A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 15

A pa.s.sage to Port Jackson at this time, presented no common difficulties.

In proceeding by the west, the unfavourable monsoon was likely to prove an obstacle not to be surmounted; and in returning by the east, stormy weather was to be expected in Torres' Strait, a place where the multiplied dangers caused such an addition to be peculiarly dreaded.

These considerations, with a strong desire to finish, if possible, the examination of the Gulph of Carpentaria, fixed my resolution to proceed as before in the survey, during the continuance of the north-west monsoon; and when the fair wind should come, to proceed by the west to Port Jackson, if the ship should prove capable of a winter's pa.s.sage along the South Coast, and if not, to make for the nearest port in the East Indies.

SUNDAY 28 NOVEMBER 1802

By the 28th, the watering and wooding of the ship were completed, the gunner had dried all his powder in the sun, and the tents and people were brought on board. All that the carpenters could do at the ship was to secure the hooding ends to the stem--shift some of the worst parts in the rotten planking--and caulk all the bends; and this they had finished. The wind being south-east on the morning of the 29th [MONDAY 29 NOVEMBER 1802], I attempted to quit the Investigator's Road by steering out to the northward; but this being found impracticable, from the shallowness of the water, we were obliged to beat out to the south; and so contrary did the wind remain, that not being able to weather the reef at the south-east end of Sweers' Island, we anch.o.r.ed within it on the evening of the 30th [TUESDAY 30 NOVEMBER 1802].

I shall now sum up into one view, the princ.i.p.al remarks made during our stay amongst these islands. The stone most commonly seen on the sh.o.r.es is an iron ore, in some places so strongly impregnated, that I conceive it would be a great acquisition to a colony fixed in the neighbourhood.

Above this is a concreted ma.s.s of coral, sh.e.l.ls, coral sand, and grains of iron ore, which sometimes appears at the surface, but is usually covered either with sand or vegetable earth, or a mixture of both. Such appeared most generally to be the consistence of all the islands; but there are many local varieties.

The soil, even in the best parts, is far behind fertility; but the small trees and bushes which grow there, and the gra.s.s in some of the less covered places, save the larger islands from the reproach of being absolutely sterile. The princ.i.p.al woods are _eucalyptus_ and _casuarina_, of a size too small in general, to be fit for other purposes than the fire; the _panda.n.u.s_ grows almost every where, but most abundantly in the sandy parts; and the botanists made out a long list of plants, several of which were quite new to them.

We saw neither quadruped nor reptile upon the islands. Birds were rather numerous the most useful of them were ducks of several species, and bustards and one of these last, shot by Mr. Bauer, weighed between ten and twelve pounds, and made us an excellent dinner. The flesh of this bird is distributed in a manner directly contrary to that of the domestic turkey, the white meat being upon the legs, and the black upon the breast. In the woody parts of the islands were seen crows and white c.o.c.katoos; as also cuckoo-pheasants, pigeons, and small birds peculiar to this part of the country. On the sh.o.r.es were pelicans, gulls, sea-pies, ox-birds, and sand-larks; but except the gulls, none of these tribes were numerous. The sea afforded a variety of fish; and in such abundance, that it was rare not to give a meal to all the ship's company from one or two hauls of the seine. Turtle abound amongst the islands; but it seemed to be a fatality that we could neither peg any from the boat, nor yet catch them on sh.o.r.e.

Indians were repeatedly seen upon both Bentinck's and Sweers' Islands; but they always avoided us, and sometimes disappeared in a manner which seemed extraordinary. It is probable that they hid themselves in caves dug in the ground; for we discovered in one instance a large hole, containing two apartments (so to call them), in each of which a man might lie down. Fire places under the shade of the trees, with dried gra.s.s spread around, were often met with; and these I apprehend to be their fine-weather, and the caves their foul-weather residences. The fern or some similar root, appears to form a part of their subsistence; for there were some places in the sand and in the dry swamps, where the ground had been so dug up with pointed sticks that it resembled the work of a herd of swine.

Whether these people reside constantly upon the islands, or come over at certain seasons from the main, was uncertain; canoes, they seemed to have none, but to make their voyages upon rafts similar to those seen at Horse-shoe Island, and of which some were found on the sh.o.r.e in other places. I had been taught by the Dutch accounts to expect that the inhabitants of Carpentaria were ferocious, and armed with bows and arrows as well as spears. I found them to be timid; and so desirous to avoid intercourse with strangers, that it was by surprise alone that our sole interview, that at Horse-shoe Island, was brought about; and certainly there was then nothing ferocious in their conduct. Of bows and arrows not the least indication was perceived, either at these islands or at Coen River; and the spears were too heavy and clumsily made, to be dangerous as offensive weapons: in the defensive, they might have some importance.

It is worthy of remark, that the three natives seen at Horse-shoe Island had lost the two upper front teeth; and Dampier, in speaking of the inhabitants of the Northwest Coast, says, "the two front teeth of the upper jaw are wanting in all of them, men and women, old and young."

Nothing of the kind was observed in the natives of the islands in Torres'

Strait, nor at Keppel, Hervey's, or Gla.s.s-house Bays, on the East Coast; yet at Port Jackson, further south, it is the custom for the boys, on arriving at the age of p.u.b.erty, to have _one_ of the upper front teeth knocked out, but no more; nor are the girls subjected to the same operation. At Twofold Bay, still further south, no such custom prevails, nor did I observe it at Port Phillip or King George's Sound, on the South Coast; but at Van Diemen's Land it seems to be used partially, for M.

Labillardiere says (p. 320 of the London translation), "we observed some, in whom one of the middle teeth of the upper jaw was wanting, and others in whom both were gone. We could not learn the object of this custom; but it is not general, for the greater part of the people had all their teeth." The rite of circ.u.mcision, which seemed to have been practised upon two of the three natives at Horse-shoe Island, and of which better proofs were found in other parts of the Gulph of Carpentaria, is, I believe, novel in the history of Terra Australis.

On Sweers' Island, seven human skulls and many bones were found lying together, near three extinguished fires; and a square piece of timber, seven feet long, which was of teak wood, and according to the judgment of the carpenter had been a quarter-deck carling of a ship, was thrown up on the western beach. On Bentinck's Island I saw the stumps of at least twenty trees, which had been felled with an axe, or some sharp instrument of iron; and not far from the same place were scattered the broken remains of an earthen jar. Putting these circ.u.mstances together, it seemed probable that some ship from the East Indies had been wrecked here, two or three years back--that part of the crew had been killed by the Indians--and that the others had gone away, perhaps to the main land, upon rafts constructed after the manner of the natives. This could be no more than conjecture; but it seemed to be so supported by the facts, that I felt anxious to trace the route of the unfortunate people, and to relieve them from the distress and danger to which they must be exposed.

The advantages to be obtained here by a ship are briefly these: shelter against all winds in the Investigator's Road, wood for fuel, fresh water, and a tolerable abundance of fish and turtle; for to antic.i.p.ate a little on the voyage, there are islands lying within reach of a boat from the Road, where the turtle are not disturbed by the Indians. Should it ever enter into the plan of an expedition, to penetrate into the interior of Terra Australis from the head of the Gulph of Carpentaria, the Investigator's Road is particularly well adapted for a ship during the absence of the travellers: the season most favourable to their operations would be in May, June, and July; but not so for the vessel, as the crew would probably be unable to procure turtle at that time. For a similar expedition from the opposite part of the South Coast, September, October, and November would seem to be most proper.

From the time of first arriving, to that of quitting Sweers' Island, the range of the thermometer on board the ship was between 81 and 90, and on sh.o.r.e it might be 5 to 10 higher in the day time; the weather was consequently warm; but being alleviated by almost constant breezes either from sea or land, it was seldom oppressive; and the insects were not very troublesome. The mercury in the barometer ranged between 30.06 and 29.70 It stood highest with the winds from the sea, between north-east and north-west; and lowest when they blew gently off the land, between south-east and south-west, but most so from the latter direction. On the South Coast the winds from these points had produced a contrary effect: the mercury there stood lowest when the northern winds blew, and highest when they came from the southward; they coincided, however, so far, in that the sea winds raised, and the land winds depressed the mercury, the same as was observed at Port Jackson on the East Coast.

The _lat.i.tude_ of Inspection Hill, from several single and two double observations, was 17 8' 15" S.

_Longitude_ from forty-two sets of lunar distances taken by lieutenant Flinders, the particulars of which are given in Table III. of the Appendix No. I. to this volume, 139 44' 52" E.

The rates of the time keepers were deduced from morning's alt.i.tudes, taken with a s.e.xtant and artificial horizon at the sh.o.r.e under Inspection Hill, from Nov. 16 to 29; and the mean rates during this period, with the errors from mean Greenwich time at noon there on the 30th, were as under:

Earnshaw's No. 543, slow 2h 16' 29.51" and losing 14.74" per day.

Earnshaw's No. 520, slow 3h 52' 19.70" and losing 20.01" per day.

The longitude given by the time keepers, with the rates from Upper Head in Broad Sound, on our arrival Nov. 16, was by

No. 543, 140 6' 35.2" east.

No. 520, 139 47' 42.2" east.

No. 520 therefore differed very little to the east of the lunar observations, and the first day's rate was almost exactly the same as that with which we had quitted Upper Head; whilst No. 543 differed greatly, both in longitude and rate. A similar discordance had been noticed at the c.u.mberland Island, marked _l2_, twenty days after leaving Upper Head; No. 520 then differed only 1' 1.2" from the survey, but No.

543 erred 7' 2.2" to the east. I have therefore been induced to prefer the longitude given by No. 520, to the mean of both time keepers; and accordingly, the positions of places before mentioned or laid down in the charts, between Upper Head and Sweers' Island, including Torres' Strait, are from this time keeper alone; with such small correction equally proportioned; as its error from the lunars, 2' 50.2" to the east in fifty-two days, made necessary.

No. 543 had undergone some revolution on the pa.s.sage, but seemed at this time to be going steadily; whereas No. 520, which had kept its rate so well, now varied from 18.79" to 25.39", and ceased to be ent.i.tled to an equal degree of confidence.

Mean _dip_ of the south end of the needle, observed upon the west point of Sweers' Island, 44 27'.

_Variation_ of the theodolite in the same place, 4 7' E.

_Variation_ of the surveying compa.s.s in the Road, 2 28' with the ship's head E. N. E, and 4 30' with the head northward; the mean corrected to the meridian, will be 4 31' E.

In bearings taken on the east side of Bentinck's Island, the variation appeared to be a full degree greater than on the west side of Sweers'

Island.

The _tides_ in the Investigator's Road ran N. N. E. and S. S. W., as the channel lies, and their greatest rate at the springs, was one mile and a quarter per hour; they ran with regularity, but there was only one flood and one ebb in the day. The princ.i.p.al part of the flood came from N. N.

E.; but according to lieutenant Fowler's remarks on sh.o.r.e, between the 23rd and 27th, it was high water three hours after the opposite tide had set in; or about _three hours and a quarter before_ the moon came to the meridian. At the Prince of Wales' Islands, and at Coen River, it had also appeared that the tide from south-west made high water. The time here happened between 8h and 11h at night, from the 23rd to the 27th; but whether high water will always take place at night, as it did at King George's Sound on the South Coast, I cannot be certain. About twelve feet was the greatest rise, which I apprehend would be diminished to eight, at the neap tides.

CHAPTER VII.

Departure from Sweers' Island.

South side of C. Van Diemen examined.

Anchorage at Bountiful Island: turtle and sharks there.

Land of C. Van Diemen proved to be an island.

Examination of the main coast to Cape Vanderlin.

That cape found to be one of a group of islands.

Examination of the islands; their soil, etc.

Monument of the natives.

Traces of former visitors to these parts.

Astronomical and nautical observations.

[NORTH COAST. WELLESLEY'S ISLANDS.]

WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 1802

(Atlas, Plate XIV.)

On the 1st of December we got under way, and pa.s.sed the reef at the south-east end of Sweers' Island. I wished to run close along the north side of this, and of Bentinck's Island, and get in with the main land to the west; but the shoal water and dry banks lying off them presented so much impediment, that we steered north-westward for land which came in sight in that direction. At noon, the land was distant six or seven miles, and appeared to be the inner part of that great projection of the main, represented in the old chart under the name of _Cape Van Diemen_; but the rocky nature of the sh.o.r.e and unevenness of the surface were so different from the sandy uniformity of the continent, that I much doubted of its connexion. Our situation at this time, and the bearings taken were as under:

Lat.i.tude, observed to the north and south, 16 48' 29"

Land of Cape Van Diemen, N. 70 W. to 25 W.

A piece apparently separated, N. 18 W. to 11 E.

Bentinck's I., highest part at the north end, S. 15 E.

A smoke was rising in the direction of Horse-shoe Island, but no land was there visible.

We had a light breeze at E. by N., and steered westward along the rocky sh.o.r.e, at the distance of two or three miles, till five in the evening; when the breeze having shifted to S. W., we tacked and came to an anchor in 6 fathoms, mud and sh.e.l.ls. The land was then distant three miles, and extended from N. 61 E. to a point with a clump of high trees on it, which appeared to be the south-west extremity of the northern land and bore N. 84 W. Whether the s.p.a.ce between it and the main near Allen's Isle were the entrance of an inlet, or merely a separation of the two lands, could not be distinguished; but the tide set W. by S., into the opening, and there was a low island and many rocks in it. From an amplitude at this anchorage, the variation was 3 16' east, corrected to the meridian, nearly the same as at Allen's Isle, five leagues to the south; and a full degree less than in the Investigator's Road.

THURSDAY 2 DECEMBER 1802

At five next morning we steered for the opening, with light, variable winds. On each side of the low island and rocks there seemed to be pa.s.sages leading into a large spread of water, like the sea; and our course was directed for the northernmost, until the water shoaled to 2 fathoms and we tacked to the southward. The south-west point of the northern land then bore N. 74 W. four miles, and the north end of Allen's Isle was seen from the mast head, bearing S. 3 W. five leagues; but that part of the opening between them, not occupied by the main land, seemed to be so choaked with rocks that there was little prospect of a pa.s.sage for the Investigator. This being the case, and the wind becoming unfavourable to the search, we steered back eastward, along the sh.o.r.e; and at eight in the evening, anch.o.r.ed near the furthest part yet seen in that direction, in 6 fathoms sand and sh.e.l.ls.