A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 24

After clearing the narrow pa.s.sage between Cape Wilberforce and Bromby's Isles, we followed the main coast to the S. W.; having on the starbord hand some high and large islands, which closed in towards the coast ahead so as to make it doubtful whether there were any pa.s.sage between them.

Under the nearest island was perceived a canoe full of men; and in a sort of roadsted, at the south end of the same island, there were six vessels covered over like hulks, as if laid up for the bad season. Our conjectures were various as to who those people could be, and what their business here; but we had little doubt of their being the same, whose traces had been found so abundantly in the Gulph. I had inclined to the opinion that these traces had been left by Chinese, and the report of the natives in Caledon Bay that they had fire arms, strengthened the supposition; and combining this with the appearance of the vessels, I set them down for piratical Ladrones who secreted themselves here from pursuit, and issued out as the season permitted, or prey invited them.

Impressed with this idea, we tacked to work up for the road; and our pendant and ensign being hoisted, each of them hung out a small white flag. On approaching, I sent lieutenant Flinders in an armed boat, to learn who they were; and soon afterward we came to an anchor in 12 fathoms, within musket shot; having a spring on the cable, and all hands at quarters.

Every motion in the whale boat, and in the vessel along-side which she was lying, was closely watched with our gla.s.ses, but all seemed to pa.s.s quietly; and on the return of lieutenant Flinders, we learned that they were prows from Maca.s.sar, and the six Malay commanders shortly afterwards came on board in a canoe. It happened fortunately that my cook was a Malay, and through his means I was able to communicate with them. The chief of the six prows was a short, elderly man, named _Poba.s.soo_; he said there were upon the coast, in different divisions, sixty prows, and that _Salloo_ was the commander in chief. These people were Mahometans, and on looking into the launch, expressed great horror to see hogs there; nevertheless they had no objection to port wine, and even requested a bottle to carry away with them at sunset.

The weather continued squally all night, with frequent heavy rain, and the wind blew strong; but coming off the islands, the ship rode easily.

In the morning [FRIDAY 18 FEBRUARY 1803], I went on board Poba.s.soo's vessel, with two of the gentlemen and my interpreter, to make further inquiries; and afterwards the six chiefs came to the Investigator, and several canoes were along-side for the purpose of barter. Before noon, five other prows steered into the road from the S. W., anchoring near the former six; and we had more people about the ship than I chose to admit on board, for each of them wore a short dagger or cress by his side. My people were under arms, and the guns were exercised and a shot fired at the request of the chiefs; in the evening they all retired quietly, but our guns were kept ready and half the people at quarters all night. The weather was very rainy; and towards morning [SAt.u.r.dAY 19 FEBRUARY 1803], much noise was heard amongst the prows. At daylight they got under sail, and steered through the narrow pa.s.sage between Cape Wilberforce and Bromby's Isles, by which we had come; and afterwards directed their course south-eastward into the Gulph of Carpentaria.

My desire to learn every thing concerning these people, and the strict look-out which it had been necessary to keep upon them, prevented me attending to any other business during their stay. According to Poba.s.soo, from whom my information was princ.i.p.ally obtained, sixty prows belonging to the Rajah of Boni, and carrying one thousand men, had left Maca.s.sar with the north-west monsoon, two months before, upon an expedition to this coast; and the fleet was then lying in different places to the westward, five or six together, Poba.s.so's division being the foremost.

These prows seemed to be about twenty-five tons, and to have twenty or twenty-five men in each; that of Poba.s.soo carried two small bra.s.s guns, obtained from the Dutch, but the others had only muskets; besides which, every Malay wears a cress or dagger, either secretly or openly. I inquired after bows and arrows, and the _ippo_ poison, but they had none of them; and it was with difficulty they could understand what was meant by the _ippo_.

The object of their expedition was a certain marine animal, called _trepang_. Of this they gave me two dried specimens; and it proved to be the _beche-de-mer_, or sea cuc.u.mber which we had first seen on the reefs of the East Coast, and had afterwards hauled on sh.o.r.e so plentifully with the seine, especially in Caledon Bay. They get the _trepang_ by diving, in from 3 to 8 fathoms water; and where it is abundant, a man will bring up eight or ten at a time. The mode of preserving it is this: the animal is split down one side, boiled, and pressed with a weight of stones; then stretched open by slips of bamboo, dried in the sun, and afterwards in smoke, when it is fit to be put away in bags, but requires frequent exposure to the sun. A thousand trepang make a _picol_, of about 125 Dutch pounds; and one hundred picols are a cargo for a prow. It is carried to Timor, and sold to the Chinese, who meet them there; and when all the prows are a.s.sembled, the fleet returns to Maca.s.sar. By Timor, seemed to be meant Timor-laoet; for when I inquired concerning the English, Dutch, and Portuguese there, Poba.s.soo knew nothing of them: he had heard of Coepang, a Dutch settlement, but said it was upon another island.

There are two kinds of trepang. The black, called _baatoo_, is sold to the Chinese for forty dollars the picol; the white, or grey, called _koro_, is worth no more than twenty. The _baatoo_ seems to be what we found upon the coral reefs near the Northumberland Islands; and were a colony established in Broad Sound or Shoalwater Bay, it might perhaps derive considerable advantage from the trepang. In the Gulph of Carpentaria, we did not observe any other than the _koro_, or grey slug.

Poba.s.soo had made six or seven voyages from Maca.s.sar to this coast, within the preceding twenty years, and he was one of the first who came; but had never seen any ship here before. This road was the first rendezvous for his division, to take in water previously to going into the Gulph. One of their prows had been lost the year before, and much inquiry was made concerning the pieces of wreck we had seen; and a canoe's rudder being produced, it was recognised as having belonged to her. They sometimes had skirmishes with the native inhabitants of the coast; Poba.s.soo himself had been formerly speared in the knee, and a man had been slightly wounded since their arrival in this road: they cautioned us much to beware of the natives.*

[* A question suggests itself here: Could the natives of the west side of the Gulph of Carpentaria have learned the rite of circ.u.mcision from these Malay Mahometans? From the short period that the latter had frequented the coast, and the nature of the intercourse between the two people, it seems to me very little probable.]

They had no knowledge of any European settlement in this country; and on learning the name Port Jackson, the son of Poba.s.soo made a memorandum of it as thus, (foreign characters), writing from left to right. Until this time, that some nutmegs were shown to them, they did not know of their being produced here; nor had they ever met with cocoa nuts, bananas, or other edible fruits or vegetables; fish, and sometimes turtle, being all they procured. I inquired if they knew of any rivers or openings leading far inland, if they made charts of what they saw, or used any charts? To all which Poba.s.soo answered in the negative. There was a river at Timor, into which the ship could go; and he informed me of two turtle islands, one of them not far to the north-west of our situation in the road; the other would be seen from the mast head as we sailed along the sh.o.r.e.

I could find no other nautical instrument amongst them than a very small pocket compa.s.s, apparently of Dutch manufacture; by this their course is directed at sea, without the aid of any chart or astronomical observation. They carry a month's water, in joints of bamboo; and their food is rice, cocoa nuts, and dried fish, with a few fowls for the chiefs. The black _gummotoo_ rope, of which we had found pieces at Sir Edward Pellew's Group, was in use on board the prows; and they said it was made from the same palm whence the sweet syrup, called _gulah_, is obtained.

My numberless questions were answered patiently, and with apparent sincerity; Poba.s.soo even stopped one day longer at my desire, than he had intended, for the north-west monsoon, he said, would not blow quite a month longer, and he was rather late. I rewarded his trouble and that of his companions with several presents, princ.i.p.ally iron tools, which they seemed anxious to possess; and he begged of me an English jack, which he afterwards carried at the head of his squadron. He also expressed a desire for a letter, to show to any other ship he might meet; and I accordingly wrote him a note to captain Baudin, whom it seemed probable he might encounter in the Gulph, either going or returning.

So soon as the prows were gone, the botanical gentlemen and myself proceeded to make our examinations. The place where the ship was anch.o.r.ed, and which I call _Malay Road_, is formed by two islands: one to the S. W.. now named _Poba.s.soo's Island_, upon which was a stream of fresh water behind a beach; the other to the north, named _Cotton's Island_, after captain Cotton of the India directory. The opening between them is nearly half a mile wide; but the water being shallow, the road is well sheltered on the west side, and the opposite main coast lies not further off to the east than three miles; so that N. E. is the sole quarter whence much swell can come. I landed upon Cotton's Island; and ascending a high cliff at the south-east end, saw Mount Saunders and the northernmost Melville Isle over the land of Cape Wilberforce. Cotton's Island extends six or seven miles to the north. and beyond it, to the north-east, was another large island, which I called _Wigram's_, whose south-east part is also a high cliff. Further off were two small isles; and at a greater distance another, named _Truant Island_, from its lying away from the rest. Poba.s.soo's Island intercepted my view to the S. W.; but on moving back to a higher station, two other islands were seen over it, close to each other; to the furthest and largest I gave the name of _Inglis_, and to the nearer that of _Bosanquet_. In the west also, and not more than three miles distant, was an island of considerable size, which was distinguished by the name of _Astell_. The general trending of all these islands is nearly N. E. by E., parallel with the line of the main coast and of Bromby's Isles. In the Dutch chart, if they be marked at all, it is as main land, and without distinctive appellation; I have therefore applied names to each, mostly after gentlemen in the East-India directory; and in compliment to that respectable body of men, whose liberal attention to this voyage was useful to us and honourable to them, the whole cl.u.s.ter is named the ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS.

Amongst the bearings taken from the south-eastern cliff of Cotton's Island, the following were most essential to the survey.

Ship at anchor, distant 1 miles, S. 41 50' W.

Mount Bonner, S. 21 12 E.

Mount Saunders, north end, S. 47 52 E.

Cape Wilberforce, N. W. cliff, N. 74 15 E.

Bromby's Isles, the largest, N. 66 39' to 69 39 E.

Wigram's Island, N. 41 45 to 15 40 E.

Moved S. 52 W. one-third mile.

Furthest part of the main land, S. 49 5 W.

Inglis' Island, N. E. cliff, S. 53 30 W.

Bosanquet's I., N. W. extreme S. 69 5 W.

The Dutch chart contains an island of great extent, lying off this part of the North Coast; it has no name in Thevenot, but in some authors bears that of Wessel's or Wezel's Eylandt, probably from the vessel which discovered Arnhem's Land in 1636; and from the south end of Cotton's Island distant land was seen to the N. W, which I judged to be a part of it; but no bearings could be taken at this time, from the heavy clouds and rain by which it was obscured.

From the 19th to the 22nd, the weather was frequently rainy, with thunder and lightning; and the wind blew strong in squalls, generally between the north and west, and made it unsafe to move the ship. During these days, the botanical gentlemen over-ran the two islands which form Malay Road; and I made a boat excursion to Astell's, and another to the north end of Cotton's Island, to sound and take bearings for the survey. In the latter excursion [TUESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 1803], three black children were perceived on the north-east beach; and on walking that way we saw two bark huts, and an elderly man was sitting under a tree, near them. He smiled on finding himself discovered, and went behind a bush, when a confused noise was heard of women and children making off into the wood; the man also retreated up the hill, and our friendly signs were ineffectual to stop him. In one of the huts was a net bag, containing some pieces of gum, bone, and a broken spike nail; and against a neighbouring bush were standing three spears, one of which had a number of barbs, and had been wrought with some ingenuity. This I took away; but the rest of the arms, with the utensils and furniture of the huts, consisting of the aforesaid net bag and a sh.e.l.l to drink out of, were left as we found them, with the addition of a hatchet and pocket handkerchief.

Cotton's, Poba.s.soo's, and Astell's Islands, to which our examinations were limited, are moderately high, woody land; they slope down nearly to the water on their west sides, but on the east, and more especially the south-east, they present steep cliffs; and the same conformation seemed to prevail in the other islands. The stone of the upper parts is grit or sandstone, of a close texture; but the lower part of the cliffs is argillaceous and stratified, splitting in layers of different thicknesses, from that of a shilling to two or three feet; and the strata dip to the westward, about 15. On breaking some pieces out of the cliffs, I found them curiously marked with the representation of flowers and trees, owing, as I am told, to manganese or iron ore inserting itself partially into the fissures. The layers are of a reddish colour, resembling flat tiles, and might, I conceive, be used as such, almost without any preparation; there are enough of them to cover a whole town, and the sand stone at the top of the cliffs is equally well calculated for building the walls of the houses.

The upper surfaces of these islands are barren; but in the vallies, down which ran streams of water at this time, there is a tolerable soil. One of these vallies, at the south end of Cotton's Island, might be made a delightful situation to a college of monks, who could bear the heat of the climate, and were impenetrable to the stings of musketoes. Here grew the wild nutmeg, in abundance, the fig which bears its fruit on the stem, two species of palm, and a tree whose bark is in common use in the East for making ropes; besides a variety of others, whose tops were overspread with creeping vines, forming a shade to the stream underneath. But this apparently delightful retreat afforded any thing rather than coolness and tranquillity: the heat was suffocating, and the musketoes admitted not of a moment's repose.

Upon Poba.s.soo's Island, near the stream of water at the back of the beach, Mr. Good, the gardener, planted four of the cocoa nuts procured from the Malays; and also some remnants of potatoes which were found in the ship.

The _lat.i.tude_ of Malay Road, from two not very satisfactory observations, was 11 53' S.

_Longitude_ by the survey from Caledon Bay 136 27' E.

From observations made on sh.o.r.e in the artificial horizon, the time-keeper No. 520 was differing from its Caledon-Bay rate, 15.4" of longitude per day, to the east, but No. 543 only 9.8"; and when the longitude of this last is corrected by the proportion afterwards found necessary, it will agree with the survey to less than half a mile.

No observations were taken for the _variation_ of the compa.s.s, but I judge it to have been about 1 east, when not affected by any local attraction. Near the north-east end of Cotton's Island, and at the south-west point, the variation was 2 _more east_ than upon the south-east head; as if the south end of the island attracted the north point, and the north end the south point of the needle.

On the day of the new moon, a particular observation was made upon the tide in Malay Road; and it was high water at ten minutes past eight in the morning, or nearly _eight hours and a quarter after_ the moon had pa.s.sed the lower meridian; and the rise was ten feet two inches. There were two tides in the day; but from the swinging of the ship in the road, it appeared that the last of the ebb, as well as the whole of the flood, came from the N. E.; an irregularity which might be caused by the shallow pa.s.sage between the two islands.

WEDNESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 1803

The weather was still squally on the 23rd, but in the afternoon became finer; and at three o'clock we steered south-westward, between the islands and the main, with a flood-tide in our favour and the whale boat sounding ahead. All the points of the main coast, like the western sides of the islands, are low and rocky, and they are bordered with reef; but we had tolerably good soundings, from 20 to 7 fathoms, in pa.s.sing along them at the distance of a mile. At dusk in the evening we came to, in 5 fathoms muddy ground, in a place much like Malay Road; it is formed by Inglis' and Bosanquet's Islands, and except in a s.p.a.ce between them, of half a mile wide, we had land at various distances all round.

Inglis' Island forms here a pretty looking cove, in which is a woody islet. In the morning [THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY 1803] I sounded the cove; and finding it to be shallow, went on, accompanied by the landscape painter, to take bearings from the steep north-east head of the island. From thence the main coast was visible four leagues further, extending in the same south-western direction; at the end of it was an island of considerable elevation, which I named _Mallison's Island_, and west of it another, with land running at the back. The bearings which most served to prolong the survey, were these:

Poba.s.soo's I., east cliff, in a line with Malay Road, N. 55 0' E.

Moved back S. 53 W. mile.

Mallison's I., steep south-east head, S. 38 25 W.

Mallison's I., outer of two rocks on the north-west side, S. 48 47 W.

We had not brought any provision in the boat; but Inglis' Island appearing to terminate three or four miles further on, I hoped to make the circuit, and reach the ship to a late dinner. An Indian followed along the sh.o.r.e, inviting us by signs to land; but when the boat's head was turned that way, he retreated into the wood, and we had no time to follow, or to wait his pleasure to come down; for a good deal of delay had been caused by the tide, and the island was found to extend several miles further than was expected, to another steep head, from which I was desirous to obtain a set of bearings. At five o'clock, when we reached the head, it rained fast, which deterred me from attempting the steep ascent, and we pushed onward; but the island, instead of terminating here, extended four miles further in a west direction, to a low point, where sunset and the bad weather obliged us to stop for the night. No wood could be found to make a fire, nor had we any tent; and from the rain, the cold, and musketoes, and our want of dinner, the night pa.s.sed uncomfortably.

FRIDAY 25 FEBRUARY 1803

At day-light, I took bearings from the low south-west point, whilst Bongaree speared a few fish.

Mallison's I., the high south-east head, bore S. 11 10' E.

Mallison's I., west extreme S. 11 30 W.

A probable island, dist. 5 miles, S. 47 50' W. to West.

The main coast was close at the back of, and perhaps joined the Probable Island; and to the south of it were other lands, apparently insulated, between which and Mallison's Island was an opening of four miles wide, which I marked for our next anchorage.

Bongaree was busily employed preparing his fish, when my bearings were concluded. The natives of Port Jackson have a prejudice against all fish of the ray kind, as well as against sharks; and whilst they devour with eager avidity the blubber of a whale or porpoise, a piece of skate would excite disgust. Our good natured Indian had been ridiculed by the sailors for this unaccountable whim, but he had not been cured; and it so happened, that the fish he had speared this morning were three small rays and a mullet. This last, being the most delicate, he presented to Mr.

Westall and me, so soon as it was cooked; and then went to saunter by the water side, whilst the boats' crew should cook and eat the rays, although, having had nothing since the morning before, it may be supposed he did not want appet.i.te. I noticed this in silence till the whole were prepared, and then had him called up to take his portion of the mullet; but it was with much difficulty that his modesty and forbearance could be overcome, for these qualities, so seldom expected in a savage, formed leading features in the character of my humble friend. But there was one of the sailors also, who preferred hunger to ray-eating! It might be supposed he had an eye to the mullet; but this was not the case. He had been seven or eight years with me, mostly in New South Wales, had learned many of the native habits, and even imbibed this ridiculous notion respecting rays and sharks; though he could not allege, as Bongaree did, that "they might be very good for white men, but would kill him." The mullet accordingly underwent a further division; and Mr. Westall and myself, having no prejudice against rays, made up our proportion of this scanty repast from one of them.

We rowed northward, round the west end of Inglis' Island, leaving a hummocky isle and a sandy islet to the left; but on coming to a low point with a small island near it, the rapidity of the flood tide was such, that we could not make head way, and were obliged to wait for high water.

I took the opportunity to get another set of bearings, and then followed the example of the boat's crew, who, not finding oysters or any thing to eat, had fallen asleep on the beach to forget the want of food.

It was high water at eleven o'clock, and we then pa.s.sed between the islet and sandy point, and across two rather deep bights in Inglis' Island; and leaving three rocks and as many small islands on the left hand, entered the pa.s.sage to the west of the ship, and got on board at two in the afternoon.

This island is twelve miles long, by a varying breadth of one to three miles. Its cliffs and productions are much the same as those of Cotton's Island; but in the south-eastern part it is higher, and the size and foliage of the wood announced more fertility in the soil.