eyre. Just under the point where we encamped for the night was a large marsh in which my horse got bogged and I had a severe fall.
CONTINUATION OF ROUTE.
April 11.
On starting this morning all the party insisted that they saw a hill, under which our old track had passed. I felt convinced that such could not be the case; and, had it been so, an error of four miles must have existed in my map: yet all were so positive of their correctness that I felt it would appear like obstinacy in me not to yield to the general opinion. I therefore quitted our direct course to make for the foot of this hill, and there convinced myself that I was right; yet, even when we had now passed it, proceeding on our route, I heard several remark, "We shall soon march back here again." But this evening I had the pleasure of halting under the sandstone range, and the very hill we had wished to gain.
RECOVERY OF BURIED STORES.
April 12.
We marched early, and on the way passed more native tombs; when we came to the place where the horse had been left I found that, through inadvertence on the part of the man who led him, he had been starved to death, having been left tethered. This discovery shocked me much. Some of the stores which had been left where he fell and covered with a tarpaulinremained uninjured. We proceeded onwards to the camp where I had lain so long wounded, and, on arriving found all our provisions in good order, the natives apparently not having since visited the spot. We were not a little glad to find our preserved meats which had been left buried here. Halted for the night, and enjoyed our repast.
PRECAUTIONS ON REACHING HANOVER BAY.
April 13.
After digging up our supply of preserved meats yesterday we had made rather more free with them than was prudent in men who had been for so long a time compelled to subsist upon very scanty fare, and in consequence had been nearly all affected with violent sickness; and, as six of the party, including Mr. Lushington and myself, were now ill, we did not start very early; the remaining ponies were also so weak that they could scarcely carry themselves, and we therefore were only able to place very light loads upon them.
I have already described the very difficult nature of the country we had to traverse; but the roads we had previously constructed through it proved extremely serviceable. So little had they been injured that they formed a very fair and passable line of communication. Early in the evening we crossed the Lushington and halted at the summit of the cliffs which formed its northern bank.
April 14.
I sent the most efficient of the party back with the horses for the remaining stores whilst with four men I remained in charge of the tents.
ANXIETY ON APPROACHING HANOVER BAY.
Sunday April 15.
Our anxiety to ascertain if any accident had happened to the schooner now became very great: since such a circumstance was of course by no means impossible. As our position would then have been very precarious, and our only chance of ultimate safety have rested on the most exact discipline and cautious rules of conduct being observed from the very first, I thought it would be most prudent not to allow such a calamity (had it occurred) to burst too suddenly upon the men when they were quite unprepared for it.
Two of them were therefore selected and, accompanied by these, I started before daylight for the sandy beach in Hanover Bay; leaving the party to make the best of their way to the heights above the valley where we had first encamped, and where plenty of food and water could be found for the ponies; these, in the event of anything having happened to the schooner, would become the mainstay of our hopes.
These arrangements having been made we moved off through the rocky difficult country we had first encountered: every step we took was over well-known ground, in which no change had taken place save that there were evident marks of bodies of natives having been in the neighbourhood since our departure.
As I proceeded nearly in a direct line to Hanover Bay we encountered some difficulty from the broken character of the ground, but about eleven o'clock had gained the hilly country at the back of the beach, from whence however we could not obtain a view of the spot where the vessel lay. On emerging from the mangroves upon the beach we saw painted upon the sandstone cliffs, in very large letters, "Beagle Observatory, letters south-east 52 paces."
REJOIN THE LYNHER. MEETING WITH THE BEAGLE.
No one who has not been similarly situated can at all conceive the thrill which went through me when these letters first met my eye; even had anything happened to the schooner, friends were upon the coast, and I knew that Captain Wickham, who had passed a great portion of his life in adventures of this kind, would leave nothing undone which was in his power to ensure our safety. We now hurried across the beach, and on gaining the highest part of it saw the little schooner riding safely at anchor. A gun being fired all became life and expectation on board the vessel; and whilst the boat pulled ashore we searched for our letters. These had however not yet been deposited at the spot indicated, and I therefore conjectured that we should find them on board.
On reaching the vessel we learnt that the mate was gone to the Beagle, now lying in Port George the Fourth but expected to sail this very day. It appeared that at 7 o'clock on the morning of the 8th the report of four carronades was heard on board the schooner; this was conjectured by all to denote the presence of the Beagle on the coast, but the echo ran from cliff to cliff with so many reverberations that none could tell from what direction the sound had originally proceeded. The silence of the night was not again disturbed; and those on board the schooner felt no small solicitude to know if their conjectures were correct, and if so in what direction the Beagle lay.
ARRIVAL OF THE BEAGLE.
The next morning the mystery was cleared up. Before noon a yawl was seen to round the headland and to stand across the bay in the direction of the mouth of Prince Regent's River. As soon as the schooner was recognised the yawl altered her course, and Captain Wickham was soon on board the Lynher, making anxious enquiries for us and ascertaining what steps could be taken to assist us and promote our views.
From that time up to the present date the Beagle had lain in Port George the Fourth to take in wood, water, etc., and to await the return of Mr. Stokes, who was absent exploring the coast between Collier's Bay and Port George the Fourth.
As there was no time to lose I at once started in a boat for the Beagle, and it was late in the evening when we drew near it. I could see anxious groups looking eagerly at the little boat as it drew near, and when at length we were recognised the hearty cheers that greeted us as we came up alongside plainly showed that the pleasure of meeting was not confined to ourselves.
RESULTS OF HER SURVEY.
As Mr. Stokes was hourly expected to return, and I was very anxious to know if he had discovered the mouth of the Glenelg, I remained on board the Beagle and, as all had much to hear and much to communicate, the evening wore rapidly away. The next day Mr. Stokes arrived, having seen nothing of the mouth of the river; this however in my apprehension arose from the greater portion of the time they were absent having been spent in the examination of Collier's Bay, which was the point of by far the greatest interest and promise; and that consequently they were compelled, from want of time and supplies, to examine the intervening coastline less narrowly than its irregular character rendered necessary. What rather confirms this opinion is, that Captain King, in his survey of this part, states his belief, drawn from observation, that it is indented with inlets similar to Prince Regent's River, now this is exactly the character of the Glenelg.
Mr. Stokes described Camden Sound as being one of the finest harbours he had seen; and, such being the case, it must undoubtedly be the most important position on this part of the coast. It lies close to the Glenelg and Prince Regent's River, two large navigable streams; and I have already declared my opinion that I have never seen a richer tract of country than the extensive alluvial and basaltic districts in the neighbourhood of the Glenelg, and under the rare circumstance of lying between two navigable rivers which are separated from each other by so short an interval.
PREPARATIONS FOR REEMBARKING.
Soon after Mr. Stokes's arrival I started for the Lynher, and the next morning repaired on shore. During my absence on board the Beagle fourteen natives had made their appearance near the encampment on the cliffs above the valley; they appeared however to have been solely attracted from motives of curiosity and a desire to visit our former huts. From the fearful disposition which had hitherto been evinced by the natives of these parts it was necessary however that every precaution should be observed. This was most carefully done by Mr. Lushington; and as soon as the natives saw that they were watched they moved off and were not again observed, although the smokes of their fires were visible in several points.
On the 17th we commenced our preparations for leaving this part of the coast. The stores remaining were all carried on board. We had but eleven ponies left, the greater number of which were so marked and scarred from falls amongst the rocks that they would have been valueless if brought to sale; besides which, to have cut and dried a quantity of grass sufficient for them until we reached the Isle of France would, in the burnt up state of the country, have delayed us many days, had we even succeeded at last. On the other hand, if left free in the bush, two good mares which were amongst them might possibly be the means of giving a very valuable race of horses to this country. These considerations determined me; and the companions of our weary wanderings were turned loose--a new race upon the land; and, as we trusted, to become the progenitors of a numerous herd.
STATE OF THE PLANTS AND SEEDS LEFT AT THE ENCAMPMENT.
Our whole residence in this country had been marked by toils and sufferings. Heat, wounds, hunger, thirst, and many other things had combined to harass us. Under these circumstances it might have been imagined that we left these shores without a single regret; but such was far from being the case: when the ponies had wandered off, when all the remaining stores had been removed, and the only marks of our residence in this valley were a few shattered bark huts, young coconut plants, a bread-fruit, and some other useful trees and plants, I felt very loth to leave the spot. I considered what a blessing to the country these plants must eventually prove if they should continue to thrive as they had yet done and, as I called to mind how much forethought and care their transport to their present position had occasioned, I would very gladly have passed a year or two of my life in watching over them and seeing them attain to a useful maturity. One large pumpkin plant in particular claimed my notice. The tropical warmth and rains, and the virgin soil in which it grew, had imparted to it a rich luxuriance: it did not creep along the ground, but its long shoots were spreading upwards amongst the trees. The young coconuts grew humbly amidst the wild plants and reeds, their worth unknown. Most of these plants I had placed in the ground myself, and had watched their early progress: now they must be left to their fate.
REEMBARKATION.
Amidst such thoughts we resumed our course down the valley and embarked in the boats; but had not proceeded far when a dog belonging to one of the men was missed and, as we could not abandon so faithful a companion, a party returned to search for it, and the dog was brought safely on board.
SAIL FOR THE MAURITIUS.
We then weighed and sailed for the Isle of France, where we arrived on the 17th May without having met with any circumstance on our voyage worthy of record.
NATURAL HISTORY.
North-Western Australia seems to be peculiarly prolific in birds, reptiles, and insects, who dwell here nearly unmolested, mutually preying upon each other, and thus, by a wise provision, setting the necessary check to their own multiplication.
DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS.
Of quadrupeds there are but few species, and of these the individuals, considered in proportion to the surface they roam over, are rare. The only species I observed during a residence of five months were four of kangaroos, namely the large Macropus giganteus ? of Shaw, two smaller kinds, one of which is the Petrogale brachyotis of Gould, and a kangaroo rat, which last is always seen amongst the rocks on the sea coast. One species of opossum, a flying squirrel (Petaurista) two kinds of dog, of which one is new, rats, and a fieldmouse. Of these the kangaroos are alone numerous, and only in particular spots.
NEW KANGAROO.
I shot a female kangaroo of the Petrogale brachyotis near Hanover Bay, and by the preservation of the skin and other parts enabled Mr. Gould to identify it as a new species.
This graceful little animal is excessively wild and shy in its habits, frequenting, in the daytime, the highest and most inaccessible rocks, and only descending into the valleys to feed early in the morning and late in the evening. When disturbed in the daytime amongst the roughest and most precipitous rocks, it bounds along from one to the other with the greatest apparent facility, and is so watchful and wary in its habits that it is by no means easy to get a shot at it. One very surprising thing is, how it can support the temperature to which it is exposed in the situations it always frequents amongst the burning sandstone rocks, the mercury there during the heat of the day being frequently at 136 degrees. I have never seen these animals in the plains or lowlands, and believe that they frequent mountains alone.
NEW DOMESTIC DOG.
The new species of dog differs totally from the Dingo or Canis australiensis. I never saw one nearer than from twenty to thirty yards, and was unable to procure a specimen. Its colour is the same as that of the Australian dog, in parts however having a blackish tinge. The muzzle is narrow, long, thin, and tapers much, resembling that of a greyhound, whilst in general form it approaches the English lurcher. Some of the party who went to Timor stated it to resemble precisely the Malay dog common to that island, and considered it to be of the same breed; which I think not improbable, as I cannot state that I ever saw one wild, or unless in the vicinity of natives; in company with whom they were generally observed in a domesticated state. On the other hand the Canis australiensis was common in some parts in a state of nature: of these I saw several myself and, from the descriptions given by other individuals of the party of dogs they had observed, I recognised their identity with the same species. We heard them also repeatedly howling during the night and, although they never attacked our sheep or goats, many portions of dead animals were carried off by them. I saw but two flying squirrels and know not to which species of Petaurista they are to be referred.
OTHER ANIMALS.
Both mice and rats are common, the former precisely resembling in appearance the English fieldmouse. The rats on one occasion ate up a live pet parakeet, leaving the bones gnawed and strewed about; and on another, when I had shot a crane (Ardea scolopacea) intending it for breakfast, they in the night devoured nearly the whole of it.
CHECKS ON INCREASE OF ANIMALS.
The multiplication of kangaroos, opossums, rats, etc. may be checked by various causes; but man, I imagine, is the most deadly enemy they have to contend with. The numerous remains of these animals that I have seen about the native fires attest the number destroyed. In all those caves in which I found native paintings were representations either of kangaroo hunts, or of men bringing down these animals dead on their shoulders; and many a hollow tree bore witness of its having been smoked in order to drive forth to certain death the trembling opossum or bandicoot rat which had taken refuge in it.
INFLUENCE OF MAN ON THEIR HABITS.
A convincing proof of the dread in which man is held by the various kinds of kangaroos is given by their extreme shyness. I never but on two or three occasions got within shot of the larger kangaroos as they were always so wary; and, although I at different times wounded two, I never could succeed in actually capturing either. Now, when the detached party sent forward just before we commenced our return to Hanover Bay crossed a range of mountains on which were neither traces of the natives or their fires, they found the direct reverse of this to be the case, and were all surprised at the tameness of the kangaroos compared with those they had previously seen.
In the same way, when I entered a new district, the birds merely flew up into a lofty tree without attempting to go farther away, and it was not until I had shot for a day or two in the neighbourhood of a place that the birds there became at all wild.
The native dog, doubtless being dependent for subsistence upon the game he can procure, must contribute to thin the numbers of the lesser animals, who also, together perhaps with the rapacious dog himself, frequently fall a prey to the various snakes that inhabit the country; as was evinced in the event narrated on the 16th of March of the destruction, by Mr. Lushington, of the boa with a small kangaroo compressed in its folds.
The manner, too, in which I have seen the rapacious birds of prey soar over plains where the small kangaroos abound, convinces me that they also bear their part in the destruction of this harmless race.
TRACES OF AN ANIMAL WITH A DIVIDED HOOF.
I have already alluded to the paucity of quadrupeds, both in species and in number, but I have still to record the remarkable fact of the existence in these parts of a large quadruped with a divided hoof: this animal I have never seen, but twice came upon its traces. On one occasion I followed its track for above a mile and a half, and at last altogether lost it in rocky ground. The footmarks exceeded in size those of a buffalo, and it was apparently much larger, for, where it had passed through brushwood, shrubs of considerable size in its way had been broken down and, from the openings there left, I could form some comparative estimate of its bulk. These tracks were first seen by a man of the name of Mustard, who had joined me at the Cape, and who had there been on the frontier during the Kaffir war; he told me that he had seen the spoor of a buffalo, imagining that they were here as plentiful as in Africa. I conceived at the time that he had made some mistake, and paid no attention to him until I afterwards twice saw the same traces myself.
BIRDS.
To describe the birds common to these parts requires more time than to detail the names of the few quadrupeds to be found; indeed in no other country that I have yet visited do birds so abound. Even the virgin forests of South America cannot, in my belief, boast of such numerous feathered denizens; yet I cannot, after all, assert that the number of genera and species is at all proportionate to that of individual birds. The contrary is probably the real case.
BEAUTY OF THE BIRDS.
The birds of this country possess in many instances an excessively beautiful plumage; and he alone who has traversed these wild and romantic regions, who has beheld a flock of many-coloured parakeets sweeping like a moving rainbow through the air whilst the rocks and dells resounded with their playful cries, can form any adequate idea of the scenes that there burst on the eyes of the wondering naturalist.
The beginning of the month of February, or the end of January, is the season in which the birds in these parts pair. In the beginning of March I found many nests with eggs in them; and in the end of that month eggs nearly hatched were observed in most of the nests, as well as young birds occasionally.
RAPACIOUS BIRDS.
Of rapacious birds I saw but four kinds, but these are by no means common:
The first species was a very large bird, of a dark colour (Aquila fucosa, Cuvier) in size, appearance, and flight closely resembling the golden eagle which I have often seen, and have once shot on the north-west coast of Ireland. I have approached these birds closely--so closely indeed that I have on two occasions shot them, but each time they fell into a thick mangrove inlet and I was not fortunate enough to procure either of them; they appeared to me always to frequent the shores, for I never saw them further inland than a mile from the sea. The large nests Captain King mentions as having been found upon the coast I imagine must have belonged to this species.
The second species was a sort of hawk (Haliaeetus leucosternus, Gould) rather larger than the sparrow-hawk, of a light cinnamon colour, with a perfectly white head. They also frequent the shores, but I never shot one.
The third species was a Peregrine falcon (Falco melanogenys, Gould) which is nearly allied to that of Europe. I was not fortunate enough to procure a specimen of this bird.
The fourth was the Athene Boobook. Belly brown and white; wings brown, with white spots; third quill-feather, longest; legs feathered, lightish brown colour; tail brownish white, marked with transverse bars of a darker brown; eye prominent; iris blue. The only difference I could observe between the male and female is that the female is rather larger than the male, and her colours somewhat lighter. These birds inhabit the whole of that part of North-western Australia lying between the Prince Regent and Glenelg Rivers, and probably may be distributed over the greater portion of the Continent. They feed on insects, reptiles, and birds of the smaller kind. I have always found them seated in holes in the rocks, or in shady dells, and have never seen them fly in the daytime unless compelled by fear; they are very stupid when disturbed, and in flight and manner closely resemble the common English owl. I cannot however recollect having ever seen one on the wing during the night.
Upon describing the two singular birds mentioned above in Chapter 9 to Mr. Gould he informed me that they were most probably of the rare species Anas semipalmata.
REMARKABLE NEST.
I have already spoken in the 9th chapter of a very curious sort of nest which was frequently found by myself and other individuals of the party, not only along the seashore, but in some instances at a distance of six or seven miles from it. This nest, which is figured in Illustration 19, I once conceived must have belonged to the kangaroo rat I have above mentioned, until Mr. Gould, who has lately returned from Australia, informed me that it is the run or playing ground of the bird he has named Chalmydera nuchalis.
These nests were formed of dead grass, and parts of bushes, sunk a slight depth into two parallel furrows, in sandy soil, and then nicely arched above. But the most remarkable fact connected with them was that they were always full of broken shells, large heaps of which protruded from each extremity of the nest. These were invariably seashells. In one instance, in the nest most remote from the sea that we discovered, one of the men of the party found and brought to me the stone of some fruit which had evidently been rolled in the sea; these stones he found lying in a heap in the nest, and they are now in my possession.
EMUS.
I have seen no Emus in North-western Australia, but on two occasions their tracks were impressed in the mud on some plains lying on the banks of Glenelg River; and Mr. Dring, of H.M.S. Beagle, informed me that, whilst that vessel was employed in the survey of Fitzroy River, about seventy miles to the southward of the former, he not only several times saw traces of them but that, on one occasion when he was in the bush, two of them passed within a few yards of him. They may, I conceive, therefore be considered as inhabitants of this part of the continent.
ALLIGATORS.
No alligators were seen by the land party in any of the rivers of North-western Australia, but the crew of the schooner saw one in Hanover Bay. I can however safely assert from my own experience that they are by no means numerous upon this coast. At the islands of Timor and Roti however they abound.
TURTLES.
Turtles were abundant on the coast, and a freshwater tortoise was found inland.
PLANTS.
Amongst the vegetable kingdom I shall only observe generally that the Calamus, or rattan, which in King's voyage* is considered to be peculiar to the primary granitic formation on the east coast, is abundant in the interior of the north-west between latitude 15 and 17 degrees south.
(*Footnote. Appendix, volume 2.)
I found a dwarf cabbage-palm between 15 and 16 degrees south latitude, always in moist situations in the neighbourhood of streams, although not immediately on the banks.
Of the family of Urticeae many species of Ficus were observed.
The Banksia, common to Swan River, and bearing a yellow flower, is to be found in many of the valleys on the north-west coast; thus appearing to form an exception to Mr. Cunningham's observation inserted in Captain King's voyage,* wherein he says:
Viewing the general distribution of Banksia, it is a singular fact in the geographical distribution of this genus that its species, which have been traced through almost every meridian of the south coast, upon the islands in Bass Strait, in Van Diemen's Land, and widely scattered throughout the whole extent of New South Wales to the north coast, at which extreme Banksia dentata has been observed as far west as longitude 136 degrees south, should be wholly wanting on the line of the north-west coast.
(*Footnote. Ibid.)
I observed a great variety of plants of the order Leguminosae.
Of the extraordinary Capparis resembling the African Adansonia I have already spoken in Chapter 6.
A species of Callitris (Pine) was common, as was the Pandanus; and the Araucaria excelsa was found on the heights, both near the sea coast and further inland.
CLIMATE. ITS HEALTHINESS.
I conceive the climate of North-western Australia to be one of the finest in the world, and my reasons for thus thinking are grounded upon the following circumstances.
PROOFS OF ITS SALUBRITY.
I was resident there from the beginning of the month of December 1837 to the middle of the month of April 1838; a period of four months and a half: and during the whole of this time the men under my command were exposed to great hardships and privations. On one occasion three of us slept in the open air without any covering or warm clothes for five successive nights, during three of which we had constant showers of heavy rain, and yet did not in any way suffer from this exposure.
Other detached parties were on various occasions subjected for a shorter period to exposure of a similar nature, and no instance occurred of any individual suffering in the least from it. One or two cases of slight diarrhoea occurred, but they could be always traced to some food that had been eaten the day before, and never were sufficiently violent to delay us for a single hour.
Whilst this perfect freedom from disease existed amongst the party they had not only to bear exposure of the nature above stated, but the provisions with which I was enabled to supply them were sometimes very insufficient for their wants. During the whole month of March and part of April their daily full allowance of food was about 1 3/4 pounds of flour, first made into dough and then baked in the form of a flat cake upon a large stone.
This low diet, at the same time that they were compelled to work very hard, naturally rendered some of them extremely weak, and several were, on our return to the coast, in a very reduced state.
I should here state that we were (perhaps fortunately) unable to carry more than one pint of brandy with us, hence no spirits were issued to the men, and the non-appearance of diseases of an inflammatory nature may perhaps in some measure be attributed to this circumstance.
The opinion of Captain Wickham, R.N. commanding H.M. ship Beagle, is perfectly in accordance with my own. He was upon the coast at the same time that we were, and in a letter to me writes thus: "Our cruise has been altogether a fortunate one, as we have been enabled to examine the whole coast from Cape Villaret to this place (Port George the Fourth) without any accident, and the climate is so good that we have had no sick."
THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS. RAIN AND TEMPERATURE.
I have annexed a short statement of the weather and range of the thermometer during some parts of the months of December, January, and February. It will be seen from this that the heat was on some occasions great, even as high as to 136 degrees of Fahrenheit in the sun; yet, by not exposing ourselves to its influence in the heat of the day more than we could help, we suffered no inconvenience from this circumstance: indeed in other tropical countries where the heat has not been so great I have suffered much more than I did in North-western Australia.
NUMBER OF DAYS IN WHICH RAIN FELL:
December: 6 days.
January: 19 days, namely, 12, to January 19th, 4 between 19th and
28th, 3 to end of month.
February: 7 days.
March: 12 days.
To 12th April: 2 days.
In January the greatest quantity of rain fell between the 15th and 30th, accompanied by storms of thunder and lightning.
In February the greatest quantity of rain fell in the commencement of the month. For several nights in the middle of February we had thunder, lightning, and strong gusts of wind, seldom accompanied by rain.
In March the greatest quantity of rain fell from the 17th to the 23rd.
The mean temperature of the different periods of the day for the month of December 1838 at Hanover Bay, determined by observations for only six successive days from the 26th to the 31st inclusive (thermometer in the shade) are as follows:
6 A.M. 82.2.
9 A.M. 85.3.
12 m. 91.3.
3 P.M. 90.2.
6 P.M. 85.8.
9 P.M. 83.5.
The same for the month of January 1838, determined by observations made from the 1st to the 19th inclusive, was:
6 A.M. 78.2.
9 A.M. 84.3.
12 M. 83.1.
3 P.M. 85.7.
6 P.M. 80.7.
9 P.M. 83.4.
I should observe that the mean temperature for 9 P.M. for this month is deduced from only seven days observation.
The same as the above for the month of February, taken twelve miles to the south of Hanover Bay, from the 19th to the 26th February inclusive, is as follows:
6 A.M. 77.0.
9 A.M. 86.0.
12 A.M. 92.7.
3 P.M. 94.0.
6 P.M. 83.3.
ABORIGINES, THEIR HABITS AND MANNERS.
I was never fortunate enough to succeed in obtaining a friendly interview with the natives of these parts; but I have repeatedly seen them closely, was twice forced into dispute with them and, in one of these instances, into deadly conflict. My knowledge of them is chiefly drawn from what I have observed of their haunts, their painted caves, and drawings. I have moreover become acquainted with several of their weapons, some of their ordinary implements, and I took some pains to study their disposition and habits as far as I could.
In their manner of life, their roving habits, their weapons, and mode of hunting, they closely resemble the other Australian tribes with which I have since become pretty intimately acquainted; whilst in their form and appearance there is a striking difference. They are in general very tall and robust, and exhibit in their legs and arms a fine full development of muscle which is unknown to the southern races.
They wear no clothes, and their bodies are marked by scars and wales. They seem to have no regular mode of dressing their hair, this appearing to depend entirely on individual taste or caprice.
They appear to live in tribes subject, perhaps, to some individual authority; and each tribe has a sort of capital, or headquarters, where the women and children remain whilst the men, divided into small parties, hunt and shoot in different directions. The largest number we saw together amounted to nearly two hundred, women and children included.
THEIR WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS.
Their arms consist of stone-headed spears (which they throw with great strength and precision) of throwing sticks, boomerangs or kileys, clubs, and stone hatchets. The dogs they use in hunting I have already stated to be of a kind unknown in other parts of Australia, and they were never seen wild by us.
The natives manufacture their water-buckets and weapons very neatly; and make from the bark of a tree a light but strong cord. Their huts, of which I only saw those on the sea-coast, are constructed in an oval form of the boughs of trees, and are roofed with dry reeds. The diameter of one which I measured was about fourteen feet at the base.
LANGUAGE.
Their language is soft and melodious, so much so as to lead to the inference that it differs very materially, if not radically, from the more southern Australian dialects which I have since had an opportunity of enquiring into. Their gesticulation is expressive, and their bearing manly and noble. They never speared a horse or sheep belonging to us and, judging by the degree of industry shown in the execution of some of their paintings, the absence of anything offensive in the subjects delineated, and the careful finish of some articles of common use, I should infer that under proper treatment they might easily be raised very considerably in the scale of civilization.
INDIVIDUALS OF AN ALIEN WHITE RACE.
A remarkable circumstance is the presence amongst them of a race, to appearance, totally different, and almost white, who seem to exercise no small influence over the rest. I am forced to believe that the distrust evinced towards strangers arose from these persons, as in both instances, when we were attacked, the hostile party was led by one of these light-coloured men.
SIMILARITY OF CUSTOMS WITH OTHER AUSTRALIAN TRIBES.
Captain King, who had previously experienced the same feelings of ill-will in the natives of Vansittart Bay, attributed them to the periodical visits of the Malays during the season of the trepang fishery. He says (volume 1 page 320):
On this beach (of Vansittart Bay) 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.
I saw but three men of this fair race myself, and thought they closely resembled Malays; some of my men observed a fourth.
NATIVES AT ROEBUCK BAY.
An individual differing in appearance and colour from his aboriginal associates was also seen amongst a native tribe whilst the boats of the Beagle were surveying in Roebuck Bay, and is thus ably described by Mr. Usberne, the master of the vessel; who was in command of the boat at the time he was observed, and who thus narrates the interview:*
(*Footnote. Nautical Magazine for 1840 page 576.)
To prevent interruption during dinner the things were removed to the boat, and she was then shoved a few yards off the beach, and we commenced our repast.
As we took to the water they (the natives) rose and followed us close; but in the act of shoving off, the boat-hook being pointed over the bow, they one and all involuntarily stepped back a couple of paces, thinking no doubt that it was one of our spears, which to them must have appeared a formidable weapon; but, seeing no harm was intended, they remained at the water's edge, watching us whilst at dinner.
At this time I had a good opportunity of examining them. They were about the middle age, about five feet six inches to five feet nine in height, broad shoulders, with large heads and overhanging brows; but it was not remarked that any of their teeth were wanting (as we afterwards observed in others); their legs were long and very slight, and their only covering a bit of grass suspended round the loins. There was an exception in the youngest, who appeared of an entirely different race: his skin was a copper colour, whilst the others were black; his head was not so large, and more rounded; the overhanging brow was lost; the shoulders more of a European turn, and the body and legs much better proportioned; in fact he might be considered a well-made man at our standard of figure. They were each armed with one, and some with two, spears, and pieces of stick about eight feet long and pointed at both ends. It was used after the manner of the Pacific Islanders, and the throwing-stick so much in use by the natives of the south did not appear known to them.
After talking loud, and using very extravagant gestures, without any of our party replying, the youngest threw a stone, which fell close to the boat.
COINCIDENCE OF CUSTOMS.
It appears to me very probable that the same dark-coloured race inhabit the whole of Northern Australia, and perhaps extend over the islands in Torres Strait.
In order to support this opinion I shall first give an extract from the journal of Dr. Duncan, from Wilson's Voyage round the World, page 148, which contains a detail of the customs of Flinders Islands and part of Northern Australia, and displays two or three remarkable customs coinciding with those observed by myself and others to exist in Northwest Australia:
At 8 hours 40 minutes P.M. the colonial brig Mary arrived, bringing along with her a native of India, whom she picked up on one of Flinders Islands.
On the 18th July the Lascar came on board the Success, and from him I learned the following particulars: That he belonged to the ship Fame, which was wrecked in the Straits; that he and a few others escaped in a leaky boat after rowing for forty-eight hours. On landing the natives stripped them of their clothes, etc., but otherwise behaved very kindly to them. His companions in misfortune died the first year of his residence amongst the natives, which in all amounted, he said, to six or seven years.
The men in that part of Australia have from five to ten wives, of whom they are rather jealous at times. The tribes are continually at war with one another, and have regular pitched battles; but the moment that one is killed on either side, the battle ceases, until they carry off their dead, and mourn for certain days, according to their custom; bedaubing themselves over with black earth, and on another day the fight begins and ends in a similar way.
DISPOSAL OF THEIR DEAD.
This is singularly analogous to what occurred on our encounter with them on the 11th February. Dr. Duncan continues:
When one dies or is killed they bury the body in the earth, but at the end of five days dig it up again and wrap up the bones, etc., in bark of trees, and carry them along with them. When the women fight, which is very often, they use a short kind of club. The natives paint their bodies over with red clay to prevent the mosquitoes from biting them. When they paint their bodies white it is a sign of war with some other tribe.
A very remarkable instance of coincidence in this custom with regard to the dead will be found in a subjoined extract from a letter sent to me by an officer of the Beagle, together with a skeleton which he had found at Cygnet Bay. The skeleton has been presented to the Royal College of Surgeons:
The skeleton was found enveloped in three pieces of papyrus bark, on a small sandy point in Cygnet Bay. All the bones were closely packed together, and the head surmounted the whole. It did not appear to have been long interred. They had evidently been packed with care. All the long bones were undermost, and the small ones were strewed in among them. The head was resting on its base, face across.
Three natives were close to the place when we first landed: the eldest of the party went up to the spot immediately after I had removed the bones; he turned up the bark with his foot, and did not appear to show the slightest symptom of uneasiness. They were for some days among the watering party on very friendly terms.
CAVES. DRAWINGS. TOMBS.
As I never, during my subsequent travels in Australia, saw anything at all resembling the painted caves which I have described in the ninth chapter, I shall here add some observations on the subject, which I could not have there detailed without too great an interruption to the narrative.
Two other instances of Australian caves which contain paintings have been recorded. The first is by Captain Flinders and the second by Mr. Cunningham in King's voyage.
PAINTINGS AT CHASM ISLAND.
The caves found by Flinders were in Chasm Island, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and are thus described:*
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, turtles, 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 waddy or wooden sword of the natives of Port Jackson.
(*Footnote. Flinders' Voyages volume 2 page 158.)
PAINTINGS AT CLACK'S ISLAND.*
(*Footnote. North-east coast of Australia.)
The second instance is taken from Mr. Cunningham's manuscripts and is contained in the following extract:*
The south and south-eastern extremes of Clack's Island presented a steep, rocky bluff, thinly covered with small trees. I ascended the steep head, which rose to an elevation of a hundred and eighty feet above the sea.
The remarkable structure of the geological features of this islet led me to examine the south-east part, which was the most exposed to the weather, and where the disposition of the strata was of course more plainly developed. The base is a coarse, granular, siliceous sandstone, in which large pebbles of quartz and jasper are imbedded: this stratum continues for sixteen to twenty feet above the water: for the next ten feet there is a horizontal stratum of black schistose rock which was of so soft a consistence that the weather had excavated several tiers of galleries; upon the roof and sides of which some curious drawings were observed, which deserve to be particularly described. They were executed on a ground of red ochre (rubbed on the black schistus) and were delineated by dots of a white argillaceous earth, which had been worked up into a paste. They represented tolerable figures of sharks, porpoises, turtles, lizards (of which I saw several small ones among the rocks) trepang, starfish, clubs, canoes, water gourds, and some quadrupeds, which were probably intended to represent kangaroos and dogs. The figures, besides being outlined by the dots, were decorated all over with the same pigment in dotted transverse belts. Tracing a gallery round to windward, it brought me to a commodious cave or recess, overhung by a portion of the schistus, sufficiently large to shelter twenty natives whose recent fire places appeared on the projecting area of the cave.
Many turtles' heads were placed on the shelves or niches of the excavation, amply demonstrative of the luxurious and profuse mode of life these outcasts of society had, at a period rather recently, followed. The roof and sides of this snug retreat were also entirely covered with the uncouth figures I have already described.
As this is the first specimen of Australian taste in the fine arts that we have detected in these voyages it became me to make a particular observation thereon: Captain Flinders had discovered figures on Chasm Island, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, formed with a burnt stick; but this performance, exceeding a hundred and fifty figures, which must have occupied much time, appears at least to be one step nearer refinement than those simply executed with a piece of charred wood. Immediately above this schistose is a superincumbent mass of sandstone which appeared to form the upper structure of the island.
(*Footnote. King's Australia volume 2 page 25.)
PAINTINGS IN THE YORK DISTRICT.
There is a third instance of a cave with a figure in it in the district of York, in the settlement of Swan River; but in this case the species of circle which is drawn on the cave, or rather scraped into it with a piece of stone, may represent anything or nothing; in fact it is no more than any idle or thoughtless savage might have executed, without any fixed design whatever. The only other vestige of drawing contained in the cave is evidently the mere impression of a hand, which has been rubbed over with the red paint with which the natives are in the constant habit of bedaubing themselves, and has then been pressed in on the wall.
NATIVE TRADITIONS.
I had been told that the natives had some very curious traditions current amongst them with regard to this last cave and, after having visited it and satisfied myself that there was no analogy between it and the caves on the north-west continent of Australia, I set about collecting some of the native stories that related to it. These legends nearly all agreed in one point, that originally the moon, who was a man, had lived there; but beyond this there was nothing common to them all, for every narrator indulged his own powers of invention to the greatest possible degree, scarcely ever relating the same story twice, but on each occasion inventing a new tradition; and the amount of marvels and wonders which he unfolded in this revelation were exactly proportioned to the quantity of food which I promised to give him. I once or twice charged them with attempting to impose upon my credulity and, far from denying the charge, they only laughed and said, "that was a very good thing which they told me, and that the Djanga (white men) liked it very much."
COLOURS USED IN PAINTING.
In the painted caves on the north-western coasts five colours were used: red, several shades; yellow; blue; black, and white. With the exception of blue these colours are all known to the natives of the whole continent. The red they either dig up from the earth, fit for use, in the form of red earthy pebbles, or they find it in the form of a brilliant yellow clay, which they beat, clean, and dry, leaving it exposed to the air for several days, when they bake it in a bark basket, and then, if the clay is good and it has been well prepared and burnt, it is nearly as bright as vermilion. In some parts of the continent however no good clay can be found; and in this case, at their annual fair, where they meet to exchange certain commodities only locally produced, this brilliant red ochre is considered a very valuable article of traffic.
Yellow they obtain from several sources: the most common is the yellow clay from which the red is afterwards produced, but they also procure it from a stone which is traversed by veins of yellow earth; from the interior of the nest of a species of ant which collects a yellow dust; and from a sort of fungus from which a similar dust is also obtained.
The black is nothing but finely pounded charcoal.
The white is a very fine greasy species of pipe-clay, common all over Australia, and which they use either wet or dry.
How the blue colour used in the caves on the north-west was obtained I do not know; it is very dark and brilliant, and closely resembles the colour obtained from the seed-vessel of a plant very common there, and which, on being broken, yields a few drops of a brilliant blue liquid. I therefore imagined that it was procured from this source.
AGE AND MOTIVE OF DRAWINGS.
With regard to the age of these paintings we had no clue whatever to guide us. It is certain that they may have been very ancient, for, although the colours were composed of such perishable materials, they were all mixed with a resinous gum, insoluble in water, and, no doubt, when thus prepared, they would be capable of resisting, for a long period, the usual atmospheric causes of decay. The painting which appeared to me to have been the longest executed was the one clothed in the long red dress, but I came to this conclusion solely from its state of decay and dilapidation, and these may possibly have misled me very much; but, whatever may have been the age of these paintings, it is scarcely probable that they could have been executed by a self-taught savage. Their origin therefore I think must still be open to conjecture.
But the art and skill with which some of the figures are drawn, and the great effect which has been produced by such simple means, renders it most probable that these paintings must have been executed with the intention of exercising an influence upon the fears and superstitious feelings of the ignorant and barbarous natives: for such a purpose they are indeed well calculated; and I think that an attentive examination of the arrangement of the figures we first discovered, more particularly of that one over the entrance of the cave, will tend considerably to bear out the conclusion I have here advanced.
SINGULARITY REGARDING THEM.
It is a singularity worthy of remark that the drawings we found in the vicinity of the coast were nothing but the rudest scratches; that they gradually improved until we reached the farthest point we attained from the sea; and that it was in the vicinity of this point that some of the best productions were found.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. MOUNTAIN RANGES.
The most remarkable geographical feature in North-Western Australia is a high range of mountains running north-north-east and south-south-west, named by me Stephen's Range after James Stephen, Esquire, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. From this primary range several branches are thrown off: 1. One between Roe's River on the north and Prince Regent's River on the south. 2. Macdonald's Range that throws off streams to Prince Regent's River on the north and to Glenelg River on the south. 3. Whateley's Range which gives forth streams to Glenelg River on the north, and to the low country behind Collier's Bay and Dampier's Land on the south.
These branch ranges as well as the principal one are all composed of ancient sandstone, deposited in nearly horizontal strata, or of basaltic rocks which are only visible in certain places, and are most fully developed in that part of Stephen's Range which lies behind Collier's Bay, and in the low ground near Glenelg River.
With the extent of Stephen's Range I am unacquainted; but I have no doubt that the high land whence the Fitzroy River takes its rise is merely an under-feature again thrown off from it, and which I propose to call Wickham's Range after Captain Wickham, R.N., the discoverer of the Fitzroy.
We may form some idea of the limits of Stephen's Range in a north and east direction from the following passage extracted from Captain King's survey of these coasts:*
Lacrosse Island is situated in the entrance of a deep opening trending to the south-south-west towards some steep, rugged hills. The character of the country is here entirely changed. Irregular ranges of detached rocky hills of sandstone formation, very slightly clothed with small shrubs and rising abruptly from extensive plains of low, level land, seem to have superseded the low wooded coasts that almost uninterruptedly prevails between this and Cape Wessel, a distance of more than six hundred miles!
(*Footnote. King's Australia volume 1 page 291.)
It appears therefore that this main range contains within it the sources of Roe's River, Prince Regent's and Glenelg Rivers, most probably the Fitzroy, and those that run into Cambridge Gulf and perhaps others that have their embouchures between this last and Admiralty Gulf.
From an accident having occurred to the only barometer we could carry with us I am unable to state the elevation of the highest land we reached above the level of the sea; but the appearance of the country on the coast does not give the impression of any very elevated ground existing near it. This however is owing to the great height of the shore cliffs and the gradual rise of the land towards the interior. The following observations, made with the barometer before it was broken, will show however that the altitude of the country at no great distance from the coast is considerable.
MACDONALD'S RANGE.
Our first encampment was on the banks of a small river at a spot 2,640 feet from the sea. This river ran through a deep and narrow valley, descending with a nearly regular slope from a tableland of sandstone, in which it took its rise about seven miles inland. At this encampment the height of the bed of the river above the level of the sea was 188.76 feet, as found by the mean of several very accordant observations, which, at the same average slope, gives an elevation of about 377 feet for the height of a spot on its banks distant only one mile from the sea; and if we conceive the average increase of elevation to the sandstone tableland to be only 200 feet in every mile (and I believe it to have been more) we shall have 1400 feet for the elevation of the tableland which formed one of the highest parts of Macdonald's Range.
ELEVATION OF HILLS.
After passing across this range we again descended rapidly into the low country, the face of which is much broken by conical hills composed of basalt. The heights of some of these hills above their base, which had a considerable elevation above the sea level, were in three instances as follows:
February 28.
The measured height of a hill above its base was 331 feet.
March 4.
Measured the altitude of a hill above its base and found it to be 222 feet.
March 8.
Measured the altitude of a hill above its base and found it to be 229.5 feet.
None of these hills had apparently near so great an elevation as the sandstone range of which they were under-features. At this period our barometer was unfortunately broken. We now proceeded up the banks of the Glenelg and arrived at many hills and conical peaks, apparently much higher than those I had measured; yet on afterwards passing the river and attaining the summit of the opposite sandstone range, we looked down upon them as hills of far inferior elevation to those on which we stood. From this circumstance, and from the very perceptible change of temperature we experienced, I should think the altitude of the farthest point of Stephen's Range which we reached must have been 2,500 or 3,000 feet above the sea.
CHARACTER OF THE RIVERS.
The rivers in North-western Australia much resemble in character those of the south-eastern parts of the continent. They rise at no very great distance from the sea. Near their sources they are mountain torrents, but in the lowlands they become generally streams with slow currents, winding through fertile and extensive valleys or plains which are liable to sudden and terrific inundations, caused, I conceive, by the rain which falls in that part of the mountains where the rivers take their rise; for at one period, when we had our encampment on the bank of the small stream near the sea at Hanover Bay, I was myself distant about fourteen miles in the interior in the direction of its source, where we had heavy rain; and on my return I found that the party at the station had been surprised by a sudden rising of the water for which there was no apparent cause as there had been no rain where they were.
The Glenelg River, in like manner, is subject to sweeping inundations, rising sometimes to the height of fourteen to fifteen feet above its usual level, as was evinced by the weeds and other substances we saw in the trees on its banks.
To show that these are characteristics of the Fitzroy River I shall quote the authority of Captain Wickham from a letter addressed to me just before our meeting at Hanover Bay:
It (the Fitzroy) appears to be very similar to the rivers on the south-east side of New Holland, subject to dreadful inundations, caused by heavy floods in the interior, and in no way connected with the rainy season on the coast. Our visit to it being in February and March, immediately after the rainy season on the coast, without our seeing any indication of a recent flooding, although there were large trunks of trees and quantities of grass and weeds lying on the bank and suspended from the branches of trees from ten to twelve feet above the level of the river. The bed is entirely of sand.
INUNDATIONS.
It will be clearly seen how nearly this corresponds with what we observed about the same season on the banks of the Glenelg. I have therefore little doubt that the Fitzroy takes its origin from the same mountain chain, and that the inundations described by Captain Wickham originate in the causes which I have here assigned.
To demonstrate more clearly the similarity of character of these rivers with those of New South Wales I shall quote two passages from the British Colonies of Mr. Montgomery Martin, regarding the Hawkesbury and Hunter Rivers of that colony:
The Hawkesbury, which is a continuation of the Nepean River, after the junction of the latter with a considerable stream, called the Grose, issues from a remarkable cleft in the Blue Mountains in the vicinity of the beautiful town of Richmond, about forty miles from Sydney. Along the base of these mountains the Hawkesbury flows in a northerly direction, fed by numerous tributary mountain torrents, descending from narrow gorges, which, after heavy rains, cause the Hawkesbury to rise and overflow its banks as it approaches the sea. In one instance it rose near the town of Windsor ninety-seven feet above its ordinary level. Volume 4 page 257.
Again he says, page 258:
Hunter's River, about seventy miles to the northward of Port Jackson, disembogues into the sea at the harbour of Newcastle.
There are three branches to the Hunter, called the upper, the lower, and the middle: the two former are navigable for boats for about 120 miles, and the latter for about 200 miles; but the branches are all subject to sudden and terrific inundations owing to the rapid descent of torrents from the Blue Mountains.
MOUTH OF THE GLENELG.
In concluding my remarks on the rivers of the north-west I should state that Mr. Stokes, the surveyor of the Beagle, after a careful examination of the coast did not succeed in finding the mouth of the Glenelg; and he imagines that it has several openings, consisting of large mangrove creeks, which fall into Stokes Bay; whilst it is my impression that it will be found to run out somewhere between Camden Sound and Collier's Bay, and that by some accidental circumstance its mouth was missed. That it joins the sea in a considerable body I should infer from a shoal of porpoises having been seen high up the river, and from the rise and fall of tide, which was twenty feet at the direct distance of thirty miles from the coast.
VALLEYS.
The valleys in this country are of two kinds: those which are almost ravines, bordered on each side by nearly inaccessible cliffs; and valleys of great width, bordered by fertile plains, often extensive, and which occur where the basaltic rocks are developed; although ravines of this formation are also of frequent occurrence in the mountainous parts.
CHARACTER OF THE VALLEYS. SOIL.
The soil found in the valleys of the former kind is extremely rich, but they are all subject to very heavy inundations. As an example of this kind of valley I may cite the one in which we first encamped. Its mean width was only 147 feet, and the rocky precipitous cliffs at half a mile from the sea rose above their base 138 feet. These deep valleys undoubtedly afford water at all seasons of the year.
The sandstone formation is intersected in all directions by valleys of this kind, which are seldom more than from two to three miles apart, while the top of the range between them is a tableland, divided by lateral valleys and gently rising towards the interior. Seawards they all terminate in saltwater creeks, having the same narrow, rocky, and precipitous character as they present themselves.
These tablelands afford good timber, particularly pine. Sheep thrive upon the food there produced, but we found goats did not answer so well.
The richest land in this part of the country is found in the valleys of the second class. The streams flowing through these valleys have generally almost imperceptible currents and often form wide reaches. The land upon their margins is thinly wooded; and I have often seen exposed fine vegetable mould of ten or twelve feet in thickness, through which these streams had worn their way. Good examples of this kind of valley are those through which run the Fitzroy and Glenelg rivers.
The northern banks of Prince Regent's River I conceive to offer no inducement whatever for the formation of a settlement, the whole of the country in that direction, as far as I have seen, consisting entirely of sandstone ridges. These ridges are continually intersected by valleys, or rather ravines of great fertility, but they are so narrow, and the good land contained in them is so very limited in extent, that from the first moment of the establishment of a colony here the individuals composing it must necessarily be scattered over a large space of country. They would thus be separated from one another by considerable intervals, which separation would not only render them more liable to disagreements with the natives, but would for many other reasons be highly detrimental to the interests of an infant colony.
The same objection holds good with regard to the south bank of this river, as far as the longitude of 125 degrees 3 minutes east, and even after passing this point the land immediately bordering the river is of the same sterile character; however a creek which trends nearly south runs up from thence into one of the most fertile countries I have ever seen.
HARBOURS.
The coastline to the south of Prince Regent's River is indented, as shown upon Captain King's chart, by numerous deep bays, many of which afford excellent anchorage; indeed I believe that there is no other part of the world in which an example occurs of three such fine harbours as Port George the Fourth, Hanover Bay, and Camden Sound, lying so close to one another.
These harbours alone render this a point of considerable consequence to Great Britain; but when viewed in connexion with the fine tract of country lying behind them its importance is very materially increased.
COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES.
Should this part of Australia be found eligible for colonization its commercial importance is well worthy of consideration.
PRODUCTIONS SUITED FOR CULTIVATION. COTTON TRADE.
The cultivated productions for the growth of which the country and climate seem best adapted are cotton, sugar, indigo, and rice.
A species of cotton plant grows wild in the greatest abundance, and if a colony was established and the proper cotton-plant introduced the following advantages would be obtained:
Great Britain would possess in Northern Australia a colony standing in the same relation to her manufacturies for cotton that her colonies in the south do to her wool-market.
This colony would also form a sort of entrepot to which the manufactured cotton would again be exported for the purpose of sale in the islands of the Indian Archipelago or its vicinity, and other parts where we have at present no trade, and where printed cottons now are, and from the nature of these countries must constantly be, in great demand.
Thus a fresh supply of cotton for our markets would be obtained, which, coming from an English colony, would give employment to British vessels alone, and the industry of our manufacturers would be called into operation by an entirely new market for cotton goods being thrown open to them, in which the demand for these articles is far greater than the supply could be for many years.
ARTICLES OF EXPORT.
The natural productions that are at present found in North-west Australia and might be available for exportation consist chiefly of timber, gum, lichens, and mimosa bark; all of which are abundant, and might be collected with a trifling degree of labour.
There are many varieties of useful timber. Among others, pine, fit for the purposes either of building or making spars for vessels, is abundant and good, and could be readily and cheaply exported if they were cut in the vicinity of the streams and floated down to the sea in the rainy season, whereby all land carriage would be avoided.
I sent to England specimens of five different gums in order that they might be examined. These consist of an elastic gum, closely resembling Indian rubber, gum tragacynth, another gum yielded by a sort of capparis and which I believe to be hitherto unknown, and two kinds of gum resin.
The mosses are of various kinds, many of which would afford useful dyes; and these, together with the gums, would probably be found valuable articles of export; for the collecting of them is a species of labour in which the native tribes would more willingly engage than any other I am acquainted with.