A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 33

After having given every a.s.sistance to get the people and as many stores as can be taken on board the Rolla, and given the commander of the Francis schooner such orders as circ.u.mstances may require, for bringing those who may choose to be discharged from the service and as many stores as she can bring, you will then proceed to England by the route you may judge most advisable and beneficial for His Majesty's service. On your arrival in London you will deliver my letters to the Admiralty and the princ.i.p.al secretary of state for the colonies.

In case any unforeseen circ.u.mstances should prevent the accomplishment of the voyage in the c.u.mberland, you will take such measures as may appear most conducive to the interest of His Majesty's service, either by selling the vessel, or letting her for freight at the Cape or elsewhere, if any merchants choose to send proper officers and men to conduct her back; and in the event of your being obliged to dispose of her, you will account with His Majesty's princ.i.p.al secretary of state for the colonies for the proceeds.

I am, etc.,

(Signed) Philip Gidley King.

[EAST COAST. TOWARDS WRECK REEF.]

The small size of the c.u.mberland made it necessary to stop at every convenient place on the way to England, for water and refreshment; and I proposed Coepang Bay in Timor, Mauritius, the Cape of Good Hope, St.

Helena, and some one of the Western Isles; but governor King objected to Mauritius, from not wishing to encourage any communication between the French colonies and Port Jackson; and also because he had understood that hurricanes often prevailed in the neighbourhood of that island, about the time of year when I should be pa.s.sing; he left this matter, however, to be decided by necessity and my judgment, and gave me two letters for the governor of Mauritius, to be forwarded from the Cape, or by the best opportunity. At those places in the Indian Seas where I might stop, he requested me to make inquires into the facility of obtaining cattle for his colony, with the price and the traffic with which they might be best procured; and to send this information by any ship bound to Port Jackson.

WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 1803

Every thing being prepared for our departure, I sailed out of the harbour in the c.u.mberland on the 21st at daylight, with the Rolla and Francis in company. Mr. Inman, the astronomer, had taken a pa.s.sage in the Rolla with his instruments; and of the thirteen persons who came with me in the boat, captain Park and his second mate were on board that ship, and the boatswain of the Investigator with the ten seamen composed my crew in the schooner. We had a fresh breeze at south-east, and the c.u.mberland appeared to sail as well as could be expected; but the wind becoming stronger towards night, she lay over so much upon the broad side that little sail could be carried; and instead of being tight, as had been represented, her upper works then admitted a great deal of water. Next morning [THURSDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 1803], the wind having rather increased than diminished, I found we should soon be obliged to lie to altogether, and that if we pa.s.sed Port Stephens there was no place of shelter for a long distance where the schooner could be saved from drifting on sh.o.r.e; the signal was therefore made to tack, and at dusk the Rolla and Francis ran into Port Stephens. Not being able to reach so far, I anch.o.r.ed in a small bight under Point Stephens, in very bad plight; the pumps proving to be so nearly useless, that we could not prevent the water from half filling the hold; and two hours longer would have reduced us to baling with buckets, and perhaps have been fatal. This essay did not lead me to think favourably of the vessel, in which I had undertaken a voyage half round the globe.

FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 1803

Next morning I joined the Rolla and Francis; and it being then calm, we did not quit Port Stephens until the afternoon. At night the wind again blew strong from the south-east; but the desire to arrive at Wreck Reef overcoming my apprehensions, the schooner was made snug and we persevered. Our inability to carry sail was so much the more provoking, that this wind was as fair as could be wished; but whilst the c.u.mberland could scarcely bear a close-reefed main sail and jib without danger of oversetting, the Rolla went along under double-reefed top sails in great tranquillity; and to avoid parting company was obliged to keep her courses up, and to back a top sail from time to time.

SAt.u.r.dAY 24 SEPTEMBER 1803

(Atlas, Plate X.)

The wind moderated next day, and allowed us to make better progress. It afterwards veered round to the north-east, and prevented us from fetching more than ten miles to the east of the reef by Mr. Inman's time keeper, when we came into the proper lat.i.tude. We bore away for it, however, on Oct. 1 [SAt.u.r.dAY 1 OCTOBER 1803], and ran more than a degree to the west; when finding no reef or bank, it appeared that we must have been something to the west of Wreck Reef when the time keeper showed ten miles to the eastward. This obliged us to work back again, and it was not till the 7th [FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER 1803] that we got sight of the ensign upon the top of the bank.*

[* The want of my journal has prevented me from stating any particulars of this pa.s.sage very correctly; but I have lately obtained a sight of Mr.

Inman's observations, and it appears from them that his time keeper (Kendal's No. 45) erred 31' to the east on Oct. 1, and that on the 2nd a.m. our corrected longitude was 153 52'. We ran westward till that evening, and must therefore have gone to about 153 25', or 1 54' west of Wreck-Reef Bank; and as no dangers were seen, this shows how completely the Reef is separated from the great Barrier of the coast; a point which it is of some importance to have ascertained.]

[EAST COAST. WRECK REEF.]

It was six weeks on this day that I had quitted the reef in the boat, for the purpose of seeking the means to relieve my officers and people. The bank was first seen from the Rolla's mast head, and soon afterward two boats were perceived under sail; and advancing nearer, we saw one boat make for the Rolla and the other returning to the bank. The Porpoise had not yet gone to pieces; but was still lying on her beam ends, high up on the reef, a frail, but impressive monument of our misfortune.

In the afternoon I anch.o.r.ed under the lee of the bank, in 18 fathoms coral sand, and a salute of eleven guns from it was immediately fired, the carronades of the Porpoise having been transported from the wreck. On landing, I was greeted with three hearty cheers, and the utmost joy by my officers and people; and the pleasure of rejoining my companions so amply provided with the means of relieving their distress, made this one of the happiest moments of my life.

The two boats we had seen, were the Porpoise's remaining cutter and a new boat constructed during my absence; it was just completed, and lieutenant Fowler had this morning gone out to try its sailing against the cutter.

My safe arrival at Port Jackson became a subject of much doubt after the first month; and they had begun to reconcile their minds to making the best use of the means they possessed to reach some frequented port. The Rolla's top-gallant sail was first seen in the horizon by a man in the new boat, and was taken for a bird; but regarding it more steadfastly, he started up and exclaimed, d--n my bl--d what's that! It was soon recognised to be a sail, and caused a general acclamation of joy, for they doubted not it was a ship coming to their succour. Lieutenant Flinders, then commanding officer on the bank, was in his tent calculating some lunar distances, when one of the young gentlemen ran to him, calling, "Sir, Sir! A ship and two schooners in sight!" After a little consideration, Mr. Flinders said he supposed it was his brother come back, and asked if the vessels were near? He was answered, not yet; upon which he desired to be informed when they should reach the anchorage, and very calmly resumed his calculations: such are the varied effects produced by the same circ.u.mstance upon different minds. When the desired report was made, he ordered the salute to be fired, and took part in the general satisfaction.

My plan of proceeding at the reef having been arranged on the pa.s.sage, I immediately began to put it in execution. The people were a.s.sembled on the bank, and informed that such as chose to be discharged from the service might return to Port Jackson in the Francis schooner; and that the rest would be taken on board the Rolla and carried to China, with the exception of ten officers and men whom I named, to go to England with me in the c.u.mberland, if they would risk themselves in so small a vessel; for notwithstanding what had been discovered of the bad qualities of the schooner, I determined to proceed, at least so far as to reach some port where a pa.s.sage might be procured in a better vessel without losing time.

The determinations of all were required to be given on the following day; and in the mean time we began to take on board the few stores necessary to complete the c.u.mberland for our voyage, and especially to fill the holds with water, of which there was yet a good quant.i.ty remaining on the bank.

MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 1803

On the 10th, three days after our arrival, the Rolla had received the people destined for her, with part of the provisions and stores; and the c.u.mberland was ready to sail. All those whom I had named, with the exception of my clerk, volunteered to go in the schooner; viz., Mr. John Aken, master, and Mr. Edward Charrington, boatswain of the Investigator, my servant, and seven chosen seamen. A cask containing what had been saved of my specimens of mineralogy and conchology was taken on board, as also the charts, books, and papers of every kind, with the instruments received from the Navy Board and the sole time keeper which had not stopped.

Mr. Denis Lacy, master's mate of the Investigator, desiring to return to Port Jackson, he was charged with my letter to His Excellency governor King; and I gave him an order to command the new boat. It was about the size of the c.u.mberland, had a deck, and was called the _Resource_; and we manned her with a part of those people whose choice led them back to Port Jackson. I ordered Mr. James Aikin, commander of the Francis, and Mr.

Lacy, to take on board for the colony as much of the stores as they should be able; and on their arrival, to make a statement to the governor of the condition in which they might leave the Porpoise, and what remained on the bank.

The officers journals, which were to be sent to the Admiralty at the conclusion of the voyage, had not been demanded at the time of our shipwreck; lieutenant Fowler was therefore directed to take all that were saved belonging to the officers embarked with him in the Rolla; and lest any accident should happen to the c.u.mberland, I committed to his charge a copy of four charts, being all of the East and North Coasts which there had been time to get ready; with these he took a short letter to the secretary of the Admiralty, and one to the Victualling Board inclosing such vouchers as had been saved from the wreck. To Mr. Inman I gave the remaining instruments belonging to the Board of Longitude, reserving only a time keeper and a telescope; the large and most valuable instruments had very fortunately been delivered to him before we had sailed from Port Jackson in the Porpoise.

These matters being arranged, I pressed captain c.u.mming to depart, fearing that a change of wind might expose the Rolla to danger; but finding him desirous to take off more provisions and stores, I made sail for a bank or rather islet seven miles distant at the eastern extremity of Wreck Reef, for the purpose of collecting seabirds eggs, and if possible taking a turtle. The Rolla joined on the following day [TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER 1803], and I went on board to take leave of Messrs. Fowler and Flinders and the other officers and gentlemen; at noon we parted company with three cheers, the Rolla steering north-eastward for China, whilst my course was directed for Torres' Strait.

With the time keeper, Earnshaw's No. 520, I had received from lieutenant Flinders an account of its error from mean Greenwich time at noon there Oct. 6, and its rate of going during the fourteen preceding days, which were as under.

No. 520, slow 0h 9' 49.35" and losing 34.13" per day.

The _lat.i.tude_ of Wreck-Reef Bank was ascertained from eight meridian observations from the sea, and four from an artificial horizon: the mean of the latter, which are considered the best, is 22 11' 23" S.

_Longitude_ from sixty sets of lunar distances, of which the individual results are given in Table VIII. of the Appendix No. I. to this volume, 155 18' 50.5" E.

The longitude of the bank, as given by Earnshaw's No. 520 on Aug. 28, eleven days after the shipwreck, was 155 4' 14.6" with the Port Jackson rate, or 14' 35.9" less than the lunar observations. In laying down the Porpoise's track on the chart, this error has been corrected by an equal proportion, according to the time of each observation for the longitude.

Mr. Flinders deduced the _variation_ of the compa.s.s from observing the sun's magnetic azimuth a. m. and p. m., when equal alt.i.tudes were taken, and comparing the mean azimuth at corresponding alt.i.tudes with the true meridian; this method is probably not the best, and the results from two compa.s.ses differed considerably; Walker's compa.s.s, marked No. 1, giving 9 17' east from ten observations, and that marked No. 2, 13 54' from five observations. The first is undoubtedly the best, though possibly not very correct.

There are here two regular _tides_ daily, and it was high water on the day of full moon at 8h 50' in the morning; the rise was six feet two inches, but the night tide will probably reach to eight, or perhaps nine feet at the height of the springs.

Some account was given of Wreck-Reef Bank before quitting it in the boat, but I had not then acquired a knowledge of the whole extent of the reef.

It is about twenty miles long, and from a quarter, to one mile and a half in breadth; and consists of many distinct patches of different magnitudes, the six princ.i.p.al of which are from four to eight or ten miles in circuit. They are separated by channels of one mile to near a league in width; and in the two easternmost I found from 8 to 10 fathoms, and nothing to prevent a ship pa.s.sing through in a case of necessity.

Four of the six larger patches have each a sand bank near the middle, which do not appear to have been lately covered by the tide; and they are now more or less frequented by sea birds, such as noddies, b.o.o.bies, tropic, and man-of-war birds, gannets, and perhaps some others. Of these four banks, two lie to the west and one to the east of that near which our ships struck; but the eastern bank is the most considerable, and most frequented by birds; turtle also land there occasionally, and this bank was not improperly called _Bird Islet_, being now covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, some shrubs, and a soil to which the birds are every day making an increase.

Bird Islet being to windward of, and only seven miles distant from our bank, it was frequently visited by the gentlemen during my absence.

Besides sea birds of the species already mentioned, they procured many thousand eggs; and also four turtle, of which one weighed 459 pounds, and contained so many eggs, that lieutenant Fowler's journal says no less than 1940, large and small, were counted. These supplies, with sh.e.l.l fish gathered from the reef, and fish, were a great resource, and admitted of a saving in the salt provisions; as the occasional rains, from which several casks were filled, did of their fresh water. The _trepang_ was found on Wreck Reef, and soup was attempted to be made of it; but whether our cooks had not the method of stewing it down, or that the trepang is suited only to the vitiated taste of the Chinese, nothing good was produced

Oats, maize, and pumpkin seeds were planted upon Wreck-Reef Bank, as also upon Bird Islet; and the young plants had come up, and were in a tolerably flourishing state; some of these may possibly succeed upon the islet, but upon the bank it is scarcely to be hoped. The cocoa nut is capable of resisting the light sprays of the sea which frequently pa.s.s over these banks, and it is to be regretted that we had none to plant upon them. A cl.u.s.ter of these majestic and useful palms would have been an excellent beacon to warn mariners of their danger; and in the case where darkness might render them unavailing in this respect, their fruit would at least afford some salutary nourishment to the shipwrecked seamen. The navigator who should distribute ten thousand cocoa nuts amongst the numerous sand banks of the Great Ocean and Indian Sea, would be ent.i.tled to the grat.i.tude of all maritime nations, and of every friend to humanity. I may be thought to attribute too much importance to this object in saying, that such a distribution ought to be a leading article in the instructions for any succeeding voyage of discovery or investigation to these parts; but it is from having suffered ourselves that we learn to appreciate the misfortunes and wants of others. and become doubly interested in preventing or relieving them. "The human heart," as an elegant author observes, "resembles certain medicinal trees. which yield not their healing balm until they have themselves been wounded."*

[* Le coeur est comme ces sortes d'arbres, qui ne donnent leur baume pour les blessures des hommes que lorsque le fer les a blesses eux-memes.

Chateaubriant's _Genie de Christianisme, Episode d' Attala_.]

CHAPTER III.

Pa.s.sage in the c.u.mberland to Torres' Strait.

Eastern Fields and Pandora's Entrance.

New channels amongst the reefs.

Anchorage at Half-way Island, and under the York Isles.

Prince of Wales's Islands further examined.

b.o.o.by Isle.

Pa.s.sage across the Gulph of Carpentaria.

Anchorage at Wessel's Islands.

Pa.s.sage to Coepang Bay, in Timor; and to Mauritius, where the leakiness of the c.u.mberland makes it necessary to stop.

Anchorage at the Baye du Cap, and departure for Port Louis.

[EAST COAST. TOWARDS TORRES' STRAIT]

TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER 1803

(Atlas, Plate I.)

On parting from the Rolla, at noon Oct. 11, off Bird Islet, our course was steered N. N. W. by compa.s.s for Torres' Strait. At eight in the evening we had run thirteen leagues from Wreck Reef, without seeing any danger; but I thought it advisable to lie to in the night, until the distance was further increased. We made sail again at five in the morning [WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER 1803], and at noon were in 20 46' south and 155 2' east. During the two following days and nights, our course by compa.s.s was N. W. by N., and afterwards N. W.; and on the 15th [SAt.u.r.dAY 15 OCTOBER 1803] at noon we had reached the lat.i.tude 15 29' and longitude 151 24', the current having set, upon the average of four days, of a mile an hour to the W. N. W. This situation was a little to the north, and about one degree to the east of Bougainville's Bank of Diana, and the tropic birds, petrels, and b.o.o.bies seen every day were this evening more numerous, especially the b.o.o.bies; they most probably belonged to Diana's Bank, but lest some other might lie in our way, we hauled to the wind at eight o'clock. The little c.u.mberland was still very leaky at such times as the wind came more on the side and caused her to lie over; and the pumps were so bad that a fourth part of the day was frequently required at them to keep her free, and they were becoming worse from such constant use.