The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 Part 1

The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888.

by Ernest Favenc.

PREFACE.

A complete history of the exploration of Australia will never be written.

The story of the settlement of our continent is necessarily so intermixed with the results of private travels and adventures, that all the historian can do is to follow out the career of the public expeditions, and those of private origin which extended to such a distance, and embraced such important discoveries, as to render the results matters of national history.

That private individuals have done the bulk of the detail work there is no denying; but that work, although every whit as useful to the community as the more brilliant exploits that carried with them the publicity of Government patronage, has not found the same careful preservation.

To find the material to write such a history would necessitate the work of a lifetime, and the co-operation of hundreds of old colonists; and, when written, it would inevitably, from the nature of the subject, prove most monotonous reading, and fill, I am afraid to think, how many volumes. The reader has but to consider the immense area of country now under pastoral occupation, and to remember that each countless subordinate river and tributary creek was the result of some extended research of the pioneer squatter, to realise this.

Since the hope of finding an inland sea, or main central range, vanished for ever, the explorer cannot hope to discover anything much more exciting or interesting than country fitted for human habitation. The attributes of the native tribes are very similar throughout. Since the day when Captain Phillip and his little band settled down here and tried to gain the friendship of the aboriginal, no startling difference has been found in him throughout the continent. As he was when Dampier came to our sh.o.r.es, so is he now in the yet untrodden parts of Australia, and the explorer knows that from him he can only gain but a hazardous and uncertain tale of what lies beyond.

But, in this utter want of knowledge of the country to be explored, where even the physical laws do not a.s.similate with those of other continents, lies the great charm of Australian exploration. It is the spectacle of one man pitted against the whole force of nature--not the equal struggle of two human antagonists, but the old fable of the subtle dwarf and the self-confident giant.

When the battle commenced between Sturt and the interior, he was, as he thought, vanquished, though in reality the victor.

In the history of exploration are to be found some of the brightest examples of courage and fort.i.tude presented by any record. In the succeeding pages I have tried to bring these episodes prominently to the fore, and bestow upon them the meed of history.

In compiling this book I have had the sympathy of many gentlemen, both in this and the neighbouring colonies, and my best thanks are due to them, especially as, owing to it, I have been able to make the work perfectly authentic, and I trust, a thoroughly reliable work of reference.

SYDNEY, 1888.

ERNEST FAVENC.

INTRODUCTION

Part I

Rumours of the existence of a Southern Continent in the Sixteenth Century--JAVE and JAVE LA GRANDE--Authentic Discoveries and visits of the early Navigators--Torres sails between New Guinea and Terra Australis--Voyage of the DUYFHEN in 1606--Dirk Hartog on the West Coast, his inscribed plate--Restored by Vlaming--Afterwards by Hamelin--Nuyts on the South Coast--Wreck of the BATAVIA on Houtman's Abrolhos--Mutiny of Cornelis--Tasman's second voyage--Dampier with the Buccaneers--Second Voyage in the ROEBUCK--Last visit of the Dutch--Captain Cook--Flinders; his theory of a Dividing Strait--Plans for exploring the Interior--His captivity--Captain King--Concluding remarks.

The charm of romance and adventure surrounding the discovery of hitherto unknown lands has from the earliest ages been the lure that has tempted men to prosecute voyages and travels of exploration. Whether under the pretext of science, religion or conquest, hardship and danger have alike been undergone with fort.i.tude and cheerfulness, in the hope of being the first to find things strange and new, and return to civilized communities with the tidings.

In the days of Spain's supremacy, after the eyes of Europe had been dazzled with the sight of riches brought from the New World, and men's ears filled with fairy-like tales of the wondrous races discovered, it was but natural that the adventurous gallants of that age should roam in search of seas yet to be won.

Some such hope of finding a land wherein the glorious conquests of Cortes and Pizarro could be repeated, brought De Quiros on a quest that led him almost within hail of our sh.o.r.es. What little realization of his dreams of cities rich with temples, blazing with barbaric gold, inhabited by semi-civilized people skilled in strange arts he would have found in the naked nomads of Terra Australis, and their rude shelters of boughs and bark we now know; and perhaps, it was as well for the skilful pilot that he died with his mission unfulfilled, save in fancy. His lieutenant, Torres, came nearer solving the secret of the Southern Seas, and, in fact, reports sighting hills to the southward, which--on slight foundation--are supposed to have been the present Cape York, but more probably were the higher lands of Prince of Wales Island. In all likelihood he saw enough of the natives of the Straits to convince him that no such rich pickings were to be had, as had fallen to the lot of the lucky conquerors of Mexico and Peru. He came across none of the legendary canoes from the land of gold, deep laden with the precious metal, nor sandy beaches strewn with jewels, to be had for the gathering.

He puts on record what he thought of the islanders in the few terse words, that they were "black, naked and corpulent," beyond that, they do not seem to have impressed him.

Apparently they, on their part, were not impressed at being informed that they were thenceforth subjects of the King of Spain, for their dislike to Europeans appears to have increased as the unfortunate Dutch captains, Carstens and Poole, afterwards found to their cost. Even the gracious act of His Holiness the Pope in part.i.tioning these unknown lands between Spain and Portugal did not meet with the favourable consideration at their hands that it deserved.

The jealousy with which the maritime nations of Europe guarded their discoveries from each other has been the means of putting great difficulties in the way of tracing out the early traditions of the great South Land. The domineering Spaniard looked upon the Portugese navigator as a formidable rival in the race for trade; and the st.u.r.dy Hollander they regarded as a natural enemy and a rebel. The generous emulation of fellow-workers in the cause of scientific discovery was unknown, and the secrets of the sea were scrupulously kept.

On behalf of Dutch reticence, it may be said that the cause of the merited hatred they bore to Spain was still too fresh in their memory to allow them to divulge anything that might possibly benefit a Spaniard.

Sir William Temple, amba.s.sador at the Hague in the time of Charles II., gives it as his opinion that "a southern continent has long since been found out." He avers that, according to descriptions he has gathered, "it is as long as Java, and is marked on the maps by the name of New Holland, but to what extent the land extends either to the south, the east, or the west, none know." He states, that he has heard it said among the Dutch that their East India Company "have long since forbidden, and under the greatest penalties, any further attempts at discovering that continent, having already more trade than they can turn to account, and fearing some more populous nation of Europe might make great establishments of trade in some of these unknown regions, which might ruin or impair what they already have in the Indies."

But although no doc.u.mentary evidence has been brought to light, proving beyond all doubt the certain discovery of the South Land in the sixteenth century, we find on the old charts of the world various tracings indicating a knowledge of the existence of this continent, which would appear to have been derived from other than fabulous sources.

A shadowy claim to the honour of being the first discoverer of Terra Australis has been advanced on behalf of the Frenchman Gonneville, who sailed from Honfleur in 1503, on a voyage to the East Indies. He is said to have doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and being driven by stress of weather into an unknown sea, found a land inhabited by friendly people, with whom he stayed some time, being accompanied back to France by one of the king's sons who was desirous of studying the precepts of Christianity. The general belief, however, is that it was probably Madagascar whereon De Gonneville landed.

Another claim, based upon the authority of an ancient map, is put forward for the noted Portugese navigator Magalhaens, when in the service of the Emperor Charles V. of Spain; but there is little appertaining to the arguments advanced on behalf of this belief to render it credible.

In some of the old charts, dating back to the middle of the sixteenth century, a large country south of Java is portrayed, which from its position appears to be intended for the conjectural South Land. In all these maps the outlines of this TERRA INCOGNITA are so nearly identical that it is evident various hydrographers drew their inspirations from the same sources. The annexed tracing is a copy of a portion of one of the most ancient of these maps; the original was presented to the British Museum by Sir Joseph Banks in 1790. It is most carefully drawn, the coast line being elaborately filled in with names in French, and it is embellished with drawings of animals and men, being also ornamented with two shields bearing the arms of France. The map is undated, but was probably designed in the latter part of the reign of Francis L, for his son, the Dauphin, afterwards Henry II.

It has been alleged that Captain Cook was guided by these charts to the eastern sh.o.r.e of New Holland, and the similarity of some of the names thereon, such as COSTE DES HERBAIGES, and COSTE DANGEROUSE, to names given by him, has been pointed out. This allegation, however, will not stand criticism. Botany Bay, for instance, is about the last place that any one would select to bestow such a name on as COSTE DES HERBAIGES, which name would signify a rich and fertile spot, certainly not such a desolate place as Botany Bay was in Captain Cook's time. Captain Tench, one of the survey party sent there in 1789, writes in his journal:--"We were unanimously of the opinion that had not the nautical part of Mr.

Cook's description been so accurately laid down, there would exist the utmost reason to believe that those who have described the contiguous country had never seen it. On the side of the harbour, a line of sea coast more than thirty miles long, we did not find two hundred acres which could be cultivated." Any approximation then in position between Botany Bay and the fabulous COSTE DES HERBAIGES must be considered as accidental.

The generally received opinion of this and the other charts is, that Java (JAVE) is fairly well laid down, and that Great Java stands for the supposed South Land. Plausible as this theory reads, it is, however, open to objection. If it be accepted, and the narrow strait the river GRANDE be looked upon as that portion of the Indian Ocean dividing Java from the north-west coast of Australia, any resemblance to the present known shape of our continent is very hard to trace, unless after a most distorted fashion. If, however, we make the necessary allowances for the many errors that would creep in from one transcription to another, and look upon JAVE and JAVE LA GRANDE as one continent intersected by a mediterranean sea, we have a fair, if rude, conception of the north coast of Australia. Moreover, let the reader imagine a south coast line drawn from BAYE PERDUE on the east to HAVRE DE SYLLA on the west, doing away with the conjectural east and west coast continuations south of those points; the deep inlet between JAVE and JAVE LA GRANDE standing for the Gulf of Carpentaria, a very pa.s.sable outline of the whole continent is obtained. And it is more than probable that this view was originally suggested by this map, and from it sprang the belief current, even to the beginning of this century, that an open pa.s.sage existed from the west coast, either into the Gulf of Carpentaria, or to the head of Spencer's Gulf. The other maps give no more information than this one, and the ident.i.ty of their origin is obvious. One, however, has been found in the British Museum the features of which are different. It is a rough copy of an old map showing the north west portion of a continent to the south of "Java Major." It bears a legend in Portugese, of which the following is a translation:--"Nuca Antara was discovered in the year 1601 by Manoel G.o.dinho Eredia, by command of the Viceroy Ayres de Soldanha." This would point to a Portugese discovery of Australia immediately preceding the Dutch one.

In Cornelius Wytfliet's "Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum," Louvain, 1598, the following pa.s.sage is to be found:--

"The Australis Terra is the most southern of all lands; it is separated from New Guinea by a narrow strait; its sh.o.r.es are hitherto but little known, since, after one voyage and another, that route has been deserted, and seldom is the country visited unless when sailors are driven there by storms. The Australis Terra begins at two or three degrees from the equator, and is maintained by some to be of so great an extent that if it were thoroughly explored it would be regarded as a fifth part of the world."

The above is so vague and suppositious that it would scarcely be worth quoting, were it not for the singular mention of the narrow strait separating Australis Terra from New Guinea; for at this time Torres had not sailed through the straits, nor was the fact of his having done so known to the world until the end of the eighteenth century, when Dalrymple discovered his report amongst the archives of Manila, and did justice to his memory.

In 1605, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, having for his second in command Luis Vaez de Torres, sailed from Callao with two well-armed vessels and a corvette. After the discovery of several islands, they came to a land which Quiros supposed to be the continent he was in search of, and therefore named it Australia del Espiritu Santo. "At one hour past midnight," says Torres, in his account of the voyage, "the CAPITANA"

(Quiros' vessel) "departed without any notice given to us, and without making any signal." This extraordinary conduct was supposed to be the result of discontent and mutiny amongst the sailors, an outbreak having already taken place which was not quelled quite so firmly as Torres advocated. After vainly waiting for many days, Torres set sail, and first ascertaining that it was only an island where they had been anch.o.r.ed, he made his way by the dangerous south coast of New Guinea to Manila, where he arrived in 1607.

Up to the preceding year popular knowledge concerning the South Land must be looked upon as being mixed up with much that is both doubtful and hazardous. We now, however, reach the period which may be regarded as the beginning of the authentic history of the discovery of New Holland. In 1606 the yacht DUYFHEN sailed from Bantam, and, coasting along the south-west sh.o.r.e of New Guinea, her commander unknowingly crossed the entrance of Torres Straits, and continued his voyage along the eastern side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, under the impression that it was part of the same country. They sailed nearly to lat.i.tude 14 degrees south, when want of provisions and other necessaries compelled them to turn back.

Cape Keer-Weer (Turn Again) they named the furthest point reached by them.

Their report of the country was most unfavourable. They described it as being "for the greatest part desert, but in some places inhabited by wild, cruel, black savages, by whom some of the crew were murdered, for which reason they could not learn anything of the land or waters as had been desired of them."

The name of the captain of the DUYFHEN--the Columbus of the south--has not been preserved. Ten years after this visit, in 1616, Captain Dirk Hartog, in command of the ship ENDRACHT, from Amsterdam, discovered the west coast of Australia. He left a tin plate on an island in Dirk Hartog's Roads bearing the following inscription:--

"Ao 1616, den 25sten October, is hier vangecommen het schip de ENDRACHT van Amsterdam, den Oppercoopmen Gilles Mibais van Luyck; schipper Dirk Hartog, van Amsterdam, den 27sten, dito t' zeijl gegaen na Bantam, den Ondercoopman Jan Stoyn, Opperstierman Pieter Dockes, van Bil, Ao 1616."

[Translation.--On the 25th October, arrived here the ship Endraght of Amsterdam; the first merchant, Gilles Mibais, of Luyck; Captain Dirk Hartog; of Amsterdam; the 27th ditto set sail for Bantam; undermerchant Jan Stoyn, upper steersman, Pieter Dockes, from Bil, Ao, 1616.]

Captain Vlaming, of the ship GEELVINK, found this plate in 1697, and replaced it with another, on which he copied the original inscription, and added to it as follows:--

"1697. Den 4den Februaij is hier vangecommen het schip de GEELVINK van Amsterdam, den Commandeur schipper, Williem de Vlamingh, van Vlielandt, Adsistent Joan van Bremen, van Coppenhage; Opperstierman Michiel Blom van Estight, van Bremen. De Hoecker de NYPTANG, schipper Gerrit Collaert van Amsterdam; Adsistent Theodorus Heermans van de; d`Opperstierman Gerrit Gerritz, van Bremen, 't Galjoot t' WESELTJE, Gezaghabber Cornelis de Vlamingh van Vlielandt; Stierman Coert Gerritz, van Bremen, en van hier gezeilt met ons vloot den 12do voorts net Zuijtland te ondersoecken en gedestineert voor Batavia."

[Translation.--On the 4th of February, 1697, arrived here the ship GEELVINCK, of Amsterdam; Commandant Wilhelm de Vlamingh, of Welandt; a.s.sistant, Jan van Bremen, of Copenhagen; first pilot, Michiel Bloem van Estight, of Bremen. The hooker, the NYPTANGH, Captain Gerrit Collaert, of Amsterdam, a.s.sistant Theodorus Heermans, of the same place; first pilot, Gerrit Gerritz, of Bremen; then the galliot WESELTJE, Commander Cornelis de Vlaming, of Vlielandt; Pilot Coert Gerritz, from Bremen. Sailed from here with our fleet on the 12th, to explore the South Land, and afterwards bound for Batavia.]

In 1801, the boatswain of the NATURALISTE found this plate half buried in sand, lying near an oaken post to which it had been nailed. Captain Hamelin, with rare good taste, had a new post made, and the plate erected in the old spot. Another outward bound ship, the MAURITIUS, touched on the west coast in 1618, and discovered and named the Willems River, near the Northwest Cape, probably the present Ashburton. The LEEUWIN (Lioness), visited the west coast in 1622, and the well-known reef of Houtman's Abrolhos was so-called after Frederick Houtman, a Dutch navigator of distinction who, however, never personally visited Australian sh.o.r.es. The next navigator to the South Land met with an untimely end. In the year 1623, Governor Coen dispatched two yachts, the PERA and the ARNHEM, on a voyage of discovery. Landing on the coast of New Guinea, Captain Jan Carstens, of the ARNHEM, and eight of his crew were murdered by the natives, but the vessels proceeded, and touched upon the north coast of New Holland, west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, still known as Arnhem's Land. A river, the Spult, is here laid down in the old charts, in the vicinity of the present Liverpool River, and there is also another opening marked the "Speult," on the eastern side of the Gulf, since determined to be the Endeavour Strait of Captain Cook,

At Arnhem's Land the yachts parted, the Pera continuing the voyage alone.

Crossing the head of the Gulf she followed the course of the DUYFHEN, and pa.s.sing Cape Keer-Weer, made as far south as 17 degrees, where the Staaten River is laid down. Their report was also unfavourable, and is summed up in the official dispatches of the company, thus:--"In this discovery were found everywhere shallow waters and barren coasts, islands altogether thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal nations, and of very little use to the Dutch East India Company." Pera Head, in the Gulf, is another memorial of this voyage.

Now came the turn of the south coast of New Holland. In 1627, Captain Pieter Nuyts, in his ship the GULDE ZEEPARD, accidentally touched on the south coast. He followed it along for seven or eight hundred miles, and bestowed on it the name of Pieter Nuyts' Land. The VIANEN sighted the west coast in 1628, and kept in sight of it for some two hundred miles, reporting "a foul and barren sh.o.r.e, green fields; and very wild, black, barbarous inhabitants."