A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 8

The first visitor to Van Diemen's Land, after Tasman, its discoverer, was captain MARION. He commanded the _Mascarin_ and _Marquis de Castries_, from the Isle Mauritius; and one of the objects of his expedition, was the discovery of the supposed SOUTHERN CONTINENT. This voyage possesses a considerable degree of interest, and was published at Paris in 1783; but not being generally known in England, the parts which relate to Van Diemen's Land, are here given in abridgment.

March 3, 1772, M. Marion made the west side, in lat.i.tude 42 56', half a degree south of Tasman's first land fall; and behind a point in 43 15', he saw an opening leading to the northward, but of which no particular mention is made. Steering eastward, round all the rocks and islets lying off the south coast, he arrived, on the evening of the 4th, in _Frederik Hendrik's Bay_; and anch.o.r.ed in 22 fathoms, sandy bottom. The great sandy cove of the outer bay bore from thence, S. 25 W. one league and a half; the extreme of Maria's Island, N. E. by N.; and the northernmost part of the main land, N. 5 W. six leagues: (these bearings appear to be as taken by the compa.s.s). The lat.i.tude observed here, was 42 50' south, and longitude 145 20 east of Greenwich; the first being 10', and the longitude above 5 _less_, than given by Tasman.*

[* According to captain Cook, the longitude should be 148 10'.]

The fires and smokes, seen by day and night, bespoke the country to be well inhabited; and, on anchoring, there were about thirty men a.s.sembled upon the sh.o.r.e. On the boats being sent next morning, the natives went to them without distrust; and, having piled together some pieces of wood, presented a lighted stick to the new comers, and seemed to ask them to set fire to the pile. Not knowing what this ceremony meant, they complied; and the act seemed neither to excite surprise, nor to cause any alteration in the conduct of the natives: they continued to remain about the French party, with their wives and children, as before.

These people were of the common stature, of a black colour, and were all naked, both men and women; and some of the latter had children fastened to their backs, with ropes made of rushes. All the men were armed with pointed sticks (spears), and with stones which appeared to have been sharpened in the manner of axe heads. They had, in general, small eyes, and the white duller than in Europeans; the mouth very wide, the teeth white, and flat noses. Their hair, which resembled the wool of the Caffres, was separated into shreds, and powdered with red ochre. They were generally slender, tolerably well made, kept their shoulders back, and upon their prominent chests, several had marks raised in the skin.

Their language, appeared harsh; the words seeming to be drawn from the bottom of the throat.

The French tried to win them by little presents, but they rejected with disdain every thing that was offered; even iron, looking-gla.s.ses, handkerchiefs, and cloth. They were shown ducks and fowls, which had been carried from the ships; and it was endeavoured to make them understand, that such would be gladly purchased of them; but they took these animals, with which they seemed to be unacquainted, and threw them away in anger.

The party had been about an hour with the savages when captain Marion went on sh.o.r.e. One of the natives stepped forward, and offered him a firebrand to be applied to a small heap of wood; and the captain, supposing it was a ceremony necessary to prove that he came with friendly intentions, set fire to the heap without hesitation. This was no sooner done, than they retired precipitately to a small hill, and threw a shower of stones, by which captain Marion, and the commander of the Castries were both wounded. Some shots were then fired; and the French, returning to their boats, coasted along the beach to an open place in the middle of the bay, where there was no hill or eminence from whence they could be annoyed. The savages sent their women and children into the woods, and followed the boats along sh.o.r.e; and on their putting in to land, one of the natives set up a hideous cry, and immediately a shower of spears was discharged. A black servant was hurt in the leg; and a firing then commenced, by which several of the natives were wounded, and one killed.

They fled to the woods, making a frightful howling, but carried off such of the wounded as were unable to follow. Fifteen men, armed with muskets, pursued them; and on entering amongst the trees, they found a dying savage. This man was a little more than five feet seven inches high; his breast was marked like those of the Mozambique Caffres, and his skin appeared as black; but on washing off the soot and dirt, his natural colour appeared to be reddish. The spears, which it was feared might have been poisoned, were proved not to be so by the facility with which the wound of the black servant was healed.

After the flight of the savages, captain Marion sent two officers with detachments, to search for water, and for trees proper to make a foremast and bowsprit for the Castries; but after traversing two leagues of country without meeting a single inhabitant, they returned unsuccessful in both pursuits; nor could any fresh water be found during the six days which the ships remained in Frederik Hendrik's Bay.

The land here is quite sandy, but covered with brush-wood, and with small trees which the savages had mostly stripped of the bark for cooking their sh.e.l.l fish. The greater part of the trees were burnt at the foot; but amongst them there was a kind of pine, less than ours, which was perfectly preserved; apparently from the natives finding them to be of use in some way or other.*

[* It is more probable, that these trees are able to resist the fire better than the others.]

There were marks of fire almost every where; and in many places the earth was covered with ashes. Where it was not burnt, there was plenty of gra.s.s, ferns like those of Europe, sorrel, and _alleluia_. From the few animals seen, it was thought that the fires made by the natives near the coast, drove them inland. The shooters met with a tiger cat, and saw many holes in the ground, like those of a warren. They killed crows, blackbirds, thrushes, doves, a white-bellied paroquet whose plumage resembled that of the same bird at the River Amazons, and several kinds of sea birds, princ.i.p.ally pelicans, and the black-bodied red bill.

The climate was cold, although in the end of summer; and it excited surprise, that the savages could go naked; the more so, as the nearest approach to houses consisted of branches of trees, set up behind the fire places to break off the wind. The many heaps of sh.e.l.ls seemed to bespeak, that the usual food of these people was muscles and other sh.e.l.l fish.

Many large rays were caught by the French, as also sea cats, old wives, and several other fish whose names were not known. They found also plenty of cray-fish, lobsters, very large crabs, and good oysters; and the curious picked up sea stars, sea eggs, and a variety of fine and rare sh.e.l.ls.

Finding he was only losing time in searching for water in this wild country, captain Marion determined to make sail for New Zealand, where he hoped to succeed better, and also to obtain masts for the Castries. He accordingly left Van Diemen's Land on the 10th of March; and the account of it concludes with the observation that they had very bad weather on the west coast, but on the east side the sky was much clearer and winds more moderate.

The chart of _Mons. Crozet_, which accompanies the voyage, appears, though on a very small scale, to possess a considerable degree of exactness in the form of the land. The wide opening, called Storm Bay, is distinctly marked; as is another bay to the westward, with several small islands in it, the easternmost of which are the _Boreel's Eylanden_ of Tasman.

FURNEAUX. 1773.

A year after Marion had quitted Frederik Hendrik's Bay, Van Diemen's Land was visited by captain TOBIAs FURNEAUX, in His Majesty's ship _Adventure_. He made the _South-west Cape_ on March 9, and steered eastward, close to the islands and rocks called Maatsuyker's, by Tasman; and behind which lay a bold sh.o.r.e, which seemed to afford several anchoring places. Some of these rocks resembled, says captain Furneaux, "the Mewstone, particularly one which we so named, about four or five leagues E. S. E. E. off the above cape, which Tasman has not mentioned, or laid down in his draughts." * This is nevertheless the lion-head-shaped island, particularly mentioned by Tasman, as lying twelve miles out from the coast: the mistake arose from the imperfection of the accounts.

After pa.s.sing Maatsuyker's Isles, captain Furneaux sent a boat to the main land, on the 10th, and the people found places where the natives had been., and where pearl scallop sh.e.l.ls were scattered about. "The soil seemed to be very rich; the country well clothed with wood, particularly on the lee sides of the hills; plenty of water which falls from the rocks in beautiful cascades, for two or three hundred feet perpendicular, into the sea; but they did not see the least sign of any place to anchor in with safety."

[* _Cook's Second Voyage_, Vol. I. p. 109.]

On the return of the boat, captain Furneaux made sail, and came to "the westernmost point of a very deep bay, called by Tasman _Stormy Bay_. From the west to the east point of this bay there are several small islands, and black rocks which we called the _Friars_." From the Friars he followed the coast N. by E. four leagues, and the same evening anch.o.r.ed in ADVENTURE BAY. "We first took this bay," says the captain, "to be that which Tasman called Frederik Henry Bay; but afterwards found that his is laid down five leagues to the northward."

Captain Furneaux here mistook the Storm and Frederik Hendrik's Bays of Tasman; and he has been followed in this error by all the succeeding navigators of the same nation, which has created not a little confusion in the geography of this part of the world.

The bay supposed to have been Storm Bay, has no name in Tasman's chart; though the particular plan shows that he noticed it, as did Marion more distinctly. The rocks marked at the east point of this bay, and called the Friars, are the _Boreel's Eylanden_ of Tasman; and the true Storm Bay is the deep inlet, of which Adventure Bay is a cove. Frederik Hendrik's Bay is not within this inlet, but lies to the north-eastward, on the outer side of the land which captain Furneaux, in consequence of his first mistake, took to be Maria's Island, but which, in fact, is a part of the main land. All this is evident from a close comparison of the forms of the land in the two charts, and is corroborated by the differences of longitude from the Mewstone.

Adventure Bay proved to be a valuable discovery, being a good and well-sheltered anchorage, where wood and water were abundant, and procurable without much difficulty. The country was found to be pleasant; the soil black and rich, though not deep; the sides of the hills covered with large trees of the evergreen kind, growing to a great height before they spread out into branches. There were several species of land birds; and the aquatic fowl were ducks, teal, and the sheldrake. An opossum was seen, and the excrement of another quadruped, judged to be of the deer kind. Sea fish were caught, but not in plenty. The lagoons abounded with trout and several other sorts of fish. No natives came down to the ships; but their fires were seen at a distance, and several of their miserable huts were examined. Not the least mark of canoe or boat was seen, and it was generally thought they had none; "being altogether, from what we could judge, a very ignorant and wretched set of people; though natives of a country capable of producing every necessary of life, and a climate the finest in the world. We found not the least sign of any minerals or metals."

After remaining five days in Adventure Bay, captain Furneaux sailed along the coast to the northward, in order to discover whether Van Diemen's Land were joined to New South Wales. He pa.s.sed the Maria's, Schouten's, and Vanderlin's Islands of Tasman, at some distance; and then, closing more in with the coast, he found the land to be low and even, and of an agreeable aspect, "but no signs of a harbour or bay, where a ship might anchor in safety." In lat.i.tude 40 50', the coast, from running nearly north, turned to the westward., and, as captain Furneaux thought, formed a deep bay. From thence to 39 50', is nothing but islands and shoals; the "land high, rocky, and barren." In the course northward, past these islands, he had regular soundings, from 15 to 30 fathoms, though no land was visible; it was, however, seen again (or thought to be so) in lat.i.tude 39, and nearly due north from the islands. The bottom then becoming uneven, our navigator discontinued his course, and steered for New Zealand.

Whether Van Diemen's Land were, or were not, joined to New South Wales, was a question not yet resolved; but captain Furneaux gave it as his opinion, "that there is no strait between New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, but a very deep bay."

COOK. 1777.

The next visitor to Van Diemen's Land was captain JAMES COOK, with his Majesty's ships _Resolution_ and _Discovery_. He made the South-west Cape on Jan. 24, 1777, and steered eastward along the sh.o.r.e, as captain Furneaux had done, but generally at a greater distance: on the 26th he anch.o.r.ed in Adventure Bay.

Captain Cook's account of this bay agrees nearly with that of Furneaux; but he there procured abundance of fish, and had frequent communication with the natives: his description of them coincides, generally, with what has been recited in Marion's voyage. The most striking differences betwixt these people and those captain Cook had seen on the east coast of New South Wales, were in their language, in having no canoes, and in the different texture of the hair: in those it was "naturally long and black, though it be universally cropped short;" whilst in Adventure Bay, "it was as woolly, as that of any native of Guinea." * In these particulars, as in some others, they agreed with Dampier's description of the people on the North-west Coast, who were without canoes, and had woolly hair.

[* See Cook's _Third Voyage_, Vol. I. p. 93-117.]

The following articles, to the conclusion of PART I. of this Section, are placed somewhat out of their chronological order, for the convenience of cla.s.sing together all the discoveries which had no connection with the British settlement in New South Wales. Those made in vessels from that settlement, or which may be considered as a consequence of its establishment, will compose PART II. in uninterrupted order.

BLIGH. 1788.

Captain William Bligh put into Adventure Bay with his Majesty's ship _Bounty_ in 1788, and with the _Providence_ and _a.s.sistant_ in 1792; for the purpose of obtaining wood and water. These were procured with facility, as also plenty of fish; and many useful seeds and trees were planted.

No discoveries being made here, beyond those of Furneaux and Cook, the reader is referred to captain Bligh's _Voyage to the South Seas_, P. 45 to 54, for his observations on the country and inhabitants. There is, however, one remarkable circ.u.mstance recorded of these people, which is, that when presents wrapped up in paper were thrown to them, "they took the articles out, and placed them on their heads;" a ceremony which is similar to that recorded by _Witsen_, of the inhabitants on the east side of the Gulph of Carpentaria.

c.o.x. 1789.

The brig Mercury, commanded by JOHN HENRY c.o.x, Esq., anch.o.r.ed at the entrance of a deep bay on the south side of Van Diemen's Land, on July 3, 1789. This bay was then first discovered, and lies N. by W. ten miles from the _Mewstone_.* The country was found to be agreeably interspersed with hills and vallies, and some of the hills were luxuriantly clothed with trees to their very summits. About four miles from the vessel, there was a stream of fresh water; and close to it stood a hut, or rather hovel, neatly constructed of branches of trees and dried leaves. "Around it were scattered a great quant.i.ty of pearl, escalop, oyster, and other sh.e.l.ls, which had been lately roasted." The faeces of some large animal were met with in every direction; but neither the animal itself nor any of the natives could be found.

[* _Observations, etc., made during a voyage in the brig Mercury_; by Lieut. G. Mortimer of the Marines. London, 1791.]

July 5. A heavy swell from the southward obliged Mr. c.o.x to get under way; and he worked along sh.o.r.e to the eastward. His intention was to put into Adventure Bay; but being set to the northward of his reckoning, on the 8th, he discovered, and came to an anchor in OYSTER BAY, on the inner side of Maria's Island, the shelter there being found secure, and wood and water plentiful. This bay lies in 42 42' south, and 148 25' east, and not more than three or four leagues to the northward of Tasman's _Frederik Hendrik's Bay_; though Mr. c.o.x, following in the error of captain Furneaux, seems to have had no idea of this proximity.

Some communication was obtained with the inhabitants of the island; but as nothing in this, or in other respects, was found materially different to what was observed by Mons. Marion and captain Cook in the neighbouring bays, it is unnecessary to enter into the details.

D'ENTRECASTEAUX. 1792.

The French rear-admiral, BRUNY D'ENTRECASTEAUX, made the coast of Van Diemen's Land with the intention of procuring wood and water at Adventure Bay; "but deceived by the forms of the coast, which resemble each other, he entered Storm Bay," April 20, 1792.* This is not, however, the Storm Bay of Tasman; but that which was taken for such by captain Furneaux.

[* _Voyage de D'Entrecasteaux, redige par M. de Rossel_: a Paris 1808.

Tome I. p. 48.]

The error was soon detected; but finding shelter and good anchoring ground, the admiral determined to remain where he was, and to examine the inlet. The result most amply repaid his labour, by opening to him the most important discovery which had been made in this country from the time of Tasman. Instead of an open bay, this inlet was found to be the entrance into a fine navigable channel, running more than ten leagues to the northward, and there communicating with the true Storm Bay. It contains a series of good harbours, or is itself, rather, one continued harbour, from beginning to end.

This new pa.s.sage obtained the name of Ca.n.a.l DE D'ENTRECASTEAUX; and, after pa.s.sing through it with his ships, the admiral steered across Storm Bay, pa.s.sing to the southward of the land which Furneaux and Cook had taken for Maria's Islands. At the head of Storm Bay other openings were seen; but the wind from the north and the pressure of time, did not allow him to examine them at that period.

1793.

On Jan. 21, of the following year, admiral D'Entrecasteaux anch.o.r.ed again in one of the ports on the west side of the entrance to his newly discovered channel; and after completing the wood and water of his two ships, _La Recherche_ and _L'Esperance_, pursued his former course up the pa.s.sage, sending boats to complete the surveys of the different harbours on each side. A boat was also sent to explore the two openings in the head of Storm Bay. The westernmost proved to be a river, up which the boat ascended twenty miles to the northward; and so far it was navigable for ships. It was not pursued further; so that the distance, to which this _Riviere du Nord_ might penetrate into the country, was uncertain.

The eastern opening led northward into a wide, open bay; and this into another large expanse of water to the eastward, but which was not examined. It was thought, however, that this eastern bay communicated with that of Frederik Hendrik; and on this supposition (which has not proved correct), the land which Furneaux and Cook had erroneously thought to be Maria's Island, was named _Ile d' Abel Tasman_.

The charts of the bays, ports, and arms of the sea at the south-east end of Van Diemen's Land, constructed in this expedition by Mons.

BEAUTEMPS-BEAUPRe and a.s.sistants, appear to combine scientific accuracy and minuteness of detail, with an uncommon degree of neatness in the execution: they contain some of the finest specimens of marine surveying, perhaps ever made in a new country.

Admiral D'Entrecasteaux gives a very favourable account of the disposition of the native inhabitants on the sh.o.r.es of the channel; and he had frequent communications with them. In person and manner of living, they agree with those described by Marion and Cook; but the vocabulary of their language is somewhat different; and bark canoes, which preceding navigators had thought them not to possess, were found in the channel.

The description of the country is, generally, favourable; though somewhat less so than that of captain Cook at Adventure Bay. The climate was thought good, though moist; and the supplies of wood, water, and fish, for ships, were abundant; but the preference, in these respects, was given to Adventure Bay, even by the French admiral.