The Life of Captain James Cook Part 9

On 10th June, after leaving a small bay north of Cape Grafton, where they had searched in vain for a watering place, the watch had just turned in, the lead had been cast and given seventeen fathoms, when the unfortunate ship brought all hands on deck, with a crash on a sunken rock. Soundings taken all round showed her to be on the very edge of a coral reef. Making but little water, an attempt was made to warp her off, but unsuccessfully. Steps were then taken to lighten her; decayed stores, oil jars, staves, casks, ballast, and her six quarter-deck guns were thrown overboard, some forty to fifty tons, but with no effect. The tide now rising, the leaks increased rapidly, two pumps being kept constantly at work. Thinking things could only go from bad to worse, Cook determined to heave her off at all hazards, and every one who could be spared from the pumps was sent to the capstan or windla.s.s, and at length, after a stay of twenty-three hours on the rocks, she was hove into deep water. Now, however, it was a case of all hands to the pumps, and for a time it seemed as if they were slowly gaining on the in-rushing water, but suddenly there was an increase reported in the well, casting a shadow of gloom over all, but not for an instant staying the steady beat of the pumps. Shortly it was discovered that a fresh hand had been sent to the well and had sounded from a different mark than his predecessor, accounting for the sixteen to eighteen inches difference in the depth of water reported. This discovery acted like a charm: each one redoubled his exertions, and by morning they had gained considerably on the leak, so sail was made, and they slowly crawled in towards the land.

Midshipman Monkhouse had been on a ship which was leaking at the rate of forty-eight inches per hour, and had seen the operation called "fothering" so successfully performed on her, that, without further repair, she had sailed from Virginia to London. This being brought to Cook's ear, he gave Monkhouse the charge of carrying out a similar experiment. A studding sail was taken, on which oak.u.m and wool was lightly sewn and smothered with dirt; it was then lowered over the bows and dragged by ropes over the place where the worst of the leak was situated, and there secured, with the result, according to Banks, that in a quarter of an hour after it was in position they were able to pump the ship clear, and Cook says one pump was sufficient to keep her free.

Of the conduct of the crew, Cook says:

"In justice to the ship's company, I must say that no men ever behaved better than they have done on this occasion; animated by the behaviour of every Gentleman on board, every man seem'd to have a just sense of the Danger we were in, and exerted himself to the very utmost."

Banks adds his testimony:

"Every man exerts his utmost for the preservation of the ship. The officers during the whole time never gave an order that did not show them to be perfectly composed and unmoved by the circ.u.mstances, however dreadful they might appear."

A point off which the reef was situated was given the suggestive name of Cape Tribulation, and some small islands near, Hope Islands, because, as Cook says, he hoped, at the time of their greatest danger, they might be able to reach them. What a prospect to hope for! No possibility of ever seeing a friendly sail, and but little probability of ever being able to reach a civilised port.

THE ENDEAVOUR RIVER.

A boat sent off to search for some spot where temporary repairs could be executed, soon returned and reported a small river had been found which appeared suitable. This was the Endeavour River, and into it the ship was safely taken, and deep water being found close to the bank, a stage was rigged, and most of the stores and ballast were taken on sh.o.r.e; a hospital was erected for the sick, "which amounted at this time to some eight or nine afflicted with different disorders, but none very dangerously ill." Green and Tupia were showing symptoms of scurvy, but the remainder appear to have been free from it.

As soon as the ship was sufficiently lightened she was warped a little further up the river, and at the top of the tide her bows were hauled well into the bank, so that when the tide fell they were able to examine the leak. The damage was found to be very serious; the rock had cut through four planks into the timbers, and three other planks had been badly injured. The manner in which the ship had been injured was "hardy credible, scarce a splinter was to be seen, but the whole was cut away as if done with a blunt-edged tool." A piece of the rock was found wedged in the hole, and had greatly a.s.sisted in arresting the influx of water. The sheathing and false keel were very badly damaged, but it was believed that she was not much injured aft, as she made but little water when once the main wound was dry.

At what is believed to be the exact spot at which the Endeavour was beached, a monument has been erected by the inhabitants of Cooktown, a seaport now at the mouth of the river.

There being no danger from the natives the crew were allowed as much liberty as possible, and a good supply of fish, a few pigeons and a small quant.i.ty of vegetables, in the shape of yam tops, cabbage palm, and wild plantains, had a very beneficial effect on their health. The longitude was calculated from an observation of "the Emersion of Jupiter's First Satelite," as 214 degrees 42 minutes 30 seconds West, which Wharton remarks on as being an excellent observation, the true longitude being 214 degrees 45 minutes West.

INCENDIARISM BY BLACKS.

On 4th July the good ship was afloat again, so well repaired that only about an inch of water per hour was taken in, easily kept under by the pumps. She was laid over on a sandbank on the opposite side of the river and more carefully examined, the sheathing being found to be very badly damaged. The carpenter, in whom Cook had every confidence, reported that, with the means at his disposal, he could not make a satisfactory job, but he thought they might push on to some place where greater facilities could be obtained. She was therefore taken alongside the staging, the stores and ballast replaced, everything got ready for the prosecution of the voyage, and the Master sent off in the pinnace to look for a pa.s.sage to the north-east; but was unsuccessful. He was again sent out, but again reported badly; the shoals appeared to get worse the further he went. He, however, brought back with him three turtles weighing about 800 pounds, which were most welcome as the crew had now been some months without fresh meat; a second trip to where these were caught resulted in getting three or four more, and a large supply of sh.e.l.l-fish. They had made several attempts to get on good terms with the few natives they had seen, and on one occasion two or three who were fishing had a long and animated conversation with Tupia, in which neither party could understand the other, though one or two were persuaded to visit the camp. Shortly before the last of the stores were taken in, Cook and Banks received friendly overtures from a small party, and ten of them visited the ship. They were offered various gifts, but seemed to set little value on anything except the turtles. They made signs they wanted them, and when they found these signs ignored, attempted to carry off two, and when their aim was frustrated, went ash.o.r.e to where some of the crew were at work. One of them took a lighted stick from under the pitch kettle, and, making a wide circuit round the place, fired the gra.s.s as he ran. Fortunately there were not many things left ash.o.r.e, and the powder had just been safely got on board, so the most serious damage appears to have been the premature roasting of a young pig. They then went off to where others of the crew were washing, and drying the fishing nets, and another attempt was made to burn the gra.s.s; but a charge of small shot caused a retreat, and on their way they set fire to the undergrowth to cover their repulse. Banks was greatly impressed with the manner in which the gra.s.s and undergrowth burnt, and declared he would never pitch tents again without first burning the gra.s.s for some distance round.

Gore, Banks, and three men made a few days' excursion up the river, but, with the exception of a kangaroo being shot by Gore, the first ever killed by a European, they met with nothing worth noting. On 18th July Cook, Banks, and Solander went up a hill some six or eight miles along the coast to see if they could form any idea of the general run of the coast and the surrounding reefs, and Cook says: "In whatever direction we looked, it [the sea] was covered with shoals as far as the eye could see."

Before leaving the river, Banks gives some notes as to the country, and puts it down as "in every respect the most barren country we have yet seen." The animals were not numerous; he gives kangaroo, wolf (the dingo or native dog), bats (flying foxes), wild cats (dasyurus), and opossums.

Amongst the birds, several kinds of duck, s.h.a.gs, pelicans, crows, and flock pigeons, all, with the exception of the last, difficult to shoot.

Of the crow he says: "A crow in England though in general sufficiently wary is, I must say, a fool to a New Holland crow." None of the beasts or birds seem to have come amiss to the pot; all that was necessary was the meat should not be salt, "that alone was sufficient to make it a delicacy." He quotes the description given by a sailor of an animal he saw:

"It was as black as the devil and had wings, indeed I took it for the devil, or I might have catched it, for it crawled away very slowly through the gra.s.s."

After some little trouble Banks discovered this to have been a large bat (flying fox). Of the insect life seen, he was particularly struck by the white ants and their nests, and formed a very respectful opinion of the mosquito.

Cook's opinion agrees fairly well with that of Banks, but on the whole he thought the east coast was not so barren and desolate as Dampier had described the west coast, and adds:

"We are to consider that we see this country in the pure state of nature; the Industry of Man has had nothing to do with any part of it, and yet we find all such things as Nature hath bestowed upon it, in a flourishing state. In this Extensive Country, it can never be doubted, but what most sorts of grain, Fruit, roots, etc., of every kind would flourish here were they once brought hither, planted and cultivated by the hands of Industry; and here are provender for more cattle, at all seasons of the year, than ever can be brought into the country."

This is a fair example of the observations and deductions to be found scattered through Cook's Journals, and an improvement on the would-be scientific and cla.s.sical rubbish put into his mouth by his editors.

A MASTHEAD WATCH.

At last, on 4th August, they got away from the Endeavour River, only to find themselves surrounded by difficulties. Cook or one of the other officers was continually at the masthead on the look-out, and at length, by keeping very close in sh.o.r.e, they managed to creep past Cape Flattery, and thought the worst was over, but a landing at Point Lookout showed a very unsatisfactory prospect. In hopes of getting a better view Cook went out to Lizard Island, and from there could see, far away to the east, the white breakers on the Great Barrier Reef. This island, on which the only living things to be seen were lizards, they found, from the large piles of sh.e.l.ls and remains of fires, was visited periodically by the blacks; a remarkable voyage for their miserable canoes.

Having only three months' supplies at short allowance left, Cook, after a consultation with his officers, made out through an opening in the Barrier Reef that he had seen from Lizard Island, and observes:

"Having been entangled among Islands and Shoals more or less ever since the 26th May, in which time we have sailed 360 leagues by the Lead, without ever having a Leadsman out of the chains, when the ship was under sail, a Circ.u.mstance that perhaps never happened to any ship before, and yet it was here absolutely necessary."

But their satisfaction in getting outside was diminished when it was found that the increased working of the ship's timbers necessitated the continual use of one pump.

Cook was afraid that being forced outside the Barrier Reef he would be unable to put to the proof the opinion he had formed that New Guinea and New Holland were not joined. He did not know till after his return to England, that the point had already been settled in 1606, by Louis Vaez de Torres, and he readily yields the honour of the discovery in the Introduction to his Second Voyage. The log of Torres's voyage was lost for many years, and was found at Manilla, when that place was taken by Admiral Cornish in 1762. Cook had with him a copy of De Brye's Voyages, published in 1756, which contained three charts that he found to be "tolerably good" with regard to New Guinea, and he evidently formed the opinion that both the Spaniards and the Dutch had circ.u.mnavigated that island.

"I always understood, before I had a sight of these maps, that it was unknown whether or no New Holland and New Guinea was one continued land, and so it is said in the very History of Voyages these maps are bound up in. However, we have now put this wholly out of dispute; but as I believe it was known before, but not publickly, I claim no other merit than the clearing up of a doubtful point."

With this question of New Guinea and New Holland in view, he again made to the west, sighting the Barrier again on 15th August, and on the following morning, the wind having changed in the night, the breakers were heard very distinctly. The lead gave no bottom at 140 fathoms, but at daybreak the reef was not a mile away, and they found themselves in a dead calm, rapidly drifting with the current towards the breakers. The yawl and long-boat were got out, the pinnace being under repair, and the sweeps were used from the gun-room ports. By six o'clock she was heading north again, but:

"not above 80 or 100 yards from the breakers. The same sea that washed the side of the ship rose in a breaker prodigiously high the very next time it did rise, so that between us and destruction was only a dismal valley, the breadth of one wave, and even now no ground could be felt with 120 fathoms."

A PERILOUS POSITION.

The carpenter had by this time fastened a temporary streak on the pinnace, and it was sent off to a.s.sist in towing. Cook had almost given up hope, but he says:

"In this truly terrible situation, not one man ceased to do his utmost, and that with as much calmness as if no danger had been near."

Admiral Wharton draws special attention to the fact that in the very height of the danger, Green, Charles Clerke, and Forwood, the gunner, were engaged in taking a Lunar for the longitude. Green notes:

"These observations were very good, the limbs of the sun and moon very distinct, and a good horizon. We were about 100 yards from the reef, where we expected the ship to strike every minute, it being calm, no soundings, and the swell heaving us right on."

When things seemed perfectly hopeless, a small breath of air, "so small that at any other time in a calm we should not have observed it," came, and every advantage being taken, the distance from the reef was slightly increased, but then again it fell calm. A small opening of the reef was seen and an attempt was made to push through, but the ebb tide was found to be "gushing out like a mill stream." Advantage was taken of this, and they succeeded in getting about a quarter of a mile away, but the current was so narrow they soon lost it. A second opening was seen, and, the tide having changed, they were carried rapidly through Providential Channel and safely anch.o.r.ed in nineteen fathoms of water. Cook says:

"It is but a few days ago that I rejoiced at having got without the Reef, but that joy was nothing when compared to what I now felt at being safe at an anchor within it."

Having arrived at a place of safety, Cook resolved to remain till he had his boats in thorough repair and had made a complete study of his difficulties. From the masthead it appeared as if the shoals and reefs offered less obstruction than he had previously towards the north, and he hoped, by keeping as close to the sh.o.r.e as possible, to be able to solve the problem of the pa.s.sage between New Guinea and New Holland. At this place, boats that had been out fishing brought back a sort of c.o.c.kle, some requiring two men to lift them, and containing "as much as twenty pounds of good wholesome meat."

TAKE POSSESSION.

Proceeding slowly through a network of reefs, shoals, and islands, the boats always sounding ahead, he had the satisfaction of pa.s.sing the straits between Cape York and New Guinea, leaving Torres's track considerably to the north. On getting clear of the straits, they landed for the last time in Australian waters, and hoisting the English flag:

"took possession of the whole Eastern Coast from the above lat.i.tude (38 degrees 0 minutes South) down to this place by the name of New Wales. We fired three volleys of small arms, which were answer'd by the like number from the ship."

Admiral Wharton says that in the King's and the Admiralty's copies of Cook's Journal the name is given as New South Wales, and in a letter written to Mr. John Walker, of Whitby, dated 13th September 1771, Cook says: "The East coast of New Holland, or what I call New South Wales."

After a narrow escape of running on a reef near b.o.o.by Island, from which they were only saved by letting go the anchors with all sails set, they left the difficulties of the New Holland coast behind and sighted New Guinea on 29th August.

FOOTNOTE: STING RAY BAY.

"The great number of New Plants, etc., our Gentlemen Botanists have collected in this place occasion'd my giving in [sic] the Name of Botanist Bay."

Extract from the only page known to exist of the Journal of the first voyage written by Cook, and dated 6th May, 1770. It was, July 1911, purchased by Mr. F.T. Sabin for 451 pounds.

CHAPTER 11. 1770 TO 1771. NEW GUINEA TO ENGLAND.

The water on the New Guinea coast was very shallow, and kept them far out in running westward, but on 3rd September they got a little nearer in, so Cook decided to attempt a landing, and then to leave, as he considered it was only wasting valuable time to go over ground that had already been explored by the Dutch. Banks says the crew were rather sickly, they: