Since war went out of fashion, many officers of the British navy have
been employed in exploring seas, and surveying coasts, in different
parts of the world, for the laudable purpose of facilitating
navigation; and there would be little harm in supposing, that there
might be as much glory in verifying the position and extent of a shoal
or sunken rock, as in capturing an enemy's frigate. At all events,
these surveying voyages furnish useful occupation, not unattended with
danger; and they involve the necessity for a good deal of hard work,
of a dry and technical character, three years being the time usually
allotted to a cruise. Australia, owing to the dangerous character of
its northern and eastern shores, has been the scene of numerous
surveys, among the latest of which was that by Captain Blackwood in
the _Fly_. One important result of this survey was the finding of a
passage through the great Barrier Reef for vessels navigating Torres
Strait; but as more than one passage was considered essential to the
safety of a route so much frequented, the _Rattlesnake_ was
commissioned, in September 1846, for a further survey, to be carried
on in what is called the Coral Sea, having New Guinea, the Louisiade
Archipelago, and the continent of Australia, as its boundaries.[3]
After some months spent in preliminary examination of different parts
of the Australian shores and seas, the _Rattlesnake_ sailed from
Sydney, at the end of April 1848, for the main object of her cruise.
She had the _Bramble_, a small schooner, as tender, and was
accompanied by the _Tam o' Shanter_, a vessel chartered for the
conveyance of Mr Kennedy's expedition, which was to land at Rockingham
Bay, 1200 miles to the northward, 'and explore the country to the
eastward of the dividing range, running along the north-east coast of
Australia, at a variable distance from the shore, and terminating at
Cape York.' Having assisted in landing this party, and arranged to
meet them at the head of Princess Charlotte's Bay, on their toilsome,
and, as it proved, disastrous overland journey, the ships pursued
their route, and soon commenced a series of triangulations, which were
continued without a break for more than 600 miles. The _Bramble_
waited ten days at the appointed rendezvous without seeing anything of
the overland expedition, which, as it afterwards appeared, did not
reach the same latitude until two months later, and then at a
considerable distance from the coast.
In October, the vessels were at Cape York, waiting for Mr Kennedy, and
receiving supplies from a storeship despatched from Sydney, and
letters from the 'post-office' on Booby Island. In his capacity as
naturalist and ethnologist, Mr Macgillivray made frequent excursions,
collecting plants and animals, and words for a vocabulary. The natives
are described as inordinately fond of smoking whenever they can get
_choka_, as they call tobacco. 'The pipe--which is a piece of bamboo
as thick as the arm, and two or three feet long--is first filled with
tobacco-smoke, and then handed round the company, seated on the ground
in a ring; each takes a long inhalation, and passes the pipe to his
neighbour, slowly allowing the smoke to exhale. On several occasions
at Cape York,' continues the author, 'I have seen a native so affected
by a single inhalation, as to be rendered nearly senseless, with the
perspiration bursting out at every pore, and require a draught of
water to restore him; and although myself a smoker, yet, on the only
occasion when I tried this mode of using tobacco, the sensations of
nausea and faintness were produced.' There is something new in the
idea of taking whiffs of ready-made smoke, which might perhaps be
turned to account by enterprising purveyors of social enjoyments on
this side of the world.
After the abortive attempt to establish the colony of 'North
Australia' at Port Curtis, at a cost of L.15,000, and the abandonment
of Port Essington, it is not uninteresting to learn that Cape York
presents many natural capabilities for a settlement. There is a good
harbour, safe anchorage, abundance of fresh water all the year round,
and a moderate extent of cultivable land, all of which will help to
constitute it a desirable coaling station for the contemplated line of
steamers from Sydney to Singapore and India. The Port-Essington
experiment was so complete a failure, that after trying for eleven
years, the colonists were 'not even able to keep themselves in fresh
vegetables.' Fortunately, but little encouragement was ever offered to
permanent settlers, or the disappointments caused by an unproductive
soil and unhealthy climate would have been greatly multiplied. A
singular example of the _lex talionis_ occurred among the natives at
this place. One of them having been severely wounded in punishment for
an offence, the penalty was considered too severe, and 'it was finally
determined that, upon Munjerrijo's recovery, the two natives who had
wounded him should offer their heads to him to be struck with a
club--the usual way, it would appear, of settling such matters.'
Here we find, too, another of those instances of intelligence in a
native, the more extraordinary when contrasted with the low mental
condition of the aborigines in general. Sir Thomas Mitchell, and other
Australian travellers, have spoken of their acutely-endowed guides in
terms almost of affection; and Mr Macgillivray relates that, during
his stay at Port Essington, a native named Neinmal became greatly
attached to him. 'One day,' he continues, 'while detained by rainy
weather at my camp, I was busy in skinning a fish; Neinmal watched me
attentively for some time, and then withdrew, but returned in half an
hour afterwards with the skin of another fish in his hand, prepared by
himself, and so well done, too, that it was added to the collection.
He went with us to Singapore, Java, and Sydney, and, from his great
good-humour, became a favourite with all on board--picking up the
English language with facility, and readily conforming himself to our
customs and the discipline of the ship. He was very cleanly in his
personal habits, and paid much attention to his dress, which was
always kept neat and tidy. I was often much amused and surprised by
the oddity and justness of his remarks upon the many strange sights
which a voyage of this kind brought before him.' The _Nemesis_ steamer
underweigh puzzled him at first; he then thought it was 'all same big
cart, only got him shingles (wooden roofing-tiles, so called) on
wheels!' Neinmal spoke of his countrymen as 'big fools,' and held
white men in such estimation, that he volunteered for a voyage to
England; but having been prevented, returned to Port Essington, where
he learned to read and write. His superiority rendered him obnoxious
to the older members of his family; and one day, while on a visit to
his tribe, 'he was roused from sleep to find himself surrounded by a
host of savages thirsting for his blood. They told him to rise, but he
merely raised himself upon his elbow, and said: "If you want to kill
me, do so where I am; I won't get up. Give me a spear and club, and
I'll fight you all one by one!" He had scarcely spoken, when he was
speared from behind; spear after spear followed, and as he lay
writhing on the ground, his savage murderers literally dashed him to
pieces with their clubs.'
In June 1849, the _Rattlesnake_ and _Bramble_ were at work in the
Louisiade Archipelago, finding out the safest channels and anchorages
among its numerous rocks, shoals, and reefs. The natives of some of
the islands had never seen Europeans before, yet seemed little
inclined to acknowledge the superiority of their visitors. They
manifested but little alarm on witnessing the effects of firearms; and
on one occasion attacked two of the ship's boats with a courage and
self-reliance extraordinary under the circumstances. In general
characteristics, they resemble the Torres Strait islanders: some of
them friz their hair up into a mop two feet in diameter, wear a comb
nearly a yard long, and bunches of dogs' teeth hanging behind, by way
of ornament, and take no little pride in adorning their persons with
paint and tattoo-marks, and flowers and plants of strong odour.
Bracelets of various kinds are a favourite decoration, and among these
the most curious 'is that made of a human lower jaw, with one or more
collar-bones closing the upper side, crossing from one angle to the
other. Whether these are the jaws of former friends or enemies,' says
Mr Macgillivray, 'we had no means of ascertaining; no great value
appeared to be attached to them; and it was observed, as a curious
circumstance, that none of these jaws had the teeth discoloured by the
practice of betel-chewing.'
A supply of yams being wanted, the cutter was sent one day at the
beginning of July to open a trade, if possible, with the natives of
Brierly Island, on which occasion 'Mr Brady took charge of the
bartering, and drawing a number of lines upon the sandy beach,
explained that when each was covered with a yam, he would give an axe
in return. At first, some little difficulty occurred, as the yams were
brought down very slowly--two or three at a time; but at length the
first batch was completed, and the axe handed over. The man who got it
had been trembling with anxiety for some time back, holding Mr Brady
by the arm, and watching the promised axe with eager eye. When he
obtained possession of it, he became quite wild with joy, laughing and
screaming, and flourishing the axe over his head. After this
commencement, the bartering went on briskly, amidst a great deal of
uproar--the men passing between the village and the beach at full
speed, with basketfuls of yams, and too intent on getting the _kiram
kelumai_ (iron axes) to think of anything else.' In this way, 368
pounds of yams were collected, at a cost of about a half-penny per
pound.
Among contrivances for procuring food, the natives of some of the
islands train the sucking-fish (_Echeneis remora_) for the chase in
the water, as dogs are trained to hunt on land. A line is made fast to
the creature's tail; it is then started in pursuit of prey, and as
soon as it has attached itself to a turtle, or any other 'game,' the
line is hauled in, and the prize secured. While the _Rattlesnake_ lay
at anchor, a number of sucking-fishes took up their quarters under her
bottom, and whenever the sailors dropped a bait overboard, it was
always seized by one of the _remoræ_, greatly to the annoyance of the
anglers on deck. 'Being quite a nuisance,' writes Mr Macgillivray,
'and useless as food, Jack often treated them as he would a shark, by
"spritsail-yarding," or some still less refined mode of torture. One
day, some of us, while walking the poop, had our attention directed to
a sucking-fish, about two and a half feet in length, which had been
made fast by the tail to a billet of wood, by a fathom or so of
spun-yarn, and turned adrift. An immense striped shark, apparently
about fourteen feet in length, which had been cruising about the ship
all the morning, sailed slowly up, and turning slightly on one side,
attempted to seize the seemingly helpless fish; but the sucker, with
great dexterity, made himself fast in a moment to the shark's back.
Off darted the monster at full speed--the sucker holding on as fast as
a limpet to a rock, and the billet towing astern. He then rolled over
and over, tumbling about, when, wearied with his efforts, he lay quiet
for a little. Seeing the float, the shark got it into his mouth, and
disengaging the sucker by a tug on the line, made a bolt at the fish;
but his puny antagonist was again too quick, and fixing himself close
behind the dorsal fin, defied the efforts of the shark to disengage
him, although he rolled over and over, lashing the water with his tail
until it foamed all round.' After such a spirited combat, it is
somewhat tantalising to read, that the final result could not clearly
be made out; it is scarcely possible, however, not to wish success to
the remora.
On the 18th August, a party landed on the coast of New Guinea, and
paid a friendly visit to some of the Papuans who had been off to the
ship, and found them less fierce and distrustful than those of the
islands. Some of them thought the muskets were water-vessels, and
others were afraid of a knife: it was too sharp. They are excellent
mimics; and one of them imitated the English drummer so cleverly on an
old tin-can, as to excite roars of laughter among all who witnessed
the performance. Some of their dances are extraordinary, more
resembling a fencing-match than movements of the light fantastic toe;
and the following description of a dance after nightfall is
curious:--'On seeing a number of lights along the beach, we at first
thought they proceeded from a fishing-party, but on looking through a
night-glass, the group was seen to consist of above a dozen people,
each carrying a blazing torch, and going through the movements of a
dance. At one time, they extended rapidly into line; at another,
closed, dividing into two parties, advancing and retreating, crossing
and recrossing, and mixing up with each other. This continued for half
an hour; and having apparently been got up for our amusement, a rocket
was sent up for theirs, and a blue-light burned; but the dancing had
ceased, and the lights disappeared.'
On the 1st October, the _Rattlesnake_ was again at Cape York. About
the middle of the month, an incident occurred which relieved the
dulness of a period of inactivity--the discovery and rescue of a white
woman, who had been for some time a prisoner among the natives. We
shall abridge Mr Macgillivray's narrative of her story. Her name is
Barbara Thomson; she was born at Aberdeen, and emigrated to New South
Wales with her parents. About four and a half years prior to the
event, she had accompanied her husband in a small cutter, to try to
save some part of the cargo of a whaler that had been wrecked on the
Bampton shoal. The pilot missed his route, two of the crew were
drowned by accident, another was left on a desert island, and at last
the little vessel, caught by a gale in Torres Strait, struck upon a
reef on Prince of Wales Island. The only two men left on board were
drowned in attempting to swim to shore; but the woman was saved by a
party of natives, one of whom, Boroto by name, forced her to live with
him as his wife, in which position she for a time was exposed to much
cruelty, owing to the jealousy of the women of the tribe. She
eventually was saved from persecution by a singular belief prevalent
among the natives--that white people are the ghosts of departed
aborigines--one of the principal among the blacks having persuaded
himself that he had found in her his long-lost daughter, after whom
Barbara was named Giom. The head-quarters of the tribe were on an
island, and the captive frequently saw vessels pass on their way to
Torres Strait, but without any opportunity of making her case known.
She had heard of the first arrival of the _Rattlesnake_ and tender at
Cape York; and on the last visit, had induced the blacks to escort her
to within a short distance of the anchorage, they believing that she
only wished to shake hands with her countrymen, and would soon return,
laden with knives, axes, and tobacco. Although lame, she hurried on,
fearing that her conductors might change their mind, and made towards
some of the ship's company, who were on shore shooting. Except a
fringe of leaves, she was quite naked, and her appearance was so dirty
and miserable, that they took her for a _gin_, or native woman, and
paid no attention to her, when she called out: 'I am a white woman;
why do you leave me?' She was immediately taken on board the ship, and
but just in time to escape from a small party of the tribe, who had
followed to detain her.
Mr Macgillivray continues: 'Upon being asked by Captain Stanley,
whether she really preferred remaining with us to accompanying the
natives back to their island, as she would be allowed her free choice
in the matter, she was so much agitated as to find difficulty in
expressing her thankfulness, making use of scraps of English
alternately with the Kowrarega language, and then, suddenly awakening
to the recollection that she was not understood, the poor creature
blushed all over, and with downcast eyes beat her forehead with her
hand, as if to assist in collecting her scattered thoughts. At length,
after a pause, she found words to say: "Sir, I am a Christian, and
would rather go back to my own friends." At the same tune, it was
remarked by every one that she had not lost the feelings of womanly
modesty; even after having lived so long among naked blacks, she
seemed acutely to feel the singularity of her position, dressed only
in a couple of shirts, in the midst of a crowd of her own countrymen.'
In accordance with her wish, Mrs Thomson was kept on board, and had a
cabin given up to her own use; good living and medical attendance soon
cured the soreness of her tanned and blistered skin, and the
ophthalmia, which had deprived her of the sight of one eye. The black
Boroto grew desperate when he found that she would not return to him,
and threatened to cut off her head to satisfy his vengeance--a
catastrophe which the rescued woman avoided by not going on shore; and
she was eventually handed over, in good condition, to her parents on
the return of the vessel to Sydney, at the beginning of 1850.
Shortly afterwards, to the great sorrow of all on board, Captain
Stanley died, at the early age of thirty-eight. He had brought his
scientific labours to a successful close, and might have looked
forward to a brief period of honourable repose; but the fatigue and
anxiety of a laborious survey in a hot climate, and the news of the
decease of his father, the late Bishop of Norwich, depressed him
beyond the power of recovery. This was not the only melancholy
incident connected with the _Rattlesnake's_ voyage. Mr Kennedy's
expedition had proved a most disastrous failure. The party, as we have
seen, had landed in Rockingham Bay, and commenced their journey
northwards, with a well-appointed caravan of carts, horses, and men,
all in high spirits. But more than a month elapsed before they could
extricate themselves from the swamps and scrub which cover that part
of the country; and at the beginning of November, five months later,
they had not advanced more than 400 miles in a direct line: nineteen
of the horses were dead, and the stock of provisions nearly exhausted.
Mr Kennedy then determined on pushing forwards, with a light party,
for Cape York, 150 miles distant, whence relief was to be sent to the
eight individuals who were left behind, nearly worn out with fatigue
and exhaustion. This party consisted of the leader; Jackey Jackey, a
faithful and intelligent native; and three of the strongest of the
men. One of the latter accidentally shot himself, and the other two
became so weak, that they also were left at an encampment, with as
large a supply of provisions as could be spared. After incredible
hardships, Mr Kennedy and his companion reached Escape River, twenty
miles from Cape York, where they were attacked by a party of natives,
while entangled in a scrub, and the gallant leader of the expedition
fell a victim to their ferocity. Three spears had entered his body,
and Jackey Jackey, in simple but touching words, describes his last
moments. 'Mr Kennedy,' he asked, after having carried the wounded man
out of sight of the natives, 'are you going to leave me?' 'Yes, my
boy, I am going to leave you,' was the reply of the dying man. 'I am
very bad, Jackey. You take the books, Jackey, to the captain; but not
the big ones: the governor will give anything for them.' 'I then tied
up the papers. He then said: "Jackey, give me paper, and I will
write." I gave him paper and pencil, and he tried to write; and he
then fell back and died, and I caught him as he fell back, and held
him, and I then turned round myself, and cried. I was crying a good
while, until I got well; that was about an hour, and then I buried
him, I dug up the ground with a tomahawk, and covered him over with
logs, then grass, and my shirt and trousers. That night I left him,
near dark.'
Jackey contrived to evade the pursuers, and a week afterwards got on
board the schooner, which was lying in Port Albany, Cape York, waiting
the arrival of Mr Kennedy's expedition. On learning the fatal result,
the captain sailed, in the hope of saving the men who had been left
behind. Of the two who had belonged to the advanced party, nothing was
discovered except some articles of clothing, and it was believed they
had perished. Of the eight first left near Weymouth Bay, two were
still alive, but in the last stage of exhaustion, having endured
privations and hardships almost without a parallel.
The brig _Freak_ was subsequently despatched from Sydney, for the
purpose of securing any papers or documents, or the mortal remains of
any of the unfortunate expedition. Jackey Jackey was on board, and by
means of his remarkable sagacity, led the way to the respective camps.
The bones of two of the men were found; also some of Mr Kennedy's
instruments, portions of his clothing, and his manuscript journal,
which had been hidden in the hollow of a tree; but after a minute
search for the place where his body had been buried, it could not be
discovered.
We might extend this painful narrative did our space permit; but we
must now close, with a recommendation of the book under notice to
those who are interested in the progress of natural or geographical
discovery.