Discoveries in Australia Volume II Part 24

The vessels forming our convoy departed this morning, and soon disappeared in the western horizon, leaving the Beagle, that seemed destined to be a solitary roamer, once more alone at anchor under b.o.o.by Island.

On the same evening she was herself pursuing her lonely way towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, the eastern sh.o.r.e of which we saw on the morning of the 1st of July. In the afternoon we anch.o.r.ed in 3 1/4 fathoms; the north end of a very low sandy piece of coast, which we found to be in lat.i.tude 16 degrees 13 1/2 minutes South, longitude 9 degrees 10 East of Port Essington, bearing South 70 degrees East, six miles and a half. From this place the coast trended South 10 degrees West, and was fringed with mangroves; a few straggling casuarinas grew near the sandy parts, a feature which we constantly afterwards found to recur; their tall broom-like shapes form a remarkable element in the coast scenery of the Gulf.

SINGULAR TIDAL PHENOMENON.

A fruitless attempt was made to visit the sh.o.r.e, which was fronted for the distance of a mile by a bank of soft mud. We could therefore gain no information respecting the interior; but from the numerous fires, it appeared to be thickly inhabited. It was here that we first observed the singular phenomenon of the tides ebbing and flowing twelve hours.

GULF OF CARPENTARIA.

Next day the coast was examined for fifteen miles to the southward; its general character has already been given, which renders it unnecessary to dilate further here. North-east winds now forced us away from the land, and we did not see it again till the morning of the 3rd; when, finding as much as four fathoms within two miles and a half of a projection, we named it, in consequence, Bold Point. It is in lat.i.tude 17 degrees 0 minutes South, longitude 8 degrees 48 minutes East of Port Essington, and is rendered conspicuous by two clumps of trees. North 23 degrees West two miles from Bold Point, we observed an opening, and after anchoring the ship as near the entrance as possible, I left with the whaleboats, accompanied by Messrs. Forsyth, Fitzmaurice, and Tarrant, to examine it, early in the afternoon. The view annexed, taken by Lieutenant Gore, just after the boats had shoved off, will give the reader an excellent idea of the appearance of the south-eastern sh.o.r.e of the Gulf of Carpentaria, from a distance of only two miles. In this view, a gull, resting on the back of a sleeping turtle, will attract the attention of the reader.

Proceeding, we crossed the bar, extending three quarters of a mile off the mouth of the inlet, on which we found only two feet at low-water. The coast on each side was sandy, with clumps of trees, and to the northward was fronted by an extensive flat of sand. The first reaches of the inlet promised well, having a depth of from 1 1/2 to 3 fathoms, and a width of from two to three hundred yards; but it ultimately became much narrower, and so torturous that, after following its windings for twenty-seven miles, we had only advanced eight miles in a South 60 degrees East direction from the entrance. It then divided--one branch trending south, and the other east; and each being only fifteen yards wide and two feet deep, the water quite salt, and the mangroves on either side, moreover, almost meeting, rendered it impossible to proceed further. Our hopes had been buoyed up as we advanced, an impression prevailing that we had discovered a river, from our finding that at low tide the water was simply brackish. I can only account for this by supposing that there was an imperceptible drainage of fresh water through the banks.

The highest part of the country we saw was on the south side of one of the reaches, six miles from the mouth; but even there the utmost elevation was only ten feet. This rise was marked by a growth of tolerable-sized eucalypti. Elsewhere the banks were scarcely three feet above high-water level, and generally fringed with mangroves, behind which in many places were extensive clear flats, reaching occasionally the sides of the inlet towards the upper parts, and forming at that time the resort of large flights of the bronze-winged pigeon.

In many of the reaches we met with flocks of wild ducks, of the white and brown, and also of the whistling kind. The birds we had not before seen were a large dark brown species of rail, so wary that I could never get within shot of it, and a rather small blackbird with a white crest. A few of the large species of crane, called the Native Companion, were also seen. The only kind of fish taken was the common catfish.

PARTY OF NATIVES.

Alligators were very numerous for the first fifteen miles as we ascended; and we saw a party of natives, but did not communicate with them. Their astonishment at the appearance of such strange beings as ourselves must have been very great. It could never before have fallen to their lot to behold any of the white race; and until our presence undeceived them, they must have been living in happy ignorance that they were not the only specimens of humanity upon the face of the earth.

There was little to interest us in our examination of this inlet, especially as the Dutch had probably visited it some two hundred years before; thus destroying the princ.i.p.al charm it would have possessed, namely, that of novelty. We inferred this from there being an opening laid down in this neighbourhood by them as Van Diemen's River. I, in consequence, continued the name, altering river to inlet; though, probably, at times, it may deserve the appellation of a river, as after heavy falls of rain it must contain fresh water. Our finding the water only brackish near the head favours this supposition.

The habitations of the natives were of a more substantial kind than we should have expected to meet with in these lat.i.tudes, being snug oval-shaped huts, thatched with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s. The extremely low level nature of the country, the reader can imagine, as also how much it surprised us to find that from the boat at high-water our eyes could wander over miles. Occasionally on the plains, rendered warm from their colour reflecting the powerful beams of the sun, were to be seen whirling clouds of dust, towering upwards until their centrifugal force became exhausted. The temperature, however, was lower about four in the morning than we had noticed it since leaving Sydney, being only 65 degrees, when easterly or land winds prevailed; those in the afternoon were generally from seaward.

A slight rise, even of ten feet, in the water beyond the tidal change, must overflow a vast portion of such very low country; many evidences of this having taken place were observed.*

(*Footnote. At the entrance of Van Diemen's Inlet it is high-water on the full and change of the moon at a quarter to seven; but in the upper part the tides are three hours and a quarter later. The length of both flood and ebb is twelve hours, and the direction of the former stream from the northward, following the eastern sh.o.r.e of the Gulf.)

NATIVE WELL.

The formation of this part of the continent is of very recent date, as we did not observe any rock; and the soil is chiefly alluvial. The only fresh water found was at a native well, half a mile South-East from the eastern entrance point of the inlet.

In the morning of the 5th, the boats reached the ship. During our absence a few natives had made their appearance on the beach, attending some fires, it seemed, on a hunting excursion. Several grampuses were seen at the anchorage, also many dugongs and turtles.

In the evening the Beagle was standing across the Gulf towards Bountiful Islands. I found that with the winds we had experienced the last few days it would be the most expeditious way of completing our survey of the Gulf to proceed at once to the head of it, as we should then have a fair wind, to examine the coast back to Van Diemen's Inlet.

I also resolved to ascertain if the supply of water that Flinders found on Sweers Island was still to be obtained; and on our way thither determined on visiting Bountiful Islands, where we arrived accordingly on the morning of the 6th. The greatest depth we had in crossing the Gulf was 15 fathoms, the nature of the bottom being a fine dark sandy mud.

Bountiful Islands form the eastern part of a group called Wellesley Islands, and were so named by Flinders from the great supply of turtle he found there. As, however, it was two months before the season of their visiting the sh.o.r.es, we only caught twelve, for the most part females.

Near the islands was noticed the same shrubby thick compact kind of seaweed, that had previously been seen on the parts of the North-west coast frequented by the turtle. Flinders speaks of finding here in one turtle as many as 1,940 eggs; and such is their fecundity that were it not for the destruction of the young by sharks and birds of prey, these temperate seas would absolutely swarm with them.

Our anchorage was in 7 fathoms, three quarters of a mile South-East from the highest hill, which I called Mount Flinders; it stands close to the beach, near the east end of the island, and is in lat.i.tude 16 degrees 40 minutes 0 seconds South, longitude 7 degrees 45 minutes 25 seconds East of Port Essington.

BOUNTIFUL ISLANDS.

Bountiful Islands, two in number, are distant a mile and a half in a North-East direction from each other. The northern and largest is two miles and a half long, and three-quarters of a mile wide; whilst the other is rather more than half a mile each way, and has at the northern end a mound with a remarkable casuarina tree on its summit. Both are fronted with coral reefs, particularly at the North-East extreme; there are some cliffs on the south-east side of the large island of sand and ironstone formation, the latter prevailing; and over the low north-western parts a ferruginous kind of gravel was scattered. The crests of the hills or hillocks were of a reddish sort of sandstone, and so honeycombed or pointed at the top that it was difficult to walk over them.

MOUNT FLINDERS.

Near the landing-place, at the foot of Mount Flinders, were a few isolated gum-trees, and small cl.u.s.ters of the casuarina, which were the only trees on the northern island. Some drift timber was on the south-east and north-west sides. On the latter was a tree of considerable size, doubtless brought from the sh.o.r.e of the Gulf by the North-West monsoon. Its whole surface was covered with a long brown kind of gra.s.s, interwoven with creepers. There were great quant.i.ties of a cinnamon-coloured bittern seen, as well as quails, doves, and large plovers, but not any of the bustards mentioned by Flinders. We saw no traces of land animals of any kind; neither did we of the natives. A flock of screaming white c.o.c.katoos had taken up their abode on the south island, where also some bulbs of the Angustifolia were found. A few small fish, besides sharks, were caught alongside the ship.

I was surprised to find the tides an hour later than at Van Diemen's Inlet; their velocity, likewise, was increased to two knots; the flood-stream came from the north-east at the anchorage.

FOWLER ISLAND.

July 7.

At daylight, we left for Sweers Island; but owing to light winds, chiefly easterly, did not reach Investigator Road, between Sweers and Bentinck Islands, before the afternoon of the 8th. The soundings on the way were generally 9 fathoms, fine sandy mud. A small islet, lying off the South-East side of Bentinck Island, and forming the immediate eastern side of the Road, I named after the first lieutenant of the Investigator, now Captain Fowler.

Under Mount Inspection, a hill 105 feet high, and the most remarkable feature hereabouts, on the South-East extreme of Sweers Island, a party of twelve natives was observed as we pa.s.sed. They gazed silently at us, making no demonstration of joy, fear, anger, or surprise. It is possible they may have been stupefied by the appearance of that wonderful creation of man's ingenuity--a ship; in their eyes it must have seemed a being endowed with life walking the waters, for purposes to them incomprehensible, on a mission to the discovery of which they could not even apply the limited faculties they possessed. Fortunately or unfortunately for them--according as we determine on the value of civilization to the aboriginal races of the South--they did not possess the fatal, or salutary, curiosity that prompts most men to attempt fathoming the depth of whatever is mysterious. Restrained by their fears, or by their ignorant, or philosophical indifference, they did not again show themselves: and though when we landed we once or twice thought we heard sounds of life in our vicinity, the natives of the island never again came under our observation. It is remarkable that the same circ.u.mstance happened to Flinders. He also perceived human beings at a distance; but when he endeavoured to communicate with them, they retired, as he mentions, to some of the caverns that exist on the island, and were seen no more.

SWEERS ISLAND.

Sweers Island appeared to be very woody, and bounded by low dark cliffs on the north-east side. We found a long extent of foul ground, with a dry reef near its outer end, extending off two miles in a South 33 degrees East direction from the South-East extreme. Our anchorage was in 5 1/2 fathoms, nearly abreast of a remarkable and solitary sandy point on the above-mentioned island. As we beat up, the navigable width between this and Fowler Island was found to be one mile, and the depth 4 and 5 fathoms.

INVESTIGATOR'S WELL.

A party was immediately despatched in search of the Investigator's well.

Previous to landing, the whole island appeared to be perfectly alive with a dense cloud of small flying animals, which, on our reaching the sh.o.r.e, proved to be locusts in countless numbers, forming a complete curtain over the island. They rose from the ground in such prodigious flights at each footstep that we were absolutely prevented from shooting any of the quails with which the island abounds. This annoyance, however, was only experienced for the first day or two, as the locusts winged their flight to Bentinck Island, leaving the trees only laden with them; out of these they started, when disturbed, with a rushing noise like surf on a pebbly beach.

FLINDERS' WELL.

The Investigator's old well was discovered half a mile eastward of the point, to which I gave the name of Point Inscription, from a very interesting discovery we made of the name of Flinders' ship cut on a tree near the well, and still perfectly legible, although nearly forty years old, as the reader will perceive from the woodcut annexed. On the opposite side of the trunk the Beagle's name and the date of our visit were cut.

It was thus our good fortune to find at last some traces of the Investigator's voyage, which at once invested the place with all the charms of a.s.sociation, and gave it an interest in our eyes that words can ill express. All the adventures and sufferings of the intrepid Flinders vividly recurred to our memory; his discoveries on the sh.o.r.es of this great continent, his imprisonment on his way home, and cruel treatment by the French Governor of Mauritius, called forth renewed sympathies. I forthwith determined accordingly that the first river we discovered in the Gulf should be named the Flinders, as the tribute to his memory which it was best becoming in his humble follower to bestow, and that which would most successfully serve the purpose of recording his services on this side of the continent. Monuments may crumble, but a name endures as long as the world.

Being desirous of ascertaining if now, in the dry season, water could be obtained in other parts of the island, I ordered a well to be dug on the extreme of Point Inscription, a more convenient spot for watering a ship, and at a depth of 25 feet met excellent water, pouring through a rock of concreted sand, pebbles, and sh.e.l.ls.

Our success may be attributed, as Flinders says, to the clayey consistence of the stratum immediately under the sand, and to the gravelly rock upon which that stratum rests; the one preventing the evaporation of the rains, and the other obstructing their further infiltration.

INVESTIGATOR ROAD.

This was a very important discovery, as Investigator Road is the only anchorage for vessels of all sizes at the head of the Gulf in either monsoon, and possesses an equal supply of wood, fish, and birds, with turtle close at hand on Bountiful Islands. Moreover, should an expedition be formed for the purpose of exploring the interior from the head of the Gulf, it is, as Flinders remarks, "particularly well adapted for a ship during the absence of the travellers." In addition to this, it is a point at which an expedition would first arrive to arrange plans for the future; and lastly, I should observe that in case of our being fortunate enough to find rivers or fertile country on the southern sh.o.r.es of the Gulf, we at once saw that we might look forward to the time when Investigator Road* should be the port from which all the produce of the neighbouring parts of the continent must be shipped, and when it should bear on its sh.o.r.es the habitations of civilized man, and the heavenward pointing spires of the Christian Church. The feeling that we might be the means of bringing about this happy state of things by discovering a country habitable by Europeans, greatly added to the zest with which we prosecuted our subsequent researches.

(*Footnote. This road fully deserves the name of a good port, being four miles in length by one in breadth, with a depth of from 4 to 6 fathoms, and sheltered at all points except from south to South-South-East, in which direction the shoalness of the water prevents any sea from getting up.)

SURVEY THE ANCHORAGE.

On duly weighing these considerations in my mind I determined to make an accurate survey of this anchorage, including Sweers and the eastern portion of Bentinck Island; and to despatch two boats to examine the group of islands to the north-west, and the mainland from thence to abreast of the south-west end of Bentinck Island. On the morning of the 9th, accordingly, Messrs. Forsyth and Parker proceeded with the whaleboats on this service.

Near Point Inscription, I found a native skull on the sh.o.r.e, with forearm, left tibia, and a portion of the inferior maxillary. They must have been exposed some time, as they were very nearly destroyed by the action of the air. How they could have come in this situation was a mystery, as there was nothing indicating a place of burial.

On the eastern Point of Bentinck Island a number of rafts were seen, which suggested the name of Raft Point. We also on one occasion perceived some natives at a distance.

Mount Inspection being the highest land in the neighbourhood, became the princ.i.p.al station of the survey. From it a glimpse was got of the mainland, bearing South 17 degrees West about eighteen miles. The north-eastern end of the island, also, could be seen, fronted with rocky ledges extending three quarters of a mile off. This hill is a ma.s.s of calcareous rock, similar to the high parts of Bountiful Island, with the same honeycombed surface, as if it had been exposed to the action of the sea. In other parts of the island there is a great quant.i.ty of ironstone; and the cliffs on the eastern side are mixed with this and pipe-clay; on the northern extreme are some lakes or swamps.

SOIL, ETC. OF BENTINCK ISLAND.