Discoveries in Australia Volume I Part 21

It not being the favourable season for commencing operations in Ba.s.s Strait, we remained at Sydney until November, and embraced the opportunity of clearing out the ship. Our stay was undiversified with incidents, and it may as well therefore be briefly pa.s.sed over. Among the few occurrences worth mentioning, was the departure of the expedition sent out to form a settlement at Port Essington on the northern coast.

Its object was simply military occupation, it having been deemed advisable about that time to a.s.sert practically the supremacy of Great Britain over the Continent by occupying some of its most prominent points; but as soon as its destination became known in the colony, several persons came forward as volunteer-settlers, and expressed the greatest anxiety to be allowed to accompany the expedition. Their views extended to the establishment of a trade with the islands in the Arafura sea; and certainly they would have been far more likely to draw forth the resources of the country, than a garrison, whose supplies are brought to them from a distance, whose presence holds out no inducement to traders, and who are not impelled by any anxiety for their own support to discover the riches of the soil. For these reasons the determination of Government not to throw open the lands, and their refusal to hold out the promise of protection to the individuals who expressed a desire to accompany the expedition, are greatly to be regretted. In a vast continent like Australia, so remarkably dest.i.tute of fixed inhabitants, it would seem that every encouragement should be afforded to persons desirous of locating themselves on unoccupied tracts. There is a great difference besides, between giving rise to delusive hopes--inducing people as it were under false pretences to repair to new settlements--and checking the spirit of colonisation when it manifests itself. Every young establishment must go through a certain process. It is necessary that some should pioneer the way for others; and endure hardships the beneficial results of which may be enjoyed only by their successors. Had advantage been taken of the enterprising spirit that prevailed at the time of which I speak, the germs of a fresh settlement would have been deposited at Port Essington, which must ultimately have risen into importance. A great stream of emigration was pouring into the south-eastern portion of Australia, and it would have been wise to open a channel by which some portion of it might have been drawn off to the northern coast. But such were not the views entertained by the authorities concerning this matter. They seemed apprehensive of incurring the blame of encouraging the speculating mania which raged so extensively at Sydney, and which has reacted with so pernicious an effect upon the colony.* the expedition accordingly retained its purely military character. However, I may add, that the Bishop of Australia attended to the spiritual wants of the settlement by sending with it a church in frame.

(*Footnote. On our arrival at Sydney in 1838, we found speculation at its height: land-jobbers were carrying on a reckless and most gainful trade, utterly regardless of that revulsion they were doomed soon to experience.

Town allotments that cost originally but 50 pounds were in some instances sold, three months afterwards, for ten times that sum. Yet amid all this appearance of excessive and unnatural prosperity there were not wanting those who foresaw and foretold an approaching change. To the withdrawal of the convicts, solely at the expressed wish of some of the most wealthy colonists, has been traced much of the decline that followed; and the more recent pages in the history of Sydney will fully bear out the opinions expressed by Captain Fitzroy when he visited it in 1836: he says, "It is difficult to believe that Sydney will continue to flourish in proportion to its rise. It has sprung into existence too suddenly.

Convicts have forced its growth, even as a hot bed forces plants, and premature decay may be expected from such early maturity.")

BOTANY BAY.

During our stay at Sydney we paid a visit to Botany Bay, which from the circ.u.mstance of its being the point first touched at by Captain Cook, naturally possesses the greatest interest of any place in the neighbourhood. Our way thither lay over a sandy plain, into which the coast range of low hills subsides. There is little or no verdure to relieve the eye, which encounters aridity wherever it turns; and the sand being rendered loose by frequent traffic, the foot sinks at every step, so that the journey is disagreeable to both man and beast. These inconveniences, however, were soon forgotten on our arrival at our destination, amidst the feelings excited and the a.s.sociations raised by the objects that presented themselves.

MONUMENT TO LA PEROUSE.

Within the entrance of the bay, on the northern side, stands a monument*

erected to the memory of La Perouse, that being the last spot at which the distinguished navigator was heard of, from 1788, until 1826, when the Chevalier Dillon was furnished with a clue to his melancholy fate by finding the handle of a French sword fastened to another blade in the possession of a native of Tucopia, one of the Polynesian group. By this means he was enabled to trace him to the island of Mannicolo, on the reefs fronting which his ship was lost.

(*Footnote. On the eastern side is engraven: A la Memoire de Monsieur de la Perouse. Cette terre qu'il visita en MDCCLx.x.xVIII. est la derniere d'ou il a fait parvenir de ses nouvelles.

Also: Erige au nom de la France par les soins de MM. de Bougainville et Du Campier, commandant la fregate La Thetis, et la corvette L'Esperance, en relache au Port Jackson, en MDCCCXXV.

On the western side: This place, visited by Monsieur de la Perouse in the year MDCCLx.x.xVIII, is the last whence any accounts of him have been received.

Also: Erected in the name of France by MM. de Bougainville and du Campier, commanding the frigate the Thetis and the corvette the Hope, lying in Port Jackson, A.D. MDCCCXXV.

On the north: Le fondement pose en 1825; eleve en 1828.

On the south: Foundation laid in 1825, completed 1828.)

Close by, on the same point, stands the tomb of a French Catholic priest, named Le Receveur, who accompanied La Perouse, as naturalist, in his circ.u.mnavigation of the globe, and died at this great distance from his native land. A large stump of a tree rising near, "marks out the sad spot" where lie mouldering the bones of the wanderer in search of materials to enrich the stores of science. No doubt many a hope of future fame expired in that man's breast as he sank into his last sleep in a foreign clime, far from his home and friends and relations, such as his order allowed him to possess. The applause of the world, which doubtless he fancied would have greeted his labours at the end of his perilous journey, he was now robbed of; and he must have felt that few would ever recollect his name, save the rare voyager who, like myself, having encountered the same dangers that he had braved, should chance to read his short history on the narrow page of stone that rests above his grave.

CAPE SOLANDER.

Another object of greater interest to the Englishman is observable on Cape Solander, the opposite point of the bay. It is a plate set in the rock, recording the first visit of the immortal Cook, to whose enterprise the colonists are indebted for the land that yields them their riches, and which must now be invested in their eyes with all the sanct.i.ty of home. Surely it would become them to evince a more filial reverence for the man who must be regarded as in some respects the father of the colony. Let us hope that they will one day raise a monument to his memory, which to be worthy of him must be worthy of themselves--something to point out to future generations the spot at which the first white man's foot touched the sh.o.r.e, and where civilisation was first brought in contact with the new continent.

ILLAWARRA.

But though Botany Bay is interesting from the a.s.sociations connected with it--I am quite serious, though the expression may raise a smile on some of my readers' lips--the tract of country best worth seeing in the neighbourhood of Sydney, is Illawarra, commonly called the Garden of New South Wales. By a change in the formation from sandstone to trap, a soil this here produced capable of supporting a vegetation equal in luxuriance to any within the tropics. In the deep valleys that intersect the country, the tree-fern attains a great stature, and throwing out its rich spreading fronds on all sides forms a canopy that perfectly excludes the piercing rays of even an Australian sun. It is impossible to describe the feelings of surprise and pleasure that are excited in the mind of the traveller as he descends into any one of these delightful dells: the contrast in the vegetable kingdom strikes him at once; he gazes around on the rich ma.s.ses of verdure with astonishment, and strongly impressed with the idea that enchantment has been at work, involuntarily rubs his eyes and exclaims, "Am I in Australia or in the Brazils?"

ABORIGINES.

Few only of the aborigines of the neighbourhood of Sydney are now to be seen, and these are generally in an intoxicated state. Like most savage tribes they are pa.s.sionately addicted to spiritous liquors, and seek to obtain it by any means in their power. Out of a sugar bag, with a little water, they manage to extract a liquor sufficient to make half a dozen of them tipsy; and in this condition, as I have observed, they most frequently presented themselves to my view. They are in every respect a weak, degraded, miserable race, and are anything but a favourable specimen of the benefits produced by intercourse with polished nations on an uncivilised people. However, the natives of Australia vary as strangely as its soil; the members of the tribes that dwell about Shoalhaven and the small southern ports, and come up in coasting vessels, are good-looking, useful fellows, and may hereafter be made much of. I noticed also, in my circ.u.mnavigation of the continent, a remarkable diversity in the character of the natives, some being most kindly disposed, while others manifested the greatest hostility and aversion. My whole experience teaches me that these were not accidental differences, but that there is a marked contrast in the dispositions of the various tribes, for which I will not attempt to account. I leave in the hands of ethnologists to determine whether we are to seek the cause in minute variations of climate or in other circ.u.mstances, physical or historical.

This I can say, that great pains were formerly taken to civilize the natives of Sydney, gardens were given them, and numerous attempts made to inculcate habits of order, and communicate a knowledge of European arts; but no advantageous results ensued, and it was at length deemed impossible not only to improve them, but even to prevent their deterioration. I cannot determine whether this evinces a natural inapt.i.tude in the savage to learn, or too great impatience in the teachers to witness the fruits of their labours, and a p.r.o.neness to be discouraged by difficulties.

"IS THIS GRa.s.s?"

In the journal of my residence at Sydney I find as the result of one day's experience, the following laconic and somewhat enigmatical memorandum: "Is this gra.s.s?" The question implies a doubt, which it would not be easy for any person unacquainted with the circ.u.mstances of time and place, to solve: but the reader, when he has seen the explanation, will understand why very pleasing a.s.sociations are connected with this brief note. I was going down to the jetty late one evening, when I met a party just landed, evidently complete strangers in this quarter of the world. Their wandering and unsteady glances would have convinced me of this fact, had their whole appearance left any doubt about the matter: among them were some ladies, one of whom suddenly detached herself from her companions, and directed as it were by instinct through the gloom, hastened towards a few sods of turf, pressed them exaltingly with her foot, and exclaimed in a light, joyous, happy voice--through which other emotions than that of mere gladness struggled--"Is this gra.s.s?" The words were nothing. They might have been uttered in a thousand different tones and have not fixed themselves on my memory; but as they fell in accents of delight and grat.i.tude from the lips of the speaker, they told a whole story, and revealed an entire world of feeling. Never shall I forget the simple expression of this newcomer, whose emotions on first feeling the solid earth beneath her tread, and touching a remembrance of the land she had left in quest of another home, will be incomprehensible to no one who has crossed the ocean.

CAPTAIN KING.

We met several persons at Sydney from whom we received valuable information, and particularly Captain King, who, as the reader may recollect, commanded the first expedition on which the Beagle was employed. His great scientific attainments must ever attach respect to his name, and his explorations on the Australian coast, previous to the survey in which we were engaged, together with his father's services as Governor of New South Wales, give him and his children a lasting claim upon the country. The information he furnished on this and subsequent occasions was extremely valuable.

RISING OF THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINENT.

An observation of his gave rise in my mind to very curious conjectures; he told me that where he used formerly to anchor the vessel he commanded in the head of Sydney cove, there was now scarcely sufficient water to float even a boat. As the deposits of the small stream that flows into it could not have produced this change, I was led to examine the sh.o.r.e of the harbour, when I found what seemed to me to be the marks of the sea higher than its present level; this, coupled with the decrease in the soundings we found in Darling Harbour, leads to the legitimate inference that this part of the continent is rising; and my reader will recollect that it is a prevalent theory that the whole of the vast plains of Australasia have but recently emerged from the sea.

CHAPTER 1.9. Ba.s.s STRAIT.

Leave Sydney.

Enter Ba.s.s Strait.

Island at Eastern entrance.

Wilson's Promontory.

Cape Shanck.

Enter Port Phillip.

Tide-race.

Commence Surveying Operations.

First Settlement.

Escaped Convict.

His residence with the Natives.

Sail for King Island.

Examine Coast to Cape Otway.

King Island.

Meet Sealers on New Year Islands.

Franklin Road.

Solitary Residence of Captain Smith.

Soil.

Advantageous position for a Penal Settlement.

Leafless appearance of Trees.

Examine West Coast.

Fitzmaurice Bay.

Stokes' Point.

Seal Bay.

Geological Formation.

Examine Coast to Sea Elephant Rock.

Brig Rock.

Cross the Strait to Hunter Island.

Strong Tide near Reid's Rocks.

Three Hummock Island.

Rats.

The Black Pyramid.

Point Woolnorth.

Raised Beach.

Coast to Circular Head.

Headquarters of the Agricultural Company.

Capture of a Native.

Mouth of the Tamar River.

Return to Port Phillip.

West Channel.

Yarra-yarra River.

Melbourne.