Transactions at Coepang.
Procure Water and Refreshments.
Description of the Town and Productions of the Island.
Account of the Trepang Fishery on the coast of New Holland.
Departure from Timor, and return to the North-west Coast.
Montebello Islands, and Barrow Island.
Leave the Coast.
Ship's company attacked with Dysentery.
Death of one of the crew.
Bass Strait, and arrival at Port Jackson.
Review of the Proceedings of the Voyage.
1818. June 5.
As soon as we anchored, I waited upon Mr. Hazaart, the Dutch Resident,
who received me politely, and proffered his personal assistance in
expediting the objects which we had in view. A house was offered for my
use, but as I purposed to make my visit as short as possible, it was
declined.
June 5 to 13.
The first object was to commence our watering, but the operation was
tedious, and attended with much delay, since it was necessary to send the
casks above the second bridge which crosses the river at the upper end of
the town at about half a mile from the entrance; when we had first to
wait for low tide, before the water was fresh enough to be used; and then
for half flood, before the boat could get out of the river to go on board
with her load. One turn, therefore, was as much as could be made during
the day, for it was requisite to use this precaution in filling our
casks, in order to ensure their contents being untainted by the salt
water.
Our fuel had been completed at Port Hurd or we could have procured an
abundance at a convenient place about two miles to the westward of the
Fort.
Our next object was to procure fresh provisions; but, as there was some
difficulty in obtaining a constant supply, Mr. Hazaart kindly presented
the ship's company with two karabows (young buffaloes) and a sufficiency
of vegetables to last until our own stock was provided; but in procuring
it we found much difficulty for want of money, and should not have been
able to have furnished ourselves with it had not Mr. Hazaart, at his own
personal inconvenience, given me money for a private bill, with which the
ship's provisions were purchased.
A small mountain sheep weighing from twelve to twenty pounds cost five
shillings: pigs, according to their size, from five to ten shillings
each: a karabow, weighing two hundred pounds, was charged twenty
shillings; and fowls were from four-pence to five-pence each. Of
vegetables we found an abundance, particularly of pumpions and cabbages,
in the market; but, as it was not the season for fruit, we only procured
some shaddocks, a few bad oranges, and some indifferent limes. At the
Chinese shops we procured rice, sugar-candy and coffee, but all these
articles were dear, and of very inferior quality: this supply was,
however, very acceptable to us; and, had we not afterwards discovered
that everything could have been procured at half the price, we should
have been well satisfied with our bargains.
A fleet of Malay proas were lying at anchor in the bay, and two small
trading vessels were in the river, one of which was undergoing a repair
that was very creditable to the shipwrights of this place.
The only exports that the island produces are bees-wax, honey and
sandal-wood; these are purchased and exported by the Chinese merchants,
who are plentifully distributed over the town, and form the greater
proportion of its population.* Its imports are very trifling, for the
Batavian government annually supplies the establishment of Coepang with
all its wants. The port-charges of twenty dollars for every one hundred
tons burden are so exorbitant that no merchant vessels that have not some
particular object in view, will visit this place; so that it has very
little communication with other parts, excepting through the Chinese
traders, who are constantly in motion. In fact it is, to use the
Resident's own words in describing it to me, "a poor place," and it seems
to be the policy of the Dutch government to keep it so, for no vessel is
allowed to trade with Coepang without having first visited either Batavia
or Amboyna, for the purpose of procuring permission.
(*Footnote. M. Arago, in his account of Captain de Freycinet's late
voyage round the world, estimates the inhabitants of Coepang at 1500, of
which 1000 are slaves, and 300 Chinese.)
The town is situated principally on the east bank of the river; which,
rising in the mountains, runs through a torrent-worn course until it
reaches the valley in which the town is built; here the tide meets it,
and at low water its bed is nearly dry: it communicates with the sea by a
shoal bar immediately under a rocky eminence on which the Fort of
Concordia is constructed. This fort, from its favourable situation,
protects the harbour and outer anchorage, as well as commands the town.
From the anchorage, Coepang presents a very picturesque and lively
appearance. The houses, a few of which are built of stone, are roofed
either with red tiles or thatch, and are shaded from the heat of the sun
by thick groves of trees; among which the breadfruit-tree, the Jaca, and
a species of hibiscus, were observed. The principal street, as is common
in most Dutch towns, is shaded by an avenue of trees, which forms an
agreeable walk, and is a great ornament to the place: at the upper end of
this street is the Company's garden, but its ruinous state shows that it
has long since ceased to be cultivated for the purpose for which it was
originally intended.
From the crowds of people in the streets a stranger would imagine it to
be a place of great trade, but the only employments of the inhabitants
seem to be those of fishing, making straw hats and carrying water; the
last occupation is principally performed by the women, who convey it in
vessels made of the broad part of the leaf of the fan palm, each
containing from two to three gallons. At the door of every house was seen
either a man or a woman plaiting straw hats, but this might only have
been occasioned by our great demand for them, for we purchased all that
could be made whilst we remained.
The detail of the coasts of the island, particularly of its south-eastern
side, on which there are many indentations and bays, is very little
known; the natives are reported generally to be favourably inclined to
Europeans, but it would be dangerous for an unarmed vessel to place too
much reliance upon the faith of a Timorean, whose thirst for powder might
induce him to commit any mischievous act to obtain it. The mountaineers
are described to be a warlike race of men, but since the cession of the
island to the Dutch by the King of Ternate, to whom it appears to have
originally belonged, they are distributed under the sovereignty of
different rajahs, to whom they pay implicit obedience; and are, in fact,
little better than mere slaves. On all parts of the coast good wholesome
water may be procured, excepting at Sesally on the north coast where it
is said to be of a noxious quality, occasioned by a tree or plant that
grows on its tanks, and taints the stream. Whatever suspicion there may
be attached to the truth of this story, there is no doubt of its being
far from wholesome; for it is avoided as poisonous by the people who
reside near it. I was curious to discover whether it was occasioned by
its flowing near one of the far-famed Poison trees (Upas antiar) of Java,
but my informant could not satisfy my inquiry.
The island is very mountainous, and some of its summits, as Captain
Flinders observes, may probably rival the Peak of Teneriffe. The country
slopes off towards the sea, and appears to be fertile and populous. The
recesses of the mountains and the rivulets that derive their sources from
them are said to be rich in gold and silver, and they are also reported
to yield copper and iron; it is, however, with great difficulty that gold
is procured, on account of a superstitious feeling on the part of the
mountaineers, who think it necessary to sacrifice a human life for every
bottle of gold dust that is collected; and this barbarous custom, we were
informed, is rigidly enforced by the chiefs, who, of course, take good
care that the lot does not fall upon their own heads. Gold is however
sometimes found in the bed of the river near Coepang, particularly after
occasional freshes from the mountains, and during the rainy season; but
it is detected in so small a quantity as hardly to repay the searchers
for their trouble.
Some years since, during the early possession of this part of the island
by the Dutch, sixty soldiers were sent into the country to search for
gold, but they were all killed by the mountaineers and since then no
further attempt has been made; indeed it would take a very considerable
force to effect it, on account of the warlike character of these people.
Their defensive mode of warfare is to distribute themselves in all
directions among the trees and rocks, from which, by their numbers and
unerring aim, they might easily destroy a much larger force than the
Dutch could afford to send against them from any of their possessions in
the east. The policy of the Dutch Government appears to be that of
keeping the world in ignorance of the importance and of the riches of
Timor; their object is, in fact, to retain possession of it at as little
expense as possible, merely to prevent any other country from occupying
it. Much jealousy exists between them and the Portuguese settlement of
Diely, on the northern side about fifty leagues from Coepang; and our
friend Mr. Hazaart was, at the time of our visit, in correspondence with
the government of Batavia to explain some political interference, on his
part, with that settlement.
The establishment at Coepang consists of the Resident, his Secretary, and
forty Javanese soldiers; besides which it possesses a militia consisting
of 1000 men who bring their own provisions and arms to the field; and by
this force the whole of the south-western part of the island, containing
a population of perhaps 50,000 people, is kept in subjection. To solve
this riddle, for such it must naturally appear to be, it should be
explained that the Dutch have been accustomed to act in the character of
mediator between the several rajahs; and whilst the Resident settles the
disputes, he takes care at the same time to keep up the balance of power
amongst these petty kings, who are constantly encroaching upon the
territories of each other, by calling to his aid and uniting the forces
of the other rajahs; through which policy he protects the oppressed, and
maintains his own power. A formidable chief, Louis, had, however, lately
become very troublesome, and was not so easily kept in subjection. A
short time previous to our arrival, he had been making some inroads upon
his neighbour, and Mr. Hazaart was collecting a force to oppose and drive
him back. Whilst we were at Coepang several rajahs had arrived from the
country to tender their services in marching against the usurper whom the
Resident, in his description of him to me, designated by the name of
Bonaparte. For this protection on the part of the Dutch, every rajah pays
an annual tribute, according to the extent of his territories; the net
amount of which, exceeding the sum of 10,000 rix dollars, very nearly if
not quite defrays the expenses of the establishment.
Captain Dampier visited this place in 1699 when he commanded the Roebuck;
and at first found great difficulty in obtaining refreshments. He has
given a very good and correct description of the island; and his account
offers much valuable information even as to its present state.* Since
that period it has certainly advanced a few paces in civilization; but in
other respects as to its natural and artificial productions it is
perfectly conformable to that account.
(*Footnote. Dampier volume 3 pages 157 to 179.)
Coepang is also known by its hospitable reception of Lieutenant (the late
Admiral) Bligh, after the mutiny of the Bounty's crew; and in 1802 it was
visited by Captain Flinders and Commodore Baudin: each of these
navigators have spoken warmly of the hospitality they experienced, and I
should be doing an injustice to Mr. Hazaart if I omitted a due
acknowledgment of his kind attention to our wants, and of the prompt
assistance he afforded us in our operations.
The presence of a fleet of Malay proas in the roads has been before
mentioned; it had just returned from an unsuccessful voyage on the south
coast of Timor in search of trepang. Dramah, the principal rajah of this
fleet, gave me the following information respecting the coast of New
Holland, which he had frequently visited in the command of a fleet that
annually frequents its shores.
The coast is called by them Marega, and has been known to them for many
years. A fleet to the number of 200* proas annually leaves Macassar for
this fishery; it sails in January during the westerly monsoon, and coasts
from island to island, until it reaches the North-East end of Timor, when
it steers South-East and South-South-East, which courses carry them to
the coast of New Holland; the body of the fleet then steers eastward,
leaving here and there a division of fifteen or sixteen proas, under the
command of an inferior rajah, who leads the fleet, and is always
implicitly obeyed. His proa is the only vessel that is provided with a
compass; it also has one or two swivels or small guns, and is perhaps
armed with muskets. Their provisions chiefly consist of rice and
coconuts; and their water, which during the westerly monsoon is easily
replenished on all parts of the coast, is carried in joints of bamboo.
(*Footnote. This number is perhaps very much exaggerated.)
The method of curing the trepang is thus described by Captain Flinders:
"They get the trepang by diving, in from three to eight fathoms water;
and where it is abundant, a man will bring up eight or ten at a time. The
mode of preserving it is this: the animal is split down on one side,
boiled, and pressed with a weight of stones; then stretched open by slips
of bamboo, dried in the sun, and afterwards in smoke, when it is fit to
be put away in bags, but requires frequent exposure to the sun. A
thousand trepang make a picol, of about 125 Dutch pounds; and 100 picols
are a cargo for a proa. It is carried to Timor and sold to the Chinese,
who meet them there; and when all the proas are assembled, the fleet
returns to Macassar. By Timor, seemed to be meant Timor-laoet; for when I
inquired concerning the English, Dutch, and Portuguese there, Pobasso
(the rajah in command) knew nothing of them: he had heard of Coepang, a
Dutch settlement, but said it was upon another island.
"There are two kinds of trepang. The black, called baatoo, is sold to the
Chinese for forty dollars the picol; the white, or gray, called koro, is
worth no more than twenty. The baatoo seems to be what we found upon the
coral reefs near the Northumberland Islands; and were a colony
established in Broad Sound or Shoalwater Bay it might perhaps derive
considerable advantage from the trepang. In the Gulf of Carpentaria we
did not observe any other than the gray slug."*
(*Footnote. Flinders volume 2 page 231.)
After having fished along the coast to the eastward until the westerly
monsoon breaks up, they return, and by the last day of May each detached
fleet leaves the coast without waiting to collect into one body. On their
return they steer North-West, which brings them to some part of Timor,
from whence they easily retrace their steps to Macassar, where the
Chinese traders meet them and purchase their cargoes. At this time (1818)
the value of the trepang was from forty to fifty dollars a picol;* so
that if each vessel returns with 100 picols of trepang, her cargo will be
worth 5000 dollars. Besides trepang, they trade in sharks' fins and
birds' nests, the latter being worth about 3000 dollars the picol.
(*Footnote. The value of the trepang in 1822 was much less; the price had
fallen to twenty-five dollars the picol.)
Dramah informed me that there are several rivers upon the coast, but that
in procuring water from them they are generally attacked by the Maregas,
whom they describe as treacherous and hostile, and by whom they are
frequently defeated; for the Indians attack them only when they are
unprepared. Their small canoes are frequently stolen from them, which
accounts for the one we captured from the natives of Goulburn Island.
A perpetual warfare exists between them, so that it would be a difficult
matter for us to procure a friendly communication with a people who
cannot, of course, discriminate between us and the Malays. I regretted to
hear this, for our force was so small that I feared we should, in our
future visits to the coast, be frequently attacked, and perhaps be under
the necessity of convincing them of the destructive power of our weapons,
which they must first experience before they can dread their fatal
effects.
During our stay at Coepang the thermometer ranged between 75 and 91
degrees. The latitude of the flag-staff was observed by several
observations to be 10 degrees 9 minutes 40 seconds. No observations were
taken for the longitude, on account of my being confined to my bed with
an attack of ague, the effects of which remained upon me for some time
afterwards; but the result of those made by Captain Flinders and
Commodore Baudin were so satisfactory that I had no hesitation in taking
the mean of the two, 123 degrees 35 minutes 46 seconds, for the
correction of my chronometers, and for the purpose of comparing with the
longitudes I had assigned to several parts of the coast that we had just
left.
Before we sailed from Coepang the departure of a vessel for Batavia
furnished me with the opportunity of acquainting the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty of my progress; and the letter fortunately arrived in
time to contradict a report that had reached England of our "having been
wrecked on the South Coast at Cape Northumberland, and that all hands had
perished." This report could never be satisfactorily traced to its
author, but it was supposed to have been spread by the man who commanded
the Mermaid before she was purchased by the government, in revenge for
his having lost his employment.
On the 13th we completed everything, and embarked our stock.
June 14.
And the next morning at daylight we left the bay, and, passing round the
islands of Samow and Rottee, steered South-West by South (which was as
close to the wind as we could steer to make a direct course) across the
sea, which might, with some degree of propriety, be called the Great
Australian Strait; but this course was too westerly to admit of our
reaching the coast so far to the westward as was wished.
June 19.
On the 19th we passed over a coral bank with twenty-six fathoms in
latitude 19 degrees 30 minutes and longitude 116 degrees 15 minutes 30
seconds.
The thermometer now ranged no higher than 76 1/2 degrees and obliged us
to resume our warmer clothing.
June 20.
At eight o'clock the next morning land was seen bearing South-West by
West, and proved to be that laid down by Captain Baudin, to the southward
of the Montebello Islands; one of which, Trimouille Island, was also
visible in the North-West. We bore up at noon, intending to pass round
the south end of the land, seen in West-South-West; but after running
about five miles further the land proved to be an island, and was called
after John Barrow, Esquire, one of the Secretaries of the Admiralty. We
were prevented from steering round it by a very extensive shoal that
stretches off its south end towards a low sandy islet, which proved to be
one that had been seen by us last February. Several attempts were made to
find a channel through the reef, but without success; and at sunset we
anchored to the north-west of the islet, from which several islands were
recognised by us, particularly a large one to the westward of Cape
Preston.
As this part of the coast had been previously seen by us, we did not
delay any longer.
June 21.
But the following morning steered to the northward.
June 22.
The next day we passed round Trimouille Island and left the coast.
Off the North-West end of Trimouille Island is a considerable reef.
Hermite Island was not seen, but a small lump on the horizon, to the
south of the former, was probably Lowendal Island. As we did not see the
western side of Barrow's Island, that coast is laid down from M. De
Freycinet's chart; the land, although low, is considerably higher than
the usual elevation of the neighbouring islands, but it appeared to be
equally arid and sterile. Trimouille Island appears scarcely better than
a cluster of dry rocks.
Off these islands we had much calm weather, during which we were
surrounded by myriads of fish, of which sharks, and small whales, called
by the whalers fin-backs, were the most conspicuous. The smaller kinds
consisted of bonetas, barracoutas, porpoises, and flying fish. A
voracious dolphin was harpooned, in the maw of which was a barracouta in
a half-digested state, and in the throat a flying fish, bitten in half,
waiting its turn to be swallowed; for its tail had not disappeared out of
the dolphin's mouth.
June 24 to 26.
For a few days we had light south-westerly winds, but they soon gave
place to the South-East trade, which carried us quickly to the
South-West. The situation assigned by the Dutch sloop to the Tryal Rocks
was passed, without our noticing any indication of their existence.
June 30.
On the 30th we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, between the 106th and
107th degree of east longitude; the South-East trade then died away, and
was succeeded by light baffling winds, between South-West and South, and
from that to East, attended with very cloudy damp weather, and frequent
squalls of heavy rain. This unwholesome state of the air increased the
number of our sick, for soon after leaving Timor the crew were attacked
by dysentery brought on by change of diet; and at one time the disease
wore a very alarming appearance.
1818. July 7.
Having reached with difficulty the latitude of 27 degrees 37 minutes and
longitude 104 degrees 51 minutes, a breeze freshened up, and gradually
veered from South-South-East to East, and East-North-East.
July 9 to 13.
Between the 9th and 13th (on which day we passed the meridian of Cape
Leeuwin) we had variable winds between North-East and North-West: on the
9th the wind blew a heavy gale, in which our jolly-boat was washed away,
and obliging us to bear up to the South-East prevented our seeing the
land about Cape Chatham, as had been intended.
July 14 to 23.
Between this and King's Island we had strong gales from the westward,
veering, at times, between north and south, with thick and sometimes
rainy weather. During the southerly winds the air was very cold, and
lowered the mercury to 47 and 49 degrees; but when the wind veered to the
north it rose to 55 degrees, and gave us considerable relief.
On the 23rd soundings were struck off King's Island
July 24.
And the next morning we entered Bass Strait by passing round the south
end of the island. Here George Speed, one of our seamen, breathed his
last; his death was occasioned by an excessive indulgence in the
vegetables and fruits obtained at Timor, and he had been sick ever since
we left that place; first with dysentery, and then with an intestinal
inflammation.
The weather was so bad when we passed through the south entrance to the
Strait that we could make no very particular observation upon Reid's
Rocks, but they appear to be correctly placed by Captain Flinders.
July 26.
We did not get through the Strait until the 26th. In passing the Pyramid
it was found to be placed five miles too much to the northward in Captain
Flinders' chart.
The weather was now thick with heavy rain, and the wind blowing a gale
from West-South-West. I became very anxious to arrive at Port Jackson;
for we had but five men who could keep watch. The damp weather had
attended us with little intermission since our passing Cape Leeuwin, and
our people had been constantly wet with the continued breaking over of
the sea: indeed the decks had only been twice dry, and that even for a
few hours, since we left that meridian.
July 27.
On the 27th, by sunset, we were abreast of Cape Howe.
July 29.
And on the 29th, at noon, the lighthouse on the south head of the port
was joyfully descried. At eight o'clock in the evening we entered the
heads, and anchored in Sydney Cove at midnight, after an absence of
thirty-one weeks and three days.
Upon reviewing the proceedings of the voyage, the result of which bore
but a small proportion to what we had yet to do, I saw, with no little
satisfaction, that I had been enabled to set at rest the two particular
points of my instructions, namely, the opening behind Rosemary Island,
and the examination of the great bay of Van Diemen.
Upon rounding the North-West Cape, we had been unfortunate in losing our
anchors, which very much crippled our proceedings, and prevented our
prosecuting the examination of the coast in so detailed a manner as we
otherwise might have done; for we possessed no resource to avail
ourselves of, if we had been so unfortunate as to get on shore. A series
of fine weather, however, on the first part, and a sheltered coast with
good anchorage on the latter part of the voyage, enabled us to carry on
the survey without accident; and nearly as much has been effected with
one anchor as could have been done had we possessed the whole. It
prevented, however, our examining the bottom of Exmouth Gulf, and our
landing upon Depuch Island. The latter was a great disappointment to us,
on account of the following description which M. Peron gives of the
island, in his historical account of Baudin's Voyage, from the report of
M. Ronsard, who visited it.
"Au seul aspect de cette ile, on pouvoit deja pressentir qu'elle etoit
d'une nature differente de toutes celles que nous avions vues jusqu'a ce
jour. En effet, les terres en etoient plus hautes, les formes plus
prononcees: a mesure qu'on put s'en rapprocher, la difference devint plus
sensible encore. Au lieu de ces cotes uniformement prolongees, qui
n'offroient aucune pointe, aucun piton, aucune eminence, on voyait se
dessiner sur cette ile des roches aigues, solitaires, qui, comme autant
d'aiguilles, sembloient s'elancer de la surface du sol. Toute l'ile etoit
volcanique; des prismes de basalte, le plus ordinairement pentaedres,
entasses les uns sur les autres, reposant le plus souvent sur leurs
angles, en constituoient la masse entiere. La s'elevoient comme des murs
de pierre de taille; ailleurs, se presentoient des especes de paves
basaltiques, analogues a ceux de la fameuse Chaussee des Geans. Dans
quelques endroits on observoit des excavations plus ou moins profondes;
les eaux des parties voisines s'y etoient reunies, et formoient des
especes de fontaines, dans chacune desquelles nos gens trouverent une
tres-petite quantite d'excellente eau ferrugineuse. Dans ces lieux plus
humides, la vegetation etoit plus active; on y remarquoit de beaux
arbustes et quelques arbres plus gros, qui constituoient de petits
bosquets tres-agreables; le reste de l'ile, avec une disposition
differente, offroit un coup d'oeil bien different aussi: parmi ces
monceaux de laves entassees sans ordre, regne une sterilite generale; et
la couleur noire de ces roches volcaniques ajoutoit encore a l'aspect
triste et monotone de cette petite ile. La marche y est difficile, a
cause des prismes de basalte qui, couches horizontalement sur le sol,
presentent leurs aretes aigues en saillantes et dehors."
M. Peron then quotes M. Depuch's (the mineralogist to the expedition)
report: "La couleur de ce basalte est d'un gris tirant sur le bleu; sa
contexture est tres-serree, son grain fin et d'apparence
petro-silicieuse; de petites lames brillantes et irregulierement situees
sont disseminees dans toute la masse; il ne fait aucune effervescence
avec les acides, et n'affecte pas sensiblement le barreau aimante; sa
partie exterieure a eprouve une espece d'alteration produite par les
molecules ferrugineuses: cette decomposition n'atteint pas ordinairement
au dela de 3 ou 4 millemetres de profondeur."
M. Peron then continues M. Ronsard's report: "M. Ronsard croit devoir
penser, d'apres la conformation generale et la couleur de la partie du
continent voisine, qu'elle est d'une nature semblable et volcanique.
C'eut ete, sans doute un objet d'autant plus important a verifier, que,
jusqu'alors, nous n'avions rien pu voir de volcanique sur la Nouvelle
Hollande, et que depuis lors encore, nous n'y avons jamais trouve aucun
produit de ce genre; mais notre commandant, sans s'inquieter d'une
phenomene qui se rattache cependant d'une maniere essentielle a la
geographie de cette portion de la Nouvelle Hollande, donna l'ordre de
poursuivre notre route."
(*Footnote. Peron Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes volume 1
page 130.)
The rise of the tide was found by the French officer who landed upon it
to be at least twenty-five feet, which fact of itself was sufficient to
have induced us to examine into the cause of so unusual a circumstance;
for the greatest rise that we had hitherto found was not more than eight
or nine feet.
The hills at the back of this group of islands, which Commodore Baudin
called L'Archipel Forestier, recede from the coast in the shape of an
amphitheatre, which made me suppose that the coast trended in and formed
a deep bay; but this still remains to be ascertained, and we quitted the
place with much regret: for it unquestionably presented a far more
interesting feature than any part that we had previously seen.
On our passage to the north coast we saw the Imperieuse and Clerke's
Shoals, and also discovered a third, the Mermaid's.
On the north coast we found some deep bays and excellent ports, and at
the bottom of the great bay of Van Diemen we discovered several rivers,
one of which we ascended for forty miles. The thickly-wooded shores of
the north coast bore a striking contrast to the sandy desert-looking
tract of coast we had previously seen, and inspired us with the hope of
finding, at a future time, a still greater improvement in the country
between the two extremes.
Mr. Cunningham made a very valuable and extensive collection of dried
plants and seeds; but, from the small size of our vessel, and the
constant occupation of myself and the two midshipmen who accompanied me,
we had neither space nor time to form any other collection of Natural
History than a few insects, and some specimens of the geology of those
parts where we had landed.