Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Volume I Part 14

Wood and water there.

Continue the examination of the East Coast towards Endeavour River; anchoring progressively at Rockingham Bay, Fitzroy Island, Snapper Island, and Weary Bay.

Interview with the Natives at Rockingham Bay, and loss of a boat off Cape Tribulation.

Arrival off Endeavour River.

1819. February 15 to May 7.

Between the period of my return from the Derwent and the second week of March we were prevented from making any preparation for our second voyage to the North Coast by an unusual continuance of the heavy rains incident to that season; which caused three floods on the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers and did considerable damage to the ripening crops. This unfavourable weather so r.e.t.a.r.ded our equipment that it was the middle of April before we were ready for sea; after which time we experienced further detention from not being able to complete our crew.

May 8.

But at length we sailed from Port Jackson on the 8th of May.

As it was my intention to take the northerly pa.s.sage through Torres Strait, I proposed, in my way up the East Coast, to examine Port Macquarie; and, in order that his Excellency the Governor might be informed of the result of our proceedings as soon as possible, Lieutenant Oxley, R.N., the Surveyor-general of the colony, accompanied me in the Lady Nelson, colonial brig.

May 9.

By noon the following day the church of King's Town,* in Port Hunter, was seen. Between Cape Hawke and the Brothers we pa.s.sed Wallis, Harrington's, and Farquhar's Lakes: and, on the north side of the northernmost Brother, we saw the entrance of Camden Haven; which, although deeper than the Lakes, is only accessible for very small vessels.

(*Footnote. Now more generally known by the name of Newcastle.)

May 10.

The next morning we anch.o.r.ed off Port Macquarie; and whilst the Lady Nelson was beating up to an anchorage Lieutenant Oxley accompanied me in the whale-boat to examine the entrance.

In pulling in we got among the sand rollers on the north side, on which the sea broke so heavy as at one time to endanger the boat's upsetting; but fortunately we escaped with only the loss of an oar; after contending for some time against the tide, which was ebbing with great strength, we landed on the south side; when we were met by five natives, who had been watching us all the morning, and had not been backward in their invitations and entreaties for us to land. At first they kept aloof until approached by Lieutenant Oxley, whom they soon recognised: after a short interview in which they appeared to place the greatest confidence in all our movements, we ascended the hill to observe the channel over the bar; the water of which was so clear that the deepest part was easily seen. As this was the princ.i.p.al object we did not delay longer on sh.o.r.e than was necessary, and upon our return sounded the depth of water upon the bar and in the channel, the particulars of which are detailed upon the plan of the harbour.

May 11.

The next morning the two vessels were warped into the port; and by eleven o'clock were anch.o.r.ed within a few yards of the south sh.o.r.e, and secured to trees near the beach, close to a fresh-water stream which ran into the sea.

May 12.

The following day we pulled three or four miles up the river; on the way up two natives were seen in a canoe but on our approach they landed to avoid us and quickly disappeared. The boat was kept in mid-stream and we pa.s.sed by without taking any notice of them. Half a mile further on we put ash.o.r.e on the south bank and took bearings to fix the position of our station and the direction of the next reach upwards, which appeared to be about three miles long and half a mile broad. We then returned to the cutter.

May 14.

And on the 14th Lieutenant Oxley and Mr. Roe accompanied me in one of our boats upon the examination of the river.

After reaching our former station on the south bank we proceeded up the long reach towards Black-man Point, on which a tribe of natives were collected: the river is here divided into two streams; we followed that which trended to the westward as it appeared to be the most considerable.

At the end of the next reach the river is again divided into two branches, and as the southernmost was found upon trial to be the shoalest, the other was followed. On our left was a small contracted arm, which probably communicates with the lagoon on Rawdon Island; here we landed to examine the trees which so thickly and beautifully cover both banks: several sorts of large growth were noticed, among which was a tree of the trichillieae, natural order Jussieu (Trichillia glandulosa), which the colonists have flattered with the name of rosewood, and a ficus of gigantic growth, both of which are very abundant. We landed at Point Elizabeth and walked a mile back through a fine open country, well timbered and richly clothed with luxuriant gra.s.s and apparently much frequented by kangaroos.

From the edge of the bank Mount Cairncross, a remarkable round-topped hill which is conspicuously seen from the coast over the entrance of the port,* appeared over the next reach, and formed a rich picturesque back-ground for the view.

(*Footnote. See Ill.u.s.tration: View of the Entrance of Port Macquarie.)

After refreshing ourselves, we re-embarked, and pa.s.sed on our right a shoal inlet, in which we saw a native's weir, for the purpose of taking fish; it was formed by sticks stuck in the mud, and so close as to prevent the retreat of such as were inside: three miles above this we landed on an open gra.s.sy spot on the south bank, and pitched our tent for the night.

About half an hour before we landed we heard the voices of natives in the woods; who, after we pa.s.sed by, embarked in two canoes and followed us for some distance, but the near approach of night obliged us to look out for a convenient spot to encamp upon; so that the natives, finding they were unattended to, soon gave up their pursuit.

In the morning, before we embarked, our barica was filled at a water-hole close at hand; on walking about a quarter of a mile back, we came to the borders of a large circular plain, about one mile in diameter, covered with reeds and other indications of its being a mora.s.s or lagoon.

We then pursued our way up the river; it soon trended sharply round to the South-East and joined the main stream which we had unknowingly left the preceding evening. There we had to unload and drag the boat over a fall; but, as the ascent was not more than ten or twelve inches, no difficulty was experienced in effecting it. Whilst thus employed, we were visited by ten natives, some of whom, by being painted and ornamented in a remarkable manner, were recognised as those who followed us last evening: their timidity was at first very great, but our conduct gave them confidence, and they very soon came to the boat, and a.s.sisted in launching her into deeper water, for which service they were presented with fishing hooks and lines, which they gladly received. Everything we said or did was repeated by them with the most exact imitation; and indeed they appeared to think they could not please us better than by mimicking every motion that we made. Some biscuit was given them which they pretended to eat, but on our looking aside were observed to spit it out. They wished much to take us to their huts; but, the day being much advanced without our having made any progress, we were obliged to decline their invitation; and as soon as the boat was reloaded we took leave of these friendly Indians, whose voices we heard until a turn of the river hid their persons from our view. About two miles higher, at King's River,* Lieutenant Oxley landed and recognised his former tracks which were now much overgrown and nearly effaced; the marks of the axe were, however, sufficiently evident for us to follow them for half a mile along the banks of the river, when we re-embarked, and continued our course upwards.

(*Footnote. See Ill.u.s.tration: View of the River Hastings at its Junction with King's River.)

The river now became much narrower, not being more than seventy or eighty yards wide; four miles higher up we landed and joined Mr. Cunningham, who was botanizing in the Lady Nelson's boat: this gentleman had overtaken us about an hour before and pa.s.sed on to look for a convenient place to encamp for the night; but for want of a better situation, was obliged to land in a brush, the banks of which were so thickly lined with trees and climbing plants that we should have pa.s.sed it if the station had not been indicated to us by his boat made fast to the landing place.

Some rain fell during the night, but this inconvenience was trifling compared to the discordant screams of a bird which had roosted over our fires, and which the people called the cat-bird. The trichillia and the ficus, before noticed, are abundant on these banks, and are all intricately connected with each other by climbing plants which grow to an incredible size, and hang down in rich cl.u.s.ters from the summit to the root of the tree, tending considerably to beautify the richness of the scene.

The woods included every tree of the soil and climate, excepting a white and straight stemmed eucalyptus, which is common at Hunter's River, and there called the Flooded Gum; it is used and reckoned valuable for spars, but the few specimens that I have seen of it have been very brittle and bad. Some of these trees were observed by us to be from fifty to sixty feet high, perfectly straight, and without a fork for forty feet.

May 13.

The next morning our boats in company proceeded for two miles farther up; in this s.p.a.ce we crossed four falls, the last of which, running with great rapidity, occasioned some difficulty and trouble in pa.s.sing over it: a little above this fall our exploration terminated, and we stopped to examine the timber. Several cedar-trees (Cedrelea toona), of large growth, were observed; one of which, being measured, was found to be ten feet in diameter at the base.

The upper part of the river is studded with islets covered with the Casuarina paludosa which is abundant in the swamps and low grounds at Port Jackson, where the colonists call it the Swamp Oak. The river appeared to be subject to inundations, for marks of floods were visible in all parts, and some considerably beyond the banks.

On our return we landed at a high rocky head on the north bank, from which a tract of open country appeared to recede. From hence Brown's Bluff bore South 32 degrees West. This Bluff is a remarkable hill, and is distinctly seen from the coast: its position was fixed by Mr. Oxley on his last journey, who pa.s.sing within a few miles, rode to its summit to gain a view of the country, which he described as very extensive and beautiful, and as having abundantly repaid him for his labour.

As we had before pa.s.sed through the Loudon Branch, we now followed the main stream, and on our way landed on the south bank, upon a piece of open forest land, abundantly clothed with luxuriant gra.s.s and moderate-sized timber. The water here began to taste brackish, but it was quite fresh about a quarter of a mile higher up, above a spit of rocks which nearly crosses the channel, leaving a pa.s.sage of ten feet water, over which there is a trifling fall. About three-quarters of a mile lower down we landed on the north bank, on Rawdon Island, on the edge of the swamp seen near our tent in the Loudon Branch.

We also landed at Black-man Point, and had an interview with twenty-five natives; amongst whom we recognised several that had visited us at the anchorage, and who appeared delighted and happy at meeting us again: after spending half an hour with them we re-embarked, and arrived on board by sunset.

Between this and the 20th our time was busily spent in laying down and making further observations upon the soundings of the port and bar.

May 21.

On the 21st at highwater, having completed our object, we left the harbour; and in steering over the bar found eleven feet water at about thirty-five yards from the sunken rocks. The Lady Nelson, in following, kept more over towards the north side of the channel and, being near the edge of the sand rollers, had but nine feet.

On reaching the offing Lieutenant Oxley embarked in the Lady Nelson to return to Port Jackson, and soon afterwards the two vessels parted company.

In consequence of the report made by Lieutenant Oxley to the Governor upon the result of the expedition, an establishment has been since formed at this harbour; which at present is used only as a penal settlement: hitherto no settlers have been permitted to take their grants at Port Macquarie; but when this is allowed it will, from the superiority of its climate and the great extent of fine country in the interior, become a very important and valuable dependency of the colony of New South Wales.

The natural productions of this place are, in a great measure, similar to those of the neighbourhood of Port Jackson; but many plants were found which are not known in the colony; and as these grow in all parts within the tropic, the climate of Port Macquarie may naturally be suspected to be favourable to the cotton-plant and the sugar-cane, neither of which have yet been cultivated to the southward: among these plants, we found the Panda.n.u.s pedunculatus, which Mr. Brown found in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and many other parts within the tropic, in Captain Flinders'

voyage. The face of the hill on the south side of the entrance possesses some good soil; and at the time of our visit* was covered with a profusion of herbage, and studded with groups of banksia, which the colonists call the honeysuckle; the wood of which is useful in ship-building on account of the crooked growth of its stem.

(*Footnote. It is on this hill that the penal settlement of Port Macquarie is now built, the situation having been selected at the recommendation of Lieutenant Oxley. It was settled by Captain Allman of the 48th regiment in the early part of the year 1821.)

The banks of the river on both sides were thickly wooded; in most parts the country is open and gra.s.sy and is profusely timbered with the varieties of eucalyptus that are common at Port Jackson. There is however a great extent of brushland in which the soil is exceedingly rich, and in which the trees grow to a large size; these, being covered with parasitical plants and creepers of gigantic size, render the forest almost impervious: it is in these brushes that the rosewood and cedar-trees grow, and also the fig-tree before alluded to; this last tree is of immense size and is remarkable for having its roots protruding from the base of the stem, like huge b.u.t.tresses, to the distance of several yards.

The natives are numerous, but they appear to depend more upon hunting than the sea for their subsistence. This I judged from the very inferior state of their canoes which are very much less ingeniously formed than even the frail ones of the Port Jackson natives; being merely sheets of bark with the ends slightly gathered up to form a shallow concavity, in which they stand and propel them by means of poles. Their huts are more substantially constructed and more useful as dwellings than any to the southward, and will contain eight or ten persons; while those to the southward are seldom large enough to hold three; they are arched over and form a dome with the opening on the land side; so that they are screened from the cold sea-winds, which, unless they blow in the character of the sea-breeze, are generally accompanied by rain. Kangaroos are very numerous, and from their traces appeared of large size; but we saw neither emus nor native dogs.

As a port this place will never be the resort of vessels of larger burthen than 100 tons, there not being more than ten feet water on the bar; which on account of the swell will not admit vessels of a greater draught than nine feet: this is a great drawback upon its prosperity; but the small coasting vessels from Sydney will be sufficiently large for the purposes of conveying produce to Port Jackson. It cannot long remain as a penal establishment for its utility in that respect is already lost, since the convicts find their way back to the colony as soon as an opportunity offers of escaping; and then, for fear of detection, remain concealed in its outskirts, and are necessarily driven to plunder and rob for subsistence.

A very great advantage attending the settling of this part is its free communication with the interior, and with that vast s.p.a.ce of fine country situated between Lieutenant Oxley's Track on the parallel of 30 degrees, and Bathurst. This region has lately (1823) been travelled over by my indefatigable friend Mr. Cunningham and found to possess a large portion of excellent soil and rich pasturage; it contains altogether at least twelve millions of acres in which it would be difficult to discover a bad tract of country of any extent; but as one-fourth part is the general calculation in the colony for waste land, nine millions of the richest country will be left for future colonization: many years however must elapse before it can be occupied.

The description of the interior of New South Wales is so foreign to my object, and so irrelevant to the subject before me that I must entreat the indulgence of my reader for this digression; and return to the Mermaid, already described as having left the port and parted company with the Lady Nelson, conveying my friend Lieutenant Oxley to Port Jackson, and leaving us to resume our voyage.

As soon as we had obtained an offing the wind freshened up to a strong breeze from the westward, attended with squally and unfavourable weather; but we were enabled to make some useful observations upon the coastline as far as the next point to the southward of Smoky Cape; when night obliged us to steer more off sh.o.r.e.