A Source Book of Australian History Part 2

[This course brought them to New Zealand.]

DESCRIPTION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

+Source.+--The Voyages and Adventures of Captain William Dampier (published 1776). Vol. II, pp. 134-40

Dampier was an Englishman who had joined a company of American buccaneers. They arrived in May 1698 on the Western coast of Australia, which was by this time fairly well known to the Dutch under the name of New Holland.

New Holland is a very large tract of land. It is not yet determined whether it is an island or a main continent; but I am certain that it joins neither to Asia, Africa nor America. This part of it that we saw is all low even land, with sandy banks against the sea, only the points are rocky, and so are some of the islands in this bay.

The land is of a dry sandy soil, dest.i.tute of water, except you make wells; yet producing divers sorts of trees, but the woods are not thick, nor the trees very big. Most of the trees that we saw are dragon-trees as we supposed, and these too are the largest trees of any there.

They are about the bigness of our large apple-trees, and about the same height, and the rind is blackish and somewhat rough. The leaves are of a dark colour; the gum distils out of the knots or cracks that are in the bodies of the trees. We compared it with some gum dragon, or dragon's blood, that was on board, and it was of the same colour and taste. The other sorts of trees were not known by any of us. There was pretty long gra.s.s growing under the trees, but it was very thin. We saw no trees that bore fruit or berries.

We saw no sort of animal, nor any track of beast, but once, and that seemed to be the tread of a beast as big as a mastiff dog. Here are a few small land-birds, but none bigger than a black-bird and but few sea fowls.

Neither is the sea very plentifully stored with fish, unless you reckon the manatee and turtle as such. Of these creatures there is plenty, but they are extraordinary shy, though the inhabitants cannot trouble them much, having neither boats nor iron.

The inhabitants of this country are the miserablest people in the world.

The Hodmadods of Monomatapa, though a nasty people yet for wealth are gentlemen to these, who have no houses and skin garments, sheep, poultry, and fruits of the earth, ostrich eggs etc. as the Hodmadods have; and setting aside their human shape, they differ but little from brutes. They are tall, straight-bodied and thin, with small long limbs.

They have great heads, round foreheads and great brows. Their eyelids are always half closed to keep the flies out of their eyes, being so troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's face, and without the a.s.sistance of both hands to keep them off, will creep into one's nostrils and mouth too, if the lips are not shut very close. So that from their infancy being thus annoyed with these insects, they never open their eyes as other people; and therefore they cannot see far, unless they hold up their heads, as if they were looking at somewhat over them.

They have great bottle noses, pretty full lips, and wide mouths. The two fore-teeth of their upper jaw are wanting in all of them, men and women, old and young; whether they draw them out, I know not, neither have they any beards. They are long-visaged, and of a very unpleasing aspect, having no one graceful feature in their faces. Their hair is black, short and curled, like that of the negroes, and not long and lank like the common Indian. The colour of the skin, both of their faces and the rest of their body, is coal black, like that of the negroes of Guinea.

They have no sort of clothes, but a piece of the rind of a tree tied like a girdle about their waists, and a handful of long gra.s.s or three or four small green boughs, full of leaves, thrust under their girdle to cover their nakedness.

They have no houses, but lie in the open air, without any covering, the earth their bed, and the heaven their canopy. Their only food is a small sort of fish, which they get by making wares of stone, across little coves, or branches of the sea; every tide bringing in the small fish, and there leaving them for a prey to these people, who constantly attend there to search for them at low water. This small fry I take to be the top of their fishery; they have no instruments to catch great fish, should they come; and such seldom stay to be left behind at low water; nor could we catch any fish with our hooks and lines all the while we lay there.

In other places at low water they seek for c.o.c.kles, mussels, and periwinkles; of these sh.e.l.l-fish there are fewer still, so that their chief dependence is on what the sea leaves in their wares, which, be it much or little, they gather up, and march to the place of their abode.

There the old people, that are not able to stir abroad, by reason of their age, and the tender infants, wait their return: and what providence has bestowed upon them, they presently broil on the coals, and eat in common. Sometimes they get as many fish as make them a splendid banquet; and at other times they scarce get every one a taste; but be it little or much that they get, every one has his part, as well the young and tender, and the old and feeble who are not able to go abroad, as the strong and l.u.s.ty.

How they get their fire I know not; but probably, as Indians do out of wood. I have seen the Indians of Bon-Airy do it, and have myself tried the experiment. They take a flat piece of wood that is pretty soft, and make a small dent in one side of it, then they take another hard round stick, about the bigness of one's little finger, and sharpening it at one end like a pencil, they put the sharp end in the hole or dent of the soft flat piece, and then rubbing or twirling the hard piece between the palms of their hands, they drill the soft piece till it smokes, and at last takes fire.

These people speak somewhat through the throat, but we could not understand one word that they said. We anch.o.r.ed, as I said before, January 5th, and seeing men walking on the sh.o.r.e, we presently sent a canoe to get some acquaintance with them, for we were in hopes to get some provisions among them. But the inhabitants, seeing our boat coming, ran away and hid themselves. We searched afterwards three days in hopes to find the houses, but found none, yet we saw many places where they had made fires. At last being out of hopes to find their habitations, we searched no further but left a great many toys ash.o.r.e, in such places that we thought that they would come. In all our search we found no water, but old wells on the sandy bays.

At last we went over to the islands, and there we found a great many of the natives; I do believe there were forty on one island, men women and children. The men at our first coming ash.o.r.e, threatened us with their lances and swords, but they were frightened, by firing one gun, which we fired purposely to scare them. The island was so small that they could not hide themselves; but they were much disordered at our landing, especially the women and children, for we went directly to their camp.

The l.u.s.tiest of the women, s.n.a.t.c.hing up their infants, ran away howling, and the little children ran after, squeaking and bawling, but the men stood still. Some of the women and such of the people as could not go from us, lay still by a fire making a doleful noise, as if we had been coming to devour them; but when they saw we did not intend to harm them, they were pretty quiet, and the rest that fled from us at our first coming, returned again. This, their place of dwelling, was only a fire, with a few boughs before it, set up on that side the wind was of.

After we had been here a little while, the men began to be familiar, and we cloathed some of them, designing to have some service of them for it; for we found some wells of water here, and intended to carry two or three barrels of it on board. But being somewhat troublesome to carry on the canoes, we thought to have made these men carry it for us and therefore we gave them some cloathes; to one an old pair of breeches; to another a ragged shirt; to the third a jacket that was scarce worth owning; which yet would have been very acceptable at some places where we had been, and so we thought they might have with these people. We put them on them, thinking that this finery would have brought them to work heartily for us; and our water being filled in small long barrels, about six gallons each, which were made purposely to carry water in, we brought these, our new servants, to the wells and put a barrel on each of their shoulders for them to carry to the canoe. But all the signs we could make were to no purpose, for they stood like statues, without motion, but grinned like so many monkeys, staring one upon another, for these poor creatures seem not accustomed to carry burdens; and I believe that one of our ships-boys of ten years old, would carry as much as one of them; so we were forced to carry our water ourselves, and they very fairly put the cloathes off again, and laid them down as if cloathes were only to work in. I did not perceive that they had any great liking to them at first, neither did they seem to admire anything that we had.

At our first coming, before we were acquainted with them, or they with us, a company of them who lived on the main, came just against our ship, and standing on a pretty bank, threatened us with their swords and lances, by shaking them at us; at last the captain ordered the drum to be beaten, which was done of a sudden with much vigour, purposely to scare the poor creatures. They, hearing the noise ran away as fast as they could drive, and when they ran away in haste, they would cry, gurry, gurry, speaking deep in the throat. Those inhabitants also that live on the main, would always run away from us; yet we took several of them. For, as I have already observed, they had such bad eyes, that they could not see us till we came close to them. We always gave them victuals, and let them go again but the islanders, after our first time of being among them, did not stir for us.

THE FIRST VISIT TO THE EASTERN COAST

+Source.+--Cook's Journal (edited by Wharton, 1893), pp. 237-249, 311-312

Captain Cook was the first Englishman to search for the Great South Land. After observing the transit of Venus, he made extensive explorations in New Zealand, and then sailed West, to seek the East Coast of New Holland.

_April 1770. Thursday 19th._ At 5, set the topsails close reef'd and 6, saw land, extending from N.E. to W., distance 5 or 6 leagues, having 80 fathoms, fine sandy bottom. The Southernmost land we had in sight, which bore from us W 3/4 S., I judged to lay in the lat.i.tude of 38 0' S., and in the Long. of 211 7' W. from the Meridian of Greenwich. I have named it Point Hicks, because Lieutenant Hicks was the first who discovered this land. To the Southward of this Point we could see no land, and yet it was clear in that quarter and by our Long. compared with that of Tasman's, the body of Van Diemen's Land ought to have bore due South from us. The Northernmost land in sight bore N. by E. 1/2 E., and a small island lying close to a Point on the main bore W., distant 2 Leagues. This Point I have named Cape Howe; it may be known by the trending of the Coast, which is N. on the one side, and S.W. on the other.

_Sat.u.r.day, 28th._ At daylight in the morning we discovered a Bay which appeared to be tolerably well sheltered from all winds, into which I resolved to go with the ship, and with this view sent the Master in the Pinnace to sound the entrance.

_Sunday, 29th._ Saw as we came in, on both points of the Bay, several of the natives and a few huts; men, women, and children, on the S. sh.o.r.e abreast of the ship, to which place I went in the boats in hopes of speaking with them, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia.

As we approached the sh.o.r.e they all made off, except two men, who seemed resolved to oppose our landing. As soon as I saw this I ordered the boats to lay upon their oars, in order to speak to them; but this was to little purpose, for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they said. We then threw them some nails, beads, etc., ash.o.r.e, which they took up, and seemed not ill-pleased with, in so much that I thought that they beckoned us to come ash.o.r.e, but in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us, upon which I fired a musket between the two, which had no other effect than to make them retire back, where bundles of their darts lay, and one of them took up a stone and threw it at us, which caused my firing a second musket, load with small shot; and although some of the shot struck the man yet it had no other effect than making him lay hold on a target. Immediately after this we landed, which we had no sooner done than they throw'd two darts at us; this obliged me to fire a third shot, soon after which, they both made off, but not in such haste but what we might have taken one; but Mr. Banks being of opinion that the darts were poisoned, made me cautious how I advanced into the woods. We found here a few small huts made of the bark of trees, in one of which were four or five small children with whom we left some strings of beads, etc. A quant.i.ty of darts lay about the huts; these we took away with us. Three canoes lay upon the beach, the worst, I think, I ever saw; they were about 12 or 14 feet long, made of one piece of the bark of a tree, drawn or tied up at each end, and the middle kept open by means of stick by way of thwarts.

After searching for fresh water without success, except a little in a small hole dug in the sand, we embarked and went over to the N. point of the Bay, where in coming in we saw several people; but when we landed now there was n.o.body to be seen. We found here some fresh water, which came trinkling down and stood in pools among the rocks; but as this was troublesome to come at I sent a party of men ash.o.r.e in the morning to the place where we first landed, to dig holes in the sand, by which means and a small stream they found fresh water sufficient to water the ship. The string of beads, etc., we had left with the children last night were found lying in the huts this morning; probably the natives were afraid to take them away.

_Tuesday, May 1st._ This morning a party of us went ash.o.r.e to some huts not far from the watering-place, where some of the natives are daily seen; here we left several articles, such as cloth, looking gla.s.ses, combs, beads, nails, etc.; after this we made an excursion into the Country, which we found diversified with woods, lawns, and marshes. The woods are free from underwood of every kind, and the trees are at such a distance from one another, that the whole country, or at least a great part of it, might be cultivated without having to cut down a single tree. We found the soil everywhere, except in the marshes, to be a light white sand, and produceth a quant.i.ty of good gra.s.s, which grows in little tufts about as big as one can hold in one's hands, and pretty close to one another; in this manner the surface of the ground is coated. In the woods between the trees, Dr. Solander had a bare sight of a small animal something like a rabbit, and we found the dung of an animal which must feed upon gra.s.s, and which, we judge, could not be less than a deer; we also saw the track of a dog, or some such like animal. We met with some huts and places where the natives had been, and at our first setting out one of them was seen; the others had, I suppose, fled upon our approach. I saw some trees that had been cut down by the natives with some sort of a blunt instrument, and several trees that were barked, the bark of which had been cut by the same instrument; in many of the trees, especially the Palms, were cut steps of about 3 or 4 feet asunder for the conveniency of climbing them. We found 2 sorts of gum, one sort of which is like gum-dragon, and is the same, I suppose, Tasman took for gum-lac; it is extracted from the largest tree in the woods.

_Thursday, 3rd._ After this we took water, and went almost to the head of the Inlet, where we landed and travelled some distance inland. We found the face of the country much the same as I have before described, but the land much richer, for instead of sand, I found in many places a deep black soil, which we thought was capable of producing any kind of grain. At present it produceth besides timber, as fine meadow as ever was seen; however, we found it not all like this, some few places were very rocky, but this, I believe to be uncommon.

_Sunday, 6th._ The great quant.i.ty of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place, occasioned my giving it the name of Botany Bay.

During our stay in this harbour I caused the English colours to be displayed ash.o.r.e every day, and an inscription to be cut out upon one of the trees near the watering-place, setting forth the ship's name, date, etc. Having seen everything the place afforded, we at daylight in the morning, weighed with a light breeze at N.W. and put to sea, and the wind soon after coming to the Southward, we steered along sh.o.r.e N.N.E., and at noon were about 2 or 3 miles from the land, and abreast of a bay, wherein there appeared to be a safe anchorage, which I called Port Jackson. It lies 3 leagues to the Northward of Botany Bay.

CAPE YORK. POSSESSION ISLAND

_Wednesday, 22nd Aug._ Gentle breezes at E. by S. and clear weather. We had not steered above 3 or 4 miles along sh.o.r.e to the Westward before we discovered the land ahead to be Islands detached by several Channels from the main land; upon this we brought to, to wait for the Yawl, and called the other boats on board, and after giving them proper instructions sent them away again to lead us through the channel next the main, and as soon as the yawl was on board, made sail after them with the ship. Before and after we anch.o.r.ed we saw a number of people upon this Island, armed in the same manner as all the others we have seen, except one man, who had a bow, and a bundle of arrows, the first we have seen upon this coast. From the appearance of the people we expected they would have opposed our landing; but as we approached the sh.o.r.e they all made off, and left us in peaceable possession of as much of the island as served our purpose. After landing, I went upon the highest hill, which, however, was of no great height, yet no less than twice or thrice the height of the ship's mastheads; but I could see from it no land between S.W. and W.S.W. so I did not doubt but there was a pa.s.sage. I could see plainly that the lands laying to the N.W. of this pa.s.sage were composed of a number of islands of various extent, both for height and circuit, ranged one behind another as far to the Northward and Westward as I could see, which could not be less than 12 or 14 leagues.

Having satisfied myself of the great probability of a pa.s.sage thro'

which I intend going with the ship, and therefore may land no more upon this Eastern Coast of New Holland, and on the Western side I can make no new discovery, the honor of which belongs to the Dutch Navigators, but the Eastern Coast from the Lat. of 38 S. down to this place, I am confident, was never seen or visited by any European before us; and notwithstanding I had in the name of His Majesty taken possession of several places upon this coast, I now once more hoisted English colours, and in the name of His Majesty King George the Third, took possession of the whole Eastern Coast from the above Lat. down to this place by the name of New Wales, together with all the Bays, Harbours, Rivers, and Islands, situated upon the said coast; after which we fired three volleys of small arms, which were answered by the like number from the ship.

This done, we set out for the ship, but were some time in getting on board on account of a very rapid ebb tide, which set N.E. out of the pa.s.sage.

Ba.s.s STRAIT

+Source.+--Voyage to Terra Australis (Matthew Flinders, 1814), Introduction, pp. xcvi-xcvii, cxix-cxliii

The first coastal explorations after the establishment of Sydney were conducted by Ba.s.s and Flinders. Together they discovered the Hunter River; Ba.s.s in a second voyage discovered Western Port; and again together they sailed through Ba.s.s Strait, proving Tasmania to be an island.

1795. On arriving at Port Jackson, in September it appeared that the investigation of the coast had not been greatly extended beyond the three harbours; and even in these some of the rivers were not altogether explored.

In Mr. George Ba.s.s, surgeon of the _Reliance_, I had the happiness to find a man whose ardour for discovery was not to be repressed by any obstacle, nor deterred by danger; and with this friend a determination was formed of completing the examination of the East Coast of New South Wales, by all such opportunities as the duty of the ship and procurable means could admit.

Projects of this nature, when originating in the minds of young men, are usually termed romantic; and so far from any good being antic.i.p.ated, even prudence and friendship join in discouraging, if not in opposing them. Thus it was in the present case; so that a little boat of eight feet long, called _Tom Thumb_, with a crew composed of ourselves and a boy, was the best equipment to be procured for the first outset. In the month following the arrival of the ships, we proceeded round in this boat, to Botany Bay; and ascending George's River, one of two which falls into the Bay, explored its winding course about twenty miles beyond where Governor Hunter's survey had been carried.

The sketch made of this river and presented to the Governor with the favourable report of the land on its borders, induced His Excellency to examine them himself shortly afterward; and was followed by establishing there a new branch of the colony, under the name of Banks' Town.

1796. We sailed out of Port Jackson early in the morning of March 25, and stood a little off to sea to be ready for the sea breeze.