The Face of the Country; its Productions, Climate, &c.
To the geographical knowledge of this country, supplied by Captain Cook,
and Captain Furneaux, we are able to add nothing. The latter explored
the coast from Van Diemen's land to the latitude of 39 deg south;
and Cook from Point Hicks, which lies in 37 deg 58 min, to Endeavour
Streights. The intermediate space between the end of Furneaux's
discovery and Point Hicks, is, therefore, the only part of the
south-east coast unknown, and it so happened on our passage thither,
owing to the weather, which forbade any part of the ships engaging with
the shore, that we are unable to pronounce whether, or not, a streight
intersects the continent hereabouts: though I beg leave to say, that I
have been informed by a naval friend, that when the fleet was off this
part of the coast, a strong set-off shore was plainly felt.
At the distance of 60 miles inland, a prodigious chain of lofty
mountains runs nearly in a north and south direction, further than the
eye can trace them. Should nothing intervene to prevent it, the Governor
intends, shortly, to explore their summits: and, I think there can be
little doubt, that his curiosity will not go unrewarded. If large rivers
do exist in the country, which some of us are almost sceptical enough
to doubt, their sources must arise amidst these hills; and the direction
they run in, for a considerable distance, must be either due north, or
due south. For it is strikingly singular that three such noble harbours
as Botany Bay, Port Jackson, and Broken Bay, alike end in shallows and
swamps, filled with mangroves.
The general face of the country is certainly pleasing, being diversified
with gentle ascents, and little winding vallies, covered for the most
part with large spreading trees, which afford a succession of leaves
in all seasons. In those places where trees are scarce, a variety of
flowering shrubs abound, most of them entirely new to an European,
and surpassing in beauty, fragrance, and number, all I ever saw in an
uncultivated state: among these, a tall shrub, bearing an elegant white
flower, which smells like English May, is particularly delightful, and
perfumes the air around to a great distance. The species of trees are
few, and, I am concerned to add, the wood universally of so bad a grain,
as almost to preclude a possibility of using it: the increase of labour
occasioned by this in our buildings has been such, as nearly to exceed
belief. These trees yield a profusion of thick red gum (not unlike the
'sanguis draconis') which is found serviceable in medicine, particularly
in dysenteric complaints, where it has sometimes succeeded, when all
other preparations have failed. To blunt its acrid qualities, it is
usual to combine it with opiates.
The nature of the soil is various. That immediately round Sydney Cove is
sandy, with here and there a stratum of clay. From the sand we have yet
been able to draw very little; but there seems no reason to doubt, that
many large tracts of land around us will bring to perfection whatever
shall be sown in them. To give this matter a fair trial, some practical
farmers capable of such an undertaking should be sent out; for the spots
we have chosen for experiments in agriculture, in which we can scarce
be supposed adepts, have hitherto but ill repaid our toil, which may be
imputable to our having chosen such as are unfavourable for our purpose.
Except from the size of the trees, the difficulties of clearing the land
are not numerous, underwood being rarely found, though the country
is not absolutely without it. Of the natural meadows which Mr. Cook
mentions near Botany Bay, we can give no account; none such exist about
Port Jackson. Grass, however, grows in every place but the swamps with
the greatest vigour and luxuriancy, though it is not of the finest
quality, and is found to agree better with horses and cows than sheep. A
few wild fruits are sometimes procured, among which is the small purple
apple mentioned by Cook, and a fruit which has the appearance of a
grape, though in taste more like a green gooseberry, being excessively
sour: probably were it meliorated by cultivation, it would become more
palatable.
Fresh water, as I have said before, is found but in inconsiderable
quantities. For the common purposes of life there is generally enough;
but we know of no stream in the country capable of turning a mill: and
the remark made by Mr. Anderson, of the dryness of the country round
Adventure Bay, extends without exception to every part of it which we
have penetrated.
Previous to leaving England I remember to have frequently heard it
asserted, that the discovery of mines was one of the secondary objects
of the expedition. Perhaps there are mines; but as no person competent
to form a decision is to be found among us, I wish no one to adopt an
idea, that I mean to impress him with such a belief, when I state, that
individuals, whose judgements are not despicable, are willing to think
favourably of this conjecture, from specimens of ore seen in many of the
stones picked up here. I cannot quit this subject without regretting,
that some one capable of throwing a better light on it, is not in the
colony. Nor can I help being equally concerned, that an experienced
botanist was not sent out, for the purpose of collecting and describing
the rare and beautiful plants with which the country abounds. Indeed,
we flattered ourselves, when at the Cape of Good Hope, that Mason, the
King's botanical gardener, who was employed there in collecting for the
royal nursery at Kew, would have joined us, but it seems his orders and
engagements prevented him from quitting that beaten track, to enter on
this scene of novelty and variety.
To the naturalist this country holds out many invitations. Birds, though
not remarkably numerous, are in great variety, and of the most exquisite
beauty of plumage, among which are the cockatoo, lory, and parroquet;
but the bird which principally claims attention is, a species of
ostrich, approaching nearer to the emu of South America than any other
we know of. One of them was shot, at a considerable distance, with a
single ball, by a convict employed for that purpose by the Governor; its
weight, when complete, was seventy pounds, and its length from the end
of the toe to the tip of the beak, seven feet two inches, though there
was reason to believe it had not attained its full growth. On dissection
many anatomical singularities were observed: the gall-bladder was
remarkably large, the liver not bigger than that of a barn-door fowl,
and after the strictest search no gizzard could be found; the legs,
which were of a vast length, were covered with thick, strong scales,
plainly indicating the animal to be formed for living amidst deserts;
and the foot differed from an ostrich's by forming a triangle, instead
of being cloven.
Goldsmith, whose account of the emu is the only one I can refer to,
says, "that it is covered from the back and rump with long feathers,
which fall backward, and cover the anus; these feathers are grey on
the back, and white on the belly." The wings are so small as hardly to
deserve the name, and are unfurnished with those beautiful ornaments
which adorn the wings of the ostrich: all the feathers are extremely
coarse, but the construction of them deserves notice--they grow in pairs
from a single shaft, a singularity which the author I have quoted has
omitted to remark. It may be presumed, that these birds are not very
scarce, as several have been seen, some of them immensely large, but
they are so wild, as to make shooting them a matter of great difficulty.
Though incapable of flying, they run with such swiftness, that our
fleetest greyhounds are left far behind in every attempt to catch them.
The flesh was eaten, and tasted like beef.
Besides the emu, many birds of prodigious size have been seen, which
promise to increase the number of those described by naturalists,
whenever we shall be fortunate enough to obtain them; but among these
the bat of the Endeavour River is not to be found. In the woods are
various little songsters, whose notes are equally sweet and plaintive.
Of quadrupeds, except the kangaroo, I have little to say. The few met
with are almost invariably of the opossum tribe, but even these do not
abound. To beasts of prey we are utter strangers, nor have we yet any
cause to believe that they exist in the country. And happy it is for us
that they do not, as their presence would deprive us of the only fresh
meals the settlement affords, the flesh of the kangaroo. This singular
animal is already known in Europe by the drawing and description of Mr.
Cook. To the drawing nothing can be objected but the position of the
claws of the hinder leg, which are mixed together like those of a
dog, whereas no such indistinctness is to be found in the animal I am
describing. It was the Chevalier De Perrouse who pointed out this to me,
while we were comparing a kangaroo with the plate, which, as he justly
observed, is correct enough to give the world in general a good idea of
the animal, but not sufficiently accurate for the man of science.
Of the natural history of the kangaroo we are still very ignorant.
We may, however, venture to pronounce this animal, a new species of
opossum, the female being furnished with a bag, in which the young is
contained; and in which the teats are found. These last are only two in
number, a strong presumptive proof, had we no other evidence, that
the kangaroo brings forth rarely more than one at a birth. But this
is settled beyond a doubt, from more than a dozen females having
been killed, which had invariably but one formed in the pouch.
Notwithstanding this, the animal may be looked on as prolific, from the
early age it begins to breed at, kangaroos with young having been taken
of not more than thirty pounds weight; and there is room to believe that
when at their utmost growth, they weigh not less than one hundred and
fifty pounds. A male of one hundred and thirty pounds weight has been
killed, whose dimensions were as follows:
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Feet. Inches.
Extreme length 7 3
Ditt of the tail 3 4 1/2
Ditto of the hinder legs 3 2
Ditto of the fore paws 1 7 1/2
Circumference of the tail of the root 1 5
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After this perhaps I shall hardly be credited, when I affirm that the
kangaroo on being brought forth is not larger than an English mouse.
It is, however, in my power to speak positively on this head, as I have
seen more than one instance of it.
In running, this animal confines himself entirely to his hinder, legs,
which are possessed with an extraordinary muscular power. Their speed
is very great, though not in general quite equal to that of a greyhound;
but when the greyhounds are so fortunate as to seize them, they are
incapable of retaining their hold, from the amazing struggles of the
animal. The bound of the kangaroo, when not hard pressed, has been
measured, and found to exceed twenty feet.
At what time of the year they copulate, and in what manner, we know
not: the testicles of the male are placed contrary to the usual order of
nature.
When young the kangaroo eats tender and well flavoured, tasting like
veal, but the old ones are more tough and stringy than bullbeef. They
are not carnivorous, and subsist altogether on particular flowers and
grass. Their bleat is mournful, and very different from that of any
other animal: it is, however, seldom heard but in the young ones.
Fish, which our sanguine hopes led us to expect in great quantities, do
not abound. In summer they are tolerably plentiful, but for some months
past very few have been taken. Botany Bay in this respect exceeds Port
Jackson. The French once caught near two thousand fish in one day, of
a species of grouper, to which, from the form of a bone in the head
resembling a helmet, we have given the name of light horseman. To this
may be added bass, mullets, skait, soles, leather-jackets, and many
other species, all so good in their kind, as to double our regret at
their not being more numerous. Sharks of an enormous size are found
here. One of these was caught by the people on board the Sirius, which
measured at the shoulders six feet and a half in circumference. His
liver yielded twenty-four gallons of oil; and in his stomach was found
the head of a shark, which had been thrown overboard from the same ship.
The Indians, probably from having felt the effects of their voracious
fury, testify the utmost horror on seeing these terrible fish.
Venomous animals and reptiles are rarely seen. Large snakes beautifully
variegated have been killed, but of the effect of their bites we are
happily ignorant. Insects, though numerous, are by no means, even in
summer, so troublesome as I have found them in America, the West Indies,
and other countries.
The climate is undoubtedly very desirable to live in. In summer the
heats are usually moderated by the sea breeze, which sets in early;
and in winter the degree of cold is so slight as to occasion no
inconvenience; once or twice we have had hoar frosts and hail, but
no appearance of snow. The thermometer has never risen beyond 84, nor
fallen lower than 35, in general it stood in the beginning of February
at between 78 and 74 at noon. Nor is the temperature of the air less
healthy than pleasant. Those dreadful putrid fevers by which new
countries are so often ravaged, are unknown to us: and excepting a
slight diarrhoea, which prevailed soon after we had landed, and was
fatal in very few instances, we are strangers to epidemic diseases.
On the whole, (thunder storms in the hot months excepted) I know not any
climate equal to this I write in. Ere we had been a fortnight on shore
we experienced some storms of thunder accompanied with rain, than
which nothing can be conceived more violent and tremendous, and their
repetition for several days, joined to the damage they did, by killing
several of our sheep, led us to draw presages of an unpleasant
nature. Happily, however, for many months we have escaped any similar
visitations.