Boat expedition.
Explore an opening.
Discovery of the Albert.
Natives.
Picturesque Scenery.
Hope Reach.
Birds and Fishes.
Upper Branch.
Beauty of the Landscape.
Land excursion.
The Plains of Promise.
Halt the party and proceed alone.
Description of the country.
Return down the Albert.
Mouth of River.
Arrive at Van Diemen's Inlet.
Find Mr. Fitzmaurice severely wounded.
General result of the survey of the Gulf.
Winds and Temperature.
Booby Island.
Endeavour Strait.
Reach Port Essington.
ANOTHER BOAT EXPEDITION.
Mr. Fitzmaurice reported so favourably of the last opening he discovered,
bearing West by South fifteen miles from the ship, that I determined on
making up a party to explore it, while another expedition, consisting of
the yawl and whaleboat, was to examine the coast to the eastward from
Flinders River to Van Diemen's Inlet. My party, including Lieutenant Gore
and Messrs. Forsyth and Dring, left the ship with the gig and the other
whaleboat on the evening of the day we returned from the Flinders.
The prospect that lay before us raised our spirits to the highest; and
the weather, clear, cool, and bracing, could not have been more
favourable, the temperature being 60 degrees. The ripples rolled rapidly,
expanding from the boat's bows over the glassy smooth surface of the
water, whilst the men stretched out as if unconscious of the exertion of
pulling, every one of them feeling his share of the excitement. From the
western sky the last lingering rays of the sun shot athwart the wave,
turning it, as it were, by the alchemy of light into a flood of gold.
Overhead, the cope of heaven was gradually growing soberer in hue from
the withdrawal of those influences which lately had warmed and brightened
it; but in the west a brilliant halo encircled the declining ruler of the
day. In these latitudes the sunset is as brief as it is beautiful. Night
rapidly came on, and presently the masts of the ship could no longer be
discerned, and we were pursuing our way in darkness towards the mouth of
the opening.
After vainly endeavouring to get over the bank extending off the mouth of
the opening, in the dark, we anchored the boats outside. The awnings were
spread, and the kettle for our evening's meal was soon hissing over a
blazing fire. Of all things tea is the most refreshing after a day of
fatigue; there is nothing that so soon renovates the strength, and cheers
the spirits; and on this occasion especially, we experienced a due
portion of its invigorating effects. Grog was afterwards served out,
pipes and cigars were lighted, the jest was uttered, the tale went round;
some fished, though with little success; and the officers busied
themselves with preparations for the morrow's work. But all things must
end; the stories at length flagged; the fishermen grew tired; and getting
into our blanket bags, with a hearty good night, we resigned ourselves,
with the exception of the look-out, to the arms of slumber.
EXPLORE AN OPENING.
July 30.
The morning broke with a strong breeze from South-South-East and although
the temperature was not below 52 degrees, we were all shivering with
cold. Soon after daylight we entered the opening, which for three miles
was almost straight, in a South by West direction, with a width of two
hundred yards, and a depth of from 2 1/2 to 5 fathoms. The banks were
fringed with mangroves, behind which stretched extensive mud flats, which
from being encrusted with salt and glistening in the sun were mistaken at
first for sheets of water.
The inlet now became slightly tortuous, pursuing a general South-West by
South direction; but the width being greater our hopes rose as we
proceeded. Eight miles from the mouth two islands were passed, and two
others four miles further on. The breadth at this point was nearly a
mile, but the depth was scarcely two fathoms; one less than we had before
found it. The above-mentioned islets, one of which was of some size, lay
at the upper end of a reach, trending south, where this inlet or river,
as we anxiously hoped it would prove to be, divided into two branches,
one continuing in a southerly direction, and the other turning short off
to the westward.
EXAMINE THE SOUTHERN BRANCH.
Though the latter had a greater volume of water passing through it than
the other, I still, from the direction and size of the south arm, decided
on ascending it first. For some distance the banks had been less fringed
with mangroves, leaving clear patches covered with coarse grass. The
trees on the side of the first reach in the southerly arm were laden with
the snowy plumage of a large flock of cockatoos. After proceeding about
five miles further we rested a few hours, continuing again soon after
midnight. As the tides run twelve hours each way, it was necessary that
we should take advantage of the favourable stream, whatever might be the
hour, though this plan kept the men for a very long time together at the
oars.
The general direction we pursued was still south, for six miles by the
windings of the stream, which was so reduced in breadth and volume, as to
be scarcely a hundred yards wide, and not a fathom deep. There was now
little hope that it would lead into fresh water, although, from the
number of trials that were made, I am sure there was salt water enough
drunk to have physicked a whole village.
APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.
The banks were still of the same monotonous character. In one of the
reaches I was fortunate enough to shoot a specimen of the large wary
brown-coloured rail I have before mentioned. From this, the only one
obtained, it has been described as Eulabeornis castaneoventris. It is
doubtless the bird called by the Port Essington natives, Morduggera, the
eggs only of which were found there, the bird itself not having been
seen. They were equal in size to those of a guineafowl, of a dirty white,
finely speckled with reddish brown.
Our course now changed to south-west, and as the width and tortuousness
began to decrease--a sure indication that the country was rising--we soon
made another six miles. But after this the boats could no further
proceed--the inlet, in short, having become a mere ditch at low-water.
The head of a large alligator was found on the bank near the upper part;
where might be seen an occasional acacia mingled with the mangroves.
Behind, the country was very open, consisting of plains covered with
coarse grass, interspersed with patches of dwarf gums. About seven miles
in an East by North direction the country was thickly wooded, and
appeared to be a little higher--the only interruption to the level
monotony of the portion of the continent by which we were surrounded. The
soil was of a light brown colour void of sand, and of considerable depth.
Nothing now remained but to retrace our steps and try the other branch;
and as our want of success in this case rather heightened our expectation
we hurried back with some rapidity. It was dark before we reached the
point of separation, where the boat's crew regaled themselves on some
large brown hawks, in the absence of better fowl. There was this evening
a beautiful eclipse of the moon. The temperature had again fallen to 60
degrees; at noon it was 87 degrees; and at four A.M. 52 degrees.
August 1.
As time and tide wait for no man we were obliged to move off at one in
the morning. The earth's shadow having passed over the moon, the pale
light of her full orb fell in a silvery stream on the tortuous reaches,
as the waters swelled in silence between the growth of mangroves fringing
the banks.
DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT.
At the end of three miles in a West by South direction, nearly double by
the windings, we passed an island on the left. The depth at low-water, so
far, being nearly 2 fathoms, and the width about 250 yards, promised
well. Water-tasting had now become rather out of fashion. However, it so
happened that one of the whaler's crew put his hand over, and gave us the
delightful news that the stream was quite fresh! A general tasting
followed, each being anxious to get the first draught of the water of our
new-found river; and the agreeable intelligence was confirmed. Of the
importance of our discovery there could now no longer be any doubt, and
the exhilarating effect it produced on all was quite magical, every arm
stretching out as if the fatigue they had experienced had suddenly passed
away.
There could be little difficulty in finding a name for our new discovery.
We had already called two rivers, explored by the Beagle's officers, the
Victoria and the Adelaide; and we were glad of such an opportunity of
again showing our loyalty to Her Majesty, by conferring the name of her
noble consort upon this important stream; it was accordingly christened
The Albert.
The boats now glided rapidly onwards, and West by North another mile
brought us to three islands, which we passed on the right; after landing
for observations, with the stars Achernar and Aldebaran, at some earthy
cliffs ten feet high on the left bank. The river now wound round a point
to the westward, three-quarters of a mile wide; in the first bend we
passed four islands on the right, with a creek on either side, and
towards the end of the next, two more on the left.
CHANGE IN THE VEGETATION.
August 2.
Daylight now burst upon us with tropical rapidity. The banks had assumed
a very different appearance; the monotonous mangroves had given place to
gumtrees and acacias, which drooped over the stream, partly concealing a
rich growth of large flags. This change in the character of the foliage
was not only in itself a relief, but evinced that we had at length, in
some sort, escaped the influence of the sea, and that we were in reality
penetrating towards the interior of the continent.
Our course was now North-West 1/2 West for a mile and a half, with an
increase in the width, and a depth of nine feet. Here we found the river
suddenly turn round to the southward and eastward, bringing us back
within five hundred yards of where we started from, which was one mile
West by South 1/2 South from the morning's observation spot. Brown
whistling wood-ducks now made their appearance, and being unaccustomed to
man and his destructive weapons, allowed us to revel in wildfowl for some
days afterwards.
PROCEED UP THE ALBERT.
The morning sun was hailed with delight, as sitting cramped up in a boat,
with the unusually low temperature of 53 degrees made us very chilly, and
brought flushing jackets and trousers into great request, whilst in
midday the light clothing natural to the latitude was sufficient. We
found the tides rise here four feet, and both flood and ebb ran from one
to two knots. After following a reach, trending South-East 1/2 East a
mile, with a string of islets in the upper part, our westerly progress
became more rapid and direct, and with the exception of one bend to the
northward we made three miles in a West-South-West direction.
But we were once more doomed to be interrupted by the sudden turning of
the river short off to the northward, when it wound round a point a mile
long, and a quarter wide, the extremity of which is low and sandy, a
character only this once observed in the Albert; on the opposite side
were cliffs thirty feet high.
NATIVES.
Near the sandy point we observed some fires; and on our return, by
crawling up the bank, I got a peep at a small party of natives engaged
intently in digging for the esculent called warran. As they were few in
numbers our abrupt appearance would have too much terrified them to leave
any chance of an interview; and we accordingly did not disturb them, but
contented ourselves with watching their movements for a while. The
spectacle was an interesting one. Both men and women were engaged in
delving for their food, whilst a little beyond a few more were burning
the bush, and looking out for game and snakes. It does not often fall to
the lot of the white man to behold the wild people of the earth, engaged
in their daily avocations, completely unconscious that the gaze of a
superior class of beings is upon them. We have seen savages exhibited to
us professedly in all the simplicity of the woods; but how can the
children of nature retain their freedom of action and manners under the
curious gaze of a civilized multitude? We may depend upon it that we
gather nothing but erroneous ideas from such a display. If we would
understand, truly, what our savage brethren are like, we must penetrate
into the woods and the wilds where they are to be found; we must mingle
with them in the exercise of their domestic avocations; we must see them
as they are, in all their excusable degradation; and not invested with a
fictitious dignity, or a theatrical simplicity; we must observe them,
also, unawares, and see how they conduct themselves under the ordinary
influences that beset them.
It was with great reluctance that I departed without making our presence
known; but I could not refrain from leaving, at the place where we
landed, the perplexing legacy of a few presents. With what curious
anxiety must these people have traced our footmarks, from which alone
they could gather evidence that we belonged to a different race!
After making two miles in a south and nearly three in a west direction,
with but few interruptions from windings, we opened a splendid sheet of
water, trending South-West 1/2 South. A mile back I had found, in a
crooked reach, some native huts, built of sticks and neatly plastered
over, with doors so narrow that none of our broad-shouldered fellows
could enter.
At this place we saw the last whistling-ducks on our way up; further on,
other species, to be hereafter mentioned, were found. A large alligator
also afforded us sport, although we did not secure him.
PICTURESQUE SCENERY.
The country was gradually becoming perceptibly higher, and the scenery
extremely picturesque. Tall palm-trees and bamboos were now to be seen
among the rich foliage on the lower slope of the banks, that rose here to
an elevation of fifty feet, and were much intersected with watercourses.
Onwards we hurried; the influence of the tide being scarcely felt, and
the river preserving its South-West 1/2 South direction, with a width of
two hundred yards, and a depth of two fathoms and a half. At the end of
three miles no change was perceptible, and we began to congratulate
ourselves on, at last, having found a stream that would carry the boats
far towards the point it was always the height of my ambition to reach,
the centre of the continent.
HOPE REACH.
To this part of the Albert that had given rise to such expectations we
gave the name of Hope Reach. A little higher up we landed on the right
bank to cook a meal and examine the country. I shall here attempt, with
the aid of Lieutenant Gore's sketch,* to give the reader some idea of the
beauty of the scene that now presented itself to our anxious gaze.
(*Footnote. See the view annexed.)
It was in truth as glorious a prospect as could greet the eye. A
magnificent sheet of water lay before us in one unbroken expanse,
resembling a smooth translucent lake. Its gentle repose harmonized
exquisitely with the slender motionless boughs of the drooping gums,
palms, and acacias, that clustered on the banks, and dipped their
feathery foliage in the limpid stream, that like a polished mirror bore,
within its bosom, the image of the graceful vegetation by which it was
bordered. The report of our guns, as they dealt destruction among the
quails that here abounded, rolled for the first time along the waters of
the Albert, breaking in on the hush of stillness that appeared to reign
over all like the presence of a spirit. The country that stretched away
from either bank was an extensive plain, covered with long coarse grass,
above which was occasionally seen the head of a kangaroo, listening, with
its acute ear, for our approach.
No high land presented itself in any direction, and the eye was only
relieved by the growth of trees and shrubs that marked the line of the
watercourses, the natural drains of the country, which had formed deep
channels through the banks. The gumtrees, near the river, were of
considerable size, though small on the plains. A light kind of mould of
great depth, without a particle of stone of any kind, was the character
of the soil.
BIRDS AND FISHES.
One of the boats tried the hooks and lines during our rambles over the
country, and from the number of catfish and a dark kind of bream that was
caught, we are enabled to state that this part of the Albert abounds with
them. Besides quails, pigeons and a beautiful finch, before seen on the
Victoria, are to be numbered among the land birds. Those of the water
consisted of large brown, and small grey ducks, spoonbills, black and
white geese, and a dark blue kind of rail, bearing a great resemblance to
the English moor-fowl, that afforded us excellent sport, as they flew out
in great numbers from the long flags that border the banks on the upper
part of Hope Reach. We did not see any black swans, neither were they
noticed by us on the north-west coast. I, myself, believe they are not to
be found to the northward of latitude 27 degrees 0 minutes South. This
part of the river is subject to a tidal influence, producing a slight
rise, which takes place about four hours after the time of high-water at
the mouth.
In our eagerness to proceed we moved off rapidly up the river, after a
hasty meal. All beyond was mystery; and it seemed that we were destined
to remain long in suspense; for the day soon closed in, leaving only the
pale light of the moon to guide us. The depth continued regular, at two
and a half fathoms, and the width two hundred yards. We hastened onwards;
the night scenery being almost more beautiful than the day. The heavens
seemed more deep, the water more glittering, the trees more graceful and
feathery; and here and there a tall palm reared its thin and spectral
form above the dense foliage through which the moonlight broke at
intervals, and fell, as it were, in showers of silver on the placid
waters.
Nearly seven miles had been traversed in the same South-West 1/2 South
direction, when our hopes of proceeding further were suddenly for a time
destroyed, by the appearance of a dense woody mass ahead. A little
further on, the moon peering through the matted foliage showed one branch
of the river turning off to the southward, whilst another, in the mouth
of which we found ourselves, trended west. The lead giving the great
depth of six fathoms, we were induced to follow the latter. Utter
darkness soon surrounded us; the trees, on either side, over-shadowing
the river, which in this branch was not eighty yards wide.
PROGRESS IMPEDED.
Our progress, also, at length began to be impeded by fallen or sunken
trees, which not only rendered the ascent dangerous, but at the end of
about two miles fairly brought us to a standstill, and forbade our
further advance. This detention was a bitter disappointment to us all,
and we crept into our blanket-bags with disgust, but with the hope that
in the morning a passage might still be found.
August 4.
Daylight brought no better hopes of our taking the boats higher up by
this branch, as a succession of large trees lay across it a quarter of a
mile above. It was a gloomy corner we had got into, and so sheltered that
it seemed as though a breath of wind had never swept through it; the
leaves of the low-spreading palms that drooped over the water, damp with
the morning dew, had unbroken edges, as if an eternal quietude had
pervaded the spot.
BEAUTY OF THE LANDSCAPE.
This triste appearance wore off as the sun rose, and the scenery under
his smiles was soon clothed with beauty. Trees with every variety of
foliage overhung each other, connected, as it were, by bowers of creepers
depending in festoons and concealing odd-shaped fragments of fallen
timber, which here and there reared their blackened heads out of the
water, the unruffled smoothness of which was occasionally disturbed by
the splash of some wildfowl, and chequered with alternate spots of gold
and gloom by the sun's rays, as they pierced through the dense
surrounding foliage.
Returning, we entered the south branch; the opening of which was almost
equal in beauty, as the reader will perceive from the view in the
beginning of the first volume; but we were again stopped by fallen trees
after proceeding about a mile and a half.
Here we observed driftwood and rushes in the trees, fifteen feet above
our heads. It was now quite clear that all hopes of water carriage
towards the interior were at an end. The boats were at this time above
fifty miles from the entrance, and our provisions only admitting of the
remainder of this day being spent in land exploration, a party was
immediately selected for this service.
LAND EXCURSION.
Following up a short woody valley, on reaching the summit of the level a
view burst upon me, the nature of which the reader may learn from the
accompanying plate. A vast boundless plain lay before us, here and there
dotted over with woodland isles. Whilst taking the bearings of one of
these to guide us in the direction we were to steer, I sent a man up a
tree to have a further view; but nothing beyond an extension of the plain
was to be seen. The river could be traced to the southward by a waving
line of green trees; the latter were larger at this spot than in any
other part, and consisted of tall palms, and three kinds of gums. No
trace of the western branch could be discovered.
Time being, as I have before said, very precious, we moved off in a
South-South-East direction, at the rate of almost four miles an hour, in
spite of the long coarse grass lying on the ground and entangling our
legs.
THE PLAINS OF PROMISE.
The soil* was still a light-coloured mould of great depth, and according
to one so well qualified to judge as Sir W. Hooker, who kindly examined
some that I brought to England, is of a rich quality, confirming the
opinion I entertained of it, which suggested for this part of the
continent, the name of The Plains of Promise.
(*Footnote. My immediate visit to Port Essington afforded me an
opportunity of comparing the qualities of the two soils; and the result
was that the richest land I saw there, in spite of the aid of manure,
etc. was very inferior to that on the Plains of Promise.)
We were now once more stepping out over a terra incognita; and though no
alpine features greeted our eyes as they wandered eagerly over the vast
level, all was clothed with the charm of novelty. The feelings of delight
which are naturally aroused in those whose feet for the first time press
a new and rich country, and which I have so often before endeavoured in
vain to express, burst forth on this occasion with renewed intensity.
At the end of nearly four miles we turned off to the westward for a rise
at a short distance, concealing the line of trees that marked the course
of the river, from which we had been gradually receding. We found it to
be on the opposite side of a watercourse twenty-five feet deep. From its
summit we got a view of the country to the south-west, over the growth of
trees at the margin of the river.*
(*Footnote. See the view annexed. )
On this rise we met an emu, which, after several bad shots, got away from
the whole of us. This, in some measure was owing to our over-eagerness,
as the bird was at first inclined to approach. Proceeding a little
farther we observed a small lake bearing north half a mile. Attracted by
the beauty of the vernal tints on its borders we went to taste the
waters. On the same refreshing errand was a luckless beautiful
slate-coloured egret, which Mr. Gore shot. Holding our west course we
made the river at the end of another mile. Its size was reduced to a mere
rivulet; being scarcely fifteen yards wide, with a depth of five feet.
Yet it had greater velocity than we had before observed, running at the
rate of a mile an hour, a clear babbling brook, over which, acacias and
drooping gums formed a leafy tunnel; its course was still from the south.
HALT THE PARTY AND PROCEED ALONE.
Whilst the rest of the party halted I proceeded, with the freshest man,*
in a southerly direction; urged on by what was, perhaps, now the
unjustifiable hope of discovering some distant point rising above the far
horizon as a definite result and reward of my exploration. It seemed,
however, almost impossible that this same wearisome monotony could long
continue; and I experienced much of that painful depressing excitement
which is created by a series of similar impressions when we are longing
for variety.
(*Footnote. A marine, of the name of John Brown, possessing great powers
of endurance. He died in 1845, in a situation I got him under the Trinity
House, on his obtaining a pension for long
servitude.)
We soon gained almost another two miles, when I availed myself of the
opportunity to satisfy a second time my ambition of outstripping my
companions in approaching towards that land of mystery, Central
Australia. Desiring Brown to make the river abreast, I ran a short
distance further, when I again met the Albert, flowing on as before, with
undiminished size. Even this short distance was something to gain in a
new and untrodden country.
The line of verdure still pointed out the southerly course of the river
across the endless plain; and it became natural to speculate on its
source or origin; whether it was the drainage of a swamp, or the outlet
of some lagoon, fed by the Cordillera to the eastward. But to speculation
alone was I reduced, it not being permitted me to clear up this point.
All I could do was to give one long lingering look to the southward
before I returned. In that direction, however, no curling smoke denoted
the presence of the savage; all was lonely and still; and yet even in
these deserted plains, equally wanting in the redundance of animal, as in
the luxuriance of vegetable life, I could discover the rudiments of
future prosperity, and ample justification of the name which I had
bestowed upon them. I gazed around, despite my personal disappointment,
with feelings of hopeful gratitude to Him who had spread out so fair a
dwelling place for his creatures; and could not refrain from breathing a
prayer that ere long the now level horizon would be broken by a
succession of tapering spires rising from the many christian hamlets that
must ultimately stud this country, and pointing through the calm depths
of the intensely blue and gloriously bright skies of Tropical Australia,
to a still calmer and brighter and more glorious region beyond, to which
all our sublimest aspirations tend, and where all our holiest desires may
be satisfied.
The recent formation of this part of the country was very striking. We
met no rocks during our walk; a porphyritic pebble or two being the only
stones noticed; they were flattened, evidently showing that the water by
which they were carried had a slow motion, which supports the view I have
put forward in an early page of this volume, with reference to the
gradual northerly discharge of the accumulated waters of Central
Australia.
EXPLORATION OF THE INTERIOR.
My position was in latitude 17 degrees 58 1/2 minutes South longitude 7
degrees 12 1/2 East of Port Essington, or 139 degrees 25 minutes East of
Greenwich; and within four hundred miles from the centre of the
continent. What an admirable point of departure for exploring the
interior! A few camels, with skins for conveying water, would be the
means of effecting this great end in a very short time. In one month
these ships of the desert, as they have been appropriately called, might
accomplish, at a trifling expense, that which has been attempted in vain
by the outlay of so much money. When we consider that Australia is our
own continent, and that now, after sixty years of occupation, we are in
total ignorance of the interior, though thousands are annually spent in
geographical research, it seems not unreasonable to expect that so
important a question should at length be set at rest.
RETURN DOWN THE ALBERT.
In the whole continent there exists no point of departure to be compared
with the head of the Albert. The expedition should, as I have before
remarked, go to Investigator Road, fulfilling my prediction of the
ultimate importance of that port, which lies only twenty-seven miles
North-North-West from the entrance. Here the flat-bottomed boats, taken
out in frame, for the purpose of carrying up the camels, should be put
together, and towed from thence to the river.
A shout from Brown, who, alarmed at my lengthened absence, had come in
search of me, roused me from the reverie in which I was indulging, and
which had carried me rolling along on the back of a camel, girded round
with an anti-pleurisy belt, over many miles of the new lands of
Australia. Returning with him I rejoined the rest of the party, and we
all moved back in the silence that usually succeeds great excitement,
towards the boats. Mr. Forsyth having made the necessary observations for
latitude, we were soon following the downward course of the Albert.
KANGAROO POINT.
We reached the mouth before daylight on the 6th. This was the coldest
morning we had experienced; the thermometer being at 51 degrees with a
strong breeze from South-South-East, which rendered somewhat dangerous
the task of collecting the requisite soundings on the bar at the mouth;
the gig being once or twice nearly half filled in doing so. Behind the
eastern entrance point, was seen a large light-coloured kangaroo, which,
for want of a better, afforded us a name. Our observations refer to this
spot, Kangaroo Point, which they place in latitude 17 degrees 35 minutes
10 seconds South and longitude 7 degrees 35 minutes 50 seconds East of
Port Essington. Instead of the usual mangrove shore, the coast to the
eastward was sandy; but the most remarkable feature, hereabouts, is a
clump of tall mangroves, towering over their fellow evergreens, close to
the western entrance point. They are called in the chart the High Trees
of Flinders, having been noticed by that celebrated navigator whilst
passing at a distance from the coast. Bearing South-West 1/2 South they
guide a ship to the bar, which can only be taken at high-water springs,
when the depth averages eleven feet.* When the eastern part of this clump
of trees bears South 45 degrees West, and Kangaroo Point South 10 degrees
West the bar will have been passed, and the depth, at the same time of
tide, will be seventeen feet; when the bearing of Kangaroo Point, given,
leads up the channel, which deepens in a quarter of a mile to
twenty-three and soon after to thirty feet. The impetus given to the
water, from the first reach of the Albert, being straight, forces a
channel of two miles in extent; with a width of nearly a quarter of a
mile, growing gradually shallower towards the outer part, and,
ultimately, becoming lost in the great flat fronting the shore, which is
thrown out in proportion to the length of the channel, beyond which the
bar extends for above a mile. Part of its inner side, however, is
intersected by a narrow channel of thirteen and seventeen feet; the guide
through which, is the eastern edge of the clump of trees before
mentioned, bearing South 45 degrees West. The Albert is navigable, for
vessels of a draught suited to the bar, thirteen miles; and within five
of where the water is fresh.
(*Footnote. The tides in the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria appear to be
a compound of many others, obliterating the common daily difference, and
producing only one tide in 24 hours. The direction of the flood stream
commences at South-South-East, changing gradually to South-South-West as
it terminates; that of the ebb changes from North-West to
North-North-East. The strength of each is from a quarter to one knot. The
rise at springs is from 9 to 12 feet, and at neaps from 3 to 8 feet.)
After observing the latitude, we took advantage of the afternoon's lull
to make the best of our way to the ship, which we met underweigh, running
down towards us; Mr. Parker, the master, having become anxious at our
lengthened absence.
In the evening and next morning, we got more soundings off the mouth of
the river; and found that there was only six feet at low-water springs, a
mile and a quarter outside the bar. We afterwards carried a line along
the south-eastern shore of the gulf; and at noon, on the 9th, anchored
off Van Diemen's Inlet, where I had arranged to meet Mr. Fitzmaurice's
party.
ACCIDENT TO MR. FITZMAURICE.
The whaleboat was soon seen hastening from the shore without the yawl,
which made us suspect all was not right; and I was much distressed to
hear that Mr. Fitzmaurice had been seriously wounded in the ankle by the
discharge of a gun which had gone off within a few yards of it. Mr. Bynoe
went on shore immediately to assist in bringing him on board. The
accident having happened several days ago, and the whole charge of shot
being buried in his foot, his sufferings were intense. It was thought for
some time that amputation would be necessary; but though this was not the
case, he was maimed for life; for which, in some measure, he has been
compensated by promotion and a pension. By this melancholy accident the
service sustained a great loss, which was at no time felt more than when
it occurred.
COMPLETION OF THE SURVEY OF SOUTH SHORE OF THE GULF.
Mr. Fitzmaurice had fortunately, before he was disabled, completed his
examination of the coast between the Flinders and Van Diemen's Inlet,
with his usual praiseworthy activity. On leaving the former he found that
the shore trended North 47 degrees East, with a large inlet at the end of
ten miles. This was only examined a short distance in a south direction;
but from the bank being thrown out six miles from its mouth, with a
channel nearly halfway through, it evidently disembogues a large volume
of water, and we may reasonably infer it to be a river. It is named in
the chart Bynoe's Inlet. Seven miles beyond was another inlet, with a
sandy beach extending for two miles to the south-west of it. Five miles
further, the trend of the coast changed to North 4 degrees East,
continuing almost straight in that direction to Van Diemen's Inlet,
distant twenty-five miles; and, with the exception of the first five, is
sandy throughout. Thirteen miles from Van Diemen's Inlet is an opening of
some magnitude, near the south entrance point of which are ponds of fresh
water. Two and four miles south of it were small openings; and two and
seven miles north of it, two others.
During his excursion Mr. Fitzmaurice had killed one of the rare species
of kangaroo, seen for the first time by us at King Sound, called Macropus
unguifer; this was a somewhat important discovery, as it showed the
extent to which the animal is diffused over the continent. I may here
mention, that the night before we reached Van Diemen's Inlet a flight of
rose-coloured cockatoos,* several of which were caught and kept alive for
some time, alighted on the rigging.
(*Footnote. Cacatua eos.)
Thus terminated our exploration of the southern shores of the Gulf of
Carpentaria, nearly two hundred miles of which had been minutely examined
in the boats.* Twenty-six inlets had been discovered, of which two proved
to be rivers, whilst three more were nearly as promising. That all the
others may contain fresh water in the rainy season there is every reason
for supposing, from the fact of deep channels being found in their banks;
from what I have already observed regarding the water being less salt
towards the heads at low tides; and from the report we afterwards heard
at Port Essington that Malay proas occasionally visit the southern shores
of the Gulf, and fill fresh water from alongside, some distance off the
land. If we receive this statement as correct, we must suppose that at
certain seasons the discharge from the various inlets and rivers we
discovered is sufficiently powerful to force back the great body of
seawater, as is the case at the embouchures of many large rivers.
(*Footnote. As the reader will perceive by a glance at the chart
accompanying this work.)
The general appearance of the head of the Gulf is that of a low mangrove
shore, between ten and thirty feet high, over which the interior is not
visible from the offing.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATE AND WINDS IN THE GULF.
During our visit to this part of the continent we found the climate well
suited for Europeans; but what it might be in the middle of the
north-west monsoon we had no opportunity of ascertaining. At its
commencement in the month of November, Flinders found the thermometer to
range on board between 81 and 90 degrees; but on shore, he says, that in
the course of the day it might have been about seven degrees higher; the
temperature, however, being alleviated by constant breezes either from
sea or land, it was seldom oppressive. In July, as I have already stated,
the thermometer, on one occasion, at 5 A.M., was down to 51 degrees; and
on another, at noon, up to 87 degrees, being, in the first instance, six
degrees lower than it was on board, and in the second, seven degrees
higher, which gave an excess in the shore range of thirteen degrees.
Generally on the land it was below 62 degrees before 7 A.M. and after 6
P.M. The range of the barometer in November was from 29.70 to 30.06;
whilst with us, in July, its maximum height was 30.08, and minimum 30.02;
the lowest being in both seasons with winds from the land, coinciding
with what had been observed on other parts of the continent, that winds
from the sea raise the mercury, and those from the land depress it.
The winds in July were fresh from South to South-East for about two days
before and after the change in the moon. They began at midnight,
increasing to almost a strong breeze between five and six in the morning,
and dying away again towards noon, when a calm of five hours duration
succeeded; at other times light land and seabreezes prevailed.
It will appear from this description of the winds in the Gulf of
Carpentaria that they bear a great similarity to those experienced at the
same season on the North-West coast, near Depuch Island; and the
circumstance of the temperature being lowest when they were strongest
from the land is also the same. This was there supposed to have been
occasioned by the great radiation of heat from the land over which they
blew; but as the country at the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria is not of
a cold clayey nature, the idea is naturally suggested that there must be
a great extent of swampy ground in the interior, which strengthens the
opinion I have before expressed.
SUPPOSED ISLANDS.
After hoisting in the boats we shaped a course along the eastern shore of
the Gulf towards Booby Island. Our being obliged to return thither, for a
chronometric departure prevented our examining the middle of the upper
part of the Gulf, where, according to certain vague reports, there exist
islands. It is stated, for example, that after the south-west monsoon has
set in strongly, numbers of coconuts are thrown on the north-west shore
of the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the year 1839, moreover, a small proa was
driven off the coast of Timor Laut during the north-west monsoon. The
wind blowing hard drifted them to the South-East for three days and three
nights, when they came to a low island, with no traces of inhabitants,
and abounding in coconut trees, upon the fruit of which they lived until
the monsoon changed, when they sailed back to Timor Laut. Flinders, when
off Batavia River, on the North-East side of the Gulf, was led to suppose
that an island existed to seaward of him, from seeing some flocks of
geese coming from that direction one morning. Wilson, also, in his Voyage
round the World, speaks of the Macassar people reporting an island in the
Gulf of Carpentaria, with sandalwood growing on it.
EXAMINE ENDEAVOUR STRAIT.
Soon after daylight on the 13th, we anchored under Booby Island,* the
flagstaff bearing East-South-East half a mile to the south. The weather
looked unusually threatening the previous night. Between the observations
for rating the chronometers I fulfilled my intention of making a cursory
examination of the entrance of Endeavour Strait, and anchored a mile and
three quarters off the North Wallis Island, bearing South 23 degrees
East. It is a conical rocky isle, upwards of 70 feet high, of a coarse
sandstone formation; an extensive coral reef fronts it on all sides,
except the north. The result of a night's observations on shore placed
the summit in latitude 10 degrees 51 minutes 25 seconds South; the true
bearing of Booby Island was North 22 degrees 13 minutes West. The natives
appear to make a cemetery of this island; for on a small sandy point on
the north side we found a large grave, covered with turtle backs, and
containing several skeletons. This is a very different mode of burial
from that noticed in Flinders River.
(*Footnote. The result of the whole of our observations at this island
are as follows: Latitude of the west point 10 degrees 36 minutes 42
seconds South, longitude, 141 degrees 57 minutes 45 seconds East;
variation, 7 degrees 0 minutes East. The tides are equally strange here
and in Endeavour Strait; the stream setting to the westward
(West-South-West to West-North-West) from nineteen to twenty hours, and
to the northward and eastward (North to North-East) only from four to
five hours. The latter stream commences about an hour before high-water,
which takes place at 4.30, on the full and change days, when the rise at
springs is 12 feet, and at neaps 7; the length of flood and ebb is nearly
six hours.)
Leaving our anchorage, we steered West 1/4 North, six miles, in soundings
of 6 and 7 fathoms. We then crossed in 4 1/2 and 5 fathoms, North Wallis
Island bearing South 75 minutes East, a ridge which appeared to be an
elbow of the spit extending off the latter, and forming the south side of
the channel. Continuing the same course, the depth soon increased to 6
and 7 fathoms. This was highly satisfactory, as it proved there was water
for the largest vessels.* In the afternoon we anchored again under Booby
Island.**
(*Footnote. Captain Blackwood's recent survey of this Strait confirms my
opinion of its being the best passage through this part of Torres
Strait.)
(**Footnote. The following is the extract from the game book referred to
in a former page: Booby Island (June and August) 145 quails, 18 pigeons,
12 rails, of two kinds, 3 doves; Van Diemen's Inlet (July) 14 doves, 6
pigeons, 1 native companion; Bountiful Island (July) 8 quails, 11 doves,
1 pheasant, 3 plovers, 4 white cockatoos; Sweers Island (July) 151
quails, 87 doves, 20 pigeons, 3 pheasants, 8 white and 2 black cockatoos,
5 spurwing plovers; Disaster Inlet (July) 36 ducks, 9 white cockatoos, 2
native companions, 1 green ibis; on the coast (July) 10 curlews and
plovers; Flinders River (July) 10 ducks, 5 rose-coloured cockatoos, 4
pigeons, 3 spurwing plovers, 1 rail of a new species, 1 white ibis, 1
spoonbill; Albert River (August) 20 ducks, 4 large water rails, 2
pheasants; between Van Diemen's Inlet and Flinders' River (August) 12
cockatoos, 1 kangaroo (Macropus unguifer); Wallis Isles (August) 6
quails, 6 doves, 1 pigeon.)
LOOK FOR CAPE WESSEL.
On the evening of the next day, the 17th, we weighed, and steered West by
South across the Gulf; and in the afternoon of the 18th passed eleven
miles from Cape Wessel, according to the position assigned to it in the
chart: but as the weather was tolerably clear, and nothing was seen of
it, there appeared to be some truth in the report I had previously heard
of its being to the southward of the position given to it.
The wind freshened by midnight, and, as usual, became more southerly,
that is to say, South-South-East, whilst during the day it was generally
East-South-East and East, and very much lighter. The current was steady
at North-West by West from half a knot to three-quarters per hour,
maintaining about the same direction and strength as in 1839. On the
evening of the 19th we crossed the meridian of the centre of New Year
Island, which our observations placed in 8 degrees 52 minutes west of
Booby Island, one mile less than Flinders.
RETURN TO PORT ESSINGTON.
It was late in the afternoon of the 20th before we reached an anchorage
off the settlement of Victoria, where we met Captain Stanley, who had
just returned in the Britomart from a cruise in the Arafura Sea, of which
the reader will find an interesting account, from his own pen, in the
following chapter.