Discoveries in Australia Volume II Part 18

King George's Sound.

Appearance of Bald Head.

Princess Royal Harbour.

Origin of settlement.

Town of Albany.

Salubrity of climate.

Excursion into interior.

Course a kangaroo.

Pitfalls.

Herds of kangaroos.

Rich country.

The Hay River.

Return to Albany.

Departure for South Australia.

Discover an Island.

Death of a seaman.

Position of Neptune Isles.

Kangaroo, Althorp and Quoin Islands.

Holdfast Road.

Adelaide.

Description of country.

Governor Gawler's policy.

Visit the Port.

Mr. Eyre's expedition.

Hardships of Overlanders.

Cannibalism.

Meet Captain Sturt.

Native schools.

System of education.

Sail for Sydney.

Squalls.

Error in coast.

Ba.s.s Strait.

Arrive at Sydney.

Leaving Rottee we pa.s.sed, soon after dark, round the western end of Pulo Douw, and stood for the position of a shoal reported by Mr. Lewis of the Colonial schooner, Isabella, to be in lat.i.tude 14 degrees 43 minutes South, and longitude 119 degrees 20 minutes East. Our inducement to search for this shoal was the fact of its being supposed to lie in the direct route of vessels sailing between Timor and the West coast of Australia. But after searching from the 9th to the 14th, and sounding repeatedly without getting bottom, we came to the conclusion that it did not exist. Breakers could have been seen at least ten miles from the Beagle's masthead, as there was a considerable swell from the south-west.

LIGHT WINDS.

On the 15th we were in lat.i.tude 16 degrees 05 minutes South and longitude 118 degrees 16 minutes East. After one of those stagnant calms so frequently met with near the equator, we got a light westerly breeze on the morning of the 18th. Towards midnight it freshened, veering from South-West by South to West-South-West with some rather sharp rain squalls. It appears that the westerly winds had already set in, and that the calm we experienced on the 17th was an unoccupied s.p.a.ce between the easterly and westerly winds. There are few parts of the globe where light winds prevail so much as on the North-west coast of New Holland, particularly between the lat.i.tudes of 13 and 17 degrees, and from one to two hundred miles from the land. They are, however, excepting in the months of January, February, and March, from the eastward, south-east in the morning and east in the afternoon. These winds prevented us from making the coast on the eastward of Depuch Island; and as we had failed in getting a supply of provisions at Timor, we were compelled to relinquish the plan of continuing the examination of that part of the coast between the Turtle Islands and Roebuck Bay.

BEZOUT ISLAND.

The Beagle was consequently anch.o.r.ed under Bezout Island, one of the eastern isles of Dampier's Archipelago, and boats were sent to examine the coast on the southward of Cape Lambert.

It may, perhaps, be worthy of remark, that should a vessel be brought by any chance to this dreary part of the world in May, June, or July, anchorages exposed to easterly winds should be left at or before daylight--that being the time they set in; by noon all is again quiet.

Bezout Island is of the same formation as Depuch; and so are many of the broken ridges, with bare stony summits, of a dark brown hue, on the main near Cape Lambert, trending South-South-West. A more dreary sterile country can scarcely be seen; yet it still maintains inhabitants.

August 26.

The weather has been truly strange for the last four days. The winds, instead of being easterly have been from South-west to North-west, light with the former during the mornings, and moderate with the latter in the evenings. On this day they were from all quarters, with distant thunder in the north-west, and several rain squalls. In the night it settled at east, a fresh breeze bringing with it fine weather. In connection with our former remarks on striking vicissitudes in the weather occurring near the change of the moon, we should mention that it was new moon the day following.

The material for the chart collected in this part consists of the main from below Picard Island to nearly twenty miles west of Cape Lambert, with the neighbouring islands, an extent of nearly forty-five miles. The part near Picard Island was carefully examined by Mr. Forsyth. He reported the main to the South-South-West of that island, forming the head of the bay between Cape Lambert and Depuch, to be extensive flats of mud and sand, over which the sea sometimes pa.s.sed. Between Picard and Cape Lambert the sh.o.r.e is cut up by mangrove creeks. On a hill up one of these, several small kangaroos were seen. Near the Cape Mr. Forsyth perceived twenty-seven natives, seven of whom were children, in one party.

DELAMBRE ISLAND.

On the 27th we crossed over to Delambre Island, on which a large party landed in the afternoon. A few turtle were here taken, of a different kind from any we had seen before, and apparently a cross between the Hawk's Bill and the Green Turtle; several nests were also found, in one of which were 138 eggs. This island terminates, like Bezout Island, to the northward, in cliffs about 90 feet high, with deep water close to; on the east and west sides it is fronted by a reef nearly a mile in extent; but we could see no traces of those lying three miles to the North-North-West of the North-West point, laid down by Captain King. The pa.s.sage between Huiy Island and Delambre is five miles wide, though clear for two miles only, and in working out we found that it had a very uneven bottom, over which a two-knot tide causes heavy ripplings. We noticed that a hill, lying nine miles to the south-west of Bezout Island, called in the chart Round-backed Hill, bearing between South 5 degrees East, and South 15 degrees East, clears the reefs on either side the channel; and that the same hill bearing South 24 degrees West leads between Bezout and Delambre, and South 8 degrees West clears the reef off the eastern side of the latter.

THE MONTEBELLO GROUP.

From Delambre we proceeded to the Montebello Islands, princ.i.p.ally in order to set at rest two points of great interest, namely, the position of Ritchie's Reef, and of the long lost Tryal Rocks. On the 31st, in the afternoon, we anch.o.r.ed in 6 fathoms on the eastern side of Tremouille Island, a cliffy islet off the south-east end of which bore South 42 degrees East two miles. The tide was ebbing and setting to the North-North-East two knots an hour. We found the Montebello Group to be confined by a coral reef encircling it. The two princ.i.p.al islands are Tremouille and Hermite Islands. The fact that these and their neighbours are not separated in the charts fully evinced the necessity of our visit.

Leaving a boat to examine them, the ship proceeded towards the northern end of Barrow's Island, being anxious to avoid the southerly winds to which the anchorage off Tremouille is exposed. These usually commenced at midnight, blowing from south-west, freshening and veering to south by 8 A.M., and by about 10 moderating at South-South-East. On our way to Barrow's Island they were so violent as to cause the ship to drive with two anchors ahead, there appearing to be no holding ground, but simply a coating of sand over a rocky ledge. During the prevalence of these winds the temperature varied from 66 to 76 degrees.

Near Barrow's Island, on our pa.s.sage, I shot (from the quarter-boat) the largest sea-snake ever killed. It is figured and described in the Appendix, by Mr. J.E. Gray, as Hydrus major, and measured eight feet one inch in length, by three inches broad; the colour was a dark yellow: several smaller ones striped brown and white were also seen.

BARROW'S ISLAND.

We found that from the Montebello Group a long series of reefs and small islands, the largest and most central of which is called Lowendal, extends towards Barrow's Island, leaving a winding channel* along the north side of the latter. Near the centre of the western side of the reef is a cl.u.s.ter which proved to be the long-lost Tryal Rocks; the middle and largest of which is in lat.i.tude 20 degrees 35 minutes South and longitude 0 degrees 17 minutes West of Swan River.** The reef continues along the eastern side of Barrow's Island, extending off three miles; our anchorage was consequently little more than that distance from the sh.o.r.e. We examined the northern and eastern sides; the former is composed of red sandstone cliffy projections, separated by sandy bays, fronted for nearly two miles by a coral reef, partly dry at low-water; but the south part of the eastern side becomes very low; and where the cliffs end there is a remarkable valley trending westwards. There were recent marks of the sea many feet above the ordinary reach of the tides, bespeaking occasional strong south-east winds. A number of stony-topped hills, from 150 to 200 feet in height, were scattered over the northern parts of the island. In the valleys was a little sandy soil, nourishing the spinifex, and a stunted kind of wood sufficiently large for fuel.

(*Footnote. Lowendal Island, bearing east, leads into it.)

(**Footnote. We recognised them from a sketch furnished by the Admiralty, and made in 1719 by a Dutch sloop sent in search of them from Batavia.

They placed them eight degrees west from the coast of New Holland. If we take leagues instead of degrees it would bring them near their actual distance from the sh.o.r.e. Van Keulen says they were seen in the ship Vaderland Getrouw, and found to be in 20 degrees 30 seconds south. In 1777 they were seen by Captain Joss, of the Danish ship Frederisberg Castel, who places them in 20 degrees 40 minutes South. It was by his description that I recognised them beyond a doubt, although his longitude would place them thirteen degrees more to the westward, and near the position they have occupied for years in the charts. The centre of them bears North by East five miles and a quarter from Cape Dupuis, the north-west point of Barrow's Island.)

NEW KANGAROO.

We found a new kind of kangaroo and wallaby on Barrow's Island; but the only specimen obtained of the former was destroyed through the neglect of the person in whose charge it was left. It was a buck, weighing fifty pounds, of a cinnamon colour on the back and a dirty white on the belly; the hair was fine and long; the head of a peculiar shape, resembling a dog's, with a very blunt nose; the forearms were very short; the hind feet cushioned like those inhabiting rocky ground. The does appeared to be much lighter; but all were very wary and scarce. From the number of red sandhills, too, scattered over the island, they were difficult to be seen at a distance. From our description of this specimen it has been named Osphranter isabellinus. With the wallaby we were more fortunate, Mr. Bynoe and myself succeeding in knocking over four, weighing from five to eight pounds; they also had blunt noses, and were of a light brown colour, quite different from those on the Abrolhos.

Two iguanas, measuring seven feet in length, and nearly black, striped slightly with white, were also killed here.

We did not find any surface water; everything wore a dry parched appearance. No traces of natives were discovered, except some charred pieces of wood. Indeed I may remark that we saw signs of fire on every part of the continent we visited. From the south extremity of the island a long reef trended in the direction of the mainland, where Captain King traced it extending off some distance, thus connecting with the sh.o.r.e the whole of these islands, which seem to lie in a line with each other, like the various parts of a submerged piece of land. The small isles, especially between the Montebello Group and Barrow's Island, have all the same direction; so that it seems fair to conclude that they were once a part of the main, being in fact fragments of a promontory, forming a gulf similar to Exmouth Gulf, lying on the south-west of it. I had been led to expect this from the fact of our finding the flood-stream coming from the north-east, whereas the direction of it in the offing is North-North-West.

SUPPLY OF TURTLES.

Barrow's Island, being about twelve miles broad and twenty long, would, in the event of a penal settlement being formed in this neighbourhood, make a good second Norfolk Island. On leaving we brought away with us seven tons of turtles from the abundant supplies its sh.o.r.es afforded.

Many of them we gave to our friends at Swan River on our arrival. We cannot quit this island without reminding our readers that it was named after the distinguished Secretary to the Admiralty, who has just retired from office after a period of service of nearly half a century, during which time he was the promoter of all geographical research, and mainly instrumental in founding a society which is of growing importance to Great Britain, and who has established a lasting reputation both by his travels and his literary productions.

On our return to Tremouille Island Mr. Fitzmaurice joined us, having completed the examination of the Montebello Group, a large proportion of chart material, in a very short s.p.a.ce of time, considering the number of small islands, which would render it an endless labour to attempt any description, further than that they lie something in the shape of a scythe.

RITCHIE'S REEF.

A hill 145 feet high, the loftiest point of the group, rises near the centre of Tremouille, the north-east island, off the north-west end of which a ledge extends in the direction of an out-lying reef, bearing North 55 degrees West (magnetic) nine miles and a half, which places it in lat.i.tude 20 degrees 17 minutes South and longitude 0 degrees 26 minutes West of Swan River; or 115 degrees 21 minutes East. This could be no other than that which we had so often looked for as Ritchie's Reef, as our former tracks to the westward had a.s.sured us that it did not lie in that direction. In lat.i.tude it agreed with the position given to it on the charts, but in longitude it differed considerably, lying full half a degree to the eastward. It therefore appeared not to be a discovery of Lieutenant Ritchie's, as it had been not only seen previously by the French, who had considered it as a reef extending off Tremouille Island, but many years before by Captain Clerke, who placed it in lat.i.tude 20 degrees 18 minutes South, nine or ten miles North-West (magnetic) from what he thought to be Rosemary Island, but which it is very evident was Tremouille. The name then of Clerke's Reef should be given it instead of Ritchie's.

WALLABY SHOOTING.

Mr. Fitzmaurice having seen plenty of wallaby on the larger islands, a party of us went on sh.o.r.e in the evening, after securing observations for the rates of the chronometers on a small islet called Flag Islet, near the centre of the rocky cl.u.s.ter fronting the eastern side of Hermite Island. This can be recognised by it alone having a sandy point on the south-west end, which we placed in lat.i.tude 20 degrees 27 minutes 47 seconds South and longitude 0 degrees 8 minutes 20 seconds west of Swan River. The time of high-water here at full and change, was about 10 o'clock, when the tide rose fourteen feet; the flood-stream came from the northward.

We found that Tremouille was as scantily supplied with vegetation as Barrow's Island; in one or two places was growing a stunted kind of wood, sufficient for fuel for a small-sized ship; but there was no sign of water. The wallaby, which were very numerous, must have got their supply of moisture from the copious dews. They were found lying very close in the wiry p.r.i.c.kly gra.s.s, allowing us to kick them out, when they went off at speed, affording excellent sport, quite equal to any rabbit shooting; among three guns we managed, in a couple of hours, to bag nearly twenty.

It was quite a new kind of wallaby, and has been cla.s.sed, from a specimen we brought away, as Lagorchester conspicillata. It had a blunt nose, similar to those at Barrow's Island, and was about the same size, though its colour was lighter, and it had a back exactly like a European hare.

The tail tapered away like a rat's, and the flesh was by no means good to eat, tasting very strong; this was the only instance in which we found wallaby at all unpalatable.