A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 29

I went round the ship with the officers in their examination, and was excessively surprised to see the state of rottenness in which the timbers were found. In the starbord bow there were thirteen close together, through any one of which a cane might have been thrust; and it was on this side that the ship had made twelve inches of water in an hour, in Torres' Strait, before the first examination. In the pa.s.sage along the South Coast, the strong breezes were from the southward, and the starbord bow being out of the water, the leaks did not exceed five inches; had the wind come from the northward, the little exertion we were then capable of making at the pumps could hardly have kept the ship up; and a hard gale from any quarter must have sent us to the bottom.

The Investigator being thus found incapable of further service, various plans were suggested, and discussed with the governor, for prosecuting the voyage; but that which alone could be adopted without incurring a heavy expense to government, was to employ the armed vessel Porpoise; and as this ship was too small to carry all my complement, with the necessary provisions, to put the remainder into the Lady Nelson, under the command of my second lieutenant. Both vessels were at this time required for a few weeks colonial service to Van Diemen's Land; and my people not being in a state to fit out a new ship immediately, our final arrangements were deferred until their return. I took this opportunity of making an excursion to the Hawkesbury settlement, near the foot of the back mountains; and the fresh air there, with a vegetable diet and medical care, soon made a great alteration in the s...o...b..tic sores which had disabled me for four months; and in the beginning of July I returned to the ship, nearly recovered. The sick in the hospital were also convalescent, and some had quitted it; but one or two cases still remained doubtful.

4 JULY 1803

On the 4th, the Porpoise arrived from Van Diemen's Land, and I requested the governor would order her to be surveyed, that it might be duly known whether she were, or could be in a short time made, capable of executing the service which remained to be done. I had heard some reports of her being unsound; and it seemed worse than folly to be at the trouble and expense of fitting out a ship which, besides causing a repet.i.tion of the risk we had incurred in the Investigator, might still leave the voyage unfinished. His Excellency, with that prompt zeal for His Majesty's service which characterised him, and was eminently shown in every thing wherein my voyage was concerned, immediately ordered the survey to be made; and it appeared that, besides having lost part of the copper which could not be replaced, the repairs necessary to make her fit for completing what remained of the voyage, could not be done in less than twelve months; and even then this ship was, from her small size and sharp construction, very ill adapted to this service. Other arrangements were therefore suggested; and I received the following letter of propositions from the governor.

Government House, Sydney, July 10, 1803.

I inclose the report of the survey on the Porpoise, and am much concerned that the repairs and alterations of that ship will re quire so much time to complete her fit for the service you have to execute. This being the case, I can see no other alternatives than the following:

1. To wait the Porpoise being repaired and refitted.

2. To purchase the Rolla, and fit her.

3. To take the Lady Nelson and colonial schooner Francis.

4. Wait for the Buffalo's return from India, which will be about the next January; or

5. Return to England and solicit another ship to complete what you have so successfully begun.

On the first point, you will be the best able to determine how far it would be advisable to wait so long a time for the Porpoise's repairs, nor do I think they can be completed in a less time here.

The builder and your carpenter report to me, that the Rolla cannot be put into the least convenient state to receive your establishment, stores, and provisions, in less than six months. It must also be considered that she grounded on the Brake with a full cargo; from which cause, some defects may appear to render her useless in a shorter period than you can finish your voyage. Added to which, I do not consider myself justified in a.s.suming the responsibility of giving 11,550. for little more than the hull, masts, and rigging of that ship; nor will the master, as he informs me, take less.

If you think the Lady Nelson and Francis schooner equal to execute what you have to finish, they are at your service. The latter being absent getting coals and cedar, I cannot say what state she may be in; although she will require considerable repairs to make her fit for a long voyage.

The Buffalo is now inspecting the islands to the eastward of Java, to ascertain whether breeding stock can be procured among them. That service performed, she proceeds to Calcutta for a cargo of cows, and may be expected about January, when she may want some repairs, and of course fitting. It is my intention, if you do not fix on her, to profit by your discovery in stocking this colony with breeding animals, by the safe and expeditious channel you have opened through Torres' Strait.

If you do not consider waiting for the Porpoise's repairs advisable, it is my intention to send her to England by a summer's pa.s.sage round Cape Horn; which it is thought she may perform in her present state. But should you conceive it may ultimately forward the service you are employed on, to go to England in her, leaving this port when you judge proper, and taking the route most conducive to perfectioning any part of the surveys you have commenced; I shall direct the commander of that ship to receive you and as many of your officers and people as can be accommodated, as pa.s.sengers; and to follow your directions and give you every a.s.sistance in every circ.u.mstance connected with the execution of the orders you have received from my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

You will, Sir, have the goodness to consider of the above and whatever the result of your deliberation may be, I will most cheerfully give my concurrence and a.s.sistance; knowing that your zealous perseverance in wishing to complete the service you have so beneficially commenced, could only be impeded by unforeseen and distressing circ.u.mstances; but which I hope, for the benefit of science and navigation, will only be a temporary delay.

I am, etc.

(Signed), Philip Gidley King.

Each of the plans proposed in the governor's letter were attended with one common disadvantage: a delay in the completion of the surveys.

Against the last proposition there did not seem to be any other objection; but the four first included so many more inconveniences and difficulties, either to the voyage, or to the colony, that I saw the necessity of concurring with the governor's opinion; notwithstanding the reluctance I felt at returning to England without having accomplished the objects for which the Investigator was fitted out. My election was therefore made to embark as a pa.s.senger in the Porpoise; in order to lay my charts and journals before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and obtain, if such should be their pleasure, another ship to complete the examination of Terra Australis. The last service I could render to the colony with the Investigator and my people, was to lay down an additional pair of moorings in Sydney Cove; and that done, we left the ship as a storehouse hulk on the 21st, and prepared for our voyage to England.

The Porpoise was commanded by Mr. William Scott, a senior master in the navy; but he and the greater part of his people having expressed a wish to be discharged, it was complied with; and the command was given to Mr.

Fowler, first lieutenant of the Investigator, and another crew of thirty-eight men selected from the ship's company. In disposing of the other officers and people their several inclinations were consulted. The surgeon took his pa.s.sage in the Bridgewater to India, the gunner remained charged with the care of the Investigator's stores, and Mr. Evans, master's mate, was left sick at the hospital; Messrs. Brown, Bauer, and Allen stayed at Port Jackson to prosecute their researches in natural history, until my arrival with another ship, or until eighteen months should expire without their having received intimation that the voyage was to be continued; nine men were discharged at their own request, and the twenty-two remaining officers and men, including myself, embarked in the Porpoise as pa.s.sengers.

Of the nine convicts who had been received into the Investigator, one had died; another had behaved himself so improperly, that I could not recommend him to the governor; and the remaining seven were fully emanc.i.p.ated by His Excellency from their sentence of transportation, their conduct having been such throughout, as to receive my approbation.

Four of these were entered into the complement of the Porpoise; but I am sorry to add, that the subsequent behaviour of two was different to what it had been when their liberty was at stake, and that a third was condemned to the hulks not very long after he reached England.

Being about to take leave of Port Jackson, it might be expected that I should give some account of our colony there, and could this voyage have appeared in due time, a chapter would have been devoted to it; but a much later account being now before the public, dispenses me from speaking of it in other than a few general terms. In 1803, it was progressively advancing towards a state of independence on the mother country for food and clothing; both the wild and tame cattle had augmented in a proportion to make it probable that they would, before many years, be very abundant; and manufactures of woollen, linen, cordage, and leather, with breweries and a pottery, were commenced. The number of inhabitants was increasing rapidly; and that energetic spirit of enterprize which characterises Britain's children, seemed to be throwing out vigorous shoots in this new world. The seal fishery in Ba.s.s' Strait was carried on with ardour--many boats were employed in catching and preparing fish along the coast--sloops and schooners were upon the stocks--various detached settlements were in a course of establishment, and more in project. And all this, with the commerce carried on from Sydney to Parramatta and the villages at the head of the port, and to those on the rivers falling into Broken and Botany Bays, made the fine harbour of Port Jackson a lively scene of business, highly interesting to the contemplator of the rise of nations.

In Sydney and Parramatta, houses of stone or brick were taking place of wood and plaster; a neat church was built in the latter, and one commenced in the former place; wharfs were constructing or repairing--a stone bridge over the stream which runs through the town of Sydney was nearly finished--and the whiskey, chariot, and heavy-laden waggon were seen moving on commodious roads to different parts of the colony. In the interior the forests were giving way before the axe, and their places becoming every year more extensively occupied by wheat, barley, oats, maize, and the vegetables and fruits of southern Europe; but the following extract from the official returns in 1803, the fifteenth year after the establishment of the colony, will show its progress in a more ostensible manner.

Lands employed by government, or granted to individuals 125,476 acres.

Quant.i.ty cleared of wood, 16,624 Ditto, sown with wheat, 7,118 Last ann. increase 2,165 Ditto, sown with barley, maize, etc. 5,279 Average produce of wheat lands throughout the colony, 18 bushels/acre.

No. of horned cattle domesticated, 2,447 Last increase 594 No. of Sheep, 11,232 2,614 No. of Hogs, 7,890 3,872 No. of Horses, 352 65

The number of wild horned cattle was supposed to exceed that of the tame, and to increase faster.

Europeans of every description, resident in New South Wales, 7,134 Of which were victualled by government, 3,026 Number of inhabitants at Norfolk Island, 1,200

Amongst the obstacles which opposed themselves to the more rapid advancement of the colony, the princ.i.p.al were, the vicious propensities of a large portion of the convicts, a want of more frequent communication with England, and the prohibition to trading with India and the western coasts of South America, in consequence of the East-India-Company's charter. As these difficulties become obviated and capital increases, the progress of the colonists will be more rapid; and if the resources from government be not withdrawn too early, there is little doubt of New South Wales being one day a flourishing country, and of considerable benefit to the commerce and navigation of the parent state.

CHAPTER XI.

Of the winds, currents, and navigation along the east coast of Terra Australis, both without and within the tropic; also on the north coast.

Directions for sailing from Port Jackson, through Torres' Strait, towards India or the Cape of Good Hope.

Advantages of this pa.s.sage over that round New Guinea.

[EAST COAST. WINDS AND CURRENTS.]

On completing the first portion of the voyage, I entered into an explanation of the winds and currents which had been found to prevail upon the south coast of Terra Australis; and to obtain greater perspicuity and connection, I there antic.i.p.ated upon the second portion so far as those subjects required. This plan of a.s.sembling at the end of each book such general observations upon the coast immediately before examined as could not enter conveniently into the narrative, seeming liable to no material objection, I shall follow it here; and conclude this second part of the voyage with a statement of the winds and currents which appear to prevail most generally along the East and North Coasts; adding thereto such remarks, more particularly on Torres' Strait, as may tend to the safety of navigation. This statement will include the information gained in a subsequent pa.s.sage, for the reasons which influenced me in the former account; and the reader must not be surprised, should he remark hereafter that I did not, in that pa.s.sage, follow very closely the directions here given; for besides that my information was then possessed only in part, the directions are intended, not for vessels seeking dangers, which was partly my object, but for those desirous only of navigating these distant sh.o.r.es with expedition and safety.

The East Coast, with respect to winds and currents, requires a division, the part beyond the tropic of Capricorn being placed under different, and almost opposite circ.u.mstances, to that within, or close to it. (Atlas, Plate I.)

From Cape Howe, where the South Coast terminates and the East commences, to Sandy Cape, within a degree of the tropic, the south-east trade most generally prevails in the summer season, from the beginning of October to the end of April; and produces sea and land breezes near the sh.o.r.e, with fine weather. There are however many occasional intermissions, especially in the southern parts, wherein gales from South or S. W., and strong breezes between North and N. E., bring heavy rain, with thunder and lightning; but these are usually of short duration. A sultry land wind from the N. W. in the summer, is almost certainly followed by a sudden gust from between S. E. and S. S. W., against which a ship near the coast should be particularly guarded; I have seen the thermometer descend at Port Jackson, on one of these occasions, from 100 to 64 in less than half an hour.

In the winter season, from May to September, the western winds are most prevalent, and generally accompanied with fine weather; the gales then blow from the eastward, between north-east and south, and bring rain with them; indeed there is no settled weather in the winter, with any winds from the sea, and even between north-west and north there is frequent rain, though the wind be usually light in those quarters. It is however to be understood, that the sea and land breezes in the summer are more regular near the tropic; and that the winter winds partake more of the south-east trade than they do from lat.i.tude 30 to Cape Howe.

It is a fact difficult to be reconciled, that whilst the most prevailing winds blow from S. E. in summer, and S. W. in winter, upon this extra-tropical part of the East Coast, the current should almost constantly set to the south; at a rate which sometimes reaches two miles an hour. Its greatest strength is exerted near to the points which project most beyond the general line of the coast; but the usual limits of its force may be reckoned at from four, to twenty leagues from the land. Further out, there seems to be no constancy in the current; and close in with the sh.o.r.e, especially in the bights, there is commonly an eddy setting to the northward, from a quarter, to one mile an hour. It is in the most southern parts that the current runs strongest, and towards Cape Howe it takes a direction to the eastward of south; whereas in other places, it usually follows the line of the coast.

This exposition of the winds and currents beyond the tropic, points out the advantage of keeping at not more than three or four leagues from the land, when sailing northward and intending to touch on the coast; but in the winter season this must be done with caution, because gales then often blow from the eastward. A marine barometer will here be of signal advantage. If the weather be tolerably fine, and the mercury do not stand above 30 inches, there is no probability of danger; but when the mercury much exceeds this elevation and the weather is becoming thick, a gale is to be apprehended; and a ship should immediately steer off, until it is seen how far the wind veers to blow dead on the coast. With respect to a rise and fall in the marine barometer, it may be taken as a general rule upon this East Coast, that a rise denotes either a fresher wind in the quarter where it then may be, or that it will veer more to seaward; and a fall denotes less wind or a breeze more off the land; moreover, the mercury rises highest with a south-east, and falls lowest with a north-west wind; and north-east and south-west are points of mean elevation.

The shelter for ships which may be caught so suddenly as not to be able to clear the land, are these: Two-fold Bay, for vessels of four-hundred tons and under; Jervis and Botany Bays, Port Jackson, and Broken Bay; Port Hunter for brigs and small craft; Port Stephens; Shoal Bay for vessels not exceeding fifty tons; Gla.s.s-house Bay; and lastly Hervey's Bay, by going round Break-sea Spit. All these places will be found in Plates VI, VIII, IX, and X. of the Atlas, with particular plans of the entrances to some of them. Directions for Port Jackson, and Botany and Broken Bays are given by captain Hunter in his voyage; and they may be found in Horsburgh's _East-India Directory_, Part II, p. 465-468.

Two-fold Bay is described in the Introduction to this voyage, and mention made of Jervis, Shoal, Gla.s.s-house, and Hervey's Bays.

A ship sailing along this coast to the southward, should not, to have the advantage of the current, come nearer than five or six leagues unless to the projecting points; and if the distance were doubled, so as to have the land just in sight, an advantage would be found in it; and such an offing obviates the danger of the gales.

Whilst western winds prevail on the southern parts of the East Coast, the south-east trade blows with most regularity within, and close to the tropic, producing sea and land breezes near the sh.o.r.e, and serenity in the atmosphere; and the further we go northward the longer does this fine weather last, till, near Cape York, it commences with the month of April, probably even March, and extends to the middle or end of November. How the winds blow from November to April, I have no experience; but there is great reason to believe that they come from the northward, and make the wet season here, whilst dry weather prevails beyond the tropic. In Broad Sound and Shoal-water Bay we had more northern winds than any other, in the month of September; but these appeared to be altogether local, caused by the peculiar formation of the coast; for they did not bring any rain, though it was evidently near the end of the dry season, and we found the south-east trade wind before losing sight of the land.

[NORTH COAST. WINDS AND CURRENTS.]

The North Coast appears to have the same winds, with a little exception, as the tropical part of the East Coast. From March or April to November, the south-east trade prevails; often veering, however, to east, and even north-east, and producing fine weather, with sea and land breezes near the sh.o.r.e. At the head of the Gulph of Carpentaria, the north-west monsoon began to blow at the end of November; but further westward, at the northern Van Diemen's Land, I apprehend it will set in at the beginning of that month, and continue till near the end of March. This is the season of heavy rains, thunder, and lightning, and should seem, from our experience, to be the sickly time of the year.