A gale.
Anchor in Simon's Bay.
H.M.S. Thalia.
Captain Harris, and his Adventures in Southern Africa.
Proceedings of the Land Party.
Leave Simon's Bay.
An overloaded ship.
Heavy weather and wet decks.
Island of Amsterdam.
Its true longitude.
St. Paul's.
Water.
Westerly variation.
Rottnest Island.
Gage's Road.
Swan River Settlement.
Fremantle.
An inland lake.
Plans for the future.
Illness of Captain Wickham.
Tidal Phenomena.
Perth.
Approach to it.
Narrow escape of the first settlers.
The Darling Range.
Abundant Harvest.
Singular flight of strange birds.
Curious Cliff near Swan River.
Bald Head.
Mr. Darwin's Theory.
The Natives.
Miago.
Anecdotes of Natives.
Their Superstitions.
Barbarous traditions, their uses and their lessons.
We had, upon the whole, a favourable passage across to the Cape; but on
the 17th of September, when distant from it about 500 miles, we
encountered a moderate gale from the north. As this was the first heavy
weather we had experienced since our departure from England, I was
curious to see what effect such a strange scene would have on our
passengers. Wrapt in mute astonishment, they stood gazing with admiration
and awe on the huge waves as they rolled past, occasionally immersing our
little vessel in their white crests--and listening, with emotions not
wholly devoid of fear, to the wild screams of the seabirds as they
skimmed o'er the steep acclivities of these moving masses. The landsmen
were evidently deeply impressed with the grandeur of a storm at sea; nor
can the hardiest seaman look with unconcern on such an exhibition of the
majesty of Him, whose will the winds and waves obey. Not more poetically
beautiful than literally true are the words of the Psalmist, so
appropriately introduced into the Form of Prayers at Sea--"They that go
down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters:
these men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep: for at
his word the stormy wind ariseth, which lifteth up the waves thereof." My
own experience has over and over again satisfied me, that, mingled with
many a dim superstition, a deep religious sentiment--a conviction of the
might and mercy of Heaven--often rests on the heart of the most reckless
seaman, himself all unconscious of its existence, yet strangely
influenced by its operations!
ANCHOR AT SIMON'S BAY.
We sighted land on the evening of the 20th of September, rounded the Cape
the next morning, and in the afternoon anchored in Simon's Bay. We found
here H.M.S. Thalia, bearing the flag of Admiral Sir Patrick Campbell,
Commander-in-chief of the Cape station: and during our subsequent stay
received every attention which kindness and courtesy could suggest, from
himself and his officers.
We were glad to ascertain that our chronometers had been performing
admirably. They gave the longitude of Simon's Bay, within a few seconds
of our homeward determination during the last voyage. Mr. Maclear, of the
Royal Observatory, and Captain Wauchope, of the flagship, had been
measuring the difference of longitude between Simon's Bay dockyard and
Cape Town Observatory, by flashing lights upon the summit of a mountain
midway between those two places. Their trials gave a greater difference,
by a half second, between the two meridians, than we had obtained on a
former visit by carrying chronometers to and fro. The results stand as
follow:
Mr. Maclear and Captain Wauchope: 11.5 seconds South.
H.M. Sloop Beagle: 11.0 seconds South.
ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HARRIS.
We found at the Cape the renowned Captain Harris, H.E.I. Company's Bombay
Engineers, who had just returned from his sporting expedition into the
interior of Southern Africa, having made his way through every obstacle,
from the frontier of the Cape Colony, through the territories of the
chief Moselekatse, to the Tropic of Capricorn. With his spirit-stirring
accounts of hunting adventure and savage manners we were all most highly
gratified. What he had seen, where he had been, and what he had performed
"by flood and field," have since been told to the world by himself, and
therefore need not be repeated here: but it would be unpardonable not to
do justice to his energy, his perseverance, and his success. He had
collected quite a museum of the Natural History of the wild beasts
against whom his crusade had been directed; while his collection of
drawings, both as regarded the animals delineated, and the appearance of
the country in which they were found, was really most beautiful: and many
a pleasant hour was spent in viewing the various specimens and
illustrations, each one of which testified the intrepidity and skill of
himself or his no less adventurous companion, William Richardson,
Esquire, B.C.S. It will readily be believed that these two gentlemen were
then, themselves, the great Lions of that part of Africa.
SAIL FOR SWAN RIVER.
Having completed our observations, and crammed every available square
inch of the Beagle with various stores--a proceeding rendered absolutely
necessary by the unsatisfactory accounts we received of the state of
affairs at Swan River--we sailed for that place on the morning of the
12th of October.
It should be mentioned, that Lieutenant Grey, hearing it would be
impossible for him to obtain a suitable vessel at Swan River, hired a
small schooner from this port, and sailed, with his party, for Hanover
Bay, on the north-west coast of Australia, the day after our departure.
His subsequent perils, wanderings, and adventures having been fully
described in his own published account, I need do no more here than
allude to them.
We encountered a good deal of heavy weather, shifting winds, and
consequently irregular seas, during our run to Swan River; and owing to
the deep state of our loaded little vessel, her decks were almost
constantly flooded. For many days we had never less than an inch and a
half of water on them all over; and this extra weight, in our already
overburdened craft, did not, of course, add to her liveliness; however,
she struggled on.
ISLAND OF AMSTERDAM.
And on the 1st of November bore us in sight of the Island of Amsterdam,
and in the afternoon passed to the southward of it, sufficiently near to
determine its position. The summit of the Island, which has rather a
peaked appearance, we found to be 2,760 feet high, in latitude 38 degrees
53 minutes South, longitude 77 degrees 37 minutes East of Greenwich. It
is singular that though this Island, which is almost a finger-post for
ships bound from the Cape either to New Holland or India, has been so
long known to all navigators of these seas, its true longitude should
have been till now unascertained. The western side presented the
appearance of a broken-down crater, nor indeed can there be any reason to
doubt its volcanic origin. Light brown was the pervading colour upon the
sides of the island, and appeared to be caused by stunted bushes and
grass. The southern island, St. Paul's, affords a good anchorage in 21
fathoms, about midway on its eastern side, latitude 38 degrees 42
minutes, and is in every way preferable to the spot chosen for that
purpose by Vlaming in 1764, on the south-east side of Amsterdam, where
landing is never very easy, and generally quite impracticable.
ST. PAUL'S.
The well ascertained fact, that water is found in abundance at St.
Paul's, leads to a very fair inference, that in this humid atmosphere,
and with a much greater elevation, the same essential commodity may be
met with at Amsterdam; but certainly at St. Paul's, and most probably at
Amsterdam, the rugged nature of the travelling over these volcanic
islands, would render useless any attempt to water a ship.
The following table, though it may not possess much interest for the
general reader, will not be without its value in the eyes of my nautical
brethren: it shows the increase of variation since 1747:
COLUMN 1: SOURCE.
COLUMN 2: DATE A.D.
COLUMN 3: WESTERLY VARIATION.
From Horsburg's Directory : 1747 : 17 1/2.
From Horsburg's Directory : 1764 : 18 3/4.
From Horsburg's Directory : 1793: 20.
H.M.S. Beagle : 1837 : 21.
As these islands lie in the same meridian, the longitude given above of
Amsterdam, will equally apply to St. Paul's: they are admirably situated
for connecting the meridians of Africa and Australia. We lost sight of
Amsterdam towards evening, and flattered ourselves that we were also
leaving the bad weather behind. The sky more settled; the sea less high;
and the barometer rising: such indications, however, cannot be implicitly
trusted in this boisterous climate; and shortly after dark, having
shipped a very heavy sea, we rounded too for the night. The constant set
of the huge following seas, carried our little vessel much faster to the
eastward than could be easily credited, till proved by actual
observation. During the last three or four days, we had run upwards of
195 miles daily by the observations, being from twenty to thirty more
each day than appeared from the reckoning.
ROTTNEST ISLAND.
We made Rottnest Island on the morning of Wednesday, November 15th; and
in the afternoon of the same day, anchored in Gage's Road, Swan River.
Our position at midnight, the night before, made us about 30 miles from
the mainland, when we had the wind from the eastward, getting round again
towards noon to south and by west. This may be some guide to the limit of
the land wind, and as such I record the fact. During the three days
previous to our making the land, we experienced a northerly current of
one knot per hour. We tried during the same period for soundings, with
nearly 200 fathoms, but in vain.
We passed along the north shore of Rottnest at the distance of a mile and
a half, closing with it as we got to the eastward, where it is not so
rocky. The north shore should not be approached within a mile. As we were
opening out the bay on the north-east end of the island, we passed over a
rocky patch, with, from appearance, not more than three fathoms on it, it
is small, and we had 14 fathoms close to it. This patch is about one mile
North by West from the north-west point of the bay. Off this point is a
low rocky islet; and when on the shoal, we could just make out the white
sandy beach in the bay open between it and the point. The western points
of the island are all shut in by the north point; therefore, keeping them
open, will always enable the navigator to give this dangerous rock* a
wide berth.
(*Footnote. Now called Roe's Patch.)
SWAN RIVER SETTLEMENT.
The Swan River Settlement, which is a portion of the colony of Western
Australia, was founded in August 1829, under the auspices of the Colonial
Office, Captain Stirling being the first Lieutenant-Governor.
FREMANTLE.
Fremantle, at the entrance of Swan River, is the sea port; and Perth,
situate about nine miles inland, the seat of Government: Guildford and
York are the other chief places in the colony.
There is nothing very particularly inviting in the first appearance of
Western Australia; dull-green-looking downs, backed by a slightly
undulating range of hills, rising to nearly 2,000 feet high, are the
chief natural features of the prospect. Fremantle, of which it was
wittily said by the quartermaster of one of His Majesty's ships who
visited the place, "You might run it through an hourglass in a day," is
but a collection of low white houses scattered over the scarce whiter
sand. The only conspicuous landmark visible in approaching the anchorage
is the Jail: rather a singular pharos for a settlement in Australia,
which boasts its uncontaminated state. This building I afterwards induced
the Governor to have white-washed, and it now forms an excellent mark to
point out the river, as well as the town.*
(*Footnote. A large patch of white sand, on the coast, about three miles
to the northward of Swan River, also serves as a landmark.)
Shortly after our arrival, I was introduced to the Governor, Sir James
Stirling; he, and all those here best qualified to judge, joined in
regretting that Lieutenant Grey had not decided to come on with us. The
accounts we heard of the country and the natives gave us every reason to
entertain but slender hopes of his success.
AN INLAND LAKE.
Sir James and Mr. Roe, the Surveyor-General, appeared to coincide with
the general opinion that a large inland lake will ultimately be
discovered. They had questioned many of the natives about it, who all
asserted its existence, and pointed in a south-easterly direction to
indicate its position. Their notions of distance are, to say the least,
exceedingly rude; with them everything is "far away, far away." The size
of this water the natives describe by saying, that if a boy commenced
walking round it, by the time he finished his task he would have become
an old man! After all may not this be the great Australian Bight that
these natives have heard of, for none we met in Western Australia
pretended to have seen it? They derive their information from the eastern
tribes, and under such circumstances it must at least be considered
extremely vague.*
(*Footnote. This much-talked-of lake, which it was the assumed labour of
a life to circumambulate, was discovered in January 1843, by Messrs.
Landor and Lefroy, who found it about 100 miles South-South-East from
Beverley. It is quite salt, called Dambeling, and about fifteen miles
long by seven and a half broad!)
The Surveyor-General had lately returned from an exploring journey to the
eastward of the capital, and reported that there existed no reasonable
probability of extending the colony in that direction: he strongly
recommended us to proceed at once to the north-west coast, and return
again to Swan River to recruit; saying that we should find the heat there
too great to remain for a longer period. This course Captain Wickham,
after due deliberation, resolved to adopt, and accordingly all the
stores, not absolutely required, were forthwith landed, and the ship made
in every respect as airy as possible. The 25th November was fixed for our
departure, when most unfortunately Captain Wickham, while on his way to
Perth, was attacked with a severe dysentery, and continued so ill that he
could not be brought to the ship till the end of December. The most that
could be effected was done to improve this unavoidable delay; and our
tidal observations, before commenced, were more diligently pursued. We
found the greatest rise only thirty-one inches, and here, as elsewhere on
the Australian coast, we observed the remarkable phenomenon of only one
tide in the twenty-four hours! Surveying operations were also entered on,
connecting Rottnest Island with the mainland; the dangers which surround
it, as well as those which lie between its shores and the coast, were
discovered and laid down: this survey, of great importance to the
interests of shipping in these waters, was ultimately completed on our
subsequent visits to Swan River.
That arid appearance which first meets the settler on his arrival, and to
which allusion has already been made, cannot but prove disheartening to
him: particularly if, as is generally the case, his own sanguine
expectations of a second Paradise have been heightened by the interested
descriptions of land jobbers and emigration agents.
APPROACH TO PERTH.
However, when he ascends the river towards the capital, this feeling of
despondency will gradually wear away; its various windings bring, to his
eager and anxious eye, many a bright patch of park-like woodland; while
the river, expanding as he proceeds, till the beautiful estuary of
Melville water opens out before him, becomes really a magnificent feature
in the landscape; and the boats, passing and repassing upon its smooth
and glassy bosom, give the animation of industry, and suggest all the
cheerful anticipations of ultimate success to the resolute adventurer.
From about the centre of this lake-like piece of water, the eye first
rests upon the capital of Western Australia, a large straggling village,
partly concealed by the abrupt termination of a woody ridge, and standing
upon a picturesque slope on the right bank of the river, thirteen miles
from its mouth. The distant range of the Darling mountains supplies a
splendid background to the picture, and the refreshing seabreeze which
curls the surface of Melville water every afternoon, adds to the health,
no less than comfort, of the inhabitants. The former inconvenience,
caused by the shoal approach, and which rendered landing at low-water a
most uncomfortable operation, has now been remedied by the construction
of a jetty.
Like all the Australian rivers with which we are yet acquainted, the Swan
is subject to sudden and tremendous floods, which inundate the corn lands
in its vicinity, and sweep away all opposing obstacles with irresistible
impetuosity.
NARROW ESCAPE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.
The first settlers had a most providential escape from a calamity of this
kind: they had originally selected for the site of their new city, a
low-lying piece of land, which, during the first winter after their
arrival, was visited with one of these strange and unexplained invasions
from the swelling stream: had the deluge been delayed for another year,
these luckless inhabitants of a new world would have shared the fate of
those to whom Noah preached in vain; but, warned in time, they chose some
safer spot, from whence, in future, they and their descendants may safely
contemplate the awful grandeur of similar occurrences, and thankfully
profit by the fertility and abundance which succeed to such wholesale
irrigation. During this, our first visit, I had no opportunity of
penetrating into the country further than the Darling range: in
journeying thither, we passed through Guildford, a township on the banks
of the Swan, about seven miles north-east from Perth, and four from the
foot of the mountains. It stands upon a high part of the alluvial flat
fringing the river, and which extends from half to one mile from it on
either side. The rich quality of the soil may be imagined from the fact,
that, in 1843, after thirteen years of successive cropping, it produced a
more abundant harvest than it had done at first, without any artificial
aid from manures.
SINGULAR FLIGHT OF STRANGE BIRDS.
A singular flight of strange birds, was noticed at Guildford about the
year 1833, during the time when the corn was green: they arrived in an
innumerable host, and were so tame as to be easily taken by hand. In
general appearance they resembled the land-rail, but were larger, and
quite as heavy on the wing. They disappeared in the same mysterious
manner as they arrived, and have never since repeated their visit. Were
these birds visitors from the interior, or had they just arrived at the
end of a migratory journey from some distant country? It is to be
regretted that no specimen of them was to be obtained, as it might have
helped to clear an interesting subject from doubt.
THE DARLING RANGE.
The change in ascending this range, from the alluvium near its base, to
the primitive formation of which it is itself composed, is very
remarkable. Shells still common on the adjacent coasts were met with 14
feet below the surface, near the foot of the range, by one of the
colonists when sinking a well. In the same locality deposits of sand may
be seen, having that particular wavy appearance which is always noticed
upon the sea beach. These appearances, as well as the general aspect of
the adjacent country, seem to justify the conclusion I arrived at while
on the spot, that the land which now intervenes between the mountains and
the shore, is a comparatively recent conquest from the sea. The character
of this land may be thus described: The first three miles from the coast
is occupied with ridges of hills, from 100 to 200 feet high, of
calcareous limestone formation, cropping out in such innumerable points
and odd shapes as to be almost impassable. Some of these lumps resemble a
large barnacle; both lumps and points are covered with long, coarse
grass, and thus concealed, become a great hindrance to the pedestrian,
who is constantly wounded by them. To these ridges succeed sandy forest
land and low hills, except on the banks of the rivulets, where a belt of
alluvial soil is to be found. The Darling range traverses the whole of
Western Australia in a direction, generally speaking, north and south. It
appears to subside towards the north, and its greatest elevation is
nearly 2,000 feet. The cliffs of the coast at the mouth of Swan River,
have a most singular appearance, as though covered with thousands of
roots, twisted together into a species of network.
A SINGULAR CLIFF.
A similar curiosity is to be seen on Bald Head, in King George's Sound,
so often alluded to by former navigators, and by them mistaken either for
coral, or petrified trees standing where they originally grew. Bald Head
was visited by Mr. Darwin, in company with Captain Fitzroy, in February
1836, and his opinions upon the agencies of formation, so exactly
coincide with those to which I attribute the appearances at Arthur's
Head, that I cannot do better than borrow his words. He says--page 537,
volume 3, "According to our views, the rock was formed by the wind
heaping up calcareous sand, during which process, branches and roots of
trees, and land-shells were enclosed, the mass being afterwards
consolidated by the percolation of rain water. When the wood had decayed,
lime was washed into the cylindrical cavities, and became hard, sometimes
even like that in a stalactite. The weather is now wearing away the
softer rock, and in consequence the casts of roots and branches project
above the surface: their resemblance to the stumps of a dead shrubbery
was so exact, that, before touching them, we were sometimes at a loss to
know which were composed of wood, and which of calcareous matter."*
(*Footnote. For more exact details the reader should consult Mr. Darwin's
volume on Volcanic Islands.)
THE NATIVES.
We were much struck during our stay by the contrast between the natives
here, and those we had seen on the Beagle's former voyage at King
George's Sound. The comparison was wholly in favour of those living
within the influence of their civilized fellow-men: a fact which may
surprise some of my readers, but for which, notwithstanding, I am quite
prepared to vouch. A better quality, and more certain supply of food, are
the causes to which this superiority ought to be attributed: they are
indeed exceedingly fond of wheaten bread, and work hard for the settlers,
in cutting wood and carrying water, in order to obtain it. Individually
they appear peaceable, inoffensive, and well-disposed, and, under proper
management, make very good servants; but when they congregate together
for any length of time, they are too apt to relapse into the vices of
savage life. Among the many useful hints, for which we were indebted to
Mr. Roe, was that of taking a native with us to the northward; and,
accordingly, after some trouble, we shipped an intelligent young man,
named Miago; he proved, in some respects, exceedingly useful, and made an
excellent gun-room waiter. We noticed that, like most of the natives, he
was deeply scarred, and I learned from him that this is done to recommend
them to the notice of the ladies. Like all savages, they are
treacherous--for uncivilized man has no abstract respect for truth, and
consequently deceit, whether spoken or acted, seems no baseness in his
eyes.
ANECDOTES OF THE NATIVES.
I heard an anecdote at Perth that bears upon this subject: A native of
the name of Tonquin asked a settler, who lived some distance in the
interior, permission to spend the night in his kitchen, of which that
evening another native was also an inmate. It seems that some hate,
either personal, or the consequences of a quarrel between their different
tribes, existed in the mind of Tonquin towards his hapless fellow lodger;
and in the night he speared him through the heart, AND THEN VERY QUIETLY
LAID DOWN TO SLEEP! Of course in the morning no little stir took place.
Tonquin was accused, but stoutly denied the charge. So satisfied,
however, was the owner of the house of the guilt of the real culprit,
that had he not made his escape, he would have been executed red hand--as
the border wardens used to say--by the man, the sanctity of whose
roof-tree he had thus profaned. Tonquin afterwards declared that he NEVER
SLEPT FOR NEARLY A FORTNIGHT, being dogged from place to place by the
footsteps of the avengers of blood. He escaped, however, with his life,
though worn almost to a shadow by constant anxiety. When I saw him some
years afterwards, I thought him the finest looking native I had ever
seen, but he was apparently, as those who knew him best reported him to
be, insane. If not the memory of his crime, and the consequent remorse
which it entailed upon him, perhaps the fugitive life he was compelled to
lead in order to avoid the wrath of human retribution, had been used to
make manifest the anger of Heaven for this breach of one of those first
great laws of human society, which are almost as much instincts of our
nature as revelations from the Creator to the creatures of his will!
SUPERSTITIONS.
The natives have a superstitious horror of approaching the graves of the
dead, of whom they never like to speak, and when induced to do so, always
whisper. A settler, residing in a dangerous part of the colony, had two
soldiers stationed with him as a guard: upon one occasion five natives
rushed in at a moment when the soldiers were unprepared for their
reception, and a terrible struggle ensued: the soldiers, however,
managed, while on the ground, to shoot two of them, and bayonetted the
remaining three. The five were afterwards buried before the door, nor
could a more perfect safeguard have been devised; no thought even of
revenge for their comrades would afterwards induce any of the tribe to
pass that fearful boundary.
Their most curious superstition, however, remains to be recorded; it is
the opinion they confidently entertain, and which seems universally
diffused among them, that the white people are their former fellow
countrymen, who in such altered guise revisit the world after death.
Miago assured me that this was the current opinion, and my own personal
observation subsequently confirmed his statement. At Perth, one of the
settlers, from his presumed likeness to a defunct member of the tribe of
the Murray River, was visited by his supposed kindred twice every year,
though in so doing they passed through sixty miles of what was not
unfrequently an enemy's country.
Their religious opinions, so far as I have been able to obtain any
information on the subject, are exceedingly vague and indefinite. That
they do not regard the grave as man's final resting place, may, however,
be fairly concluded, from the superstition I have just alluded to, and
that they believe in invisible and superior powers--objects of dread and
fear, rather than veneration or love--has been testified in Captain
Grey's most interesting chapter upon Native Customs, and confirmed by my
own experience.
THE EVIL SPIRIT.
I used sometimes to question Miago upon this point, and from him I
learned their belief in the existence of an evil spirit, haunting dark
caverns, wells, and places of mystery and gloom, and called Jinga. I
heard from a settler that upon one occasion, a native travelling with
him, refused to go to the well at night from fear of this malevolent
being; supposed to keep an especial guardianship over fresh water, and to
be most terrible and most potent in the hours of darkness. Miago had
never seen this object of his fears, but upon the authority of the elders
of his tribe, he described its visible presence as that of a huge
many-folded serpent; and in the night, when the tall forest trees moaned
and creaked in the fitful wind, he would shrink terrified by the solemn
and mysterious sounds, which then do predispose the mind to superstitious
fears, and tell how, at such a time, his countrymen kindle a fire to
avert the actual presence of the evil spirit, and wait around
it--chanting their uncouth and rhythmical incantations--with fear and
trembling, for the coming dawn.
I have preserved these anecdotes here, because I can vouch for their
authenticity, and though individually unimportant, they may serve to
throw additional light upon the manners, customs, and traditions of the
Aborigines of Australia; but to all really interested in the subject, I
would recommend a perusal of Captain Grey's second volume. I have as yet
neither space nor materials to attempt any detailed account of the
customs, superstitions, or condition of this strange people; but it would
be impossible to pass them by quite unnoticed: nor can the voyager, whose
chief object is to make their native land a field for the exertions of
British enterprise, be wholly indifferent to the manner in which our
dominion may affect them. The history of almost every colony, founded by
European energy, has been one fearful catalogue of crime; and though by
the side of the Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese, English adventurers seem
gentle and benevolent, still cruelty and oppression have too often
disgraced our name and faith.
FUTURE PROSPECTS.
Thank Heaven, with many a doubt as to the time that must elapse ere that
glad day shall come, I can look onward with confidence to a period--I
trust not far remote--when throughout the length and breadth of
Australia, Christian civilization shall attest that the claims upon
England's benevolence have been nobly acknowledged!