Discoveries in Australia Volume I Part 14

Having determined to follow the larger branch of the Fitzroy, we continued on our course, and found that beyond this point the river again widened to nearly 200 yards; but that a chain of small islets, extending from bank to bank, nearly stopped our proceeding further. This obstacle was, however, overcome after some difficulty; and still proceeding upwards another mile, we came to a narrow rapid and shallow reach, which brought us into another still and deep, about 100 yards wide, and bounded by high gra.s.sy banks. Through this we pursued our way right merrily, indulging in the golden antic.i.p.ation that the Fitzroy would yet convey our boats some distance into the interior of that vast and unknown continent, with the present condition and future destiny of which our thoughts were so often busy.

IMPEDIMENTS IN THE RIVER.

Scarcely, however, had we made good another mile, when we found ourselves entangled among a cl.u.s.ter of small islets, and sunken trees, which almost wholly choked up the channel. The river thus pent up, ran through the small openings in this barrier with great velocity; while above, it had again a.s.sumed the deep still character which I have before had occasion to describe.

We had partly overcome this impediment, when Captain Wickham decided upon giving up the attempt, and ordered the boats to return, considering the evident risks too great to justify further perseverance. We therefore gave up the exploration of the Fitzroy, in lat.i.tude 17 degrees 44 minutes South, longitude 124 degrees 34 minutes East, having traced its course for 22 miles in a general South-South-West direction, and having penetrated 90 miles from the coastline, towards the centre of Australia, from which we were still distant 600 miles. My view from the treetop extended about four miles beyond the furthest point we had reached on the river, it had been our good fortune to add to the geography of Australia.

Its banks here were 20 feet high, and covered with gra.s.s; partially broken or washed down, they disclosed to view a rich alluvial soil, nearly two feet deep.

The trees we found most common during our expedition into this portion of the new lands of Australia, consisted chiefly of two species of palm, and three of the eucalypti, stunted banksia, acacia, and the singular tree before mentioned. The birds we saw were wholly those belonging to the land, and were chiefly black and white c.o.c.katoos, and a variety of finches. We neither saw nor caught any fish, and the absence of waterfowl led us to suppose they were scarce.

RETURN OF THE BOATS.

All the excitement and interest we had enjoyed in exploring the Fitzroy thus far, now left us, and our return was comparatively tedious and monotonous work.

March 12.

We, however, managed to reach our last night's bivouac by dark; and towards the close of the next day we got as far down as the outer gra.s.sy islet in the entrance of the river. The night was stormy, but the wind and rain together kept away the mosquitoes, and enabled us to obtain a little most welcome rest. This change in the weather was sudden. Hitherto we had been singularly fortunate, each succeeding night, and returning morn being, in cleanness and beauty, only a repet.i.tion of its predecessor.

March 13.

The morning was again fine, and the bright sky was not disfigured by the least trace of the dark clouds that had so lately overspread it. The tide fortunately favoured our making an early start. On pa.s.sing Escape Point, so named, as the reader may recollect, in grateful remembrance of the providential escape a small party of us experienced there, we saw an alligator slide his unwieldy carca.s.s from the soft mud-bank, upon which he had been lazily reclining, into one of the creeks we had so much difficulty in crossing. We could not but feel grateful that even the existence of these monster reptiles in this river was then unknown to us, as the bare thought of a visit from one of them would have added to the unpleasantness of our position, while the actual presence of so wholesale a gastronomer would perhaps have given another and less auspicious name to Escape Point.

A creek, ten miles from Point Torment, afforded us shelter for the night, which was again wet and squally.

March 14.

At daybreak the blue vault above was still disfigured by dark inky blotches of clouds. We reached the ship before breakfast, and found that Mr. Helpman and Mr. Keys had ascertained that the opening on the north-east side of Point Torment was a great bay, extending ten miles in a south-easterly direction, with a width of the same distance: its sh.o.r.es throughout were fringed with mangroves, through which the tide found its way, inundating many miles of the interior at high-water.

STOKES'S BAY.

In the north and south corners of the depths of this bay they found an inlet, each being about three miles deep; narrow, sandy ridges, almost dry at low-water, trending to the North-West, and separated by channels from three to four fathoms, occupied the greater portion of this extensive bay, which Captain Wickham, out of compliment, named after myself.

Point Torment afforded a very fair field for the exertions of our collectors in Natural History. Without wishing to bore my readers with another long mosquito story, I think the following may be interesting.

AN OFFICER ENTANGLED IN MANGROVES.

One of the officers on a shooting excursion lost his way and got entangled in a mangrove forest, where the ground being a soft mud, travelling became very laborious, particularly in a temperature of 85 degrees and without water; fatigue hastened by thirst, at length quite knocked up my shipmate, who threw himself exhausted on the ground. In vain did he seek for a little rest, for no sooner was he quiet than swarms of mosquitoes a.s.sailed him, and forced him again on his legs; unwelcome as these tormenting visitors generally are, they were probably in this case the means of saving my friend's life, as goaded on by their unceasing attacks, to exertions otherwise out of the question, he eventually reached a.s.sistance, and was brought on board in a most helpless condition.

The tide here was two hours later than at Foul Point: the greatest rise noticed in the ship was thirty feet, which was seven feet less than we had found it in the yawl.

We had several heavy squalls from eastward this afternoon, and during the early part of the night, with rain and thunder.

March 15.

The morning broke dull and gloomy, with a light breeze from the eastward.

There were altogether evident symptoms of a decided and immediate change in the weather. The survey of the south-eastern portion of the sound being now complete, the ship was taken over to the high rocky land lying north 20 miles from Point Torment. We crossed the flat extending four miles North-West from that point, in from two to three fathoms at low-water; the soundings afterwards varied from nine to eleven fathoms with a soft, muddy sand bottom. We anch.o.r.ed in seven fathoms low-water, one mile and a half South-South-West from the southern of two small rocky islets, lying 16 miles north from Point Torment and three from the rocky sh.o.r.e behind them; a sandbank, dry at low-water, extended from these islets to within half a mile of the ship.

CHANGE OF LANDSCAPE.

Our eyes were now relieved by a pleasing change of landscape; the land had wholly changed in character from that of which we had seen so much and grown so weary. It no longer stretched away in an illimitable and boundless plain, but rising abruptly from the water's edge, attained an elevation of 700 feet. The highest part of this range (afterwards named Compa.s.s Hill) bore North by West distant four and a quarter miles. We were all of course exceedingly anxious to visit this new land; but the weather, strange to say, put our patience to a trial of four days, during which it equalled in severity any we had experienced under Swan Point. It commenced with dark ma.s.ses of clouds rising in the east, which were soon followed by a fresh breeze from the South-East with heavy rain, gradually freshening as it came round to the westward, blowing hardest between West-South-West and West-North-West. The barometer being out of order we were unable to observe how this unusual change would have affected that instrument; the thermometer, however, fell to 76 degrees, an alteration of temperature which, combined with the dampness of the atmosphere, exposed us to the novel sensation of cold. We noticed the time of high-water was about fifteen minutes earlier than at Point Torment, the flood-stream setting East-South-East and the ebb west. The former at a rate of two miles, and the latter one mile per hour.

March 21.

At length the wished for change arrived, and we again beheld this morning the deep pure blue of a southern sky. We were all eager to commence our exploration, and Mr. Usborne, ever anxious to be actively employed, was so far recovered that he induced the surgeon, though reluctantly, to allow him to again share in the duties of the survey. He was accordingly despatched to look for a berth for the ship further to the North-West, while Captain Wickham and myself went towards Compa.s.s Hill. We were accompanied by Mr. Bynoe, who, during our excursion, was fortunate enough to add several rare birds to his collection.

EXPLORATION OF THE BAY.

We landed in a small sandy bay at the western end of a growth of mangroves, fringing the sh.o.r.e behind the islands. The sandbank fronting them we found to extend to the bay we landed in; to the westward of it there was deep water close to the sh.o.r.e. Wood and water might easily be obtained in this bay, a circ.u.mstance that may give it value in the eyes of future navigators, as it did in ours.

Before ascending the hill we crossed a flat clothed with rich gra.s.s, out of which we flushed several Pheasant-cuckoos.* We found one of their nests on the ground containing four eggs, in size and colour they resembled the domestic pigeon. The nimble manner in which these birds hop along the branches of trees, with their long tails whisking behind, give them, at the first glance, more the appearance of monkeys than birds.

(*Footnote. Centropus Phasianellus.)

A NEW VINE.

We found here the gouty-stem tree of large size, bearing fruit; and also a vine, which, from all the information I have since been able to collect, appears to be quite a new specimen;* it bore a small but well-tasted black berry, similar in shape and general appearance to the grape sometimes seen climbing over the cottage doors in England. Each fruit contained three large seeds, in shape and size resembling the coffee berry. It was growing in a light sandy soil, and the temperature to which it was exposed varies from 76 to 110 degrees. It is a matter of great regret that I was not able to introduce this new species of vine into England; the seeds and specimens of it having been unfortunately destroyed by mice and insects. I was, however, more fortunate at Sydney and Swan River.

(*Footnote. From the description I gave of this vine to Sir W. Hooker he thought it quite new.)

COMPa.s.s HILL.

We at length gained the top of Compa.s.s Hill, which we found to be a slight mound on a platform of coa.r.s.e sandstone formation, with fragments of quartz; the sandstone was tinged with red, and appeared to be crumbling away; a straggling growth of white eucalypti covered the crest of this height, which rather spoilt the view we had promised ourselves; however, by climbing several of them, I managed to see all round.

West, six and a half miles, there was a snug cove fronted by a small island, from whence the coast appeared to take a more northerly direction. The extremes of a large sheet of water bore North by West and West by North, which we afterwards found to be connected with the above-mentioned cove. A succession of heights, similar to the one we were on, bounded our view between North and North-East. Twenty-one miles, in a South-East by East direction, were some detached, round hills, apparently the termination of the high land on which we stood; these appeared to rise out of a plain of such an extent, in a South-East and easterly direction, that I conceived it possible it may have extended to the rear of Collier Bay, which damped the interest we had previously looked forward to, in the exploration of that part of the coast, as it tended materially to weaken the probability of finding any large opening there.

In crossing one of the valleys in our descent to the boats, Mr. Bynoe wounded a large kangaroo; we gave chase; but notwithstanding all our efforts, and at the expense of many a bruise, stumbling over the rugged ground, the prize, almost within our grasp, escaped, and, to add to our misfortune, one of the small compa.s.ses was found missing, the strap that suspended it having given way; from this accident the hill received its name.

PORT USBORNE.

On our return to the ship, we found Mr. Usborne had discovered good anchorage in the cove we had seen from the hill, which in commemoration of his providential recovery was called after him Port Usborne.

March 22.

It was a clear and beautiful morning, and the sun as it rose shed a glittering stream of light over the placid waters of the bay, now slightly rippled by an easterly air. All were early and busily engaged in moving the ship into Port Usborne. On our way we crossed the inner edge of a bank seen from Compa.s.s Hill, in three fathoms: Helpman's south islet bore at the time east three and a half miles; after crossing this bank, the least water we had was ten fathoms; this depth we found in pa.s.sing on the eastern side of the small, low island fronting Port Usborne. A solitary overspreading tree, and a white patch on its eastern extremity renders this island conspicuous, and is of this importance, that it guides a stranger to the only safe anchorage among the islands on the eastern sh.o.r.e of King's Sound. As a further guide to Port Usborne it is situated at the southern extremity of all these islands, and where the coast suddenly trends away to the eastward.

We were delighted to find ourselves in an anchorage almost surrounded by land, and although the rugged sandstone ridges, with their dark, mysterious, and densely-wooded valleys, did not give the sh.o.r.e a very inviting appearance, still the very wildness of the scenery contrasted pleasingly in our remembrance with the monotonous level of the country about Point Torment, and on the banks of the Fitzroy. Our present position had also its practical advantages, being well adapted for carrying on the essential duties of the survey, for which service the boats were prepared in the course of the afternoon.

This snug little port we found to be three-quarters of a mile broad and one deep, and varying in depth from seven to fifteen fathoms: it faces west, the entrance points lying nearly north and south of each other, and affords an abundant supply of wood and water. We saw no traces of inhabitants; not even the curling smoke that had so often indicated their presence, greeted the eye; all was silent, and the feelings of utter loneliness were only dispelled by the mournful screams of the curlew, and occasional howl of the wild dog, as the deepening shadows of night closed in.

March 23.

The boats were manned early, and we left the ship with the best wishes of the anxious group who watched our departure, and speculated with eager antic.i.p.ation upon the probable result of our enterprise.

EASTERN Sh.o.r.e OF KING'S SOUND.

Mr. Usborne proceeded in one boat to examine a group of islands, lying six miles North-West from our anchorage; Mr. Tarrant and myself in the other, to explore the eastern sh.o.r.e of King's Sound. It was thus again our good fortune to enjoy the exciting pleasure of antic.i.p.ated discovery; perchance again to wander over the face of a country, now the desert heritage of the solitary savage, but fated, we hope, to become the abode of plenty, and the land of peace.

After pa.s.sing the extreme North-West point of the mainland, seen from the ship, we discovered a deep bay, which once reached, would afford safe anchorage for a fleet. Near its northern point a large stream of water fell into the sea in glittering cascades; off this a ship may anchor in twelve fathoms within a quarter of a mile; close to the west is a small sandy beach. Promising to refresh ourselves at this inviting stream, we continued our course to the northward. After pa.s.sing a deep narrow channel, trending North-West by West we met the first rush of the northerly, or ebb stream, which, running at the rate of six or seven knots, swept us through a very small, dangerous opening, between some rocky islets and the main. A small bay fortunately afforded us the means of avoiding a treacherous ledge of sunken rocks, which had the boat touched, at the almost giddy rapidity we were hurried along, our destruction must have been inevitable. Landing to cook our dinners, I went to the top of the highest neighbouring hill, to obtain a round of angles: our journey was a perfect scramble, the face of the country being intersected by deep ravines, and covered with huge blocks of coa.r.s.e sandstone; over these we observed several of the rock-kangaroo, bounding with their long, bushy tails swinging high in the air as if in defiance of pursuit. The view of the archipelago, from this position, fully satisfied me, that without incurring great risk, it would be impossible for a ship to thread her way through the numerous islands, independent of shoals, tide-races, and shifting winds, which form the ordinary perils of such navigation. I reckoned more than eighty islands in this portion of the archipelago alone.

CONE BAY.