Discoveries in Australia Volume II Part 27

Boat expedition.

Explore an opening.

Discovery of the Albert.

Natives.

Picturesque Scenery.

Hope Reach.

Birds and Fishes.

Upper Branch.

Beauty of the Landscape.

Land excursion.

The Plains of Promise.

Halt the party and proceed alone.

Description of the country.

Return down the Albert.

Mouth of River.

Arrive at Van Diemen's Inlet.

Find Mr. Fitzmaurice severely wounded.

General result of the survey of the Gulf.

Winds and Temperature.

b.o.o.by Island.

Endeavour Strait.

Reach Port Essington.

ANOTHER BOAT EXPEDITION.

Mr. Fitzmaurice reported so favourably of the last opening he discovered, bearing West by South fifteen miles from the ship, that I determined on making up a party to explore it, while another expedition, consisting of the yawl and whaleboat, was to examine the coast to the eastward from Flinders River to Van Diemen's Inlet. My party, including Lieutenant Gore and Messrs. Forsyth and Dring, left the ship with the gig and the other whaleboat on the evening of the day we returned from the Flinders.

The prospect that lay before us raised our spirits to the highest; and the weather, clear, cool, and bracing, could not have been more favourable, the temperature being 60 degrees. The ripples rolled rapidly, expanding from the boat's bows over the gla.s.sy smooth surface of the water, whilst the men stretched out as if unconscious of the exertion of pulling, every one of them feeling his share of the excitement. From the western sky the last lingering rays of the sun shot athwart the wave, turning it, as it were, by the alchemy of light into a flood of gold.

Overhead, the cope of heaven was gradually growing soberer in hue from the withdrawal of those influences which lately had warmed and brightened it; but in the west a brilliant halo encircled the declining ruler of the day. In these lat.i.tudes the sunset is as brief as it is beautiful. Night rapidly came on, and presently the masts of the ship could no longer be discerned, and we were pursuing our way in darkness towards the mouth of the opening.

After vainly endeavouring to get over the bank extending off the mouth of the opening, in the dark, we anch.o.r.ed the boats outside. The awnings were spread, and the kettle for our evening's meal was soon hissing over a blazing fire. Of all things tea is the most refreshing after a day of fatigue; there is nothing that so soon renovates the strength, and cheers the spirits; and on this occasion especially, we experienced a due portion of its invigorating effects. Grog was afterwards served out, pipes and cigars were lighted, the jest was uttered, the tale went round; some fished, though with little success; and the officers busied themselves with preparations for the morrow's work. But all things must end; the stories at length flagged; the fishermen grew tired; and getting into our blanket bags, with a hearty good night, we resigned ourselves, with the exception of the look-out, to the arms of slumber.

EXPLORE AN OPENING.

July 30.

The morning broke with a strong breeze from South-South-East and although the temperature was not below 52 degrees, we were all shivering with cold. Soon after daylight we entered the opening, which for three miles was almost straight, in a South by West direction, with a width of two hundred yards, and a depth of from 2 1/2 to 5 fathoms. The banks were fringed with mangroves, behind which stretched extensive mud flats, which from being encrusted with salt and glistening in the sun were mistaken at first for sheets of water.

The inlet now became slightly tortuous, pursuing a general South-West by South direction; but the width being greater our hopes rose as we proceeded. Eight miles from the mouth two islands were pa.s.sed, and two others four miles further on. The breadth at this point was nearly a mile, but the depth was scarcely two fathoms; one less than we had before found it. The above-mentioned islets, one of which was of some size, lay at the upper end of a reach, trending south, where this inlet or river, as we anxiously hoped it would prove to be, divided into two branches, one continuing in a southerly direction, and the other turning short off to the westward.

EXAMINE THE SOUTHERN BRANCH.

Though the latter had a greater volume of water pa.s.sing through it than the other, I still, from the direction and size of the south arm, decided on ascending it first. For some distance the banks had been less fringed with mangroves, leaving clear patches covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s. The trees on the side of the first reach in the southerly arm were laden with the snowy plumage of a large flock of c.o.c.katoos. After proceeding about five miles further we rested a few hours, continuing again soon after midnight. As the tides run twelve hours each way, it was necessary that we should take advantage of the favourable stream, whatever might be the hour, though this plan kept the men for a very long time together at the oars.

The general direction we pursued was still south, for six miles by the windings of the stream, which was so reduced in breadth and volume, as to be scarcely a hundred yards wide, and not a fathom deep. There was now little hope that it would lead into fresh water, although, from the number of trials that were made, I am sure there was salt water enough drunk to have physicked a whole village.

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.

The banks were still of the same monotonous character. In one of the reaches I was fortunate enough to shoot a specimen of the large wary brown-coloured rail I have before mentioned. From this, the only one obtained, it has been described as Eulabeornis castaneoventris. It is doubtless the bird called by the Port Essington natives, Morduggera, the eggs only of which were found there, the bird itself not having been seen. They were equal in size to those of a guineafowl, of a dirty white, finely speckled with reddish brown.

Our course now changed to south-west, and as the width and tortuousness began to decrease--a sure indication that the country was rising--we soon made another six miles. But after this the boats could no further proceed--the inlet, in short, having become a mere ditch at low-water.

The head of a large alligator was found on the bank near the upper part; where might be seen an occasional acacia mingled with the mangroves.

Behind, the country was very open, consisting of plains covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, interspersed with patches of dwarf gums. About seven miles in an East by North direction the country was thickly wooded, and appeared to be a little higher--the only interruption to the level monotony of the portion of the continent by which we were surrounded. The soil was of a light brown colour void of sand, and of considerable depth.

Nothing now remained but to retrace our steps and try the other branch; and as our want of success in this case rather heightened our expectation we hurried back with some rapidity. It was dark before we reached the point of separation, where the boat's crew regaled themselves on some large brown hawks, in the absence of better fowl. There was this evening a beautiful eclipse of the moon. The temperature had again fallen to 60 degrees; at noon it was 87 degrees; and at four A.M. 52 degrees.

August 1.

As time and tide wait for no man we were obliged to move off at one in the morning. The earth's shadow having pa.s.sed over the moon, the pale light of her full orb fell in a silvery stream on the tortuous reaches, as the waters swelled in silence between the growth of mangroves fringing the banks.

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT.

At the end of three miles in a West by South direction, nearly double by the windings, we pa.s.sed an island on the left. The depth at low-water, so far, being nearly 2 fathoms, and the width about 250 yards, promised well. Water-tasting had now become rather out of fashion. However, it so happened that one of the whaler's crew put his hand over, and gave us the delightful news that the stream was quite fresh! A general tasting followed, each being anxious to get the first draught of the water of our new-found river; and the agreeable intelligence was confirmed. Of the importance of our discovery there could now no longer be any doubt, and the exhilarating effect it produced on all was quite magical, every arm stretching out as if the fatigue they had experienced had suddenly pa.s.sed away.

There could be little difficulty in finding a name for our new discovery.

We had already called two rivers, explored by the Beagle's officers, the Victoria and the Adelaide; and we were glad of such an opportunity of again showing our loyalty to Her Majesty, by conferring the name of her n.o.ble consort upon this important stream; it was accordingly christened The Albert.

The boats now glided rapidly onwards, and West by North another mile brought us to three islands, which we pa.s.sed on the right; after landing for observations, with the stars Achernar and Aldebaran, at some earthy cliffs ten feet high on the left bank. The river now wound round a point to the westward, three-quarters of a mile wide; in the first bend we pa.s.sed four islands on the right, with a creek on either side, and towards the end of the next, two more on the left.

CHANGE IN THE VEGETATION.

August 2.

Daylight now burst upon us with tropical rapidity. The banks had a.s.sumed a very different appearance; the monotonous mangroves had given place to gumtrees and acacias, which drooped over the stream, partly concealing a rich growth of large flags. This change in the character of the foliage was not only in itself a relief, but evinced that we had at length, in some sort, escaped the influence of the sea, and that we were in reality penetrating towards the interior of the continent.

Our course was now North-West 1/2 West for a mile and a half, with an increase in the width, and a depth of nine feet. Here we found the river suddenly turn round to the southward and eastward, bringing us back within five hundred yards of where we started from, which was one mile West by South 1/2 South from the morning's observation spot. Brown whistling wood-ducks now made their appearance, and being unaccustomed to man and his destructive weapons, allowed us to revel in wildfowl for some days afterwards.

PROCEED UP THE ALBERT.

The morning sun was hailed with delight, as sitting cramped up in a boat, with the unusually low temperature of 53 degrees made us very chilly, and brought flushing jackets and trousers into great request, whilst in midday the light clothing natural to the lat.i.tude was sufficient. We found the tides rise here four feet, and both flood and ebb ran from one to two knots. After following a reach, trending South-East 1/2 East a mile, with a string of islets in the upper part, our westerly progress became more rapid and direct, and with the exception of one bend to the northward we made three miles in a West-South-West direction.

But we were once more doomed to be interrupted by the sudden turning of the river short off to the northward, when it wound round a point a mile long, and a quarter wide, the extremity of which is low and sandy, a character only this once observed in the Albert; on the opposite side were cliffs thirty feet high.

NATIVES.

Near the sandy point we observed some fires; and on our return, by crawling up the bank, I got a peep at a small party of natives engaged intently in digging for the esculent called warran. As they were few in numbers our abrupt appearance would have too much terrified them to leave any chance of an interview; and we accordingly did not disturb them, but contented ourselves with watching their movements for a while. The spectacle was an interesting one. Both men and women were engaged in delving for their food, whilst a little beyond a few more were burning the bush, and looking out for game and snakes. It does not often fall to the lot of the white man to behold the wild people of the earth, engaged in their daily avocations, completely unconscious that the gaze of a superior cla.s.s of beings is upon them. We have seen savages exhibited to us professedly in all the simplicity of the woods; but how can the children of nature retain their freedom of action and manners under the curious gaze of a civilized mult.i.tude? We may depend upon it that we gather nothing but erroneous ideas from such a display. If we would understand, truly, what our savage brethren are like, we must penetrate into the woods and the wilds where they are to be found; we must mingle with them in the exercise of their domestic avocations; we must see them as they are, in all their excusable degradation; and not invested with a fict.i.tious dignity, or a theatrical simplicity; we must observe them, also, unawares, and see how they conduct themselves under the ordinary influences that beset them.

It was with great reluctance that I departed without making our presence known; but I could not refrain from leaving, at the place where we landed, the perplexing legacy of a few presents. With what curious anxiety must these people have traced our footmarks, from which alone they could gather evidence that we belonged to a different race!

After making two miles in a south and nearly three in a west direction, with but few interruptions from windings, we opened a splendid sheet of water, trending South-West 1/2 South. A mile back I had found, in a crooked reach, some native huts, built of sticks and neatly plastered over, with doors so narrow that none of our broad-shouldered fellows could enter.

At this place we saw the last whistling-ducks on our way up; further on, other species, to be hereafter mentioned, were found. A large alligator also afforded us sport, although we did not secure him.

PICTURESQUE SCENERY.

The country was gradually becoming perceptibly higher, and the scenery extremely picturesque. Tall palm-trees and bamboos were now to be seen among the rich foliage on the lower slope of the banks, that rose here to an elevation of fifty feet, and were much intersected with watercourses.

Onwards we hurried; the influence of the tide being scarcely felt, and the river preserving its South-West 1/2 South direction, with a width of two hundred yards, and a depth of two fathoms and a half. At the end of three miles no change was perceptible, and we began to congratulate ourselves on, at last, having found a stream that would carry the boats far towards the point it was always the height of my ambition to reach, the centre of the continent.

HOPE REACH.