Water the Ship.
Vessel with Supplies arrives.
Natives at Cape York.
Description of the Country and its Productions.
Port Albany considered as a Depot for Steamers.
Sail from Cape York and arrive at Port Essington.
Condition of the Place.
History of the Settlement.
Would be useless as a Colony.
Aborigines.
Leave Port Essington.
Arrive at Sydney.
At length, on October 7th, we reached Cape York, and anchored in the
northern entrance to Port Albany. At daylight next morning two parties
were sent in various directions in search of water. I found no traces of
natives in Evans Bay, but at another place, while digging in the bed of a
watercourse, we were joined by a small party of them, one of whom turned
out to be an old acquaintance. They seemed to be quite at home in our
company, asking for pipes, tobacco, and biscuit, with which I was
fortunately able to supply them. Indeed, a day or two before, some of
them had communicated with the Asp in a most confident and friendly
manner. Had water been found near the best anchorage in Port Albany, it
was Captain Stanley's intention to have taken the ship there, but, as it
appeared from the various reports, that Evans Bay was preferable at this
time for watering, both as affording the largest supply, and the greatest
facilities for obtaining it, the ship was accordingly removed to an
anchorage off the south part of the bay, and moored, being in the
strength of the tide running round Robumo Island.
Shortly after our arrival at Cape York, the two sets of old wells, dug by
the Fly, were cleared out, and we completed water to seventy-five tons.
These wells are situated immediately behind the sandy beach--they are
merely pits into which the fresh water, with which the ground had become
saturated during the rainy season, oozes through the sand, having
undergone a kind of filtration. At times a little surf gets up on the
shore, but never, during our stay of three weeks, was it sufficient to
interrupt the watering.
COMPLETION OF THE SURVEY.
While the ship remained at Cape York, the Bramble, Asp, pinnace, and our
second cutter, were engaged, under their respective officers, in the
survey of Endeavour Strait and the Prince of Wales Channel, which they
finished before we left, thus completing the survey of the Inner Route
between Dunk and Booby Islands. Previous to leaving for that purpose, the
pinnace had been sent to Booby Island, for letters in the post office
there, and some of us had the good fortune to receive communications from
our friends in Sydney, which had been left by vessels passing through.
Most passing vessels heave-to off the island for an hour, the dangers of
Torres Strait having been passed, and record their names, etc. in the
logbook kept there, and by it we found, that with one exception, all this
season had taken the Outer Passage, and most of them had entered at
Raine's Islet, guided by the beacon erected there in 1844, by Captain
F.P. Blackwood, of H.M.S. Fly, thus demonstrating the superior merits of
this passage over the other openings in the Barrier Reef, and the
accuracy of the Fly's survey.
On October 21st, the long and anxiously looked-for vessel from Sydney
arrived, bringing our supplies, and the letters and news of the last five
months. We had for a short time been completely out of bread, peas, and
lime juice, and two cases of scurvy had appeared among the crew.
KENNEDY'S EXPEDITION.
It had been arranged that Mr. Kennedy with his expedition should, if
possible, be at Cape York in the beginning of October to communicate with
us, and receive such supplies and assistance as might be required; but
the month passed away without bringing any signs of his being in the
neighbourhood. During our progress along the coast a good lookout had
been kept for his preconcerted signal--three fires in a line, the central
one largest--and bushfires which on two occasions at night assumed
somewhat of that appearance had been answered, as agreed on, by rockets
sent up at 8 P.M., none of which however were returned. A schooner from
Sydney arrived on the 27th with two additions to his party, including a
surgeon, also supplies, consisting chiefly of sheep, with instructions
from the Colonial Government to await at Port Albany the arrival of the
expedition. The livestock were landed by our boats on Albany Island,
where a sheep pen was constructed, and a well dug, but the water was too
brackish for use. A sufficient supply however had previously been found
in a small cave not far off, where the schooner's boat could easily reach
it.
I shall now proceed to give an account of the neighbourhood of Cape York,
derived from the present and previous visits, as a place which must
eventually become of considerable importance--and first of the
aborigines:
NATIVES AT CAPE YORK.
On the day of our arrival at Cape York, a large party of natives crossed
over in five canoes under sail from Mount Adolphus Island, and
subsequently their numbers increased until at one time no less than 150
men, women, and children, were assembled at Evans Bay. But their stay was
short, probably on account of the difficulty of procuring food for so
large an assemblage, and the greater part dispersed along the coast to
the southward. While collecting materials for a vocabulary,* I found that
several dialects were spoken, but I failed then to connect them with
particular tribes or even find out which, if any, were the resident ones.
Among these were two or three of the Papuan race, from some of the
islands of Torres Strait. It appeared to me that a constant friendly
intercourse exists between the natives of the southern portion of Torres
Strait and those of the mainland about Cape York, which last, from its
central position, is much frequented during their occasional, perhaps
periodical migrations. This free communication between the races would
account for the existence in the vocabulary I then procured at Cape York
of a considerable number of words (at least 31 out of 248) identical with
those given by Jukes in his vocabularies of Darnley Island and Masseed,
especially the latter.
(*Footnote. In illustration of the difficulty of framing so apparently
simple a document as a vocabulary, and particularly to show how one must
not fall into the too common mistake of putting down as certain every
word he gets from a savage, however clearly he may suppose he is
understood, I may mention that on going over the different parts of the
human body, to get their names by pointing to them, I got at different
times and from different individuals--for the shin-bone, words which in
the course of time I found to mean respectively, the leg, the shin-bone,
the skin, and bone in general.)
The physical characteristics of these Australians seen at Cape York
differ in no respect from those of the same race which I have seen
elsewhere. The absence of one or more of the upper incisors was not
observed here, nor had circumcision or any similar rite been practised,
as is the case in some parts of the continent. Among these undoubted
Australians were, as already mentioned, two or three Papuans. They
differed in appearance from the others in having the skin of a much
lighter colour--yellowish brown instead of nearly black--the hair on the
body woolly and growing in scattered tufts, and that of the head also
woolly and twisted into long strands like those of a mop. On the right
shoulder, and occasionally the left also, they had a large complicated,
oval scar, only slightly prominent, and very neatly made.
The custom of smoking, so general throughout Torres Strait, has been
introduced at Cape York. Those most addicted to it were the Papuans
above-mentioned, but many of the Australians joined them, and were
equally clamorous for tobacco. Still it was singular to notice that
although choka (tobacco) was in great demand, biscuit, which they had
corrupted to bishikar, was much more prized. Their mode of smoking having
elsewhere* been described, I need not allude to it further than that the
pipe, which is a piece of bamboo as thick as the arm and two or three
feet long, is first filled with tobacco-smoke, and then handed round the
company seated on the ground in a ring--each takes a long inhalation, and
passes the pipe to his neighbour, slowly allowing the smoke to exhale. On
several occasions at Cape York I have seen a native so affected by a
single inhalation, as to be rendered nearly senseless, with the
perspiration bursting out at every pore, and require a draught of water
to restore him; and, although myself a smoker, yet on the only occasion
when I tried this mode of using tobacco, the sensations of nausea and
faintness were produced.
(*Footnote. Jukes' Voyage of the Fly Volume 1 page 165.)
These people appeared to repose the most perfect confidence in us--they
repeatedly visited the ship in their own canoes or the watering-boats,
and were always well treated; nor did any circumstance occur during our
intimacy to give either party cause of complaint. We saw few weapons
among them. The islanders had their bows and arrows, and the others their
spears and throwing-sticks. As the weather was fine, at least as regarded
the absence of rain, no huts of any kind were constructed; at night the
natives slept round their fires without any covering. During our stay the
food of the natives consisted chiefly of two kinds of fruit, the first (a
Wallrothia) like a large yellow plum, mealy and insipid; the second, the
produce of a kind of mangrove (Candelia) the vegetating sprouts of which
are prepared for food by a process between baking and steaming. At
low-water the women usually dispersed in search of shellfish on the
mudflats and among the mangroves, and the men occasionally went out to
fish, either with the spear, or the hook and line.
THE COUNTRY. ITS PRODUCTIONS.
The country in the immediate vicinity of Evans and Cape York Bays
consists of low wooded hills alternating with small valleys and plains of
greater extent. The coastline, when not consisting of rocky headlands, is
either a sandy beach, or is fringed with mangroves. Behind this, where
the country is flat, there is usually a narrow belt of dense brush or
jungle. In the valleys, one finds what in the colony of New South Wales
would be termed open forest land, characterised by scattered eucalypti
and other trees, and a scanty covering of coarse sedge-like grass growing
in tufts on a red clayey soil, covered with nodules of ironstone and
coarse quartzose sand. As characteristics of this poor soil, the first
objects to attract the attention are the enormous pinnacled anthills of
red clay and sand, often with supporting buttresses. These singular
structures, which are sometimes twelve feet in height, are of great
strength and toughness--on breaking off a piece, they appear to be
honeycombed inside, the numerous galleries being then displayed. The ants
themselves are of a pale brown colour, a quarter of an inch in length. In
sailing along the coast, these anthills may be distinctly seen from the
distance of two or three miles.
The rock in the immediate neighbourhood of Cape York is a porphyry with
soft felspathic base, containing numerous moderately-sized crystals of
amber-coloured quartz, and a few larger ones of flesh-coloured felspar.
It often appears in large tabular masses split horizontally and
vertically into blocks of all sizes. At times when the vertical fissures
predominate and run chiefly in one direction, the porphyry assumes a
slaty character, and large thin masses may be detached.
One of the most interesting features in the botany of Cape York, is the
occurrence of a palm, not hitherto mentioned as Australian. It is the
Caryota urens (found also in India and the Indian archipelago) one of the
noblest of the family, combining the foliage of the tree-fern with a
trunk a foot in diameter, and sixty in height. It is found in the dense
brushes along with three other palms, Seaforthia, Corypha, and Calamus.
Another very striking tree, not found elsewhere by us, is the fine Wormia
alata, abundant on the margin of the brushes, where it is very
conspicuous from its large yellow blossoms, handsome dark-green foliage,
and ragged, papery bark of a red colour.
One day I explored some caves in the sandstone cliffs at Port Albany in
quest of bats, and was fortunate enough to get quite a new Rhinolophus or
horseshoe bat. In one of the caves, which only admitted of entry on the
hands and knees, these bats were so numerous, and in such large clusters,
that I secured no less than eleven at one time, by using both hands.
Small kangaroos appeared to be plentiful enough, but we were not so
fortunate as to shoot one. The natives one day brought down to us a live
opossum, quite tame, and very gentle; this turned out to be new, and has
since been described by Mr. Gould under the name of Pseudocheirus
nudicaudatus.
In the brushes the sportsman may find the megapodius, brush-turkey, and
white pigeon, and in the forest flocks of white cockatoos, and various
parrots and parakeets, besides thrushes, orioles, leatherheads, etc., but
I shall not now enter upon the ornithology of the district. A very large
lizard (Monitor gouldii) is common at Cape York--it climbs trees with
great agility, and is very swift, scampering over the dead leaves in the
scrubs, with nearly as much noise as a kangaroo. Snakes, although
apparently not very plentiful, yet require to be carefully looked for in
order to be avoided; one day I killed single individuals of two
kinds--one a slender, very active green whip-snake, four feet in
length--the other, the brown snake of New South Wales, where its bite is
considered fatal. Fish are plentiful at Cape York; they may be caught
with the hook and line from the rocks, or at a little distance off, and
the sandy beach of Evans Bay is well-adapted for hauling the seine upon.
A curious freshwater fish (Megalops setipinnis) is found in the lagoon
here, and even in the wells dug by the Fly, there were some full-grown
individuals; it much resembles the herring, in shape, colour and size.
The shells may be very briefly dismissed. The principal landshell is a
very large variety of Helix bipartita, here attaining its greatest size.
The most striking shell of the sandflats is a handsome olive (O.
ispidula) remarkable for its extraordinary variations in colour, size,
and even form.
ABUNDANCE OF FRESH WATER.
In viewing Cape York as the probable site of a future settlement or
military post, an important feature to be noticed is the comparative
abundance of fresh water at the very close of the dry season. In Evans
Bay it may always be procured by digging behind the beach, especially at
the foot of some low wooded hillocks, towards its western end. Native
wells were met with in most of the smaller bays, and the size of the
dried-up watercourses indicates that during the wet season, a
considerable body is carried off by them from the flats and temporary
lagoons.
Were one inclined, from interested motives, to extol the natural
capabilities of the immediate neighbourhood of Cape York, it would be
very easy to speculate upon, and at once presume its peculiar fitness for
the growth of tropical produce. Thus, any swampy land might at once be
pronounced peculiarly adapted for paddy fields, and the remainder as
admirably suited to the growth of cotton, coffee, indigo, etc. With the
exception of a piece of rich soil, several acres in extent, on the
eastern margin of a watercourse, leading from the small lagoon behind
Evans Bay, and which would be a good site for a large garden, I did not
see much ground that was fit for cultivation. Very fine rich patches
occur here and there in the brushes removed from the coast, but in the
belts of brush along the beaches the soil, despite the accumulation of
vegetable matter, is essentially poor and sandy. It may be added that the
value of the garden land above alluded to, is much enhanced by its
proximity to a constant supply of water, to be procured by digging in the
bed of the lagoon. Nearly all the grass is of a coarse sedge-like
description, mixed, however, in places with grasses of a finer kind.
Towards the end of the dry season, the grass, when not burnt off by the
natives, presents a most uninviting, withered appearance, being so dry as
almost to crumble into dust if rubbed between the palms of the hand.
PORT ALBANY AS A DEPOT FOR STEAMERS.
As one of the more immediate beneficial results of our survey of the
Inner Passage, would be to facilitate its use by steamers, should
arrangements at present contemplated for the continuance of the overland
communication by Great Britain and India, from Singapore to the
Australian colonies, by way of Torres Strait, ever be carried into
effect, so it was of importance to find some place in the neighbourhood
of Cape York, convenient as a coaling station during either monsoon. An
eligible spot for this purpose was found in Port Albany, the name given
by Lieutenant Yule, who surveyed it in 1846, to the narrow channel
separating Albany Island from the mainland. Here a small sandy bay with a
sufficient depth of water close inshore, was, after a minute examination
by Captain Stanley, considered to be well adapted to the running out of a
jetty, alongside of which the largest steamer could lie in perfect
safety. This little bay has anchorage close inshore for three or four
vessels only, as a little further out they would be in the stream of tide
which runs with great strength, especially in the neighbourhood of the
various points; however, it is completely sheltered from any wind which
may be experienced on this part of the coast.
On several occasions I landed on Albany Island, and walked over the
place. It is three miles in length, and one in greatest breadth, its
outline irregular from the number of bays and small rocky headlands. On
its western side the bays are small, and the shores generally steep and
rocky, with sandy intervals, the banks being covered with brush of the
usual Australian intertropical character. The rock here is either a
stratum of ironstone in irregular masses and nodules cemented together by
a ferruginous base, or a very coarse sandstone, almost a quartzose
conglomerate, forming cliffs, occasionally thirty feet or more in height.
The latter stone is suitable for rough building purposes, such as the
construction of a pier, but is much acted on by the weather. On the
northern and eastern sides the bays are large and generally sandy, with
the land sloping down towards them from the low undulating hills, which
compose the rest of the island. These hills are either sandy or covered
with ironstone gravel* over red clay. They are thinly covered with a
sprinkling of Grevillea, Boronia, and Leucopogon bushes, with occasional
tufts of the coarsest grass. There must always be, however, sufficient
pasturage for such cattle and sheep as a small party in charge of a
coaling depot would require. There is also sufficient water in the island
for their support, and by digging wells, no doubt the quantity would be
greatly increased. In addition there are several small spots where the
soil is suitable for gardening purposes, thus ensuring a supply of
vegetables during the greater part, perhaps the whole of the year.
(*Footnote. A sample of this ironstone picked up from the surface has
furnished materials for the following remarks, for which I am indebted to
the politeness of Warrington W. Smyth, Esquire, of the Museum of
Practical Geology.
On examining the specimens which you presented to our Museum, I see that
they consist for the most part of the red or anhydrous peroxide of
iron--similar in chemical character to the celebrated haematite ore of
Ulverstone and Whitehaven. It is, however, less rich in iron than would
be inferred from its outward appearance, since the pebbles on being
broken, exhibit interiorly a loose and cellular structure, where grains
of quartz and plates of mica are interspersed with the ore, and of course
reduce its specific gravity and value.
Such an ore, if occurring in great quantity, and at no great distance
from abundant fuel and from a supply of limestone for flux, may prove to
be very valuable; but I should fear that your suggestion of employing the
coral and shells of the coast, for the last-mentioned purpose, might
impair the quality of an iron thus produced, for the phosphoric acid
present in them would give one of the constituents most troublesome to
the iron-master, who wishes to produce a strong and tough iron.)
SAIL FROM CAPE YORK.
On November 2nd we sailed from Cape York on our way to Port Essington and
Sydney, but owing to the prevalence of light airs, chiefly from the
eastward, and calms, we did not reach Booby Island until the 4th, having
passed out of Torres Strait by the Prince of Wales Channel. The Bramble
was left to perform some work in Endeavour Strait* and elsewhere along
the Inner Passage, and after its completion to make the best of her way
to Sydney down the eastern coast of Australia against the trade-wind,
before successfully accomplished by only two other vessels besides
herself. Of course a considerable degree of interest has been excited by
this intended procedure, as the two vessels start under pretty equal
circumstances to reach the same place by two very different routes, of
the merits of one of which comparatively little is known.
(*Footnote. Since the survey of Endeavour Strait in 1844 by Lieutenant
Yule in the Bramble (then attached to the Fly under Captain F.P.
Blackwood) several sunken rocks have been discovered, thereby lessening
the value of the passage through the Strait, as others, yet undetected,
to be found only by sweeping for them, may be presumed to exist. Captain
Stanley was strongly of opinion that the Prince of Wales Channel was far
preferable, especially for large ships, to Endeavour Strait.)
ARRIVE AT PORT ESSINGTON.
November 9th.
Since leaving Booby Island, the weather has been fine with light easterly
winds, the westerly monsoon in these seas not usually setting in until
the month of December. We first made the land in the neighbourhood of
Cape Croker, and soon afterwards saw the beacon on Point Smith. Entering
Port Essington we ran up the harbour, and anchored off the settlement of
Victoria early in the afternoon.
On landing and walking over the place after an absence of more than three
years, I might naturally have looked for some signs of improvement in the
appearance of the settlement and condition of the unfortunate residents,
had I not been aware of the non-progressive nature of the system which
had long been established there. I saw no such indications of prosperity
except in the flourishing and improved appearance of the coconut-trees
now in full bearing, as if nature boldly asserted her rights in
opposition to the dormant or even retrograde condition of everything else
in the place.
CONDITION OF THE SETTLEMENT. ITS UNHEALTHINESS.
We found the settlement in a ruinous condition. Even the hospital, the
best building in the place, had the roof in such a state that when rain
came on some of the patients' beds had to be shifted, and the surgeon
found it necessary to protect his own bed by a tent-like canopy. With few
exceptions, everyone was dissatisfied, and anxiously looked forward to
the happy time when the party should be relieved, or the settlement
finally abandoned. The unhealthiness* of the place, so often denied, had
now shown itself in an unequivocal manner; everyone had suffered from
repeated attacks of intermittent fever, and another fever of a more
deadly character had occasionally made its appearance, and, operating
upon previously debilitated constitutions, frequently proved fatal.
(*Footnote. As illustration of this point, I would direct attention to
the following tabular view of the Detachment of Marines at Port
Essington, from the time of the arrival of the SECOND party to their
final departure, embracing a period of five years. I have not been able
to procure any authentic statement of the mortality among the FIRST
party.
November 19th, 1844:
Found there: 1 officer, 0 men.
Arrived by Cadet: 3 officers, 52 men.
1847:
Arrived by Freak: 2 officers, 6 men.
Total: 6 officers, 58 men.
Died: 1 officer, 12 men.
Were invalided: 1 officer, 13 men.
November 30th, 1849:
Were taken away by Meander: 4 officers, 33 men.
Total: 6 officers, 58 men.
I may remark that, although it would obviously be unjust to suppose that
all the cases of death and invaliding are to be attributed to the effects
of the climate, yet the loss of the services of twenty-seven men out of
fifty-eight in five years by these means, clearly proves the
unhealthiness of the place. Another may be added to the list, for Captain
Macarthur was shortly afterwards invalided in Sydney, a victim to the
climate of Port Essington.)
There can, I think, be little doubt that much of the unhealthiness of the
garrison depended upon local influences. The situation of Victoria, at
the distance of sixteen miles from the open sea on the shores of an
almost land-locked harbour, was unfavourable for salubrity, although in
other respects judiciously chosen. Occasionally for days together the
seabreeze has not reached as far up as the settlement, and the heat has
been almost stifling; usually however the seabreeze set in during the
forenoon, and after blowing for some hours was succeeded by a calm, often
interrupted by a gentle land-wind. Within 400 yards of the hospital a
great extent of mud overgrown with mangroves, dry at low-water, must have
exercised a prejudicial influence; at times while crossing this swamp,
the putrid exhalations have induced a feeling almost amounting to nausea.
And if anything more than another shows the comparative unhealthiness of
the site of the settlement, it is the fact, that invalids sent to Point
Smith (at the entrance of the harbour) or Coral Bay--both of which places
are within the full influence of the seabreeze--speedily recovered,
although relapses on their return to Victoria were not infrequent.
CONDITION OF THE GARRISON.
Even in the important article of food--setting aside other secondary
stores--the Port Essington garrison have almost always been badly
supplied. I have seen them obliged to use bread which was not fit for
human food--the refuse of the stock on hand at the close of the war in
China, and yet there was none better to be got. In short, I believe, as I
stated some years ago in a Colonial paper, that there is probably no
vessel in Her Majesty's navy, no matter where serving, the men of which
are not better supplied with all the necessaries and comforts of life
than are the residents at Port Essington. All these have volunteered for
the place, but their preconceived ideas formed in England almost always
on reaching the place gave way to feelings of regret at the step they had
taken; I well remember the excitement in the settlement, and the feelings
of joy everywhere expressed, when in October 1845, the first party
learned that their relief had arrived.
HISTORY OF PREVIOUS SETTLEMENTS.
I shall now proceed to make some remarks upon Port Essington, ere the
subject becomes a matter of history, as I fervently hope the abandonment
of the place will render it ere many years have gone by;* but before
doing so I may premise a brief account of the former British settlements
on the north coast of Australia.**
(*Footnote. Port Essington was finally abandoned on November 30th, 1849,
when the garrison and stores were removed to Sydney by H.M.S. Meander,
Captain the Honourable H. Keppel. I may mention that most of the remarks
in this chapter relative to Port Essington appear as they were originally
written in my journal soon after leaving the place in the Rattlesnake;
they are mostly a combination of the observations made during three
visits, at intervals of various lengths, including a residence in 1844,
of upwards of four months. I am also anxious to place on record a
somewhat connected but brief account of the Aborigines, as I have seen
many injudicious remarks and erroneous statements regarding them, and as
it is only at Port Essington, for the whole extent of coastline between
Swan River and Cape York, that we were able to have sufficient
intercourse with them to arrive at even a moderate degree of acquaintance
with their manners, customs, and language.)
(**Footnote. See Voyage round the World by T.B. Wilson, M.D.)
The British Government having determined to form an establishment on the
northern coast of Australia, Captain J.J. Gordon Bremer, with H.M.S.
Tamar, sailed from Sydney in August 1824, in company with two store ships
and a party of military and convicts, the latter chiefly mechanics. On
September 20th, they arrived at Port Essington, when formal possession
was taken of the whole of the coast between the 129th and 135th meridians
of east longitude.
MELVILLE ISLAND SETTLEMENT.
A sufficiency of fresh water not being found at this place it was
determined to proceed to Melville Island, where they arrived on the 30th,
and commenced forming the settlement of Fort Dundas in Apsley Strait.
This settlement, however, after an existence of four years, was abandoned
on March 31st, 1829, in consequence of the continued unfavourable
accounts transmitted to the Home Government. Hostilities with the natives
had early commenced, and several lives were lost on either side.
RAFFLES BAY SETTLEMENT.
Meanwhile in anticipation of the abandonment of Melville Island, it had
been resolved to found a second settlement upon the north coast of
Australia. For this purpose, H.M.S. Success, Captain Stirling, with a
convoy of three vessels conveying troops, convicts, stores, and
provisions, sailed from Sydney, and arrived at Raffles Bay on June 17th,
1827. Next day the new settlement of Fort Wellington was formed. A grand
error was made in the very beginning, for the site was chosen behind a
mudbank, dry at low tides, in order to secure proximity to a lagoon of
fresh water, which after all disappeared towards the close of the dry
season. At first the natives committed many depredations, chiefly during
the night. About a month after the founding of the settlement, it was
thought necessary to order the sentries to fire upon the natives whenever
they approached, and on one occasion they were greeted with a discharge
of grape-shot. At length one of the soldiers was speared, and in reprisal
a party was sent out, which, coming unexpectedly upon a camp of natives,
killed and wounded several, including a woman and two children. When the
Bugis paid their annual visit to the coast several prahus remained to
fish for trepang under the protection of the settlement. Of the
healthiness of the place the medical officer states: "There is no endemic
disease here. The climate of the place surpasses every other as far as I
know, which is equally as near the equator; and were it not for the great
height of atmospheric temperature, I should consider this one of the best
in the world." However, two years after the foundation of the settlement,
when hostilities with the natives had ceased, and a friendly intercourse
had been established--when the Bugis had already taken advantage of the
protection of Europeans to carry on the trepang fishery in the bay--when
the reported unhealthiness of the climate had never exhibited itself--in
short when the settlement had been brought into a flourishing state,
orders were suddenly received for its entire abandonment, which were
carried into effect on August 29th, 1829.
SETTLEMENT OF VICTORIA.
Eight years afterwards, Government resolved for the fourth time to
establish a settlement on the north coast of Australia, with the double
view of affording shelter to the crews of vessels wrecked in Torres
Strait, and of endeavouring to throw open to British enterprise the
neighbouring islands of the Indian Archipelago. For this purpose, H.M.S.
Alligator, under the command of Captain J.J. Gordon Bremer, and H.M.S.
Britomart (Lieutenant Owen Stanley) were sent out, and left Sydney for
Port Essington in September 1837. Another vessel with stores accompanied
the Alligator, and both arrived at Port Essington on October 27th of the
same year. Soon afterwards, upon a site for the settlement being chosen,
the necessary operations were commenced, and by the end of May in the
following year, the preliminary arrangements having been completed, the
Alligator left, and Captain John Macarthur, R.M., with a subaltern,
assistant-surgeon, storekeeper, and a linguist, together with a
detachment of forty marines, remained in charge of the new settlement.
The Britomart remained behind for several years as a tender to this naval
station, or military post--for either term is equally applicable, and was
afterwards succeeded in her charge by H.M.S. Royalist. In October 1845
the remains of the original party which had been there for seven years
(including also a small detachment sent down from China) were relieved by
a draft from England of two subalterns, an assistant-surgeon, and
fifty-two rank and file of the Royal Marines, Captain Macarthur still
remaining as commandant.
PORT ESSINGTON A MILITARY POST.
The Port Essington experiment I am afraid is to be regarded as a complete
failure. Yet it could not well have been otherwise. It was never more
than a mere military post, and the smallness of the party, almost always
further lessened by sickness, was such that, even if judiciously managed,
little more could be expected than that they should be employed merely in
rendering their own condition more comfortable. And now after the
settlement has been established for eleven years, they are not even able
to keep themselves in fresh vegetables, much less efficiently to supply
any of Her Majesty's vessels which may happen to call there.
ADVANTAGES OF PORT ESSINGTON.
In order to develop the resources of a colony, always provided it
possesses any such, surely something more is required than the mere
presence of a party of soldiers, but it appears throughout, that
Government were opposed to giving encouragement to the permanent
settlement at Port Essington, of any of her Majesty's subjects. It is
well perhaps that such has been the case, as I can conceive few positions
more distressing than that which a settler would soon find himself placed
in were he tempted by erroneous and highly coloured reports of the
productiveness of the place--and such are not wanting--to come there with
the vain hopes of being able to raise tropical productions* for export,
even with the assistance of Chinese or Malay labourers. Wool, the staple
commodity of Australia, would not grow there, and the country is not
adapted for the support of cattle to any great extent.
(*Footnote. I need not here enlarge upon the unfitness of Port Essington
for agricultural pursuits--even that point has long ago been given up.
The quantity of land which might be made productive is exceedingly small,
and although cotton, sugarcane, and other tropical productions thrive
well in one of the two gardens, there is no field for their growth upon a
remunerative scale.)
Yet the little settlement at Port Essington has not been altogether
useless. The knowledge of the existence of such a military post, within a
few days' sail of the islands in question, together with the visits of
Commander Stanley in the Britomart, had completely prevented a repetition
of the outrages formerly committed upon European trading vessels at the
various islands of the group extending between Timor and New Guinea. The
crews and passengers of various vessels wrecked in Torres Strait had
frequently found in Port Essington a place of shelter, after six hundred
miles and more of boat navigation, combined with the difficulty of
determining the entrance, owing to the lowness of the land thereabouts,
which might easily be passed in the night, or even during the day, if
distant more than ten or twelve miles. I have myself been a witness to
the providential relief and extreme hospitality afforded there to such
unfortunates. Still, as a harbour of refuge, it is obvious that Cape York
is the most suitable place, situated as it is within a short distance of
the spot where disasters by shipwreck in Torres Strait and its approaches
have been most frequent.
Port Essington has sometimes been alluded to as being admirably adapted
for a depot from which European goods can be introduced among the
neighbouring islands of the Indian Archipelago, but on this subject I
would perfectly coincide with Mr. Jukes, who states: "Now, the best plan
for a vessel wishing to trade with the independent islands, obviously, is
to go to them at once; while she has just as good an opportunity to
smuggle her goods into the Dutch islands, if that be her object, as the
natives would have if they were to come and fetch them from Port
Essington."
NATIVES OF THE COBOURG PENINSULA. THEIR ORNAMENTS AND WEAPONS.
The natives of the Cobourg Peninsula are divided into four tribes, named
respectively the Bijenelumbo, Limbakarajia, Limbapyu, and Terrutong. The
first of these occupies the head of the harbour (including the ground on
which the settlement is built) and the country as far back as the
isthmus--the second, both sides of the port lower down--the third, the
north-west portion of the peninsula--and the last have possession of
Croker's Island, and the adjacent coasts of the mainland. From the
constant intercourse which takes place between these tribes, their
affinity of language, and similarity in physical character, manners, and
customs, they may be spoken of as one.
The Aborigines of Port Essington scarcely differ from those of the other
parts of Australia--I mean, there is no striking peculiarity. The septum
of the nose is invariably perforated, and the right central
incisor--rarely the left, is knocked out during childhood. Both sexes are
more or less ornamented with large raised cicatrices on the shoulders and
across the chest, abdomen, and buttocks, and outside of the thighs. No
clothing is at any time worn by these people, and their ornaments are few
in number. These last consist chiefly of wristlets of the fibres of a
plant--and armlets of the same, wound round with cordage, are in nearly
universal use. Necklaces of fragments of reed strung on a thread, or of
cordage passing under the arms and crossed over the back, and girdles of
finely twisted human hair, are occasionally worn by both sexes and the
men sometimes add a tassel of the hair of the possum or flying squirrel,
suspended in front. A piece of stick or bone thrust into the perforation
in the nose completes the costume. Like the other Australians, the Port
Essington blacks are fond of painting themselves with red, yellow, white,
and black, in different styles, considered appropriate to dancing,
fighting, mourning, etc.
These people construct no huts except during the rainy season, when they
put up a rude and temporary structure of bark. Their utensils are few in
number, consisting merely of fine baskets of the stems of a rush-like
plant, and others of the base of the leaf of the Seaforthia palm, the
latter principally used for containing water. Formerly bark canoes were
in general use, but they are now completely superseded by others,
hollowed out of the trunk of a tree, which they procure ready-made from
the Malays, in exchange for tortoise-shell, and in return for assistance
in collecting trepang.
The aboriginal weapons are clubs and spears--of the latter the variety is
very great, there being at least fourteen distinct kinds. Their clubs are
three in number, made of the tough heavy wood called wallaru, a kind of
gumtree, the ironbark of New South Wales; one is cylindrical, four feet
long, tapering at each extremity; the other two, of similar length, are
compressed, with sharp edges--one narrow, the other about four inches in
greatest width, and resembling a cricket-bat in shape. These weapons on
account of their great weight are used only at close quarters, and are
never thrown like the waddy of New South Wales. The spears of the Port
Essington natives may be divided into two classes--first, those thrown
with the hand alone, and second, those propelled by the additional
powerful leverage afforded by the throwing-stick. The hand-spears are
made entirely of wood, generally the wallaroo, in one or two pieces,
plain at the point or variously toothed and barbed; a small light spear
of the latter description is sometimes thrown with a short cylindrical
stick ornamented at one end with a large bunch of twisted human hair. The
spears of the second class are shafted with reed. The smallest, which is
no bigger than an arrow, is propelled by a large flat and supple
throwing-stick to a great distance, but not with much precision. Of the
larger ones (from eight to twelve feet in length) the two most remarkable
are headed with a pointed, sharp-edged, flatly-triangular piece of quartz
or fine-grained basalt, procured from the mountains beyond the isthmus.
These large reed-shafted spears are thrown with a stiff flat
throwing-stick a yard long, and with pretty certain effect within sixty
paces.
ARTICLES OF FOOD.
The food of the aborigines consists chiefly of fish and shellfish, to
which as subsidiary articles may be added lizards, snakes, possums,
various birds, and an occasional kangaroo, turtle, dugong, or porpoise.
Several roots (one of which is a true yam) together with various fruits
in their seasons--especially a cashew-nut or Anacardium, also the base of
the undeveloped central leaves of the cabbage-palm, are much prized. The
digging up of roots and collecting of shellfish are duties which devolve
upon the females.
Before the arrival of Europeans, in cases of remarkable disease or
accident, certain old men known by the name of bilbo (by which cognomen
the medical officers of the settlement have also been distinguished) were
applied to for advice. I know of no popular remedies, however, with the
exception of tight ligatures near a wound, bruise or sore, the object of
which is to prevent the malady from passing into the body. In like manner
for a headache, a fillet is bound tightly across the forehead. These
people, like most other savages, recover in a most surprising manner from
wounds and other injuries which would probably prove fatal to a European.
The chief complaint to which they are subject is a mild form of
ophthalmia, with which I once saw three-fourths of the natives about the
settlement affected in one or both eyes; they themselves attributed this
affection to the lurgala, or cashew-nut, then in season, the acrid oil in
the husk of which had reached their eyes.
BURIAL CEREMONIES.
On the death of any one of the natives, the relatives give utterance to
their grief in loud cries, sobs, and shrieks, continued to exhaustion.
Some cut their bodies and tear their hair, and the women paint their
faces with broad white bands. The body is watched by night, and the
appearance of the first falling-star is hailed with loud shouts and
waving of fire-brands, to drive off the yumburbar, an evil spirit which
is the cause of all deaths and other calamities, and feeds on the
entrails of the newly dead. When decomposition has gone on sufficiently
far, the bones are carefully removed, painted red, wrapped up in bark,
and carried about with the tribe for some time; after which they are
finally deposited, either in a hollow tree or a shallow grave, over which
a low mound of earth and stones is raised, occasionally ornamented with
posts at the corners. I was unable to find out what circumstances
determine the mode of burial in each case; neither differences of sex,
age, or class are sufficient, as several natives whom I questioned told
me which of the two kinds of burial his or her body would receive,
without being able to assign any reason. Their reverence for the dead is
probably not very great, as even a relative of the deceased will sell the
skull or skeleton for a small consideration, on condition of the matter
being kept a secret.
SUPERSTITIONS.
Like other Australians they carefully refrain from mentioning the name of
anyone who is dead, and like them, believe in the transmigration of
souls--after death they become Malays (the first strangers they had come
in contact with) in precisely the same way as in New South Wales, etc.
"When black fellow die, he jump up white-fellow."
In addition to the yumburbar above-mentioned, there is another
supernatural being, which has a corporeal existence. It appears in the
shape of a man, and loves to grapple with stragglers in the dark, and
carry them off. So much is the arlak an object of dread, that a native
will not willingly go alone in the dark, even a very short distance from
his fire, without carrying a light. Some have assured me that they had
seen this arlak, and one man showed me wounds said to have been inflicted
by its teeth, and I have no doubt of his having firmly believed that they
were produced in this manner.
AND INSTITUTIONS.
Although in each tribe there are three distinct classes, possibly ranks,
or perhaps something analogous to the division in other countries into
castes, yet there does not appear to be anything approaching to
chieftainship. There are a few elderly men, however, in each tribe, who,
having acquired a reputation for sagacity and energy, exercise a certain
degree of authority over the younger members, and generally manage
important matters in their own way. Yet very few of these principal men
are of the highest class, the manjerojelle--the middle is termed
manjerawule--and the lowest manbulget, but I could not succeed in making
out what privileges, if any, are enjoyed by the superior classes. The
members of all three appeared to be upon a perfect equality.
Polygamy, although one of their institutions, is little practised, as few
men have more than one wife at a time. The betrothal of a female takes
place in infancy, and often even before birth. A few half-caste children
have been born, but they do not appear to thrive, although this does not
imply any want of attention on the part of the mothers.
These natives are fond of social enjoyment. Their evenings are passed
away round the fires, with songs generally of a low, plaintive, and not
unpleasing character, time being kept by beating one bone or stick upon
another. They have besides what may be called a musical instrument--the
ibero--a piece of bamboo, three feet in length, which, by blowing into
it, is made to produce an interrupted, drumming, monotonous noise. In
their dances I observed nothing peculiar.
LAWS OF PUNISHMENT AND REVENGE.
In illustration of their laws relative to punishments, and to show their
identity with those of other Australian tribes, I may mention a
circumstance which came under my own knowledge. One night about ten
o'clock, hearing an uproar at a native encampment near the hospital, I
ran out and found that a young man, named Munjerrijo, having excited the
jealousy of another, of the name of Yungun, on account of some improper
conduct towards the wife of the latter, had been severely wounded, his
arm being broken with a club, and his head laid open with an iron-headed
fishing spear. As the punishment was considered too severe for the
offence, it was finally determined, that, upon Munjerrijo's recovery, the
two natives who had wounded him should offer their heads to him to be
struck with a club, the usual way, it would appear, of settling such
matters.
Like the other Australian tribes, those of Port Essington are frequently
at feud with their neighbours, and quarrels sometimes last for years, or,
if settled, are apt to break out afresh. In these cases the lex talionis
is the only recognised one. I may give an example.
ACCOUNT OF NEINMAL, AN ABORIGINAL OF PORT ESSINGTON.
A Monobar native (inhabitant of the country to the westward of the
isthmus) was shot by a marine in the execution of his duty, for
attempting to escape while in custody, charged with robbery. When his
tribe heard of it, as they could not lay their hands upon a white man,
they enticed into their territory a Bijenelumbo man, called Neinmal, who
was a friend of the whites, having lived with them for years, and on that
account he was selected as a victim and killed. When the news of
Neinmal's death reached the settlement, some other Bijenelumbo people
took revenge by killing a Monobar native within a few hundred yards of
the houses. Thus the matter rests at present, but more deaths will
probably follow before the feud is ended. Both these murders were
committed under circumstances of the utmost atrocity, the victims being
surprised asleep unconscious of danger and perfectly defenceless, then
aroused to find themselves treacherously attacked by numbers, who, after
spearing them in many places, fearfully mangled the bodies with clubs.
In some of the settled districts of Australia missionaries have been
established for many years back, still it must be confessed that the
results of their labours are far from being encouraging. Indeed no less
an authority than Mr. Eyre, writing in 1848, unhesitatingly states as
follows: "Nor is it in my recollection," says he, "that throughout the
whole length and breadth of New Holland, a single real and permanent
convert to Christianity has yet been made amongst them."* From what I
myself have seen or heard, in the colony of New South Wales, I have
reason to believe the missionary efforts there, while proving a complete
failure so far as regards the Christianising of the blacks, have yet been
productive of much good in rendering them less dangerous and more useful
to their white neighbours, without however permanently reclaiming more
than a few from their former wandering and savage mode of life, and
enabling them and their families to live contentedly on the produce of
their own labour. I am not one of those who consider that the Australian
is not susceptible of anything like such permanent improvement as may be
termed civilisation, although it appears to have been sufficiently proved
that his intellectual capacity is of a very low order.
(*Footnote. Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia
etc. by E.J. Eyre volume 2 page 420.)
Many of the Port Essington natives have shown a remarkable degree of
intelligence, far above the average Europeans, uneducated, and living in
remote districts--among others I may mention the name of Neinmal (the
same alluded to in the preceding paragraph) of whose character I had good
opportunities of judging, for he lived with me for ten months. During my
stay at Port Essington, he became much attached to me, and latterly
accompanied me in all my wanderings in the bush, while investigating the
natural history of the district, following up the researches of my late
and much lamented friend Gilbert.* One day, while detained by rainy
weather at my camp, I was busy in skinning a fish--Neinmal watched me
attentively for some time and then withdrew, but returned in half an hour
afterwards, with the skin of another fish in his hand prepared by
himself, and so well done too, that it was added to the collection. I
could give many other instances of his sagacity, his docility, and even
his acute perception of character--latterly, he seemed even to read my
very thoughts. He accompanied me in the Fly to Torres Strait and New
Guinea, and on our return to Port Essington begged so hard to continue
with me that I could not refuse him. He went with us to Singapore, Java,
and Sydney, and from his great good humour became a favourite with all on
board, picking up the English language with facility, and readily
conforming himself to our habits, and the discipline of the ship. He was
very cleanly in his personal habits, and paid much attention to his
dress, which was always kept neat and tidy. I was often much amused and
surprised by the oddity and justness of his remarks upon the many strange
sights which a voyage of this kind brought before him. The Nemesis
steamer under weigh puzzled him at first--he then thought it was "all
same big cart, only got him shingles** on wheels!" He always expressed
great contempt for the dullness of comprehension of his countrymen, "big
fools they," he used often to say, "blackfellow no good." Even Malays,
Chinamen, and the natives of India, he counted as nothing in his
increasing admiration of Europeans, until he saw some sepoys, when he
altered his opinion a little, and thought that he too, if only big
enough, would like to be a soldier. The poor fellow suffered much from
cold during the passage round Cape Leeuwin and was ill when landed at
Sydney, but soon recovered. Although his thoughts were always centred in
his native home, and a girl to whom he was much attached, he yet
volunteered to accompany me to England, when the Fly was about to sail,
but as I had then no immediate prospect of returning to Australia, I
could not undertake the responsibility of having to provide for him for
the future. I was glad then when Lieutenant Yule, who was about to
revisit Port Essington, generously offered to take him there--while in
the Bramble he made himself useful in assisting the steward, and, under
the tuition of Dr. MacClatchie, made some proficiency in acquiring the
rudiments of reading and writing. At Port Essington, the older members of
his family evinced much jealousy on account of the attention shown him,
and his determination to remain with Mr. Tilston, the assistant-surgeon,
then in charge, and endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose. While
upon a visit to his tribe he met his death in the manner already
recorded. His natural courage and presence of mind did not desert him
even at the last extremity, when he was roused from sleep to find himself
surrounded by a host of savages thirsting for his blood. They told him to
rise, but he merely raised himself upon his elbow, and said: "If you want
to kill me do so where I am, I won't get up--give me a spear and club,
and I'll fight you all one by one!" He had scarcely spoken when a man
named Alerk speared him from behind, spear after spear followed, and as
he lay writhing on the ground his savage murderers literally dashed him
to pieces with their clubs. The account of the manner in which Neinmal
met his death was given me by a very intelligent native who had it from
an eyewitness, and I have every reason to believe it true, corroborated
as it was by the testimony of others.
(*Footnote. See Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia etc. by
Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt page 309 for an account of his death.)
(**Footnote. Wooden tiles generally used for covering the roofs of houses
in Australia.)
FATHER ANJELLO AND HIS LABOURS.
Even Port Essington was destined to become the scene of missionary
labours. A party of three persons, sent out by the Society for the
Propagation of the Faith, one an Italian Roman Catholic priest, the
others lay brothers of his order, embarked at Sydney, some time in 1847.
The vessel conveying them unfortunately struck on a reef near the
Northumberland Isles during the night, and Father Anjello was the only
one of his party saved, and reached Port Essington in a most destitute
condition. Nothing daunted, however, he commenced his labours among the
blacks, by first acquiring the native language,* in which he ultimately
became so proficient as to understand it thoroughly. A hut was built for
him at a place called Black Rock, near the entrance of the harbour, at
the distance of 14 miles from the settlement. Here he collected together
as many of the children of the Limbakarajia tribe as he could induce to
remain in the neighbourhood. He endeavoured to instruct them in the
elements of his religion, and taught them to repeat prayers in Latin, and
follow him in some of the ceremonious observances of the Roman Catholic
Church. Like other children this amused them, and so long as they were
well fed and supplied with tobacco, everything went on as he could
desire. Meanwhile he was supported chiefly by the contributions of the
officers of the garrison, themselves not well able to spare much. While
leading this lonely life he seems gradually to have given way to gloomy
despondency. I recollect one passage in his diary (which I once saw for
an hour) where he expresses himself thus: "Another year has gone by, and
with it all signs of the promised vessel. Oh! God, even hope seems to
have deserted me." At length a vessel from Sydney arrived, bringing a
large supply of stores of every kind for the mission, but it was too
late, for Father Anjello and his sorrows were alike resting in the tomb.
One day news came that he was ill; a boat was sent immediately for him,
and found him dying. He was removed to the settlement and next day he
breathed his last--another, but not the last victim to the climate. His
death-bed was described to me as having been a fearful scene. He
exhibited the greatest horror of death, and in his last extremity
blasphemously denied that there was a God!
(*Footnote. I regret that the arrangements for this work will not admit
of my publishing in the Appendix a Port Essington vocabulary, consisting
of about 650 words, in four dialects, formed in 1844, and corrected and
improved in 1848; the manuscripts will be deposited in the library of the
British Museum.)
In concluding the subject of the Aborigines, I may add that at present
the natives of Port Essington have little to thank the white man for. The
advantage of being provided with regular food and other comforts enjoyed
by such as are in service are merely temporary, and, like the means of
gratifying two new habits--the use of tobacco and spirits--to which they
have become passionately addicted, will cease when the settlement is
abandoned. The last importation of the whites was syphilis, and by it
they will probably be remembered for years to come.
STATION AT CORAL BAY.
During our stay at Port Essington, I made an excursion in the decked boat
of the settlement (which Captain Macarthur kindly allowed me the use of)
to Coral Bay, a station for invalids very pleasantly situated on the
western side of the harbour, twelve miles from Victoria. We found there
my old friend Mr. Tilston,* the assistant-surgeon, with some
convalescents under his charge. This is a much cooler and pleasanter
locality than the neighbourhood of the settlement, still the heat was at
times very great. I had here pointed out to me a kind of tea-tree, or
Melaleuca, which had a short time before been recognised by a Malay as
that producing the valuable cajeput oil, and on trial, the oil procured
from the leaves by distillation, was found to be scarcely inferior in
pungency to that of the Melaleuca cajeputi of the Moluccas. Here, too, we
saw some of the playhouses of the greater bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis)
and had the pleasure of witnessing the male bird playing his strange
antics as he flew up to the spot and alighted with a dead shell in his
mouth, laid it down, ran through the bower, returned, picked up the
shell, and rearranged the heap among which it was placed, flew off again
and soon returned with another--and so on.
SAIL FROM PORT ESSINGTON.
On November 16th we got underweigh at daylight, but the wind died away in
the afternoon, and we anchored halfway down the harbour. Next day we got
out to sea on our voyage to Sydney. We were all glad to leave Port
Essington--it was like escaping from an oven. During our stay the sky was
generally overcast, with heavy cumuli, and distant lightning at night,
but no rain fell, and the heat was excessive. These were indications of
the approaching change of the monsoon--the rainy season, with a wind more
or less westerly, usually commencing in December and continuing until
March.
December 3rd.
Latitude 11 degrees 2 minutes South longitude 123 degrees 11 minutes
East. Today we may be said to have cleared the land after a dead beat to
the westward, between the Sahul Bank and the islands of Timor and Rottee.
It took us eleven days to make good less than 300 miles. The land was in
sight during the greater portion of this time, and we had a good view of
the noble mountain-range of Timor, also of Rottee and the Strait of
Semao, which last we entered with the intention of passing through, but
the wind headed us and we had to pass to the southward of Rottee. For a
few days after leaving Port Essington we experienced very light and
variable winds, which gradually settled into south-westerly, with
occasional gloomy blowing weather and frequent squalls at night.
RETURN TO SYDNEY.
At length on January 24th, 1849, a long and monotonous passage of
sixty-eight days brought us to Sydney, from which we had been absent for
nine months.