A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 14

The coast to which we approached nearest this evening, was sandy and very barren; but there were some natives collected upon the hillocks, to look at the ship; so that even here, and at the end of the dry season, fresh water may be had. These people were black and naked, and made many wild gestures. Between this part and the land set at S. by W. W. at noon, there was a bight falling back as far as the lat.i.tude 17 42', or perhaps further, which appeared to be the southern extremity of the Gulph of Carpentaria; for the coast from thence took a direction to the northward of west. Shoals extended a great way out from the bight; and were almost dry to a considerable distance.

TUESDAY 16 NOVEMBER 1802

In the morning our route was pursued along the sh.o.r.e, at the distance of six to nine or ten miles; the course being N. W., close to a N. N. E.

wind, and the soundings remarkably regular, between 3 and 3 fathoms. Two leagues from the place where the natives had been seen, was a projecting part where the country again became woody; but the coast there, and onward, was as low as before. At noon, the observed lat.i.tude was 17 21'

15", and the longitude by time keeper 139 54' east; the furthest continuation of the land seen from the mast head, bore W. S., but there was a small lump bearing N. 35 W., towards which we kept up as much as possible. At two o'clock the wind headed, and on coming into 2 fathoms, we tacked; being then five miles from the low southern land, and three or four leagues from the northern hill, which bore N. 18 W. Not much was gained in working to windward from that time till dusk; and the anchor was then dropped in 4 fathoms, blue mud, no other land than the small hill being in sight.

There being no island marked in the Dutch chart so near to the head of the Gulph as this hill, made me conclude that it was upon the main land; and to hope that the s.p.a.ce of four leagues, between it and the southern coast, was an opening of some importance. In the morning [WEDNESDAY 17 NOVEMBER 1802], a fresh land wind at south-east favoured our course, the water deepened to 10 fathoms, and at eight o'clock to no ground with 13, near the south end of a reef extending out from the hill. On coming into 5 fathoms behind the reef, the anchor was dropped on a muddy bottom, with the hill bearing N. 15 E., one mile and a quarter, and the dry extremity of the reef S. E. E. The coast to the southward was scarcely visible from the mast head, but land was seen to extend westward from the hill, as far as nine or ten miles; and in order to gain a better knowledge of what this land might be, I went on sh.o.r.e, taking instruments with me to observe for the rates of the time keepers.

The hill proved to be a ma.s.s of calcareous rock, whose surface was cut and honeycombed as if it had been exposed to the washing of a surf. It was the highest land we had seen in Carpentaria, after having followed one hundred and seventy-five leagues of coast; nor was any land to be distinguished from the top of the hill which had an equal degree of elevation; yet it did not much exceed the height of the ship's mast head!

The land round it proved to be an island of five miles long; separated from other land to the west by a channel of nearly two miles in width.

The wide opening between this land and the low coast to the southward, I take to have been what is called Maatsuyker's River in the old chart; and that the island, which Tasman, or whoever made the examination, did not distinguish well from being too far off, is the projecting point marked on the west side of that river. Maatsuyker was one of the counsellors at Batavia, who signed Tasman's instructions in 1644; but as there is no river here, his name, as it stands applied in the old chart, cannot remain. I would have followed in the intention of doing him honour, by transferring his name to the island, but Maatsuyker's Isles already exist on the south coast of Van Diemen's Land; I therefore adopt the name of Sweers, another member of the same Batavia council; and call the island at the entrance of the supposed river, _Sweers' Island_. The hill obtained the name of _Inspection Hill_; and after taking bearings from it, I rowed into the channel which separates Sweers' Island from the western land; and finding the shelter to be good, the bottom soft, and soundings regular between 3 and 6 fathoms, the sh.o.r.es on each side were searched for fresh water, with a view to filling up the holds there and caulking the ship, before proceeding further in the examination of the Gulph: the search, however, was unsuccessful.

In Torres' Strait, when running with a fresh side wind, the ship had leaked to the amount of ten inches of water per hour. and in some hours the carpenters had reported as much as fourteen; but no anchorage, adapted to the purpose of caulking the bends, had presented itself until our arrival here. Before going on sh.o.r.e, I had left orders for the ship to be put on a careen, and the carpenters began upon the larbord side. In the course of their work two planks were found to be rotten, and the timber underneath was in no better state; it was therefore desirable to find a place where the holds could be completed with water, and the botanists and myself find useful employment for a few days, whilst the deficiencies were repairing. Such a place, it was reasonable to expect, the opening to the westward would afford; and the carpenters having patched up the bad part by the evening of the 18th [THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER 1802], and another set of observations for the time keepers being obtained, we were then ready to proceed in the examination.

[NORTH COAST. WELLESLEY'S ISLANDS.]

FRIDAY 19 NOVEMBER 1802

Next morning at sunrise, we steered up the opening with a land wind at S.

S. E.; and until ten o'clock, when we had reached the furthest part of the western land seen from Inspection Hill, the soundings were between 6 and 3 fathoms, reduced to low water. This land proved to be an island of ten or eleven miles long, and I have given it the name of Bentinck, in honour of the Right Hon. LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK; of whose obliging attention, when governor of Madras, I shall hereafter have to speak in praise. To the north-west of Bentinck's Island, several small isles came in sight; but a northern sea breeze having set in, we kept on our western course for the low main land, which trended here north-westward. At one o'clock the diminution of depth to 2 fathoms, obliged us to tack; the main being four miles distant, and the eastern extreme of the nearest island bearing N. 3 W., two leagues: this was named _Allen's Isle_, after the practical miner of the expedition. In working to windward, the water was found to be shallow in almost every direction; and the deepest being at three or four miles from the south-west point of Bentinck's Island, the anchor was there dropped in 4 fathoms, muddy bottom.

SAt.u.r.dAY 20 NOVEMBER 1802

In the morning we steered towards Allen's Isle, with the whale boat ahead; and anch.o.r.ed one mile and a half from its south-east end, in 3 fathoms, mud. Our lat.i.tude here was 17 5', longitude 139 26'; and azimuths taken with the surveying compa.s.s, when the head was N. by E., gave variation 2 49', or 3 15' east, corrected. I went on sh.o.r.e with the botanical gentlemen, in order to take bearings, and explore further up the opening.

Allen's Isle is between four and five miles in length, and though generally barren, there are bushes and small trees upon it, and some tolerable gra.s.s. It is altogether low land; but the south-east end is cliffy, and within two cables length of it there is 4 fathoms; no fresh water was found near the sh.o.r.e, nor any place where casks could be conveniently landed. After taking a set of bearings I left the gentlemen to follow their pursuits, and rowed north-westward, intending to go round the island; but an impa.s.sable reef extended so far out, that the project was given up; and after taking angles from one of the rocks, I went eastward to a smaller island two miles off, where several Indians where perceived. The water was too shallow for the boat to get near them; but we landed at a little distance, and walked after three men who were dragging six small rafts toward the extreme northern rocks, where three other natives were sitting.

These men not choosing to abandon their rafts, an interview was unavoidable, and they came on sh.o.r.e with their spears to wait our approach. One of us advanced towards them, unarmed; and signs being made to lay down their spears, which were understood to mean that they should sit down, they complied; and by degrees, a friendly intercourse was established. They accepted some red worsted caps and fillets, as also a hatchet and an adze, the use of which being explained, was immediately comprehended. In return, they gave us two very rude spears, and a _womerah_, or throwing stick, of nearly the same form as those used by the natives of Port Jackson.

The rafts consisted of several straight branches of mangrove, very much dried, and lashed together in two places with the largest ends one way, so as to form a broad part, and the smaller ends closing to a point. Near the broad end was a bunch of gra.s.s, where the man sits to paddle; but the raft, with his weight alone, must swim very deep; and indeed I should scarcely have supposed it could float a man at all. Upon one of the rafts was a short net, which, from the size of the meshes, was probably intended to catch turtle; upon another was a young shark; and these, with their paddles and spears, seemed to const.i.tute the whole of their earthly riches.

Two of the three men were advanced in years, and from the resemblance of feature were probably brothers. With the exception of two chiefs at Taheity, these were the tallest Indians I had ever seen; the two brothers being from three to four inches higher than my c.o.xswain, who measured five feet eleven. They were not remarkable for being either stout or slender; though like most of the Australians, their legs did not bear the European proportion to the size of their heads and bodies. The third native was not so tall as the other two; and he was, according to our notions, better proportioned. Their features did not much differ from those of their countrymen on the South and East Coasts; but they had each of them lost two front teeth from the upper jaw. Their hair was short, though not curly; and a fillet of net work, which the youngest man had wrapped round his head, was the sole ornament or clothing seen amongst them. The two old men appeared, to my surprise, to have undergone circ.u.mcision; but the posture of the youngest, who remained sitting down, did not allow of observation being made upon him.

After being five minutes with them, the old men proposed to go to our boat; and this being agreed to, we proceeded together, hand in hand. But they stopped half way, and retreating a little, the eldest made a short harangue which concluded with the word _jahree!_ p.r.o.nounced with emphasis: they then returned to the rafts, and dragged them towards their three companions who were sitting on the furthest rocks. These I judged to be women, and that the proposal of the men to go to our boat was a feint to get us further from them; it did not seem, however, that the women were so much afraid of us, as the men appeared to be on their account; for although we walked back, past the rafts, much nearer than before, they remained very quietly picking oysters. It was not my desire to annoy these poor people; and therefore, leaving them to their own way, we took an opposite direction to examine the island.

This low piece of land is between one and two miles long, and from its form received the name of _Horse-shoe Island_; there is very little soil mixed with the sand on its surface, and except the mangrove trees upon the sh.o.r.e, it bears nothing larger than bushes. We did not find any huts; but the dried gra.s.s spread round two or three neighbouring fire places, marked the last residence of the Indians. Near it were lying several large spiral sh.e.l.ls, probably the vessels in which they had brought water from the main land; for none was found on the island, nor was there any appearance that it could be procured. Sh.e.l.ls and bones of turtle, some of them fresh, were plentifully scattered around; upon the beach also there were turtle tracks, and several of these animals were seen in the water during the day; but it was not our fortune to take one of them.

In returning to the ship in the evening, I steered from Horse-shoe, to the south-east end of Allen's Isle, and sounded the channel between them; but had only once so much as 3 fathoms. There was consequently no fit pa.s.sage this way for the ship, and the several low islets to the north-east, precluded the expectation of finding one any where to the west of Bentinck's Island; I therefore judged it most advisable to return, and place the ship between Bentinck's and Sweers' Islands, until the necessary caulking was finished. Natives had been seen on both those islands; and this gave a hope that water might still be found to complete the holds previously to encountering the bad weather of the north-west monsoon, which I had been expecting to set in every day.

SUNDAY 21 NOVEMBER 1802

At daylight next morning the anchor was weighed; and having to work against foul winds, the breadth of the ship pa.s.sage between Bentinck's Island and the southern main, was ascertained and sounded; and at dusk in the evening we anch.o.r.ed half a mile from the west sandy point of Sweers'

Island, in 5 fathoms, small stones and sh.e.l.ls. This anchorage between the two islands, though it may not be called a port, is yet almost equally well sheltered, and I named it _Investigator's Road_; it has the appearance of being exposed between N. N. W. and N. E. N.; but the rocks from each sh.o.r.e occupy nearly one half of the s.p.a.ce, and the water is too shallow in the remaining part to admit any surge to endanger a ship.

MONDAY 22 NOVEMBER 1802

Next day, a boat was sent to fish with the seine upon Sweers' Island, and an officer went to the opposite sh.o.r.e to dig for water; the botanists divided themselves into two parties, to visit both islands, and the carpenters began caulking the starbord side of the ship. I repeated the observations under Inspection Hill, for the rates of the time keepers; and being informed on my return, that the midshipman of the seining boat had discovered a small hole containing a little muddy water, with a sh.e.l.l lying near it, I had the place dug out, through the sand and a stratum of whitish clay, to the depth of ten or eleven feet. Under the clay we found a bottom of stone and gravel, and the water then flowed in clear, and tolerably fast. This was a great acquisition; more especially as the spring was not far from the beach at the west point of Sweers' Island, where the casks could be conveniently landed, and where we had had great success in fishing.

The gentlemen who visited Bentinck's Island, found a small lake of fresh water at no great distance from the sea side; and it appeared that the interior part of Sweers' Island, towards the northern end, was occupied by swamps. This comparative abundance of water upon such low islands, and at the end of the dry season, seemed very remarkable; it may perhaps be attributed to the clayey consistence of the stratum immediately under the sand, and to the gravelly rock upon which that stratum rests; the one preventing the evaporation of the rains, and the other obstructing their further infiltration.

TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER 1802

Early next morning the ship was removed to within two cables length of the west point, nearer to the spring; and lieutenant Fowler was established on sh.o.r.e with a party of seamen and marines, taking tents, a seine, and other necessaries for watering the ship and supplying us with fish. The carpenters proceeded in their work of caulking; but as they advanced, report after report was brought to me of rotten places found in different parts of the ship--in the planks, bends, timbers, tree-nails, etc., until it became quite alarming [WEDNESDAY 24 NOVEMBER 1802]. I therefore directed the master and carpenter to make a regular examination into all such essential parts, as could be done without delaying the service; and to give me an official report thereon, with answers to certain queries put to them. After two days examination, their report was made in the following terms [FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER 1802].

SIR,

In obedience to your directions we have taken with us the oldest carpenter's mate of the Investigator, and made as thorough an examination into the state of the ship as circ.u.mstances will permit, and which we find to be as under:

Out of ten top timbers on the larbord side, near the fore channel, four are sound, one partly rotten, and five entirely rotten.

We have seen but one timber on the larbord quarter, which is entirely rotten.

On the starbord bow, close to the stem, we have seen three timbers which are all rotten. Under the starbord fore chains we find one of the chain-plate bolts started, in consequence of the timber and inside plank being rotten; and also a preventer eyebolt, from the same cause.

On boring into the second futtock timbers from the main hold, close under the beams of the lower deck on the larbord side, we find one sound and two rotten; and on the other side, one sound and one rotten.

On boring into one of the second futtock timbers in the c.o.c.kpit, on each side, we find it to be sound on the starbord, but on the other side rotten: the inside plank on both sides is rotten. On boring into one timber of a side in the after hold, we find them to be sound.

On boring into one timber of a side from the bread room, one is sound; but on the larbord side it is rotten.

The stem appears to be good; but the stemson is mostly decayed.

The lower breast hook is decayed within side.

The transoms, sleepers, stern post, and postson are all sound.

The ends of the beams we find to be universally in a decaying state.

The tree-nails are in general rotten.

From the specimens we have seen of the top-sides and bends, we expect that the insides of them are rotten, fore and aft; but that about one inch of the outside of the greater part is yet quite sound.

After the above report, and upon due consideration, we give the following answers to the four questions put to us.

1st. The ship having before made ten inches of water an hour, in a common fresh breeze, we judge from that, and what we have now seen, that a little labouring would employ two pumps; and that in a strong gale, with much sea running, the ship would hardly escape foundering; so that we think she is totally unfit to encounter much bad weather.

2nd. We have no doubt but that, if the ship should get on sh.o.r.e under any unfavourable circ.u.mstances, she would immediately go to pieces; but with a soft bottom and smooth water, she might touch for a short time without any worse consequences than to another ship, if she did not heel much; but altogether, we judge it to be much more dangerous for her to get aground in her present state, than if she were sound.

3rd. It is our opinion that the ship could not bear heaving down on any account; and that laying her on sh.o.r.e might so far strain her as to start the copper and b.u.t.t ends, which would make her unable to swim without vast repair.

4th. Mr. Aken has known several ships of the same kind, and built at the same place as the Investigator; and has always found that when they began to rot they went on very fast. From the state to which the ship seems now to be advanced, it is our joint opinion, that in twelve months there will scarcely be a sound timber in her; but that if she remain in fine weather and happen no accident, she may run six months longer without much risk.

We are, Sir, To Matthew Flinders, Esq. your obedient servants, Commander of His Majesty's John Aken, master, sloop the Investigator. Russel Mart, carpenter.

I cannot express the surprise and sorrow which this statement gave me.

According to it, a return to Port Jackson was almost immediately necessary; as well to secure the journals and charts of the examinations already made, as to preserve the lives of the ship's company; and my hopes of ascertaining completely the exterior form of this immense, and in many points interesting country, if not destroyed, would at least be deferred to an uncertain period. My leading object had hitherto been, to make so accurate an investigation of the sh.o.r.es of Terra Australis that no future voyage to this country should be necessary; and with this always in view, I had ever endeavoured to follow the land so closely, that the washing of the surf upon it should be visible, and no opening, nor any thing of interest escape notice. Such a degree of proximity is what navigators have usually thought neither necessary nor safe to pursue, nor was it always persevered in by us; sometimes because the direction of the wind or shallowness of the water made it impracticable, and at other times because the loss of the ship would have been the probable consequence of approaching so near to a lee sh.o.r.e. But when circ.u.mstances were favourable, such was the plan I pursued; and with the blessing of G.o.d, nothing of importance should have been left for future discoverers, upon any part of these extensive coasts; but with a ship incapable of encountering bad weather--which could not be repaired if sustaining injury from any of the numerous shoals or rocks upon the coast--which, if constant fine weather could be ensured and all accidents avoided, could not run more than six months--with such a ship, I knew not how to accomplish the task.