A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 25

Seal Island, where we stopped in pa.s.sing, is a ma.s.s of granite, which is accessible only at its western end, as represented in Mr. Westall's sketch. After killing a few seals upon the sh.o.r.e, we ascended the hill to search for the bottle and parchment left by captain Vancouver in 1791;*

but could find no vestiges either of it or of the staff or pile of stones; and since there was no appearance of the natives having crossed over from the main, I was led to suspect that a second ship had been here before us.

[* See his Voyage, Vol. I. Page 40]

At Point Possession, on the south side of the entrance to Princess-Royal Harbour, we had a good view of that extensive piece of water. Wood seemed not to be abundant near the sh.o.r.es; and therefore a projection two or three miles to the south-west, which was covered with trees, first attracted my notice. The depth of water in going to it was, however, too little for the ship; nor was there any fresh stream in the neighbourhood.

Some person, but not captain Vancouver, had nevertheless been cutting wood there; for several trees had been felled with axe and saw. Not far from thence stood a number of bark sheds, like the huts of the natives who live in the forests behind Port Jackson, and forming what might be called a small village; but it had been long deserted. Going across from the woody point to the north side of the harbour, we there found 3 fathoms within less than half a mile of the sh.o.r.e; and an increasing depth from thence out to the entrance. The soundings in the entrance were from 5 to 7 fathoms; but the channel was too narrow to admit of getting in without a leading wind and much caution.

THURSDAY 10 DECEMBER 1801

On Thursday morning the master was sent to examine the north side of the harbour for water and wood; and we got the ship under way to beat up to the entrance, the wind blowing still from the westward. At eleven o'clock the anchor was dropped in 6 fathoms half a mile from Point Possession; and as I was doubtful of the master's success, I went in a boat, accompanied by lieutenant Flinders, to examine Oyster Harbour. We carried 7 and 6 fathoms from the ship towards the entrance until Michaelmas and Break-sea Islands were closing on with each other; after which the depth diminished to 5, 4, 3, and 2 fathoms. On hauling westward we got into six feet; but steering the other way, it deepened to seventeen, the east side of the opening behind then in a line with the middle of some high, flat-topped land, at the back of the harbour. Keeping in that direction, we carried 3, 4, and 5 fathoms; and had 6 in the narrowest part of the entrance. Within side the deep water turned on the starboard hand, but in many parts there was not more than 3 fathoms.

As I proposed to make a new survey of King George's Sound, we landed to take a set of angles upon the small central island; the same which captain Vancouver describes (Vol. I. page 35), as covered with luxuriant gra.s.s and other vegetables, and where he planted vine cuttings, water-cresses, and the seeds of various fruits. There were no remains of these valuable gifts, although nothing indicated the island to have been visited since his time; and, to our disappointment, the vegetation upon it now consisted of tufts of wiry gra.s.s and a few stunted shrubs, supported by a thin layer of sandy soil, which was every where perforated with rat-holes.

From the island we rowed in various directions, sounding the harbour; but the boat could seldom approach the sh.o.r.e within a cable's length, or the eighth part of a mile. On the south-west side there were two small streams, in one of which the water was fresh, though high-coloured.

Returning to the entrance, we landed on the east side, and found a spot of ground six or eight feet square, dug up and trimmed like a garden; and upon it was lying a piece of sheet copper, bearing this inscription: "August 27, 1800. Chr. Dixson--ship Elligood"; which solved the difficulty of the felled trees and the disappearance of captain Vancouver's bottle. On digging in this place I found that fresh water of a high colour, but well tasted, might be obtained; wood was abundant, and the depth of the entrance admitted of the ship being made fast to the sh.o.r.e; so that this was a situation adapted to our purpose of refitment, provided the ship could be got over the bar. This point I was desirous to ascertain in my way on board, but the strength of the wind prevented it.

The report of the master from Princess-Royal Harbour was, that water could be obtained at the north side by digging near the sh.o.r.e, at the foot of the highest hill; but that there was no wood at a convenient distance. I therefore sent him, next morning [FRIDAY 11 DECEMBER 1801], to land the naturalists at the entrance of Oyster Harbour, and then to sound the bar; and not being satisfied with his report, that there was not so much as fourteen feet, which the ship drew when captain Vancouver had marked seventeen, I went to the nearest head, with a theodolite and signal flags, to direct his movements. No more, however, than _thirteen_ feet could now be found upon the shallowest part of the bar; and, consequently, the idea of refitting in Oyster Harbour was abandoned. The boat which brought off Mr. Brown and his party in the evening collected a good quant.i.ty of oysters, and of the large fan muscles, from the shoals.

SAt.u.r.dAY 12 DECEMBER 1801

The wind continuing foul for going into Princess-Royal Harbour, a wooding party was sent next morning to a bight round the north side of the entrance, where the wood was found to split better than at some other places. Another party went to the same place with the launch, to haul the seine, but the wind coming round to the eastward, the boat was recalled and a kedge anchor and hawser put into it. We then weighed and ran into the harbour under the top-sails; and at eleven anch.o.r.ed in seventeen feet upon muddy ground, at one-third of a mile from the sh.o.r.e under the highest hill. When the ship was moored Michaelmas Island was on with the north, and Break-sea Island with the south point of the entrance, and the highest hill bore N.E. by N. by compa.s.s. The least depth of water we had in pa.s.sing the entrance was 4 fathoms; but to those who may wish to go in, the plan in Plate II of the Atlas, and a good look-out from the masthead, will be of more service than any written directions.

So soon as the ship was secured, I landed with the naturalists; and after fixing upon a place for our tents, ascended the highest hill to take angles. Amongst other objects I perceived in the bearing of N. 87 20' W.

two distant pieces of water, at the back of the bight near West Cape Howe; but whether they were lakes or an inlet of the sea could not be distinguished. Our tents, under the guard of a party of marines, were set up this evening; and in the morning [SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER 1801] the observatory and instruments were sent on sh.o.r.e, under the care of lieutenant Flinders, who had undertaken to a.s.sist me in performing the office of astronomer.

Marks of the country being inhabited were found every where, but as yet there was nothing to indicate the presence of the natives in our neighbourhood; I therefore allowed a part of the ship's company to divert themselves on sh.o.r.e this afternoon; and the same was done every Sunday during our stay in this harbour. On Monday [14 DECEMBER 1801] the topmasts were struck, and our various duties commenced; the naturalists ranged the country in all directions, being landed at such places as they desired; whilst my own time was divided betwixt the observatory and the survey of the Sound.

Some smokes being perceived at the head of the harbour, Mr. Brown and other gentlemen directed their excursion that way and met with several of the natives, who were shy but not afraid. One man with whom they had communication was admired for his manly behaviour, and they gave him a bird which had been shot, and a pocket-handkerchief; but, like the generality of people hitherto seen in this country, these men did not seem to be desirous of communication with strangers; and they very early made signs to our gentlemen to return from whence they came. Next morning [TUESDAY 15 DECEMBER 1801], however, we were agreeably surprised by the appearance of two Indians, and afterwards of others, upon the side of the hill behind our tents. They approached with much caution, one coming first with poised spear, and making many gestures, accompanied with much vociferous parleying, in which he sometimes seemed to threaten us if we did not be gone, and at others to admit of our stay. On Mr. Purdie, the a.s.sistant-surgeon, going up to him unarmed, a communication was brought about, and they received some articles of iron and toys, giving in exchange some of their implements; and after a short stay, left us, apparently on very good terms.

MONDAY 17 DECEMBER 1801

On the 17th one of our former visitors brought two strangers with him; and after this time, they and others came almost every day, and frequently stopped a whole morning at the tents. We always made them presents of such things as seemed to be most agreeable, but they very rarely brought us anything in return; nor was it uncommon to find small mirrors and other things left about the sh.o.r.e, so that at length our presents were discontinued.

WEDNESDAY 23 DECEMBER 1801

I formed a party on the 23rd, consisting of the officers of the ship, the scientific gentlemen, and others, amounting to thirteen, well armed and provided for two days, in order to visit the lakes behind West Cape Howe.

We walked along the sh.o.r.e to the north-western extremity of Princess-Royal Harbour, where several small runs of fresh water were found to drain in from peaty swamps. Striking from thence into the country in a western direction, we had not advanced far when a native was seen running before us; and soon afterward an old man, who had been several times at the tents, came up, unarmed as usual. He was very anxious that we should not go further; and acted with a good deal of resolution in first stopping one and then another of those who were foremost. He was not able to prevail; but we accommodated him so far as to make a circuit round the wood, where it seemed probable his family and female friends were placed. The old man followed us, hallooing frequently to give information of our movements; and when a paroquet was shot, he expressed neither fear nor surprise, but received the bird with gladness and attended with some curiosity to the reloading of the gun.

Our course for the lakes led us through swamps and thick brushwoods, in which our new acquaintance followed for some time; but at length, growing tired of people who persevered in keeping a bad road in opposition to his recommendation of a better, which, indeed, had nothing objectionable in it but that it led directly contrary to where our object lay, he fell behind and left us. We afterwards took to the skirts of the sea-coast hills and made better progress; but were obliged to recross the swamps and force our way through a thick brush before reaching the eastern lake.

This piece of water was found to be one mile and a half east and west, and one mile in breadth, and appeared to receive the drainings from the numerous swamps round about. In coasting round the north side, to reach the south-western lake, we were stopped by a serpentine stream, upon which were two black swans; but they took to flight before we could get near to shoot them. After following the windings of this riverlet some distance to the north-west, without being able to pa.s.s over, we struck inland towards the skirt of some rising hills, and crossed the stream early enough to walk a mile to the south-west before sunset, when the convenience of dry ground, with wood and water at hand, induced us to halt for the night.

THURSDAY 24 DECEMBER 1801

On Thursday morning we reached the south-western lake, and found it to be larger than the first. Its water was brackish, which bespoke a communication with the sea; and as there was no certainty that this communication might not be too deep to be pa.s.sed, it was thought prudent to give up the intention of proceeding to the sea side, and our steps were retraced across the rivulet and round the northern lake. We then struck southward and ascended the hills to the top of the cliffs facing the sea; from whence I had an opportunity of seeing the bight near Cape Howe, and the form of the lakes; but no water communication was visible between them.

Our course homeward was pursued along the sandy ridge at the back of the cliffs, where the want of water was as great as the superabundance had been in the low land going out. Towards sunset, when Princess-Royal Harbour was still some miles distant, the natural-history painter became unable to proceed further, being overcome with the labour of the walk, with the excessive heat, and with thirst. To have detained the whole party in a state of sufferance would have been imprudent; and Mr. Brown and two others having volunteered to stay, we left them the scanty remains of our provision, and pushed forward to the tents, which we reached at eight o'clock. At midnight we had the pleasure to see our friends arrive, and the preparation made for sending to their a.s.sistance, at daybreak, became unnecessary.

The country through which we pa.s.sed in this excursion has but little to recommend it. The stony hills of the sea coast were, indeed, generally covered with shrubs; but there was rarely any depth of vegetable soil, and no wood. The land slopes down gradually behind these hills; and at the bottom water drains out and forms a chain of swamps extending from Princess-Royal Harbour to the lakes. Here the country is covered with gra.s.s and brushwood, and in the parts a little elevated there are forest trees; nevertheless the soil is shallow and unfit for cultivation.

WEDNESDAY 30 DECEMBER 1801

On the 30th, our wooding and the watering of the ship were completed, the rigging was refitted, the sails repaired and bent, and the ship unmoored.

Our friends the natives continued to visit us; and the old man with several others being at the tents this morning, I ordered the party of marines on sh.o.r.e to be exercised in their presence. The red coats and white crossed belts were greatly admired, having some resemblance to their own manner of ornamenting themselves; and the drum, but particularly the fife, excited their astonishment; but when they saw these beautiful red-and-white men, with their bright muskets, drawn up in a line, they absolutely screamed with delight; nor were their wild gestures and vociferation to be silenced but by commencing the exercise, to which they paid the most earnest and silent attention. Several of them moved their hands involuntarily, according to the motions; and the old man placed himself at the end of the rank, with a short staff in his hand, which he shouldered, presented, grounded as did the marines their muskets, without, I believe, knowing what he did. Before firing, the Indians were made acquainted with what was going to take place; so that the vollies did not excite much terror.

SUNDAY 3 JANUARY 1802

The tents and observatory were already struck; and everything being sent on board, we took leave of the natives, and embarked with the intention of running into the Sound this evening; but a change in the wind, to south-by-east, prevented it. This wind veered to east and north-east, and for a short time blew strong; so that it was the 3rd of January in the afternoon before we steered out of Princess-Royal Harbour. It was not my intention to proceed immediately to sea; and I therefore took the opportunity of standing backward and forward in the Sound, with the dredge and trawl overboard; and a variety of small fish were brought up.

These were of little use as food; but with the sh.e.l.ls, sea weeds, and corals they furnished amus.e.m.e.nt and occupation to the naturalist and draughtsman, and a pretty kind of hippocampus, which was not scarce, was generally admired.

In the evening the anchor was dropped in 7 fathoms, abreast of the second sandy beach near a flat rock on the south side of the Sound, almost in the same spot where captain Vancouver had anch.o.r.ed in 1791. I think the Sound does not afford a more secure place, the sole points of exposition being between Bald Head and Break-sea Island, making an angle of no more than 10; and as both wood and water are procurable here, though neither very good, a ship proposing to stay only a few days is under no necessity of having recourse to the harbours.

MONDAY 4 JANUARY 1802

On the 4th a fresh gale blew from the westward and prevented me from moving the ship. A bottle, containing a parchment to inform future visitors of our arrival and intention to sail on the morrow, was left upon the top of Seal Island; and the wind having moderated next day, and the weather become finer, though still squally, we then made sail out of King George's Sound to prosecute the further examination of the coast.

TUESDAY 5 JANUARY 1802

The refreshments we had procured were fish and oysters. The seine was frequently hauled upon the different beaches; but although it was done in the evening, round fires which had been previously kindled, little success was obtained in this way. With hook and line we were more fortunate, both alongside and from boats stationed off the rocky points; and the whole ship's company had generally a fresh meal once in three or four days. Of oysters, as many were taken from the shoals in both harbours as we chose to spare time for gathering. Our fire wood was procured from the north point of entrance to Princess-Royal Harbour, at the inner end of the long middle beach; but the trees best calculated for sawing into planks were obtained at the easternmost of the two woody projections on the south side of the harbour. A good number of planks and logs were taken on board for making garden boxes to contain the most curious plants collected by the naturalist, and for a variety of other purposes. The fresh water, procured by digging near the tents, was a little discoloured, but good; and it was sufficiently abundant for every purpose: its specific gravity was 1.003 at the temperature of 69.

Captain Vancouver has described the country in the neighbourhood of King George's Sound, and therefore a few observations upon it will suffice.

The basis stone is granite, which frequently shows itself at the surface in the form of smooth, bare rock; but upon the seacoast hills, and the sh.o.r.es on the south sides of the Sound and Princess-Royal Harbour, the granite is generally covered with a crust of calcareous stone; as it is, also, upon Michaelmas Island. Captain Vancouver mentions (Vol. I. p. 49) having found upon the top of Bald Head, branches of coral protruding through the sand, exactly like those seen in the coral beds beneath the surface of the sea; a circ.u.mstance which should seem to bespeak this country to have emerged from the ocean at no very distant period of time.

This curious fact I was desirous to verify; and his description was proved to be correct. I found, also, two broken columns of stone three or four feet high, formed like stumps of trees and of a thickness superior to the body of a man; but whether they were of coral or of wood now petrified, or whether they might not have been calcareous rocks worn into that particular form by the weather, I cannot determine. Their elevation above the present level of the sea could not have been less than four hundred feet.

But little calcareous matter was found elsewhere than on the southern sh.o.r.es. In Oyster Harbour a rather strongly impregnated ironstone prevails, but mixed with quartz and granite; and in some parts of both harbours a brown argillaceous earth was not uncommon.

The soil of the hills is very barren, though, except near the sea coast, generally covered with wood; and that of the plains at the head of Princess-Royal Harbour has been described as shallow, and incapable of cultivation. In the neighbourhood of Oyster Harbour the land was said to be better, especially near the rivulet which falls into the northern corner; and on the borders of a small lake, at the back of the long beach between the two harbours, the country was represented to be pleasing to the eye and tolerably fertile.

The timber trees of the woods consist princ.i.p.ally of different species of that extensive cla.s.s called _gum tree_ by the colonists at Port Jackson, by botanists _eucalyptus_. They do not grow very large here, and the wood is heavy and seldom fit for other than common purposes. Amongst the plants collected by Mr. Brown and his a.s.sociates was a small one of a novel kind which we commonly called the pitcher plant. Around the root leaves are several little vases lined with spiny hairs, and there were generally found to contain a sweetish water, and also a number of dead ants. It cannot be a.s.serted that the ants were attracted by the water, and prevented by the spiny hairs from making their escape; but it seemed not improbable that this was a contrivance of nature to obtain the means necessary either to the nourishment or preservation of the plant.

Amongst the animal productions the kangaroo and ca.s.sowary hold the first ranks. The kangaroo appeared to be numerous, and of more than one species; but none were caught. Three of them seen by me bore a resemblance to the large kind which inhabits the forests of Port Jackson; and the ca.s.sowary showed nothing distinguishable at a distance from the same animal at that place: both were shy; as were the ducks, swans, and all the birds.

Near Point Possession were found two nests of extraordinary magnitude.

They were built upon the ground, from which they rose about two feet; and were of vast circ.u.mference and great interior capacity, the branches of trees and other matter, of which each nest was composed, being enough to fill a small cart. Captain Cook (see Hawkesworth, Vol. III. p. 195) found one of these enormous nests upon Eagle Island, on the East Coast; and if the magnitude of the constructor be proportionate to the size of the nest, Terra Australis must be inhabited by a species of bird little inferior to the condor of the Andes.

Amongst the reptiles was a variety of lizards; one of which, of the larger size, was met with by Dampier on the West Coast, and is described by him "as a sort of guano, but differing from others in three remarkable particulars: for these had a larger and uglier head, and had no tail: and at the rump, instead of the tail there, they had a stump of a tail, which appeared like another head; but not really such, being without mouth or eyes. Yet this creature seemed, by this means, to have a head at each end; and, which may be reckoned a fourth difference, the legs, also, seemed all four of them to be fore legs, being all alike in shape and length, and seeming by the joints and bendings to be made as if they were to go indifferently either head or tail foremost. They were speckled black and yellow like toads, and had scales or k.n.o.bs on their backs like those of crocodiles. They are very slow in motion and when a man comes nigh them they will stand and hiss, not endeavouring to get away. Their livers are also spotted black and yellow; and the body when opened hath a very unsavoury smell. The guano's I have observed to be very good meat, and I have often eaten of them with pleasure; but though I have eaten of snakes, crocodiles, and alligators, and many creatures that look frightfully enough, and there are but few I should have been afraid to eat of, if pressed by hunger, yet I think my stomach would scarce have served to venture upon these New Holland guano's, both the looks and the smell of them being so offensive." The animal is certainly of a singular form; but it is scarcely necessary to say that the merit of Dampier's description does not consist in being strictly accurate.

The fish caught with hook and line were princ.i.p.ally small mullet, and an excellent kind of snapper, nearly the same as that called _wollamai_ by the natives of Port Jackson; but these were larger, weighing sometimes as much as twenty pounds.

Our frequent and amicable communication with the natives of this country has been mentioned. The women were, however, kept out of sight with seeming jealousy; and the men appeared to suspect the same conduct in us, after they had satisfied themselves that the most beardless of those they saw at the tents were of the same s.e.x with the rest. The belief that there must be women in the ship induced two of them to comply with our persuasion of getting into the boat, one morning, to go on board; but their courage failing, they desired to be relanded, and made signs that the ship must go on sh.o.r.e to them.

It was with some surprise that I saw the natives of the east coast of New South Wales so nearly portrayed in those of the south-western extremity of New Holland. These do not, indeed, extract one of the upper front teeth at the age of p.u.b.erty, as is generally practised at Port Jackson, nor do they make use of the _womerah_, or throwing stick; but their colour, the texture of the hair, and personal appearance are the same; their songs run in the same cadence; the manner of painting themselves is similar; their belts and fillets of hair are made in the same way, and worn in the same manner. The short, skin cloak, which is of kangaroo, and worn over the shoulders, leaving the rest of the body naked, is more in the manner of the wood natives living at the back of Port Jackson than of those who inhabit the sea coast; and everything we saw confirmed the supposition of captain Vancouver, that they live more by hunting than fishing. None of the small islands had been visited, no canoes were seen, nor was any tree found in the woods from which the bark had been taken for making one. They were fearful of trusting themselves upon the water; and we could never succeed in making them understand the use of the fish hook, although they were intelligent in comprehending our signs upon other subjects.

The manners of these people are quick and vehement, and their conversation vociferous, like that of most uncivilised people. They seemed to have no idea of any superiority we possessed over them; on the contrary, they left us, after the first interview, with some appearance of contempt for our pusillanimity; which was probably inferred from the desire we showed to be friendly with them. This opinion, however, seemed to be corrected in their future visits.

Notwithstanding the similarity of person and manner to the inhabitants of Port Jackson, the language of these people is very different. We found their p.r.o.nunciation difficult to be imitated; more so, indeed, than our language was to them. Several English words they p.r.o.nounced perfectly; whilst of such where an _f_ or an _s_ entered they could make but little: Finger, was p.r.o.nounced _bing-gah_, ship, _yip_; and of King George they make _Ken Jag-ger_. In the difficulty of p.r.o.nouncing the _f_ and _s_ they resemble the Port Jackson natives; and the word used by them in calling to a distance, _cau-wah_! (come here) is nearly similar to _cow-ee_! The word also to express _eye_ is nearly the same. But in the following table, which contains all the words that, with any certainty, I was able to collect, the most essential differences will be found both from the Port Jackson language and from that of the south end of Van Diemen's Land; and the words collected by Captain Cook at Endeavour River bear no resemblance to any of them.

English. K. George's Sound. Port Jackson.* Van Diemen's Land.**