Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Volume II Part 11

This range I called after Captain Moresby, R.N. C.B., in grateful recognition of the prompt a.s.sistance rendered by him to the wants and repairs of our vessel, during her late visit to Mauritius. The summit in the centre was called Mount Fairfax; the group of hills at the north end were named Menai Hills, and the three at the south end of the range were distinguished by the name of Wizard Hills; Mount Fairfax is in lat.i.tude 28 degrees 45 minutes 20 seconds, longitude 114 degrees 38 minutes 45 seconds. The sh.o.r.e in front of these hills is sandy and there was an appearance of two openings in the beach that were probably the outlets of mountain-streams. The country also appeared much better wooded than in other parts, and as large smokes were seen in the valleys the place most likely at the time of our pa.s.sing frequented by natives.

Hence the coast trends to the North-West by North towards a patch of bare sand, which is remarkable because the coast is not so sandy as it is more to the south. At ten o'clock a very thick haze spread over the land and so enveloped it that nothing could be distinguished. At noon, the brig being in 28 degrees 25 minutes 42 seconds South, and 114 degrees 7 minutes 0 seconds East, the haze partially cleared away and showed that the coast had changed its character, being now steep, and in some parts cliffy, but still occasionally studded with spots of bare sand. In the interior a rocky, flat-topped hill was seen; it is probably the Mount Naturaliste of the French. The coast trends here in a North by West direction.

The pa.s.sage or channel between the Abrolhos Bank and the coast has been distinguished by the name of Vlaming's ship, The Geelvink, since she was the first vessel that pa.s.sed them (Anno 1697). Captain Hamelin in the Naturaliste also pa.s.sed within them, imagining that he perceived them to the eastward, but what he saw must have been the summit of Moresby's Flat-topped Range.*

(*Footnote. So M. De Freycinet also thinks, for he says: "quelques personnes n'osent a.s.surer que nous ayons vu les Abrolhos; d'autres, et je suis de ce nombre, peusent que ce que nous avons pris pour ce groupe d'iles est une portion du Continent." Freycinet page 180.)

The soundings of the coast upon our track between Rottnest Island and the Abrolhos have been gradually of a gravelly nature, mixed sometimes with sh.e.l.ly sand, and were generally coa.r.s.er as we approached the sh.o.r.e. In some parts, particularly near Cape Naturaliste and Rottnest Island, the bottom appeared to be a bed of small water-worn quartzose pebbles not larger than a pin's head. Off Moresby's Flat-topped Range the bottom is of a soft dark-gray-coloured sand of a very fine quality that would afford good anchorage was it not for the constant swell that pervades this stormy coast; the water was however much smoother than in other parts, which might have been occasioned either by the Abrolhos bank's breaking the sea, or from the temporary cessation of the wind, for it was comparatively light to what it had been since our leaving Rottnest Island.

A large patch of bare sand terminates the sandy sh.o.r.es of this coast in lat.i.tude 27 degrees 55 minutes. A steep cliff then commences and extends for eight miles to the Red Point of Vlaming; behind which is a bight, called by the French Gantheaume Bay; in the south part of which there appeared a small opening. This bay did not seem to be so well calculated for taking shelter in from southerly gales, as Van Keulen's chart indicates; since it is exposed to winds from South-West by South, from which quarter it must frequently blow. The country appeared very rocky; the slight vegetation covering its surface gave it a greenish hue, but no trees were seen near the sh.o.r.e which is fronted by a sandy beach; the depth of the bight is probably five or six miles. The cliffs of Red Point partake of a reddish tinge and appear to be disposed nearly in horizontal strata. In the centre and about halfway between the base and summit of the cliffs is a remarkable block of stone, of very white colour, that at a distance appeared to be either a fort or house: some black marks on its face took our attention and resembled characters of a very large size, as if they had been painted for the purpose of attracting the attention of vessels pa.s.sing by; but a closer examination with the telescope prove them to be only the shadows of the projecting parts of the surface.

At half-past seven o'clock we hauled off for the night and, standing off and on, sounded in between thirty-three and thirty-five fathoms.

January 19.

At daylight the next morning the land bore from East to East-South-East but the morning and forenoon were so hazy that it was very indistinctly seen; at noon a partial clearing away of the haze exposed to our view a long range of high and precipitous cliffs, the base of which was washed by the sea, breaking upon it with a tremendous roar, and heard distinctly by us. The wind falling in the afternoon induced me to stand off sh.o.r.e, when we soon lost sight of the land. At noon we were in lat.i.tude 27 degrees 5 minutes 18 seconds. At one o'clock the depth was forty-five fathoms fine gray sand. No land was seen during the rest of the day; for although the sky was beautifully clear and serene, the atmosphere for fifteen degrees above the horizon was enveloped in a thick hazy mist that caused an extraordinary dampness in the air, and from the unfavourable state of the weather we did not attempt to make it again.

January 20.

The next morning we saw that part of Dirk Hartog's Island which lies in 25 degrees 56 minutes, and when we had reached within four miles of the sh.o.r.e steered to the northward parallel to the beach, but the haze was still so great as to render the land very indistinct. We saw enough of it however to be convinced of its perfect sterility. The coast is lined with a barrier of rocks on which the sea was breaking high with a roar that was heard on board although our distance from the sh.o.r.e was at least three miles.

The warmth of the weather now began rapidly to increase; the thermometer at noon ranged as high as 79 degrees.

At one o'clock Cape Inscription, the north-westernmost point of Dirk Hartog's Island, was distinguished and the sea-breeze veered as far as South-West by West, which was two points more westerly than we had hitherto had it. At two o'clock the brig pa.s.sed round the cape and, as there was an appearance of good shelter in the bay to the eastward of it, we hauled in and at half-past three o'clock anch.o.r.ed in twelve fathoms fine gravelly soft sand; the west point of Dirk Hartog's Island (Cape Inscription) bearing North 82 degrees West, and the low sandy point that forms its north-east end South 53 degrees West, at a mile and a half from the sh.o.r.e.

As we hauled round the cape and were pa.s.sing under the lee of the land the breeze became so suddenly heated, by its blowing over the arid and parched surface of the coast, that my seaweed hygrometer, which had been quite damp since we left Rottnest Island, was in ten minutes so dried as to be covered with crystals of salt; and in this state it continued during our stay.

Upon rounding the cape two posts were descried upon its summit, which we conjectured to be those on which the French had affixed a record of their visit, as well as the more ancient one of the Dutch navigators, Dirk Hartog and Vlaming; for they were very conspicuously placed and appeared to be in good preservation.

We had not anch.o.r.ed five minutes before the vessel was surrounded by sharks, which at once impressed us with the propriety of Dampier's nomenclature. One that was caught measured eleven feet in length but the greater number were not more than three or four feet long. They were very voracious and scared away large quant.i.ties of fish, of which, however, our people during the evening caught a good supply.

January 21.

The following morning we landed at the Cape and with eager steps ascended the rocky face of the hill to examine the interesting memorials that were affixed to the post; but found to our great mortification that they had been removed; the only vestige that remained was the nails by which they had been secured. One of the posts was about two feet high and evidently made of the wood of the callitris, that grows upon Rottnest Island; it appeared to have been broken down; the other was still erect and seemed to have been either the heel of a ship's royal-mast or part of a studding-sail boom; upon one side of it a flag had been fastened by nails. A careful search was made all round but, as no signs of the Dutch plate or of the more recent French inscription were seen, it was conjectured that they had been removed by the natives; but since our return to England I have learnt that they are preserved in the Museum of the Inst.i.tute at Paris, where they had been deposited by M. De Freycinet upon his return from his late voyage round the world. After this disappointment we returned to the sea-beach, whilst Mr. Cunningham botanised along the summit of the ridge; and before he rejoined us we had been fortunate enough to find two very fine turtles, and a large quant.i.ty of turtle-eggs. The animals had been left by the tide in holes of the rocks, from which we had some difficulty in extricating them. During our absence from the vessel our people had been very successful with the hook and line, having caught about five or six dozen snappers, besides some of the genus tetradon.

This seasonable supply and the probability of our procuring more turtles from the beach induced me to remain here a few days to perform some trifling repairs that could not be effected at sea. We were also prevented from moving, from the unfavourable state of the weather; for it was blowing a gale of wind all the time we remained; but as our people were living upon fresh food the time was not considered as lost.

January 22.

The next morning fifty turtles were turned, but as we could not convey them all on board forty were left on sh.o.r.e upon their backs for the night: upon landing the next morning they were all found dead, having killed themselves by their exertions to escape, and from their exposure to the heat of the sun which was so great during the day that I did not send any of the people on sh.o.r.e. We found, however, no difficulty in procuring more, some of which weighed four hundredweight.

The sh.o.r.e of this bay is fronted by a rocky reef covered with sh.e.l.l-fish, of which the princ.i.p.al sorts were species of trochus, chama, conus, voluta, cypraea, buccinum, ostrea, mytilus, and patella; among the latter was the large one of King George's Sound. Upon the beaches to windward of the cape we found varieties of sponge and coral; and beche de mer were observed in the crevices of the rocks but were neither large nor plentiful. Mr. Cunningham saw two land snakes, one of which was about four feet in length; the colour of its back was black and the belly yellow; the only quadruped seen was a small opossum. A seal of the hair species, like those of Rottnest Island, was seen on the rocks, probably of the same description that Dampier found in the maw of the shark;* and also what was found by the French on Faure Island, which M. Peron supposed to be an herbivorous animal and described as a dugong.**

(*Footnote. Dampier volume 3 page 87.)

(**Footnote. Peron volume 2 page 227 et seq and De Freycinet page 201.)

January 24.

On the 24th Mr. Roe visited the Cape to fix on the post a memorial of our visit; an inscription was carved upon a small piece of wood in the back of which was deposited another memorandum written upon vellum; the wood was of the size of the sheave-hole of the larger post, into which it was fixed, and near it Mr. Roe piled up a heap of stones. After this was accomplished the party walked for some distance along the beach to the south-west of the cape, where they found the remains of two or three whales that had been lately wrecked; a small piece of putrefied flesh was also seen, about two or three feet long, one side of which was covered with red hair, it was however too far gone to ascertain to what animal it belonged.

On examining into the state of our dry provisions it was mortifying to find that the rats and c.o.c.kroaches had destroyed an incredible quant.i.ty, particularly of our biscuit and flour. In one of the casks of the latter more than two-thirds of its contents was deficient. The biscuit was completely drilled through and the greater part would not have been thought fit to eat if we had possessed any of a better quality; I still however hoped to have a sufficiency on board to complete the survey of the north-west coast before our return to Port Jackson, which I now found would of necessity be at least four or five weeks before the time I had fixed upon when we left the Mauritius. As it would take up a great portion of the time we had now left to make a more extensive examination of Shark's Bay than what the French have already performed, and would entirely prevent my going upon the north-west coast again; it was determined that we should not delay here, but pa.s.s on and resume our examination of the coast at Cape Cuvier, the northern head of the bay.

The only part of Shark's Bay that seems to be at all interesting, and to require further examination, is the eastern side of the bay immediately opposite to the Islands of Dorre and Bernier; but from the very intricate and shoal nature of its approach it is very doubtful whether even a sight of the land in that direction could be procured.

The rocks of Dirk Hartog's Island are of a very remarkable formation, consisting of a congeries of quartzose sand, united in small circular kernels by a calcareous cement in which some sh.e.l.ls were found embedded.

The geological character of this rock is more fully treated upon in the Appendix by my friend Dr. Fitton.

"Upon the summit of the cliffs there are a few low shrubs, at this time much parched up, but among them Mr. Cunningham found a tolerably rich harvest. In his collection were the following plants, which were originally brought to Europe by Dampier; namely, Trichinium incanum, Br.; Diplolaena dampieri, Desf.; solanum, a th.o.r.n.y ferruginous species without fructification (Solanum dampieri ?) Dampiera incana, Br.; and a cordate melaleuca, figured by Dampier*: a beautiful loranthus (teretifolius, Cunningham) grew on the branches of an undescribed acacia (Acacia ligulata, Cunningham ma.n.u.script):"..."many were the wrecks of most interesting plants, and especially those of soft herbaceous duration, which had some time since fallen a sacrifice to the apparent long-protracted drought of the season; but it was impossible, amidst the sad languor of vegetation, not to admire the luxuriant and healthy habit of an undescribed species of pittosporum (oleifolium, Cunningham ma.n.u.script) which formed a small robust tree, ten feet high, laden with ripe fruit. We could perceive no traces either of remains of fires, or otherwise of natives, in the whole length of our walk along the edge of the cliffs or the plains, but we saw two snakes of very distinct kinds, each exceeding five feet in length; the one black with a yellow belly, the other green and black, but they quickly escaped into holes, leaving a serpentine impression of their bodies upon the sand. These marks were seen and remarked near the edge of all the holes, which were very numerous upon the surface of the island, before I discovered that they were the tracks of reptiles, from which it may be inferred that these animals are very abundant. The only bird seen was a solitary species of loxia, but upon a steep ledge of rocks I observed one of those nests of which frequent mention has been already made: I examined and found it built upon the pinnacle of some large rocks, very strongly constructed of long sticks; it was about five feet high and exceeded four feet in diameter, with a very slight cavity above; and seemed to have been very recently inhabited. The rocks that formed its base were ornamented with a prostrate capparis, or calyptranthus (Calyptranthus...o...b..cularis, Cunningham ma.n.u.script) which afforded me good flowering specimens. In my walk I started a small black kangaroo: it was feeding upon the seeds of a small acacia and, upon perceiving my approach, fled across the down without reaching a single bush or rock large enough to conceal itself as far as the eye could discern it, so bare and dest.i.tute of vegetation are these arid, sandy plains."* The heat of the weather was so great as not to allow of any communication with the sh.o.r.e, excepting between daybreak and eight o'clock. Mr. Cunningham's visits were therefore necessarily much confined: this precaution I found it absolutely requisite to take to prevent the people from being exposed to the very great heat of the sun, which on sh.o.r.e must have been at least twenty degrees more powerful than on board, where the thermometer ranged between 71 1/2 degrees at midnight, and 85 and 87 degrees at noon. The barometer ranged between 29.76 and 29.99 inches, and stood highest when the wind was to the eastward of south, with which winds the horizon was much clearer, and the air consequently drier than when the wind blew from the sea.

(*Footnote. Cunningham ma.n.u.script.)

As an anchorage during the summer months Dirk Hartog's Road has everything to recommend it, excepting the total absence of fresh water which, according to the French, was not found in any part of Shark's Bay; the anchorage is secure and the bottom clear of rocks. There is also an abundance of fish and turtle, and of the latter a ship might embark forty or fifty every day, for they are very sluggish and make no effort to escape, perhaps from knowing the impossibility of their scrambling over the rocky barrier that fronts the sh.o.r.e, and dries at half ebb. Of fish we caught only two kinds; the snapper, a species of sparus, called by the French the rouge bossu, and a tetradon which our people could not be persuaded to eat, although the French lived chiefly upon it. There are some species of this genus that are poisonous but many are of delicious flavour: it is described by M. Lacepede in a paper in the Annal. du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (tome 4 page 203) as le Tetrodon argente (Tetrodon argenteus).

January 26.

On the 26th we sailed and pa.s.sed outside of Dorre and Bernier's Islands; nothing was seen of the reef that lies in mid-channel on the south side of Dorre Island: a rippling was noticed by Mr. Roe in an East by South direction from the masthead at twenty minutes before one o'clock but, if the position a.s.signed to it by the French is correct, we had pa.s.sed it long before that time. At six o'clock Kok's Island, the small rocky islet that lies off the north end of Bernier's Island, bore North 83 degrees East, distant seven miles.

January 27.

The following morning at daylight the land was seen in the North-East and at half-past eight o'clock we resumed our course and pa.s.sed Cape Cuvier, a reddish-coloured rocky bluff that presents a precipitous face to the sea. The coast thence takes a North by East direction; it is low and sandy and fronted by a sandy beach, occasionally interrupted by projecting rocky points; those parts where patches of bare sand were noticed are marked upon the chart.

At one o'clock we were near a low sandy projection round which the coast extends to the East-North-East and forms a shallow bay. This projection was called after Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, Bart., the late Governor of the Mauritius.

Farther on, in lat.i.tude 23 degrees 10 minutes 30 seconds, is a projection which, at Mr. Cunningham's request, was called after Mr. William Anderson of the apothecaries' garden at Chelsea. The coast to the northward of Point Anderson is higher than to the southward and falls back to the North-East, but was very imperfectly seen on account of the thick haze that enveloped it. At a quarter before seven o'clock we hauled to the wind for the night with a fresh gale from the southward.

January 28.

The next morning was cloudy and the horizon tolerably clear; but towards noon a light haze began to spread, which by sunset was so thick as entirely to conceal the land. The mercury fell as low as 29.76 inches and, although the thermometer was at 79 degrees and the sun powerful, yet the atmosphere was so charged with moisture that the decks and everything out of the immediate influence of the sun were quite damp. This extraordinary and constant humidity appeared only to occupy the atmosphere for the sky was always beautifully clear and serene.

During the night the gale blew strong from the southward with a high topping sea from the South-West; and being occupied in shifting the main topsail which had split during the night, we stood off until three o'clock before we tacked towards the sh.o.r.e.

January 29.

At eight o'clock being in lat.i.tude 22 degrees 19 minutes 23 seconds, the land was visible from North-East to South 35 degrees East at the distance of five or six leagues: by its outline which, from the glare of the sun was the only part at all discernible, it seemed to be of moderate height, very level, and offering no particular mark that could be set with any chance of recognition to obtain a cross bearing. As there is every reason to believe that this part of the coast is what was taken by former navigators for Cloates Island,* I have named the southernmost point of the high land Point Cloates.

(*Footnote. See volume 1.)

At noon we were in lat.i.tude 21 degrees 57 minutes 5 seconds, having experienced a current of twenty-three miles to the north since yesterday at noon. The northern extreme, Vlaming's Head, bore North-East by East 1/2 East and the south extreme South 7 degrees West; and in the bearing of between South 32 degrees to 82 degrees East the land is higher than in other parts and declines very gradually towards the extreme.

As the brig approached the land breakers were seen to extend the whole length of the sh.o.r.e, which is fronted by a sandy beach: the land is of moderate height but the summit is rather more rugged than that to the southward where the outline is perfectly level. At half-past three o'clock Vlaming Head bore south six miles and three quarters off: at four o'clock the lat.i.tude, by the moon's meridional alt.i.tude, was found to be 21 degrees 38 minutes 27 seconds, at which time sights were taken for the chronometer, which made the longitude of the head 114 degrees 2 minutes 16 seconds: the situation a.s.signed to it on our first voyage was 114 degrees 1 minute 47 seconds; the mean of the two, 114 degrees 2 minutes 2 seconds, may therefore be considered its true situation.

From the above observation for the lat.i.tude of the North-West Cape agreeing nearly with those of our former voyage, I was induced to think that there might be some land more to the northward that the French saw and took for the cape; for they have placed it in 21 degrees 37 minutes 7 seconds South, which is nearly 10 minutes too northerly. Captain Horsburgh, in the supplement to his Directory, notices some islands seen by the San Antonio in 1818, called Piddington's Islands, that are said to lie in the lat.i.tude of 21 degrees 36 minutes, but after steering seventeen miles to the North-East from the above situation, without seeing anything like land, there remained no doubt in my mind that the French must have been deceived and that Piddington's Islands are some of the low, sandy islets to the eastward of Muiron Island.

January 30.

Having steered through the night on a north-east course, Barrow's Island came in sight the next morning, when it was about five leagues off; at eight o'clock it bore between South 27 East and North 87 degrees East.

From noon to three p.m. we had calm, dull, and cloudy weather; and although the thermometer did not range higher than 87 degrees, the heat was extremely oppressive, and occasioned the death of three of our turtles. At three o'clock a breeze springing up from the westward enabled us to steer to the northward round the Montebello Islands, in doing which we saw nothing of Hermite Island, which the French have laid down as the westernmost island of that group. There is certainly no land to the westward of Trimouille Island; and the error can only be accounted for by Captain Baudin's having seen the latter at two different periods; indeed this conjecture is in some measure proved, since there is a considerable reef running off the north-west end of that island, which in the French chart is attached to Hermite Island; this reef might not have been seen by him at his first visit, and when he made the land again and observed the reef he must have concluded it to have been a second island.