We were underweigh before six o'clock the next morning, and after

steering by the wind for a short time towards the southward (on which

course the tide being against us we were making no progress) bore up with

the intention of hauling round the point to leeward for anchorage, whence

we might examine the place by the means of our boats, and wait for more

favourable weather; but upon reaching within half a mile of the point we

found that a shoal communication extended across to a string of islands

projecting several miles to sea in a West-North-West direction: in mid

channel the sea was breaking, and from the colour of the water it is more

than probable that a reef of rocks stretches the whole distance across

the strait; but this appearance, from the experience we afterwards had of

the navigation of this part, might have been produced by tide ripplings,

occasioned by the rapidity of the stream, and by its being contracted in

its passage through so narrow a pass; it was however too doubtful and

dangerous to attempt without having some resource to fly to in the event

of accident.

Being thus disappointed, we were under the necessity of steering round

the above-mentioned range of islands, and at nine o'clock were two miles

North-East by East from the small island 18, when our latitude by

observation was 15 degrees 57 minutes 56 seconds; the depth being

thirty-seven fathoms, and the bottom of coral mixed with sand, mud, and

shells.

To the westward and in a parallel direction with this line of islands was

another range, towards which we steered; at sunset we hauled to the wind

for the night, off the northernmost island which afterwards proved to be

the Caffarelli Island of Captain Baudin. Between these two ranges of

islands we only obtained one cast of the lead which gave us thirty-three

fathoms on a coral bottom. Upon referring to the French charts of this

part of the coast it appeared that we were in the vicinity of a reef

(Brue Reef) under which the French ships had anchored; and, as the night

was passed under sail, we were not a little anxious, fearing lest there

might be others in its neighbourhood.

August 19.

At daybreak Caffarelli Island bore South-South-East; and shortly

afterwards we had the satisfaction of seeing Brue Reef; it appeared to be

partly dry but of small extent.

We passed within half a mile of the dry rock that lies a mile and a half

from the west end of Caffarelli Island and afterwards endeavoured to

steer between the range of islands, of which Caffarelli is the

northernmost, and a group of rocky isles, marked 33; but finding we could

not succeed from the scanty direction of the wind, then blowing a fresh

breeze from South-East, we bore up round the west side of the latter and

then steered by the wind towards a group of which the island 40 is the

principal. On approaching 40 there appeared to be a channel round its

south-end; but afterwards observing the sea breaking in the direction of

our course, we tacked off to pass round the west extremity of the group,

towards two small low islands, 50 and 51, that were seen in the distance

bearing about South 84 degrees West. The tide, having been before in our

favour, was now against us, and, setting with great strength, drove us

near the rocks that front the islands to the northward of Island 40; the

wind was however sufficiently strong to enable us to clear the dangerous

situation we found ourselves in, but soon afterwards it fell to a light

air and we were carried by the tide rapidly towards the low rocky

extremity of the islets, which we were nearly thrown upon, when a breeze

suddenly sprung up again from the South-East and enabled us to clear this

impending danger. We were now drifting to the South by East through a

wide channel, sounding in between fifty and sixty fathoms, rocky bottom.

Had the evening been less advanced and the wind favourable, we could have

run through, and taken our chance of finding either anchorage or an open

sea; and although this would certainly have been hazarding a great risk,

yet it was of very little consequence in what part of the archipelago we

spent the night, as the spots which we might consider to be the most

dangerous might possibly be the least so. We had however no choice; we

were perfectly at the mercy of the tide, and had only to await patiently

its ebbing to drift us out as it carried us in.

By our calculations high-water should have taken place at a quarter past

four o'clock; every minute therefore after that time was passed by us

most anxiously. Every now and then we were in the midst of the most

violent ripplings and whirlpools, which sometimes whirled the vessel

round and round, to the danger of our masts. Five o'clock at last arrived

and the tide-eddies ceased, but the stream continued to run until a

quarter of an hour afterwards, when at last the brig began to drift out

slowly. To add now to the dilemma and the danger we were in a breeze

sprung up against us: had it continued calm we should have been drifted

back through the deepest part of the channel, over the same ground that

the flood had carried us in: we however made sail and beat out, and

before dark had made considerable progress; we then lost sight of the

land until eleven o'clock when some was seen to the eastward: at

half-past eleven we had a dead calm; and, to increase our anxiety, the

tide had begun to flow and to drift us towards the land, which was then

ascertained to be the group 33, on whose shores the sea was distinctly

heard to break. As midnight approached the noise became still more and

more plain; but the moon at that time rose and showed that our position

was very much more favourable than we had conjectured; for, by bearings

of Caffarelli Island and the body of 33 group, I found we were at least

two or three miles from the shore of the latter.

August 20.

A few minutes after midnight we were relieved from our fears by the

sudden springing up of a fresh breeze from South-West, and in a moment

found ourselves comparatively out of danger.

At daylight we were eight miles to the north-east of Caffarelli Island;

whence we steered to the South-West by West and South-South-West. Brue

Reef was seen as we passed by it. At noon our latitude was 16 degrees 14

minutes 1 second, Cape Leveque bearing South.

From noon until one o'clock we were steering South-South-West, but made

no progress, on account of an adverse tide which occasionally formed such

strong eddies and ripplings that we were several times obliged to steer

off to get without their influence. The land of Cape Leveque is low, and

presents a sandy beach lined by a rocky reef, extending off the shore for

a mile, on many parts of which the sea was breaking heavily: the land was

clothed with a small brush wood, but altogether the coast presented a

very unproductive appearance, and reminded us of the triste and arid

character of the North-West Cape.

On laying down upon the chart the plan of this part, I found Cape Leveque

to be the point which Dampier anchored under when on his buccaneering

voyage in the Cygnet in 1688. He says: "We fell in with the land of New

Holland in 16 degrees 50 minutes, we ran in close by it, and finding no

convenient anchoring, because it lies open to the North-West, we ran

along shore to the eastward, steering North-East by East, for so the land

lies. We steered thus about two leagues, and then came to a point of

land, from whence the land trends east and southerly for ten or twelve

leagues; but how, afterwards, I know not. About three leagues to the

eastward of this point there is a pretty deep bay with abundance of

islands in it, and a very good place to anchor in or to hale ashore.

About a league to the eastward of that point we anchored in twenty-nine

fathom, good hard sand and clean ground." He then proceeds to say: "This

part of it (the coast) that we saw is all low, even land, with sandy

banks against the sea, only the points are rocky, and so are some of the

islands in the bay."*

(*Footnote. Dampier volume 1 page 462.)

From this description I have little hesitation in settling Cape Leveque

to be the point he passed round. In commemoration, therefore, of his

visit, the name of Buccaneer's Archipelago was given to the cluster of

isles that fronts Cygnet Bay, which was so-called after the name of the

ship in which he sailed. The point within Cape Leveque was named Point

Swan after the Captain of the ship; and to a remarkable lump in the

centre of the Archipelago the name of Dampier's Monument was assigned.

During the last four days we have laid down upwards of eighty islands

upon the chart, and from the appearance of the land it is not improbable

but that there may be as many more behind them.

Had we even recognised the bay above alluded to by Dampier before we

passed round Cape Leveque, we could not have anchored in it for the wind

was blowing strong from the northward, and a heavy swell was rolling,

which would have placed us in rather a dangerous situation, besides its

being exposed to easterly winds, which for the last two or three days had

blown very strong. During the time we had been among these islands, we

had not met with a single spot that we could have anchored upon without

the almost certain loss of our anchor; and the weather had been so very

thick and hazy that only the land in the vicinity of the vessel's

situation could be at all distinguished; and these disadvantages, added

to the great strength of the wind and the rapidity of the tides, had

materially prevented us from making ourselves better acquainted with the

place. It is remarkable that as soon as we passed round the Champagny

Isles, hazy weather commenced, and continued without intermission until

we were to the westward of Cape Leveque. The French complain of the same

thing; and they were so deceived by it that, in their first voyage, they

laid down Adele Island as a part of the main, when it is only a sandy

island about two or three miles long. No natives were seen on any of the

islands but there were many large smokes on the horizon at the back of

Cygnet Bay.

We were now beginning to feel the effects of this fatiguing duty.

One-fourth of the people who kept watch were ill with bilious or feverish

attacks, and we had never been altogether free from sickness since our

arrival upon the coast. Mr. Montgomery's wound was, however, happily

quite healed, and Mr. Roe had also returned to his duty; but Mr.

Cunningham, who had been confined to the vessel since the day we arrived

in Careening Bay, was still upon the sick list. Our passage up the east

coast, the fatigues of watering and wooding at Prince Regent's River, and

our constant harassing employment during the examination of the coast

between Hanover Bay and Cape Leveque, had produced their bad effects upon

the constitutions of our people. Every means were taken to prevent

sickness: preserved meats were issued two days in the week in lieu of

salt provisions; and this diet, with the usual proportions of lemon-juice

and sugar, proved so good an anti-scorbutic that, with a few trifling

exceptions, no case of scurvy occurred. Our dry provisions had suffered

much from rats and cockroaches; but this was not the only way these

vermin annoyed us, for, on opening a keg of musket ball cartridges, we

found, out of 750 rounds, more than half the number quite destroyed, and

the remainder so injured as to be quite useless.

August 21.

The following day we made very little progress, from light winds in the

morning and a dead calm the whole of the evening. At sunset we anchored

at about four miles from the shore, in seventeen fathoms sandy ground.

During the afternoon we were surrounded by an immense number of whales,

leaping out of the water and thrashing the sea with their fins; the noise

of which, from the calmness and perfect stillness of the air, was as loud

as the report of a volley of musketry. Some remorae were also swimming

about the vessel the whole day, and a snake about four feet long, of a

yellowish brown colour, rose up alongside, but instantly dived upon

seeing the vessel.

August 22.

High-water took place the next morning at twenty-six minutes after six

o'clock, at which time we got underweigh with a moderate land-breeze from

South-South-East, and steered to the southward along the shore. At noon

we were in latitude 16 degrees 30 minutes 19 seconds, Cape Borda bearing

South 42 1/2 degrees East. Soon after noon the sea-breeze sprung up from

the northward and, veering to North-West, carried us to the southward

along the coast which is low and sandy. At three o'clock we were abreast

of a point which was conjectured to be the land laid down by the French

as Emeriau Island; the name has therefore been retained, with the

alteration only of Point for Island. To the eastward of Cape Borda the

coast falls back and forms a bay, the bottom of which was visible from

our masthead and appeared to be composed of sand-downs. From Point

Emeriau the coast trends to the south-west, and preserves the same sandy

character. At five o'clock Lacepede Islands, which were seen by Captain

Baudin, were in sight to the westward; and at sunset we anchored in eight

fathoms, at about three leagues within them. These islands are three in

number, and appear to be solely inhabited by boobies and other sea-fowl:

they are low and sandy and all slightly crowned with a few shrubby

bushes; the reef that encompasses them seemed to be of great extent.

August 23.

The next day we were steering along the shore, and passed a sandy

projection which was named Cape Baskerville, after one of the midshipman

of the Bathurst. To the southward of Cape Baskerville the coast trends

in, and forms Carnot Bay; it then takes a southerly direction. It is here

that Tasman landed, according to the following extract from Dalrymple's

Papua: "In Hollandia Nova, in 17 degrees 12 minutes South (Longitude 121

degrees, or 122 degrees East) Tasman found a naked, black people, with

curly hair, malicious and cruel; using for arms, bows and arrows,

hazeygaeys and kalawaeys. They once came to the number of fifty, double

armed, dividing themselves into two parties, intending to have surprised

the Dutch, who had landed twenty-five men; but the firing of guns

frightened them so, that they fled. Their proas are made of the bark of

trees; their coast is dangerous; there are few vegetables; the people use

no houses."

At noon our latitude was 17 degrees 13 minutes 29 seconds. At four

o'clock we were abreast of Captain Baudin's Point Coulomb, which M. De

Freycinet describes to be the projection at which the Red Cliffs

commence. The interior is here higher than to the northward, and

gradually rises, at the distance of eight miles from the shore, to wooded

hills, and bears a more pleasing and verdant appearance than we have seen

for some time past; but the coast still retains the same sandy and

uninviting character. During the afternoon we had but a light sea-breeze

from the westward; and at sunset the anchor was dropped in thirteen

fathoms fine soft sand, at about six miles from the shore. Large flocks

of boobies flew over the vessel at sunset, directing their course towards

the reefs of Lacepede Islands, and in the direction of the Whale Bank,

which, according to the French chart of this part, lies in the offing to

the westward. As no island was noticed by us in the position assigned to

Captain Baudin's Carnot Island, the bay to the southward of Cape

Baskerville has received that name. The smokes of fires have been noticed

at intervals of every four or five miles along the shore, from which it

may be inferred that this part of the coast is very populous. Captain

Dampier saw forty Indians together, on one of the rocky islands to the

eastward of Cape Leveque, and, in his quaint style, gives the subjoined

interesting account of them:

"The inhabitants of this country are the miserablest people in the world.

The Hodmadods of Monomatapa, though a nasty people, yet for wealth are

gentlemen to these; who have no houses, and skin garments, sheep,

poultry, and fruits of the earth, ostrich eggs, etc., as the Hodmadods

have: and setting aside their human shape, they differ but little from

brutes. They are tall, straight-bodied, and thin, with small, long limbs.

They have great heads, round foreheads, and great brows. Their eye-lids

are always half closed, to keep the flies out of their eyes; they being

so troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's

face; and without the assistance of both hands to keep them off, they

will creep into one's nostrils, and mouth too, if the lips are not shut

very close; so that from their infancy, being thus annoyed with these

insects, they do never open their eyes as other people; and therefore

they cannot see far, unless they hold up their heads, as if they were

looking at somewhat over them.

"They have great bottle-noses, pretty full lips, and wide mouths. The two

fore-teeth of their upper jaw are wanting in all of them, men and women,

old and young; whether they draw them out, I know not: neither have they

any beards. They are long-visaged, and of a very unpleasant aspect,

having no one graceful feature in their faces. Their hair is black, short

and curled, like that of the negroes; and not long and lank like the

common Indians. The colour of their skins, both of their faces and the

rest of their body, is coal-black, like that of the negroes of Guinea.*

(*Footnote. The natives of Hanover Bay, with whom we communicated, were

not deprived of their front teeth, and wore their beards long; they also

differed from the above description in having their hair long and curly.

Dampier may have been deceived in this respect, and from the use that

they make of their hair, by twisting it up into a substitute for thread,

they had probably cut it off close, which would give them the appearance

of having woolly hair like the negro.)

"They have no sort of clothes, but a piece of the rind of a tree tied

like a girdle about their waists, and a handful of long grass, or three

or four small green boughs full of leaves, thrust under their girdle, to

cover their nakedness.

"They have no houses, but lie in the open air without any covering; the

earth being their bed, and the heaven their canopy. Whether they cohabit

one man to one woman, or promiscuously, I know not; but they do live in

companies, twenty or thirty men, women, and children together. Their only

food is a small sort of fish, which they get by making weirs of stone

across little coves or branches of the sea; every tide bringing in the

small fish, the there leaving them for a prey to these people, who

constantly attend there to search for them at low water. This small fry I

take to be the top of their fishery: they have no instruments to catch

great fish, should they come; and such seldom stay to be left behind at

low water: nor could we catch any fish with our hooks and lines all the

while we lay there. In other places at low water they seek for cockles,

mussels, and periwinkles. Of these shell-fish there are fewer still; so

that their chief dependence is upon what the sea leaves in their wares;

which, be it much or little, they gather up, and march to the places of

their abode. There the old people that are not able to stir abroad by

reason of their age, and the tender infants, wait their return; and what

Providence has bestowed on them, they presently broil on the coals, and

eat it in common. Sometimes they get as many fish as makes them a

plentiful banquet; and at other times they scarce get every one a taste;

but be it little or much that they get, every one has his part, as well

the young and tender, the old and feeble, who are not able to go abroad,

as the strong and lusty. When they have eaten they lie down till the next

low water, and then all that are able march out, be it night or day, rain

or shine, 'tis all one; they must attend the weirs, or else they must

fast; for the earth affords them no food at all. There is neither herb,

root, pulse, nor any sort of grain for them to eat, that we saw; nor any

sort of bird or beast that they can catch, having no instruments

wherewithal to do so.

"I did not perceive that they did worship anything. These poor creatures

have a sort of weapon to defend their weir, or fight with their enemies,

if they have any that will interfere with their poor fishery. They did at

first endeavour with their weapons to frighten us, who, lying ashore,

deterred them from one of their fishing-places. Some of them had wooden

swords, others had a sort of lances. The sword is a piece of wood shaped

somewhat like a cutlass.* The lance is a long straight pole, sharp at one

end, and hardened afterwards by heat. I saw no iron, nor any sort of

metal; therefore it is probable they use stone hatchets, as some Indians

in America do, described in Chapter 4.

(*Footnote. Probably a boomerang. See volume 1.)

"How they get their fire I know not; but probably as Indians do, out of

wood. I have seen the Indians of Bon-Airy do it, and have myself tried

the experiment. They take a flat piece of wood that is pretty soft, and

make a small dent in one side of it, then they take another hard, round

stick, about the bigness of one's little finger, and sharpened at one end

like a pencil, they put that sharp end in the hole or dent of the flat

soft piece, and then rubbing or twirling the hard piece between the palm

of their hands, they drill the soft piece till it smokes, and at last

takes fire.

"These people speak somewhat through the throat; but we could not

understand one word that they said. We anchored, as I said before,

January the 5th, and seeing men walking on the shore, we presently sent a

canoe to get some acquaintance with them; for we were in hopes to get

some provision among them. But the inhabitants, seeing our boat coming,

run away and hid themselves. We searched afterwards three days in hopes

to find their houses, but found none; yet we saw many places where they

had made fires. At last, being out of hopes to find their habitations, we

searched no farther; but left a great many toys ashore, in such places

where we thought they would come. In all our search we found no water,

but old wells on the sandy bays.

"At last we went over to the islands, and there we found a great many of

the natives; I do believe there were forty on one island, men, women, and

children. The men on our first coming ashore, threatened us with their

lances and swords; but they were frightened by firing one gun, which we

fired purposely to scare them. The island was so small that they could

not hide themselves; but they were much disordered at our landing,

especially the women and children; for we went directly to their camp.

The lustiest of the women snatching up their infants ran away howling,

and the little children run after squeaking and bawling; but the men

stood still. Some of the women, and such people as could not go from us,

lay still by a fire, making a doleful noise, as if we had been coming to

devour them: but when they saw we did not intend to harm them, they were

pretty quiet, and the rest that fled from us at our first coming,

returned again. This their place of dwelling was only a fire, with a few

boughs before it, set up on the side the winds was of.

"After we had been here a little while, the men began to be familiar, and

we clothed some of them, designing to have some service of them for it;

for we found some wells of water here, and intended to carry two or three

barrels of it aboard. But it being somewhat troublesome to carry to the

canoes, we thought to have made these men to have carried it for us, and

therefore we gave them some old clothes; to one an old pair of breeches,

to another a ragged shirt, to the third a jacket that was scarce worth

owning; which yet would have been very acceptable at some places where we

had been, and so we thought they might have been with these people. We

put them on them, thinking that this finery would have brought them to

work heartily for us; and our water being filled in small long barrels,

about six gallons in each, which were made purposely to carry water in,

we brought these our new servants to the wells, and put a barrel on each

of their shoulders for them to carry to the canoe. But all the signs we

could make were to no purpose, for they stood like statues, without

motion, but grinned like so many monkeys, staring one upon another; for

these poor creatures seem not accustomed to carry burdens; and I believe

that one of our ship-boys of ten years old would carry as much as one of

them. So we were forced to carry our water ourselves, and they very

fairly put the clothes off again, and laid them down, as if clothes were

only to work in. I did not perceive that they had any great liking to

them at first, neither did they seem to admire anything that we had.

"At another time our canoe being among these islands seeking for game,

espied a drove of these men swimming from one island to another; for they

have no boats, canoes, or bark-logs. They took four of them, and brought

them aboard; two of them were middle-aged, the other two were young men

about eighteen or twenty years old. To these we gave boiled rice, and

with it turtle and manatee boiled. They did greedily devour what we gave

them, but took no notice of the ship, or any thing in it, and when they

were set on land again, they ran away as fast as they could. At our first

coming, before we were acquainted with them, or they with us, a company

of them who lived on the main, came just against our ship, and standing

on a pretty high bank, threatened us with their swords and lances, by

shaking them at us: at last the captain ordered the drum to be beaten,

which was done of a sudden with much vigour, purposely to scare the poor

creatures. They hearing the noise, ran away as fast as they could drive;

and when they ran away in haste, they would cry gurry, gurry, speaking

deep in the throat. Those inhabitants also that live on the main would

always run away from us; yet we took several of them. For, as I have

already observed, they had such bad eyes, that they could not see us till

we came close to them. We did always give them victuals, and let them go

again, but the islanders, after our first time of being among them, did

not stir for us."*

(*Footnote. Dampier volume 1 page 464 et seq.)

At this anchorage we perceived very little rise and fall of tide, and the

flood and ebb both set to the northward, this was also the case at our

anchorage within the Lacepede Islands. At four o'clock the next morning a

strong south-easterly breeze sprang up, and moderated again before we

weighed; but no sooner were we under sail than it freshened again, and,

at half-past five o'clock, blew so strong as to oblige our double reefing

the topsails, which had not been done for many weeks before. At noon the

wind fell, and was very calm, at which time our latitude observed was 17

degrees 36 minutes 38 seconds. The highest part of the land bore North 70

1/2 degrees East, south of which a sandy point, supposed to be Captain

Baudin's Cape Boileau, bore South 87 degrees East; and a smoke, a little

to the northward of the masthead extreme, bearing South 42 degrees East

must be upon the land in the neighbourhood of Cape Latreille.

Soon after noon the breeze veered round by South to West-South-West, and

enabled us to make some progress; at sunset we again anchored in thirteen

fathoms, soft sand, at six miles from a sandy projection of the main,

which we afterwards found to be the land called by Captain Baudin,

Gantheaume Island; the name has therefore been given to the point, for

there was no appearance of its being insulated. It bears a truly desolate

appearance, being nothing but ridges of bare white sand, scantily crowned

with a few shrubby bushes.

Behind Point Gantheaume the land appeared to be formed by downs of very

white sand; and between this point and Cape Boileau is a bay, which at

first, from the direction of the flood stream at the anchorage, was

conjectured to be an inlet; but as the tide afterwards set to the

Northward and North-East, it was concluded to be occasioned by the stream

sweeping round the shores of the bay: according to the depth alongside

there was a rise of ten feet; after high-water the ebb set between North

1/2 West and North-North-East, at the rate of a quarter to three quarters

of a knot.

During the whole day the horizon was occupied by haze, and produced a

very remarkable effect upon the land, which was so raised above the

horizon by refraction that many distant objects became visible that could

not otherwise have been seen. This mirage had been frequently observed by

us on various parts of the coast, but never produced so extraordinary an

effect as on the present occasion. The coastline appeared to be formed of

high chalky cliffs, crowned by a narrow band of woody hillocks; and the

land of Cape Villaret was so elevated as to be distinctly seen at the

distance of forty miles, whereas two days afterwards, the weather being

clear, it was not visible above the horizon for more than five leagues.

This state of the atmosphere caused a rapid evaporation during the day,

and as the evening approached a very copious dew commenced falling, which

by sunset was precipitated like a shower of rain.

The next morning the land was again enveloped in haze, but at seven

o'clock it cleared off a little, and the coast was observed to trend

round Point Gantheaume to the south-east, but as we had last evening seen

it as far to the westward as South-West by South, we steered in the

latter direction under the idea of there being no opening to the

southward of the point, since the flood-tide flowed from it instead of

towards it, as it naturally would have done had there been any inlet of

consequence thereabout.

As usual, we had been surrounded by whales, and large flights of boobies;

one of the latter lighted upon the deck this afternoon, and was easily

taken; it seemed to be the same bird (Pelecanus fiber) that frequents the

reefs upon the north and north-eastern coasts. Between sunrise and midday

our progress was much retarded by light south-easterly winds. At noon we

were in 17 degrees 51 minutes 45 seconds South: after which the

sea-breeze set in from South-South-West and South-West, and we steered to

the southward. The land was now visible considerably to the southward of

Point Gantheaume, but of a very low and sandy character; and as we

proceeded it came in sight to the South-South-West. At sunset we anchored

about five or six miles to the north of Captain Baudin's Cape Villaret;

the extreme, which was in sight a little without it, was doubtless his

Cape Latouche-Treville. From Cape Villaret the land trended to the

East-North-East, and was seen very nearly to join the shore at the back

of Point Gantheaume.

The dew was precipitated as copiously this evening as the last, and the

sun set in a very dense bank; but the night was throughout fine. We now

began to experience a more considerable set of tide than we had found

since rounding Cape Leveque, for the rate was as much as a knot and a

half; but as the tides were neaped it only rose nine feet.

At an anchorage near this spot, in the year 1699, Captain Dampier remarks

that the tide rose and fell five fathoms, and ran so strong that his

nun-buoy would not watch: but the French expedition, at an anchorage a

little to the southward, found the flood-tide to set South-South-East and

to rise only nine feet, the moon being then three days past her full. All

these particulars have been mentioned, since it is from the nature of the

tides that Captain Dampier formed his hypothesis of the existence of

either a strait or an opening between this and the Rosemary Islands; but

from our experience it would appear more probable that these great tides

are occasioned by the numerous inlets that intersect the coast between

this and Cape Voltaire; a further examination, however, can only prove

the real cause.

August 26.

At daylight (26th) we weighed with a light breeze from South-West, but

soon afterwards falling calm, and the tide drifting us to the South-East

the anchor was again dropped: ten minutes afterwards a land breeze from

East-South-East sprung up, to which we again weighed, but no sooner were

we under sail than we were enveloped in a thick mist that blew off the

land, where it had been collecting for the last two days. At eleven

o'clock the fog cleared away to seaward, but the land was screened from

our view until noon, when a sea breeze from west gradually dispersed the

fog, and the hillocky summit of Cape Latouche-Treville was seen, bearing

South 17 degrees West. At half-past twelve two rocky lumps on the land to

the westward of Cape Villaret were seen, and very soon afterwards the

hill on the cape made its appearance. Between Capes Villaret and

Latouche-Treville is a bay formed by very low sandy land, slightly

clothed with a stunted vegetation. The wind was now unfavourable for our

approaching the land, and after standing off to sea and then towards the

shore we anchored in thirteen fathoms coarse sand.

At this anchorage we found a still greater difference in the tides than

was experienced the night preceding; the flood set South-East by East and

East-South-East; and the ebb from North-North-East round to

West-North-West; the rise was sixteen feet and a half, from which it

would appear probable that there must be some reason for so great an

indraught of water into the bight between Cape Villaret and Point

Gantheaume, which I have named Roebuck Bay, after the ship that Captain

Dampier commanded when he visited this part of the coast.

As the wind now blew constantly from the South-West, or from some

southern direction, and caused our progress to be very slow and tedious;

and as the shore for some distance to the southward of Cape

Latouche-Treville had been partly seen by the French, I resolved upon

leaving the coast. Our water was also nearly expended, and our

provisions, generally, were in a very bad state; besides which the want

of a second anchor was so much felt that we dared not venture into any

difficulty where the appearance of the place invited a particular

investigation, on account of the exposed nature of the coast, and the

strength of the tides, which were now near the springs: upon every

consideration, therefore, it was not deemed prudent to rely any longer

upon the good fortune that had hitherto so often attended us in our

difficulties.

August 27.

Accordingly after weighing, we steered off by the wind, and directed our

course for Mauritius.

1821. September 22.

On the 22nd September at daylight after a passage of twenty-five days we

saw Roderigues, five or six leagues to the northward. In the evening a

fresh gale sprung up from the southward and we experienced very bad

weather: at noon of the 24th by our calculation we were seventy-three

miles due East from the north end of Mauritius and, having the day before

experienced a westerly current of one mile per hour, we brought to at

sunset for the night, from the fear of getting too near the shore.

September 25.

At daylight the following morning, being by the reckoning only

thirty-four miles to the eastward of the north end of the island, we bore

up for it; but the land, being enveloped in clouds, was not seen until

noon; we then found ourselves off the south-east end, instead of the

north point; having been set to the southward since yesterday noon at the

rate of three quarters of a mile an hour: in consequence of which we

determined upon going round the south side, and bore up for that purpose;

upon approaching the land we found another current setting us to the

north.

September 26.

The next morning at nine o'clock we passed round the Morne Brabant, the

south-west point of the island, but it was four o'clock before we reached

our anchorage (at a cable's length within the flag beacon at the entrance

of Port Louis) in fifteen fathoms mud; we were then visited by the Health

Officer, and afterwards by a boat from H.M. Ship Menai, which was at

anchor in the port.

September 27.

But as it was too late that evening to enter the brig was not moved until

the following morning, when she was warped in and moored head and stern

within the harbour.

My wants were immediately made known to Captain Moresby, C.B. (of H.M.

Ship Menai) who directed the necessary repairs to be performed by the

carpenters of his ship; those articles which could not be supplied from

the Menai's stores were advertised for in the Mauritius Gazette, when the

most reasonable tenders were accepted.

As many of the carpenters and caulkers of the Menai as could be spared

from their other occupations were daily employed upon our repairs; but

from her being put into quarantine and other unforeseen delays they were

not completed for nearly a month: our sails were repaired by the Menai's

sailmakers; and, as all our running rigging was condemned and we had very

little spare rope on board, her rope-makers made sufficient for our

wants. The greater part of our bread, being found in a damaged state from

leaks, was surveyed and condemned.

Captain Flinders' account of Mauritius appears to have been drawn up with

much correctness and judgment, and is, even at the present day, so

descriptive of the island as to be considered, both by the English and

French residents of Port Louis, as the best that has yet been given to

the world. Many alterations and considerable improvements have however

taken place since his departure, and among the latter the improved system

of the culture of the sugar cane, and the introduction of modern

machinery into their mills, may be particularly mentioned. These have

been effected entirely by the political changes that have, since Captain

Flinders' captivity, taken place in the government of the island; and by

the example and exertions of the English, who possess very large

plantations, and indeed may be considered now as the principal

proprietors of the land.

(*Footnote. It afforded me very great pleasure to hear the high terms in

which my late friend and predecessor Captain Flinders was spoken of by

the inhabitants of this island, and their general regret at his infamous

detention. His friend M. Pitot had lately died, but I met many French

gentlemen who were acquainted with him. General Decaen, the governor, was

so much disliked by the inhabitants that Captain Flinders gained many

friends at his expense who would not otherwise have troubled themselves

about him; and this circumstance probably went far towards increasing the

severity of the treatment he so unjustly received. An anecdote of him was

related to me by a resident of Port Louis, which, as it redounds to his

honour, I cannot lose the gratification of recording.

When Captain Flinders was at the house of Madame d'Arifat in the district

of Plains Wilhelms, in which he was latterly permitted to reside upon his

parole, an opportunity of escaping from the island was offered to him by

the commander of a ship bound to India: it was urged to him by his

friends that, from the tyrannical treatment he had received and the

unjustifiable detention he was enduring, no parole to such a man as

General Decaen ought to be thought binding or prevent him from regaining

his liberty and embracing any opportunity of returning to his friends and

country. The escape was well planned, and no chance of discovery likely

to happen: the ship sailed from Port Louis, and at night, bringing to on

the leeward side of the island abreast of Captain Flinders' residence,

sent a boat to the appointed spot which was six miles only from Madame

d'Arifat's house; but after waiting until near daylight without the

captain making his appearance the boat returned to the vessel, which was

obliged to pursue her voyage to prevent suspicion.

It is almost needless to add that Captain Flinders did not think it

consistent with his feelings to take advantage of the opportunity, nor to

effect his escape from imprisonment by a conduct so disgraceful to the

character of a British officer and to the honourable profession to which

he belonged.)

For some years past coffee has entirely failed upon the island and cotton

is seldom seen growing. The principal attention of the habitans appeared

to be given to the cultivation of the sugar cane and maize, both of which

had begun to produce an abundant return to the planters; the manihot is

also generally cultivated: but the dreadful effects of the hurricanes to

which this island is exposed render property of so precarious and

doubtful a tenure that nothing is secure until the season for these

destructive visitations is over; they last from the beginning of December

to the end of April and generally occur about the full of the moon, being

invariably preceded by an unsteady motion of the mercury in the

barometer. They are not always so violent as to be termed hurricanes: the

last experienced before our visit was merely a coup de vent, by which

very little damage was sustained.*

(*Footnote. In the month of January, 1824 this unfortunate island was

again visited and laid waste by a tremendous hurricane that did very

considerable damage, and has in a great measure destroyed the prosperous

state which the island was beginning to arrive at from the previous long

absence of this dreadful visitation.)

The town of Port Louis which is at the north-west, or leeward, side of

the island, is built at the extremity of an amphitheatre of low land,

backed in by a high and precipitous range, upon which Peter Botte and the

Pouce are conspicuous features. The streets are laid out at rightangles,

the principal of which lead from the Chaussee to the Champ de Mars, a

plot of grassy land about half a mile square that intervenes between the

town and the hills. This is the promenade, the drive, the racecourse,

and, in fact, the principal resort for the inhabitants. It is skirted by

houses and gardens and is a valuable acquisition to the town. The

Chaussee and other streets are well furnished with useful shops of which

those of the Tinman, the Druggist, and the Conservateur et Patissier, are

the most numerous.

The houses, generally of wood, are irregularly built, and far from being

elegant in their appearance; those however that have been lately

constructed by our countrymen have already given the place an appearance

of solidity that it could not boast of before, and several substantial

stone dwellings and stones have lately been erected. The roads for seven

or eight miles out of the town, leading to Pamplemousses, to Plains

Wilhelms and to Moca districts, are very good and are kept in repair

partly by Malabar convicts from India; but travelling beyond that

distance is performed in palanquins which four bearers will carry, at a

steady pace, at the rate of six miles per hour.

At the time of our visit there were few fruits ripe; but when we were

about to sail the mango of delicious flavour began to be common; besides

which there were coconuts, guavas, papaws, grapes, the letchy (or

let-chis, a Chinese fruit) and some indifferent pineapples. The ship's

company were supplied daily with fresh beef and vegetables. The latter

were procured in abundance at the bazaar and were exceedingly fine,

particularly carrots and cabbages of an unusually large size and fine

flavour. Bullocks are imported into the island from Madagascar, in which

trade there are two vessels constantly engaged during the fine season.

Horses are very scarce; they are imported from the Cape of Good Hope and

fetch a high price: a cargo of a hundred and seventy-seven mules arrived

from Buenos Ayres while we were at Port Louis, which, on being sold by

auction, averaged each one hundred and eighty dollars. To encourage the

importation of these useful animals a premium of five dollars is offered

by the government for every mule that is brought alive to the island.

The circulating medium was principally of paper but bore a very great

depreciation; the premium upon bills of exchange upon Europe, at the time

of our departure, was as much as 66 to 76 per cent, and upon silver coin

there was a depreciation of 45 per cent.

On the voyage to this place three charts of the north-west coast were

reduced and copied by Mr. Roe and were forwarded to the Admiralty by H.M.

Sloop Cygnet, together with a brief account of our voyage from the time

that we parted company with the Dick, off Cape Van Diemen.

No observations were taken at this place excepting for ascertaining the

rates of the chronometers, and for the variation and dip of the magnetic

needle: the former being 12 degrees 31 minutes West, and the latter 51

degrees 42 minutes 1 second. The situation of the observatory has been

long since fixed by the Abbe de la Caille in 20 degrees 10 minutes South

latitude, and 57 degrees 29 minutes East longitude.

I cannot conclude this very brief account of our visit to Mauritius

without expressing my acknowledgments for the civilities and hospitality

we received from our countrymen at Port Louis, particularly from His

Excellency Sir Robert T. Farquhar, Bart., who so long and ably presided

as Governor of the Island; and for the valuable assistance rendered me in

our re-equipment by Captain Fairfax Moresby, C.B., of H.M. Ship Menai,

for which the expedition I had the honour to command is under more than a

common professional obligation.

CHAPTER 3.

Departure from Port Louis.

Voyage to the South-west Coast of New Holland.

Anchor in King George the Third's Sound.

Occurrences there.

Visited by the Natives.

Our intercourse with them.

Descriptions of their weapons and other implements.

Vocabulary of their language.

Meteorological and other observations.

Edible plants.

Testaceous productions.

1821. November 10.

On the 10th November we were ready for sea.

November 15.

But, from various delays, did not quit the port until the 15th. At

midnight we passed round the Morne Brabant, and the next evening at

sunset saw the high land of Bourbon: for the first two days we had

south-east winds and upon reaching the parallel of 25 degrees, the winds

became light and baffling with calms.

November 21.

But as we advanced more to the southward they gradually veered to east

and north-east, and afterwards to north-west, with very fine weather.

November 28.

We did not get out of the influence of these variable winds until the

28th when we were at noon in latitude 32 degrees 47 minutes and longitude

65 degrees 5 minutes; after which we encountered westerly winds and rough

weather. On the whole we had a very quick passage to the coast of New

Holland; and for the last week were expedited by a strong westerly gale

without encountering any accident or the occurrence of any circumstance

worth recording.

1821. December 23.

On the 23rd December at daylight the land about Cape Chatham was in

sight, and a course was directed to the eastward for King George's Sound;

where it was my intention to complete our wood and water previous to

commencing the examination of the west coast. At four o'clock in the

afternoon we hauled round Bald Head and, entering the Sound, soon

afterwards anchored at one mile from the entrance of Princess Royal

Harbour.

December 24.

Having at our former visit re-fitted at Oyster Harbour, I wished on this

occasion to try Princess Royal Harbour; but as I was both unacquainted

with its entrance, as well as its convenience for our purposes, excepting

from Captain Flinders' account, I hoisted the boat out early the next

morning, to make the necessary examination before the sea-breeze

commenced. Whilst the boat was preparing a distant shouting was heard,

and upon our looking attentively towards the entrance several Indians

were seen sitting on the rocks on the north head hallooing and waving to

us, but no further notice than a return of their call was taken until

after breakfast, when we pulled towards them in the whale-boat. As we

drew near the shore they came down to receive us and appeared from their

gestures to invite our landing; but in this they were disappointed, for,

after a little vociferation and gesture on both sides, we pulled into the

harbour, whilst they walked along the beach abreast the boat. As the

motions of every one of them were attentively watched it was evident that

they were not armed; each wore a kangaroo-skin cloak over his left

shoulder that covered the back and breast but left the right arm exposed.

Upon reaching the spot which Captain Flinders occupied in the

Investigator I found that the brig could not anchor near enough to the

shore to carry on our different operations without being impeded by the

natives, even though they should be amicably disposed. Our plan was

therefore altered and, as the anchorage formerly occupied by the Mermaid

in the entrance of Oyster Harbour would be on all accounts more

convenient for our purposes, I determined upon going thither.

By this time the natives had reached that part of the beach where the

boat was lying, and were wading through the water towards us; but as we

had no wish at present to communicate with them, for fear that, by

refusing anything we had in the boat, for which their importunity would

perhaps be very great, a quarrel might be occasioned, we pulled off into

deeper water where we remained for five minutes parleying with them,

during which they plainly expressed their disappointment and

mortification at our want of confidence. Upon making signs for fresh

water, which they instantly understood, they called out to us "badoo,

badoo," and pointed to a part of the bay where Captain Flinders has

marked a rivulet. Badoo, in the Port Jackson language, means water; it

was thought probable that they must have obtained it from some late

visitors; and in this opinion we were confirmed, for the word kangaroo

was also familiar to them.*

(*Footnote. The San Antonio, merchant brig, the vessel that joined our

company during our passage up the east coast, visited this port in

December 1820 and communicated with the natives; it is therefore probable

that the above words were obtained from that vessel's crew.)

Upon our return towards the entrance the natives walked upon the beach

abreast the boat, and kept with her until we pulled out of the entrance,

when they resumed their former station upon the rocks and we returned on

board.

Upon reaching the brig, the anchor was weighed, and with a fresh

sea-breeze from South-East we soon reached Oyster Harbour, but in

crossing the bar the vessel took the ground in eleven and a half feet

water, and it was some time before we succeeded in heaving her over, and

reaching the anchorage we had occupied at our last visit. Whilst warping

in, the natives, who had followed the vessel along the sandy beach that

separates the two harbours, were amusing themselves near us in striking

fish with a single barbed spear, in which sport they appeared to be

tolerably successful. As soon as we passed the bar three other natives

made their appearance on the east side, who, upon the boat going to that

shore to lay out the kedges, took their seats in it as unceremoniously as

a passenger would in a ferry-boat; and upon its returning to the brig,

came on board, and remained with us all the afternoon, much amused with

everything they saw, and totally free from timidity or distrust. Each of

our visitors was covered with a mantle of kangaroo-skin, but these were

laid aside upon their being clothed with other garments, with the novelty

of which they appeared greatly diverted. The natives on the opposite

shore seeing that their companions were admitted, were loudly vociferous

in their request to be sent for also; but unfortunately for them it was

the lee shore, so that no boat went near them; and as we did not wish to

be impeded by having so many on the deck at one time, their request was

not acceded to and by degrees they separated and retired in different

directions.

As soon as the brig was secured two of our visitors went ashore,

evidently charged with some message from the other native, but as he

voluntarily remained on board nothing hostile was suspected; we therefore

landed and dug a hole three feet deep among the grass about two yards

above the highest tide-mark, for water; but it was found to be so highly

coloured and muddy as it flowed in, that other holes were dug in the sand

nearer the edge of the tide-mark, where it was also produced, and proved

to be of a much better taste, as well as clearer, from being filtered

through the sand.

On examining the place of our former encampment, it was so much altered

from the rapid growth of vegetation that we could scarcely recognise its

situation. The stem of the casuarina on which the Mermaid's name and the

date of our visit had been carved was almost destroyed by fire; and the

inscription in consequence so nearly obliterated that the figures 1818,

and two or three letters alone remained visible. There was not the least

trace of our garden, for the space which it formerly occupied was covered

by three or four feet of additional soil, formed of sand and decayed

vegetable matter and clothed with a thicket of fine plants in full

flower, that would be much prized in any other place than where they

were. The initials of the names of some of our people were still very

perfect upon the stem of a large Banksia grandis which, from being

covered with its superb flowers, bore a magnificent and striking

appearance.

After an absence of an hour our two friends returned, when it appeared

that they had been at their toilet, for their noses and faces had

evidently been fresh smeared over with red ochre, which they pointed out

to us as a great ornament; affording another proof that vanity is

inherent in human nature and not merely the consequence of civilisation.

They had however put off the garments with which we had clothed them and

resumed their mantles.

Each brought a lighted fire-stick in his hand, intending, as we supposed,

to make a fire, and to pass the night near the vessel, in order to watch

our intentions and movements.

On returning on board we desired the native who had remained behind to go

ashore to his companions, but it was with great reluctance that he was

persuaded to leave us. Whilst on board, our people had fed him

plentifully with biscuit, yams, pudding, tea, and grog, of which he ate

and drank as if he was half famished, and after being crammed with this

strange mixture and very patiently submitting his beard to the operation

of shaving, he was clothed with a shirt and a pair of trousers, and

christened Jack, by which name he was afterwards always called, and to

which he readily answered. As soon as he reached the shore, his

companions came to meet him to hear an account of what had transpired

during their absence, as well as to examine his new habiliments which, as

may be conceived, had effected a very considerable alteration in his

appearance, and at the same time that the change created much admiration

on the part of his companions, it raised him very considerably in his own

estimation. It was however a substitution that did not improve his

appearance; in fact he cut but a sorry figure in our eyes, in his

chequered shirt and tarry trousers, when standing amongst his companions,

with their long beards and kangaroo-skin mantles thrown carelessly over

their shoulders.

Upon being accosted by his companions Jack was either sullen with them or

angry with us for sending him on shore, for without deigning to reply to

their questions he separated himself from them, and after watching us in

silence for some time, walked quietly and slowly away, followed at a

distance by his friends who were lost in wonder at what could have

happened to their sulky companion. The grog that he had been drinking had

probably taken effect upon his head and, although the quantity was very

trifling, he might have been a little stupefied.

December 25.

At daylight the following morning the natives had again collected on both

sides, and upon the jolly-boat's landing the people to examine the wells

Jack, having quite recovered his good humour, got into the boat and came

on board. The natives on the opposite side were vociferous to visit us,

and were holding long conversations with Jack, who explained everything

to them in a song, to which they would frequently exclaim in full chorus

the words "Cai, cai, cai, cai, caigh" which they always repeated when

anything was shown that excited their surprise. Finding we had no

intention of sending a boat for them they amused themselves in fishing.

Two of them were watching a small seal that, having been left by the tide

on the bank, was endeavouring to waddle towards the deep water; at last

one of the natives, fixing his spear in its throwing-stick, advanced very

cautiously and, when within ten or twelve yards, lanced it, and pierced

the animal through the neck, when the other instantly ran up and stuck

his spear into it also, and then beating it about the head with a small

hammer very soon despatched it.

This event collected the whole tribe to the spot, who assisted in landing

their prize and washing the sand off the body; they then carried the

animal to their fire at the edge of the grass and began to devour it even

before it was dead. Curiosity induced Mr. Cunningham and myself to view

this barbarous feast and we landed about ten minutes after it had

commenced. The moment the boat touched the sand the natives, springing up

and throwing their spears away into the bushes, ran down towards us; and

before we could land had all seated themselves in the boat ready to go on

board, but they were obliged to wait whilst we landed to witness their

savage feast. On going to the place we found an old man seated over the

remains of the carcass, two-thirds of which had already disappeared; he

was holding a long strip of the raw flesh in his left hand, and tearing

it off the body with a sort of knife; a boy was also feasting with him

and both were too intent upon their breakfast to notice us or to be the

least disconcerted at our looking on. We however were very soon satisfied

and walked away perfectly disgusted with the sight of so horrible a

repast, and the intolerable stench occasioned by the effluvia that arose

from the dying animal, combined with that of the bodies of the natives

who had daubed themselves from head to foot with a pigment made of a red

ochreous earth mixed up with seal-oil.

We then conveyed the natives, who had been waiting with great patience in

the boat for our return, to the vessel, and permitted them to go on

board. Whilst they remained with us Mr. Baskerville took a man from each

mess to the oyster-bank; here he was joined by an Indian carrying some

spears and a throwing-stick, but on Mr. Baskerville's calling for a

musket that was in the boat (to the use of which they were not strangers)

he laid aside his spears, which probably were only carried for the

purpose of striking fish, and assisted our people in collecting the

oysters. As soon as they had procured a sufficient quantity they returned

on board when, as it was breakfast time, our visitors were sent onshore,

highly pleased with their reception and with the biscuit and pudding

which the people had given them to eat. They were very attentive to the

mixture of a pudding, and a few small dumplings were made and given to

them, which they put on the bars of the fireplace but, being too

impatient to wait until they were baked, ate them in a doughy state with

much relish.

Three new faces appeared on the east side, who were brought on board

after breakfast, and permitted to remain until dinner-time: one of them,

an old man, was very attentive to the sailmaker's cutting out a boat's

sail, and at his request was presented with all the strips that were of

no use. When it was completed a small piece of canvas was missing, upon

which the old man, being suspected of having secreted it, was slightly

examined, but nothing was found upon him; after this, while the people

were looking about the deck, the old rogue assisted in the search and

appeared quite anxious to find it; he however very soon walked away

towards another part of the deck and interested himself in other things.

This conduct appeared so suspicious that I sent the sailmaker to examine

the old man more closely, when the lost piece was found concealed under

his left arm, which was covered by the cloak he wore of kangaroo-skin.

This circumstance afforded me a good opportunity of showing them our

displeasure at so flagrant a breach of the confidence we had reposed in

them; I therefore went up to him and, assuming as ferocious a look as I

could, shook him violently by the shoulders. At first he laughed but

afterwards, when he found I was in earnest, became much alarmed: upon

which his two companions, who were both boys, wanted to go onshore; this

however was not permitted until I had made peace with the old man, and

put them all in good humour by feeding them heartily upon biscuit. The

two boys were soon satisfied; but the old man appeared ashamed and

conscious of his guilt; and although he was frequently afterwards with

us, yet he always hung down his head and sneaked into the background.

During the day the people were employed about the rigging, and in the

evening before sunset the natives were again admitted on board for half

an hour. In the afternoon Mr. Montgomery went to Green Island and shot a

few parrakeets and waterbirds, some of which he gave to the natives after

explaining how they had been killed, which of course produced great

applause.

December 26.

The next day was employed in wooding and watering, in which the natives,

particularly our friend Jack, assisted. We had this day twenty-one

natives about us and among them were five strangers. They were not

permitted to come on board until four o'clock in the afternoon, excepting

Jack, who was privileged to come and go as he liked, which, since it did

not appear to create any jealousy among his companions, enabled us to

detain him as a hostage for Mr. Cunningham's safety, who was busily

engaged in adding to his collections from the country in the vicinity of

the vessel.

In the evening Jack climbed the rigging as high as the top masthead, much

to the amusement of his companions but to the mortification of Bundell

who had never taken courage to mount so high.

The waterholes yielded about a ton of water a day; but a stream was found

in the sandy bay to the eastward of the entrance, running over the beach,

which we used when the holes were emptied of their contents; the latter

were however preferred, since our people worked at them under an

immediate protection from the vessel's deck. Near the stream we found

some felled trees and the staves of a cask.*

(*Footnote. At this place the San Antonio merchant brig wooded and

watered in 1820.)

December 27 to 28.

Our watering continued to proceed without molestation from the natives;

the number of whom had increased to twenty-nine, besides some whom we had

before seen that were now absent. During the afternoon of the 28th the

wind freshened from south-west and blew so strong as to cause a

considerable swell where we were lying; but towards sunset the breeze

moderated and the natives were again admitted on board; there were,

however, only eleven, for the rest, having worn out their patience, had

walked away.

They were now quite tractable and never persisted in doing anything

against our wishes. The words "by and by" were so often used by us in

answer to their cau-wah, or "come here," that their meaning was perfectly

understood and always satisfied the natives, since we made it a strict

rule never to disappoint them of anything that was promised, an attention

to which is of the utmost importance in communicating with savages. Every

evening that they visited us they received something, but as a biscuit

was the most valuable present that could be made, each native was always

presented with one upon his leaving the vessel; during the day they were

busily occupied in manufacturing spears, knives, and hammers, for the

evening's barter; and when they came in the morning they generally

brought a large collection, which their wives had probably made in their

absence.

December 29.

On the 29th we had completed our holds with wood and water and prepared

to leave the harbour. In the morning there was thirteen feet water at the

buoy which had been moored on the deepest part of the bar, the depth of

which, during the two preceding days, had been frequently sounded.

In the evening we were visited by twenty-four natives among whom was our

friend Jack. When they found us preparing to go away they expressed great

sorrow at our departure, particularly Jack, who was more than usually

entertaining but kept, as he always did, at a distance from his

companions and treated them with the greatest disdain. When the time came

to send them on shore he endeavoured to avoid accompanying them and as

usual was the last to go into the boat; instead however of following

them, he went into a boat on the opposite side of the brig that was

preparing to go for a load of water, evidently expecting to be allowed to

return in her.

This friendly Indian had become a great favourite with us all and was

allowed to visit us whenever he chose and to do as he pleased; he always

wore the shirt that had been given to him on the first day and

endeavoured to imitate everything that our people were employed upon;

particularly the carpenter and the sailmaker at their work: he was the

only native who did not manufacture spears for barter, for he was

evidently convinced of the superiority of our weapons and laughed

heartily whenever a bad and carelessly-made spear was offered to us for

sale: for the natives, finding we took everything, were not very

particular in the form or manufacturer of the articles they brought to

us. He was certainly the most intelligent native of the whole tribe and

if we had remained longer would have afforded us much information of this

part of the country; for we were becoming more and more intelligible to

each other every day: he frequently accompanied Mr. Cunningham in his

walks and not only assisted him in carrying his plants but occasionally

added to the specimens he was collecting.

December 30.

The next morning (30th) the anchors were weighed and the warps laid out,

but from various delays we did not reach a birth sufficiently near the

bar to make sail from, until the water had fallen too much to allow our

passing it: the brig was therefore moored in the stream of the tide.

At eight o'clock the natives came down as usual and were much

disappointed in finding the brig moved from her former place. After the

vessel was secured the launch and jolly-boat were sent to the

watering-place in the outer bay, where the eastern party were assembled

with a bundle of spears, throwing-sticks, and knives, for barter. Upon

the return of the boats our friend Jack came on board and appeared

altogether so attached to us that some thoughts were entertained of

taking him on our voyage up the west coast if he was inclined to go. As

he did not want for intelligence there was not much difficulty in making

him understand by signs that he might go with us, to which he appeared to

assent without the least hesitation, but that it might be satisfactorily

ascertained whether he really wished to go it was intimated to him that

he should tell his companions of this new arrangement. Mr. Bedwell

accordingly took him on shore, and purchased all the spears the natives

had brought down, that, in case they should feel angry at his leaving

them, they might have no weapons to do any mischief with.

When Jack landed he instantly informed his companions of his intended

departure and pointed to the sea, to show whither he was going, but his

friends received the intelligence with the most careless indifference,

their attention being entirely engrossed with the barter that was going

on. After the spears were purchased Mr. Bedwell got into the boat

followed by Jack, who seated himself in his place with apparent

satisfaction.

While Mr. Bedwell was purchasing the spears and other weapons Jack

brought him a throwing-stick that he had previously concealed behind a

bush and sold it to him for a biscuit; but after he had embarked and the

boat was leaving the shore he threw it among his companions, thereby

affording us a most satisfactory proof of the sincerity of his

intentions.

About an hour after he had returned and I had determined upon taking him,

the breeze freshened and raised a short swell which, causing a slight

motion, affected our friend's head so much that he came to me and,

touching his tongue and pointing to the shore, intimated his wish to

speak to the natives. He was therefore immediately landed and Mr.

Baskerville, after purchasing some spears and waiting a few minutes,

prepared to return on board: upon getting into the boat he looked at our

volunteer but Jack, having had a taste of sea-sickness, shook his head

and hung back; he was therefore left on shore. Upon the boat's leaving

the beach the natives dispersed for the night but Jack, as usual, was

perceived to separate himself from his companions and to walk away

without exchanging a word with them.

December 31.

The weather at daylight the next morning (31st) was too unsettled and the

breeze too strong from the westward to think of moving from the

anchorage. Jack and another native were down on the rocks at an early

hour, hallooing and waving to us, and at eight o'clock some natives

appeared on the opposite shore with spears and knives to barter, but we

had no communication with them.

During our visit we have obtained from these people about one hundred

spears, thirty throwing-sticks, forty hammers, one hundred and fifty

knives, and a few hand-clubs, the value of each being at from half to

one-eighth of a biscuit. We saw no fizgig, shield, nor boomerang; it is

probable that they may have such weapons but did not produce them from a

dislike at parting with them; but the knives, spears, and hammers which

did not require much labour to manufacture were always ready for barter,

particularly the first, but the greater part were, like Peter Pindar's

razors, only made for sale.

Altogether we saw about forty natives of whom ten were boys: they were in

most respects similar to their neighbours, having the same long curly

hair and slight figure; they did not appear to be a navigating tribe, for

we saw no canoes, nor did we observe any trees in the woods with the bark

stripped, of which material they are usually made; and, from the timid

manner they approached the water, it is more than probable that they are

not much accustomed even to swimming. Captain Flinders is mistaken in

stating that the natives of this place do not use the throwing-stick; but

it is probable they did not produce those instruments to him, for fear of

being deprived of them, for it required much persuasion on our part to

prevail upon them to let us have any; they were much more ingeniously

formed than others that we had previously seen, and different also, in

having a small sharp-edged shell, or piece of quartz, fixed in a gummy

knob at the handle, for the purpose of scraping the points of the spears:

the shaft is broad, smooth and flat. Some of these throwing-sticks, or

mearas, were three inches broad and two feet six inches long. See Woodcut

3.

The spears are very slender, and are made from a species of leptospermum

that grows abundantly in swampy places; they are from nine to ten feet

long and barbed with a piece of hard wood, fastened on by a ligature of

bark gummed over; we saw none that were not barbed, or had not a hole at

the end to receive the hooked point of the meara. Woodcut 4 shows the

method by which this weapon is propelled.

The hammer, or kaoit, appears to be used only for the purpose of breaking

open shellfish, and killing seals and other animals by striking them on

the head; for it has no sharpened edge to be used as a chopping or

cutting instrument; the handle is from twelve to fifteen inches long,

having one end scraped to a sharp point, and on each side at the other

end two pieces of hard stone fixed and cemented by a mass of gum, which,

when dry, is almost as hard as the stone itself; the hammer is about one

pound weight. See Woodcut 5.

The knife, or taap, is perhaps the rudest instrument of the sort that

ever was made; the handle is about twelve inches long, scraped to a point

like the hammer, and has, at the other end, three or four splinters of

sharp-edged quartz stuck on in a row with gum, thus forming a sort of

ragged instrument. See Woodcut 6. It is thus used: after they have put

within their teeth a sufficient mouthful of seal's flesh, the remainder

is held in their left hand, and, with the taap in the other, they saw

through, and separate the flesh.* Every native carries one or more of

these knives in his belt besides the hammer which is also an

indispensable instrument with them.

(*Footnote. A very good idea may be obtained of the manner in which these

taaps are used, by referring to Captain Lyon's drawing of the Esquimaux

sledges at page 290 of Parry's Second Voyage: the natives of King

George's Sound however hold the knife underhanded, and cut upwards.)

We did not perceive that these people acknowledged any chief or superior

among them; the two parties that collected daily on the opposite sides of

the harbour evidently belonged to the same tribe for they occasionally

mixed with each other. Their habitations were probably scattered about in

different parts for when the natives went away for the night they

separated into several groups, not more than three or four going

together, and these generally returned in company the next morning by the

same path which they had taken when they left us: they also arrived at

different times and some evidently came from a distance greater than

others, for they were later in arriving and always took their leave at an

earlier hour.

With the exception of one or two petty thefts besides the one

above-mentioned of which serious notice was taken, and an attempt to

steal a hat from one of the boys when he was by himself on the Oyster

Bank, our communication with these people was carried on in the most

friendly manner. Mr. Cunningham was, to their knowledge, on shore every

day attended only by his servant, but none, excepting Jack, followed him

after they had ascertained the intention of his walk, and observed the

care that he took to avoid going near their habitations, for which they

evinced a great dislike; one of their encampments was about a mile and a

half off but, curious as we naturally were to witness their mode of

living and to see the females and children of their tribe, we never

succeeded in persuading them to allow us to gratify our curiosity. On one

occasion it was necessary to lay a kedge anchor out in the direction of

their dwelling-place, and upon the boat's crew landing and carrying it

along the beach, the natives followed and intimated by signs that we

should not go that way; as soon however as the anchor was fixed and they

understood our intention, they assisted the people in carrying the hawser

to make fast to it.

They were well-acquainted with the effects of a musket, although not the

least alarmed at having one fired off near them. Everything they saw

excited their admiration, particularly the carpenter's tools and our

clothes; but what appeared to surprise them above all other things was

the effect produced upon the flesh by a burning-glass, and of its causing

the explosion of a train of gunpowder. They perfectly understood that it

was from the sun that the fire was produced, for on one occasion when

Jack requested me to show it to two or three strangers whom he had

brought to visit us I explained to him that it could not be done while

the sun was clouded; he then waited patiently for five minutes until the

sunshine reappeared, when he instantly reminded me of the removal of the

obstacle. He was a good deal surprised at my collecting the rays of the

sun upon my own hand, supposing that I was callous to the pain, from

which he had himself before shrunk; but as I held the glass within the

focus distance, no painful sensation was produced; after which he

presented me his own arm, and allowed me to burn it as long as I chose to

hold the glass, without flinching in the least, which, with greater

reason, equally astonished us in our turn.

They were all furnished, as has been before mentioned, with a cloak of

kangaroo-skin, which is always taken off and spread under them when they

lie down. Their hair was dressed in different ways; sometimes it was

clotted with red pigment and seal oil, clubbed up behind, and bound round

with a fillet of opossum-fur, spun into a long string, in which

parrot-feathers, escalop shells, and other ornaments being fixed in

different fanciful ways, gave the wearer a warlike appearance.

Their faces and sometimes their whole bodies were daubed over with a

mixture of seal oil and red pigment that caused a most disgusting

effluvia; but the only colouring matter that our friend Jack used, after

his acquaintance with us, was the carpenter's chalk, which he thought

particularly ornamental.

Bracelets of dog-tails or kangaroo-skin were commonly worn and one had

several escalop shells hanging about him, the noise of which, as they

jingled together, he probably thought musical.

The noodle-bul or belt in which they carry their hammer and knife is

manufactured from the fur of the opossum spun into a small yarn like

worsted; it is tightly bound at least three or four hundred times round

the stomach; very few however possessed this ornament; and it is not

improbable that the natives who had their hair clubbed, those that wore

belts, and the one who was ornamented with shells, held some particular

offices in the tribe, which it would be difficult for strangers to

discover.

During our communication with these people the following vocabulary of

their language was obtained, of which some of the words are compared with

those recorded by Captain Flinders: these last are inserted in the third

column.

COLUMN 1: ENGLISH WORD.

COLUMN 2: NATIVE WORD.

COLUMN 3: NATIVE WORD RECORDED BY CAPTAIN FLINDERS.

A goose : Caangan.

A dog : Tiara.

To eat biscuit : Yamungamari (doubtful).

A seal : Baallot.

The sun : Djaat : Djaat.

Water : Badoo (this is a Port Jackson word, and has been probably

obtained from other visitors).

Beard : Nyanuck.

Cheek : Nyaluck.

Mouth : Tatah.

Teeth : Orlock : Yeaal.

Tongue : Darlin, or Thalib.

Arm : Wormuck.

Nails : Pera (strong accent on the r.)

Finger : Mai, plural Maih.

Toe : Kea, plural Kean.

Finger nails : Peramaih.

Toe nails : Perakean.

Nipple : Beep : Bpep.

Belly : Cobbull, or kopul : Kobul.

Posteriors : Wallakah : Wallakah.

Kangaroo : Beango.

A frog : Toke.

Spear-throwing-stick : Meara.

Hammer : Kaoit.

Eye : Meal.

Navel : Beil.

Shoulder : Kadyaran.

Shall I go on board? : Bokenyenna.

Elbow : Gnoyong.

Scars on the body : Naamburn.

Firewood : Gogorr.

A spear : Namberr, or pegero.

A knife : Taap.

Rope (on board) : Nearbango.

Wood (Plank) : Yandari.

Lips : Tar : Urluck.

Throat : Wurt.

Thighs : Dtoual : Dtoual.

Knee : Wonat : Wonat.

Leg : Maat : Maat.

Foot : Jaan, or bangul : Jaan.

Ear : Duong : Duong.

Nose : Tarmul : Moil.

Head : Maka : Kaat.

A porpoise : Nordock.

Woman : Paydgero, or coman (doubtful).

Hair of the head : Kaat : Kaat jou.

Come here : Bulloco.

Shoulder : Djadan.

Musket : Puelar (doubtful).

Gum : Perin.

Tomorrow : Manioc (doubtful.)

Surprise or admiration : Caicaicaicaicaigh. The last word lengthened out

with the breath.

A hawk : Barlerot.

A shark, or shark's tail : Margit.

Belt worn round the stomach : Noodlebul.

Back : Goong.

A particular fish : Wallar, or wallat.

NAMES OF THE NATIVES.

Yallapool (a little boy).

Ureeton, Wytumba : boys.

Marinbibba.

Coolbun.

Nakinna.

Malka.

Uderra.

Kynoora.

Hanbarrah.

Bawarrang.

Monga.

Flooreena.

Coolyarong.

Mogril (a young man).*

(*Footnote. The above names were obtained at a subsequent visit on our

return to England the following year.)

The winds during our stay performed two or three revolutions of the

compass but they partook chiefly of the character of sea and

land-breezes: during the night and early part of the morning the wind was

usually light from the northward and at ten o'clock, gradually dying

away, was succeeded by a wind from the sea, generally from South-West or

South-East; this sea-breeze occasionally blew fresh until four o'clock in

the evening when it would gradually diminish with the setting sun to a

light air.

The barometrical column ranged between 29.75 and 30.22 inches; a fall of

the mercury preceded a westerly wind, and a rise predicted it from the

South-East: when it stood at thirty inches we had sea-breezes from south

with fine weather. The easterly winds were dry; westerly ones the

reverse. The moisture of the atmosphere, for want of a better hygrometer,

was ascertained with tolerable precision by the state of a small piece of

sea-weed, the weight of which varied according to the dryness or moisture

of the atmosphere between one and three scruples. I found it on all

occasions extremely sensible, and very often to predict a change of wind

much sooner than the barometer.

Fahrenheit's thermometer ranged between 64 and 74 degrees, but the usual

extremes were between 66 and 70 degrees.

1822. January 1.

During the day of the 1st of January the depth of the bar was frequently

sounded but as there was not more than ten feet and a half water upon it

we were necessarily detained at the anchorage.

January 2.

On the following morning also at four o'clock the depth was the same; but

at ten o'clock the water rose suddenly eighteen inches, upon which the

anchors were lifted and the brig warped over the bar to an anchorage in

three and a half fathoms off the outer watering-place, to await a

favourable opportunity of going over to Seal Island; near which it was

intended to anchor in order to refit the rigging and otherwise prepare

the vessel for our voyage up the west coast.

In the afternoon we procured a load of water and permitted the natives,

thirteen of whom were assembled, to pay us another visit. On their coming

on board it was noticed that many of them belonged to the tribe that

lived on the opposite shore, but how they had crossed over was not

satisfactorily ascertained. Their wonder on this their last visit was

much raised by our firing off a nine-pounder loaded with shot, the splash

of which in the water caused the greatest astonishment, and one of them

was extremely vehement and noisy in explaining it to his companions. Upon

repeating this exhibition they paid particular attention to the operation

of loading the gun, and expressed the greatest surprise at the weight of

the ball, upon which, after they had all severally examined it, they held

a long and wordy argument as to what it possibly could be. At the splash

of the ball, for which they were all looking out, they expressed their

delight by shouting in full chorus the words Cai, cai, cai, cai, caigh.

After this they were sent on shore.

January 3.

At daybreak the next morning an opportunity offered to cross the sound,

and by eight o'clock the brig was anchored under Seal Island; upon which

we commenced the repair of the rigging, and in the course of the day

shifted the main topmast. We had left the anchorage on the other side of

the sound too early for our friends the natives, who had promised last

evening to bring us a hawk's nest that was built upon a rock near the

watering-place; at ten o'clock a very large fire was perceived close to

the nest; it was no doubt kindled by them, and meant to show that they

were not inattentive to their promise.

January 4.

The following day some natives were seen about a mile off upon the beach

but did not come near the vessel. Mr. Cunningham botanised upon the

summit of Bald Head. Of this excursion he gave me the following account:

"Upon reaching the summit of the ridge, and clearing a rocky gully which

intersected our track, we instantly entered an elevated valley of pure

white sand, bounded on either side by ridges forty feet high, that were

in themselves totally bare, excepting on the tops, where a thin clothing

of shrubs was remarked; the whole surface reflected a heat scarcely

supportable, and the air was so stagnant as scarcely to be respired,

although we were at a considerable elevation, and in the vicinity of a

constant current of pure atmospheric air on the ridge. After traversing

the whole length of this sandy vale, which is one-third of a mile in

extent, in our route towards Bald Head, with scarcely a plant to attract

our attention, we perceived at its extremity some remarkably fine

specimens of Candollea cuneiformis, Labil., which had, in spite of the

poverty and looseness of the drifting sand, risen to large spreading

trees, sixteen feet high, of robust growth and habit; they were at this

time covered with flowers and ripe fruit; but so painful was it to the

eyes and senses to remain for a moment stationary in this heated valley,

that whilst I gathered a quantity of the seeds of this truly rich plant,

my servant was obliged to hurry away to a cooler air on the ridge, which

we had again nearly reached; and but for this fine plant, and the no less

conspicuous blue-flowered Scaevola nitida, Br. The whole scene would have

deeply impressed us with all the horrors that such extremes of aridity

are naturally calculated to excite.

"Upon again reaching the ridge, whose moderated temperature required our

care to avoid suffering from the sudden transition, we came to the

granite, on whose bare surface I found a prostrate specimen of baeckea,

remarkable for the regularity of its decussate leaves, which I have

designated in my list as Baeckea saxicola. Continuing to the extremity of

the ridge, I was much surprised to find we had already attained the

highest point of the range, and to observe another expanse, or extensive

cavity, of bare white sand below us, to the South-East, the termination

of which we afterwards found to be the Bald Head, of Captain Vancouver.

This part is of remarkable appearance from seaward, having on either side

of its bare sandy summit a contrasting brushy vegetation: from the sea

however a very small part only of its extensive surface of sand can be

perceived, the greater part being only observable from the commanding

hillocks we had with much exertion arrived at. A calcareous rock

(affording evidently a very considerable portion of pure lime) was seen

in a decomposing state piercing the sandy surface of all parts of the

ridge about Bald Head which, however, is itself a pure granite; the dense

low brushy wood in its vicinity is chiefly composed of the delicate

baeckea."*

(*Footnote. Cunningham manuscripts.)

In the evening we visited Seal Island, and killed five seals for the sake

of their skins, which were serviceable for the rigging; the boat's crew

also found some penguins (Aptenodytes minor) and a nest of iguanas. The

bottle deposited here at our last visit in 1818 was found suspended where

it had been left and brought on board, when another memorandum was

enclosed in it, containing a notification of our present visit, of the

friendly and communicative disposition of the natives, and a copy of the

vocabulary of their language.

January 5.

On the 5th in the afternoon on our return to the vessel, after visiting

the shore and landing upon the flat rock, which is merely a bare mass of

granite, of about thirty yards in diameter, some natives were heard

calling to us, and upon our pulling to the part whence the sound came, we

found two men and a boy. After some time they were discovered to be three

of our Oyster-Harbour friends, and therefore we made no hesitation of

communicating with them, and of taking them on board, where they were

regaled upon the flesh of the seals we had killed at the island.

Notwithstanding the friendly disposition of the inhabitants of this

sound, I felt it necessary to act very cautiously in our communication

with them, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. And that this might

not even be accidentally done, I requested Mr. Cunningham to confine his

walks to the vicinity of the vessel, and particularly to avoid any route

that would take him towards their encampment. He was therefore prevented

from visiting many parts near which he had promised himself much

amusement and information in botanizing, particularly the neighbourhood

of Bayonet Head, and the distant parts of Oyster Harbour. At our former

visit to this place he had searched in vain for that curious little plant

Cephalotus follicularis, Br.,* but on this occasion he was more

fortunate, for he found it in the greatest profusion in the vicinity of

the stream that empties itself over the beach of the outer bay where we

watered. Of this he says: "The plants of cephalotus were all in a very

weak state, and none in any stage of fructification: the ascidia, or

pitchers, which are inserted on strong foot-stalks, and intermixed about

the root with the leaves, all contained a quantity of discoloured water,

and, in some, the drowned bodies of ants and other small insects. Whether

this fluid can be considered a secretion of the plant, as appears really

to be the fact with reference to the nepenthes, or pitcher-plant of

India,** deposited by it through its vessels into the pitchers; or even a

secretion of the ascidia themselves; or whether it is not simply

rainwater lodged in these reservoirs, as a provision from which the plant

might derive support in seasons of protracted drought, when those marshy

lands (in which this vegetable is alone to be found) are partially dried

of the moisture that is indispensable to its existence, may perhaps be

presumed by the following observations. The opercula, shaped like some

species of oyster, or escalop-shells, I found in some pitchers to be very

closely shut upon their orifices, although their cavities, upon

examination, contained but very little water, and the state of the

weather was exceedingly cloudy, and at intervals showery; if, therefore,

the appendages are really cisterns, to receive an elemental fluid for the

nourishment of the plant in times of drought, it is natural to suppose

that this circumstance would operate upon the ramified vessels of the

lids, so as to draw them up, and allow the rain to replenish the

pitchers. Mr. Brown also, who had an opportunity in 1801 of examining

plants fully grown, supposes it probable that the vertical or horizontal

positions in which the opercula were remarked, are determined by the

state of the atmosphere, at the same time that he thinks it possible that

the fluid may be a secretion of the plant. The several dead insects that

were observed within the vases of cephalotus were very possibly deposited

there by an insect of prey, since I detected a slender-bodied fly

(ichneumon) within a closed pitcher, having evidently forced its passage

under the lid to the interior, where an abundant store of putrescent

insects were collected. Whilst, therefore, these pitchers are answering

the double purpose, of being a reservoir to retain a fluid, however

produced, for the nourishment of the plant in the exigency of a dry

season, as also a repository of food for rapacious insects, as in

sarracenia, or the American pitcher-plant; it is also probable that the

air, disengaged by these drowned ants, may be important and beneficial to

the life of the Australian plant, as Sir James E. Smith has suggested, in

respect to the last-mentioned genus, wild in the swamp of Georgia and

Carolina.

(*Footnote. Flinders volume 1 page 64 and Brown's General Remarks in

Flinders volume 2 page 601 et seq.)

(**Footnote. Smith's Introduction to Botany page 150.)

"I spent much time in a fruitless search for flowering specimens of

cephalotus; all the plants were very small and weak, and showed no

disposition to produce flowers at the season, and none had more than

three or four ascidia."*

(*Footnote. Cunningham manuscripts.)

The only edible plants that Mr. Cunningham found were a creeping parsley

(Apium prostratum, Labil.) and a species of orach (Atriplex halimus,

Brown) the latter was used by us every day, boiled with salt provisions,

and proved a tolerable substitute for spinach or greens. During our visit

we caught but very few fish, and only a few oysters were obtained, on

account of the banks being seldom uncovered, and the presence of the

natives which prevented my trusting the people out of my sight for fear

of a quarrel. Shellfish of other sorts were obtained at Mistaken Island

in abundance, of which the most common were a patella and an haliotis;

the inhabitant of the former made a coarse, although a savoury dish.

There were also varieties of the following genera: namely, lepas, chiton,

cardium, pinna, nerita, two or three species of ostrea, a small mytilus,

and a small buccinum of great beauty; that covered the rocks and at low

water might be collected in abundance.

CHAPTER 4.

Leave King George the Third's Sound, and commence the survey of the West

Coast at Rottnest Island.

Another remarkable effect of mirage.

Anchor under, and land upon Rottnest Island.

Break an anchor.

Examine the coast to the northward.

Cape Leschenault.

Lancelin Island.

Jurien Bay.

Houtman's Abrolhos.

Moresby's Flat-topped Range.

Red Point.

Anchor in Dirk Hartog's Road, at the entrance of Shark's Bay.

Occurrences there.

Examination of the coast to the North-west Cape.

Barrow Island.

Heavy gale off the Montebello Isles.

Rowley's Shoals.

Cape Leveque.

Dangerous situation of the brig among the islands of Buccaneer's

Archipelago.

Examination and description of Cygnet Bay.

Lose an anchor, and leave the coast.

Adele Island.

Return to Port Jackson.

1822. January 6.

We sailed from King George's Sound on the 6th.

January 8.

But from south-westerly winds, were no further advanced by the 8th than

the meridian of Cape Chatham. After which, entering a current setting at

one mile an hour to the westward, the brig made considerable progress.

January 10.

At daylight, 10th, Cape Leeuwin came in sight from the masthead, and at

eight o'clock was seen from the deck at the distance of ten leagues,

bearing North 42 degrees East by compass.

At this, the south-westernmost extremity of New Holland, Captain Flinders

commenced his examination of the south coast, but saw no part to the

northward. The French expedition under Captain Baudin were upon this part

at two different periods of their voyage, and it appears from an

examination of their tracks that the coast between Capes Leeuwin and

Peron, the latter of which is about five leagues to the southward of the

entrance of Swan River, has been sufficiently examined by them. They

landed in several parts of Geographe Bay which affords a shelter from

southerly winds but is so exposed to those between North and

West-North-West that the French ships ran great danger of being

shipwrecked during a gale from that quarter.

The coast is sandy, and from M. Peron's description, barren and

unprofitable. With the exception of the Recif du Naturaliste which lies

about five leagues to the north of the Cape of that name there seems to

be no danger in the vicinity of the bay. The small inlet of Port

Leschenault is only the embouchure of a salt-marsh; it is scarcely

attainable even by boats; for there appears to be only three feet water

on the bar, and over and within it not more than fifteen feet. The French

found no fresh water in any part of Geographe Bay. From Port Leschenault

to Cape Peron the coast is low and sandy but inland it is of a moderate

height and appears to be furnished with a slight vegetation. The French

ships sailed along this coast at the distance of four or five miles from

the beach, and the report made by them is sufficiently in detail for all

the purposes of navigation.

Upon these considerations it was not deemed necessary that we should

examine this part again, and therefore sailed at a distance from the land

to ensure a quicker passage to Cape Peron, in order to explore the bay

behind the Isles of Louis Napoleon. Swan River and Rottnest Island had

been already carefully examined by the French; but from the latter island

to the North-west Cape, with the exception of Shark's Bay, they saw very

little of the coast, and have given its outline principally from Van

Keulen.*

(*Footnote. Freycinet page 441.)

At noon on the 10th our latitude was 34 degrees 16 minutes 14 seconds,

and a large bare, sandy patch upon the land, the Tache Blanche

remarquable of Captain Baudin, bore North 77 degrees East (magnetic). At

six o'clock in the evening we passed Cape Naturaliste, having experienced

a strong current setting North 11 degrees West, at nearly two miles per

hour; hence we steered to the northward, but it was dark when we passed

near the position assigned to the Recif Naturaliste: after steering on

for three hours longer we edged in for the land and at ten o'clock hauled

to the wind for the night.

January 11.

The next day at noon we were in latitude 32 degrees 36 minutes 2 seconds,

having the land about Cape Peron in sight from the masthead, bearing East

by South 1/2 South; but during the day the wind was so light that we had

not approached it within four leagues by sunset.

At this time the coast was visible as far as Cape Bouvard between which

and Cape Peron it is low and sandy, but the hills appeared to be

tolerably well wooded, and of a moderate height. Buache Island was

visible as well as the small rocky islet between it and Cape Peron. The

former is low and sandy, and its outline of hummocky shape; and to the

eastward was some distant land trending towards the assigned entrance of

Swan River. To the northward of Buache Island a small lump was seen on

the horizon, which perhaps might have been Berthollet Island, but it was

very indistinct. The sun set in a dense bank and the moment it

disappeared a very copious dew began to fall.

January 12.

The next morning at daylight the land to the southward of Cape Peron was

ten miles off, but at half-past nine o'clock we were between Capes Peron

and Bouvard, and about five miles from the shore, which from the former

extended in a North-East by North direction, still low and sandy.

At noon the latitude was observed to be 32 degrees 30 minutes 42 seconds,

but by the land it was only 32 degrees 23 minutes 30 seconds, a

difference of 7 minutes 12 seconds. This error was occasioned by the haze

which concealed the true horizon, and caused an appearance of land all

round us, on which rocks, sandy beaches, and trees were so plainly formed

that the officer of the watch actually reported two islands on the

western horizon. This was the most remarkable instance of mirage that we

ever witnessed; the haze had only commenced a few minutes before noon,

whilst the observation for the latitude was in the act of being taken;

and immediately after I was employed upon the chart for half an hour,

puzzling myself in attempting to reconcile the observed latitude with the

bearings of the land. This curious phenomenon was also witnessed by the

French in Geographe Bay. During the time this magical appearance

continued, we had very light airs from the southward: the barometrical

column fell to 29.76 inches, but the hygrometer indicated an

extraordinary dryness of the air. At sunset the haze cleared away, when

Rottnest Island was seen, bearing between North 10 degrees and 32 degrees

East (magnetic); a breeze then freshened from West-South-West but

gradually veered round to the southward; and at nine o'clock was very

light from South-East.

January 13.

During the night we made short tacks. At four o'clock in the morning

(13th) the latitude by the moon's meridional altitude was 32 degrees 16

minutes 17 seconds, and soon afterwards Rottnest was in sight in the

North-North-East. At six o'clock the sky was clouded, and the weather

threatened to be bad; the mercury fell to 29.69 inches, upon which all

sail was made off the land, as appearances indicated a westerly gale: but

after an interval of two hours, during which we had a fresh breeze from

North-West by West, the weather cleared up and we steered towards

Rottnest Island.

January 14.

The next morning the brig was anchored off the north-east end of the

island in thirteen fathoms gravelly sand; and in the afternoon I went on

shore in a bay on the east or leeward side, where we found the water

smooth and the landing more practicable than upon the north side where a

tremendous surf was rolling in upon the beach. We disturbed a great many

seals but only killed three; and were much disappointed in finding that

these animals were not of the fur species, as in M. de Freycinet's

account of the island they are said to be; they were evidently the same

description as those noticed at King George's Sound. The traces of a

small kangaroo were everywhere abundant but the animals were not seen. We

walked to the easternmost of the lakes which the French named Etangs

Duvaildaily and which M. de Freycinet remarks as being surrounded by an

extensive beach, composed entirely of bivalve shells, a species of

cardium: the quantity was indeed extraordinary. The banks were frequented

by gulls and sandpipers, of which many were shot. The water was found to

be perfectly salt and from the circumstance of its rising and falling

with the tide it must have some communication with the sea. The rocks of

the island are principally calcareous and in a very advanced state of

decomposition. The beaches were covered with dead shells of the genera

buccinum, bulla, murex, trochus, and haliotis; but we found none with the

living animal in them. Of the feathered tribe a hawk and a pigeon were

the only land-birds seen; but boobies, terns, and sandpipers were very

numerous about the shores. Mr. Cunningham was fully employed during the

short time that we were on shore, and excepting the pleasing interest

created in our minds by landing on an island which has been so seldom

before seen, and which from Vlaming's account bears a prominent place in

the history of this part of the coast, he was the only one of the party

that derived any advantage from our visit. Of the productions of this

island he makes the following brief remarks: "It is surprising that an

island, situated at so short a distance from the south-west coast, should

bear so small a feature of the characteristic vegetation of King George's

Sound as not to furnish a plant of its several genera of Proteaceae or

Mimoseae, and but a solitary plant of Leguminosae. It would therefore

seem that these families are confined to the shores of the main,

particularly about King George's Sound, where we have just left them in

the greatest luxuriance and profusion. Among the botanical productions of

this island there is no plant of so striking a feature as the callitris,

a tree of about twenty-five feet high, with a short stem of three feet in

diameter; it much resembles the Pinus cedrus, or cedar of Lebanon, in its

robust horizontal growth; it is found abundantly over the island, and

within a few yards of the sea-beach. The island is formed by a succession

of small hills and intervening valleys; and although the soil is very

poor, being principally a mixture of quartzose sand and a large

proportion of marine exuviae, yet this tree grows to a considerable size,

but covering the surface of the island, gives it a monotonous appearance

which is however occasionally relieved by a spreading undescribed species

of melaleuca (allied to Melaleuca armillaris, Smith) and the more elegant

pittosporum, an arborescent species, also undescribed. In fact, these

three trees constitute the timber of the island. The ground is in some

parts profusely clothed with Spinifex hirsutus, Labil., in which I

detected a new species of xerotes, a round bushy plant growing in large

bodies.

"No fresh water has ever been discovered upon this island: indeed the

loose filtering nature of the soil is not tenacious enough to retain that

element at the surface. The woods are abundantly stocked with a small

species of kangaroo of which we saw only the traces; nor did we see the

animal, on account of whose numbers and resemblance to a rat the island

received its name from Vlaming in 1619. M. Peron says that it forms a new

genus, and of a very remarkable character.* Rottnest Island does not

appear ever to have been inhabited or even visited by the natives from

the main; probably on account of the stormy nature of the weather, and

the prevalence of westerly winds, which would be quite sufficient to

deter them from venturing to sea in such fragile vessels as they

possess."**

(*Footnote. Peron volume 1 page 189.)

(**Footnote. Cunningham manuscripts.)

January 15.

On our return to the brig, we passed over a clear sandy bottom that would

have afforded better anchorage than where we had brought up; for the

vessel was not only exposed to a considerable swell but the ground was so

foul that in weighing the anchor the following morning one of the flukes

hooked a rock and broke off, besides which the cable was much rubbed.

As Swan River had been very minutely examined in Baudin's voyage by MM.

Heirisson and Baily, the former an enseigne de vaisseau, the latter a

mineralogist, an account of which is fully detailed in De Freycinet's and

Peron's respective accounts of that voyage,* without their finding

anything of sufficient importance to induce me to risk leaving the brig

at anchor off Rottnest Island for so long a time as it would necessarily

take to add to the knowledge of it that we already possess, I did not

think it advisable to delay for such a purpose, and therefore as soon as

we were underweigh steered for the mainland and continued to run

northerly along the shore at the distance of six miles from it. At noon

our latitude was 31 degrees 37 minutes 32 seconds. The coast is formed by

sandy hillocks, or dunes, of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty

feet high, here and there sprinkled with shrubs, but in many parts quite

bare: behind this frontier a second range of hills was occasionally seen

on which the trees appeared to be of moderate size: the shore is rocky

for two miles off and in many parts the sea broke. At half-past three

o'clock we were abreast of a low, sandy projection, supposed to be

Captain Baudin's Cape Leschenault. The appearance of the coast to the

northward on this cape differed from what we passed in the morning, in

that the coast hillocks are more bare of vegetation; there appeared to be

several ridges behind the coast dunes, but they were all equally

unproductive of vegetation. Lancelin Island was not distinctly made out

but the two small rocky lumps on the bare sandhills that M. De Freycinet

mentions, were seen and thought to be very remarkable. At seven o'clock,

having reached in my plan the latitude 31 degrees 0 minutes 30 seconds,

and longitude 115 degrees 0 minutes 0 seconds, we hauled off shore for

the night.

January 16.

And at six o'clock a.m. stood towards the land again. At half-past ten

o'clock we were so near to it as to see the beach: at noon the latitude

was observed to be 30 degrees 52 minutes 13 seconds, its longitude being

114 degrees 56 minutes 45 seconds, at which time we were on the parallel

of the two rocky lumps seen the last evening. Hence we steered north on a

parallel direction with the coast and ran forty-five miles, passing the

different projections of the beach at the distance of four or five miles,

and sounding in between nineteen and twenty-five fathoms. At four o'clock

we were abreast of a bare sandy point which appeared to be the north head

of Jurien Bay, in which two rocky islets were seen, fronted by reefs, on

which the sea in many parts was breaking violently. To the southward of

the point the coast hills are rather high and principally formed of very

white sand, bearing a strong resemblance, from the absence of vegetables,

to hills covered with snow. Here and there however a few shrubs partially

concealed the sand, and gave a variety to the scene which was dismally

triste. The country to the northward bears a different character; the

shore is very low and sandy and continues so for some distance in the

interior towards the base of a range of tolerably-elevated hills, on

which the French have placed three remarkable pitons, but these, perhaps

from our being too close in shore, we did not discover.

(*Footnote. See De Freycinet page 175 et seq and Peron volume 1 page 178

et seq.)

This range extends in a North by West and South by East direction, and

appears to be rocky. In the middle ground some trees were noticed and

vegetation appeared to be more abundant than in the space between the

bare sandy point and Cape Leschenault. In Jurien Bay towards its south

part near the shore is a small hillock, on which some trees of a moderate

size were seen; they are thus noticed because the existence of trees

hereabout is so rare as to be deserving of record. No native fires were

seen between this part and Rottnest Island, nor was there any other

indication of the coast being inhabited; it is however likely to be as

populous as any other part, for the hills in the interior, which we

occasionally got a glimpse of, seemed to be wooded, and would therefore

furnish subsistence to natives from hunting, even if the seashore failed

in supplying them with fish. Between the bare sandy point and Island

Point there is a deep bay, the shores of which are fronted by a reef

partly dry, extending from the shore two miles.

At seven o'clock we were about a mile and a half from a reef that nearly

crossed our course; and as it was time to haul off for the night we

shortened sail and brought to the wind, then blowing a strong squally

breeze from south; but notwithstanding this succession of bad weather,

the mercury in the barometer had ranged steadily between 29.90 and 29.92

inches.

January 17.

At daybreak we steered in for the land but ran twenty-two miles before it

was seen. At nine o'clock it bore between North-East and South-East, and

at a quarter after nine heavy breakers were seen in the South-East at the

distance of five miles. The weather was now fine and the wind

South-South-East, but still blew strong; the horizon was so enveloped by

haze that the land, although not more than seven miles from our track,

was very indistinctly seen: it seemed to be formed of sandhills, from one

hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high, slightly studded with a

scrubby vegetation; in the interior we perceived a range of hills of

tabular form which are probably very high. At ten o'clock we passed

another patch of breakers at the distance of about a mile and a half; but

these appeared to have no connexion with those seen at nine o'clock. Our

soundings were between fifteen and seventeen fathoms, and our distance

from the beach from six to seven miles. At noon the wind veered back to

South-South-West and blew hard: we were at this time in 29 degrees 5

minutes 1 second South and by chronometers in 114 degrees 40 minutes 30

seconds East; by which we found that a current had set us during the last

twenty-four hours to the North-North-West at one mile per hour. At

half-past twelve o'clock more breakers were seen bearing North-West 1/2

North, when we hauled off West-North-West in order to ascertain the

distance between the land and the Abrolhos bank which, in Van Keulen's

chart, is placed abreast of this part of the coast.

At half-past four o'clock the masthead man was cautioned to look out for

breakers and in less than half an hour afterwards he reported some

bearing North-West by North. On going to the masthead I saw them

distinctly for they were not more than four miles off, and on looking

round the horizon towards the westward, distinctly saw the island of

Frederick Houtman's Abrolhos, which for some time the masthead man

persisted was only the shadow of the clouds; but a small hummock being

soon afterwards descried upon the summit of the largest, confirmed my

conjectures. The group appeared to consist of three islands, all low and

of small size. Beyond and around them the sea was smooth and to the

southward another patch of breakers was observed. Preparations were now

made to tack off, but I had scarcely reached the deck when the lookout

man reported rocks under our lee bow, upon which the helm was immediately

put up; and when the vessel's head was round upon the opposite tack the

following bearings were taken:

Island of the Abrolhos: eight miles off, between West and South 75

degrees West.

Breakers: four miles off, North-North-West North.

Another patch: seven miles off, South-West.

And the small rock patch, half a mile off, West.

This last I did not see myself but two men perceived it distinctly from

the masthead, and it is from their accounts that I am induced to give it

a place upon the chart. The position of the vessel when we saw the

breakers was in latitude 28 degrees 53 minutes and in longitude 114

degrees 2 minutes, and from the short interval between our obtaining

sights for the chronometer and the meridional observation at noon, the

position may be considered to be tolerably correct. After taking the

bearings and before sail was made we sounded in twenty-five fathoms, fine

shelly sand; but as we stood to the eastward the water gradually deepened

to twenty-nine and thirty fathoms.

January 18.

The next morning at daylight the land was out of sight but at five

o'clock was distinguished, forming a range of flat-topped land, probably

about one thousand feet high. At the northern end of the range were four

or five hills standing apart from each other, of which, in the view we

then had of them, the northernmost was flat-topped, and the others

peaked; at the south end of the range were three other distinct hills,

the centre being peaked and the other two flat-topped. Near the centre of

the main range was another summit that was remarkable for its form.

This range was seen by Captain Hamelin of the Naturaliste, and is thus

noticed by M. De Freycinet in his account of the voyage. "Entre les

paralleles de 29 degres et 28 degres 20 minutes, la terre est tres haute;

on y remarque deux montagnes bien reconnoisables par leur forme qui

approche de celle de la Grange, sur la cote de Saint-Domingue, ou de la

Montagne de la Table au Cap de Bonne-Esperance; une autre ressemble un

peu au Pouce, de l'Ile-de-France. La terre est aride, bordee de falaises

rougeatres; on y voit peu de sable comparativement aux terres plus au

sud."*

(*Footnote. De Freycinet page 181.)

We sought in vain for the resemblance to the Pouce, but as all the hills

were flat-topped of course they were similar to the Table Land of the

Cape of Good Hope, but probably inferior to it in point of height.