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+Project Gutenberg's Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2, by John Lort Stokes
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2
+       Discoveries In Australia; With An Account Of The Coasts And Rivers
+       Explored And Surveyed During The Voyage Of H.M.S. Beagle, In The
+       Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command Of The Lords Commissioners
+       Of The Admiralty. Also A Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits
+       To The Islands In The Arafura Sea
+       
+
+Author: John Lort Stokes
+
+Release Date: April 25, 2004 [EBook #12146]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRALIA, VOLUME 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sue Asscher
+
+
+
+
+DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRALIA;
+
+WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE
+
+COASTS AND RIVERS
+
+EXPLORED AND SURVEYED DURING THE
+
+VOYAGE OF H.M.S. BEAGLE,
+
+IN THE YEARS 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43.
+
+BY
+
+COMMAND OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY.
+
+ALSO
+
+A NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN OWEN STANLEY'S VISITS
+
+TO THE
+
+ISLANDS IN THE ARAFURA SEA.
+
+BY
+
+J. LORT STOKES,
+
+COMMANDER, R.N.
+
+
+VOLUME 2.
+
+
+LONDON:
+T. AND W. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET.
+
+1846.
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME 2.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.1.
+
+Leave Port Essington.
+Clarence Strait.
+Hope Inlet.
+Shoal Bay.
+Ian for Observations.
+Explore a new Opening.
+Talc Head.
+Port Darwin.
+Continue Exploration.
+Mosquitoes and Sandflies.
+Nature of the Country.
+Its parched appearance.
+Large ant's nest.
+Return to Shoal Bay.
+Visit from the Natives.
+Remarks.
+Their teeth perfect.
+Rite of Circumcision.
+Observations on the Migrations of the Natives.
+Theory of an Inland Sea.
+Central Desert.
+Salt water drunk by Natives.
+Modes of procuring water.
+Survey the harbour.
+Natives on a raft.
+Anecdote.
+Bynoe Harbour.
+Well.
+Brilliant Meteors.
+Natives on Point Emery.
+Their surprise at the well.
+Importance of water.
+Anecdote.
+Languages of Australia.
+Specimens.
+Remarks.
+Leave Port Darwin.
+Tides.
+Squall.
+Visit Port Patterson.
+Leave.
+Examine opening to the south-west.
+Table Hill.
+McAdam Range.
+Adventure with an Alligator.
+Exploring party.
+Discovery of the Victoria.
+Ascend the river.
+Appearance of the Country.
+Fitzmaurice River.
+Indian Hill.
+The Beagle taken up the river.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.2.
+
+Exploration of the Victoria.
+First appearance of Sea Range.
+Curiosity Peak.
+Appearance of Country from.
+Whirlwind Plains.
+Encounter with an Alligator.
+His capture and description.
+Cross Whirlwind Plains.
+White and black ducks.
+Kangaroos.
+Enter hilly country.
+Meet the boats.
+Thunderstorm.
+Carry boats over shoals.
+New birds.
+Reach Hopeless.
+Progress of boats arrested.
+Reconnoitre the river.
+Prospect from View Hill.
+Preparation for pedestrian excursion.
+Leave Reach Hopeless to explore the upper part of the river.
+Native village.
+Squall.
+Mussel Bend.
+Meet Natives.
+Successful fishing.
+Party distressed.
+Thirsty Flat.
+Tortoise Reach.
+Singular appearance of the ranges.
+Effect of the great heat.
+One man knocked up.
+Approach of natives.
+Preparation for defence.
+Appearance of the natives.
+Move further up the river.
+Emu Plains.
+Select position for night quarters.
+Upward course of the Victoria.
+Commence return.
+Kangaroo shot.
+Wickham Heights.
+New Tortoise.
+Lucky Valley.
+Race was with a native.
+Meet his tribe.
+They make off.
+Hard day's work.
+Quarters for the night.
+Return to Reach Hopeless.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.3. VICTORIA RIVER.
+
+Proceed down the river from Reach Hopeless.
+Meet watering party.
+One of the men deserts.
+Kangaroo shooting.
+The writer left to complete survey of river.
+Silk cotton-tree.
+Fertility of Whirlwind Plains.
+Attempt of one of the crew to jump overboard.
+Reach the Ship.
+Suffer from sore eyes.
+Lieutenant Emery finds water.
+Geological specimens.
+Bird's Playhouse.
+Tides.
+Strange weather.
+Range of Barometer.
+Accounted for by proximity of Port Essington.
+Hurricane.
+Effects of the latter.
+Dreary country behind Water Valley.
+Fruitless attempt to weigh ship's anchors.
+Obliged to slip from both of them.
+Proceed down the river.
+Complete survey of Main Channel.
+Visit south Entrance Point of river.
+Discover a number of dead turtles.
+Cross over to Point Pearce.
+Mr. Bynoe shoots a new finch.
+The Author speared.
+Pursued by natives.
+Escape.
+Flight of natives.
+Armed party pursue them.
+Night of suffering.
+General description of the Victoria.
+Gouty-stem tree and fruit.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.4. VICTORIA RIVER TO SWAN RIVER.
+
+Leave Point Pearce.
+Error in position of Cape Rulhieres.
+Obtain soundings on supposed Sahul Shoal.
+Discover a shoal patch on it.
+Ascertain extent of bank of soundings off the Australian shore.
+Strange winds in Monsoon.
+See Scott's Reef.
+Discover error in its position.
+Make Depuch Island.
+Prevalence of westerly winds near it.
+Sperm whales.
+Tedious passage.
+Death and burial of the ship's cook.
+Anecdotes of his life.
+Good landfall.
+Arrival at Swan River.
+Find Colony improved.
+Hospitality of Colonists.
+Lieutenant Roe's account of his rescuing Captain Grey's party.
+Burial of Mr. Smith.
+Hurricane at Shark's Bay.
+Observations on dry appearance of Upper Swan.
+Unsuccessful cruise of Champion.
+Visit Rottnest.
+Fix on a hill for the site of a Lighthouse.
+Aboriginal convicts.
+Protectors of natives.
+American whalers.
+Miago.
+Trees of Western Australia.
+On the safety of Gage Roads.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.5.
+
+Sail from Swan River.
+Search for the supposed Turtle-dove Shoal.
+Approach to Houtman's Abrolhos.
+Find an anchorage.
+View of the Lagoon.
+Guano.
+Remnants of the wreck of the Batavia.
+Pelsart Group.
+Visit the Main.
+Geelvink Channel.
+Enter Champion Bay.
+Appearance of the Country.
+Striking resemblance of various portions of the coast of Australia.
+Leave Champion Bay.
+Coast to the northward.
+Resume our examination of the Abrolhos.
+Easter Group.
+Good Friday Harbour.
+Lizards on Rat Island.
+Coral formation.
+Snapper Bank.
+Zeewyk Passage.
+Discoveries on Gun Island.
+The Mangrove Islets.
+Singular Sunset.
+Heavy gale.
+Wallaby Islands.
+Flag Hill.
+Slaughter Point.
+Observations of Mr. Bynoe on the Marsupiata.
+General character of the reefs.
+Tidal observations.
+Visit North Island.
+Leave Houtman's Abrolhos.
+General observations.
+Proceed to Depuch Island.
+Drawings on the rocks.
+Native youth.
+New bird and kangaroo.
+Effects of Mirage.
+Examine coast to the Turtle Isles.
+Geographe Shoals.
+Number of turtles.
+Bedout Island.
+Scott's Reef.
+Approach to Timor.
+Pulo Douw.
+Scene on entering Coepang Bay.
+Surprise of Swan River native.
+Visit to the Resident.
+His stories.
+Fort Concordia.
+Second visit to the Resident.
+The Timorees.
+Arrive at Pritie.
+Description of the country.
+Muster of the shooting party.
+Success of the excursion.
+The Javanese Commandant.
+Character of the Timorees.
+Dutch settlement in New Guinea.
+Leave Coepang.
+Island of Rottee.
+Tykal Inlet.
+Inhabitants of Polo Douw.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.6.
+
+Sail from Rottee.
+Search for shoal.
+Dampier's Archipelago.
+Examination of coast.
+Strange weather.
+Natives.
+Passage between Delambre and Huiy Islands.
+Proceed to Montebello Isles.
+Description of them.
+Barrow's Island.
+Tryal Rocks.
+New kangaroo.
+Abundance of turtle.
+New wallaby.
+Sail for Swan River.
+Find Ritchie's Reef.
+Islands between Barrow's and North-West Cape.
+Table of soundings.
+Swan River Native.
+Anchor under Rottnest.
+Vocabulary.
+Erect beacons.
+Bad weather.
+Habits of a native dog.
+Geological observations.
+Sail from Swan River.
+Error in position of Cape Naturaliste.
+King George's Sound.
+Appearance of Bald Head.
+Princess Royal Harbour.
+Origin of settlement.
+Town of Albany.
+Salubrity of climate.
+Excursion into interior.
+Course a kangaroo.
+Pitfalls.
+Herds of kangaroos.
+Rich country.
+The Hay River.
+Return to Albany.
+Departure for South Australia.
+Discover an Island.
+Death of a seaman.
+Position of Neptune Isles.
+Kangaroo, Althorp and Quoin Islands.
+Holdfast Road.
+Adelaide.
+Description of country.
+Governor Gawler's policy.
+Visit the Port.
+Mr. Eyre's expedition.
+Hardships of Overlanders.
+Cannibalism.
+Meet Captain Sturt.
+Native schools.
+System of education.
+Sail for Sydney.
+Squalls.
+Error in coast.
+Bass Strait.
+Arrive at Sydney.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.7.
+
+Land Sales.
+Unsettled boundaries.
+New Zealand.
+Hunter River.
+Midnight alarm.
+Ludicrous scene.
+Changes in Officers of ship.
+Leave Sydney.
+Port Stephens.
+Corrobory.
+Gale at Cape Upstart.
+Magnetical Island.
+Halifax Bay.
+Astonish a Native.
+Description of country.
+Correct chart.
+Restoration Island.
+Picturesque arrival.
+Interview with the Natives from Torres Strait.
+Their weapons.
+Shoal near Endeavour River.
+Discover good passage through Endeavour Strait.
+Booby Island.
+New birds.
+The Painted Quail.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.8. GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
+
+Leave Booby Island.
+Eastern shore of Gulf.
+Van Diemen's Inlet.
+Exploration of.
+Party of Natives.
+Level country.
+Tides.
+Visit Bountiful Islands.
+Description of them.
+Sail for Sweers Island.
+Investigator Road.
+Natives.
+Locusts.
+Record of the Investigator's visit.
+Dig a well.
+Boats explore island and coast to the westward.
+Sweers and Bentinck Islands.
+Tides.
+Take ship over to the main.
+Another boat expedition leaves.
+Ship proceeds to the head of the Gulf.
+Discovery and exploration of Disaster Inlet.
+Narrow escape.
+Description of Interior.
+Wild Fowl.
+Explore coast to the eastward.
+Inlets.
+Discover the Flinders.
+The Cuckoo.
+Ascent of the river.
+Night scene.
+Burial tree.
+Remarks.
+Return to the ship.
+Exploration of south-western part of Gulf.
+Large inlets discovered.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.9. GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
+
+Boat expedition.
+Explore an opening.
+Discovery of the Albert.
+Natives.
+Picturesque Scenery.
+Hope Reach.
+Birds and Fishes.
+Upper Branch.
+Beauty of the Landscape.
+Land excursion.
+The Plains of Promise.
+Halt the party and proceed alone.
+Description of the country.
+Return down the Albert.
+Mouth of River.
+Arrive at Van Diemen's Inlet.
+Find Mr. Fitzmaurice severely wounded.
+General result of the survey of the Gulf.
+Winds and Temperature.
+Booby Island.
+Endeavour Strait.
+Reach Port Essington.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.10. INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
+
+Leave Port Essington.
+Dobbo Island.
+Visit from the Schoolmaster.
+Church.
+Trade of the Arrou Islands.
+Their productions.
+Visit from Natives.
+The Banda Group.
+Penal Settlement.
+Adventures of a Javanese.
+Captain de Stuers.
+Native dance and sports.
+Nutmeg Plantations.
+Mode of preserving the fruit.
+Amboyna.
+Visit a natural grotto.
+Sail from Amboyna.
+Island of Kissa.
+Village of Wauriti.
+Missionary establishment.
+Serwatty Group.
+Return to Port Essington.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.11. PORT ESSINGTON AND THE NORTH-WEST COAST.
+
+Appearance of Settlement.
+Effects of climate.
+Native mother.
+Trade in teeth.
+Macassar Proas.
+Lieutenant Vallack visits the Alligator Rivers.
+Interview with Natives.
+Prospects of Port Essington.
+Lieutenant Stewart's Route.
+Climate.
+Remarks of Mr. Bynoe.
+Harbour of refuge.
+Sail from Port Essington.
+Sahul Shoal.
+Arrive at Coepang.
+Timorees.
+Sail for North-west Coast.
+Strong winds.
+Cape Bossut.
+Exploration of North-west Coast.
+View of Interior.
+Birds.
+Solitary Island.
+Visit the Shore.
+Amphinome Shoals.
+Bedout Island.
+Breaker Inlet.
+Exmouth Gulf.
+Arrive at Swan River.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.12.
+
+Reported Harbour.
+Set out for Australind.
+The Grass-tree.
+Correspondence with Mr. Clifton, etc.
+Sail from Gage Road.
+Examination of coast.
+Reach Champion Bay.
+Visit Mount Fairfax and Wizard Peak.
+Arid nature of country.
+Want of water.
+Native Grave.
+The Greenough river.
+Natives.
+Leave Champion Bay.
+Koombanah Bay.
+Naturaliste Reef.
+Reach South Australia.
+Port Adelaide.
+Proposed Railroad.
+Visit Mount Barker.
+Encounter Bay.
+Native fishing.
+Return to Adelaide.
+Sail from South Australia.
+Portland Bay.
+Squatters.
+Tour in the interior.
+Fertile country.
+View from the Sugarloaf.
+Visit Cape Bridgewater.
+Sail for Hobart.
+Liberality of Sir John Franklin.
+Atmospheric changes.
+Arrive at Sydney.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.13.
+
+Exploration of Interior.
+Twofold Bay.
+Survey of Bass Strait.
+Dangerous situation of the Beagle.
+Kent and Hogan Groups.
+Gipps Land.
+Wilson's Promontory.
+The Tamar.
+Eastern entrance of Strait.
+Steam communication between India and Australia.
+New Guinea.
+Straitsmen.
+North coast of Tasmania.
+Aborigines.
+Port Phillip.
+Directions for ships passing King Island.
+Complete survey of Bass Strait.
+Farewell to Sydney.
+Moreton Bay.
+The Comet.
+State of Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land.
+Lighthouses in Bass Strait.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.14. AUSTRALIA TO ENGLAND.
+
+Sail from Tasmania.
+The South-west Cape.
+Monument to Flinders.
+Rottnest Island.
+Lighthouse.
+Penal Establishment.
+Longitude of Fremantle.
+Final departure from Western Australia.
+Rodrigue Island.
+Effects of a hurricane at Mauritius.
+The crew and passengers of a foundered vessel saved.
+Bourbon.
+Madagascar.
+Simon's Bay.
+Deep sea soundings.
+Arrival in England.
+Take leave of the Beagle.
+The Surveying service.
+
+...
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+WINDS AND WEATHER ON THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN COASTS OF AUSTRALIA.
+BY COMMANDER J.C. WICKHAM, R.N.
+
+
+LIST OF CHARTS.
+
+VOLUME 2.
+
+VICTORIA RIVER.
+
+GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
+
+ALBERT RIVER.
+
+PART OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
+
+PORT ADELAIDE AND HOLDFAST BAY.
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+VOLUME 2.
+
+MESSRS. FITZMAURICE AND KEYS DANCING FOR THEIR LIVES.
+L.R. Fitzmaurice, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+FIRST APPEARANCE OF SEA RANGE.
+
+HEAD AND FEET OF ALLIGATOR.
+
+KILLING AN ALLIGATOR, VICTORIA RIVER.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+WICKHAM HEIGHTS FROM TORTOISE REACH.
+
+CAPTAIN STOKES SPEARED AT POINT PEARCE.
+C. Martens, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+GOUTY-STEM TREE.
+
+FRUIT OF GOUTY-STEM TREE.
+Section of fruit, showing the manner in which the seeds are disposed.
+
+VIEWS OF MORESBY'S RANGE, SEA RANGE, AND CAPE BEDFORD.
+Moresby's Range, West Coast, latitude 28 degrees 50 minutes South.
+Sea Range, Victoria River, North-west Coast, latitude 15 degrees 20
+ minutes South.
+Cape Bedford, North-east Coast, latitude 15 degrees 10 minutes South.
+
+ANCIENT DUTCH GUN.
+Dutch Four-pounder, with moveable chamber.
+
+NATIVE DRAWINGS.
+Lithographic impression of the copies made by Captain Wickham of the
+ native drawings on Depuch Island. They have already appeared in the Royal
+Geographical Journal Volume 12. The following list will convey to the
+ reader what the drawings are intended to represent.
+1. A goose or duck.
+2. A bird; probably the leipoa.
+6. A beetle.
+11. A fish over a quarter-moon; which has been considered to have some
+ reference to fishing by moonlight.
+61. A native dog.
+16. A native, armed with spear and wommera, or throwing stick, probably
+ relating his adventures, which is usually done by song, and accompanied
+ with great action and flourishing of weapons, particularly when boasting
+ of his prowess.
+20. A duck and a gull.
+34. A corrobory, or native dance.
+65. A crab.
+30. A native in a hut, with portion of the matting with which they cover
+ their habitations.
+67. A kangaroo.
+71. Appears to be a bird of prey, having seized upon a kangaroo-rat.
+32. Shark and pilot-fish.
+
+COEPANG FROM THE ANCHORAGE.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+PASSING BETWEEN BALD HEAD AND VANCOUVER REEF.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+ENTRANCE OF VAN DIEMEN'S INLET.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+INTERESTING TREE.
+
+BURIAL REACH, FLINDERS RIVER.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+UPWARD VIEW OF HOPE REACH, ALBERT RIVER.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+FIRST VIEW OF THE PLAINS OF PROMISE, ALBERT RIVER.
+G. Gore, del.
+
+LAST VIEW OF THE PLAINS OF PROMISE, ALBERT RIVER.
+G. Gore, del.
+London, Published by T. & W. Boone, 1846.
+
+APPROACH TO PORTLAND BAY.
+Cape Nelson, Cape Grant, Lawrence Isles East-North-East nine miles.
+
+DANGEROUS SITUATION OF BEAGLE.
+A.J. Mason Sc.
+
+DEVIL'S TOWER.
+350 feet high, West, two miles.
+
+KILLING A KANGAROO.
+A.J. Mason Sc.
+
+HUMMOCK ISLAND.
+Highest part 400 feet, bearing South-East 20 miles.
+
+...
+
+
+
+JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.1.
+
+Leave Port Essington.
+Clarence Strait.
+Hope Inlet.
+Shoal Bay.
+Land for Observations.
+Explore a new Opening.
+Talc Head.
+Port Darwin.
+Continue Exploration.
+Mosquitoes and Sandflies.
+Nature of the Country.
+Its parched appearance.
+Large ant's nest.
+Return to Shoal Bay.
+Visit from the Natives.
+Remarks.
+Their teeth perfect.
+Rite of Circumcision.
+Observations on the Migrations of the Natives.
+Theory of an Inland Sea.
+Central Desert.
+Salt water drunk by Natives.
+Modes of procuring water.
+Survey the harbour.
+Natives on a raft.
+Anecdote.
+Bynoe Harbour.
+Well.
+Brilliant Meteors.
+Natives on Point Emery.
+Their surprise at the well.
+Importance of water.
+Anecdote.
+Languages of Australia.
+Specimens.
+Remarks.
+Leave Port Darwin.
+Tides.
+Squall.
+Visit Port Patterson.
+Leave.
+Examine opening to the south-west.
+Table Hill.
+McAdam Range.
+Adventure with an Alligator.
+Exploring party.
+Discovery of the Victoria.
+Ascend the river.
+Appearance of the Country.
+Fitzmaurice River.
+Indian Hill.
+The Beagle taken up the river.
+
+LEAVE PORT ESSINGTON.
+
+Early on the morning of the 4th of September, 1839, the Beagle was once
+more slipping out of Port Essington before a light land wind. We had
+taken a hearty farewell of our friends at Victoria, in whose prosperity
+we felt all the interest that is due to those who pioneer the way for
+others in the formation of a new settlement. No doubt the hope that our
+discoveries might open a new field for British enterprise, and contribute
+to extend still more widely the blessings of civilization, increased the
+sympathy we felt for the young colony at Victoria. There is always a
+feeling of pride and pleasure engendered by the thought that we are in
+any way instrumental to the extension of man's influence over the world
+which has been given him to subdue. In the present instance, the success
+of our last cruise and the state of preparation in which we were now in
+for a longer one, caused us to take our departure from Port Essington in
+far higher spirits than on the former occasion.
+
+PASS THROUGH CLARENCE STRAIT.
+
+We again shaped our course for Clarence Strait, the western entrance of
+which was still unexamined. The wind, however, being light, we passed the
+night in Popham Bay; and on leaving next morning, had only six fathoms in
+some tide ripplings nearly two miles off its south point, Cape Don. We
+passed along the south side of Melville Island, where a large fire was
+still burning. Early in the evening we anchored in seven fathoms, to wait
+for a boat that had been sent to examine a shoal bay on the North-West
+side of Cape Keith. Green Ant Cliffs bore South-West two miles.
+
+September 7.
+
+Weighing at daylight we hauled up south, into the middle of the channel,
+crossing a ridge of 5 1/2 fathoms; Ant Cliffs bearing West-South-West
+five miles, and three or four from the shore. This ridge appears to be
+thrown up at the extremity of the flats fronting the shore. On deepening
+the water to 10 and 12 fathoms, the course was changed to West 1/2 South,
+passing midway between North Vernon Isle and Cape Gambier, where the
+width of the channel is seven miles, though the whole of it is not
+available for the purposes of navigation, a long detached reef lying
+three miles from the Cape, and a small one two miles from the North
+Vernon Isle.* The tide hurried the Beagle past between these reefs with
+some rapidity, the soundings at the time being 19 fathoms.
+
+(*Footnote. These isles, three in number, lying quite in the centre of
+the western entrance of the Strait, are fringed with extensive coral
+reefs. There are, however, deep passages between them.)
+
+Having cleared Clarence Strait, and found it to be perfectly navigable
+with common precaution (which in a slight degree enhanced the value of
+the discovery of the Adelaide) our course was directed for a bay to the
+southward, which Captain King had not examined. A very refreshing cool
+north-westerly seabreeze* had just succeeded a short calm. Passing four
+miles from the western extremity of the Vernon Isles, we had irregular
+soundings of ten and seven fathoms. The ripplings and discoloured water
+are a warning that they should be approached with caution on this side.
+
+(*Footnote. The seabreeze prevailing from the westward through Clarence
+Strait, the passage to Port Essington from the westward, during the
+easterly monsoon, might be more easily made by passing through it,
+instead of working along the north side of Melville Island.)
+
+The mouth of a considerable inlet came in sight at the head of a bay as
+we advanced towards it, steering South by East. This opening began to
+appear of consequence as we drew near, although the singularly gradual
+decrease in the soundings, on a sandy bottom materially diminished the
+probability of its being the mouth of a river. Still, when we anchored as
+near as we could approach, there remained a hope of its being so.
+
+HOPE INLET. SHOAL BAY.
+
+September 8.
+
+Early in the morning Mr. Forsyth and myself started to explore the
+opening. We soon discovered that it was nothing more than a shallow creek
+at low-water. The tide here rising twenty feet, gave it the important
+appearance it had yesterday evening. A tall clump of naked trees was
+conspicuous at the east entrance point, towering above the insipid
+mangrove shore. We gave it the name of Hope Inlet, to commemorate the
+feelings it excited on its first discovery. From the south point of
+Clarence Strait it is distant eleven miles, and the bay in which it lies,
+from the shallow-water at the head of it, was called Shoal Bay.
+
+The boat being provisioned for four days, we pushed on to explore another
+opening above fifteen miles to the westward. The seabreeze setting in
+early, we did not reach it till after dark, when we landed for
+observations at a cliffy projection near the eastern entrance point: this
+we found to be composed of a kind of pipeclay, mixed with calcareous
+matter. We had some difficulty in landing, and then in scrambling up the
+cliffs by the light of a lantern. If any of the watchful natives happened
+at the time to be on the lookout, they must have stood fixed with
+astonishment at beholding such strange persons, who at such a time of
+night, with no ostensible object were visiting their shores.
+
+EXPLORE A NEW OPENING.
+
+September 9.
+
+Before the veil of darkness was quite removed, we could faintly
+distinguish the mouth of the opening; and the sight at daylight was most
+cheering. A wide bay appearing between two white cliffy heads, and
+stretching away within to a great distance, presented itself to our view.
+Far to the southward, between the heads, rose a small table-topped hill.
+As we pulled in towards the eastern entrance point, the river-like
+appearance began to wear off, more land making its appearance towards the
+head of the opening. On reaching this point Mr. Forsyth and myself
+climbed up the cliff, whilst the breakfast was cooking. From the summit
+we had a good view of the bay, and were delighted to find large openings
+in the south-east and south-west corners of it. The table hill before
+mentioned, stood on the point between them. To see the eastern part of
+it, however, it was necessary to cross to the opposite point, where some
+talc slate, pieces of which measured four inches in length, was found
+imbedded in quartz. The point was called in consequence, Talc Head.
+
+PORT DARWIN.
+
+The other rocks near it were of a fine-grained sandstone: a new feature
+in the geology of this part of the continent, which afforded us an
+appropriate opportunity of convincing an old shipmate and friend, that he
+still lived in our memory; and we accordingly named this sheet of water
+Port Darwin. A few small bamboos grew on this head; the other trees were
+chiefly white gums. I climbed to the top of one of them, and obtained
+thence a view of another opening in the eastern part of the harbour. It
+now being low-water, an extensive shoal was discovered, reaching from
+abreast of Talc Head to the point separating the South-East and
+South-West openings, an extent of nearly five miles. This somewhat
+diminished the value of our discovery, as it limited the capabilities of
+the bay as a harbour.
+
+We now proceeded to explore the north-eastern and largest opening,
+distant six miles from our station. A large islet and a reef left the
+entrance only a mile wide. Expanding again, it formed two arms, one
+running south, the other East-South-East, between small groups of
+singular isolated haycock-shaped hills, about 250 feet high. Following
+the latter, being the largest, we found that it soon curved round, taking
+a southerly direction. A bank free from mangroves occurring in this bend,
+we availed ourselves of it, as the day was closing in, to secure some
+early stars for latitude and longitude. The intense pleasure afforded by
+traversing water that had never before been divided by any keel, in some
+measure compensated us for the annoyance from the mosquitoes and
+sandflies, that took the opportunity of assailing us while in the
+defenceless state of quiet necessary in making observations. Pushing out
+into the middle of the stream, and each wielding a beater, our tiny
+enemies were soon shaken off, and borne back to the shore by a refreshing
+North-West breeze.
+
+We found it necessary to keep a sharp lookout here for the alligators, as
+they swarmed in dangerous numbers.
+
+The scarcity of fish, and the shallowness of the water did not hold out
+much hope that the arm we were tracing would prove of great extent; still
+many speculations were hazarded on the termination of it. The temperature
+in the night was down to 78 degrees, and the dew sufficiently heavy to
+wet the boat's awning through.
+
+CONTINUE EXPLORATION.
+
+Anxious to know how far this piece of water was to carry us into the
+untrodden wilds of Australia, we moved off with the first streak of dawn.
+Ten miles in a South by East direction brought us to where the width and
+depth was not sufficient to induce us to proceed further. Besides, as we
+were then only fifteen miles from a bend of the upper part of the
+Adelaide, which must receive the drainage of all that part of the
+country, it seemed improbable that any other large river existed in the
+neighbourhood. Six miles from our furthest, which was about thirty miles
+from the entrance, we passed a small island. The banks on either side of
+the inlet were, as usual, a thick grove of mangroves, except in one spot,
+a mile lower down, where we landed on our return for observations. This
+we found to be a low cliffy projection of slate formation, whilst
+scattered over the face of the few miles of country, which we are able to
+explore, were small bits of quartz; large blocks also of which protruded
+occasionally through a light kind of mould.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+The country was a most thirsty-looking level, the low brushwood on which
+cracked and snapped as we walked through it, with a brittle dryness that
+testified how perfectly parched-up was everything. A single spark would
+instantly have wrapped the whole face of the country in one sheet of
+fire. Slight blasts of heated withering air, as if from an oven, would
+occasionally strike the face as we walked along; sometimes they were
+loaded with those peculiar and most agreeable odours that arise from
+different kinds of gums. Still the white eucalyptus and the palm, wore in
+comparison with the other vegetation, an extraordinary green appearance,
+derived probably from the nightly copious falls of dew, which is the only
+moisture this part of the continent receives during the present season.
+The birds we observed were common to other parts of the continent, being
+a few screaming cockatoos, parrots, and quails, and near the water a
+small white egret. There was nothing of interest to recall our memories
+to this first visit to a new part of Australia, save a very large ant's
+nest, measuring twenty feet in height. This object is always the first
+that presents itself whenever my thoughts wander to that locality.
+
+As the boat was not provisioned for the time it would take to explore all
+the openings we had discovered, and as the capabilities of Port Darwin
+were sufficiently great to require the presence of the ship, I determined
+on returning immediately to Shoal Bay.
+
+VISIT FROM THE NATIVES.
+
+During the time we were absent, some of our people who had been on shore,
+received a visit from a party of natives, who evinced the most friendly
+disposition. This verifies what I have before observed, as to the
+remarkable differences of character that exist between many Australian
+tribes, though living in the immediate neighbourhood of each other; for,
+it will be remembered, that at no great distance we had experienced a
+very different reception.
+
+Those people amounted in number, with their families, to twenty-seven,
+and came down to our party without any symptoms of hesitation. Both men
+and women were finer than those we had seen in Adam Bay. The tallest male
+measured five feet eleven, which is three inches less than a native
+Flinders measured in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The teeth of these people
+were ALL PERFECT, an additional proof that the ceremony of knocking them
+out, like others practised in Australia, is very partially diffused. The
+rite of circumcision, for instance, is only performed at King's Sound, on
+the west side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and near the head of the
+Australian bight on the south. Mr. Eyre, who discovered the existence of
+the rite on the last-mentioned part of the continent, infers that the
+natives of the places I have mentioned must have had some communication
+with each other through the interior; but it is possible that at a
+distant period of time, circumcision may have been very generally
+practised, and that having become gradually disused, the custom is now
+only preserved at two or three points, widely separated from each other.
+I do not advance this as a theory, but simply as a suggestion, as there
+is some difficulty in supposing communication to have taken place across
+the continent.
+
+MIGRATION OF THE NATIVES.
+
+Some light may be thrown on the migration of the aboriginal inhabitants
+of Australia, by tracing the parts of the coast on which canoes are in
+use. It has already been mentioned, that we had not seen any westward of
+Clarence Strait, neither were they in use in the bottom of the Gulf of
+Carpentaria, nor on the south coast.* By the assistance of these and
+similar facts, we may hereafter be enabled to discover the exact
+direction in which the streams of population have flowed over the
+continent. But I am not prepared to agree entirely with Mr. Eyre when he
+concludes, as I have stated, from the fact of the rite of circumcision
+having been found on the south and north-west coasts, and on the Gulf of
+Carpentaria, that there exists any peculiar connection between the tribes
+inhabiting those several points. This enterprising traveller moreover
+thinks that the idea he has started goes far towards refuting the theory
+of an inland sea, another presumption against which he maintains to be
+the hot winds that blow from the interior.
+
+(*Footnote. An inference may be drawn from the parts of the shore on
+which canoes are in use, to show that the migrations of the natives, so
+far southwards, have been along the coast. The raft they use is precisely
+the same in make and size on the whole extent of the North-west coast.)
+
+THEORY OF AN INLAND SEA.
+
+I confess that the theory of an inland sea has long since vanished from
+my mind, though I base my opinion on reasons different from those of Mr.
+Eyre. The intercourse between natives of opposite sides of the continent
+(though it is certainly possible) has never been established, and while
+it remains hypothetical, cannot be adduced to overthrow another
+hypothesis. The existence of hot winds also blowing from the interior is
+not conclusive, as we had, when in the Gulf of Carpentaria, very cold
+winds coming from the same direction. We know, however, that the
+temperature of winds depends much on the nature of the soil over which
+they sweep, for instance, in a cold clayey soil, the radiation of heat is
+very rapid.
+
+Before quitting this subject it may be as well to mention that my own
+impression, which the most recent information bears out, is that instead
+of an inland sea, there is in the centre of Australia a vast desert, the
+head of which, near Lake Torrens, is not more than three hundred feet
+above the level of the sea. The coast being surrounded by hilly ranges,
+the great falls of rain that must occasionally occur in the interior, may
+convert a vast extent of the central and lowest portion, towards the
+north side of the continent, into a great morass, or lake, which, from
+the northerly dip, must discharge its waters slowly into the Gulf of
+Carpentaria, without possessing sufficient stability to mark either its
+bed or boundaries.
+
+FRIENDLY NATIVES.
+
+To return to the party of natives which has given rise to this
+digression. They had clearly never seen a white person before; for they
+stepped up to one man of fair complexion, who had his trousers turned up
+over his knees, and began rubbing his skin to see whether it was painted.
+They came fearlessly to our party, as they were collecting shells at the
+extremity of a long flat. One of the officers, who happened to be very
+thirsty, placed such confidence in their friendly manner, that he allowed
+them to conduct him alone to a small well near the beach, but the water
+was too salt to be drunk. The force of habit is astonishing: natives
+drink this brackish fluid and find it very refreshing. The small quantity
+that suffices them is also surprising, though they will drink enormously
+when they can get it.
+
+MODES OF PROCURING WATER.
+
+Their mode of procuring this necessary element is singular, and they
+exhibit in this particular much ingenuity and great fertility of
+resources. They are never harassed with the idea of being without any;
+which not only distresses but adds to the horror of thirst with the
+European explorer, who has not experienced the constant watchfulness of
+Providence, and does not know that he may collect from the leaves, with a
+sponge, on some mornings, as much as a pint of water. This has, however,
+been done, even on the south coast, where the dews are not so copious as
+on the north-west. The natives themselves are never at a loss for that
+indeed precious article, water. They sometimes procure it by digging up
+the lateral roots of the small gumtree, a dusty and fatiguing operation:
+they break them off in short bits, and set them up to drain into a piece
+of bark or a large shell. By tapping also the knotty excrescences of
+trees they find the fluid, which they suck out. Many of these modes of
+obtaining water are of course known to experienced bushmen, like Mr.
+Eyre, whose deeply interesting narrative of his hardships and perils has
+already enlisted the sympathy of the public.
+
+September 12.
+
+We moved the ship into Port Darwin, anchoring just within the eastern
+cliffy head which, to commemorate Lieutenant Emery's success in finding
+water by digging, we named after him.
+
+SURVEY OF THE HARBOUR.
+
+All the surveying force was now put in instant requisition; Captain
+Wickham went to examine an opening in the coast mentioned by Captain
+King, lying about twelve miles further to the westward, whilst the other
+boats explored the openings at the head of the harbour.
+
+That on the eastern part, Mr. Fitzmaurice traced ten miles in a
+south-easterly direction, being the greatest distance it was navigable
+for a boat. The remaining branch in the large opening, in the
+south-eastern corner of the harbour, Mr. Forsyth and myself explored
+South-South-East three miles, and South-South-West five more, the extent
+to which it was possible to advance. Beyond, it was strewed with large
+blocks of granite; a fact, for which we were in some degree prepared, as
+in the vicinity of the Adelaide River we had proof of the primary
+formation of this part of the continent. As the boat lay scarcely afloat
+between two of these lumps of rock, numbers of white ibises, with black
+necks, kept flying over us from the southward, indicating that a swamp
+lay in that direction. We also disturbed several alligators, who slid off
+quietly into the water at our approach. There was no variety in the
+shores of this inlet, composed like all the others, of an impenetrable
+network of mangroves. A ridge of the same conical-shaped low hills before
+alluded to, as existing in this neighbourhood, rose upon our right as we
+came up, and bore from our furthest North by West two miles; from the
+highest part up the inlet in the south-west corner, east two miles.
+
+The latter we found very tortuous, extending in a general direction south
+nine miles. No events occurred worthy of any remark during our
+examination, except one of a trifling character: the mosquitoes taking
+advantage of the calm, between the high mangroves on the banks, attacked
+us most cruelly, a circumstance we mention as trifling, as far as the
+reader is concerned, but of great moment to us.
+
+After completing the survey of the southern and western portion of this
+harbour, we returned to the ship, where soon afterwards Captain Wickham
+also arrived, having found Patterson Bay to be a good port. It trended in
+south ten miles, and East-South-East the same distance, forming quite an
+inner haven, which was named after Mr. Bynoe.
+
+NATIVES ON A RAFT.
+
+At the turning leading from the outer to the inner harbour they came
+suddenly in view of a raft making across, a distance of three miles, on
+which were two women with several children, whilst four or five men were
+swimming alongside, towing it and supporting themselves by means of a log
+of wood across their chests. On perceiving the boat they instantly struck
+out for the land leaving the women on the raft. For some time the latter
+kept their position, waiting until the boat got quite near, when they
+gave utterance to a dreadful yell, and assuming at the same time a most
+demoniacal aspect, plunged into the water as if about to abandon the
+children to their fate.
+
+MATERNAL AFFECTION AND FEAR.
+
+Not so, however; despite the dreadful fear they appeared to entertain of
+the white man, maternal affection was strong within them, and risking all
+to save their offspring, they began to tow the raft with all their
+strength towards the shore. This devotion on the part of the women to
+their little ones, was in strong contrast with the utter want of feeling
+shown by the men towards both mothers and children.
+
+Captain Wickham now, no doubt to their extreme consternation, pulled
+after the men, and drove them back to the raft. Some dived and tried thus
+to escape the boat, while others grinned ferociously, and appeared to
+hope, by dint of hideous grimaces--such as are only suggested even to a
+savage by the last stage of fear--to terrify the white men from
+approaching. At length, however, they were all driven back to the raft,
+which was then towed across the harbour for them; a measure which they
+only were able to approve of when they had landed, and fear had quite
+subsided.
+
+Doubtless, the forbearance of our party surprised them, for from their
+terrified looks and manner, when swimming with all their strength from
+the raft, they must have apprehended a fate at least as terrible as that
+of being eaten.
+
+The raft itself was quite a rude affair, being formed of small bundles of
+wood lashed together, without any shape or form, quite different from any
+we had seen before.
+
+Bynoe Harbour was found to terminate in three deep creeks branching off
+between North-East and South-East, the largest of which led into fresh
+water, but in small detached pools, which are separated from the salt, by
+a shelf of red porous sandstone, and which two miles further became
+entirely lost in the rocks. The green appearance of the gumtrees and an
+occasional clump of palms, which had pleasingly succeeded the mangroves,
+as they advanced, assured Captain Wickham that there was fresh water
+near. Probably, if they had carried their researches further, they would
+have found these signs reappear again, doubtless proceeding from a swamp,
+the presence of which the reader will recollect I inferred from seeing
+the ibis flocking from the south-west up the south inlet in Port Darwin;
+the west inlet of which is only one mile distant from the north-east
+creek in the head of Bynoe Harbour. Doubtless when the country is not in
+its present parched and thirsty state, all these are fresh at their
+heads.
+
+WELL AT PORT DARWIN.
+
+The slow progress made in watering, from the soft nature of the soil in
+the bottom of the well, lengthened our stay considerably in Port Darwin.
+The water oozed through the sides, beginning to do so at a depth of
+twenty-five feet. The strata cut through varied considerably, in part
+consisting of ironstone mixed with a white kind of marl or pipeclay, for
+eight feet, then sandstone of a reddish colour and in a state of
+decomposition, with a darker kind of marl, in which were small bits of
+mica, for a depth of sixteen feet, the remaining portion of two or three
+being a sandy mud, apparently of the consistency of clay and of a light
+grey colour. The position of this well is in a small valley at the east
+end of the first sandy bay within Point Emery, in the centre of which the
+observations were made, placing it in latitude 12 degrees 27 minutes 45
+seconds, longitude 1 degree 19 minutes 40 seconds, East of Port
+Essington.
+
+On this beach several unsuccessful hauls were made with the seine, though
+a few rare and curious fish were taken, which Lieutenant Emery added to
+his collection of coloured drawings of Australian fish; some of them will
+be found in the appendix to this volume. Mr. Bynoe also obtained
+specimens of one or two rare birds; the large red-necked vampire of the
+Adelaide River, and the cream-coloured pigeon before alluded to, were
+also seen by him, being the farthest south the latter was met with by us.
+
+BRILLIANT METEORS.
+
+Some brilliant meteors were observed during our stay, one in particular
+on the evening of the 20th, in the West-North-West. It fell from the
+zenith at an angle of about twenty degrees from a vertical line. The
+descent was marked by a long train of light, visible ten seconds, while
+others of less brilliancy followed from the same place within an hour.
+Again on the 23rd, was the dark vault of heaven illumined about the same
+time in a similar manner, as well as on the 28th; the number of meteors
+being the same on each day.
+
+We were rather surprised on the 24th, to experience a squall from the
+eastward about midnight, a regular occurrence on the North-west coast in
+January and February only.
+
+VISITED BY NATIVES.
+
+On the 24th a party of natives made their appearance on Point Emery.
+Their voices, shrill like those of all their fellows, were heard before
+they were seen. With these it was particularly so, though on all
+occasions the speaking, and hallooing of the Aborigines can be heard at a
+very considerable distance. They were found, when on shore, to be of the
+party we had before seen in Shoal Bay, with the addition of five strange
+men. All appeared actuated by the same friendly disposition, a very
+strong indication of which was their presenting themselves without
+spears.* Like most others on that coast, they had apiece of bamboo,
+eighteen inches long, run through the cartilage of the nose. Their
+astonishment at the size of the wells was highly amusing; sudden
+exclamations of surprise and admiration burst from their lips, while the
+varied expressions and play of countenance, showed how strongly their
+feelings were at work within.
+
+(*Footnote. Speaking of natives appearing without spears, reminds me to
+mention for the information of future explorers, that their arms are
+always near at hand. They even trail them sometimes between their toes, a
+fact which travellers should ever bear in mind.)
+
+It is very singular, and not very susceptible of explanation, that
+although they climb tall trees by merely resting their toes in a slight
+notch cut as they ascend, the natives will hesitate in alarm before
+looking over the edge of a precipice or height; it was, therefore, some
+time before this party could be induced to look down the well. At length
+by stretching their spare bodies and necks to the utmost, they caught
+sight of the water in the bottom.
+
+SURPRISE OF NATIVES AT THE WELL.
+
+The effect upon them was magical, and they stood at first as if
+electrified. At length their feelings gained vent, and from their lips
+proceeded an almost mad shout of delight. Nothing perhaps could have more
+decisively shown the superiority of the white men to these savages, than
+our being thus able to procure this necessary of life from so great a
+depth, there being moreover no outward appearance of any. Perhaps their
+delight may be considered a sign how scarce is water in this part of the
+country. I should certainly say from the immense quantity each man drank,
+which was two quarts, that this was the case. A further corroboration of
+the extreme importance of this element to the Western Australian is, that
+a native, in describing a fine country, always opens his narrative by
+stating the important fact--plenty water.
+
+The deep interest which in the natives always succeeds to the discovery
+of this necessary article, must strongly impress the explorer, who will
+ever afterwards look upon streams, even in other countries, with far
+different feelings from any before experienced. In no land does the
+presence of water more rapidly enrich the landscape, changing it from a
+thirsty-looking plain to a rich green spot, than in Australia, and it is
+in journeying through such a country, when one suddenly meets with a
+luxuriant valley, that the eye naturally dwells with delight on the
+changing scene, and the impression, not easily forgotten, clings to us
+even when far away. When gazing on the superabundant water that flows in
+almost every corner of the earth, we cannot but reflect on the scantily
+supplied Australian, nor fail to wish him a more plentiful supply.
+
+BLESSING OF WATER.
+
+Naturally we are disposed to reflect but little on the great blessings of
+the most ordinary things. In the eyes of the civilized man, fire and
+water are matters scarcely worthy of thought; but it is the traveller who
+learns to appreciate how great blessings they are in reality.
+
+An influenza appeared to be raging among the natives, all having the
+remnants of colds, coughing severely when we met them. Several attempts
+were made to induce them to come on board, but they proved vain.
+Sometimes, just as the boat was leaving the shore, they would enter the
+bow of it, as if about to accompany us; no sooner, however, was the boat
+in motion, than out they jumped, laughing and apparently delighted to
+deceive us, acting, in fact, exactly the part of noisy
+children.
+
+"IRRU, IRRU."
+
+Our friendly intercourse with these natives sustained a shock, which at
+first threatened to annihilate it, but which fortunately ended, as it
+began, in smoke. One of the officers used a common flint and steel, in
+order to procure a light for his cigar; at this new mode of procuring
+fire all eyes were open--for doubtless they procure it only by means of
+friction--but when he proceeded to place the lighted cigar between his
+lips, and roll forth from thence a thick and perfumed cloud, fright took
+full possession of them, and exclaiming "irru, irru," with the arm
+extended, and a slight vertical motion of the hand, they darted off most
+unceremoniously, clambering up the face of a precipitous cliff, with
+extraordinary agility. Their cry of "irru, irru," and their manner of
+delivering it, were identical with those of King's Sound, under somewhat
+similar circumstances. In a few days they had forgotten their fright, and
+had returned to renew the friendly relations this little incident had
+interrupted.
+
+During the short time we passed with this people in Port Darwin, some
+words of their language were collected by many of us. Those that we all
+agreed in I have noted down, but the different names for things given by
+the same person, here and at Shoal Bay, will at once impress the reader
+with the conviction of how impossible it is for transient visitors to
+obtain a correct vocabulary. Those first made out at Port Essington, were
+found to be half Malay words, and of any meaning rather than what they
+were supposed to convey. The words given below are from Mr. Earl's
+vocabulary, the result of four years careful examination and experience.
+
+COLUMN 1: ENGLISH.
+COLUMN 2: SHOAL BAY.
+COLUMN 3: PORT DARWIN.
+COLUMN 4: PORT ESSINGTON.
+COLUMN 5: SWAN RIVER.
+
+Crab : Algaura : - : Meir : -.
+Dog : Melinga : - : Mugki : Dudah.
+Ear : Bangua : - : Alayjar : Zungah.
+Eye : Ummera : Mical : Ira : Mael.
+Hair : Brailma : Guarshiel : Angbal : Cutap.
+Hand : - : Guian : - : -.
+Stone : - : Lowheil : - : -.
+Tree : Urmingua : - : Ojalli : Boono.
+Teeth : Emburge : - : Aujije : Nalgo.
+Water : - : Kararback : - : Kaaby.
+
+DIFFICULTY OF UNDERSTANDING THE NATIVES.
+
+The great difference between the words at Shoal Bay and Port Darwin, must
+now be apparent to the reader; a more extended acquaintance with the
+aboriginal inhabitants of Australia, has shown that many words put down
+by us as meaning a certain thing, signify in reality, "What do you mean?"
+"I do not understand"--which shows at once the great difficulty of
+arriving at the truth. This must often be the case; for what is more
+natural, than that when a savage is asked the meaning of a thing, and
+knows not, but that he should express his ignorance? How often this
+expression of ignorance has been registered as the denomination of some
+animal or thing, we leave the reader to conjecture. Moreover, there are
+many words totally obliterated from their dialects, which thus undergo
+constant alteration. This in part arises from the circumstance of their
+never mentioning the name of a deceased person, who has perhaps been
+called after a tree, bird, or animal; which then receives another
+appellation, the old one passing away. From the few words given of the
+respective dialects of Port Essington and Swan River, they would appear
+essentially to differ, and from what has since come under my own
+observation, as well as from facts collected by others, I feel confident
+that there are many distinct dialects spoken in Australia.
+
+DIALECTS OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+It is easy enough for those who hold to the theory that Australia
+produces few dialects, to create for themselves a resemblance in words by
+mutilation and addition; but on careful examination, the similarity will
+not be found to exist. The natives we took from Swan River, never could
+understand any of those we met on the North-west coast, though certainly
+Mr. Moore recognized a few words spoken by the natives on the West coast,
+about 200 miles north of Swan River, as being identical with the language
+used at the latter place.
+
+It may here be as well to quote Strzelecki on this subject, ere we pursue
+our narrative:
+
+"The circumstance of the three natives who accompanied Captain Flinders
+and Captain P.P. King, in the survey of New Holland, and of those who
+accompanied me amongst the different tribes of New South Wales, being
+unable to understand one word spoken by tribes of other districts, would
+lead to the belief that the dialects spoken in New Holland, are far from
+possessing those affinities, still less those identities of language,
+from which a common root might be inferred. Those European visitors or
+explorers who adduce, in support of a common root, some hundred words
+analogous in sound, construction and meaning, as being spoken all over
+New Holland, have jumped to the conclusion with, I fear, too much haste
+and eagerness. Besides many other insuperable difficulties, which an
+investigation of such a nature presents, there was one quite sufficient
+to defeat all attempts to fathom the subject, namely, the syntactic
+ignorance of the language to which the inquiry related. Indeed, to any
+man who knows and speaks four European languages, it will be at once
+apparent, that to seize upon, and note from the sound, a word belonging
+to one country, so as to compare its sound and accentuation with a word
+belonging to another country, needs a thorough knowledge of the genius of
+the two languages, and of their alphabet, through which alone the
+pronunciation can be discriminated."
+
+Though, however, we may not attain to a knowledge of the truth at once,
+yet should we never lose an opportunity of making a vocabulary of such
+words as we know to be correct. This should be the case from one
+consideration alone; for how gratifying it is, when visiting an
+uncivilized people, to find that you know a word or two of their
+language! The satisfaction is mutual--there is at once a sympathetic link
+between you--you no longer appear as thorough strangers to each other,
+and this slight knowledge of their dialect may often be the means of
+making useful acquaintances.
+
+To return, however, to the thread of our narrative.
+
+LEAVE PORT DARWIN.
+
+The opening to the westward, visited by Captain Wickham, requiring
+further examination, we left Port Darwin for that purpose, beating out on
+the morning of the 26th. Before taking leave, however, of this place, it
+will not be deemed irrelevant if we give some slight description of it.
+The entrance points, I have already said, are white cliffy projections,
+and distant from each other three miles. Just outside them lies a long
+four fathom bank, which, together with a very extensive flat of one, and
+two fathoms, nearly joining it from the eastern side, and another
+fronting the north side of the west entrance point, comprise all the
+dangers on entering this port; which, although of considerable size, is
+much occupied by shoal water, particularly on the western side,
+commencing from abreast of Talc Head. The best anchorage is near Point
+Emery. The extreme of the latter, and a clump of peaked bushes on the
+south point of the eastern arm of the harbour, when in one, make a good
+mark for leading out; passing on the west side of the four fathom bank,
+where the channel is a mile wide and 10 fathoms deep.
+
+IRREGULARITY OF THE TIDES.
+
+The tide is very irregular in Port Darwin, rising at springs 24 feet, and
+at neaps sometimes only two; its rate being from one and a half to three
+knots. The time of high-water at the full and change of moon, was
+half-past five, which being half an hour earlier than at Clarence Strait,
+fully bears out the opinion I have before expressed, that the flood-tide
+comes from the westward.
+
+Having to beat out against the seabreeze, the flood-tide made before we
+could get round the point on the coast lying midway between Ports Darwin
+and Patterson, and we were compelled to pass the night in the
+neighbourhood, a circumstance rendered disagreeable by the recurrence of
+another midnight squall from East-North-East, so severe as to require the
+use of a second anchor. The rain was so bitterly cold and sudden, as well
+as violent, acting also on our frames with more severity from the
+lightness of our clothing, that it had all the effect of a shower-bath,
+momentarily taking away the power of speech. It caused a rapid fall in
+the thermometer of ten degrees, bringing it as low as 60 degrees. At Port
+Darwin it had been regularly 87 and 89 degrees in the day, and 80 degrees
+at night.
+
+MIDNIGHT SQUALL.
+
+The squall gave but slight warning of its approach, and four hours
+afterwards the mutinous assemblage of clouds had wholly disappeared from
+the heavens, leaving nothing to stay the advent of light which came
+pouring itself in floods of molten glory over the cloudless sky, as the
+morning broke. This was the signal of our again moving towards Port
+Patterson, which we entered, passing on the eastern side of the reef in
+the mouth, and anchoring close to the eastern shore of the outermost of a
+chain of sandy islets, forming the west entrance point of the harbour,
+and extending eight miles in a North-North-East 1/2 East direction from
+the land. This group is based on a great coral ledge that dries in part
+at low-water, thus affording the natives the means of going over easily
+to them, a circumstance of which they avail themselves, as we found them
+on the outer island. They would not, however, come near us, moving off as
+we landed. Doubtless the terror of some of their party, in a great
+measure arose from a vivid recollection of the raft interview, which was
+likely to dwell long in their minds; at all events, if not of the same
+party, they had heard of us, and it will readily be believed, that we had
+been painted in sufficiently terrible and exaggerated colours to render a
+second interview, in their minds, very undesirable.
+
+QUAIL ISLAND.
+
+Our discovering them in this place, which we named Quail Island, from
+that bird being found in great abundance, quite destroyed the hope we had
+previously entertained of procuring turtle there. It was the season for
+their incubation, and at that time the island swarmed with them; but our
+sable friends had abundantly availed themselves of this fact, as we saw
+the remains of several of their turtle feasts. Although low, and composed
+entirely of sand, we found a native well of excellent water near the
+middle of the island, which, having been enlarged, afforded an ample
+supply, a circumstance that at once renders this a spot of importance and
+value. Both on this and others of the group there were a few small trees
+and a sprinkling of brushwood.
+
+We did not notice any of the singular detached hills seen at Port Darwin,
+and the greatest elevation any of the land in the neighbourhood attained
+was 200 feet; neither did we observe any primary rocks.
+
+The observations were made at the South-East point of Quail Island, which
+by them is placed in latitude 12 degrees 30 9/10 minutes South, and
+longitude 1 degree 42 1/4 minutes West of Port Essington. The almost
+insulated character of this part of the coast, and the quantity of
+soundings the openings required detained us until the 6th of October,
+when we passed out on the western side of the large reef in the centre of
+the entrance, which is the proper one, and received the name of West
+Channel. The western entrance point of Bynoe's Harbour, bearing South 15
+degrees East, leads through it. This guide is only, however, of service
+to a certain distance within the entrance, as it leads over a small patch
+that dries at low-water, distant two and a half miles from the
+above-mentioned point on the same bearing. To avoid this danger, it is
+therefore necessary to haul over towards Quail Island, when the highest
+hummock on it bears South-West 1/2 West. The tides follow the direction
+of the channel, varying in velocity from one to two knots. The ebb in the
+offing set West-North-West.
+
+PORT PATTERSON.
+
+The reader will be able to have an idea of the large sheet of water these
+united harbours form, by knowing that Port Patterson is twelve miles long
+and seven wide at the entrance; though at the upper part, forming the
+mouth of Bynoe Harbour, it is not half that width. The latter winds round
+to the South-East for a distance of 15 miles, with an average width of
+two, and a depth of nine fathoms. Thus terminated our exploration in this
+neighbourhood; the result having been to give this part of the coast
+quite an insulated character. The sheets of water creating this new
+feature, although monotonous with their mangrove-lined shores, still
+conveyed us many miles into various parts of the continent that had never
+before been seen by a civilized being.
+
+Another opening of far greater magnitude, and promising in all
+probability to lead far into the interior now lay before us, at a
+distance of 140 miles further on the coast to the south-west. By the
+evening we had lost sight of the land near Port Patterson, and were
+steering towards the opening that promised so much. A gap in the
+coastline, 28 miles wide, with a strong tide passing to and fro, failed
+not to give birth to endless speculation as we approached the spot. I had
+always looked forward to the examination of this unexplored portion of
+the North-west coast, as one of the most interesting parts of our survey.
+
+REACH POINT PEARCE.
+
+In consequence of light north-west and westerly winds, our approach was
+tantalizingly slow, and we did not enter the opening until the evening of
+the 9th, when we passed four miles from the north point, called by
+Captain King, Point Pearce. His visit to this part of the coast was in
+September 1819, and under very adverse circumstances; his vessel had but
+one anchor left, and the strong easterly winds then prevailing, with
+thick hazy weather, rendered his progress into the opening both difficult
+and hazardous: after a trial of two days, and having several narrow
+escapes from getting on shore, he bore away to examine the coast to the
+south-west, where he was repaid for his disappointment by the discovery
+of Cambridge Gulf.
+
+Thus did the exploration of this wide and interesting opening fall to our
+good fortune; as we proceeded inwards, several beautiful medusae passed
+the ship, and our hopes were roused to the highest pitch by the muddy
+appearance of the water. At sun set the anchor was dropped in five
+fathoms; Point Pearce, a cliffy level projection, bearing North-West by
+North five miles, and about one and a half from a low rocky point.
+
+FOSSIL HEAD.
+
+A bluff projection, bearing South 65 degrees East seven miles, bounded
+our view to the southward, and a range of sugarloaf hills, the highest
+being 350 feet, rose about eight miles in the rear of it.
+
+October 10.
+
+We were naturally very anxious to proceed, and as soon as there was
+sufficient light to read the division of the bearing compass, the ship
+was gently stealing onward in the direction of the bluff, and furthest
+land seen last evening to the South-East. We had not proceeded far before
+we discovered a distant level range, beginning to show itself to the
+right of this projection, adding still more to the zest with which we
+pursued our search. The tide, however, making against us, and the wind
+gradually failing, we were compelled to anchor abreast, and distant three
+quarters of a mile from the north-west point of a bay two miles wide.
+
+The bluff headland, before alluded to, forms the south-east point of this
+bay, and to which Captain Wickham and myself hastened instantly the ship
+was secured.
+
+We found a few fossils on the side of this ridge, as we ascended, which
+at once induced us to name it, Fossil Head. Our view was decisive of the
+fact, that all further progress eastward was at an end, but to the south
+sandbanks and patches of dark-coloured water bounding our view left still
+great hope. The high land terminated abruptly to the southward, whilst
+looking to the northward it appeared to subside in an East-North-East
+direction. The base of this range was fronted by a low piece of land,
+stretching out on its north-west side, and forming a point which bore
+South 35 degrees East five miles from Fossil Head.
+
+TABLE HILL.
+
+But the most remarkable feature in the scene was an isolated flat-topped
+hill, having all the appearance of a bastion or fortress, rising abruptly
+from the surrounding plain, to an elevation of 650 feet, the upper part
+being a line of cliffs, greatly adds to the appearance it presents, that
+of a complete fortification. It bore North 85 degrees East, fourteen
+miles from Fossil Head; and the country between was very low, and
+intersected by a creek about midway. This remarkable piece of land is
+called in the chart Table Hill; an inlet trended in towards the foot of
+it.
+
+We noticed several old traces of natives; the country in the
+neighbourhood was of a stony desolate character, yet appeared to afford
+nourishment for a small growth of white gums. After examining two
+mangrove creeks of no importance, in the north-west corner of the bay
+fronting the ship, we returned.
+
+Our hopes of finding a river of some magnitude were not in the least
+destroyed from what we had seen from Fossil Head, and the southerly
+direction of the flood-stream fostered our belief. Independent of these
+signs, we felt that we were again entering upon a new part of the
+continent, and the thoughts thus engendered acted like a powerful
+stimulant, so that we were not easily cast down.
+
+The tide serving badly, and the day being far advanced, it was decided
+that we should not move the ship till next morning, when after getting
+abreast of Fossil Head, we steered from it on the bearing of the
+deep-water channel we had seen yesterday. We proceeded cautiously,
+feeling our way with the boats ahead. After passing some distance along
+the eastern side of a long dry sandbank, we were obliged again to anchor,
+both boats signalizing a depth of only two fathoms.
+
+FIND A CHANNEL FOR THE SHIP.
+
+Table Hill bore North 46 degrees East, fifteen miles, and Fossil Head
+North 15 degrees West. It was now necessary to find a channel for the
+ship, which I succeeded in doing the next day, and on that following, the
+12th, Captain Wickham, Mr. Bynoe, and myself, went to visit the high
+table range, while Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Keys were to examine the large
+inlet running in towards the foot of Table Hill.
+
+By following a creek we almost reached the foot of the high level range
+in the boat; a line of cliffs stretched along near the summit, beneath
+which it sloped down rapidly to the plain. We ascended by a slight
+valley, communicating with a break in the cliffs, but found on reaching
+the top that instead of being on a level, we were standing amidst a
+series of undulations or low hills, forming the crest of a platform, but
+so blended together, and of so nearly the same height as to appear in the
+distance one continuous plain. It was, therefore, with some difficulty
+that we could find the highest part, each, until we reached it, appearing
+to be so. Ultimately I was compelled to climb a tree, in order to obtain
+the necessary angles.
+
+VIEW FROM TABLE HILL.
+
+The view was very extensive, a wide inlet separating the range we stood
+on from other high land trending southward, with great irregularity, from
+the base of which stretched out a long plain, similar to that which lay
+at our feet. The latter was intersected by creeks that could be traced by
+the mangrove fringe which marked their course. Many parts of the low
+lands were covered with a salt incrustation, and here and there were
+scattered trees deposited by the overflows of the water, that still
+appeared to flow from the southward. The sight of this driftwood and many
+minor appearances, was indeed most welcome, and added full confirmation
+to the opinion that we were now within the mouth of a large river.
+
+To the South-West, and distant thirteen miles, were two large islands,
+which from the remarkable shape of two patches of trees on their northern
+ends, we named Quoin and Clump Islands. A small patch of low land was
+discovered beyond them, between which and Quoin Island appeared the
+proper channel. That, however, lying between the islands seemed
+sufficiently large for the ship. Being moreover within our immediate
+reach, it was determined that we should proceed by it.
+
+MACADAM RANGE.
+
+A remarkable change here occurred in the character of the country, the
+hills being now composed of a white, and very compact kind of sandstone.
+In the cliffs the strata were very marked, dipping to the South-East at
+an angle of about thirty degrees with the horizon. The base and sides of
+these heights were thickly strewn with small fragments of sandstone. The
+appearance presented was precisely similar to that of a new road, after
+it had undergone the improving process invented by Mr. McAdam, in whose
+honour, therefore, we named this McAdam Range.
+
+A large light-coloured kangaroo was the only living thing we saw. A short
+green-looking grass was thinly sprinkled over the country, imparting a
+freshness to it, which, in contrast with the aridity that had of late
+surrounded us, was quite delightful.
+
+Crossing the flat on returning to the boat, I was much struck by one
+particular spot on the border of a creek. I came suddenly upon a number
+of flat stones placed in rows, one upon the other. Though altogether
+covering about ten yards of ground, there was no appearance of any shape
+in their arrangement. I am still puzzled, to determine whether they were
+merely the results of childish amusement, or had performed their part in
+some magical incantation or religious ceremony of the natives. I am the
+more inclined to think it was the latter, as there was a native grave
+near, covered with the same kind of flat stones, to the height of about
+three feet. We had not before observed anything like it, neither did we
+afterwards. Several flights of large curlews were seen passing over the
+boat, and resting on the flats in its neighbourhood. Whilst endeavouring
+to procure some of them, I was placed in a sufficiently awkward position,
+running the risk of becoming myself a fresh meal instead of procuring
+one.
+
+NARROW ESCAPE FROM AN ALLIGATOR.
+
+I had stripped to swim across a creek, and with gun in hand was
+stealthily crawling to the outer edge of the flat where my intended
+victims were, when an alligator rose close by, bringing his unpleasant
+countenance much nearer than was agreeable. My gun was charged with shot,
+and the primitive state of nudity to which I had just reduced myself,
+precluded the possibility of my having a second load. To fire therefore
+was useless, and to retreat difficult, for I had wandered from the boat
+some distance across the bank, on which the water was fast rising.
+Thought, there was no time for, and before my companions could have
+reached me, the tide would have flooded the place sufficiently to enable
+the alligator to attack me at a disadvantage. My only chance of escaping
+the monster was to hasten back to the boat, and to cross the last creek
+before the alligator, who appeared fully aware of my intentions. It was
+now, therefore, a mere matter of speed between us, and the race began. I
+started off with the utmost rapidity, the alligator keeping pace with me
+in the water. After a sharp and anxious race, I reached the last creek,
+which was now much swollen; while the difficulty of crossing was
+aggravated by my desire to save my gun. Plunging in I reached the
+opposite shore just in time to see the huge jaws of the alligator
+extended close above the spot where I had quitted the water. My
+deliverance was providential, and I could not refrain from shuddering as
+I sat gaining breath upon the bank after my escape, and watching the
+disappointed alligator lurking about as if still in hopes of making his
+supper upon me. Waiting till the monster came close, I took a deliberate
+aim at his eye, which had only the effect of frightening him a little.
+
+The wind, which was light, blew from the North-East from sunset last
+evening until noon, being the first land-wind we had yet experienced. The
+temperature remained nearly the same as at Port Patterson, the maximum
+being here 86, and the minimum 81.
+
+October 13.
+
+We got on board about noon, and the next day Mr. Fitzmaurice returned. He
+had found Table Hill to be a perfect natural fortress, accessible only at
+the South-East corner by a slight break in the line of cliffs surrounding
+it; the large inlet terminated in a creek passing close at the southern
+foot of the hill, where it branched off in an east and north-east
+direction, and in the course of three miles, became lost at the western
+extremity of some low thickly-wooded plains, which extended eastward as
+far as the eye could reach. To the south lay McAdam Range, which
+declining to the eastward, was at length blended with the plain, the eye
+finding some difficulty in determining where the hills ended and the
+plain commenced.
+
+HOPES OF DISCOVERING A RIVER.
+
+All the soundings and other data for the chart, in the immediate
+neighbourhood, were collected by the 16th, when the ship was got
+underweigh, as soon as the tide, which here rose twenty feet, was high
+enough. After passing through a channel, six and seven fathoms deep,
+which the dry extreme of the sandbank fronting the flat, extending off
+McAdam Range, bearing South-South-East led through, we hauled over to the
+westward for a swash way in the sands, extending off the north-west end
+of Clump Island. In crossing the inlet, running under the south end of
+McAdam Range, we found as much as ten fathoms, a depth that led to the
+hope of its being of great importance, perhaps indeed the mouth of a
+river. Passing between Clump and Quoin Islands, we anchored midway
+between the latter and Driftwood Island, a proceeding which the approach
+of high-water rendered necessary, as from the great fall of the tide we
+were obliged at that time to have at least seven fathoms. We were now
+surrounded on all sides by flat shores, and from the masthead, I could
+trace the low land forming the western side of the principal channel. The
+high land south of McAdam Range, was found to terminate in a remarkable
+peak, which in the certainty of our search proving successful, we named
+River Peak. It was almost blended in one with a range beyond, yet the
+fact of the distance which really existed between them, did not escape
+our anxious observation; and it was indeed in the different shade of
+these two ranges, one being less distinct than the other, that we found
+ample confirmation of our hopes.
+
+PREPARATIONS FOR EXPLORING.
+
+It was soon arranged that Captain Wickham and myself, should at once
+dispel all doubts, and that next morning, Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Keys
+should start to explore the river-like opening, under the south end of
+McAdam Range, to which we have above alluded.
+
+DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA.
+
+Our preparations were rapidly made, a few days provisions were stowed
+away in the boat, and as the western sky glowed red in the expiring light
+of day, the gig was running before a north-west breeze, for the chasm in
+the distant high land, bearing South 20 degrees East, twelve miles from
+the ship. As we advanced, the separations in the range became more marked
+and distinct, as long as the light served us, but presently darkness
+wrapped all in impenetrable mystery. Still we ran on keeping close to the
+eastern low land, and just as we found that the course we held no longer
+appeared to follow the direction of the channel, out burst the moon above
+the hills in all its glory, shedding a silvery stream of light upon the
+water, and revealing to our anxious eyes the long looked-for river,
+rippling and swelling, as it forced its way between high rocky ranges.
+Under any circumstances the discovery would have been delightful, but the
+time, the previous darkness, the moon rising and spreading the whole
+before us like a panorama, made the scene so unusually exciting, that I
+forbear any attempt to describe the mingled emotions of that moment of
+triumph. As we ran in between the frowning heights, the lead gave a depth
+of eighteen and twenty fathoms, the velocity of the stream at the same
+time clearly showing how large a body of water was pouring through. "This
+is indeed a noble river!" burst from several lips at the same moment;
+"and worthy," continued I, "of being honoured with the name of her most
+gracious majesty the Queen:" which Captain Wickham fully concurred in, by
+at once bestowing upon it the name of Victoria River.
+
+A glance at the map will show that we have not overrated its importance,
+or acted hastily in calling it the Victoria; and it must be admitted that
+as the Murray is to South-eastern Australia, so in value and importance
+is the great river Victoria, to the opposite side of the continent.
+
+Pursuing our course between the rocky heights, in a south-east direction,
+the outline of a high peaked hill, standing between two ranges, became
+visible, appearing, even at that time, so remarkable as to be named
+Endeavour Hill.* The wind failing, we pushed into a small opening out of
+the stream, on the right hand, to pass the night.
+
+(*Footnote. Afterwards found to be 690 feet, the highest in the
+neighbourhood.)
+
+VIEW FROM LEADING HILL.
+
+Anxious to trace further the course of the river, Captain Wickham and
+myself ascended the top of a neighbouring hill before early dawn. The
+view which presented itself when the day broke, was fraught with every
+charm of novelty. A rapid stream passing between barren rocky heights,
+here stealing along in calm silence, there eddying and boiling as it
+swept past, lay at our feet. By a sudden bend two miles east of where we
+stood, it was hid from our view; the ranges overlapping, however, still
+pointed out the further course of the Victoria. The boat lay in the mouth
+of a creek, which communicating with another four miles further down,
+formed an island on the eastern side of the river, which we called
+Entrance Isle.
+
+The formation of this part was a sandstone of a reddish hue, and in a
+state of decomposition. A wiry grass and the never-failing eucalyptus
+were sparingly scattered over the face of the country, which round the
+entrance had a most unpromising and dreary appearance, showing at a
+glance its utterly sterile character.
+
+EXPLORATION OF THE RIVER.
+
+Taking a hasty breakfast, we pulled up the river; the tortuous nature of
+the first reaches, changing their directions suddenly from north to
+east-south-east with a depth of seventeen and twenty fathoms, produces
+violent eddies and whirlpools. Passing these, a splendid sheet of water
+lay before us, trending south-east by south, as far as the eye could
+reach from the boat, and more than a mile wide. In the first part of this
+we had a few shoal casts of the lead, but afterwards the depth was eight
+and ten fathoms, it being near low-water. In order to catch a glance at
+what was beyond, and to spell the oars, we landed at a point on the east
+side, from which Endeavour Hill bore West 1/2 South three miles. Here the
+river, by taking a slight turn more to the southward, was again lost
+sight of. We were sorry to perceive that it was much occupied by shoals,
+that showed themselves at this time of tide. The first began five miles
+beyond our station, commencing from abreast of a rugged ridge, on the
+west bank. The singular manner in which the blocks of sandstone were
+strewed over this height, caused it to bear a strong resemblance to old
+ruins. The appearance of the country had not as yet improved, though the
+sandstone had lost that reddish hue we had noticed in the morning, while
+preserving the very marked dip to the south-east.
+
+Continuing we found the change in the direction of the river very slight,
+and at the end of sixteen miles it suddenly turned off to the eastward,
+which I was sorry to find, as its diverging from its original
+south-easterly direction, appeared likely to disappoint our expectation
+that the Victoria would prove a highroad to the interior of the
+continent. The width had hitherto been almost two miles, but there was
+not sufficient depth to give us any hope of bringing the ship up thus
+far.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+The country now began to assume a more cheerful aspect. The hills
+exhibited no longer the same rugged outline, and were better clothed with
+vegetation. From the top of one of a conical group, forming the north
+point of the river where it changes to the eastward, I could trace its
+direction but little further.
+
+On the opposite side the hills receded, forming an amphitheatre round a
+level plain, through which ran a creek. On its banks, for the first time,
+we saw fires of the natives. Here, also for the first time, we noticed
+the gouty-stem trees; whilst the slope of the hill we ascended was
+covered with a tolerable sprinkling of grass. Kangaroos, likewise, were
+observed on every side springing along the turf; and a few great
+alligators passed up the stream, after reconnoitering our boat at the
+risk of a shot or two.
+
+We were now nearly thirty miles from the ship; and a few stations were
+still necessary to be made to complete the survey so far. Our proceeding
+farther was therefore useless, especially as an exploring expedition must
+pass up the river; and retracing our steps we reached the ship near
+midnight on the 20th. The intelligence of the success of our cruise was
+received on board with an enthusiasm which explorers only can appreciate.
+Mr. Fitzmaurice had not returned, which favoured my surmises that he
+would find a river.
+
+October 21.
+
+Mr. Forsyth having collected all the necessary material for the survey
+near the ship, we shifted our berth this afternoon into deeper water,
+between the south end of Quoin Island and another small islet to the
+south-west, which from our operations on its south-eastern corner we
+called Observation Island. The weather was very remarkable in the
+evening--dark patches of clouds appearing in the western horizon, from
+which vivid lightnings flashed, and loud peals of thunder roared. The
+frightened stream of the sea-birds evinced how seldom nature puts on such
+an aspect in this place.
+
+CAPTAIN WICKHAM ASCENDS THE VICTORIA.
+
+Before proceeding further with the ship, it was necessary to feel our way
+with the boats. Whilst this was going on, Captain Wickham determined on
+pushing up the river in the gig to ascertain if it was fresh sufficiently
+near to water the ship from, when she had been taken as far up the
+Victoria as it was possible. He left next morning on this more than
+interesting trip.
+
+FITZMAURICE RIVER.
+
+The same afternoon Mr. Fitzmaurice returned, having, as we had suspected,
+discovered a river that carried his boat thirty miles in an east
+direction from the south end of McAdam Range. Towards the upper part it
+was scarcely half a mile wide; but for an Australian stream was
+remarkably free from bends, pursuing a straight course between rocky
+heights, with a depth varying from two to seven fathoms. Many shoals
+occurred towards the entrance, where in some places it was more than two
+miles wide. This river was named Fitzmaurice River after its discoverer;
+and the mouth or inlet of it, after his companion, Keys Inlet.
+
+In sounding the channel, I found that when the hill Captain Wickham and
+myself were first on, behind Entrance Isle, was in a line with the north
+end of the high land at the south side of the entrance, it formed a good
+lead up. In consequence we named it Leading Hill, and the end of the
+range alluded to, Indian Hill, from our constantly seeing smoke near it.
+A flat of three or four fathoms at low-water extended across the channel,
+with River Peak bearing between North 35 East and North 64 East. I
+visited Indian Hill, but failed to meet with any of the natives, although
+I saw their fires not far off in the hills to the south-west. It is a
+ridge covered with blocks of sandstone, with a few trees here and there.
+From its summit I had an extensive view of the low land stretching away
+to the northward, and forming the western side of the channel. It
+appeared so cut up with creeks as to form a mass of islands and mud
+flats, which appeared from the quantity of drift timber, to be frequently
+overflowed, and partially so apparently at high spring tides. The
+farthest high land I saw bore west about twelve miles.
+
+MEMORIAL ON INDIAN HILL.
+
+I left here a paper in a bottle, giving an account of our proceedings,
+and should have been sorry to think, as Wallis did when he left a similar
+document on a mountain in the Strait of Magellan, that I was leaving a
+memorial that would remain untouched as long as the world lasts. No, I
+would fain hope that ere the sand of my life-glass has run out, other
+feet than mine will have trod these distant banks; that colonization
+will, ere many years have passed, have extended itself in this quarter;
+that cities and hamlets will have risen on the banks of the new-found
+river, that commerce will have directed her track thither, and that smoke
+may rise from Christian hearths where now alone the prowling heathen
+lights his fire. There is an inevitable tendency in man to create; and
+there is nothing which he contemplates with so much complacency as the
+work of his own hands. To civilize the world, to subdue the wilderness,
+is the proudest achievement to which he can look forward; and to share in
+this great work by opening new fields of enterprise, and leading, as it
+were, the van of civilisation, fills the heart with inexpressible
+delight. It is natural, therefore, as I traced the record of our visit
+and deposited it on Indian Hill, that I should look forward in a mood
+very far different from that of Wallis, to the speedy fruition of my
+hopes.
+
+October 27.
+
+The winds for the last few days had been from West-North-West to
+North-West, light after midnight to near noon, then moderate and
+sometimes fresh. The tides, as they approached the springs, increased
+their velocity, occasionally coming down in bores at the rate of four and
+five knots.
+
+RETURN OF CAPTAIN WICKHAM.
+
+Captain Wickham returned this morning, having discovered the river to be
+fresh about seventy miles above the ship. For some distance it had not
+decreased in size, which was very delightful news. I had been several
+times on the point of inquiring on this subject; but fearing an
+unfavourable reply, hesitated. Now my hopes were at their highest pitch,
+and I was quite impatient to start on an expedition up the river.
+
+On the 29th the ship was taken under my guidance up the river, as far as
+the commencement of the long southerly reach. As the shoals in that part
+had not been sufficiently examined, we proceeded to do so in the evening,
+and two channels were discovered; one between a bank, dry at low-water,
+and a covered patch of one and a half and two fathoms, and the other
+between the covered bank and the east shore; the latter, although the
+narrower, I found to be the better. The tides set direct through it, and
+to keep close to the bank is a simple and sure guide. The least water is
+four fathoms, half a fathom more than was found in the other, the
+direction of which crossed the set of the tide when the bank on the west
+side became covered.
+
+THE BEAGLE TAKEN UP THE VICTORIA.
+
+Next morning we moved the ship three miles further up into a bight on the
+east side from which Endeavour Hill bore West 13 South two miles and a
+half.
+
+The Beagle was now nearly fifty miles up the Victoria, and might have
+gone seven miles further, but a valley holding out a hope that we might
+find water by digging, and the distance at which the river was fresh
+being too great for us to think of completing our stock from it, we
+anchored abreast of it. Whilst on shore getting observations for the
+errors of the chronometers in the afternoon, I could not avoid
+soliloquising as I gazed on the ship lying surrounded by lofty rocky
+heights, that towered above her masts till they appeared mere sticks. The
+contrast forcibly presented itself between the comparative insignificance
+to which she was reduced by the elevation of the hills around, and the
+majestic appearance she was accustomed to bear when among the low lands
+of which we had seen so much. The sight reminded me of early years of
+wandering within the narrow arms of the sea in Tierra del Fuego, save and
+except there were not the forests of ages to hide the nakedness of the
+land, which even there was clothed to the water's edge.
+
+My companion reporting the instruments in the boat broke the reverie I
+was indulging in; and on returning on board I found everyone busily
+preparing for the expedition up the river.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.2.
+
+Exploration of the Victoria.
+First appearance of Sea Range.
+Curiosity Peak.
+Appearance of Country from.
+Whirlwind Plains.
+Encounter with an Alligator.
+His capture and description.
+Cross Whirlwind Plains.
+White and black ducks.
+Kangaroos.
+Enter hilly country.
+Meet the boats.
+Thunderstorm.
+Carry boats over shoals.
+New birds.
+Reach Hopeless.
+Progress of boats arrested.
+Reconnoitre the river.
+Prospect from View Hill.
+Preparation for pedestrian excursion.
+Leave Reach Hopeless to explore the upper part of the river.
+Native village.
+Squall.
+Muscle Bend.
+Meet Natives.
+Successful fishing.
+Party distressed.
+Thirsty Flat.
+Tortoise Reach.
+Singular appearance of the ranges.
+Effect of the great heat.
+One man knocked up.
+Approach of natives.
+Preparation for defence.
+Appearance of the natives.
+Move further up the river.
+Emu Plains.
+Select position for night quarters.
+Upward course of the Victoria.
+Commence return.
+Kangaroo shot.
+Wickham Heights.
+New Tortoise.
+Lucky Valley.
+Race was with a native.
+Meet his tribe.
+They make off.
+Hard day's work.
+Quarters for the night.
+Return to Reach Hopeless.
+
+EXPLORATION OF THE VICTORIA.
+
+The expedition, consisting of the two large boats and gig, with Captain
+Wickham, who was to show them the watering place, left the ship early on
+the morning of the 31st of October. I was to follow in one of the
+whaleboats, and explore the upper parts in company with Captain Wickham;
+and after completing the survey near the ship, I was at last fairly off
+to explore the Victoria with the first glimmer of light the morning
+following, once more to revel in scenes where all was new. How amply is
+the explorer repaid by such sights for all his toils! To ascend a hill
+and say you are the first civilized man that has ever trod on this spot;
+to gaze around from its summit and behold a prospect over which no
+European eye has ever before wandered; to descry new mountains; to dart
+your eager glance down unexplored valleys, and unvisited glens; to trace
+the course of rivers whose waters no white man's boat has ever cleaved,
+and which tempt you onwards into the bosom of unknown lands: these are
+the charms of an explorer's life.
+
+Mr. Forsyth accompanied me. We landed nearly opposite the rugged ridge I
+have before mentioned, for a few angles and bearings. Here we found two
+native rafts of precisely the same construction as those we had
+previously seen on the North-west coast, formed out of nine poles. The
+shape the reader will remember from the sketch in that part of the work,
+and with the exception of only two instances, where they appeared merely
+temporary affairs, we have noticed no other kind of rafts in use.
+Wherever this great similarity in their mode of water-conveyance
+prevails, we may infer the natives have had communication with each
+other.
+
+We passed the night in the end of a crooked reach, near the only rocky
+islet in the river, lying four miles East-South-East from the furthest
+point I had before attained. With the exception of a squall from
+north-east in the afternoon, there was scarcely any wind, and the night
+was cloudy with some slight showers of rain. As the mosquitoes allowed us
+little rest, we were glad, when the day broke, to be again moving. We now
+found the river take a north-east direction for eight miles, averaging in
+width upwards of three-quarters of a mile, and in depth at low-water two
+fathoms. A sudden change in the trend of the reaches brought in sight the
+strange appearance of the country represented in the woodcut annexed.
+
+CURIOSITY PEAK.
+
+The peak on the right bank we named, from the passion it assisted us in
+gratifying, Curiosity Peak. Landing at the foot we were not long reaching
+the summit, although the thermometer was 90 degrees in the shade. The
+river formed a remarkable feature in the landscape before us, to the
+north-east; and behind it rose a high table-range of hills, from five to
+six hundred feet in elevation. These were capped with low
+reddish-coloured cliffs.
+
+WHIRLWIND PLAINS.
+
+At their feet stretched an extensive and seemingly boundless plain in a
+north-east direction, whilst on the south-east side, and distant about
+eighteen miles from where we stood, low ranges of hills were visible.
+Here and there over the plains were many small whirlwinds appearing in
+the distance like streaks of smoke curling upwards through the air.
+These, though affording relief to the eye in the wide prospect that
+opened before us, are fraught with danger when occurring on the river;
+for on one occasion they nearly upset the gig, and threatened to consign
+its crew to a watery grave. In the present instance they gave an impulse
+to our invention, suggesting the propriety of designating the level tract
+of country before us, Whirlwind Plains. The high land rising suddenly out
+of it, and bounding it very abruptly on the north-west side, we named Sea
+Range. We could trace the river passing along at its foot in an
+East-North-East direction for nine miles, when it appeared to cross the
+plain; a large island lying midway changed its course for a short
+distance.
+
+I found a strange kind of fruit growing in a hollow, near the top of
+Curiosity Peak; the tree was small and leafless, with the fruit hanging
+in bunches about the size of a damascene plum, of the colour of a peach,
+and containing a large stone. I afterwards had a pie made of this fruit,
+which proved to be by no means bad eating.
+
+Besides the sandstone of which the peak is composed, I found a kind of
+slate on the north-west side. Several banks showed themselves, leaving at
+that time of tide scarcely a boat channel, although the river was a mile
+wide at high-water. A great part of the day was occupied in collecting
+material for the chart of this part, and we passed the night near the
+foot of Curiosity Peak. On the grassy flat opposite, I killed five white
+ibises at a shot.
+
+At sunset, I noticed large flocks of a rather small brown pigeon,
+constantly flying from Whirlwind Plains to the north-west, and back again
+in the morning. The mosquitoes did not give us any peace again this
+night.
+
+ENCOUNTER AN ALLIGATOR.
+
+November 3.
+
+Starting early, we had just passed all the shoals in the neighbourhood of
+Curiosity Peak, and entered a narrow part of the river, when the leadsman
+in the bows of the boat reported, "A large alligator coming down the
+stream, sir." Elated by the expectation of sport, we instantly grounded
+the boat on the right bank to keep her steady, and waited anxiously for
+the monster's approach. It will readily be believed, that every eye was
+fixed upon him as he slowly advanced, scarcely disturbing the glassy
+surface of the water, and quite unconscious of the fate that impended
+over him. At length he came abreast, and about eighty yards off, only the
+flat crown of his head, and the partly serrated ridge along his back,
+appearing in sight. It was a moment of deep excitement for us all, and
+everyone held his breath in suspense as I pointed my gun at the brute's
+head.
+
+EFFECT OF A SHOT.
+
+I felt confident of hitting my mark; but judging from the little effect I
+had produced on former occasions, scarcely dreamt of the execution my
+ball actually did. It happened that to-day I was in excellent practice,
+and had just hit a large wild dog, a long shot, making him jump high off
+the ground; but this beast is as tenacious of life as a cat, and instead
+of falling dead, he limped off and escaped. But to resume: I fired, and
+never heard a ball strike with more satisfaction in my life. It laid the
+alligator sprawling, feet uppermost. There was no time to be lost in
+getting him on shore; two or three strokes with the oars brought us
+alongside of the monster, as he floated on the surface of the stream. The
+business was to attach a line to one of his legs; and as we knew that he
+was not dead, but only stunned, this was rather a nervous operation. I
+noticed indeed a hesitation among the men, as to who should venture, and
+fearing lest our prize should escape, I seized the line and made it fast
+to one of his fore-legs, when we proceeded to the shore, dragging him
+alongside. Before reaching it, however, our friend gave signs of reviving
+animation, and as we could not foresee to what extent he might regain his
+activity, we dropped him astern, clear of the boat, fearing lest in
+floundering about he might stave in her broadside. In doing so, moreover,
+and by way of a sedative, I fired a charge of large shot at his head, the
+muzzle of the gun not being a yard from it; and yet the only effect
+produced, was a slight stupor of the intellectual faculties, evinced by a
+momentary state of quiescence.
+
+THE ALLIGATOR ON SHORE.
+
+On reaching the shore, the men jumped out to haul the alligator up on the
+dry land, and began to pull away vigorously. It was a comic scene to
+witness. They expected to have some difficulty in performing their task;
+but suddenly they found the rope slacken, and looking round beheld the
+alligator walking up after them of his own accord, faster than was
+pleasant. In their haste, endeavouring to keep the rope taut, one fellow
+tripped up; and it was for a moment a question whether he would not be
+snapped in two; the feeling of alarm, however, soon gave way to a sense
+of the ludicrous, at beholding the manner in which he gathered himself up
+into a ball and rolled out of the alligator's way. I thought it now high
+time to take decisive measures, and with another shot altered the
+intentions of the monster, who endeavoured to back towards the water.
+Perhaps if he had been further away from it, I might have been tempted to
+try Waterton's experiment.
+
+It was not before he had received six balls in the head, that he
+consented to be killed. During the operation he exhibited something of
+his savoir faire, by opening his mouth, that looked like a gigantic
+man-trap, and suddenly shutting it with a loud snap, which made us
+shudder, and forcibly recalled to mind the escape I had had a few days
+before, from having my body embraced by such a pair of jaws.
+
+The reader will gather a good idea of their size from the woodcut; and
+their power of holding will be shown in the description accompanying. The
+view annexed represents the moment when the alligator received the first
+shot on shore; the singular character of Sea Range is also shown, and the
+small whirlwinds I have alluded to, as having the appearance of smoke.
+
+DESCRIPTION OF THE ALLIGATOR.
+
+Length of Alligator, 15 feet. From base of head to extreme of nose 2 feet
+2 inches. Across the base of head, 2 feet. Length of lower jaw, 2 feet.
+Teeth in both jaws, vary in size, and are variously disposed, as will be
+seen above; in upper jaw on each side of maxillary bone, 18, 2 incisors.
+Ditto in lower jaw, 15, 2 incisors. The largest teeth are 1 1/2 inch in
+length. The two lower incisors are stronger and longer than the upper,
+and project through two holes in front part of upper jaw.
+
+Breadth across the animal, from extreme of one fore foot, across the
+shoulders to the other side, 5 feet 2 inches. The fore feet have each
+five perfect toes; the three inner or first, have long horny nails,
+slightly curved; the two outer toes have no nails, nor are they webbed.
+The third and fourth toes are deeply webbed, allowing a wide space
+between them, which is apparent even in their passive state. The hind
+feet have four long toes; the first two are webbed as far as the first
+joint, and the others are strongly webbed to the apex of last joint, the
+last or outer toe has no nail.
+
+From the apex of tail, a central highly notched ridge runs up about
+midway of it, and there splits into two branches, which pass up on each
+side of the spine over the back, as far as the shoulders, gradually
+diminishing in height to their termination.
+
+A central ridge runs down from the nape of the neck over the spinous
+processes of the vertebrae (being firmly attached to them by strong
+ligaments) as far down as the sacrum, diminishing to its termination
+likewise.
+
+CONTENTS OF ITS STOMACH.
+
+All the alligator's stomach contained was about fourteen pounds of
+pebbles, some of them measuring four inches in diameter. We were some
+time skinning the monster, and after securing a little of the best part
+of the flesh for eating,* proceeded on our way.
+
+(*Footnote. The writer supped off alligator steaks, and informs the
+reader that the meat is by no means bad, and has a white appearance like
+veal.)
+
+The river, as I have already said, ran along the base of Sea Range for
+some distance, when it turned off across the plain in a south-east
+direction.
+
+BANKS OF THE VICTORIA.
+
+The high land quite overlooked the stream, and enhanced the picturesque
+effect of the trees that rose in rich green masses on the banks, which
+were here only about half a mile apart. The depth, however, was two
+fathoms, double what it had been for some distance before. We had now
+fairly turned our backs on Sea Range, and were crossing the plains in a
+south-east direction. On the part of the Victoria we had passed were a
+few white ducks, with black or very dark brown wings. I noticed that the
+bill and legs were of a very pale pink, and they had a pale yellow eye.
+They were evidently the same bird that I had seen at Port Essington.*
+They were scarce and not met with in other parts of the river. Kangaroos
+were numerous on the banks, as we entered the plain, and during the day
+were to be seen in numbers under the bushes near the water's edge. I
+added one to our stock of fresh provisions, which with alligator steaks
+and ducks, gave us a good supply to share with the other boats. We named
+this part of the river Long Reach, from its carrying us nine miles in a
+direct course, with a general width of a quarter of a mile, and a depth
+of two and three fathoms. The banks were well defined, in many places
+being a low line of cliffs six feet high, presenting to our view several
+feet of brown soil, resting on a compact clay. This is the general
+character of this extensive plain; and from the small size of the trees,
+chiefly white gums, that are thinly scattered over it, we may infer that
+it is land of recent formation. Two miles from the end of Long Reach, we
+passed a sandy head, where the tide rises from three to ten feet.
+
+(*Footnote. Figured by Mr. Gould, as Tadorna radjah.)
+
+The river now took a south by west direction, for nearly two miles, a
+little narrower, but three fathoms deep throughout. Towards the latter
+part the banks were fringed with mangroves of a small and singularly even
+growth, resembling a clipped garden shrubbery. Our course again changed
+to south-east, entering the low range of hills bounding the south-eastern
+side of Whirlwind Plains. It was long after dark when we reached so far.
+We had passed the watering boats some distance further down on their way
+to the ship. Our sudden meeting in the dark on the lonely river, had a
+singular and romantic effect. Being anxious to join the gig, we pushed
+on, and at midnight were surprised by a loud call from Captain Wickham,
+who lay beneath the shadow of a high bank. It was a strange sound, this
+English hail, to hear echoed in these wild hills, where only the shrill
+cry of the savage had been borne on the blast before!
+
+THUNDERSTORM.
+
+I was sorry to find, that the tide did not at present rise sufficient to
+admit the large boats into the fresh water, so that getting a load would
+have been a very long operation, had it not been for a tremendous fall of
+rain that followed a thunderstorm, deluging every pool, and at once
+affording the means of filling the casks. This storm began at South-East
+and drew round by east to North-West, from which quarter it blew strong
+for an hour. The torrents of rain lasted two hours, and cooled the air so
+rapidly, as in that time to reduce the thermometer from 92 to 82 degrees.
+This change was so sudden, that it made those who felt it shiver as if it
+were the depth of winter, and RUSH INTO THE RIVER WATER TO KEEP
+THEMSELVES WARM.
+
+November 4.
+
+Both boats proceeded up the river at daylight. We started from the end of
+Short Reach, trending East-North-East, and about four miles within the
+range of hills, on the South-East side of the Plains. The first reach led
+us a mile and a half in a South-East direction, and at the end of it a
+flat of large boulders extended; across this we dragged the boats easily.
+The river now took a turn from East-North-East to North, and at the end
+of a mile we came to another extensive flat, quite dry. There was a deep
+pool below it, with a precipitous hill, 350 feet high, on the eastern
+side. This we called Steep Head, and its singular dark cliffy face,
+frowning over the placid waters, gave an air of grandeur to the scenery.
+Stretched out on the face of these cliffs, we left the skin of our friend
+the alligator, to be taken to the ship by the watering boats when they
+returned.
+
+SHOALS IN THE RIVER.
+
+There was now heavy work before us, with the thermometer at 93 degrees in
+the shade: we had to drag the boats over the large flat that impeded our
+progress. The way was made as smooth as possible, and plenty of rollers
+laid, but an unlucky stone found its way through the thin plank of the
+gig. Captain Wickham acted as head carpenter in repairing the damage,
+which occupied so much time that it was dark before the boats were
+floated in the deep water beyond. We dined on the bank, by the light of a
+lantern hung on a tree. The tide at this place only rose two feet.
+
+SCENERY ON ITS BANKS.
+
+November 5.
+
+Taking advantage of the cool of the morning, we moved off with the early
+dawn. A fine sheet of water lay before us, and everything promised well.
+The vegetation looked stronger and richer. Above the growth of acacias
+and drooping gums, that leant over the banks kissing their reflection in
+the limpid waters, rose on each side high broken ranges. Their heights
+had round summits, just beneath which, in some, could be traced a low
+line of cliffs, so singularly characteristic of Sea Range. The very
+marked dip in the strata did not extend beyond the latter, and here I
+could not detect any. Flights of large vampires, whistling ducks,
+many-coloured parakeets, and varieties of small birds, made the river
+quite alive, and their continued cry of alarm gave vivacity to the scene,
+and disturbed the stillness that had reigned there for years. Every
+living thing is terrified at the sight of man. This reach of the Victoria
+enabled Mr. Bynoe to add two new birds to his collection; one, a species
+of pigeon, but resembling a small quail in its habits and size; the cerae
+of the nose, the beak and the feet, were a pigeon's, but the flight and
+the manner of running along the ground, where it kept, were those of a
+quail. It was found in small families of eight or a dozen, very wild and
+scarce, and was only seen in this part of the river. The only one we were
+able to get, had a very long pointed crest. The colour was a light red,
+with a white chin and a black band across the throat; the tips of the
+wings were slightly bronzed. It is figured in Mr. Gould's work, from this
+specimen, as Geophaps plumifera.
+
+SINGULAR BIRD.
+
+The other bird was of a species, that at first sight appeared to be a
+teal. It went in small flocks, and as it got on the wing made a long
+shrill plaintive kind of note. The deep glossy rifle-green colour of
+their back, and the transparent streak of white across the wing, gave
+them a most beautiful appearance, as the sun's rays lit up their rich
+plumage in their circuitous flight round the boat. Their number did not
+exceed twenty, and they too were only seen on this part of the river.
+They were also very wary, which is singular in the inhabitants of a
+wilderness, almost totally unfrequented by man. We only got one specimen,
+by which we found that it had the head and bill of a goose. It was indeed
+quite a goose in miniature. Although we never before or afterwards met
+with this bird, it was seen at Port Essington, though of inferior
+plumage, some time in 1840, and a specimen was obtained, from which Mr.
+Gould has named it Nettapus pulchellas. The whistling duck of the
+Adelaide River, was also only seen on this part of the Victoria.
+
+After proceeding north-east one mile and a half, and east two miles, we
+came to a pretty little islet covered with palms and acacias, and rich
+long grass. Numbers of large white waterlilies grew on its banks. The
+river was now only an eighth of a mile wide, and two fathoms deep. This
+still promised well. Scarcely, however, had we indulged in the hope that
+the Victoria might yet convey the boats many miles into the interior,
+when a shoal appeared.
+
+PROGRESS OF THE BOATS ARRESTED.
+
+Over this we got tolerably well, but at the end of two miles in an
+East-South-East direction from Palm Island, all hopes were at an end of
+proceeding farther in the boats, as for a great extent the river was
+impassable for them. We found there was a large sheet of water beyond,
+and then another dry patch. It would therefore have been useless labour
+to attempt dragging the boats over any more of the dry parts. Two
+conical-shaped hills, so much alike that we called them the Brothers,
+bore North by West 1/2 West one mile.
+
+The thermometer was 101 degrees at noon in the shade. I shot some very
+large dark-coloured ducks in the afternoon. Kangaroos were numerous. The
+water was fresh soon after passing Palm Island.
+
+That we were thus finally deterred from proceeding farther with the
+boats, was a source of deep mortification. Since the great flat we had
+experienced so much difficulty in getting over yesterday, all had gone
+well. Each turn in the river appeared more beautiful, and brought
+something new to increase our interest; and we fondly imagined that great
+discoveries were in store for us. But the fates had decreed otherwise,
+and we were compelled to pause, after having ascended in the boats from
+the ship above 75 miles. We named this reach, in consequence, Reach
+Hopeless.
+
+November 6.
+
+It being evidently impracticable to proceed higher up in the boats; a
+small party of us landed at daylight, in order to ascend a neighbouring
+height, and thence to trace as far as possible the upward course of the
+river, preparatory to a pedestrian excursion along its banks. Before
+sunrise we reached the summit of a narrow ridge, trending East-South-East
+1/2 a mile east, from where the boats were lying: in this singular ridge
+I again noticed the dip to the south-east: it was composed of a variety
+of rocks, jasper, a greyish kind of flinty indifferent limestone, and
+greywacke.
+
+SINGULAR APPEARANCE OF THE RIVER.
+
+The view from it was very limited, the valley of the river turning short
+to the northward, two miles east by south of our position, to which we
+gave the name of Station Hill. Before I had finished my round of angles,
+the heat had become so great that some of our party were compelled to
+return to the boats, whilst myself, with two of the men, pushed on for
+nearly two miles in an easterly direction, along the foot of some
+table-topped hills, and were then gratified with another peep at the
+river, which had a very singular appearance, in some places nearly dry,
+discovering a wide bed of large pebbles: long narrow islands, whose shape
+attested the former rapidity of the currents, covered with reeds and
+acacias, and deep pools of standing water, were its most characteristic
+features. Several kangaroos, alarmed by our approach, hastily quitted
+their cool hidingplaces, presenting beautiful shots; but as the traces of
+natives were both recent and numerous, we thought it most prudent to
+reserve our fire, and shortly after, upon finding a native fire still
+alight, to keep the open ground as much as possible. We travelled for a
+long mile over a level flat of good soil, though now quite destitute of
+vegetation, save some beautiful specimens of the truly evergreen gumtree.
+
+PROSPECT FROM VIEW HILL.
+
+At length we reached the summit of View Hill, and no effervescing draught
+could have proved more really refreshing than the south-east breeze which
+greeted us there. It is separated from the ranges to the southward by a
+deep narrow valley. We noticed from it that the river evidently increased
+in size, as traced upwards, and I was very glad to find that the delight
+I experienced in making this discovery, was shared by my companions. We
+traced it east for two long miles--a deep broad and picturesque stream:
+beyond that limit it took a more southerly direction, apparently behind
+some high tableland (Table Hill) 200 feet high. Beyond, and on the
+eastern side of the valley of the river, rose a high peak, crowned by a
+remarkable block of stone, to which we gave the name of The Tower. I made
+a sketch of the scenery, and took a round of angles, and then we returned
+to the boats. On our arrival we found the thermometer had been as high as
+110 degrees at one P.M. The afternoon was occupied in selecting a party
+of five out of the boats' crews, for a pedestrian excursion; and at
+night, jaded as we were, it was almost impossible to sleep, owing to the
+screeching noise of the vampires, and the howling of the native dogs.
+
+PREPARATIONS FOR A PEDESTRIAN EXCURSION.
+
+November 7.
+
+Making slings and packing provisions for an early start to-morrow morning
+occupied the greater part of the day. Mr. Bynoe, as he had done
+yesterday, added to his valuable collection a few rare birds, and strange
+plants; while I took several readings of the barometer, morning and
+evening, for the elevation of the bed of the river: the mean gave a
+resulting height of thirty feet.
+
+Our bivouac at Reach Hopeless, was under the shade of a cluster of
+drooping gumtrees, which secreted in their thick foliage, numbers of a
+bird figured by Mr. Gould as Tripidorhynchus argenticeps. These kept up a
+constant amusing chatter, in which we could frequently detect an exact
+imitation of the words Walk Up, when spoken sharply. A kangaroo Mr. Bynoe
+had shot, and hung on a tree, drew the attention of birds of prey,
+consisting of two kinds of hawks, one of a dark brown, almost black, and
+another a lighter shade of the same colour, resembling copper, with a
+great deal of white about the head; so that we were surrounded with
+feathered companions.
+
+The wind as usual was East-North-East in the morning, and North-West in
+the evening. The thermometer ranged from 97 to 112 degrees during the
+day, and fell to 90 degrees at night; during which we noticed several
+meteors in the north and north-west falling perpendicularly.
+
+November 8.
+
+Our little band left the boats before daylight, the morning being
+agreeably cool (temperature 85 degrees). Captain Wickham had intended
+heading this most interesting expedition himself, but feeling indisposed,
+the party was eventually placed under my command, and in addition to
+myself, consisted of Mr. Bynoe, surgeon; Mr. Forsyth, mate; George Knox,
+Robert Gower, and William Willing, seamen; John Brown, and Richard
+Martin, marines. Besides provisions for six days, and arms, we had with
+us the following instruments: large sextant, small sextant, artificial
+horizon, chronometer, two compasses, spyglass, watch, lantern, and
+measuring tape.
+
+Our route was that of yesterday to View Hill, and we reached the river a
+mile to the eastward by half-past seven A.M. We halted here for ten
+minutes to skin a kangaroo, which I had shot as we crossed the plain; a
+piece of good fortune that induced me to determine upon leaving a part of
+our provisions at the first convenient spot. We found the banks of the
+river thickly clothed with tall reeds, through which with some difficulty
+we forced our way. To the north-west the high land receded from the
+river, having an extensive, and apparently alluvial flat between its base
+and the course of the stream.
+
+After a brief halt, we proceeded in an East 16 degrees South direction.
+Two miles good walking brought us to the head of a deep gully, the banks
+of which were covered with tall reeds; we followed its course nearly due
+north to the river, which it joined near the foot of the high land I have
+before spoken of. The bed of the stream was dry here in patches for half
+a mile. As none of our party had been recently accustomed to much
+pedestrian exercise, and we had been travelling for nearly five hours
+over a broken country, and in a temperature varying from 87 to 100
+degrees in the shade, I thought it time to halt and dine. While dinner
+was being prepared, Mr. Bynoe and myself shot three brace of rare ducks,
+of a small light grey kind, in the pools near. I afterwards accompanied
+Mr. Forsyth to get some bearings from an elevation on the north side of
+the river.
+
+COURSE OF THE VICTORIA.
+
+Towards the south-east we perceived a very decided break in the hills,
+through which I hoped to trace the course of the Victoria, that being the
+direction of the centre of this vast continent: in this however we were
+disappointed, for the river turned short round to the north-east. The
+banks were so high, and so thickly covered with tall reeds, that it was
+only by the very green appearance of the trees about its banks that its
+course could be made out. The temperature at one P.M. in the sun was 127
+degrees. Knowing how impossible it was to avoid being tracked by the
+natives, should they wish it, even upon the hardest ground, and that in
+the event of their doing so any buried stores would be forthwith
+discovered, and yet anxious to disencumber the party of any superfluous
+load, I directed one of the men to take the 8-pound canister of preserved
+meat and throw it into a thick cluster of reeds and palms, about thirty
+yards distant; and after taking a set of sights for longitude,
+recommenced our journey to half-past three P.M. in a north-east
+direction; passing through a lightly timbered plain, that had been
+evidently at no distant date exposed to the ravages of fire. At half-past
+four we came to a bend of the river, trending North 56 degrees East and
+South 22 degrees West. Passing several trees still on fire near the
+river, after another short halt, which the state of the atmosphere no
+less than the nature of the ground rendered desirable, we resumed our
+north-east course, but were compelled to make a considerable westerly
+detour, in order to clear the deep watercourses intersecting the banks at
+this place, and which, extending nearly to the base of the hills,
+rendered the fatigues and labours of the march additionally and
+needlessly heavy.
+
+NATIVE VILLAGE.
+
+Just before dark we came upon a native village, near the foot of a bare
+rocky hill, having a northern aspect, and lying about one mile south-west
+of the river. It contained thirteen huts of paper-bark, standing in a
+bare stony plain, and with no signs of being at this time inhabited. We
+found here considerable difficulty in forcing our way through the tall
+and thickly growing reeds which lined the bank. The next reach in the
+river trended North-West for about a mile, and then turned off
+North-North-East at the foot of a high rocky range. The next turn in the
+course brought us upon a yet burning native fire. Under ordinary
+circumstances such an indication of the near presence of natives, of
+whose intentions, whether hostile or otherwise, I had no means of
+judging, would have induced me to take up open quarters for the night,
+which was now closing in upon us; but the threatening aspect of the sky
+to the south-east led me to prefer a spot sheltered by the luxuriant
+foliage which here fringed the river's banks.
+
+VIOLENT SQUALL.
+
+The squall reached us at seven. The wind, which had been at south-east,
+veering to north, and the thermometer falling five degrees; it lasted for
+about an hour, during which time the harsh screams of the affrighted
+birds--the moaning of the wind--the awful roll of thunder, and the
+fearful brilliancy of the lightning, combined to supply all the terrible
+beauty which invests such scenes; especially when they surprise the
+startled adventurer upon his unknown path, and add their hostile
+influence to the unreckoned dangers that await his progress. The only
+means we had of preserving our only suit of clothes dry from the
+drenching showers of rain was by taking them off, and stuffing them into
+the hollow of a tree, which in the darkness of the night we could do with
+propriety.
+
+Within an hour the weather had cleared up, and was as fine as before the
+squall. The change came just in time for me to secure a meridian altitude
+of Achernar, which, with a set of sights for time, completed the
+requisite observations. We noticed a singular meteor in the
+East-South-East about 8 o'clock this evening, darting perpendicularly
+UPWARDS: it lasted for ten seconds: between the hour mentioned and
+midnight, we saw a great many, passing chiefly from south-east to
+north-west. At nine, having set the watches for the night, we lay down to
+sleep, and passed a quiet night with a temperature of 85 degrees, and a
+north-west wind.
+
+November 9.
+
+We started early the following morning, after having obtained a set of
+bearings, and followed the bank of the river to the north-west for half a
+mile, then forded it and took a north-easterly direction, passing close
+to the foot of some hills forming the south side of the valley of the
+river, which at this place is scarcely a mile wide. High tableland formed
+the west side of it, and low broken ranges trending east, bounded it in
+that direction.
+
+MUSSEL BEND.
+
+The bend above where we slept we called Mussel Bend, from our finding
+several there: they appeared similar to those found by Oxley in the
+Macquarie. The country over which we travelled the first part of the day
+was exceedingly stony, and wore a most uninviting appearance.
+
+While the party halted to skin a kangaroo I had been so fortunate as to
+shoot; I ascended the top of a neighbouring hill to make a sketch, and
+get some bearings. From this elevation I traced the river in a north-west
+direction for three miles, and I gazed with rapture, only known to the
+discoverer, upon a clear and magnificent expanse of water, yet greatly
+dismayed at its northerly direction. To the north-east was an extensive
+and apparently alluvial flat; while to the westward, the high land
+approached the river. It is worthy of remark, that so far as our
+observation extended, wherever the hills approach the river on one side
+they recede from it on the other.
+
+DISCOVERED BY NATIVES.
+
+Continuing in a more easterly direction in order to avoid the deep
+watercourses near the banks, we found the country wore a much less arid
+appearance, and changing our direction to North-North-West in order to
+ascend some high ranges distant two miles and a half, overlooking the
+east bank of the river, we came suddenly upon some native tracks, and
+presently surprised two children, who scampered down the bank in very
+natural alarm, and were soon lost among the tall reeds. A little further
+on we passed within 200 yards of three women carrying bundles of bark at
+their backs; their anxiety for their children had allowed us to approach
+thus close unseen; but no sooner were we discovered, than they raised a
+shout which was answered from the heights on our right, and from the
+banks of the river on our left, by parties evidently too numerous to
+render it prudent to attempt a nearer meeting. We therefore held on our
+way without appearing to notice them. They were quite naked, with the
+exception of a slight covering of bark round their waists. We halted at
+half-past ten A.M. in an open spot in the dry bed of the river,
+overlooked by a high table hill. Our party looked very much distressed
+from their half-day's work. The weather had been very close, and a good
+deal of the walking over broken ground; and these circumstances, coupled
+with the fact that the thermometer stood at 107 degrees in the shade, and
+that all had been for a long time cooped up in a small vessel, will fully
+explain and account for the general fatigue.
+
+SUCCESSFUL FISHING.
+
+In a pool of the river near our resting place, I caught, within an hour,
+some dozen good-sized fish: using a bait of kangaroo flesh. There were
+two sorts, one of the shape of a trout, and ten inches long; it had a
+dirty orange-yellow belly, and a muddy bronze back; the lower hole of the
+nose had a raised margin. The other measured seven inches, and resembled
+in shape a small fish at home, known to all schoolboys as the
+prickle-back; it was curiously marked, having five spots nearly black on
+each side, near the ridge of the back; the ground around them was a dark
+glossy brown; the belly was a slightly shining white, reaching as far up
+as the lower line of the eye and the margin of the spots.
+
+While Mr. Bynoe was occupied in making sketches of them, which have been
+transmitted to Dr. Richardson, Mr. Forsyth and myself ascended a
+neighbouring hillock, and traced the river in a westerly direction for
+two miles; it then turned round to North-North-East: a deep narrow valley
+separated it from the higher land to the eastward. The bed of the river
+at this place, though partly dry, was wider than we had hitherto seen it,
+and the trees upon its banks still showed evident signs of being washed
+by a mountain torrent. After making a set of observations for longitude,
+we started again at 3 o'clock P.M. taking a north-west direction over a
+flat of tolerably fine light mould. Near here a party of natives crossed
+the river, in the direction of those we had first seen: perhaps to effect
+a junction of forces and demand the meaning of our strange intrusion. We
+took an East 1/2 North direction across the flat, but finding the ground
+very broken and stony, intersected by deep watercourses, and rendered
+additionally impracticable by high grass and thick reeds, we were
+compelled, after getting half across, to make the best of our way to the
+river.
+
+FATIGUE OF THE PARTY.
+
+It was intensely hot, not a breath of air stirring, and to add to our
+misfortunes, we had inadvertently dined off the contents of a canister of
+salt meat. We reached the river at half-past five, being all of us pretty
+well knocked up with heat, fatigue, and thirst: one of our party, I heard
+afterwards, drank nearly TWO QUARTS of water at a draught.
+
+Further on in this reach, I determined to occupy quarters for the night;
+it was wide and deep, trending East by South, but shut in about a mile
+above our present position by a dry patch of stones, with clear banks on
+either side. As we were now in what appeared to be a rather thickly
+populated district of the country, it was requisite to choose a position
+beyond the reach of sudden attack. Having consulted our security as much
+as possible in this particular, I took, before dark, the necessary
+bearings and angles for the survey, and was delighted to observe that the
+valley of the river again trended away to the southward. We had a cool
+breeze after dark from the north-west, and the thermometer went down to
+90 degrees. I had scarcely secured observations for latitude and
+longitude, before a squall from the south-east, accompanied by heavy
+rain, recalled the scene of last night.
+
+CHARM OF DISCOVERY.
+
+The same screams from the same kind of birds, disturbed in their roosting
+places, and the same mournful howling of the wind, as it swept fitfully
+through the trees that overshadowed us, broke the silence that had
+reigned around our solitary fire, and exercised their wondrous power over
+the imagination. In a few moments my thoughts were borne on to the very
+heart of this mysterious country, over many a dreary plain, where thirst,
+fatigue, and hunger were all forgotten. It is impossible to define the
+exact nature of the charm which particular minds find in the perils and
+adventures of discovery, whether on the shore or over the wave. Certain,
+however, it is, that scarce any motive of human exertion can compete with
+it in the powers of endurance it supplies to its votaries.
+
+The squall served to clear the air, and was succeeded by a cool breeze
+from the north-west. The thermometer down to 87 degrees.
+
+THIRSTY FLAT.
+
+Yet cool, as comparatively speaking, the nights are here, still I could
+not but remark that the ground never became so; and this I imagine to be
+one of the principal causes of that fatigue from which some of our party
+suffered so much: during my watches I invariably noticed some poor fellow
+or another vainly trying to secure the rest of which he stood so much in
+need: rolling with restless anxiety from side to side, and sometimes in
+absolute despair, starting up on his feet: neither could I fail to note
+the wearying effect these broken slumbers produced, symptoms of which
+showed themselves more plainly each morning.
+
+Having provided myself with the means of calculating the latitude, I
+worked the observations I had taken during the night. It placed the spot
+of our bivouac in 15 degrees 29 minutes South. We estimated our distance
+from the boats, having carefully timed ourselves each march, at 23 miles;
+10 in an east, general direction, and 13 North-East by North.
+
+November 10.
+
+We pushed onwards in the cool of the morning, taking a South 20 degrees
+West direction, for three miles, crossing the eastern part of the flat to
+which we yesterday gave the name of Thirsty Flat, and found the soil a
+light mould, covered with long dry grass. This brought us to a bend in
+the river, trending in rather a tortuous manner east, and passing through
+a wide valley, with table ranges, varying from 5 to 600 feet on either
+side. Towards their summits there were perpendicular cliffs of some 30 or
+40 feet, similar to the high land of Sea Range. The country just here was
+so thickly wooded that I was obliged to climb a tree in order to get the
+bearings. We noticed some very curious black horizontal streaks on the
+hills in our immediate vicinity. We crossed the river, or rather over its
+bed--a patch of stones--and found some shells of the water-tortoise at
+the remains of a native fire on the bank: we named the reach Tortoise
+Reach, in consequence. Here too Mr. Bynoe added some rare and beautiful
+specimens of finches to his collection.
+
+ENERVATING EFFECT OF THE GREAT HEAT.
+
+The cool north-west wind had now deserted us, and though yet scarcely
+nine o'clock A.M. the thermometer stood at 105 degrees. I had again the
+good fortune to shoot a kangaroo: it was a long cross-shot, the animal
+going at speed. Our route now lay across a barren stony plain, of which
+the vegetation it might once have boasted had been burnt off: the
+blackened ground, heated by the fierce rays of the sun, seemed still to
+us on fire. In crossing a creek which lay in our path, and which we
+managed to do by means of a fallen tree, Mr. Forsyth showed symptoms of
+being struck with the sun, but a little water, which I was happy enough
+to get from the creek, revived him. Several others of the party also
+complained of the trying effects of the great heat; after a short rest, I
+therefore determined on making for the river, which we arrived at in half
+an hour, near a bed of dry rocks, but with the reaches on either side
+wide and deep, and shut in by steep banks. By this time one of the men
+was seriously indisposed; all hopes, therefore, of proceeding much
+further upon this most interesting expedition I was compelled, though
+very reluctantly, to abandon. This was still the more a subject of deep
+regret, because the present width, and the south-easterly direction which
+the river now appeared to take, gave me just hopes that great progress
+might be made in the desired direction in the course of another day:
+while I felt satisfied that we were abandoning the course of a river
+whose undiminished magnitude made each mile's journey along its banks of
+increased interest, and which I felt convinced would, if followed out,
+conduct us far towards the heart of this terra incognita.
+
+The weather continued calm and close; temperature at noon, in the shade
+110 degrees. I noticed a difference in the bed of the river at the place
+where we prepared dinner: hitherto the dry spots, which from time to time
+we passed over, or halted upon, were strewn about with large boulders;
+here, however, we were encamping near a very remarkable rocky ledge,
+dipping to the south-east, and of the same character as the rocks on the
+sea coast, when seen at low-water.
+
+APPROACH OF NATIVES.
+
+Scarcely had we disposed of our invalid as comfortably as circumstances
+would admit, under a bank overshadowed by acacias and gumtrees, when we
+heard the shrill voices of an evidently large body of natives, concealed
+by the foliage on the opposite bank of the river, which was just here
+quite dry, and not more than eighty yards across.
+
+PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE.
+
+As I had no means of knowing either their number or intentions, it was
+necessary to make the best preparations that time and place would allow
+for defence, should it unhappily become necessary: a contingency which,
+in the debilitated condition of all the party, now too deprived
+altogether of the aid of one of its members, I could not contemplate
+without some anxiety. I directed the men to occupy such situations in the
+long grass as would give the most deceptive appearance to our numbers,
+and stationed Mr. Bynoe, Mr. Forsyth, and myself where, if required, we
+could act most effectually. These preparations were hardly complete, when
+two natives, accompanied by a large cream-coloured dog that howled
+mournfully, came down suddenly, shouting "Ho! ho!" upon the opposite
+bank, as though more clearly to reconnoitre our position. They were fine
+looking men, with bushy hair and spare limbs, quite naked, and apparently
+unarmed--a usual indication among the aborigines of Australia that their
+intentions are peaceful. They amused themselves for a time by making all
+sorts of gestures, shouting still "ho! ho!" to those of their body in
+concealment, from whom they had probably been detached for observation.
+What they thought of us, strange intruders as we must have appeared to
+them, it is not possible fully even to imagine; at any rate they seemed
+impressed with some sort of respect either for our appearance, jaded as
+we were, or our position, and forbore any nearer approach. I was of
+course very glad that no appeal to force was necessary: in the first
+place I should very reluctantly have resorted to it against those to whom
+we appeared in the character of invaders of a peaceful country, and in
+the second, had one of our party been wounded, the consequent delay would
+have rendered our return to the boats certainly a work of great
+difficulty, perhaps wholly impossible; for no considerations of
+expediency would in my mind have justified the abandonment of a
+defenceless comrade, wounded in the common cause, either to the natural
+dangers and privations of the country, or the barbarous revenge of its
+inhabitants. They continued in force, upon the opposite bank, for some
+time, and then gradually withdrew. I may remark that the condition and
+appearance of the two who made themselves visible, indicated their
+residence in a country fitted to supply abundantly all natural wants. I
+should also state that I could not perceive that extraordinary
+exaggeration of a certain Jewish ceremony, that prevailed in one part of
+King Sound.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES.
+
+It is to be regretted that our position would not allow us to seek the
+acquaintance of these people. I could not help comparing the bold,
+fearless manner in which they came towards us--their fine manly bearing,
+head erect, no crouching or quailing of eye--with the miserable objects I
+had seen at Sydney. I now beheld man in his wild state; and, reader, rest
+assured there is nothing can equal such a sight. Before me stood two of
+the aboriginal inhabitants of Australia who had never, until then,
+encountered the hitherto blighting look of a European.
+
+After a long rest, we were enabled to move on again slowly in the cool of
+the evening, along the south bank of the river, followed by one of the
+native dogs, that differed only from those I had seen on other parts of
+the coast, in being rather larger.
+
+EMU PLAINS.
+
+Two miles further brought us into a fine open plain, over which two emus
+were going best pace; we therefore named it in their honour: while the
+valley to the southward was christened after the Beagle, and the ranges
+on either side bore the names of her former and present commander: those
+to the north-east and south-west were called, after the officers who
+accompanied me, Forsyth and Bynoe Ranges. The soil on Emu Plains was far
+superior to any we had seen since leaving the boat, and was lightly and
+picturesquely timbered with the white gum. We were very cautious in
+choosing our sleeping berth for the night, to avoid a surprise during the
+dark; we therefore selected a friendly hollow beneath the stem of a
+straggling and drooping old gumtree, large enough to conceal the whole
+party, near the centre of a great patch of pebbles, with the river, on
+one side, within a hundred yards of us, and on the other, distant about
+three hundred.
+
+Those who are practically conversant with such positions as this, will
+readily call to mind what a safeguard from any nightly approach was
+afforded by the loose pebbles that surrounded us, upon which not even the
+unshod foot of a native could fall without so much of accompanying noise
+as would serve to put the watch with his ear to the ground upon the qui
+vive: this was proved to be the case during the night, when we distinctly
+heard the footsteps of the prowling savages. We had no squall, and except
+this interruption, the howling of native dogs, and the shrill peculiar
+whistle of a flock of vampires constantly flying backwards and forwards
+over our heads, we slept in peace in our comfortable little retreat.
+
+UPWARD COURSE OF THE VICTORIA.
+
+Our last regretful view of this part of the Victoria--for every member of
+our little band seemed to feel an equal interest in the subject--was
+taken from a position in latitude 15 degrees 36 minutes and longitude 130
+degrees 52 minutes East; 140 miles distant from the sea: but still 500
+miles from the centre of Australia. Its apparent direction continued most
+invitingly from the southward--the very line to the heart of this vast
+land, whose unknown interior has afforded so much scope for ingenious
+speculation, and which at one time I had hoped, that it was reserved for
+us to do yet more in reducing to certainty. And though from the point
+upon which I stood to pay it my last lingering farewell, the nearest
+reach of water was itself invisible, yet far, far away I could perceive
+the green and glistening valleys through which it wandered, or rather
+amid which it slept; and the refreshing verdure of which assured me, just
+as convincingly as actual observation could have done, of the constant
+presence of a large body of water; and left an indelible impression upon
+my mind, which subsequent consideration has only served to deepen, that
+the Victoria will afford a certain pathway far into the centre of that
+country, of which it is one of the largest known rivers.
+
+When I had at length most reluctantly made up my mind that all further
+progress along the banks of the Victoria must be abandoned, I left the
+spot of our temporary encampment, and proceeded alone a short distance in
+the direction of the interior; as though partly to atone, by that single
+and solitary walk towards the object of my eager speculation, for the
+grievous disappointment I experienced at being compelled to return. It
+was something, even by this short distance, to precede my companions in
+the exciting work of discovery--to tread alone the solitary glades upon
+which, till now, no native of the civilized West had set his foot--and to
+muse in solemn and unbroken silence upon the ultimate results of the work
+to which the last few days had been devoted--to mark the gradual but
+certain progression of civilization and christianity--and to breathe
+forth, unwitnessed and uninterrupted, the scarce coherent words of
+thankful adoration for the providential care which had hitherto sustained
+and directed us.
+
+RETURN HOMEWARDS.
+
+November 12.
+
+I found our invalid so much recovered to-day, that I determined on making
+a short march homewards in the cool of the early morning. We reached
+Tortoise Reach by 8 o'clock A.M. where we passed the day. During our
+morning's walk I again had the luck to knock over a kangaroo. It was a
+female, and had a very young one in its pouch. It is worthy of remark
+that most of those I killed were does, with young ones of different ages,
+which afforded Mr. Bynoe the means of making some interesting
+observations on the manner in which they are brought forth, which will be
+found further on in the part of the work relating to Houtman's Abrolhos,
+where more opportunities occurred of arriving at a satisfactory result.
+Mr. Bynoe added here to his collection of birds, to which also, I was so
+fortunate as to be able to contribute a beautiful specimen of a
+rifle-green glossy ibis, common in Europe. I tried the water with a very
+roughly manufactured fly: the fish rose repeatedly at it, though there
+was scarcely a ripple, and notwithstanding my own want of success under
+these unpropitious circumstances, I feel perfectly satisfied that with
+proper tackle, and on a favourable day, this prince of sports might be
+enjoyed on the Victoria.
+
+WICKHAM HEIGHTS.
+
+I availed myself of the opportunity of our halt at this place to wash my
+only suit, piece by piece, and afterwards made a sketch of the
+north-eastern part of Wickham Heights from the dry flat in the reach. The
+woodcut annexed will convey at once to the reader, those singular
+features in the hills--the low line of cliffs resembling fortifications
+near their summit, and, still more remarkable, the horizontal black
+streaks near their base.
+
+NEW TORTOISE.
+
+We here found the back-shell of one of the largest of the
+water-tortoises, from which the reach was named. It measured ten inches,
+was very narrow at the fore part, where the continuous line of the margin
+was broken by an arch where the head protrudes, and was much expanded
+posteriorly. It resembled greatly the Chelidona oblonga, inhabiting
+Western Australia, with the exception of the arch and its more oval
+shape; and as in that kind, the last vertebral plate was divided by a
+suture. A shell of a Victoria River tortoise has been deposited in the
+British Museum. We here noticed many varieties of turbinated shells, and
+among them a small buccinum; beside mussels. At a native fireplace I saw
+heaps of the latter, as well as the bones of young alligators; portions
+of the jaws with teeth were picked up.
+
+The temperature during the day ranged from 90 to 105 degrees in the
+shade. A light breeze from north-west in the evening succeeded a long
+calm. Before sunset I got a peep at the eastern side of a valley, before
+noticed, in the direction of our route back, and felt convinced that by
+crossing it we should avoid Thirsty Flat, and shorten the route to the
+boats.
+
+LUCKY VALLEY.
+
+November 13.
+
+Our walk this morning fully realized all my expectations of the preceding
+evening, for by 8 o'clock A.M. we reached the dining place of the second
+day. To record the satisfaction we felt in escaping a second journey over
+Thirsty Flat, by following the valley we had seen yesterday evening, we
+named it Lucky Valley. After a brief halt, we pushed on, and by eleven,
+were at our old quarters in Mussel Bend. We heard the voices of natives
+in all directions, far and near, and as I found the party still
+astonishingly fresh, and eager to proceed, I thought it best to keep
+going. We therefore continued our journey, and just before dark reached
+the spot where we had dined the first day. Here, however, the cheerful
+excitement of our pleasant and shady walk through Lucky Valley having
+gone off, the men felt the effects of their long day's march, and were
+all more or less knocked up.
+
+RACE WITH A NATIVE.
+
+Near the river, as we were approaching our intended bivouac, we came upon
+a native walking leisurely across the plain, and so intently occupied in
+poising and straightening his spear, and fixing it in the throwing stick,
+that he allowed me, being in advance of the rest, to get within sixty
+yards of him: I then loudly hailed him. He cast one look of utter and
+indescribable astonishment at the strange being who thus interrupted his
+pathway over his native soil, and was off at the top of his speed. Little
+anticipating that I should soon have to test in earnest the fleetness of
+these people, I tried rates with him for a short distance, and remarked,
+with surprise, that he had not that superiority of speed which might have
+been expected. Perhaps fright deprived him of his full powers, for what
+must have been his sensations on finding himself almost cut off by a
+party of beings whose very existence was till then unknown to him? I have
+since half regretted that I did not see how much nearer I could have
+approached without discovery, but at the time I did not wish to frighten
+him too far. To have got so near as I did will seem almost incredible to
+those who recollect the wary character, and the peculiarly restless and
+vigilant eye of the savage: some strong emotion of love or hate had for
+the time perhaps rendered him quite unconscious of all surrounding
+objects!
+
+We came on the river over a steep bank covered with high reeds, and as a
+party of natives were distinctly audible below, myself, Mr. Forsyth, and
+Mr. Bynoe led the way. The natives crossed immediately, and were visible
+for a few moments through the foliage on the other side: however, they
+appeared but to wait in order to verify the astonishing report just
+brought in by their breathless countryman; for as the foremost of our
+party emerged from the tall reeds, our opposite neighbours slowly drew
+off, and were soon hid in the dense obscurity their position afforded.
+They had evidently examined our old fireplace very minutely, but the
+precaution taken to preserve the meat canister had luckily been
+successful.
+
+QUARTERS FOR THE NIGHT.
+
+I selected the quarters for the night not without some anxiety, for the
+natives were evidently in force in our immediate neighbourhood, and their
+shrill cries kept us all awake, though the day's march had been an
+arduous one. We had made good upwards of twenty miles: the ground, except
+in Lucky Valley, was of a most trying character: the thermometer at noon
+102 degrees, and with nearly 150 pounds weight among seven of us, for the
+sick hand was of course relieved as far as possible. I got the requisite
+observation for latitude during the night; and since necessity is ever
+the mother of invention, read off my sextant by a torch made for the
+occasion from pieces of paperbark. It will easily be believed, that I did
+not needlessly prolong the work; for the light of the torch rendered me a
+prominent mark for any prowling savage to hurl his spear at: however, His
+Eye, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, watched over our
+safety, and we spent the night in security if not in silence.
+
+November 14.
+
+The morning broke, and we found ourselves apparently alone in the
+solitudes of the forest: no sound or sign indicated the presence of its
+more rightful proprietors. Did the savage so soon prepare to yield to the
+advancing movement of that hitherto fatal civilization before which his
+name, his race, nay, all traces of his rude existence may ere long pass
+into oblivion? or did the gathering of the night, and the apparent
+peaceful aspect of the morn, denote that one gallant struggle would be
+made ere a strange shout of triumph woke the silent echoes with the
+glorious name with which we had dignified our new discovery, and which
+throughout the world sounds as the appropriate title of the fair
+sovereign of its mightiest people?
+
+RETURN TO REACH HOPELESS.
+
+A rapid walk brought us to our old bivouac by ten o'clock, without
+anything of particular interest having occurred upon the route. We found
+only one boat at Reach Hopeless, Captain Wickham having gone down the
+river with the others in order to hasten the watering party. In another
+chapter will be found some more detailed remarks upon the peculiar and
+distinctive character of the Victoria; they will not be uninteresting to
+the reader who feels any of that curiosity which is in part an incitement
+to the discoverer.
+
+We learnt from the party at the boat that a large body of the natives had
+been down watching their movements, and apparently intending if possible
+to surprise them. Though they had approached very near, they would not
+have been seen but for a shooting party, which got a view of them from an
+overlooking height, crawling along the ground with evident caution. They
+were probably the same party we had encountered higher up, and had traced
+our trail backwards, in order to see whence, and in what force we had
+entered their territory. Little did they imagine, as they gazed upon our
+small party and its solitary boat, that they had seen the harbingers of
+an approaching revolution in the fortunes of their country!
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.3. VICTORIA RIVER.
+
+Proceed down the river from Reach Hopeless.
+Meet watering party.
+One of the men deserts.
+Kangaroo shooting.
+The writer left to complete survey of river.
+Silk cotton-tree.
+Fertility of Whirlwind Plains.
+Attempt of one of the crew to jump overboard.
+Reach the Ship.
+Suffer from sore eyes.
+Lieutenant Emery finds water.
+Geological specimens.
+Bird's Playhouse.
+Tides.
+Strange weather.
+Range of Barometer.
+Accounted for by proximity of Port Essington.
+Hurricane.
+Effects of the latter.
+Dreary country behind Water Valley.
+Fruitless attempt to weigh ship's anchors.
+Obliged to slip from both of them.
+Proceed down the river.
+Complete survey of Main Channel.
+Visit south Entrance Point of river.
+Discover a number of dead turtles.
+Cross over to Point Pearce.
+Mr. Bynoe shoots a new finch.
+The Author speared.
+Pursued by natives.
+Escape.
+Flight of natives.
+Armed party pursue them.
+Night of suffering.
+General description of the Victoria.
+Gouty-stem tree and fruit.
+
+REUNION OF THE BOATS.
+
+November 13.
+
+The day was devoted to fixing the position of several of the surrounding
+hills; and in the afternoon we obtained observations for rating the
+chronometers: I found that one by French, which I had worn in my pocket,
+had gone most admirably. Captain Wickham joined us in the gig after dark.
+The evening was cloudy, and we had a sharp squall at midnight from
+south-east.
+
+November 14.
+
+Both boats were moved off down the river at daylight, and ere it had
+passed away, the ford above Steep Head was left behind. We found that the
+watering boats had not got over the shallow below, so that we spent the
+night together; and a merry party we made. We talked over all we had
+seen, and the hills that rose around echoed back for the first time the
+laugh and the song of civilized man, and our strange language was
+repeated as glibly by the rocks of Australia as if they were those of our
+own native land. So true is it that nature is ever ready to commune
+familiarly with us, whereas by our very brethren we are looked upon as
+enemies to shun, and are incapable of making ourselves understood by
+them.
+
+A DESERTER.
+
+When the morning of the 15th broke it was discovered that one of the men
+belonging to the watering party had deserted during the night. He had
+been guilty of this offence once before, in order to steal the spirits
+which had been buried for the use of my exploring party. What however
+could have induced him to take this step a second time--risking, without
+any apparent motive, the danger of being left on a strange, and almost
+uninhabited coast, it would be difficult even to suggest. Parties were
+immediately despatched in quest of him, and at length, after an arduous
+search, he was found behind a large sandstone rock on the side of a hill;
+having revisited the spot where the provisions had been concealed for the
+use of my party, in the hope of obtaining possession of his god the
+rum-keg. He had evidently prepared for desertion: clothing, biscuit, and
+fishing-tackle being among the stores with which he had made off. This
+despicable wretch--for such must everyone consider the man who would
+steal his shipmates' provisions, when each had only his bare
+allowance--had nothing to say, either in extenuation or explanation of
+his conduct. Most fortunate for him was it that our humane exertions to
+discover his retreat were successful; he could not long have subsisted by
+himself, and even had he been so happy as to fall in with, and receive
+hospitable welcome from the natives, he must of necessity have lingered
+out a life of toilsome, cheerless hardship while a companion of their
+wanderings, and when unfitted for this by old age, he would, according to
+the custom of the country, have been left to die, unfriended and alone,
+upon the spot where his last weary efforts failed. The delay occasioned
+by this extraordinary and unlooked-for event, made it late by the time
+all the boats were fairly on their way down the river. The wind was light
+from the north-east, and the temperature about 90 degrees, at 9 o'clock.
+
+NEW KANGAROO.
+
+I pushed on to gain a station at the commencement of the hills on the
+eastern side of Whirlwind Plains, and also, if possible, to shoot a
+kangaroo to send to the ship:* I was so fortunate as to secure two; one
+of a new species, very small, and of a dark brown colour, with coarse
+hair, I found in rocky land, which it appears solely to inhabit, as it
+was also found near the ship. As, however, like the generality of
+kangaroos, this species only move of their own accord in the night time,
+they are rarely seen, and but one good specimen was obtained by
+Lieutenant Emery, who brought it to England, and submitted it to Mr.
+Gould, who has described it as Petrogale concinna. It is now in the
+British Museum.
+
+(*Footnote. I had now become quite an adept in this kind of sport. My
+plan was to direct a man to walk along near the river, where they are
+generally found, whilst I kept considerably above him and a little in
+advance, so that all those that were started running up from the bank in
+the curved direction, habitual with all kangaroos, passed within shot.)
+
+The height we visited was of coarse sandstone formation, and attained an
+elevation of 150 feet. As I was left to examine some parts of the river
+which had been passed in the night, I had a further opportunity of
+determining the value, and estimating the fertility of Whirlwind Plains.
+My examination only confirmed my previous conjectures in favour of the
+capabilities of the soil. From what I had seen at Port Essington, as
+ground considered favourable for the growth of cotton, there can be no
+doubt that on these plains it would thrive much better; but the soil on
+the Victoria is of too fertile a character to bear any comparison with
+that of Cobourg Peninsula.
+
+SILK COTTON-TREE.
+
+At Reach Hopeless, and at other points of the important stream I am
+describing we observed numerous specimens of a kind of silk cotton-tree
+(Bombax): the diameter was sometimes as great as twenty inches; and it
+not unfrequently rose to the height of twenty or thirty feet, though
+generally shorter. The pods were of an oval shape, and about two inches
+and a half in length; each pod was in three divisions and full of a silky
+cotton, with the seeds not imbedded but held at the extremity of the
+fibres. I brought home a specimen and presented it to Sir William Hooker,
+of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, with whom I have since had some
+correspondence on the subject. He informs me that the plant is one
+hitherto undescribed; but that Sir Joseph Banks met with it in Captain
+Cook's voyage.
+
+November 17.
+
+We continued our descent of the river: stopping from time to time to
+complete the survey. In the end of Long Reach we noticed that the stream
+ran up two hours after high-water. After securing some observations for
+latitude under Station Peak in the early part of the night, we proceeded
+further down the river, delighted to escape from that mosquito-haunted
+neighbourhood.
+
+EFFECTS OF DRINKING SALT-WATER.
+
+November 18.
+
+At day-break I was very much distressed and astonished to see one of the
+men on a sudden start up under the influence of delirium, and attempt to
+throw himself into the water, from which the combined strength of three
+or four of the crew with difficulty restrained him. He was one of the
+best men I had with me; his sudden and serious illness had doubtless been
+produced by the draughts of saltwater which he had swallowed during the
+night. He had been accustomed to indulge in very liberal potations while
+we were up the river, and now, when from necessity the allowance was
+restricted to a gallon per day, he had most foolishly attempted in the
+dark to quench his thirst with the salt waters of the advancing tide. In
+the afternoon we rejoined the ship, and he was placed under the care of
+Mr. Bynoe; but it was some time before he fully recovered from the
+effects of his rash experiment. The day was very oppressive, the
+thermometer being 105 degrees in the shade, and there was no wind. We
+were cordially greeted by our shipmates upon our return, and both Mr.
+Forsyth and myself enjoyed the luxury of a night's rest in our hammocks;
+a most agreeable change after the hot stones upon which we had generally
+been compelled to court repose during our exploration. We had both
+suffered much inconvenience from the attacks of flies upon our visual
+organs, necessarily exposed and undefended as they had been when we were
+occupied during the observations and in viewing the strange scenes of the
+last eighteen days. The irritation upon the lids produced a copious
+discharge, which fairly sealed them up at night; so that, at last, in
+order to have them ready for immediate use, I found it requisite to sleep
+with a wet linen cloth covering each eye.
+
+We heard with great satisfaction that Lieutenant Emery's search for water
+had been completely successful, and that two large wells had been dug in
+the valley, abreast of which the ship was anchored. During our absence
+the barometer had ranged between 30.08 and 29.97; the minimum height
+being always at noon. There had been several sharp squalls from the
+eastward, beginning at south-east and ending at north-east, with a few
+showers of rain. North-west, or seabreezes, were regular near the changes
+of the moon, and of greater duration. No meteors were observed since the
+16th, but between the 7th and 11th they were very numerous.
+
+GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS.
+
+November 20.
+
+I went ashore to collect a few geological specimens: the sandstone which
+prevailed everywhere was in a decomposed state, but there was a very
+decided dip in the strata to the south-east, of about 30 degrees. On the
+east side of Water Valley, I found the same kind of slate, noticed before
+at Curiosity Peak: but what most interested me was a bituminous substance
+found near the bottom of the wells recently dug, and 23 feet from the
+surface of the ground. It was apparently of a clayey nature when first
+brought up, but became hard and dark upon exposure to the air, and
+ignited quickly when put into the flame of a candle. The sides of Water
+Valley were very precipitous, and nearly 300 feet high: a growth of palms
+marked the spot, and served to indicate our wells. We here saw also the
+same fruit I had noticed on Curiosity Peak.
+
+BIRD'S PLAYHOUSE.
+
+I found matter for conjecture in noticing a number of twigs with their
+ends stuck into the ground, which was strewed over with shells, and their
+tops brought together so as to form a small bower; this was 2 1/2 feet
+long, 1 1/2 foot wide at either end. It was not until my next visit to
+Port Essington that I thought this anything but some Australian mother's
+toy to amuse her child: there I was asked, one day, to go and see the
+bird's playhouse, when I immediately recognised the same kind of
+construction I had seen at the Victoria River: the bird* was amusing
+itself by flying backwards and forwards, taking a shell alternately from
+each side, and carrying it through the archway in its mouth.
+
+(*Footnote. Figured in Mr. Gould's work as Chlamydera nuchalis.)
+
+November 22.
+
+The moon being full to-day we noticed that the tides were very strong:
+particularly the flood-stream, which came in bores, and sometimes swept
+by the ship at the rate of 6 1/2 knots, while the ebb did not exceed 4
+1/2: the greatest rise also to-day was 24 feet.
+
+SINGULAR CHANGE OF WINDS.
+
+November 25.
+
+My journal of this day begins with remarking a very extraordinary change
+that took place in the winds. Instead of the usual fresh North-West
+breeze after ten A.M., there was a moderate one from East-South-East.
+This drew round gradually by east to north. At sunset the weather was
+very gloomy; but the barometer indicated nothing, ranging as usual. In
+the early part of the night the wind was light from North-North-West,
+changing suddenly at midnight to a fresh breeze from South-East with
+rain. When the morning broke, it had veered to East-South-East with
+squalls from East-North-East and heavy rain. Dense masses of clouds
+covered the sky, enveloping everything in gloom; which, though so far
+agreeable as to reduce the temperature to 75 degrees, had a most singular
+effect after the constant bright sunny days we had experienced. There was
+still no unusual change in the barometer, the maximum being 30.06, and
+the minimum 29.98 at two P.M. The night was squally without rain.
+
+HURRICANE AT PORT ESSINGTON.
+
+November 27.
+
+The day broke with an appearance of fine weather; patches of blue sky
+peeped between the heavy masses of clouds, and expanding as the day
+advanced, left us at sunset with a cloudless vault of blue overhead. The
+barometer was lower throughout the whole of this day than it had been at
+all, being at two P.M. 29.91. When this strange weather first began I was
+disposed to consider it to be of the same character as that which I had
+before observed to occur within a few days of the change of the moon. But
+its duration and occasional violence led me to think otherwise, and I
+afterwards found my conclusions to be correct; as at this very time a
+hurricane visited Port Essington, distant 270 miles, in a North 30
+degrees East direction.*
+
+(*Footnote. The following account of the effects of this hurricane at
+Port Essington is from the pen of Captain Stanley, and has been published
+in the Nautical Magazine for September 1841.
+
+Monday 25th.
+
+A strong breeze set in from the south-east with drizzling rain, but as
+the barometer remained at 29.90, its usual point, and similar weather had
+been experienced at the change of the monsoon in 1838, nothing was
+apprehended, more particularly as the wind moderated (as had been
+expected) at sunset. Between seven and eight o'clock the wind drew round
+to the southward, and the barometer began to fall rapidly: at ten it blew
+furiously from the same quarter, and the barometer was as low as 29.10;
+many of the trees were blown down at this time. At midnight the wind drew
+round to the eastward, and blew a perfect hurricane, before which nearly
+everything gave way; the trees came down in every part of the settlement;
+the marines' houses were all blown down; the church, only finished a
+week, shared the same fate: the barometer fell to 28.52.
+
+About two A.M. the wind shifted suddenly to the northward, from which
+point for about half-an-hour, its fury was tremendous; the
+government-house, built on stone piers, was blown away from them to a
+distance of nine feet; the sea rose ten feet and a half, by measurement
+afterwards, above the usual high-water mark. H.M.S. Pelorus, having
+parted her cables, was driven on shore, and thrown over on her beam ends,
+on the north-east point of the settlement, where heeling over 82 degrees,
+her starboard side was buried nine feet in the mud, leaving the keel
+three feet clear of the ground.**
+
+At daylight the barometer rose slowly to 29.90, the gale moderated, and
+the sea went down so fast, that between seven and eight we were able to
+send a boat to the assistance of the Pelorus: after eight the breeze
+continued to blow strong from the northward for two days, with heavy
+rain.
+
+The occurrence of such a hurricane must be very rare, as the natives were
+as much astonished as ourselves, and came to beg for shelter: they have
+no name for it, and no tradition of anything of the sort having happened
+before: the state in which the very extensive fences at Raffles Bay were
+in shortly before, must prove that the trees had never been blown down in
+the way they were on the 25th of November, since that settlement was
+abandoned in 1829.
+
+The extent of the hurricane must have been very limited: at Coepang a
+strong gale from the south-west was experienced, and also between Java
+and Timor on the 26th, but the wind did not change. Even 18 miles north,
+at Vashon Head, the change of wind must have been greater though equal in
+force. There the first trees fell with the wind from West-South-West; a
+few fell when the wind was east, and most when the wind was north-west.
+The Malays have an idea that every fifth year the monsoon is stronger
+than usual, but can give no reason for thinking so. According to them
+this monsoon ought to have been a strong one.
+
+(**Footnote. The Pelorus was dug out of the mud, and once more got afloat
+towards the middle of February following. This immense undertaking was
+accomplished by the indefatigable exertion and mechanical skill of her
+commander, Captain Kuper, C.B., assisted by Captain Stanley. J.L.S.))
+
+COURSE OF THE STORM.
+
+The bad weather in the Victoria then would appear to have been caused by
+the proximity of the southern edge of this storm as it passed to the
+westward. The fact of the time when the weather was the worst, having
+been the same at Port Essington, and in the Victoria; and of the French
+discovery ships meeting it in Torres Strait first, shows the westerly
+course of the storm. Its northern edge did not reach Coepang, but a
+strong gale from the south-west on the 26th showed that it was passing.
+Most probably it took a more southerly course before reaching Timor.*
+
+(*Footnote. We were informed at Timor that hurricanes were never felt
+there, but occur once in four or five years to the southward of it. It
+may be added that a vessel lost her top-masts in the Port Essington
+hurricane, near Sandalwood Island, and that to the southward of Java
+hurricanes occur frequently.)
+
+I passed the night on shore, making observations for latitude, and in the
+hope also of being able to obtain another specimen of the new small
+kangaroo, that being the time when it is generally to be found on the
+move. But I did not succeed in this object; and failed also in my
+expectation of knocking over one of a large kind seen in the interior. I
+left the observation spot for this purpose with the first grey of the
+morn, taking an East-North-East direction for about four miles.
+
+DREARY COUNTRY.
+
+The country was most dreary; vast ranges strewn over with huge blocks of
+sandstone, rose in desolate grandeur around; chasms, ravines, and thirsty
+stony valleys yawned on every side; all was broken, rugged, and arid, as
+if the curse of sterility had fallen on the land; in short, the contrast
+was complete between this desert place and the country we had so lately
+traversed up the river. I was able, accordingly, to procure nothing in
+the shape of a fresh meal, save a few black cockatoos and some of the
+pigeons of a dark brown colour, with a white patch on the extremity of
+the wing, which I have alluded to in the earlier part of the work
+relating to King's Sound, as always inhabiting rocky districts and making
+a whirring sound, like a partridge, on the wing.
+
+LOSE TWO ANCHORS.
+
+November 29.
+
+This afternoon and the whole of the next day, when the tide suited, we
+were endeavouring to weigh the ship's anchors; but they were together
+with the cables so imbedded in the bottom, which must have been a
+quicksand, that this proved impossible. Had the ship been fitted with
+Captain Charles Phillips', R.N., capstan, there would have been a better
+chance of succeeding. As it was, after heaving down the ship nineteen
+inches by the head, and splitting the hawse pipes, we were ultimately
+obliged to leave both behind, and thirty fathoms of cable with one and
+fifteen with the other. This circumstance suggested the appropriate name
+of Holdfast Reach for this locality; and perhaps in some future
+generations, when this part of the world has undergone the changes that
+seems destined for it, the archaeologist of Victoria River may in vain
+puzzle his wits with speculations concerning the Beagle's anchors.
+
+Whilst at this anchorage, just after dark, flocks of whistling ducks were
+constantly heard passing over our heads in a South-West by West
+direction, or towards the head of Cambridge Gulf, which led to the
+supposition that there was a river in that neighbourhood. We placed the
+south point of Water Valley in latitude 15 degrees 13 3/4 minutes South
+and longitude 2 degrees 22 minutes West of Port Essington, variation one
+degree easterly. Our tidal observation made the time of high-water, at
+the full and change of the moon, 9 o'clock, when the mean rise at springs
+was sixteen feet, and at neaps ten. The duration of the flood-stream was
+seven hours, being two greater than the ebb. The former ran 50 minutes
+after high-water, and the latter 30 minutes after low-water. Before
+leaving Holdfast Reach, Lieutenant Emery observed one or two natives,
+opposite Water Valley, being the only ones that had been seen from the
+ship. He endeavoured to obtain an interview, by going up alone towards
+them, but they drew off when he got near.
+
+DROP DOWN THE RIVER.
+
+December 1.
+
+We slipped from our last anchor at daylight, and proceeded down the
+river. After pirouetting through Whirlpool Reach, we got as far down as
+the flats fronting River Peak, above which we anchored near noon. After
+having been shut up among rocky ranges for a month, the sight of the sea
+horizon was a novelty, and the cool, refreshing breeze, as it came
+sweeping over the unbroken expanse of waters, created in us very pleasing
+sensations.
+
+Next morning we beat down the main channel, which was called the Queen's,
+the deep water varying from five to nine fathoms being on the west side.
+Some shoal patches of a quarter and two fathoms, lying midway between
+Observation Island, and the end of the long sand extending off its
+northern side, prevented our proceeding further. The boats completed the
+survey of the western side of the channel in the afternoon: the largest
+creek examined by Mr. Forsyth received his name.
+
+REACH THE SEA.
+
+December 3.
+
+Dropping down the channel with a light air from the westward, and a boat
+in advance sounding, no impediment occurred after passing the sands
+extending off Observation Island, as a fine deep channel of six and eight
+fathoms followed the western side of Quoin Island, and the long sand
+stretching off its north end. When we had cleared this the anchor was
+dropped in eight fathoms, and the boats were again employed in sounding.
+
+That the Beagle was once more anchored outside all the banks--to have
+touched on any of which, with the great strength of the tides that
+hurried us along would have been fatal--was a great relief to all of us,
+especially to me, in whom Captain Wickham had placed so much confidence
+as to trust the ship to my guidance, whilst exposed to the dangers I have
+mentioned.
+
+December 4.
+
+Moved the ship within three miles and a half of the south extreme point
+of the river, the highest part bearing South 40 degrees West. A party of
+us visited it, and, from a rather extraordinary sight we there beheld, it
+was called Turtle Point.
+
+DEAD TURTLES ON THE SHORE.
+
+Behind some very low scattered sandhills that form it, fronting a
+mangrove flat, we beheld great numbers of dead turtles, that seemed to
+have repaired thither of their own accord to die. They were lying on
+their bellies, with their shells for the most part uninjured, though some
+were turned over, and showed other signs of visits from the natives. A
+few skeletons of a large bustard* were also seen there, so that the place
+had quite the appearance of a cemetery, and reminded me of a spot on the
+River Gallegos in Patagonia, where the guanacos (a kind of llama)
+assemble to pay the debt of nature, and leave their bones to whiten the
+surface of the plain. Never before, on any occasion, had we seen dead
+turtles in any similar position; how they could have got there was a
+mystery, unless we suppose them to have been thrown up by some earthquake
+wave. They had evidently not been transported thither by the hand of man,
+though, as I have observed, some of the natives who thinly inhabit this
+district, finding them there, ready to their hand, had availed themselves
+of the gifts of fortune. I could not help, as I gazed on this remarkable
+scene, calling to mind the marvellous elephant cemetery described by
+Sinbad the Sailor. It is possible that the observation of some similar
+phenomenon may have suggested to the imagination of the authors of the
+Thousand and One Nights their romantic fiction. At any rate an air of
+mystery will always hang round Turtle Point until the facts I have
+mentioned shall have been explained.
+
+(*Footnote. A specimen of one of them was brought away and deposited in
+the Museum at Sydney.)
+
+The nature of this part of the country I have before described on my
+visit to Indian Hill. A ridge of breakers ran off north a couple of miles
+from our station; a low point, bearing West 16 degrees South about eight
+or nine miles, with an opening trending in south intervening, with some
+slightly elevated land bearing South 34 degrees West about four or five
+leagues, terminated our view to the westward. We found the tide much
+weaker on this side of the entrance, not exceeding three miles an hour;
+the stream ran up three-quarters of an hour after high-water. The times
+of high-water for the last three days had been most unaccountably the
+same.
+
+December 5.
+
+Crossed over to Point Pearce at daylight, but the wind being light all
+the morning did not reach an anchorage till the afternoon; the extreme of
+the point bearing North 41 degrees West three-quarters of a mile. A line
+of ripplings extended a couple of miles off to the south-west of it, in
+which we found there was only four fathoms. In standing across the
+entrance we passed first a bank of three fathoms, with six and seven on
+each side; Turtle Point bearing South 45 degrees West 11 miles; then two
+more, one of seven and eight fathoms, with twelve and seventeen on each
+side, the other of only two fathoms with twelve on the south, and twenty
+on the north side.
+
+MERMAID BANK.
+
+We subsequently found the latter to be a continuation of the bank on
+which Captain King had five fathoms, Point Pearce bearing North 22
+degrees East 5 miles; and in order to record his visit we named it, after
+his vessel, Mermaid Bank.
+
+VISIT THE SHORE FOR OBSERVATIONS.
+
+December 7.
+
+I left the ship in the morning to make some observations at Point Pearce
+for the errors of the chronometers. I was accompanied to the shore by Mr.
+Bynoe, who was going on a shooting excursion. It being high-water, I was
+obliged to select a spot near the cliffs forming the point, for carrying
+out my intention. That selected was about 60 yards from the wood-crowned
+cliff which rose behind; thinking such an intervening distance would
+secure me from the spear of the treacherous native. This caution rather
+resulted from what had before occurred at Escape Cliffs, where Messrs.
+Fitzmaurice and Keys so narrowly escaped, than from any idea that natives
+might be lurking about. Indeed, Mr. Bynoe had been shooting all over the
+ground yesterday, and had neither seen nor heard anything to indicate
+their existence in this neighbourhood; though doubtless, from what
+followed, they had been very busily watching him all the time, and were
+probably only deterred from making an attack, by the alarm with which his
+destructive gun, dealing death to the birds, must have filled them.
+Requiring equal altitudes, I was compelled to revisit the spot in the
+afternoon for the corresponding observations. The boat in which Mr. Bynoe
+returned to the ship, was to carry me on shore. We met at the gangway,
+and in answer to my inquiry, he informed me that he had seen no traces of
+the natives. He had shot a new and very beautiful bird of the finch
+tribe, in which the brilliant colours of verdigris green, lilac purple,
+and bright yellow, were admirably blended.* The time was short; half an
+hour would have sufficed for the observations, and we should have left
+the coast. As it was now low-water, and I had to traverse a coral reef
+half a mile in width, I resolved to lighten myself of my gun, which I had
+taken with me in the morning, that I might with greater safety carry the
+chronometer. On landing I directed Mr. Tarrant and one of the boat's crew
+to follow with the rest of the instruments. The walking was very bad, the
+reef being strewed with coral fragments, and interspersed with large
+pools. With my mind fully occupied by all we had seen of late, I hurried
+on without waiting, and reached the observation spot, just glancing
+towards the cliff, which presented nothing to the view except the silvery
+stems of the never-failing gumtrees.
+
+(*Footnote. Figured by Mr. Gould from this specimen as Amadina gouldiae.)
+
+THE AUTHOR SPEARED.
+
+I had just turned my head round to look after my followers when I was
+suddenly staggered by a violent and piercing blow about the left
+shoulder:* and ere the dart had ceased to quiver in its destined mark, a
+loud long yell, such as the savage only can produce, told me by whom I
+had been speared.
+
+(*Footnote. See the view annexed. )
+
+PURSUED BY THE NATIVES.
+
+One glance sufficed to show me the cliffs, so lately the abode of silence
+and solitude, swarming with the dusky forms of the natives, now indulging
+in all the exuberant action with which the Australian testifies his
+delight. One tall bushy-headed fellow led the group, and was evidently my
+successful assailant. I drew out the spear, which had entered the cavity
+of the chest, and retreated, with all the swiftness I could command, in
+the hope of reaching those who were coming up from the boat, and were
+then about halfway. I fully expected another spear while my back was
+turned; but fortunately the savages seemed only to think of getting down
+to the beach to complete their work. Onward I hurried, carrying the
+spear, which I had drawn from the wound, and determined if, as I
+expected, overtaken, to sell my life dearly. Each step, less steady than
+the former one, reminded me that I was fast losing blood: but I hurried
+on, still retaining the chronometer, and grasping my only weapon of
+defence. The savage cry behind soon told me that my pursuers had found
+their way to the beach: while at every respiration, the air escaping
+through the orifice of the wound, warned me that the strength by which I
+was still enabled to struggle through the deep pools and various other
+impediments in my path, must fail me soon. I had fallen twice: each
+disaster being announced by a shout of vindictive triumph, from the
+bloodhounds behind. To add to my distress, I now saw, with utter dismay,
+that Mr. Tarrant, and the man with the instruments, unconscious of the
+fact that I had been speared, and therefore believing that I could make
+good my escape, were moving off towards the boat. I gave up all hope, and
+with that rapid glance at the past, which in such an hour crowds the
+whole history of life upon the mind, and one brief mental act of
+supplication or rather submission to Him in whose hands are the issues of
+life and death, I prepared for the last dread struggle.
+
+NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH.
+
+At that moment the attention of the retreating party was aroused by a
+boat approaching hastily from the ship; the first long, loud, wild shriek
+of the natives having most providentially apprised those on board of our
+danger. They turned and perceived that I was completely exhausted. I
+spent the last struggling energy I possessed to join them. Supported on
+each side I had just strength to direct them to turn towards our savage
+enemies: who were hurrying on in a long file, shouting and waving their
+clubs, and were now only about thirty yards off. Our turning, momentarily
+checked their advance, whilst their force increased. During these very
+few and awfully anxious moments, a party, headed by Lieutenant Emery,
+hastened over the reef to our support. Another moment, and ours would
+have been the fate of so many other explorers; the hand of the savage
+almost grasped our throats--we should have fallen a sacrifice in the
+cause of discovery, and our bones left to moulder on this distant shore,
+would have been trodden heedlessly underfoot by the wandering native.
+
+At the sight of Lieutenant Emery's party, the natives flew with the
+utmost rapidity, covering their flight, either from chance or skill, by
+my party; in a moment the air, so lately echoing with their ferocious
+yells, was silent, and the scene of their intended massacre, as lonely
+and deserted as before!
+
+I was soon got down to the boat, lifted over the ship's side, and
+stretched on the poop cabin table, under the care of Mr. Bynoe, who on
+probing the wound gave me a cheering hope of its not proving fatal. The
+anxiety with which I watched his countenance, and listened to the words
+of life or death, the reader may imagine, but I cannot attempt to
+describe. The natives never throw a spear when the eye of the person they
+aim at is turned towards them, supposing that everyone, like themselves,
+can avoid it. This was most fortunate, as, my side being towards them,
+the spear had to pass through the thick muscles of the breast before
+reaching my lungs. Another circumstance in my favour was that I had been
+very much reduced by my late exertions.
+
+NIGHT OF SUFFERING.
+
+The sufferings of that night I will not fatigue my readers by describing;
+but I can never forget the anxiety with which Mr. Bynoe watched over me
+during the whole of it. Neither can I forget my feelings of gratitude to
+the Almighty when my sunken eyes the next morning once more caught the
+first rays of the sun. It seemed as though I could discover in these an
+assurance that my hour was not yet come, and that it would be my lot for
+some time longer to gaze with grateful pleasure on their splendour.
+
+Several excursions were made during our stay in search of the natives,
+but without success. An encampment was found in the neighbourhood, near a
+small freshwater swamp, and by the things that were left behind it was
+evident that a hasty retreat had been made. It would have been as well if
+we could have punished these people in some way for their unprovoked
+attack; but to have followed them far into the bush would have been quite
+useless. A comparison of their conduct with that of the natives of Shoal
+Bay, confirms what I have before stated of the extraordinary contrast
+presented by the dispositions of the aboriginal inhabitants of Australia;
+for in both instances we were the first Europeans they had ever
+encountered.
+
+TREACHERY BAY.
+
+The observations, which nearly cost me my life in endeavouring to obtain,
+placed Point Pearce in latitude 14 degrees 25 minutes 50 seconds, South
+longitude 2 degrees 49 minutes West of Port Essington. The time of
+high-water, at the full and change, was seven o'clock, when the tides
+rose from twenty to twenty-six feet. The cliffs forming it are of a
+reddish hue, from the quantity of iron the rocks in the neighbourhood
+contain. To commemorate the accident which befell me, the bay within
+Point Pearce was called Treachery Bay, and a high hill over it Providence
+Hill.
+
+In the nights of the 10th and 11th we had sharp squalls from the
+eastward, being early in the season for their repeated appearance. There
+was the usual gathering of clouds, the hard edges of which were lit up by
+the constant flashing of lightning. It is singular that all these
+squalls, wherever we have met them, should happen within five hours of
+the same time, between nine at night and two in the morning.
+
+COURSE OF THE VICTORIA.
+
+I have thus detailed the circumstances attending the discovery and
+partial exploration of the Victoria, that new and important addition to
+our geographical knowledge of one of the least known and most interesting
+portions of the globe. Its peculiar characteristics--for, like all
+Australian rivers, it has distinctive habits and scenery of its own--the
+nature of the country through which it flows--its present condition, its
+future destiny, are all subjects, to which, though I may have cursorily
+alluded before, I am under promise to the reader of returning. Of that
+promise, therefore, I now tender this in fulfilment.
+
+The Victoria falls into the Indian Ocean in latitude 14 degrees 40
+minutes South and longitude 129 degrees 21 minutes East, being at its
+confluence with the sea, between Turtle and Pearce Points, twenty-six
+miles wide. The land upon either side as you enter the river is bold and
+well defined, but from the margin of the western shore, an extensive mud
+and mangrove flat, not entirely above the level of high-water, and
+reaching to the base of a range of hills, about seventeen miles from the
+water's edge, seems to indicate that at one time the waters of the
+Victoria washed the high land on either side.
+
+For the first thirty miles of the upward course, the character of the
+river undergoes but little change. The left side continues bold, with the
+exception of a few extensive flats, sometimes overflowed, and a
+remarkable rocky elevation, about twenty-five miles up, to which we gave
+the name of The Fort, as suggested by its bastion-like appearance, though
+now called Table Hill in the chart. To the right the shore remains low,
+studded with mangroves, and still, from appearance, subject to not
+unfrequent inundations: towards the mouth, indeed, it is partially
+flooded by each returning tide. Thirty-five miles from its mouth its
+whole appearance undergoes the most striking alteration. We now enter the
+narrow defile of a precipitous rocky range of compact sandstone, rising
+from 4 to 500 feet in height, and coming down to the river, in some
+places nearly two miles wide, in others not less than twenty fathoms
+deep, and hurrying through, as if to force a passage, with a velocity
+sometimes not less than six miles an hour.
+
+NATURE OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+It continues a rapid stream during its passage through this defile, an
+extent of some thirty miles, and beyond it is found slowly winding its
+way towards the sea across a rich alluvial plain, fifteen miles in width.
+Above this plain is found a second range of similar character and
+formation to that before mentioned; the stream, however, having of course
+somewhat less both of width and depth, and flowing with a decreased
+rapidity. The elevation of the hills on either side was at first entering
+considerably less than in the former range; they had also lost much of
+their steep and precipitous appearance; but as we gradually proceeded up,
+the former distinctive characteristics returned: the hills rose higher
+and more boldly, almost immediately from the water's edge, and continued
+each mile to present a loftier and more rugged front; never however
+attaining the extreme altitude of the former or Sea Range. Above Reach
+Hopeless the width of the alluvial land, lying between the immediate
+margin of the river and the hills which bound its valley, considerably
+increased; and just in proportion as the high bold land approached the
+channel on one shore, it receded from it on the opposite, and left an
+extensive alluvial flat between that bank and the retreating hills; the
+whole valley, too, widened out, so that, supposing the stream at one time
+to have filled it from the bases of the high land on either side, it must
+have had a breadth above Reach Hopeless of from three to five miles, and
+this still increased when I last traced its presumed course beyond Mount
+Regret.
+
+The extreme altitude of Sea Range is from 7 to 800 feet, and of the hills
+last seen, near Mount Regret, from 4 to 500. The distinctive formation
+common to both consists in their level summits, within twenty feet of
+which a precipitous wall of rock, of a reddish hue, runs along the
+hillside.
+
+VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.
+
+The upper portion of the valley through which the river passes varies in
+its nature from treeless, stony plains to rich alluvial flats, lightly
+timbered with a white-stemmed gum. The banks are steep and high, thickly
+clothed with the acacia, drooping eucalyptus, and tall reeds. The various
+lake-like reaches had, of course, no perceptible stream, but their banks,
+no less than the dry patches in the bed of the river, satisfied us that
+the Victoria had recently been, and in all probability would soon again
+become, a large and rapid river.
+
+GOUTY-STEM TREE.
+
+Among the most curious vegetable productions along its banks are the silk
+cotton-tree and the gouty-stem tree. The latter has been already
+mentioned by Captains King and Grey, and here attains a great size: it
+bears a very fragrant white flower, not unlike the jasmine; the fruit is
+used by the natives, and found to be a very nutritious article of food,
+something similar to a coconut. Not having previously noticed it in this
+neighbourhood I conclude this to be the northern limit of its growth. The
+reader will remember my having before alluded to seeing it near the mouth
+of Fitzroy River, where I have also mentioned the extent of coast on
+which we found it, and given the limits of its indigenous empire,
+extending not quite over two degrees of latitude. The peculiar character
+of the tree I leave the reader to learn from the woodcuts annexed.
+
+ITS FRUIT.
+
+That containing the fruit* is from a specimen obtained near the Fitzroy,
+as it was in flower when I saw it in the month of November on the banks
+of the Victoria.
+
+(*Footnote. For description of this fruit, see Volume 1.)
+
+I may here remind the reader, that among the results of our exploration
+of the Victoria was the addition of a new species of kangaroo, a
+freshwater tortoise, some fish, and several beautiful birds to the
+domains of natural history.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.4. VICTORIA RIVER TO SWAN RIVER.
+
+Leave Point Pearce.
+Error in position of Cape Rulhieres.
+Obtain soundings on supposed Sahul Shoal.
+Discover a shoal patch on it.
+Ascertain extent of bank of soundings off the Australian shore.
+Strange winds in Monsoon.
+See Scott's Reef.
+Discover error in its position.
+Make Depuch Island.
+Prevalence of westerly winds near it.
+Sperm whales.
+Tedious passage.
+Death and burial of the ship's cook.
+Anecdotes of his life.
+Good landfall.
+Arrival at Swan River.
+Find Colony improved.
+Hospitality of Colonists.
+Lieutenant Roe's account of his rescuing Captain Grey's party.
+Burial of Mr. Smith.
+Hurricane at Shark's Bay.
+Observations on dry appearance of Upper Swan.
+Unsuccessful cruise of Champion.
+Visit Rottnest.
+Fix on a hill for the site of a Lighthouse.
+Aboriginal convicts.
+Protectors of natives.
+American whalers.
+Miago.
+Trees of Western Australia.
+On the safety of Gage Roads.
+
+SAIL FOR SWAN RIVER.
+
+December 12.
+
+By this day Mr. Bynoe thought I was sufficiently recovered to be able to
+bear the motion of the ship at sea, and we accordingly sailed in the
+morning for Swan River.
+
+Standing out from Point Pearce we had a better view, than on our first
+approach, of the coast to the north of it; trending in a North 11 degrees
+East direction. It had a sandy appearance and was fronted with a rocky
+ledge at low-water, with one or two remarkable bare sand patches, four or
+five miles from the Point. We had a shoal cast of nine fathoms (eight at
+low-water) ten miles west from Point Pearce. In the afternoon we stood to
+the westward, in very even soundings of 15 fathoms.
+
+On the 13th we saw the white cliffs of Cape Rulhieres, which, like Point
+Pearce, we found to be four miles and a half west of its assigned
+position. On the 14th and 15th we were beating to the westward with a
+light and variable wind.
+
+SAHUL SHOAL.
+
+Our progress was slow, the monsoon being light; we therefore stood to the
+northward, to find a more steady breeze, and in order, whilst making our
+westing, to get some soundings over a large dotted space in the chart,
+bearing the name of the Great Sahul Shoal. We desired also to ascertain
+the extent of the bank of soundings extending off this part of the
+Australian continent, which here approaches to within 245 miles of the
+south end of Timor. The soundings varied, according to the boards we made
+over it, from 30 to 60 fathoms; the bottom in the lesser depth being a
+kind of coral, with bits of ironstone mixed with sand; whilst in the
+greater depth, it was a green sandy mud.
+
+On the 17th at 8 P.M., whilst standing on the north-west, near the centre
+of the eastern part of the supposed Sahul Shoal, the water shoaled
+suddenly to 16 fathoms, from 68, a mile to the south-east. The helm was
+put down, and when in stays there were only 14 1/2. The position of this
+patch is in latitude 11 degrees 8 1/2 minutes South, longitude 126
+degrees 33 minutes East. Standing off South by East, in two miles the
+water deepened to 72 fathoms. It was not until we had gone about ten
+miles, that we again got into 60 fathoms, on the outer edge of the bank
+of green sandy mud, fronting the Australian shore, and approaching within
+a hundred miles of the south end of Timor. This bank appears to be
+separated from the collection of coral patches, forming the Sahul Shoal
+by a deep gap or gut, in which the depth generally was above 70 fathoms,
+with a rocky bottom; though in part of it, in latitude 11 degrees 36
+minutes South and longitude 124 degrees 53 minutes East, there was no
+bottom with 207 fathoms.
+
+Dr. Wilson, in his Voyage round the World, mentions that he crossed
+several parts of the Sahul Shoal on his passage from Timor to Raffles
+Bay, and never found less than 14 fathoms.
+
+On the 20th, at noon, we had no bottom with 131 fathoms, latitude 11
+degrees 34 minutes and longitude 124 degrees 52 minutes East. Our
+progress now appeared to improve. Strange to say, though apparently in
+the very heart of the monsoon, we were favoured with a light breeze from
+the south-east; and, to show how currents are governed by the wind, I may
+remark that the current experienced this day had changed its direction
+from North-North-East to West.
+
+SCOTT'S REEF.
+
+On the 24th, several water-snakes were seen, and in the afternoon, with a
+light north-west wind, we passed about six miles from the north end of
+Scott's Reef,* which we placed a few miles to the westward of its
+position in the chart, and of which we shall take another opportunity of
+speaking.
+
+(*Footnote. One of the discoveries of Captain Peter Heywood, R.N.)
+
+Through God's mercy I was now so far recovered as to be able to crawl on
+the poop to see this reef, but soon found that I had overrated my
+strength: my back became affected; all power appeared to have deserted my
+limbs; and I suffered dreadfully. Even to this day I feel the weakness in
+my back, particularly in cold weather, or when I attempt to lift any
+great weight suddenly.
+
+Westerly winds, that increased as we got to the southward, brought us in
+sight of Depuch Island, a level lump of land, on the evening of New
+Year's Day, and at 7 P.M. we tacked in 15 fathoms, about twelve miles
+North-West 1/2 North from it. We spent a couple of days beating to
+westward in the neighbourhood of the coast, from which the bank appeared
+to extend sixty miles, with an equal number of fathoms on its edge.
+
+January 14, 1840.
+
+At noon, the same prevailing westerly winds brought us within fifty miles
+of the north point of Sharks Bay, bearing South-East by South. On the
+same evening we saw a herd of sperm whales. From that day we had a
+southerly wind, which drawing round to the east as we got to the south,
+forced us away from the land, so that from there our track to Swan River
+described two sides of an acute-angled triangle; the 24th placing us
+somewhat further than we were on the 14th, namely 700 miles west from our
+destination; but at length we got a favourable wind to take us in.
+
+DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE COOK.
+
+January 21.
+
+I must refer back to this date to record that a gloom was cast over the
+ship in the morning, in consequence of the rigid hand of death having
+been laid on one of our men, the cook, by name Mitchell, worn out by old
+age and bodily infirmities. He breathed his last at midnight, and at 10
+A.M. we committed his body to the deep. There is perhaps no place where
+the burial service has a more impressive effect than at sea; and in the
+present instance the grave demeanour of the whole crew attested that it
+was so. The day too was gloomy, and in keeping with the solemn scene;
+while a fresh breeze gave the ship a steady keel. Occasionally the
+beautiful prayers were interrupted by the roar of the foaming waters as
+the ship plunged onwards; then swelling on the breeze and mingling with
+its wailings they were wafted, we would fain hope, to that peaceful home
+to which we were sending our shipmate. A chilling plunge announced his
+passage into the mighty deep, leaving no trace to mark the spot on the
+wave, which swept on as before.
+
+The wandering and strange life of the deceased became the theme of
+conversation during the day, and many interesting anecdotes were
+recalled. On one occasion he had passed a few days in a vessel that had
+been turned bottom up in a squall, but which, luckily, having a light and
+shifting cargo, floated. His only companions were two negroes, who, with
+the apathy of their race, spent the principal part of the time in sleep.
+It was by boring a small hole through the vessel's bottom, and pushing up
+a stick with a handkerchief attached, that they were enabled to attract
+the attention of a passing ship, by whose people they were cut out. Old
+Mitchell's propensity for fishing was very singular. Almost down to the
+last, when in his hammock under the forecastle, he would have a line
+passed to him whenever he heard fish playing about; and he would catch at
+it as it was drawn through his fingers, until exhausted nature failing he
+fell into a lethargic sleep. His situation latterly was peculiarly
+pitiable. Worldly affairs and a future state were so painfully mingled,
+that it was impossible to determine whether or not resignation
+predominated. He evidently recoiled from the awful contemplation of
+futurity, and sought refuge in the things of this life. Even whilst in
+the pangs of death he could not conceive why he should be so cold, and
+why his feet could not be kept up to a heat which nature, in obedience to
+the dictates of infinite wisdom, was gradually resigning.
+
+We arrived at Swan River on the 31st, under circumstances which must
+forcibly illustrate to a landsman the precision with which a ship may be
+navigated. We had not seen land for fifty-two days, and were steering
+through a dense fog, which confined the circle of our vision to within a
+very short distance round the ship. Suddenly the vapour for a moment
+dispersed, and showed us, not more than a mile ahead, the shipping in
+Gage's Road.
+
+We found a vast improvement in the colony of Western Australia since our
+last visit, and again experienced the greatest hospitality from the
+colonists. To the assiduous attentions of my much valued friend, the
+Surveyor-General, Lieutenant Roe, R.N., I in great measure ascribe my
+rapid recovery. He gave me a painfully interesting account of an
+excursion he had made in search of the party left behind by Captain Grey
+during his exploring expedition in the neighbourhood of Sharks Bay, with
+the sufferings and disastrous termination of which the public have
+already been made acquainted in the vivid language of the last-mentioned
+officer.
+
+LIEUTENANT ROE'S ACCOUNT OF THE RESCUE OF CAPTAIN GREY'S PARTY.
+
+It was on one of those soft beautiful evenings, so common in Australia,
+that I received this narrative from my friend. We had strolled from his
+cottage, at the western extremity of the town of Perth, and had just
+emerged from the patch of woodland, concealing it from the view of the
+Swan, which now lay at our feet. About a mile below, the broad shadow of
+Mount Eliza, nearly extended across the river; and in the darkness thus
+made, the snow-white sails of a tiny pleasure-boat flitted to and fro.
+Beyond lay the beautiful lake-like reach of the river, Melville Water,
+just ruffled by a breeze that came sweeping over its surface with all the
+delicious coolness of the sea. The beauty of the scene did not divert me
+from the events of my friend's story, serving rather to impress them the
+more vividly on my mind. I remember well the animated and affecting
+manner in which he delivered his narrative, and how his hard features
+became lit up as he proceeded by an expression of honest pride, fully
+justified by the fact that he had on that occasion been the means of
+saving the lives of several of his fellow-creatures. When he found them
+they were under a headland, which they had not sufficient strength left
+to ascend, nor were they able to round the sea face of it. One of them,
+finding all hope of proceeding further at an end, went down on his knees
+and prayed to the almighty for assistance; and just as another had
+bitterly remarked on the uselessness of proffering such a request, Mr.
+Roe and his party, as if directed by the hand of Providence, appeared on
+the ridge above them. It would be painful to describe minutely the
+condition to which these poor fellows had been reduced; it will be
+sufficient to state, that thirst had compelled them to resort to the most
+offensive substitute for pure and wholesome water.
+
+DEATH OF MR. FREDERIC SMITH.
+
+One of their party, Mr. Frederick Smith, had been left behind; and so
+bewildered were they in their despair, that they could give no definite
+account of what had become of him. Mr. Roe immediately went in search,
+and not many miles in the rear, found the poor fellow quite dead in a
+bush, with his blanket half rolled round him. It appeared that he had
+tried to scramble up a sandhill and had fallen back into the bush and
+died--a sad and melancholy fate for one so young. He had laboured under
+great disadvantages in walking, having cut his feet in very gallantly
+swimming out to save one of the boats during a hurricane in Sharks Bay.
+He was reduced to a perfect skeleton; having, in fact, been starved to
+death. The sight drew forth a tributary tear of affection even from the
+native who accompanied the party. Mr. Roe consigned poor young Smith's
+remains to the earth, and setting up a piece of board to mark the spot,
+smoothed down his lonely pillow, and moved with his companions in
+mournful silence towards the south.
+
+It must have been an impressive scene; the sun, as if conscious that he
+was shining for the last time on the remains of the ill-fated young
+explorer, seemed to linger as if unwilling to descend into the western
+horizon; and his full red orb painted a number of light airy clouds that
+floated through the sky in the most brilliant colours, and shed a stream
+of fire over the water as it rolled with a mournful dirge-like sound on
+the strand close by. The howl of a wild dog now and then fell on their
+ears as they performed their melancholy task, and alone broke the
+stillness that reigned around, as they retreated slowly along the beach.
+
+Whilst on this humane excursion, Mr. Roe witnessed a wondrous gift
+possessed by the natives. The one that accompanied him, perceiving
+footmarks on the sand, where some of his countrymen had been, was enabled
+by them to tell Mr. Roe, not only in what number they were, but THE NAME
+OF EACH. This account was verified on their return to Perth, from whence
+the natives had been sent during Mr. Roe's absence on the same errand.
+
+HURRICANE IN SHARKS' BAY.
+
+The hurricane I have mentioned, as encountered by Captain Grey in Sharks
+Bay, latitude 26 degrees South, occurred on February 28th, which,
+corresponding with the hurricane season of the Mauritius, leaves little
+doubt that at the same time the shores of New Holland are occasionally
+visited by more easterly ones, moving in nearly the same direction. The
+other two instances of hurricanes occurring in the neighbourhood are
+those of the Ceres, in 1839, in latitude 21 degrees South, above 300
+miles North-North-West from Sharks Bay, and of the Maguashas towards the
+end of February,* 1843, in latitude 18 degrees South, about 400 miles
+north of the same place. Ships, therefore, passing along the North-west
+coast of New Holland at the season we have mentioned, should be prepared
+for bad weather. The hurricane experienced by Captain Grey began at
+South-east and ended at North-west. The lull in the centre of it showed
+that the focus of the storm must have passed over that locality. Captain
+Grey does not enter sufficiently into detail to enable us to trace the
+veering of the wind.
+
+(*Footnote. In volume 1 will be found mention of the bad weather met with
+by the Beagle in this month on the north-west coast. For further
+information on this subject see Mr. Thom's interesting Inquiry into the
+Nature and Course of Storms London 1845.)
+
+An observation I made on visiting this time the upper course of the Swan,
+is worth recording. Many parts were perfectly dry, more so than any I had
+seen on the Victoria, and yet I was informed that last year those very
+parts were running with a good stream. It seems reasonable to infer,
+therefore, that in certain seasons of the year the Victoria, though dry
+in some places when I visited it, is a full and rapid river.
+
+During our stay the Colonial schooner, Champion, returned from an
+unsuccessful search for the mouth of the Hutt River, discovered by
+Captain Grey in the neighbourhood of Moresby's Flat-topped Range. Near
+the south end of it, however, they found a bay affording good anchorage.
+
+ROTTNEST ISLAND.
+
+March 25.
+
+We moved the ship to Rottnest Island, to collect a little material for
+the chart, and select a hill for the site of a lighthouse. The one we
+chose lies towards the south-east end of the island, bearing North 76
+degrees West (true) twelve miles and a quarter from Fremantle gaol. The
+Governor and Mr. Roe accompanied us to Rottnest, where we found that a
+penal establishment of Aboriginal prisoners had been formed during our
+absence.
+
+ABORIGINAL CONVICTS.
+
+No one would say that the Australian natives cannot work, if they could
+just see the nice cottages of which this settlement is composed. The
+Superintendent merely gives the convicts a little instruction at first,
+and they follow his directions with astonishing precision. They take
+great pride in showing visitors their own work. It is an interesting
+though sorrowful sight to see these poor fellows--some of them deprived
+of their liberty for life, perhaps for crimes into which they have been
+driven by the treatment they receive from those who have deprived them
+both of their land and of their liberty. Many, if not most of them, are
+in some measure unconscious of guilt; and they are almost incapable of
+appreciating the relation between what they have committed and the
+punishment which has fallen on them. Their minds are plunged in the
+darkest ignorance; or if they know anything beyond the means of
+satisfying their immediate wants, it is that they have been deprived of
+their rightful possessions by the men whose chains they wear. Surely this
+reflection should now and then present itself to the white man who is
+accustomed to treat them so harshly, and induce him to judge more
+leniently of their acts, and instead of confining himself to coersive
+measures for protection, make him resort to the means which are within
+his reach of raising the despised and oppressed savage more nearly to a
+level with himself in the scale of humanity.
+
+The native prisoners at Rottnest collect salt from the lagoons, cut wood,
+and at present almost grow sufficient grain to keep them, so that in a
+short time they will be a source of profit rather than of loss to the
+crown. Some of them pine away and die; others appear happy. Generally,
+however, when a fresh prisoner comes among them, great discontent
+prevails; they enquire eagerly about their friends and families; and what
+they hear in reply recalls vividly to their minds their wild roving life,
+their corrobories, the delights of their homes; and of these, too, they
+are sometimes compelled to think when a blue streak of smoke stealing
+over the uplands, catches their restless eye, as it wanders instinctively
+forth in that direction from their island prison. They will often gaze on
+these mementos of their former free life, until their eyes grow dim with
+tears and their breasts swell with those feelings which, however debased
+they may appear, they share in common with us all. On these occasions
+they naturally turn with loathing to their food. Those who suffer most
+are the oldest; for they have ties to which the younger are strangers.
+
+The rapidity with which the young ones grow up and improve in appearance,
+in consequence of their regular food and the care taken of them, is
+astonishing. They are allowed to have a common kind of spear, though
+without any throwing stick; and sometimes receive permission to go to the
+west end of the island to endeavour to kill wallaby, which are there
+rather numerous.
+
+We were happy to find that the attention of the public, and the
+Government at home, had been drawn to the wrongs and sufferings of the
+Aborigines of Australia; and that a desire of preserving them from
+deterioration and ultimate destruction, had been evinced. Protectors had
+been sent out for the purpose of attending especially to their interests,
+so that it was evident that what was wanted was not goodwill towards
+them. It was easy, however, to perceive that the system was a bad one,
+and to foretell its failure. The most prominent feature in the plan
+adopted, was the gathering together of the natives in the neighbourhood
+of settlers without previously providing them with any means of
+subsistence, so that they were in a manner compelled to have recourse to
+depredations.
+
+AMERICAN WHALERS.
+
+To show to what extent whaling is carried on in these seas by foreigners,
+I may mention that during our stay at Swan River, I at one time counted
+as many as thirteen American whalers at anchor. It was to be regretted
+that this department of industry had been abandoned by the colonists, who
+however derived considerable advantage from the barter trade they carried
+on with the whale ships.
+
+At Perth we found our old shipmate Miago, and were sorry to observe that
+he was as great a savage as ever. He had got into considerable disgrace
+among his fellows on account of his having performed one of these feats
+of which he was so continually boasting on the North-west coast, namely,
+carrying away a woman. He was hiding about, in momentary fear of being
+speared by those whom he had injured.
+
+BOTANY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
+
+Among the information obtained this time at Swan River, was the following
+table, relating to the vegetable kingdom of Western Australia.
+
+COLUMN 1: NAME COMMONLY GIVEN BY SETTLERS.
+COLUMN 2: NATIVE NAME.
+COLUMN 3: GENUS.
+COLUMN 4: REMARKS.
+
+Mahogany : Jarrail* : Eucalyptus : Grows on white sandy land.
+
+Red gum : Kardan : Eucalyptus : On loamy land.
+
+Bluegum : Co-lort : Eucalyptus : On river banks and flooded lands, a sure
+indication of vicinity of water.
+
+White gum : Wando : Eucalyptus : On stiff clay lands, sometimes tapped
+for water contained in hollow trunk.
+
+York gum : To-art : Eucalyptus : Abundant in York--on good soil.
+
+Cable gum, these varieties all seen in the interior, not common at Perth
+: Gnardarup : Eucalyptus : Like several stems twisted together, abondant
+in interior.
+
+Cable gum, these varieties all seen in the interior, not common at Perth
+: Wooruc : Eucalyptus : Brown glossy stem, smooth.
+
+Cable gum, these varieties all seen in the interior, not common at Perth
+: Gnelarue : Eucalyptus : Nankeen-coloured stem.
+
+Cable gum, these varieties all seen in the interior, not common at Perth
+: Mallat : Eucalyptus : Tall, straight, rough bark.
+
+Cable gum, these varieties all seen in the interior, not common at Perth
+: Morrail : Eucalyptus : Nearly similar.
+
+Cable gum, these varieties all seen in the interior, not common at Perth
+: Balwungar : Eucalyptus : Glaucus-leaved.
+
+Honeysuckle : Mang-ghoyte : Banksia : Large flowering cones containing
+honey.
+
+Honeysuckle : Be-al-wra : Banksia : Large flowering cones containing
+honey.
+
+Black wattle : Kile-yung : Acacia : Indication of good soil--produces
+gum.
+
+Broom or Stinkwood : Cab-boor : - : Light sandy loam.
+
+Holly : Tool-gan : Hakea : Sandy soil--produces gum.
+
+Cabbage tree : Mote yar : Nuytsia floribella : Gum in abundance.
+
+Beef tree or the oak : - : Casuarina.
+
+Palm tree : Djir-jy or jirjy : Zamia media, gl. : Red fruit, nut, called
+baio, ripe in March, is considered a delicacy by the natives.
+
+Raspberry jam : Maug-art : Acacia : Sweet scented--grows on good gruund.
+
+Raspberry jam : Minnung : Acacia : Gum very abundant.
+
+Blackboy : Balga : Zantha hast : Gum on the spear--resin on the trunk.
+
+York nut : Madda : - : Smells like sandalwood.
+
+Red apple : Quonni : - : Affects salt grounds.
+
+Swamp oak : Yeymbac : - : Name applies rather to the paper-like
+bark--used to hold water, to cover houses, etc.
+
+Rough-topped blackboy : Barro : Zantha : Resin makes a powerful cement.
+
+Native yam : Werrang : - : Said to grow to a large size to the North.
+
+Native potato : Tubuc : Orchis.
+
+Native turnip : Canno.
+
+New Zealand flax : - : Phormium tenax : This grows pretty abnndantly, I
+forget the native name.
+
+(*Footnote. The letter a is sounded broad and full as in Father.)
+
+SAFETY OF GAGE ROADS.
+
+The result of our soundings between Rottnest Island and the main, showed
+that a bank extended out to the north-east, from the foul ground off the
+Stragglers, sufficiently to check, in some measure, the vast body of
+water rolling in from the north-west; and thereby adding to the safety of
+Gage Roads, provided vessels anchor in the proper berth, which is in
+seven or eight fathoms, on sandy mud, about a mile from the gaol, bearing
+East by North. A quarter of a mile nearer the shore the bottom shoals
+rapidly to four and three fathoms, on rocky ground slightly coated with
+sand. It is therefore not likely a ship, well found, can drag her anchor
+up a bank so steep as that inclination in the bottom forms. The wrecks
+that have occurred in this anchorage may be traced to vessels not
+selecting a proper berth. From their desire to be near the shore they get
+into the shoal rocky ground; a breeze comes on when they are in no way
+prepared, in the midst of discharging cargo; and in some cases, before a
+second anchor can be let go, the ship is driven on shore. Thus, through
+the want of judgment exhibited by a few individuals, has a whole
+community suffered in the manner I have alluded to, when speaking of the
+loss of the Orontes at Port Essington.*
+
+(*Footnote. See volume 1.)
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.5.
+
+Sail from Swan River.
+Search for the supposed Turtle-dove Shoal.
+Approach to Houtman's Abrolhos.
+Find an anchorage.
+View of the Lagoon.
+Guano.
+Remnants of the wreck of the Batavia.
+Pelsart Group.
+Visit the Main.
+Geelvink Channel.
+Enter Champion Bay.
+Appearance of the Country.
+Striking resemblance of various portions of the coast of Australia.
+Leave Champion Bay.
+Coast to the northward.
+Resume our examination of the Abrolhos.
+Easter Group.
+Good Friday Harbour.
+Lizards on Rat Island.
+Coral formation.
+Snapper Bank.
+Zeewyk Passage.
+Discoveries on Gun Island.
+The Mangrove Islets.
+Singular Sunset.
+Heavy gale.
+Wallaby Islands.
+Flag Hill.
+Slaughter Point.
+Observations of Mr. Bynoe on the Marsupiata.
+General character of the reefs.
+Tidal observations.
+Visit North Island.
+Leave Houtman's Abrolhos.
+General observations.
+Proceed to Depuch Island.
+Drawings on the rocks.
+Native youth.
+New bird and kangaroo.
+Effects of Mirage.
+Examine coast to the Turtle Isles.
+Geographe Shoals.
+Number of turtles.
+Bedout Island.
+Scott's Reef.
+Approach to Timor.
+Pulo Douw.
+Scene on entering Coepang Bay.
+Surprise of Swan River native.
+Visit to the Resident.
+His stories.
+Fort Concordia.
+Second visit to the Resident.
+The Timorees.
+Arrive at Pritie.
+Description of the country.
+Muster of the shooting party.
+Success of the excursion.
+The Javanese Commandant.
+Character of the Timorees.
+Dutch settlement in New Guinea.
+Leave Coepang.
+Island of Rottee.
+Tykal Inlet.
+Inhabitants of Polo Douw.
+
+SAIL FROM SWAN RIVER.
+
+The improved state of the colony enabling us to get supplies, it was
+resolved that we should return to the North-west coast, examining on the
+way, Houtman's Abrolhos, a coral group that had very rarely been visited,
+since the Dutch ships were lost on them, one 120 and the other 220 years
+ago, and of which next to nothing was known.
+
+Not being able to persuade Miago to accompany us, he being too much
+engaged with his new wife, we enlisted the services of a native youth who
+generally went by the name of Tom, and left Gage Roads on the afternoon
+of April 4th.
+
+Off the west end of Rottnest a sail was seen, which we afterwards found,
+to our mortification, was H.M.S. Britomart, from Port Essington. We had
+another fruitless search for the bank reported to the northward of
+Rottnest. Steering North-North-West from the west end of it, the
+soundings increased gradually to 35 fathoms, till passing Cape
+Leschenault at the distance of twenty-two miles; but afterwards, no
+bottom with 50 fathoms, till reaching the latitude of 31 degrees 7
+minutes South, where the coast projecting, brought us again within twenty
+miles of it, and into a depth of 45 fathoms. We continued in soundings
+till in latitude 30 degrees 36 minutes South, varying from 26 to 98
+fathoms, seventeen miles from the land with the former, and twenty-five
+with the latter depth, which shows the extent and steepness of the bank
+of soundings fronting the coast, between the parallels I have mentioned.
+
+THE ABROLHOS GROUP.
+
+April 6.
+
+There was unusual weather last night, overcast with a squally westerly
+wind. Just laying our course North-North-West, at noon we were in
+latitude 29 degrees 11 minutes South, on the position assigned to a reef
+called the Turtle Dove. From the masthead I could see nothing indicating
+a shoal. Captain King passed near this position, and also remarks not
+seeing it. The Colonial schooner Champion, in beating to the southward,
+has passed over and near its assigned position, and I think we may fairly
+infer that there is no such reef as the Turtle Dove, and that probably it
+originated from the south end of the Abrolhos reef, ten miles
+North-North-West of it, being seen. We found 29 fathoms on this supposed
+shoal, with 35, twelve miles South by East of it, and 127, twenty-eight
+miles in the same direction. Between it and the south end of the Abrolhos
+Group the water deepened to 35 fathoms. In approaching the nearest island
+we passed close round the south-east end of a reef, running out about a
+mile from the south point, and then trending away round in a North-west
+by North direction, so as to form one side of a lagoon, whilst the island
+I have mentioned--a long narrow strip trending North-east by North--forms
+the other. The weather looking unsettled, the wind being from the
+south-west, with slight rain squalls, we were glad to find shelter, so
+near the commencement of our work, in a bight on the east side of the
+island, three quarters of a mile from the south point, where we anchored
+in 13 fathoms, scarcely a quarter of a mile from the shore. A coral
+patch, of two and a half fathoms, with only two on its northern extreme,
+confines this anchorage, which affords shelter from South-South-East
+round by West to North-east by North. The tide rose here 32 inches.
+
+From the masthead I got a tolerably good view of the island, in some
+places scarcely a cable wide, and a number of islets scattered to the
+north-west. The lagoon at this place was not more than three miles
+across, though marked twelve in the old charts; and I could trace the
+long line of white breakers rolling in on the other side in solemn
+grandeur, contrasting strongly in their foaming turbulence with the
+placid waters within the protection of the reef and island. I could
+clearly distinguish the limit of the danger in this direction, and that
+there was nothing to break the swell beyond. The surface of the lagoon
+was diversified by blue and grey patches, showing the alternations of
+shoal and deep water; near the centre there appeared to be a channel,
+which we afterwards found to be ten fathoms deep.
+
+In the head of the bight where we were anchored, there was a narrow low
+sandy neck, placed by our observations in latitude 28 degrees 58 minutes
+26 seconds South and longitude 1 degree 47 minutes 32 seconds west of
+Swan River,* over which we hauled a boat to examine the opposite side of
+the lagoon.
+
+(*Footnote. As we shall refer all longitudes during this cruise to
+Scott's Jetty, Swan River, I may here state that the approximate
+longitude of that place is considered to be 115 degrees 47 minutes East
+of Greenwich.)
+
+A few remarkable clumps of mangroves pointed out the position of some
+lagoons about a mile and a half from the south end of the island, which
+is fronted by a line of low overhanging cliffs of recent, cream-coloured
+limestone. Upon these rests a layer of a kind of soil, in some places
+eighteen inches deep, in others four feet, in which the seabirds burrow,
+and which, from what I have since seen of the much sought after guano, I
+believe to contain some of the valuable substance. In some of the islands
+forming Houtman's Abrolhos which we subsequently examined, I found
+similar signs of the presence of this manure, which I think worthy of
+being made the subject of enquiry.
+
+On the south part of the island I found a block of scoria measuring three
+feet by two; which, though not appearing to possess the power of
+floating, must have been brought by the current from the volcanic island
+of St. Paul's. We saw a few hair-seals on the beach when we landed, and a
+rich kind of rock oyster was found at low-water.
+
+PELSART GROUP.
+
+On the south west point of the island the beams of a large vessel were
+discovered, and as the crew of the Zeewyk, lost in 1728, reported having
+seen the wreck of a ship on this part, there is little doubt that the
+remains were those of the Batavia, Commodore Pelsart, lost in 1627. We in
+consequence named our temporary anchorage Batavia Road, and the whole
+group Pelsart Group. It was the wreck of this Dutch ship that led to the
+discovery of this part of the continent of Australia, Commodore Pelsart
+himself having crossed over to it in a boat in search of water.
+
+VISIT TO THE MAIN.
+
+April 8.
+
+In the afternoon we got underweigh, with a fresh south wind. The low neck
+over which the boat was hauled, and which appeared like a gap from the
+offing, bearing west, led clear to the northward of the two fathom patch.
+We steered across East by South 1/2 South for the main, losing sight of
+the island from the Beagle's poop (height 15 feet) at the distance of
+five miles and a half. Three miles further brought us in sight of the
+land, forming a high level range, with a knob or lump on its south
+extreme. Some five or six miles to the south-east were seen isolated
+peaks, which we rightly supposed to be the Wizard Hills of Captain King,
+whilst the lump above spoken of proved to be Mount Fairfax, the level
+range being Moresby's Flat-topped Range. As we neared them the Menai
+Hills began to show themselves.
+
+Our soundings, after leaving the island, deepened quickly to 30 and 35
+fathoms. Six miles from it the depth decreased to 23 fathoms. We stood
+off and on during the night, the current setting North-North-West a mile
+an hour. The space between the Abrolhos and the main bears the name of
+Geelvink Channel, after Vlaming's ship, the first that ever passed
+through (A.D. 1680).
+
+The chief object of the Beagle's visit to the main was to ascertain the
+position of a good anchorage, before spoken of as reported at Swan River
+to be under the south-west end of Moresby's Flat-topped Range. The
+favourable account which Captain Grey had given of the country behind the
+range made the knowledge of a good anchorage in its neighbourhood of vast
+importance. Captain King missed this portion of the coast by crossing
+over to the Abrolhos, which he places some five miles too much to the
+westward, the lowness of the island deceiving him, as indeed it at first
+did us. The reef off the south-west end, however, he has rightly fixed.
+
+April 9.
+
+At daylight the ship was in 24 fathoms, fifteen miles from Wizard Hills,
+bearing South 70 degrees East. As we neared the shore, steering
+North-East by North we saw a low point, running out west from the south
+end of Moresby's Range, fronted by heavy breakers, particularly to the
+north-west. Behind, the water was quite smooth, and promised a snug
+anchorage. We passed round the reef in 13 1/2 fathoms, at the distance of
+a half, and three-quarters of a mile; but we did not haul into the bay
+until some suspicious spots had been sounded over by a boat. Finding not
+less than four and a half fathoms, we stood in, Mount Fairfax bearing
+east. The small table hill forming the north-west extreme of the Menai
+Hills, bearing North 11 degrees East, leads clear to the westward of the
+reef. Between this and the north point of the bay the water occasionally
+lifts suspiciously. Inside the depth is regular, five and six fathoms,
+fine white sand.
+
+CHAMPION BAY.
+
+To this anchorage was given the name of Champion Bay; whilst the
+projection sheltering it from the south-west was called Point Moore,
+after the Attorney-general at Swan River, who visited it in the Colonial
+schooner. We anchored early in the forenoon in four fathoms, Mount
+Fairfax bearing North 81 degrees East five miles and three-quarters;
+Point Moore South 49 degrees West one mile, the end of the reef North 60
+degrees West also one mile, and a bare-topped brown sandhill, South 33
+degrees East, three-quarters of a mile. Immediately under the
+last-mentioned the observations were made, placing that spot in latitude
+28 degrees 47 minutes 8 seconds South and longitude 1 degree 9 minutes 20
+seconds West of Swan River. A most singular ridge of very white sandhills
+lay a quarter of a mile to the eastward.
+
+ELEVATION OF THE HILLS.
+
+A plan of the bay was made, and the elevation of the neighbouring heights
+taken; Mount Fairfax proving to be 585 feet, and Wizard Peak 700 feet.
+
+I regretted there was not time to visit Moresby's Flat-topped Range, as
+we might have got a glimpse of the good land reported by Captain Grey in
+the neighbourhood. The sides of the high lands look fertile over the
+sandhills of the bay; but through a spy-glass I found that they had a
+brown arid appearance and were destitute of timber.
+
+I was forcibly struck with the resemblance between Moresby's Range, Sea
+Range on the Victoria, Cape Flattery on the north-east coast, and I may
+add, from Flinders' description, the cliffs forming the coast range at
+the head of the Australian Bight. The great similarity in the elevation,
+all being between 500 and 700 feet, is still more remarkable. To bring
+this great resemblance between opposite portions of the Australian
+continent before the reader, I have inserted sketches of those parts
+which were seen in the Beagle.
+
+The beach in the south corner of Champion Bay, having the appearance of
+being seldom visited by a surf, it is possible that a small vessel may be
+sheltered by the reef in north-west gales, which the anchorage is exposed
+to, and which, therefore, can only be considered safe in the summer
+season. Five miles to the southward of Point Moore there is another bay,
+which appeared much exposed to the prevailing winds. The shore between is
+rocky with outlying reefs.
+
+LEAVE CHAMPION BAY.
+
+April 10.
+
+We left Champion Bay at daylight, with a moderatE south wind and fine
+weather, and passed over some uneven ground south-west of the north
+point, soundings varying from five to seven fathoms, sand and rock, which
+though at a quiet time, almost formed breakers.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE COAST.
+
+As we ran along to the northward, the coast was lined with sandhills very
+partially dotted with vegetation. Behind these was a margin of brown
+arid-looking downs, receding to the foot of the uplands. Twenty miles of
+the coastline from Champion Bay trended North 29 degrees West.
+
+At noon we were in latitude 28 degrees 26 minutes South; the Menai Hills,
+a group lying just off the north end of Moresby's Flat-topped Range,
+bearing South 73 degrees East ten miles. A valley or ravine, through
+which probably a rivulet* runs in the wet season, bore North 83 degrees
+East two miles, and a singular large patch of sand, 270 feet above the
+sea, North 22 degrees East two miles and a half. North of this patch the
+land changes its appearance; the bare sandhills cease, and a steep-sided
+down, 300 feet high, faces the coastline. Our track was from two to three
+miles from the shore, in 19 and 22 fathoms, fine white sand; a heavy surf
+washing the beach. South-east of the Menai Hills the country appeared
+much broken, with high table ranges of from 4 to 700 feet.
+
+(*Footnote. This (in latitude 28 degrees 25 minutes South) may have been
+one of the rivers discovered by Captain Grey, but which it was impossible
+for us to determine, as no account of them had been left with the
+Surveyor-general, Mr. Roe.)
+
+It was now necessary to resume our examination of the Abrolhos, and
+thirty-one miles on a West 1/4 South course, brought us between two
+groups of them, where we anchored for the night in 23 fathoms. The
+soundings in standing across Geelvink Channel, were 22 and 26 fathoms,
+fine white sand; the current ran North-North-West, a mile an hour.
+
+April 11.
+
+At daylight we found that the summit of a large island, in the centre of
+the group to the northward, bore North 21 1/2 degrees West about nine
+miles.
+
+GOOD FRIDAY HARBOUR.
+
+We now beat to the southward in search of a harbour, where the ship might
+lie in safety whilst we went to work with the boats, and were fortunate
+enough to discover one close to the north-east point of a large island
+lying in the centre of the group to the southward; which we named Easter
+Group, and the harbour Good Friday Harbour, to commemorate the season of
+the Christian year, at which we visited it. Perhaps at some future
+period, when the light of the gospel shall have penetrated to every part
+of the vast Australian continent, these sacred names, bestowed by us upon
+some of its outworks, may be pronounced with pleasure, as commemorative
+of the time when the darkness of ignorance and superstition was just
+beginning to disperse.
+
+Good Friday Harbour, like all coral harbours, requires to be taken by
+eye, being full of coral knolls, which necessitate the utmost vigilance.
+In itself, however, it is an excellent port, capable of holding a large
+number of ships, and with a general depth, between the coral patches, of
+from 15 to 17 fathoms, with a fine muddy sandy bottom. The eastern
+extremity of the large island bearing South by East 1/2 East led into the
+harbour. As we threaded our way among the patches of coral, the view from
+the masthead of the submarine forests through the still pellucid water
+was very striking. The dark blue of the deep portions of the lagoon
+contrasted beautifully with the various patches of light colours
+interspersed.
+
+We found to our surprise that the group into which we had penetrated was
+entirely distinct from that under which we had first anchored to the
+southward, so that we had already discovered the Abrolhos to form three
+separate groups.
+
+RAT ISLAND.
+
+The centre island we named Rat Island, from the quantity of that vermin
+with which it was infested. We also saw here a few seals, and numbers of
+a very pretty lizard (figured in the appendix) with its tail covered with
+spines. Several of these were brought away alive. I had two myself for
+nine months on board, and afterwards presented them to Lady Gipps. Of
+those taken by Lieutenant Emery, he was so fortunate as to bring one
+alive to England, in 1841. It is still in his possession, and thrives
+remarkably well. In one of his last letters he writes to me as follows on
+the subject: "The Abrolhos lizard is very docile, and knows Mrs. Emery
+quite well, and will eat and drink out of her hand; but is timid with
+strangers. Its habits are rather torpid, but it becomes active when in
+the sun or before the fire. It eats so very little that a piece of sponge
+cake about the size of a small bean will satisfy it for three or four
+weeks. It changes its skin twice a year."
+
+The formation of Rat Island resembles that already noticed in Pelsart
+Group; there were the same low overhanging cream-coloured limestone
+cliffs, to the height of half the island; the greatest elevation of which
+was 13 feet, with a similar soil, mixed with guano, and filled with
+burrows of the sooty petrel, or mutton bird. Surrounding it is a low
+coral reef, trending northward to the outer edge of the group.
+
+CORAL FORMATION.
+
+This reef afforded me an opportunity of examining the coral formation of
+the Abrolhos, which, with the exception of Bermuda, is the place farthest
+removed from the equator where coral formation is found. The reef on
+which Rat Island rests extends off four hundred yards on the inner side,
+and has 12 fathoms just off it, on a grey sandy mud. The greater portion
+is composed of a variety of corals intermixed, and forming a consolidated
+mass, with brain-stones scattered over. It is nearly dry at low-water;
+but a portion does not rise so high, projecting out so as to form a
+narrow shelf, from the edge of which a wall descends almost sheer to the
+depth of 54 feet. The upper 20 feet are formed of a peculiar kind of
+coral, growing in the shape of huge fans, spreading out from stout stems
+overlapping each other in clusters, and having angular cavities between.
+The coral forming the lower 34 feet of the wall is of the common large
+branch kind.
+
+Whilst in Good Friday Harbour the quarter-master reported smoke on one of
+the islands to the north-east. All eyes were instantly turned in that
+direction, in curiosity to find what could have caused it. And sure
+enough a long streak of smoke was curling upwards through the air. It
+soon however appeared that it rose from some fire on the main, distant
+about thirty-five miles, and that its being visible by us was owing to
+the extreme clearness of the atmosphere.
+
+The observation spot on Rat Island was on the north-east end, which we
+placed in latitude 32 degrees 42 minutes 50 seconds South and longitude 1
+degree 57 minutes 50 seconds West of Swan River. Having completed our
+work in the harbour, we left, for the purpose of securing the requisite
+material for the north-east part of this group, which we found to be a
+detached cluster with deep-water between, and to be also similarly
+separated from the extreme of the group--a small isle about five feet
+high, composed of sand and dead coral. The average depth surrounding the
+islands was 20 and 23 fathoms, being the same level as that of the great
+flat or plain on which they rest, and which extends out from the
+mainland, shelving off at the outer edge of the southern part of the
+Abrolhos almost precipitously to no bottom with 250 fathoms. We now
+proceeded southward, to examine the opening between Easter and Pelsart
+Groups, and to complete the extremity of the northern part of the latter.
+
+SNAPPER BANK.
+
+On our way we discovered a coral bank of 7 fathoms, a mile and a half
+long, seven miles East-South-East from the north-east end of Easter
+Group. We called it Snapper Bank, from the immense quantity of that fish
+which we found on it. In half an hour we caught more than we could cure,
+so that it became necessary to stop the sport. This shows what a
+lucrative trade might be carried on by the people of Swan River with the
+Mauritius; for the lake on the island of Rottnest affording a large
+supply of salt, any quantity of fish might easily be caught and cured.
+The whole group is abundantly supplied, though nowhere so plentifully as
+at Snapper Bank.
+
+From near the south-east end of this bank the main was visible from the
+Beagle's poop. Here we anchored for the night in 24 fathoms, and next
+morning stood out to sea between Easter and Pelsart Groups to ascertain
+if there were any more reefs to the westward, though the long unbroken
+swell was almost sufficient to convince us that there were none.
+
+SOUNDINGS BETWEEN THE GROUPS.
+
+In a line between the outer reefs of the two groups the depth was 36
+fathoms; a mile and a half further in we had 29; but outside it deepened
+off suddenly to no bottom with 70, and in two miles and a half to none
+with 170. Before returning we tried for bottom with 250; but, as has been
+already mentioned, without success. Outside the reef we felt a current
+setting a mile an hour North-North-West. In standing in again we passed
+close round the north-west end of the reef encircling Pelsart Group, in
+31 fathoms, and anchored in 17, just without a line of discoloured water,
+which we found to have 5 fathoms in the outer part, extending across the
+mouth of the lagoon; the largest island bearing South by West one mile
+and three-quarters.
+
+GUN ISLAND. DUTCH REMAINS.
+
+April 24.
+
+In the morning the boats were despatched on their ordinary work, and
+Captain Wickham and myself landed on the largest island, a quarter of a
+mile long, forming the north-western extreme of Pelsart Group, and which
+we named Gun Island, from our finding on it a small brass four-pounder of
+singular construction, now deposited in the United Service Museum (see
+the cut annexed) with quantities of ornamental brasswork for harness, on
+which the gilding was in a wonderful state of preservation; a number of
+glass bottles and pipes, and two Dutch doits, bearing date 1707 and 1720.
+This was a very interesting discovery, and left no doubt that we had
+found the island on which the crew of the Zeewyk were wrecked, in 1727,
+and where they remained so long, whilst building, from the fragments of
+their vessel, a sloop, in which they got to sea by the passage between
+Easter and Pelsart Groups, which has consequently been called Zeewyk
+Passage. The scene of their disaster must have been on the outer reef, a
+mile and three-quarters south-west from Gun Island, along which ran a
+white ridge of high breakers.
+
+The glass bottles I have mentioned were of a short stout Dutch build, and
+were placed in rows, as if for the purpose of collecting water; some of
+them were very large, being capable of holding five or six gallons; they
+were in part buried in the sand, and the portion which was left exposed
+to the air presented a singular appearance, being covered with a white
+substance that had eaten away the glaze. A number of seal bones were
+noticed on this island; and I have no doubt they are the remains of those
+that were killed by the crew of the Zeewyk for their subsistence. On the
+north end of the island was a hole containing brackish water; when we dug
+it deeper the salt water poured in. The next small islet to the
+East-South-East we discovered to be that on which the Dutchmen had built
+their sloop. On the west side of it was a spot free from coral reefs,
+thus offering them facilities, nowhere else afforded, for launching the
+bark which ultimately carried them in safety to Batavia.
+
+A mile and a half to the southward of Gun Island, opposite a
+singular-looking indentation in the outer side of the reefs, a small
+cluster of cliffy islets approaches within half a mile of them. It is
+rather singular that in another of the group--larger than Gun Island,
+lying in the centre of the lagoon, and the only one not visited by the
+Beagle's boats--water should have been found by a party who came from
+Swan River to save the wreck of a ship lost in 1843, close to the spot on
+which the Batavia struck more than two hundred years ago. This island is
+called in the chart Middle Island. The well is on the south point, and
+the water, which is very good, rises and falls with the tide. Doubtless
+this must have been the island on which the crew of Pelsart's ship found
+water, though for some time they were deterred from tasting it by
+observing its ebb and flow, from which they inferred it would prove salt.
+The north point of Gun Island, which our observations placed in latitude
+28 degrees 53 minutes 10 seconds South, longitude 1 degree 53 minutes 35
+seconds West of Swan River, is fronted for half a mile by a reef.
+
+MANGROVE ISLETS.
+
+The ship was now moved to the north-east extreme of the lagoon, to which
+we crossed in 17 fathoms--the depth we anchored in, a mile north-west
+from a cluster of islets covered in places with mangroves, from which
+they receive their name. To the southward the depth in the lagoon, as far
+as a square-looking island, was 15 and 16 fathoms. The north extreme of
+the south island lay three miles to the south east of the Mangrove
+Islets, by which we found that its length was nearly ten miles, with a
+general width of about a tenth of a mile.
+
+One of the eastern Mangrove Islets was a mere caY, formed of large flat
+pieces of dead coral, of the same kind as that of which I have before
+spoken as resembling a fan, strewed over a limestone foundation one foot
+above the level of the sea, in the greatest possible confusion, to the
+height of five feet. In walking over them they yielded a metallic sound.
+Pelsart, like Easter Group, is marked by a detached islet lying a mile
+off its north-east extreme.
+
+May 3.
+
+We fetched in under the Lee of Easter Group as the north-west gale of
+this morning commenced. The barometer did not indicate the approach of
+the gale, falling with it, and acting as in those we had encountered at
+Swan River.
+
+SINGULAR SUNSET.
+
+The sunset of the two days preceding had presented a very lurid
+appearance, and the most fantastically shaped clouds had been scattered
+over the red western sky. It seemed as though nature had determined to
+entertain us with a series of dissolving views. Headlands and mountains
+with cloud-capped pinnacles appeared and faded away; ships under sail
+floated across the sky; towers and palaces reared their forms
+indistinctly amid the vapour, and then vanished, like the baseless fabric
+of a dream.
+
+The winds since the 29th had been very easterly; but early on the 1st
+became fresh from north-east; a stagnant suspicious calm then succeeded,
+during the forenoon of the 2nd. At noon the glassy surface of the water
+began to darken here and there in patches with the first sighing of the
+breeze, which soon became steady at north-west, and troubled the whole
+expanse as far as the eye could reach.
+
+HEAVY GALE.
+
+It was not, however, as I have said, before daylight of the 3rd that the
+gale commenced in earnest, continuing with great violence, accompanied
+with heavy squalls of rain, till noon next day, when the wind had veered
+to South-South-West. During this time the whole aspect of the scene was
+changed; immense dark banks of clouds rested on the contracted horizon;
+the coral islands by which we were surrounded loomed indistinctly through
+the driving mist; and the decks were drenched by heavy showers that
+occurred at intervals. The wind blew hardest from West-North-West, and
+began to moderate about nine on the morning of the 4th, when it had got
+round to south-west. The current during this breeze set a mile and a half
+East-South-East, changing again to the northward as the wind veered round
+to the southward. This clearly shows how certainly, in this
+neighbourhood, the movements of the air influence those of the sea.
+
+WATER-SPOUTS.
+
+It was the evening of the 5th before all was again clear overhead. In the
+morning, however, we shifted our berth, which had been a mile from the
+south extreme of the detached cluster of islets forming the north-east
+end of Easter Group. Several small water-spouts formed near the ship as
+we were about to weigh, which induced us to wait a little until they
+passed.
+
+On the 8th we bore away for the northern group in 26 and 27 fathoms; the
+space between was named Middle Passage.
+
+WALLABY ISLANDS.
+
+Passing outside of a patch of breakers, lying two miles to the northward
+of the eastern islet, we hauled up south-east, and by feeling our way
+with the boats got the ship into a snug harbour on the south-east side of
+the highest island of the Abrolhos, which was afterwards named East
+Wallaby Island; another large one, named West Wallaby Island, lying two
+miles to the West-South-West with three small flat islets just between.
+To these we gave the name of Pigeon Islands, the common bronze-winged
+pigeon being found there in great numbers. The harbour we named Recruit
+Harbour, from its affording fresh supplies of the small kangaroo, in
+addition to the fish found everywhere else. Like the other ports in the
+Abrolhos, it is full of coral patches; the south point of north Pigeon
+Island, in one with a bare sandhill on the South-East point of West
+Wallaby Island, bearing South 50 degrees West, leads into the harbour
+clear of the spit on the north-west side and some coral patches on the
+east. In entering we had 7 and 8 fathoms, but the depth inside is 11 and
+12; it is perfectly sheltered on all sides.
+
+These islands, after the others, of which the greatest height is 12 feet,
+appear of considerable altitude; though the loftiest point rising on the
+north-east extreme of East Wallaby Island, measures no more than 50 feet.
+This island is upwards of a mile each way; whilst the west one is two
+miles and a half long, and one broad. In the centre of the eastern is a
+low flat, with hills rising all around, with the exception of the south
+side.
+
+FLAG HILL.
+
+The loftiest, which is called Flag Hill, is, as I have mentioned, on the
+north-eastern extreme, and has a long finger-shaped point running out
+from its foot in a north-east direction, to which we gave the name of
+Fish Point, from the number of snappers we caught there. They were so
+voracious that they even allowed themselves to be taken with a small bit
+of paper for a bait. Flag Hill is a rock formed of sand and comminuted
+shells; while the flat which stretches to the south-west from its foot is
+of limestone formation. In it we found a kind of cavern, about 15 feet
+deep, with a sloping entrance, in which was some slightly brackish water,
+that in percolating through the roof had formed a number of stalactites.
+
+A reef, which dries in patches at low-water, connects the east and west
+Wallaby Islands. On the south-west point of the latter are some sandhills
+30 feet high; and on that side also is a dense scrub, in which the mutton
+birds burrow, so that it forms rather troublesome walking.
+
+SLAUGHTER POINT. NEW SPECIES OF WALLABY.
+
+The northern end is a level, stony flat, terminating towards the sea in
+projecting cliffs six or eight feet high; with patches of bushes large
+enough to serve as fuel here and there, all full of a new species of
+wallaby, which, being plentiful on both the large islands, suggested
+their name. The reader will obtain a good idea of the numbers in which
+these animals were found, when I state that on one day, within four
+hours, I shot 36, and that between three guns we killed 76, averaging in
+weight about seven pounds each; which gave rise to the name of Slaughter
+Point for the eastern extreme of the island.
+
+As there is no record of the Dutch having visited the northern group, it
+is impossible to say whether wallaby were then found on it or not. How
+they could have got there is a mystery, as there were no large floating
+masses likely to have carried them from the main. The species has been
+described from a specimen we obtained, as Halmaturus houtmannii; it is
+distinct from Halmaturus derbyanis, found on most of the islands on the
+southern parts of the continent.
+
+We shall now fulfil our promise to the reader by laying before him the
+result of Mr. Bynoe's interesting observations on the Marsupiata, which
+the number of wallaby killed at Houtman's Abrolhos afforded him the means
+of perfecting. I may preface his remarks by stating, that all the
+information I could gain from the colonists on the subject was, that the
+young of the kangaroo were born on the nipple, which my own experience
+appears to corroborate.
+
+MR. BYNOE'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE MARSUPIATA.
+
+"My first examination," says Mr. Bynoe, "of the kangaroo tribe, to any
+extent, occurred at the Abrolhos; there I had an extensive field for
+ascertaining the exact state of the uteri of the wallaby of those
+islands. I opened between two and three hundred, and never found even the
+rudiments of an embryo; but in the pouch I have seen the young adhering
+to the nipple from the weight of half a dram to eight ounces and upwards.
+On examination, the only substance found in the womb when the animal was
+young and full grown, was a cheese-like substance of a straw colour: I
+likewise found a similar substance in the pouch around the nipples, and
+in many instances where the nipples were much retracted, it completely
+covered them, but it was of a darker hue than that in the uterus, and of
+a saponaceous or greasy feel; the aperture of the pouch so much
+contracted as scarcely to admit two fingers; wombs with their cornua
+remarkably small, and nipples in the pouch scarcely pointing, and in many
+instances retracted.
+
+"Animals with these appearances, I concluded, had never borne young.
+Examinations frequently took place immediately after they were shot. In
+those that had recently discarded their young from the pouch, one nipple
+and frequently two were found much lengthened, and very often one more
+than the other. I have seen them in the wallaby frequently two inches in
+length, and with pouches so large, that you could with ease thrust your
+hand into them; the uteri with their appendages enlarged and apparently
+very vascular, as well as thickened; but in no one instance at the
+Abrolhos could I detect a gravid uterus; but I have seen the young
+adhering to the nipples less than half an inch in length, and in a
+perfectly helpless state. It is generally supposed that the uterus in the
+adult animal is not supplied with much arterial blood, merely sufficient
+to nourish that viscus. If such be the case, can it have the power of
+retaining the germ in the womb, when on the most minute examination of
+the young, I could not detect, by cicatrice or line of abrasion on any
+part of the abdomen, that they ever possessed umbilical vessels, or had
+been in any way nourished by a placenta? Let us take into consideration
+the small size of the animal found in the pouch, its utter helplessness,
+its slight power of motion, and its firm attachment to the nipple. The
+more it is in the embryonic state the firmer is its attachment to the
+mother; to separate it from the nipple requires some force; the
+surrounding parts of the opening of the mouth, after separation, bleed
+profusely, and the animal has no power to close it; the opening remains
+gaping and circular, the animal lies on its side, and if very young, soon
+dies. On each side of the opening is a line showing the extent of the
+mouth. When arrived at greater maturity it can make no noise until the
+mouth is fully developed, and then a faint hissing note; it has no power
+to stand until very large, and the hair is about to shoot out from the
+skin. An animal in so helpless a situation could not possibly, with all
+the aids and contrivances of the mother, attach itself to the nipple and
+produce adhesion of the oral aperture, when even at a later period it has
+no motion of life or power to close that opening. The retention in the
+uterus must be of short duration. I have been led to these conclusions
+from examinations on the banks of the Victoria River. A flying doe,
+inhabiting the grass flats, of more than ordinary size, was killed. In
+thrusting my fingers into the pouch, I found that the mammary glands were
+remarkably enlarged, pressing forcibly into that cavity. I questioned the
+seaman who took up the animal, immediately after being shot, whether he
+had taken the young out, and received a negative answer. Finding the
+mammary glands so extremely enlarged, I was induced (although pressed for
+time) to examine the uterus, and posterior and internal parts of those
+glands--the cornua as well as the other parts of the uterus were much
+thickened, and apparently highly injected with blood. On opening the
+cavity I found it throughout thickly coated with slimy or mucal secretion
+(the only uterus found by me in this state.) I now extended my
+examination in front of the womb to the posterior part of the mammae, and
+in doing so discovered a small gelatinous mass, about twice the size of a
+pea. On a closer inspection, it appeared to be retained in a thin
+transparent tube. I watched the substance narrowly and could distinctly
+perceive the rudiments of an animal. The feet were not developed, but
+pulsation and motion were not only observed by me, but by two of the men
+with me, both exclaiming "look at the little animal!" although I feel
+convinced that they did not know what I was searching for. There was not
+time to examine further into its state. I carefully removed the uterus,
+the apparent embryo and the mammae, and put it in a wide-mouthed bottle
+with some spirits, and gave it in charge of the seaman who was to carry a
+portion of the animal for the dinner of that day. It was placed in a
+canvas bag, but on crossing a Deep watercourse he had the misfortune to
+break the bottle, which he never mentioned until the following day. The
+contents soon dried up and became an uniform mass. The intense heat had
+rendered it so firm that nothing could be made of it; all the gelatinous
+parts had adhered so firmly to the bag, that I was compelled to abandon
+it. My object was to ascertain if there was a communication in a greater
+state of development between the womb and posterior part of the mammae,
+during the period of gestation; and I was fancying I had arrived at some
+conclusion, but all my hopes were destroyed by one fatal smash! So many
+theories have been formed on that point--that to advance this as a fact,
+would be treading too firmly on tender ground. At the first view of the
+gelatinous mass I seriously considered whether it could have been a
+gland, and whether the pulsation might have been communicated from
+muscular twitchings; I took my eye off the substance for some time, and
+on again looking at it, felt more confident than ever, that it was not a
+glandular substance. Its peculiar configuration and want of solidity
+proved it indeed not to be gland; its motion, on touching it with the
+point of the finger, was so much that of an embryonic animal, that I at
+once, without further investigation, pronounced it a kangaroo.
+
+"Might not the tube I discovered convey the animal to the posterior part
+of the mammae, where it might become attached to the nipple in an
+inverted state? At any rate it was not in the body of the uterus. Had the
+mass been saved I should have taken one more look of inquiry without
+attempting to alter its structure, and left the matter for the judicious
+decision of some of the professors of comparative anatomy at home."
+
+It may here be remarked that the birds met with on Houtman's Abrolhos,
+with the exception of one, resembling in shape and colour a small quail,*
+were known and common on the mainland. The aquatic species were also
+familiar to us; but the habit of one kind, of a sooty-black colour,
+generally called noddies, was quite new--that of building their nests,
+which are constructed of seaweed and contain only one egg, in trees.
+There were not many varieties of fish, the most abundant being snappers;
+of those that were rare Lieutenant Emery made faithful sketches.
+
+(*Footnote. Haemapodicus scintilans, Gould.)
+
+Half a mile west from Slaughter Point we found two caverns similar to
+that on East Wallaby Island, from which we got three tons of excellent
+water.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE REEFS.
+
+The reefs surrounding this group appeared very much broken; and even at
+Easter Group we had found them to be not so regular as at Pelsart's. This
+suggests the idea, which appears to be borne out by all we saw, that the
+reefs are compact in proportion to the exposed position of the islands;
+the shelter afforded by Pelsart Group, in fact, did not require the reefs
+to be so united round the other islands to the north.
+
+From the highest part of East Wallaby Island we discovered a patch of
+land bearing North-West 1/2 North eleven miles. The outer reef extended
+in that direction from the south-west point of West Wallaby Island,
+though it could only be traced by detached patches of breakers. To the
+south-east of its commencement lies Evening Reef. The observations were
+made on the north end of the north-east Pigeon Island, bearing West by
+South half a mile from our anchorage, in latitude 32 degrees 27 minutes
+21 seconds South and longitude 2 degrees 1 minute 10 seconds West of Swan
+River, variation 4 degrees 10 minutes westerly. The temperature of
+Houtman's Abrolhos is rendered equable by the fact that they lie at the
+limit of the land breezes; during the month we were there the thermometer
+averaged 71 degrees.
+
+Our protracted stay enabled us to get a tolerable series of tidal
+observations, which present some singular results. The time of high-water
+at the full and change was six o'clock when the tide rose 30 inches. It
+appeared that during the night there was a short flood of six hours with
+a rise of seven inches, and an ebb of two hours with a fall of only five
+inches; but that during the day the flow and ebb were nearly equal, the
+former being eight hours and twenty minutes, the latter eight hours and
+five minutes, and the rise and fall in each being 25 and 26 inches
+respectively.
+
+TIDAL OBSERVATIONS.
+
+A difference was also noticed between the day and night tides at Rat
+Island, where the time of high-water at the full and change of the moon
+was ten o'clock, and the rise varied from 8 to 32 inches, from the result
+of twenty-five observations; by which I found, moreover, that the tides
+ebbed five hours and a half in the night, and six hours and a half during
+the day, and the water fell 9 inches with the night, and 18 with the day
+ebb. The difference between the length of the night and the day floods
+was an hour; the duration of the former being six hours, whilst that of
+the latter was seven; whilst the difference in the rise was 7 inches, the
+greatest general height, which was during the night tides, being 20
+inches.
+
+We were detained in Recruit Harbour until May 21st, determining the
+position of the number of small islands and detached reefs to the
+south-east of Wallaby Islands; but at length, after completing the
+soundings on the north-east and north side and ascertaining the extent of
+the reef to the north-west, we proceeded to the isolated patch of land
+before mentioned as seen from Flag Hill, and which, from its relative
+position to the remainder of Houtman's Abrolhos, we called North Island.
+
+An anchorage was found in 12 fathoms, three quarters of a mile from a bay
+on the north-east side, and half a mile from the reef extending to the
+northward. The island was about a mile across, and nearly circular. It
+was surrounded by a range of hills, with a flat in the centre, covered
+with coarse grass, where a great many quails were flushed, affording good
+sport, but not a single wallaby.
+
+RECORD HILL.
+
+The highest hill on the south-west point, measuring 42 feet, received the
+name of Record Hill, from our leaving a paper in a bottle, giving an
+account of our cruise. A contiguous reef stretched out from the west side
+of the island for the distance of a mile, beyond which was the open sea.
+This reef extended two miles and a half to the North-North-West and four
+miles and a half to the southward. Our observations were made on a
+sandhill 36 feet high, immediately over the bay, which they placed in
+latitude 32 degrees 18 minutes 5 seconds South longitude 2 degrees 9
+minutes West from Swan River.
+
+LEAVE HOUTMAN'S ABROLHOS.
+
+May 23.
+
+From Record Hill we had perceived that the sea was quite clear to the
+north and west beyond the reef, and being satisfied that we had reached
+the extremity of Houtman's Abrolhos,* we weighed in the morning, and
+passed about a mile and a half from the reef to the north of the island
+in 26 fathoms; and hauling up South-South-West, along the western side of
+the reefs, gradually deepened the water to 42 fathoms over a rocky
+ground, Record Hill bearing North 70 degrees East six miles and a half.
+We then had no bottom with 50 and 60 fathoms until noon, when we had 122
+fathoms, sand and coral; Record Hill then bearing North 52 degrees East
+eleven miles and a half, just barely visible from the poop. It is
+singular that we should have had bottom at that distance from the group,
+whereas, when we had not proceeded half so far from the southern portion
+we had no bottom with 200 fathoms.
+
+(*Footnote. Their extent in latitude therefore nearly corresponded with
+the old chart; and the apparent confusion in the shape given them, no
+doubt arose from their extremes only having been seen and then extended
+towards each other.)
+
+To ascertain if there were any more reefs to the westward, we now steered
+West-South-West, sounding occasionally with 200 and 220 fathoms
+unsuccessfully.
+
+After running thirty-two miles without seeing any indication of further
+dangers, of which, moreover, the long ocean swell rolling in convinced
+us, we steered to the northward.
+
+GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
+
+It may be proper to conclude our account of Houtman's Abrolhos with a few
+general remarks. They form three groups instead of one, as was formerly
+supposed; Pelsart Group being separated from Easter Group by a channel,
+the least width of which is four miles, whilst the middle passage between
+the latter and the Northern Group is six miles wide. The Abrolhos extend
+in a North-North-West direction forty-eight miles, diminishing in breadth
+towards the north; the greatest width of Easter and Pelsart Groups being
+twelve miles in a West-South-West direction. In Easter Group the outer
+reefs are most distant from the islands, being there four miles from the
+nearest, which is Rat Island. In the Northern Group the islands are more
+detached than in the others, and North Island is separated from them by a
+distance of ten miles.
+
+We have already alluded to the regularity and sameness in the soundings
+in these groups, and between them and the main, clearly showing that they
+are not connected with each other, but rest on the outer extremity of a
+level or bank, stretching out from the main, and having a slight
+southerly inclination, the depth (29 fathoms) between the southern group
+and the coast being greater by four fathoms than between the coast and
+the northern group. On either side of the Abrolhos, at the same distance
+from land, the depth is more than 100 fathoms. The general nature of the
+bottom, in the quiet places between the reefs, is a fine grey sandy mud
+or marl, but in more exposed situations this is not so compact, whilst
+broken shells are more abundant. This bottom bears a striking resemblance
+to that within the Great Barrier Reefs.
+
+After leaving the Abrolhos, as I have narrated, our progress to the
+northward was unusually slow, and between the parallels of 26 degrees 50
+minutes South and 25 degrees 40 minutes South we again got into soundings
+varying from 187 to 81 fathoms, fine grey sand. At the greatest depth the
+ship was forty miles from the land, and twenty miles at the least, which
+was off Dirk Hartog's Island, at the south point of Sharks Bay. In
+passing round the north-west extremity of the continent we delayed, again
+endeavouring to get sight of Ritchie's Reef; but, on this occasion, as on
+our passage from the Victoria to Swan River, it was not seen, and as no
+bottom was obtained with 200 and 240 fathoms in its assigned position on
+the chart, it must either have a very different one or does not exist.
+
+PROCEED TO THE COAST.
+
+The part of the North-west coast that had not been seen by Captain King,
+commencing a short distance to the east of Depuch Island, it was resolved
+that our survey of that part should begin there, and on the 9th of June
+the Beagle reached an anchorage off a sandy bay on the north-east side of
+that island. As we drew near our progress was impeded by a fierce
+south-east breeze during the forenoons, which we found to prevail during
+our stay, being stronger at the full and change of the moon. Although
+coming directly from the land they quite made us shiver, reducing the
+temperature on one occasion to 59 degrees. These winds began about
+daylight at south, gradually veering and drawing round to the eastward as
+the day advanced, and subsiding again as rapidly after noon, leaving the
+evening and night generally calm.
+
+SEARCH FOR WATER.
+
+A search was immediately made for the stream of fresh water reported to
+have been found by the French, in Freycinet's voyage, on Depuch Island.
+As our stock was now very much reduced, and as our stay on the coast
+depended on the supply we could procure here, we were greatly concerned
+to find that our examination was in vain. Everything appeared parched up;
+wells were forthwith commenced, and we dug as many as eight, but at the
+depth of twenty-one feet the water that poured into them was salt.
+Fortunately Mr. Bynoe found a reservoir of water in the main valley
+leading up from the north end of the sandy beach, and about a mile from
+the sea. From this we got about six tons of tolerable water, although the
+labour of carrying it on the men's shoulders in seven-gallon barecas was
+very great, the only road lying through the valley, which, as may be
+inferred from the rounded stones it is strewed with, sometimes conveys a
+torrent to the sea. Large columnar blocks of the greenstone of which the
+island is composed, present, as the sun falls on their iron rusty
+surface, an appearance as if the sides of the valley were lined with red
+warriors. The section presented to our view, by the deepest well we sank
+at the mouth of this valley, consisted of a light kind of mould for six
+feet, then a layer of sand and shells of the same depth, resting on a
+coarse soft kind of reddish sandstone.
+
+FORESTIER GROUP.
+
+Depuch is the centre of a string of islands which bears the name of
+Forestier Group, fronting the coast at the distance of from one to three
+miles. It is much larger than the others, being about eight miles in
+circumference, and reaching an elevation of 514 feet; whereas the smaller
+islands, some of which are thickly covered with brushwood and coarse
+grass, are none of them above 50 feet high. They are of a formation
+totally different, being of a very coarse gritty yellow sandstone, in
+many places quite honeycombed, with some low sandhills superimposed.
+
+DEPUCH ISLAND.
+
+Although Depuch Island is one vast pile of reddish-coloured blocks,
+scattered about in the greatest possible confusion, sometimes resembling
+basaltic columns, its outline from seaward appears even. In the valleys,
+and on some of the more level spots near the summit, there are
+occasionally slight layers of soil, affording nourishment to a coarse
+grass, a few bushes, and several stunted eucalypti; but on the whole the
+vegetation of the island is extremely scanty. From the highest point we
+had a view over the main, extending inland for a great distance. It
+appeared to be flat, with the exception of some isolated rocky hills, of
+a formation similar to that of Depuch, from 200 to 500 feet in height,
+and about six miles from the shore. We could also see at a distance of
+twenty-eight miles a very remarkable pyramidal hill, surmounted by a
+tower-like piece of rock, bearing from our position South 30 degrees
+West. From the white appearance of many large patches of the level
+country, we inferred that they were covered with a salt efflorescence;
+and it is probable that a very great portion of it is occasionally
+flooded, being cut up by a number of creeks, which must overflow at
+spring tides, especially when they occur simultaneously with the
+north-west winds that prevail on this coast during the monsoon.
+
+This group of islands is so connected with the main by extensive
+sandbanks, that at low-water it is possible to walk across to them; and
+of this facility the natives no doubt avail themselves to procure turtle.
+It appears indeed to be only on such occasions that they can visit
+Forestier Group, as we saw no traces of rafts on this portion of the
+coast. Depuch Island would seem to be their favourite resort; and we
+found several of their huts still standing. They were constructed of
+boughs and twigs fixed in the ground, and joined overhead in a circular
+shape. Over this was thrown a loose matting of twisted grass.
+
+NATIVE DRAWINGS.
+
+The natives are doubtless attracted to the place partly by the reservoirs
+of water they find among the rocks after rain, partly that they may enjoy
+the pleasure of delineating the various objects that attract their
+attention, on the smooth surface of the rocks. This they do by removing
+the hard red outer coating, and baring to view the natural colour of the
+greenstone, according to the outline they have traced. Much ability is
+displayed in many of these representations, the subjects of which could
+be discovered at a glance. The number of specimens was immense, so that
+the natives must have been in the habit of amusing themselves in this
+innocent manner for a long period of time. I could not help reflecting,
+as I examined with interest the various objects represented*--the human
+figures, the animals, the birds, the weapons, the domestic implements,
+the scenes of savage life--on the curious frame of mind that could induce
+these uncultivated people to repair, perhaps at stated seasons of the
+year, to this lonely picture gallery, surrounded by the ocean-wave, to
+admire and add to the productions of their forefathers. No doubt they
+expended on their works of art as much patience and labour and enthusiasm
+as ever was exhibited by a Raphael or a Michael Angelo in adorning the
+walls of St. Peter or the Vatican; and perhaps the admiration and
+applause of their fellow countrymen imparted as much pleasure to their
+minds as the patronage of popes and princes, and the laudation of the
+civilized world, to the great masters of Italy. There is in the human
+mind an irresistible tendency to indulge in a sort of minor creation--to
+tread humbly in the footsteps of the Maker--to reproduce the images that
+revolve within it, and to form, from its own ideas, a mimic
+representation of the actual world. This is the source of all art and all
+poetry; of every thing, in fact, which tends to adorn and refine our
+nature. It is this uncontrollable desire to work on and fashion the rough
+materials that lie under our hands that gives the first impulse to
+civilization, and impels us onward in the progress of improvement. And
+wherever we discern the faintest indication that such a principle is at
+work, there we may securely hope that development will ultimately take
+place. Until we find a nation which has never attempted to emerge from
+the circle of its mere animal wants--which has never exhibited the least
+inclination to develop the most ordinary arts--which not only rejects
+clothing, but is absolutely indifferent to ornament--which leaves its
+weapons uncarved, its skin unpainted, free from tattoo, we must not
+despair of the general efficacy of civilization. These savages of
+Australia, as we call them, who have adorned the rocks of Depuch Island
+with their drawings, have in one thing proved themselves superior to the
+Egyptian and the Etruscan, whose works have elicited so much admiration
+and afforded food to so many speculations--namely, there is not in them
+to be observed the slightest trace of indecency.
+
+(*Footnote. See the accompanying lithographic impression of the copies
+made by Captain Wickham of the native drawings on Depuch Island.)
+
+During our stay we did not see any of the natives on the island; but on
+the main several of them were observed, though they would not allow us to
+communicate, moving off as soon as any attempt was made to get near them
+in the boats. On one occasion, when Mr. Fitzmaurice, in a whaleboat, was
+examining a part of the coast to the eastward of Depuch Island, he
+entered a creek, which soon, however, became too confined by the
+mud-banks for them to use the oars.
+
+HOSTILITY OP THE NATIVES.
+
+While in this position a shout attracted his attention, and he perceived
+a party of natives, armed with spears approaching the boat, with evident
+hostile designs. They of course naturally looked upon us as intruders;
+and as the point was not worth contesting, the creek being of no
+importance, Mr. Fitzmaurice thought it better to withdraw, rather than
+run the risk of a collision that could have led to no beneficial results.
+
+TOM'S TERROR OF THEM.
+
+The native youth we had brought with us from Swan River did not at all
+approve of these excursions. He was generally taken, with a view of
+giving confidence to any of his wild countrymen who might be encountered;
+but he exhibited the greatest possible repugnance to this service. His
+terror for the northern men fully equalled that of Miago, from whom
+doubtless he had received the most terrific accounts. It was only by
+giving him a gun that he could be at all induced to go. He evidently felt
+himself more secure with European arms than with his own rude ones; and
+appeared to have learnt their superiority by experience, for he was a
+very fair shot. When I first asked him why he did not prefer his spear,
+his simple reply was, "Can't look out;" meaning that the northern men
+could not see the contents of a gun coming, whereas if a spear were
+hurled at them they could avoid it. His bravery was of much the same
+complexion as that of Miago; and he threatened magnanimously to inflict
+the most condign punishment on the fellows who opposed Mr. Fitzmaurice's
+landing. He had a strong impression that these northern people were of
+gigantic stature; and in the midst of the silent and gaping interest with
+which he listened to Mr. Fitzmaurice's account of his adventure, the
+words big fella often escaped from his lips; and he appeared quite
+satisfied when assured that his opinion was correct.
+
+The agility this native exhibited in spearing fish was astonishing. In
+shallow water he would actually course the fish till he got them within
+spearing depth, when, although his prey darted past, he struck it with
+the most surprising precision. The quiet, splashless manner in which he
+ran through the water was really singular. When his spear required new
+pointing, the sole of his foot was turned up and the spear's head pared
+down upon it with a knife. When the latter was not to be procured the
+teeth were made use of; and I may here remark that the constant use which
+some savages make of their teeth may have much to do in producing the
+projecting jaw. It seems almost evident to common sense that the constant
+employment of the teeth must have a material effect in causing a change
+in the facial angle.
+
+ANCHORAGE AT DEPUCH ISLAND.
+
+We found the anchorage at Depuch Island to form a tolerable port, being
+protected from the north-east by one of the group, distant about three
+miles, from which a reef extends to the West-North-West, leaving the
+mouth of the harbour exposed only between North-West by North and
+West-North-West. Our observations placed the centre of the sandy beach on
+the north-east side of the island in latitude 20 degrees 37 minutes 47
+seconds South and longitude 2 degrees 0 minutes 20 seconds West of Swan
+River, variation 2 degrees westerly; and the time of high-water, at the
+full and change, at half past ten, when the tide rose 15 feet, but only 5
+during neaps.
+
+NEW BIRD AND KANGAROO.
+
+Although Depuch Island had been visited before, there still remained
+something quite new to reward the diligent search that was made after
+objects of natural history: namely, a small kind of kangaroo, a land
+bird, and a shell, a species of Helix. The bird was shot by Mr. Bynoe; it
+was a finch,* and beautifully marked with stripes of crimson down the
+breast, on a black ground with white spots; the throat, and a patch round
+the stump of the tail, were crimson. It is remarkable that all the beauty
+and brilliancy of colour in this bird is underneath, the back being of a
+common earthy brown.
+
+(*Footnote. Named by Mr. Gould from this specimen, Emblema picta.)
+
+The kangaroo I had myself the good fortune to knock over on the summit of
+the island; it was the only one shot during many an excursion made over
+that dreary heap of desolation, the metallic sound the rocks yielded to
+our step giving ample warning of our approach to their quick ears. The
+colours of this specimen, the prettiest we had seen, were a dark grey,
+with a large angular patch of white down the side, extending from the top
+of the shoulders nearly to the hips. Down the centre of the back, ran a
+streak of black, which was also the colour of the extremity of its
+slightly bushy tail. The face and belly were likewise darker than other
+parts of the body, and the feet were black and well cushioned, giving it
+a firm hold of the rocks over which it bounded with surprising agility,
+through it never ran very far, always popping into the cavities caused by
+the loose manner in which the blocks forming the island are thrown
+together.*
+
+(*Footnote. Mr. Gould has figured an animal very like this I have
+described, as Petrogale lateralis, or the Stripe-Sided Rock Wallaby, from
+a specimen he some time afterwards got from Western Australia; but he has
+not noticed the beautiful kangaroo of Depuch Island.)
+
+The specimen of the species of Helix I have above mentioned was found by
+Mr. Dring, one of our most successful collectors in that department. In
+the Appendix are figured some of the new shells discovered during the
+voyage.
+
+Leaving Depuch Island, we examined the coast to the eastward as far as
+the Turtle Isles, a distance of eighty-five miles, the first twenty-seven
+of which trended North 55 degrees East, and the remainder North 67
+degrees East curving slightly inwards. As the French had obtained a
+distant view of this coast, it did not possess to us the interest of
+being a new portion of the continent.
+
+EFFECTS OF MIRAGE.
+
+Still the effect of the treacherous mirage, which has often deluded the
+way-worn thirsty traveller with the false appearance of water, raised
+many parts of the interior that had not before met the eye of an
+European. These presented a very level outline. The interior was, for a
+great distance, a vast plain, so low that we could scarcely see it from
+the ship's masthead over the sandhills, which did not exceed the height
+of 40 feet. Six or seven miles from the Turtle Isles this extensive level
+was interrupted by the presence of a group of hills, from 200 to 300 feet
+in elevation, apparently of the same character as the heights behind
+Depuch Island. As seen through the medium of mirage, they often had a
+most curious appearance: high continuous ranges, changing again to lofty
+islands, danced in the tremulous air. I should remark that when the land
+was subject to this distortion, it was always during the forenoon, and on
+those days the winds were invariably light.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE COAST.
+
+The shore, for nearly fifteen miles from Depuch Island is very low, lined
+with mangroves, and intersected by creeks, which at high-water, when the
+tide rises sometimes 18 feet, are of some magnitude, and inundate much of
+the low land, leaving large portions of it whitened by a salt
+incrustation. Beyond, as far as the Turtle Isles, the coast is fronted
+with a ridge of sandhills, scantily covered with vegetation (the highest,
+as I have already said, rarely exceeding an elevation of 40 feet) forming
+a barrier between the sea and the low lands behind, which, from the
+masthead, appeared to be thickly covered with small trees, and slightly
+raised from three to seven miles from the coast. Several of the natives
+showed themselves at a distance, and from the numerous fires, it appeared
+to be a well inhabited part of the continent. Still we saw no appearance
+of a stream of fresh water; and, though there were several creeks, the
+only opening of any consequence was forty-three miles from Depuch Island.
+From its abounding with oysters we named it Oyster Inlet. Across the
+mouth of it lies an islet, just within the north-eastern end of which
+there was a sufficient depth for the Beagle. The formation of the island
+was a reddish porous sandstone. At a native fire-place I found a piece of
+quartz and a large pearl oyster-shell. The tide rose here 15 feet near
+full moon.
+
+THE GEOGRAPHE SHOALS.
+
+The only outlying dangers on this extent of coast were the Geographe
+Shoals, two rocky patches some distance from each other. The outer one
+was thirteen miles from the main, and bore North 22 degrees East
+twenty-three miles from Depuch Island.
+
+TURTLE ISLANDS.
+
+The shore fronting the north Turtle Island projects, leaving a space of
+only ten miles between, of which, on account of the shoals, only a small
+portion lying near the island is navigable. Nearly opposite the latter is
+another opening, of some extent at high-water; but from the impediments
+that offered to our examining it, we named it Breaker Inlet. During
+spring tides it must carry a large body of water over the very low land
+it intersects.
+
+The South Turtle Isle is a mere bank of sand and white coral; the
+northern is about half a mile across, of the same formation precisely as
+the low isles of Forestier Group. It is fronted on all sides with a coral
+reef extending off from a mile to a mile and a half, which dries at
+low-water, leaving an abrupt wall of from two to three feet at the outer
+edge, with pools between it and the island, in which several luckless
+turtles, who had deferred leaving until too late, were found. Though we
+only took what was required for our own consumption, the number that
+could have been here obtained was enormous.
+
+In the course of four hours thirty green turtles were brought on board,
+one of which, and not the largest, weighed 385 pounds. A small hawk's
+bill, the first and only one seen, was also taken. On this part of the
+coast grows a peculiar small kind of weed, on which they feed; it was
+first seen near Depuch Island. I have been informed that the turtles at
+Ascension Island, when fresh caught, have a large ball of a curious kind
+of weed in their stomach, and that as soon as it is consumed, they become
+watery and lose their flavour. Though many diligent inquiries have been
+made after this weed, it appears to be still unknown.
+
+A sandhill on the south-east end of the North Isle our observations
+placed in latitude 19 degrees 53 minutes 48 seconds South, and longitude
+3 degrees 09 minutes 10 seconds East of Swan River; variation 1 degree 0
+minutes westerly. The tide ran between the island and the shore nearly
+two knots an hour; the flood stream came from the north-west; and the
+rise at springs was 18 feet, the time of high-water being 11 o'clock.
+
+SEARCH FOR WATER.
+
+A fruitless attempt was made to procure water on this island, by digging;
+and as we were now reduced to a supply for only ten days, it became
+necessary that we should immediately proceed to Timor in search of some.
+This was much to be regretted at the present moment, as the coast to the
+east had never been seen, and therefore possessed the charm of being a
+new part of the continent. We consoled ourselves for not being able to
+visit it by the reflection that it would hold out some inducement for us
+to return to this land of sterility.
+
+On Turtle Island was found a broken jar, probably left by some of the
+Macassar people, who are occasionally blown in upon this part of the
+coast.
+
+July 14.
+
+The unusual fogs that had prevailed for three days dispersing, allowed us
+to leave our anchorage under the south-east side of North Turtle Isle,
+and soon after dark we occupied another near Bedout Island, having
+crossed some rocky ledges of seven fathoms on the way. When the Beagle
+was midway between these islands, they were both visible from the
+masthead. In the night, and during the early part of next day, it blew
+strong from south-east, causing a high-topping sea. Time being precious,
+we could not wait for a quiet day to land on Bedout; its position was
+therefore determined by observations with the sea horizon, and differs
+very materially from that given by the French.
+
+We weighed early in the afternoon of the 15th, and passed round the
+north-west end of Bedout, where there is much uneven ground with
+ripplings. We carried soundings until abreast of the north end of Rowley
+Shoals and twenty-five miles from their inner side, in from 45 to 154
+fathoms. These shoals, like the Abrolhos, appear to stand on the outer
+edge of a bank projecting off this portion of the coast, as we did not
+get bottom after leaving their parallel.
+
+On the 20th, in the afternoon, we passed, having no soundings with 200
+fathoms, along the western side of Scott's Reef, at the distance of three
+miles, and determined its position. It forms a large lagoon, with an
+opening, not appearing to be a ship passage, midway on its western side;
+marked by a dry bank just within it, in latitude 14 degrees 3 minutes 30
+seconds South and longitude 6 degrees 4 minutes 45 seconds East of Swan
+River. The eastern extreme of the reef was not seen; the southern limit
+is in latitude 14 degrees 15 minutes South; and the north-west extreme
+being in 13 degrees 55 minutes South, and longitude 6 degrees 2 minutes
+East of Swan River, gives it an extent of twenty miles in a north and
+south direction.
+
+SCOTT'S REEF.
+
+Captain Owen Stanley, in March, 1840, discovered a shoal about sixteen
+miles to the North-North-East of Scott's Reef; he considered its extent
+from east to west to be about five miles; but from the masthead the south
+end of it could not be seen. It did not appear to have more than two or
+three feet water on it. The north point, Captain Stanley places in
+latitude 13 degrees 39 minutes South, longitude 121 degrees 56 minutes
+East; or 6 degrees 11 minutes East of Swan River.*
+
+(*Footnote. This reef was seen by the Seringapatam merchant ship in
+1842.)
+
+We now began to feel a westerly current, which increased to a knot and a
+half as we got near Rottee; the winds being moderate, between East and
+East-South-East.
+
+PULO DOUW.
+
+July 23.
+
+The weather was hazy: the high land of Rottee was seen in the forenoon,
+the highest part of the island, a rather pointed hill, bearing North 60
+degrees East. At 1 P.M. we saw Pulo Douw, which we endeavoured to
+weather, but the current prevented us. It is a remarkable island, with a
+gap in the centre and a clump of trees, that looks like a sail when first
+seen, on the north-west end, which terminates in a low sandy point. This
+is also the case with the south-east extreme, off which a reef extends
+for about half a mile; indeed, there appeared to be no ship passage
+between the sandy islets that lie to the east of Pulo Douw and Rottee. We
+rounded the north-west end of the former at the distance of a mile and a
+half, passing through some heavy ripplings, apparently an eddy setting to
+the north-east round the island. Pulo Douw appeared to be thickly
+inhabited, and was encircled by a reef, except at its North-North-West
+point, where there is a cliffy projection. Angles were taken for fixing
+the position of the islets between Pulo Douw and Rottee, which we found
+to be wrongly placed. The Scotch Bonnet, a remarkable rocky lump, seen
+over the south-west end of Rottee, and in line with the south side of
+Pulo Douw, bore South 60 degrees East. During the night we had a fresh
+wind from East-South-East and sailed through several ripplings, our first
+entering suddenly upon which caused some anxiety, though the lead gave no
+bottom with 60 and 70 fathoms. We passed some distance from the western
+end of Samow Island in the morning; but the high peaks of Timor were not
+seen till near noon. The eager eyes of the native whom we had brought
+with us from Swan River were the first to descry them; and he exclaimed
+in tones of rapturous astonishment, "Land! big fella! all the same
+cloud!" I shall not easily forget the amazement of this savage,
+accustomed as he was to behold the level plains of his native land, when
+he saw, towering in alpine grandeur to the sky, the pinnacled heights of
+Timor. He seemed scarcely able to conceive, even when assured by the
+evidence of his own senses, that it was possible for mountains to be so
+high and ranges so vast as those that now developed themselves before
+him.
+
+REACH TIMOR.
+
+In crossing the mouth of Coepang Bay towards Samow, in the evening, the
+appearance was truly grand. A vast heap of vapour was slowly moving
+across the mountains, disclosing at intervals their jagged summits
+towering towards the sky, and occasionally allowing the eye to penetrate
+for a moment into the depths of mysterious valleys that seemed to stretch
+for unknown distances into the recesses of the great Timoree Range. Some
+wild flying clouds that rapidly traversed the heavens imparted a curious
+alternation of light and shadow to the lowlands that presented themselves
+to our view--chequering the whole with gloomy patches and light spots,
+and revealing or hiding in rapid succession the extensive woods and the
+patches of cultivation that lay within the bosom of the Bay. The dazzling
+white sand beaches, too, strongly marked by the dark blue sea, heightened
+the beauty of the scene; which to us, who had for some months seen
+nothing but the monotonous north-west coast of Australia, appeared truly
+enchanting.
+
+During the first watch we beat up the bay, and at midnight anchored; the
+barking of dogs, the crowing of cocks, and the tolling of bells assuring
+us that we were once again in the vicinity of civilization. In the
+morning we found ourselves off the town of Coepang, when we shifted our
+berth farther in; the flagstaff of Fort Concordia bearing south a quarter
+of a mile.
+
+SWAN RIVER NATIVE.
+
+Our Swan River native came up to me after we had anchored, dressed in his
+best, shoes polished, and buttoned up to the chin in an old uniform
+jacket. "Look," said he, pointing to some Malay lads alongside in a
+canoe, "trousers no got 'um." A toss of the head supplied what was
+wanting to the completeness of this speech, and said as plainly as words
+could have done, "poor wretches!" I tried in vain to point out their
+superiority, by saying, "Malay boy, work, have house; Swan River boy, no
+work, bush walk." I then drew his attention to the country, the delicious
+fruits and other good things to eat (knowing that the surest road to an
+Australian's heart is through his mouth) but all was in vain! my simple
+friend shook his head, saying, "No good, stone, rock big fella, too much,
+can't walk." Home, after all, is home all the world over, and the dull
+arid shores of Australia were more beautiful in the eyes of this savage
+than the romantic scenery of Timor, which excited in him wonder not
+delight. It was amusing to see how frightened he was on going ashore the
+first time. With difficulty could he be kept from treading on our heels,
+always, I suppose, being in the habit, in his own country, of finding
+strangers to be enemies. He was instantly recognised by the Malays, who
+had occasionally seen natives of Australia returning with the Macassar
+proas from the north coast, as a marega,* much to his annoyance.
+
+(*Footnote. I have never been able to learn the meaning of this word.
+They told us at Coepang it signified man-eater; which explains the
+native's annoyance; and may serve as a clue to the discovery that the
+aborigines of the northern part of the continent occasionally eat human
+bodies as they do in the south.)
+
+LAND AT COEPANG.
+
+Being anxious to make the acquaintance of the Resident, who bore the
+reputation of being a most intelligent person, a party of us paid him a
+visit the second day after our arrival. The narrow streets, lined with
+Chinese shops and pedlars of every description, from the long-tailed
+Chinaman to the thick, crisp-haired, athletic Timoree, were soon passed.
+We then entered a rich green valley, with some fine houses on the left:
+the sight was strange and new to us in every way. What we most enjoyed
+was the vegetation--a feast for our eyes, after the dull arid shores of
+North-western Australia: and we gazed with intense pleasure on the rich
+green spreading leaf of the banana and other tropical fruit-trees, above
+which towered, the graceful coconut. Is it possible, thought I, that
+Timor and Australia, so different in the character of their scenery, can
+be such near neighbours, that these luxuriant valleys, nestling among the
+roots of these gigantic hills, are only separated by a narrow expanse of
+sea from those shores over which nature has strewed, with so niggard a
+hand, a soil capable of bearing the productions characteristic of the
+latitudes within which they lie?
+
+A meagre-looking apology for a soldier, leaning against a tree, suggested
+to us that we must be near the Resident's dwelling: we were so. It soon
+appeared that it was the last of the large houses before mentioned, and
+that the soldier was the sentinel.
+
+VISIT THE RESIDENT.
+
+We were speedily ushered into the presence of D.T. Vanden Dungen
+Gronovius. What sort of person, reader, do you picture to yourself with
+such a name? Great of course; and in truth such was he, not only in
+height and bulk, but as he soon informed us, in deeds likewise; he talked
+fast, and smoked faster, and possessed a general knowledge of all the
+recent discoveries. We learned from him that the Zelee and Astrolabe were
+laid on their beam ends for twenty-four hours in the hurricane of last
+November, when the Pelorus was lost at Port Essington. After listening to
+some strange and amusing stories about Borneo, where the Resident had
+been Superintendent for twelve years, we took our leave. I was glad to
+find that Mr. Gronovius entertained views more liberal than Dutchmen
+generally do. He had, as he told me, written to the Governor-General at
+Batavia, requesting that Coepang might be made a free port, and
+emigration allowed. He most kindly offered us horses and guides for
+riding or shooting.
+
+FORT CONCORDIA.
+
+The observations for latitude, longitude, etc. were made in Fort
+Concordia,* near the flagstaff. I was surprised to find this fort so much
+out of repair; the only guns fit to be fired out of were two brass
+six-pounders, the carriages indeed of which were not trustworthy. On
+these guns I noticed the same mark as on that we found at Houtman's
+Abrolhos, namely, two sides of a triangle bisecting two small circles. I
+never see an old fort without thinking of the anecdote of a party from
+the Beagle visiting one at Valdivia on the west coast of South America.
+The guns were very much out of repair, and when the remark was made to
+the old Spaniard who showed the fort, that they would not bear to be
+fired out of ONCE, with a shrug of his shoulders he replied that he
+thought they would bear it TWICE! But to return to Fort Concordia: it
+stands on a madreporic rocky eminence, about 60 feet in elevation,
+commanding the straggling town of Coepang, which, certainly, from the
+anchorage** does not impress the stranger with a favourable opinion of
+the industry of its inhabitants, though it improves in proportion as you
+retreat from the beach. The foot of the height on which the fort stands
+is washed by a small rapid stream that skirts the south side of the town.
+Its course from the eastward is marked by a deep gorge, on the sides of
+which a stranger might feast his eyes on the riches of tropical scenery.
+Here and there above the mass of humbler vegetation, a lofty tapering
+coconut tree would rear its graceful form, bowing gently in the passing
+breeze. On every hill was presented the contrast of redundant natural
+verdure, clothing its sides and summit, and of cultivated fields along
+the lower slopes. These by irrigation are turned into paddy plantations,
+the winds blowing over which give rise to those insidious fevers,
+intermittent, I am told, in their character, which are so prevalent at
+Coepang, as well as dysentery, from which indeed the crew of the Beagle
+afterwards suffered.
+
+(*Footnote. Latitude 10 degrees 10 minutes 11 seconds South, and
+longitude 9 degrees 50 minutes 00 seconds West of Swan River.)
+
+(**Footnote. See the view annexed.)
+
+DUTCH MILITARY FORCE.
+
+The whole force the Dutch have at Coepang is sixty soldiers, half of
+whom, too, are Javanese. Yet the subjection in which this small force
+keeps the natives, is beyond belief. A sergeant is the commandant at
+Rottee, and such power has he over the inhabitants, that he can at any
+time raise a thousand armed men in the course of a few hours. Many of the
+largest ponies used at Coepang, are brought from Rottee. Their origin no
+one could give me any information about; all agree in saying they were
+found with the island, and the natives have no traditions.
+
+THE RESIDENT'S TALES.
+
+My second visit to the Resident was for the purpose of accepting his
+offer of a guide, and of making arrangements for a day's shooting. I
+found him as usual, sitting smoking in a large cool room. We were soon in
+the interior of Borneo, the scene of his former exploits. Some of these
+were of so sanguinary a character, that they do him very little credit;
+and many of his tales partook of the marvellous. Among the Dyaks, natives
+of the interior, it is a custom, he said, that when a man wishes to
+marry, he must produce a certain number of human heads. He related that
+he had once seen a very handsome young woman, to whom a number of heads
+had been delivered, swimming about in some water, and playing with them.
+At another time he averred that he saw a woman mix human brains with
+water and drink it! Mr. Gronovius also informed me that the land on the
+western sides both of Timor and Borneo was gaining on the sea,
+particularly at the latter place; and a report prevailed that on some of
+the elevated parts of the former chama shells had been found. In answer
+to my inquiries about earthquakes, I was told that, only the last month
+the island of Ternate in 0 degrees 50 minutes North had been visited by
+one, which had thrown down all the houses, and that in 1690, the town of
+Coepang had also been destroyed. From the Resident also, I received
+accounts of three ports in Rottee, one on the north-west side, another on
+the south-east, and a third, on the north-east, opening into Rottee
+Strait.
+
+THE TIMOREES.
+
+Among the fresh information gained from Mr. Gronovius during this visit,
+was an account of the natives of Timor called Timorees. They are very
+superstitious, and when a person of consequence dies, a number of
+karabows (buffaloes) pigs, and ponies are killed and placed over his
+grave, as an offering to the evil spirit. Some, in case of sickness,
+imagine, that by eating a whole buffalo, even the horns and hoofs, by
+degrees, they can appease the anger of the demon to whom they attribute
+all their misfortunes.
+
+Many of the Timorees have really handsome features, strikingly different
+from the Malays. Their hair, which is neither woolly nor straight, but
+crisp, and full of small waves, is worn long behind, and kept together by
+a curiously formed comb. There is altogether a degree of wildness in
+their appearance that ill accords with their situation; for nearly all
+the Timorees in Coepang are slaves sold by the Rajahs of the different
+districts, the value of a young man being fifty pounds.
+
+A powerful Rajah, commonly called the Emperor of Timor, visited Coepang
+during our stay there. Unfortunately we all missed seeing him. He was
+attended by a large and well-armed guard, and appeared to be on very good
+terms with the merchants of the place, who made him several presents, no
+doubt through interested motives; probably he supplies them with slaves.
+His character is notoriously bad; it was only the other day that he had
+one of his wives cut to pieces, for some very trifling offence.
+
+A SHOOTING EXCURSION.
+
+On taking my leave of the Resident, I fixed the day for our shooting
+excursion. We were to go to a place called Pritie, on the northern shore
+of Babao Bay, and distant some fifteen miles from the ship, which
+rendered it necessary therefore to make an early start.
+
+Daylight on Monday morning accordingly found us on the northern shore of
+the bay, but we soon ascertained that our guide knew very little about
+the matter; and what was still worse, there was no getting near the
+shore, a bank of soft mud fronting it for some distance, at this time of
+tide, and particularly in the vague direction our guide gave us of
+Pritie. The day was fast advancing; so we made our way back to a cliffy
+projection we had passed before light, where, after some difficulty, we
+got on shore. Whilst the breakfast was cooking, I made a sketch of the
+bay, and took a round of angles, all the charts and plans I had seen
+being very erroneous.
+
+Our guide appeared to take our not going to Pritie greatly to heart; but
+we made the best of our way to some clear spots on the side of the high
+land seen from the boat. We met a few natives, who all agreed there were
+plenty of deer close by, which we believed, for we saw numbers of very
+recent tracks. But the jungle was impenetrable; so, after rambling for an
+hour or two, at the expense of nearly tearing the clothes off our backs,
+and emulating the folly of the wise man of Thessaly, we again determined
+to make for Pritie, or at least to try and find it. The tide too now
+served, and after a pull of some hours, carefully examining every creek
+and bight, we spied at length two canoes hauled up among a patch of
+mangroves. Landing, we soon found some houses, and a person to show us
+the road to Pritie; for we had still a walk of three miles across a well
+watered flat piece of country. We were highly pleased with this, to us,
+novel sight; and our enjoyment was heightened by beholding the tricks and
+grimaces of some impudent monkeys perched on the tops of the lofty trees,
+out of shot range, and too nimble to be hit with a ball.
+
+VALE OF PRITIE.
+
+We at last reached our destination, on the eastern side of a beautiful
+stream. Immediately to the northward some lofty peaks reared their rugged
+summits in an amphitheatre round the rich and picturesque vale of Pritie,
+which lay at the feet of their varied slopes, one mass of tropical
+vegetation. Trees of enormous height shot up by the waterside, and
+between them, as we approached, the little sharp-roofed houses of the
+village of Pritie could be seen scattered here and there amidst their
+gardens.
+
+Our old guide, who had by this time recovered his serenity of mind, led
+us direct to the Commandant, a mild and very civil old Javanese, to whom
+orders had been sent by the Resident at Coepang to show us every
+attention. His room was adorned by a magnificent pair of antlers which,
+we were rejoiced to hear, had been lately taken from a deer shot within a
+hundred yards of the house. After a repast of young coconuts, and gula, a
+kind of honey; it was arranged that a party should be collected to go
+with us on the morrow to shoot deer and pigs.
+
+Our host now took us to see the village, and then conducted us to the
+house we were to occupy during our sojourn at Pritie, which was a large
+homely-built edifice erected for the Resident's use when he visits this
+neighbourhood. We spent the dusk of the evening in pigeon-shooting, but
+did not meet with much success; for the birds perched for the most part
+on the summits of trees so lofty that they were quite out of shot-range.
+Many of these giants of the forest must have attained the height of at
+least two hundred feet. They formed a grand element in the landscape,
+especially when their huge trunks rose by the side of the limpid water of
+the stream that intersects the vale of Pritie. Between their topmost
+boughs, to the north, the amphitheatre of hills which I have mentioned
+lifted up their indistinct forms, round which the shades of night were
+gathering, towards the heavens, that soon began to glisten with a
+multitude of faint stars.
+
+EVENING REPAST.
+
+By the time we got within doors, after our unsuccessful stroll, we were
+quite tired, and well prepared to enjoy our dinner. The dignified air
+assumed by our guide, evidently for the purpose of showing off, and the
+ostentatious liberality with which he proffered the goodly viands sent by
+the commandant, amused us highly. An account of our fare may be
+acceptable to the gastronomic reader, who will thus be enabled to
+determine whether he should envy or pity the voyager to the distant
+shores of Timor. First came tea and coffee; then, in the course of an
+hour, followed fowls, cooked in all sorts of ways, with a proportion of
+rice. The good things were brought in by a train of domestics some fifty
+yards long, headed by a paunchy, elderly man, who greatly reminded us of
+Caleb Balderston. If there was a word said by any of the lookers-on--for
+many came to have a gaze at the lions--he was out in a moment, and
+brought the offender to account. In short, by his officious attention he
+afforded us much amusement, and greatly contributed to our proper
+enjoyment of the dinner. Our candles were original ones--a few threads of
+cotton drawn through a roll of bees' wax.
+
+Dinner being over, we retired to pass as cold a night as we had felt for
+some time, having only a few coarse mats to cover us; so that long before
+daylight we were obliged to get up and walk about for the purpose of
+warming ourselves. The first of the morning we spent again
+pigeon-shooting; the birds were large and wild, yet we managed to get a
+few.
+
+THE HILLS IN A MIST.
+
+This excursion gave us an opportunity of beholding the mountains of Timor
+under a remarkable aspect. From various openings in the woody plain we
+could perceive their sides, clothed in grey mist, above which sometimes
+we caught a glimpse of a pinnacle rising through the clear air, and just
+touched by the rays of the morning sun. Here and there the slopes of the
+hills were dimly seen through the vapour, which in other places, however,
+rolled along in thick masses, completely hiding the uplands from view.
+Nearly every gorge and valley was filled with heavy volumes of fog,
+whilst in some, a slight steam only rising, allowed the trees to be
+faintly discovered. There is nothing more grand than the aspect of lofty
+peaks and crags and precipices imperfectly revealed through a morning
+mist. It seems as though the darkness of night, unwilling to depart,
+lingers still fondly around them. Their hollows and recesses are still
+wrapt in gloom, when all else around is beaming with light. Within the
+tropics the contrast thus afforded has a startling effect; but the
+influence of the sun is not long to be resisted; the mist soon begins to
+disperse; valley after valley opens its depths to the view; the outline
+of each rocky peak becomes more and more defined against the deep blue
+sky, and presently the whole scene appears before you clear and bright,
+with every line sharply drawn, every patch of colour properly
+discriminated, a splendid panorama of towering hills and waving forests.
+
+Whilst I was gazing at this picture, the report of a fowling piece behind
+me drew my attention, and on turning I was surprised to see the old
+commandant out shooting likewise, and with him no less a person than
+Caleb Balderston, as we had christened his faithful domestic. In their
+company we returned to Pritie.
+
+MUSTER OF THE PARTY.
+
+Soon after breakfast our party began to muster, each man armed with a
+long-condemned Tower musket. On one of them I was surprised to recognize
+the name of a marine who had belonged to the Beagle in 1827. The powder
+they used was of the coarsest kind, carried in small pieces of bamboo,
+each containing a charge, and fitted in a case of skin, something like
+our cartouch boxes. As a substitute for balls they used BOLTS OF STONE,
+from two to three inches long. Besides a musket, each had a huge knife or
+chopper, stuck in his belt. I was much struck with the simple contrivance
+they had for shoes: a piece of the fan palm plaited together and tied
+under the foot. The number of uses to which this tree is applied is
+astonishing--for making water-buckets, for thatching houses, filling up
+the panel-work of doors, and a variety of others I could mention.
+
+It was late before we could muster all our force; but we at length got
+away, commandant and all. I was much pleased with the respect everyone
+paid him, especially as he was one of those mild kind persons who require
+very little. Soon after leaving the village we halted in a shady spot,
+near a stream of water, some of our party being still missing. This gave
+me a good opportunity of comparing the features of the Malay and Timoree,
+for some of both were in attendance. The Malay has a much more open
+countenance than the Timoree, but is not so handsome, the latter having a
+more aquiline nose.
+
+THE SHOOTING ARRANGEMENTS.
+
+When they all arrived I counted fifty armed men. There were some whose
+grey hairs proclaimed their lengthened years; though there was a keenness
+in their eyes that revealed that the principle of vitality was strong
+within them yet; in others all the dash and vigour of youth was
+perceptible; many had a truly wild appearance, with their long bushy hair
+and ever restless eye. It was a picturesque sight to behold fifty such
+fine fellows scattered about in small groups in the deep shade of these
+solitudes.
+
+All the necessary arrangements being made, we once more started. An
+hour's walk brought us to a rather large plain, where I and my companions
+were stationed, about a hundred yards asunder, whilst the rest of the
+party formed a circle, driving all the game in our direction.
+Unfortunately those on the left commenced hallooing before those on the
+right, in which latter direction the only three deer in the circle ran
+from the noise, instead of towards us. Two of them were shot, and by the
+stone bolts above mentioned. We now went to fresh ground, when, provoking
+to say, the same thing happened again, not without our suspicions being
+raised that this was purposely contrived; so that after all we were
+obliged to leave without a single shot. Each deer, the largest of which,
+a doe, must have weighed a hundred pounds, was shot STANDING, for the
+natives have a peculiar cry, which arrests the animal's progress for a
+moment, while they fire.
+
+THE JAVANESE COMMANDANT.
+
+The deer were all brought up to the commandant, who begged our acceptance
+of them. We thanked him, and took the two smallest. By the time we
+reached Pritie they were skinned and hung up, ready to be put into the
+boats. The persons who had shot them had received their stone bolts again
+very little injured; the hole they make is enormous. We rewarded these
+people; but to the commandant we were really at a loss how to express our
+obligations. At length we thought of giving him some powder and shot,
+which was a present he seemed right glad to receive. I afterwards learnt
+the history of this excellent old Javanese, and was surprised and grieved
+to hear that a person so universally esteemed had been banished from Java
+and his family for some trifling political offence. His property was sold
+to purchase his freedom, and the proceeds were entrusted to the captain
+of a ship, who ran off with the whole, thus at once ruining a most worthy
+family, and reducing my good friend the commandant to the necessity of
+remaining in exile. I was glad to hear, on my second visit to Timor, that
+he was still alive and well, though without any prospect of an
+alleviation to his condition.
+
+Wishing him farewell, we left Pritie with some regret. By dark we had
+crossed Babao Bay, and reached the ship at half-past eight. It may be as
+well to mention that, looking from Coepang, the valley of Pritie is
+situated immediately under Timor Peak, the highest over the northern
+shore of Babao Bay. A small hut, on a projecting shingle point, close to
+the westward, marks the landing place, where several canoes are generally
+to be seen hauled up. At high tide a boat can get in; but, as we have
+already said, there is a long mud flat at low-water.
+
+THE TIMOREES.
+
+The Timorees do not bear the character of being very industrious; the
+small portion of land they cultivate is turned up in the following
+manner: a slight fence is placed round the part required for the purposes
+of agriculture and a drove of bullocks is driven furiously backwards and
+forwards over it; which very much resembles the mode adopted for
+thrashing corn in some parts of South America.
+
+The Rajahs of the western portion of Timor receive their appointment from
+the Resident at Coepang; and their installation I am told is rather a
+grand affair. Nearly all the Timorees speak Malay, a soft
+pleasant-sounding tongue, apparently easy to be acquired; but there were
+few of the Coepang people that spoke the native language. Some of the
+Timor customs are singular: if a woman, for example, dies in childbirth,
+she is buried on the spot where she breathes her last.
+
+DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN NEW GUINEA.
+
+During our stay at Coepang I met the doctor of the Dutch settlement at
+Triton Bay, on the west coast of New Guinea. He gave me a very poor
+account of the inhabitants. The Dutch settlers, he says, can scarcely
+venture out of the fort; as the natives have bows and arrows, as well as
+muskets, with which they are excellent marksmen. Their firearms they
+obtain in exchange for birds of paradise, tortoise-shell and birds-nests,
+from vessels from the Arru, and other islands in the Eastern Archipelago.
+When a vessel arrives on the coast they flock down from the interior to
+trade, which cannot be done without an interpreter. It is even then
+attended with great risk, owing to the extreme treachery of the natives.
+Knives, stained blue, and cotton goods are in great request; but,
+although they of aware of the superiority of Europeans, they will not on
+any account allow them to live in their country. The inhabitants,
+however, are better disposed on the shores of Great Bay, a deep
+indentation on the north-east side of the island, where great quantities
+of nutmeg grow.
+
+On the 5th the Mangles arrived from Sydney by the outer route through
+Torres Strait, having lost all her anchors, and been nearly wrecked in a
+south-east gale near Halfway Island. She was commanded by the same
+master, Mr. Carr, to whom I have before alluded as having given the first
+information concerning the survivors of the crew of the Charles Eaton.
+
+ISLAND OF ROTTEE.
+
+The next afternoon we weighed, and the following morning anchored, the
+water being deep, close in near Tykale Inlet, on the south-west side of
+Rottee, for observations,* and for the purpose of better determining the
+position of Pulo Douw, and the other islands in its neighbourhood.
+
+(*Footnote. They placed the south point of the inlet in latitude 10
+degrees 46 minutes 18 seconds South and longitude 0 degrees 43 minutes 50
+seconds West of Coepang.)
+
+An extensive coral flat fronts this part of Rottee, connecting it with
+the small islands lying off it.
+
+We got from the natives some shells of a kind of small green mussel of a
+very peculiar shape. The old men from whom I got them was making a meal
+from some rare shell-fish. He did not understand the value of money; and,
+strange to say, not a word of the Malay language. The same was the case
+with all his companions. At the part of Samow I visited the people all
+understood it, which is very remarkable, as only a narrow strait
+separates the islands. In this state of ignorance they may perhaps be
+purposely kept.
+
+I here recognised several Australian shrubs and palms. The rock of which
+this port of Rottee is formed appeared of a madreporic nature, scattered
+about in huge blocks. At a little distance from the water it formed low
+broken cliffs from twenty to thirty feet in length; these were everywhere
+undermined by the sea, from which the land here was evidently emerging. I
+noticed several deserted huts and broken walls or fences, which bore the
+appearance of having had much labour bestowed on them at some time or
+other. They added much to the lonely appearance of the place, for there
+is nothing that imparts so great an air of desolation to a scene as the
+signs that it has once been inhabited by man. Tracts which have never
+before been trodden by human foot may be gazed on with pleasurable
+emotions; but there are always melancholy associations connected with a
+spot which our fellow-creatures have once inhabited and abandoned.
+
+The natives we saw belonged to the southern side of Tykale Inlet. They
+were occupied in looking after some weirs, from the size and number of
+which it would appear that they chiefly live on fish.
+
+JEWELLERS OF PULO DOUW.
+
+The inhabitants of Pulo Douw are a small wandering tribe from Savu,
+chiefly jewellers, as the Resident at Coepang informed me. It is a
+strange place for them to take up their abode in; perhaps they do not
+like the idea of living under a Rajah. They are, I believe, beautiful
+workmen; but with them all is not gold that glitters. There are plenty of
+coconuts in the island, but little water; the landing at all times is
+bad.
+
+When at Coepang we saw some specimens of the gold, collected after heavy
+rains from the washings of the hills, and brought down for barter to the
+merchants in grains enclosed in small lengths of bamboo, containing each
+from six to eighteen drams. Thirty miles south-west of Diely, also, are
+some mines of virgin copper.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.6.
+
+Sail from Rottee.
+Search for shoal.
+Dampier's Archipelago.
+Examination of coast.
+Strange weather.
+Natives.
+Passage between Delambre and Huiy Islands.
+Proceed to Montebello Isles.
+Description of them.
+Barrow's Island.
+Tryal Rocks.
+New kangaroo.
+Abundance of turtle.
+New wallaby.
+Sail for Swan River.
+Find Ritchie's Reef.
+Islands between Barrow's and North-West Cape.
+Table of soundings.
+Swan River Native.
+Anchor under Rottnest.
+Vocabulary.
+Erect beacons.
+Bad weather.
+Habits of a native dog.
+Geological observations.
+Sail from Swan River.
+Error in position of Cape Naturaliste.
+King George's Sound.
+Appearance of Bald Head.
+Princess Royal Harbour.
+Origin of settlement.
+Town of Albany.
+Salubrity of climate.
+Excursion into interior.
+Course a kangaroo.
+Pitfalls.
+Herds of kangaroos.
+Rich country.
+The Hay River.
+Return to Albany.
+Departure for South Australia.
+Discover an Island.
+Death of a seaman.
+Position of Neptune Isles.
+Kangaroo, Althorp and Quoin Islands.
+Holdfast Road.
+Adelaide.
+Description of country.
+Governor Gawler's policy.
+Visit the Port.
+Mr. Eyre's expedition.
+Hardships of Overlanders.
+Cannibalism.
+Meet Captain Sturt.
+Native schools.
+System of education.
+Sail for Sydney.
+Squalls.
+Error in coast.
+Bass Strait.
+Arrive at Sydney.
+
+Leaving Rottee we passed, soon after dark, round the western end of Pulo
+Douw, and stood for the position of a shoal reported by Mr. Lewis of the
+Colonial schooner, Isabella, to be in latitude 14 degrees 43 minutes
+South, and longitude 119 degrees 20 minutes East. Our inducement to
+search for this shoal was the fact of its being supposed to lie in the
+direct route of vessels sailing between Timor and the West coast of
+Australia. But after searching from the 9th to the 14th, and sounding
+repeatedly without getting bottom, we came to the conclusion that it did
+not exist. Breakers could have been seen at least ten miles from the
+Beagle's masthead, as there was a considerable swell from the south-west.
+
+LIGHT WINDS.
+
+On the 15th we were in latitude 16 degrees 05 minutes South and longitude
+118 degrees 16 minutes East. After one of those stagnant calms so
+frequently met with near the equator, we got a light westerly breeze on
+the morning of the 18th. Towards midnight it freshened, veering from
+South-West by South to West-South-West with some rather sharp rain
+squalls. It appears that the westerly winds had already set in, and that
+the calm we experienced on the 17th was an unoccupied space between the
+easterly and westerly winds. There are few parts of the globe where light
+winds prevail so much as on the North-west coast of New Holland,
+particularly between the latitudes of 13 and 17 degrees, and from one to
+two hundred miles from the land. They are, however, excepting in the
+months of January, February, and March, from the eastward, south-east in
+the morning and east in the afternoon. These winds prevented us from
+making the coast on the eastward of Depuch Island; and as we had failed
+in getting a supply of provisions at Timor, we were compelled to
+relinquish the plan of continuing the examination of that part of the
+coast between the Turtle Islands and Roebuck Bay.
+
+BEZOUT ISLAND.
+
+The Beagle was consequently anchored under Bezout Island, one of the
+eastern isles of Dampier's Archipelago, and boats were sent to examine
+the coast on the southward of Cape Lambert.
+
+It may, perhaps, be worthy of remark, that should a vessel be brought by
+any chance to this dreary part of the world in May, June, or July,
+anchorages exposed to easterly winds should be left at or before
+daylight--that being the time they set in; by noon all is again quiet.
+Bezout Island is of the same formation as Depuch; and so are many of the
+broken ridges, with bare stony summits, of a dark brown hue, on the main
+near Cape Lambert, trending South-South-West. A more dreary sterile
+country can scarcely be seen; yet it still maintains inhabitants.
+
+August 26.
+
+The weather has been truly strange for the last four days. The winds,
+instead of being easterly have been from South-west to North-west, light
+with the former during the mornings, and moderate with the latter in the
+evenings. On this day they were from all quarters, with distant thunder
+in the north-west, and several rain squalls. In the night it settled at
+east, a fresh breeze bringing with it fine weather. In connection with
+our former remarks on striking vicissitudes in the weather occurring near
+the change of the moon, we should mention that it was new moon the day
+following.
+
+The material for the chart collected in this part consists of the main
+from below Picard Island to nearly twenty miles west of Cape Lambert,
+with the neighbouring islands, an extent of nearly forty-five miles. The
+part near Picard Island was carefully examined by Mr. Forsyth. He
+reported the main to the South-South-West of that island, forming the
+head of the bay between Cape Lambert and Depuch, to be extensive flats of
+mud and sand, over which the sea sometimes passed. Between Picard and
+Cape Lambert the shore is cut up by mangrove creeks. On a hill up one of
+these, several small kangaroos were seen. Near the Cape Mr. Forsyth
+perceived twenty-seven natives, seven of whom were children, in one
+party.
+
+DELAMBRE ISLAND.
+
+On the 27th we crossed over to Delambre Island, on which a large party
+landed in the afternoon. A few turtle were here taken, of a different
+kind from any we had seen before, and apparently a cross between the
+Hawk's Bill and the Green Turtle; several nests were also found, in one
+of which were 138 eggs. This island terminates, like Bezout Island, to
+the northward, in cliffs about 90 feet high, with deep water close to; on
+the east and west sides it is fronted by a reef nearly a mile in extent;
+but we could see no traces of those lying three miles to the
+North-North-West of the North-West point, laid down by Captain King. The
+passage between Huiy Island and Delambre is five miles wide, though clear
+for two miles only, and in working out we found that it had a very uneven
+bottom, over which a two-knot tide causes heavy ripplings. We noticed
+that a hill, lying nine miles to the south-west of Bezout Island, called
+in the chart Round-backed Hill, bearing between South 5 degrees East, and
+South 15 degrees East, clears the reefs on either side the channel; and
+that the same hill bearing South 24 degrees West leads between Bezout and
+Delambre, and South 8 degrees West clears the reef off the eastern side
+of the latter.
+
+THE MONTEBELLO GROUP.
+
+From Delambre we proceeded to the Montebello Islands, principally in
+order to set at rest two points of great interest, namely, the position
+of Ritchie's Reef, and of the long lost Tryal Rocks. On the 31st, in the
+afternoon, we anchored in 6 fathoms on the eastern side of Tremouille
+Island, a cliffy islet off the south-east end of which bore South 42
+degrees East two miles. The tide was ebbing and setting to the
+North-North-East two knots an hour. We found the Montebello Group to be
+confined by a coral reef encircling it. The two principal islands are
+Tremouille and Hermite Islands. The fact that these and their neighbours
+are not separated in the charts fully evinced the necessity of our visit.
+Leaving a boat to examine them, the ship proceeded towards the northern
+end of Barrow's Island, being anxious to avoid the southerly winds to
+which the anchorage off Tremouille is exposed. These usually commenced at
+midnight, blowing from south-west, freshening and veering to south by 8
+A.M., and by about 10 moderating at South-South-East. On our way to
+Barrow's Island they were so violent as to cause the ship to drive with
+two anchors ahead, there appearing to be no holding ground, but simply a
+coating of sand over a rocky ledge. During the prevalence of these winds
+the temperature varied from 66 to 76 degrees.
+
+Near Barrow's Island, on our passage, I shot (from the quarter-boat) the
+largest sea-snake ever killed. It is figured and described in the
+Appendix, by Mr. J.E. Gray, as Hydrus major, and measured eight feet one
+inch in length, by three inches broad; the colour was a dark yellow:
+several smaller ones striped brown and white were also seen.
+
+BARROW'S ISLAND.
+
+We found that from the Montebello Group a long series of reefs and small
+islands, the largest and most central of which is called Lowendal,
+extends towards Barrow's Island, leaving a winding channel* along the
+north side of the latter. Near the centre of the western side of the reef
+is a cluster which proved to be the long-lost Tryal Rocks; the middle and
+largest of which is in latitude 20 degrees 35 minutes South and longitude
+0 degrees 17 minutes West of Swan River.** The reef continues along the
+eastern side of Barrow's Island, extending off three miles; our anchorage
+was consequently little more than that distance from the shore. We
+examined the northern and eastern sides; the former is composed of red
+sandstone cliffy projections, separated by sandy bays, fronted for nearly
+two miles by a coral reef, partly dry at low-water; but the south part of
+the eastern side becomes very low; and where the cliffs end there is a
+remarkable valley trending westwards. There were recent marks of the sea
+many feet above the ordinary reach of the tides, bespeaking occasional
+strong south-east winds. A number of stony-topped hills, from 150 to 200
+feet in height, were scattered over the northern parts of the island. In
+the valleys was a little sandy soil, nourishing the spinifex, and a
+stunted kind of wood sufficiently large for fuel.
+
+(*Footnote. Lowendal Island, bearing east, leads into it.)
+
+(**Footnote. We recognised them from a sketch furnished by the Admiralty,
+and made in 1719 by a Dutch sloop sent in search of them from Batavia.
+They placed them eight degrees west from the coast of New Holland. If we
+take leagues instead of degrees it would bring them near their actual
+distance from the shore. Van Keulen says they were seen in the ship
+Vaderland Getrouw, and found to be in 20 degrees 30 seconds south. In
+1777 they were seen by Captain Joss, of the Danish ship Frederisberg
+Castel, who places them in 20 degrees 40 minutes South. It was by his
+description that I recognised them beyond a doubt, although his longitude
+would place them thirteen degrees more to the westward, and near the
+position they have occupied for years in the charts. The centre of them
+bears North by East five miles and a quarter from Cape Dupuis, the
+north-west point of Barrow's Island.)
+
+NEW KANGAROO.
+
+We found a new kind of kangaroo and wallaby on Barrow's Island; but the
+only specimen obtained of the former was destroyed through the neglect of
+the person in whose charge it was left. It was a buck, weighing fifty
+pounds, of a cinnamon colour on the back and a dirty white on the belly;
+the hair was fine and long; the head of a peculiar shape, resembling a
+dog's, with a very blunt nose; the forearms were very short; the hind
+feet cushioned like those inhabiting rocky ground. The does appeared to
+be much lighter; but all were very wary and scarce. From the number of
+red sandhills, too, scattered over the island, they were difficult to be
+seen at a distance. From our description of this specimen it has been
+named Osphranter isabellinus. With the wallaby we were more fortunate,
+Mr. Bynoe and myself succeeding in knocking over four, weighing from five
+to eight pounds; they also had blunt noses, and were of a light brown
+colour, quite different from those on the Abrolhos.
+
+Two iguanas, measuring seven feet in length, and nearly black, striped
+slightly with white, were also killed here.
+
+We did not find any surface water; everything wore a dry parched
+appearance. No traces of natives were discovered, except some charred
+pieces of wood. Indeed I may remark that we saw signs of fire on every
+part of the continent we visited. From the south extremity of the island
+a long reef trended in the direction of the mainland, where Captain King
+traced it extending off some distance, thus connecting with the shore the
+whole of these islands, which seem to lie in a line with each other, like
+the various parts of a submerged piece of land. The small isles,
+especially between the Montebello Group and Barrow's Island, have all the
+same direction; so that it seems fair to conclude that they were once a
+part of the main, being in fact fragments of a promontory, forming a gulf
+similar to Exmouth Gulf, lying on the south-west of it. I had been led to
+expect this from the fact of our finding the flood-stream coming from the
+north-east, whereas the direction of it in the offing is
+North-North-West.
+
+SUPPLY OF TURTLES.
+
+Barrow's Island, being about twelve miles broad and twenty long, would,
+in the event of a penal settlement being formed in this neighbourhood,
+make a good second Norfolk Island. On leaving we brought away with us
+seven tons of turtles from the abundant supplies its shores afforded.
+Many of them we gave to our friends at Swan River on our arrival. We
+cannot quit this island without reminding our readers that it was named
+after the distinguished Secretary to the Admiralty, who has just retired
+from office after a period of service of nearly half a century, during
+which time he was the promoter of all geographical research, and mainly
+instrumental in founding a society which is of growing importance to
+Great Britain, and who has established a lasting reputation both by his
+travels and his literary productions.
+
+On our return to Tremouille Island Mr. Fitzmaurice joined us, having
+completed the examination of the Montebello Group, a large proportion of
+chart material, in a very short space of time, considering the number of
+small islands, which would render it an endless labour to attempt any
+description, further than that they lie something in the shape of a
+scythe.
+
+RITCHIE'S REEF.
+
+A hill 145 feet high, the loftiest point of the group, rises near the
+centre of Tremouille, the north-east island, off the north-west end of
+which a ledge extends in the direction of an out-lying reef, bearing
+North 55 degrees West (magnetic) nine miles and a half, which places it
+in latitude 20 degrees 17 minutes South and longitude 0 degrees 26
+minutes West of Swan River; or 115 degrees 21 minutes East. This could be
+no other than that which we had so often looked for as Ritchie's Reef, as
+our former tracks to the westward had assured us that it did not lie in
+that direction. In latitude it agreed with the position given to it on
+the charts, but in longitude it differed considerably, lying full half a
+degree to the eastward. It therefore appeared not to be a discovery of
+Lieutenant Ritchie's, as it had been not only seen previously by the
+French, who had considered it as a reef extending off Tremouille Island,
+but many years before by Captain Clerke, who placed it in latitude 20
+degrees 18 minutes South, nine or ten miles North-West (magnetic) from
+what he thought to be Rosemary Island, but which it is very evident was
+Tremouille. The name then of Clerke's Reef should be given it instead of
+Ritchie's.
+
+WALLABY SHOOTING.
+
+Mr. Fitzmaurice having seen plenty of wallaby on the larger islands, a
+party of us went on shore in the evening, after securing observations for
+the rates of the chronometers on a small islet called Flag Islet, near
+the centre of the rocky cluster fronting the eastern side of Hermite
+Island. This can be recognised by it alone having a sandy point on the
+south-west end, which we placed in latitude 20 degrees 27 minutes 47
+seconds South and longitude 0 degrees 8 minutes 20 seconds west of Swan
+River. The time of high-water here at full and change, was about 10
+o'clock, when the tide rose fourteen feet; the flood-stream came from the
+northward.
+
+We found that Tremouille was as scantily supplied with vegetation as
+Barrow's Island; in one or two places was growing a stunted kind of wood,
+sufficient for fuel for a small-sized ship; but there was no sign of
+water. The wallaby, which were very numerous, must have got their supply
+of moisture from the copious dews. They were found lying very close in
+the wiry prickly grass, allowing us to kick them out, when they went off
+at speed, affording excellent sport, quite equal to any rabbit shooting;
+among three guns we managed, in a couple of hours, to bag nearly twenty.
+It was quite a new kind of wallaby, and has been classed, from a specimen
+we brought away, as Lagorchester conspicillata. It had a blunt nose,
+similar to those at Barrow's Island, and was about the same size, though
+its colour was lighter, and it had a back exactly like a European hare.
+The tail tapered away like a rat's, and the flesh was by no means good to
+eat, tasting very strong; this was the only instance in which we found
+wallaby at all unpalatable.
+
+Although our exploration in this neighbourhood did not lead to our
+finding any of the land fertile, yet from the new feature our chart will
+give to this part of the coast, the necessity of the Beagle's visit will
+be evident. Our object had been satisfactorily attained, inasmuch as we
+had cleared up the doubts respecting Ritchie's Reef, and the long-lost
+Tryal Rocks. We had also been so fortunate as to add to the stores of
+natural history a new kangaroo and two kinds of wallaby, besides a large
+water-snake.
+
+RITCHIE'S REEF.
+
+September 9.
+
+We left Tremouille Island in the morning, and passing round the north
+side, soon came in sight of Clerke's, alias Ritchie's Reef. It was our
+intention to have gone round the northern end of it, but the tide setting
+two knots an hour forced us to the southward. In a line midway between it
+and Tremouille the depth was 17 and 20 fathoms. The reef was nearly three
+miles long, in a north-east and south-west direction, and one mile and a
+half wide; the centre being partly dry. Two miles and a half South-West
+by West of it we crossed a patch of 13 fathoms, with 22 and 25 fathoms on
+each side, the northern part of Hermite Island bearing South 62 degrees
+East fourteen miles, soon after which it was lost sight of from the poop.
+
+The next afternoon a westerly wind brought us again in with the land; and
+in the evening we tacked in six fathoms, three miles and a half to the
+northward of Thevenard Island, which we found to be connected with a reef
+we discovered in the morning, lying eleven miles North by East from it;
+inside this reef the water looked deep and smooth. The island is a narrow
+strip lying east and west, about three miles; the west end we made in
+latitude 21 degrees 26 minutes South and longitude 114 degrees 54 minutes
+East. From the number of islands I saw to the south of Thevenard, I think
+the reef continues to Maison Island, near the North-west Cape. The outer
+one, seen from the Beagle, is in latitude 21 degrees 31 minutes South and
+longitude 114 degrees 42 minutes East. I myself believe the whole extent
+from Maison to Barrow's Island is occupied by islets and reefs, probably
+all connected. We know, in fact, from Captain King, that a reef extends
+sixteen miles off the south end of Barrow's Island.
+
+RESULT OF SOUNDINGS.
+
+Seventeen miles in a North-West by North direction from Thevenard Island
+we had 65 fathoms, fine white sand, having deepened gradually from six
+fathoms three miles north of it. In June of this year, working to the
+North-East we had 68 fathoms three miles West by South of that position,
+and 111 fathoms six miles North-West of it; beyond this no bottom was
+found with 120 and 150 fathoms.*
+
+(*Footnote. The following table is the result of other outer soundings
+obtained in the Beagle, showing how far the bank of soundings extends off
+the Western coast of Australia.
+
+COLUMN 1: LATITUDE SOUTH (DEGREES, MINUTES).
+COLUMN 2: DEPTH IN FATHOMS.
+COLUMN 3: QUALITY OF BOTTOM.
+COLUMN 4: DISTANCE FROM NEAREST LAND.
+
+32 02 : 70 : Fine white sand and rock : Rottnest or Garden Island 20
+miles.
+30 55 : 86 : Fine grey sand : Main abreast 34 miles.
+29 38 : 127 : Fine grey sand : Main abreast 39 miles.
+26 42 : 187 : Fine grey sand : South point of Shark's Bay 37 miles.
+21 14 : 111 : Fine white sand : Thevenard Island 25 miles.
+20 00 : 150 : Fine white sand : Tremouille Island 35 miles.
+
+It would thus appear that a ship in less than 110 fathoms off the west
+shore of the continent would be within forty miles of the land; and
+nearly the same distance from the islands fronting it, when in about 200
+fathoms between the latitudes of 19 degrees 50 minutes South and 20
+degrees 10 minutes South. The bank of soundings extends further off the
+North-west coast, as eighty-five miles north of Depuch Island we had only
+75 fathoms, fine white sand. In a south direction from that position the
+water shoaled rapidly to 40 fathoms in fifteen miles; but very gradually
+afterwards to 15 fathoms in fifty miles. This slope of the bank was
+determined by several boards in working to the westward.)
+
+RETURN TO SWAN RIVER.
+
+The glimpse we got of the string of islands lying between Barrow's Island
+and the North-west Cape, was quite unexpected, as the next land we had
+intended seeing was Swan River. After rounding the North-west Cape, we
+had the usual southerly winds, but a strong breeze from the north-west
+overtook us in latitude 30 degrees 40 minutes South and longitude 112
+degrees 25 minutes East, and shortened the passage, bringing us on the
+27th to an anchorage under the east end of Rottnest Island, where we
+found a current sweeping round to the southward, at the rate of nearly a
+knot an hour. There had not been any previously felt; but in latitude 30
+degrees South and longitude 110 degrees East, two days before the
+north-wester, it set two knots to the northward; another instance of how
+entirely the currents are governed by the winds off this coast.
+
+NATIVE TALENT.
+
+Our Swan River native had not obtained so much information of his wild
+countrymen to the northward as Miago. Still he had made the most of what
+he saw; and his visit to Timor crowned all. The facility and rapidity
+with which he could make a song about anyone whom he might choose as the
+subject of his poetical fancy, was very amusing; he must have equalled
+many of the Italian improvisatori. He had also got a very good idea of
+where the ship had been since leaving Swan River, in his head. The
+drawings of his countrymen on Depuch Island had greatly hurt his vanity,
+whilst they excited his emulation; and always afterwards, whenever he
+could get hold of paper or pencil, he was trying to excel them, which,
+from the improvement he made, I have no doubt he would have shortly done.
+
+During the time he and his townsman Miago were with us, the following
+vocabulary was made; the words from Port Essington have been furnished by
+Mr. Earl.
+
+COLUMN 1: ENGLISH.
+COLUMN 2: PORT ESSINGTON.
+COLUMN 3: SWAN RIVER.
+
+Crow : - : Woordang.
+Emu : Angorok : Wadye.
+Eggs : Olajuk : Noorago.
+Shags : - : Mere.
+Kangaroo : Abbugi : Yewart.
+Female Kangaroo : - : Waroo.
+Wallaby: - : Wallyo.
+Bandicoot or rat : - : Condee.
+Very small kangaroo, larger than a wallaby : - : Goora.
+Ringtail possum : - : Gnoorah.
+Large possum : - : Goomal.
+--tailed possum : - : Mooroo.
+Native dog : Nukakoin : Dudah.
+The tail : - : Diar.
+Black swan : - : Coolecha.
+Duck : Cormoro : Oonanah.
+Mountain duck : - : Kooracha.
+Wombat : - : Koolemah.
+Magpie : - : Gooraba.
+Brown Chatterer : - : Telaho
+Fishhawk : - : Undoorah.
+Eagle : - : Mulurah.
+Pigeon : - : Woodah.
+Quail : Windalo : Barrabberry.
+Tortoise : - : Booye, or Boorje.
+Mullett : - : Kalkurrie.
+Cobler : - : Corallia.
+Small blue bird : - : Deldillia.
+Snake : Ambeetj : Waggile.
+Sun : Muree : Murgah.
+Moon : Allee : Magee.
+Stars : Argadba : Nungarah.
+Clouds : - : Marah.
+Wind : Mailo : Curajahl.
+A bird : Aluk-aluk : Walta.
+Sand : Onak : Coo-yah.
+Head : Wokbok : Cuttah.
+Eyes : Ira : Mael.
+Nose : Anjinmul : Moolyah.
+Ears : Alaijar : Tungah.
+Mouth : Angaikbirig : Dah.
+Chin : - : Nungah.
+Face : Anmarura : Yoodah.
+Hair : Angbal : Cutap.
+Eyebrows : - : Mingart.
+Eyelashes : - : Cunbah.
+Teeth : Anjigi : Nalgo.
+Tongue : - : Dalang.
+Neck : - : Wardo.
+Throat : - : Daragert.
+Shoulders : - : Wundardah.
+Arms : - : Wango.
+Armpit : - : Nulyar.
+Collar bone : - : Chelee wundardah.
+Arm, upper : - : Maraga.
+Arm, lower : - : Aye yung.
+Wrist : - : Mardalliah.
+Thumb : Gamar : Marang-unga.
+First finger : - : Mara-mamal.
+Second finger : - : Mara-cudejip.
+Third finger : - : Mara-cudejip.
+Little finger : - : Mara-colun.
+Nails : - : Bere.
+Back : - : Goon goh.
+Loins : - : Moondo.
+Hips : - : Corlge.
+Buttocks : - : Mooro.
+Hip joint : - : -.
+Thigh : - : Dahwool.
+Knee : - : Bonnet.
+Leg : Adjirt-adjirt : Mattah.
+Hams : - : Yallee.
+Ankle : - : Bilgah
+Heel : - : Geenang hooran.
+Foot : Ingalmulbil : Geenang coongoh.
+Instep : - : Geenang guerack.
+Toes : Rujut-bullal : Chenang ungah.
+Breast : - : Undoo.
+Belly : Angonidjark : Cabollo.
+Breast (woman) : - : Bebe.
+Navel : - : Bilye.
+Woman : Wari-comomo : Babelyah.
+Man : Iwala : Medah.
+
+...
+
+To run, stoop, hide, crouch, when about to rain : Kiddi kit mya warra.
+To go a long distance : Maran dugon bordeneuk.
+To cut up an animal of any kind for roasting : Dedayah killa, kuirderkan,
+ki ti kit.
+To cover up, to keep warm : Borga koorejalah kunah.
+For roasting : Ki ti kit.
+To cut up : Kurerkna.
+Give me some water : Yahago cabe.
+I'm very thirsty : Gangah.
+To carry the pickaninee : Colanganee wandung.
+Here carry the pickaninee (strong expression) : Colang maranga barang
+wandung.
+Give me some money : Anyah (or ana) yunagh, uddah.
+No money, go away : Neundoh barang gerangah.
+You have money : Anyah yungagah uddah.
+I go to sleep : Unyah begang undagah.
+To sneeze : Neyetta.
+A tree : Boono.
+Vegetation generally : Jibbah.
+Grass : Bobo.
+Long grass : Bobo wal-yur-deg.
+
+NAMES OF SNAKES OF SWAN RIVER.
+
+Waggile.
+Noo no.
+Si Dubat.
+Wang go.
+Bije modo.
+Cocongorun.
+Beara.
+Poolyar.
+Uur-nah.
+Iguana.
+Aunderah.
+
+LIZARDS OF ABROLHOS, AS WELL AS SWAN RIVER.
+
+Uundung.
+Jinerarah.
+Jeregarah.
+
+...
+
+When the weather became fine, we ran over to Gage Road.
+
+ERECT BEACONS AT ROTTNEST.
+
+October 11.
+
+We again visited Rottnest in the ship (Lieutenant Roe the
+Surveyor-General, accompanying us) for the purpose of erecting beacons on
+the rocks lying off the points of Thomson's Bay, as marks for leading
+clear to the eastward of the Champion Rock. We were happy to have an
+opportunity of rendering this important service to the colonists, who
+acknowledged it in a very handsome manner.
+
+Another object in crossing over to Rottnest was to avoid a north-west
+breeze which came on the next day; on the 15th we again returned to Gage
+Road.
+
+ANECDOTES OF A WILD DOG.
+
+Whilst we were at Swan River this time, a wish I had long entertained of
+procuring a pup of the wild breed of dogs* of the country, was gratified.
+It was a bitch, and left in the hollow of a tree by her mother who had
+just escaped. Knowing that they hunt kangaroos in packs, and have
+excellent noses, I was anxious to try if something useful might not be
+made out of a cross with the fox-hound; and with this view on my arrival
+in England, I gave her to my cousin, Mr. G. Lort Phillips; but she died
+in a fit soon after coming into his possession. Whilst with me she had
+two litters of pups by a pointer, three each time, the first at two
+years, and the second after an interval of ten months. At these times she
+was particularly savage, and would take the opportunity of paying off any
+old grudge she might have against those who had ill-used her--for she
+never forgot an injury--by stealing after them and snapping at their
+heels. She was very much attached to her young; one day I took her on
+shore and she kept catching birds to bring to them, supplying them, as an
+over-fond mother will do, with a superfluity of good things.
+
+(*Footnote. I am informed by Colonel Owen Phillips, 56th B.N.I., formerly
+Assistant-Resident at Macassar, that he saw four wild dogs brought to Sir
+Stamford Raffles at Java, which bore a very strong resemblance to the
+animals mentioned in the text.)
+
+I was very much interested in this animal, and took a great deal of pains
+to tame her, though I never fully succeeded. Her nose, as I have said,
+was excellent; and though quite mute she could hunt very well, as I found
+by repeated trials when out rabbit shooting. She would never leave a
+hole, working at it with her feet and teeth until she got at the inmate.
+These qualities confirmed me in my opinion that a cross with the
+fox-hound would produce a good result. As an illustration of her keenness
+of smell, I may mention that one day when we were lying in the Tamar
+river, she winded some sheep on the bank, and was instantly overboard and
+after them, swimming so rapidly that she had reached the land, and,
+though herself only the size of a large dog-fox, had pulled down a fine
+ram before a party could get on shore to prevent her. When they landed,
+instead of trying to make her escape, she slunk into the boat. This freak
+of hers cost me five pounds.
+
+PECULIARITIES OF THE WILD DOG.
+
+In cold weather her coat was always best, and the brush on her tail most
+perfect. She was of a light tan colour, with a little white on the tip of
+the tail, and a few black hairs sprinkled in the brush; there was a
+little black also about her face. Her step was light and stealthy; and in
+her eye meekness and cunning were curiously blended. Though very shy of
+man, when once taken up in the arms she lay as quiet as a cat; but with
+all dogs she was very quarrelsome, fighting savagely with a greyhound
+bitch I had on board, and several times nearly killing a small dog. It
+was always difficult to catch her, as she would generally manage to
+escape either between the legs or by springing over the shoulders, except
+when we were going on shore; then she would allow herself very quietly to
+be put into the boat; but on our return the difficulty was how to get her
+off, and it became necessary to pounce upon her suddenly. She was never
+heard to bark, the only noise she ever made being the dismal howl
+peculiar to her breed, and this only when tied up, which consequently,
+for the sake of peace, was but of short duration, and always had to be
+done with a chain, as she would instantly bite through a rope. Her
+mischievous propensity was remarkable, as she often stole into the
+officers' cabin and pulled books down from the shelves, tearing the backs
+off and then destroying the leaves. As an instance of her sure-footedness
+and activity I may mention that I have seen her leap twice her own height
+from the stem of the midship boat, in endeavouring to seize fowls or meat
+that was hung on the mainstay, always alighting on the point she sprang
+from. At other times she would attempt to crawl up it like a cat, in
+order to steal what was there. Her proneness to thieving was very great;
+I have frequently seen her eating stolen things when she would refuse
+what was offered her; it was never safe to take her near poultry.
+
+GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
+
+Whilst in this locality I may take the opportunity of introducing a few
+notes on the geological formation of the country in the neighbourhood of
+Swan River, furnished by Mr. Bynoe:
+
+The most remarkable feature is the absence or scantiness of the secondary
+and transition rocks; all the tertiary appears to be of the newest kind,
+and to lie in juxtaposition with the primary. This character forms the
+sandy margin from the Darling Range, or chain of granite hills, nearly
+2000 feet high to the sea, in the immediate vicinity of which the sand is
+bounded by a calcareous form of limestone, and, where jutting into the
+sea and forming perpendicular or overhanging cliffs, the faces are thrown
+into a beautiful kind of fretwork (See volume 1) of more compactness than
+the surrounding mass. In most places about the neighbourhood of
+Fremantle, shells are found of the existing species along the coast,
+firmly impacted in its substance, particularly a large species of
+buccinum, as well as the strombus. This calcareous formation has been
+traced as far north as Shark's Bay; it crosses over to the Abrolhos
+Group, there frequently lying over a coral formation, and forming in many
+places cavities of a cylindrical figure, of some few feet in depth. Beds
+of clays, varying in quality and colour, are to be met with on sandy
+margins, containing particles of gypsum.
+
+On the Darling Range is found a red cellular structure capping the
+granite, assuming all the appearance of having been subjected to fire; it
+extends also in the low country about that
+neighbourhood.
+
+Slate of a primitive character is found on the Canning River. The
+mountain chain or Darling Range runs nearly in the direction of north and
+south. On the eastern side of it, close to the base, are several groups
+of isolated conical hills, from a half to one mile apart, extending from
+the William River to the Tugee District, a distance of about one hundred
+and twenty miles, bearing on their summits strong evidences of ignition.
+The country farther on to the eastward falls into sandy plains, similar
+to those on the western side, and intersected by watercourses; during the
+summer, pools remain, and at that time become remarkably salt. On the
+mountains, as well as on the plains, scattered pebbles in patches are to
+be met with; they appear to contain iron, being highly magnetic.
+
+SAIL FROM SWAN RIVER.
+
+From the very debilitated state of some of the crew, from dysenteric
+affections contracted at Timor, we were not able to leave Swan River
+before the 25th of October. At noon on the 28th, Cape Naturaliste bore
+South 80 degrees East three miles; according to our observations it was
+in latitude 33 degrees 31 minutes 45 seconds South four miles further
+south than it is placed in the charts, though in longitude (0 degrees 47
+minutes 30 seconds West of Swan River) it appeared pretty correct. Some
+reefs have been reported three or four miles off the north-east side of
+it: but we could see nothing of them, and had a depth of 25 and 26
+fathoms. We got soundings of 23 and 25 fathoms in passing along a few
+miles from the coast towards Cape Leeuwin, in the neighbourhood of which
+we looked in vain for a rock called the Rambler, that had been supposed
+to be about twelve miles south-west of a remarkable white patch close to
+the northward of the Cape, the locality of which it always serves to
+show. Twenty miles west of Cape Leeuwin the depth was 47 fathoms.
+
+Passing along the south coast we found the white-topped rocks near Cape
+Chatham to be in longitude 0 degrees 29 minutes 30 seconds East of Swan
+River. They are not only remarkable in themselves, but like the Eclipse
+Islands, are admirably situated for showing a ship's position when in
+with the coast.
+
+PEAKED HILL.
+
+We entered King George's Sound on November 2nd. I should here observe
+that Bald Head is connected with the main by a low piece of land, in the
+centre of which stands a small peak; this gives the head, from the offing
+to the southward, the appearance of an island. In the view annexed the
+reader will perceive a representation of the conspicuous headland called
+Peaked Hill, with its peculiar profile outline, lying about five miles
+south-west of Bald Head.
+
+Proceeding up the Sound we anchored in Princess Royal Harbour, Mount
+Clarence bearing North-North-East, and the south end of Michaelmas Island
+just open of Point Possession. The entrance to this great basin is by a
+narrow channel in the north-east corner; a long spit extending off the
+inner western entrance-point forms the chief impediment. Few vessels
+escape touching it; but although the passage is thus contracted the
+Beagle was worked through both ways. Inside, there is water sufficient
+for the largest ship in the navy; but only for a limited space, a short
+distance within the entrance--merely a hollow scooped out towards the
+north-west corner of the harbour.
+
+ALBANY.
+
+Here, just above a dazzling white sandy beach, a straggling village
+points out the township of Albany. Mounts Clarence and Melville reared
+their bare granitic heads on either side, and huge fantastically-shaped
+boulders were strewn over their slopes. The origin of this settlement may
+not be generally known: it was first planned, in consequence of a report
+that the French were about to establish themselves there; which turned
+out to be the truth, for they had actually formed and abandoned a
+settlement before Major Lockyer arrived from Sydney, in 1825. The gang of
+convicts he brought with him was withdrawn, when Albany became part of
+the government of Western Australia.
+
+Among the few improvements that had taken place since our visit in 1836,
+were a jetty and a government storehouse. The latter was close to the
+spot where the observations were made, and where I noticed some trappean
+dykes intersecting the granite in a North-North-West direction. I
+observed the same circumstance at Simon's Bay, Cape of Good Hope.
+
+I was sorry to see that the infant town of Albany had made so little
+progress, especially as it possesses by far the finest harbour in Western
+Australia. There is no doubt that ultimately its great natural advantages
+will be developed; but it is somewhat surprising that they have not
+already been turned to better account. Though there is not a very great
+extent of good land in the neighbourhood, there is amply sufficient to
+hold out encouragement to the settler; especially when we consider that
+this is one of the most healthy portions of the continent, that it is
+never visited by hot winds, and that the thermometer is rarely below 60
+or above 85 degrees. This evenness of temperature at all times of the
+year is very remarkable, and renders the spot particularly suitable for
+invalids, many persons coming even from Swan River to renovate
+themselves. If our East Indians were aware of what a salubrious climate
+they might enjoy at King George's Sound, they would soon be seen flocking
+thither to repair the constitutions they have injured on the banks of the
+Ganges and the Indus.
+
+Our object in visiting this place was to obtain a meridian distance; and
+between the observations for rating the chronometers I availed myself of
+an offer of Lieutenant Warburton, commanding the detachment of the 51st
+Regiment, doing duty there, to accompany him on a visit to the
+out-stations. We were joined by a person from the settlement, who owned
+some kangaroo dogs, and by three or four natives.
+
+Leaving Albany, we reached the foot of a large clear piece of land called
+the Great Plain, about fifteen miles distant, and a little off the Swan
+River road.
+
+BURNING THE BUSH.
+
+On our way we met a party of natives engaged in burning the bush, which
+they do in sections every year. The dexterity with which they manage so
+proverbially a dangerous agent as fire is indeed astonishing. Those to
+whom this duty is especially entrusted, and who guide or stop the running
+flame, are armed with large green boughs, with which, if it moves in a
+wrong direction, they beat it out. Their only object in these periodical
+conflagrations seems to be the destruction of the various snakes,
+lizards, and small kangaroos, called wallaby, which with shouts and yells
+they thus force from their covert, to be despatched by the spears or
+throwing-sticks of the hunting division. The whole scene is a most
+animated one, and the eager savage, every muscle in action and every
+faculty called forth, then appears to the utmost advantage, and is indeed
+almost another being. I can conceive no finer subject for a picture than
+a party of these swarthy beings engaged in kindling, moderating, and
+directing the destructive element, which under their care seems almost to
+change its nature, acquiring, as it were, complete docility, instead of
+the ungovernable fury we are accustomed to ascribe to it. Dashing through
+the thick underwood, amidst volumes of smoke--their dark active limbs and
+excited features burnished by the fierce glow of the fire--they present a
+spectacle which it rarely falls to our lot to behold, and of which it is
+impossible to convey any adequate idea by words.
+
+COURSE A KANGAROO.
+
+After tethering out our horses and making our breakwind for the night, we
+went out in the evening to look for a kangaroo. I had never as yet seen
+one put fairly at his speed on open ground before a dog, but this evening
+I was fully gratified; for we soon found a couple lying out on our side
+of the plain, and by crawling up through the wood we managed to slip the
+dogs about five hundred yards from them. Away they went, leaving a stream
+of dust in their wake. Their habitual curving direction soon gave us a
+broadside view; and a splendid course it was. They ran horizontally, no
+leap or hop being perceptible. At first the dogs closed rapidly, but for
+some time afterwards no change in their relative positions took place,
+each doing his best. The kangaroos held their own well, until they had
+reached nearly the other side of the plain, a distance of about two
+miles, when the dogs began gradually to draw on them, and at length,
+after a turn or two, the smaller was run into just before entering the
+wood. It was a fine young buck, weighing about 60 pounds, and made a
+capital supper for our party. The natives cooked the tail for us in their
+own way, roasting it with the hair on, the best mode of dressing it,
+except in soup.
+
+Next morning we found that our sable friends had eaten so much of the
+kangaroo that there was great difficulty in getting them to move.
+However, they at length consented to accompany us, and we proceeded five
+or six miles further on the Swan River road, to a place where a party of
+soldiers were stationed. Here the temptation of a fresh supply of
+kangaroo proved irresistible, and with the exception of one, who was
+Lieutenant Warburton's servant, the natives all left us to resume the
+pleasant occupation of eating. The gastronomic feats performed by these
+persons are really surprising; and in the work recently published by Mr.
+Eyre the reader will find some curious details on the subject.
+
+We now took a westerly direction, for a tract of good country lying about
+thirty-five miles from the Sound, a little to the westward of the road to
+Swan River.
+
+PITFALLS FOR KANGAROOS.
+
+On our way we crossed several short trenches, cut by the natives for
+pitfalling kangaroos, which were here very numerous. They were dug across
+the runs of the animal, and covered with a slight layer of brush or
+grass, and were very narrow at the bottom, so that the prey could get no
+footing to bound out.
+
+HERDS OF KANGAROOS.
+
+I have never, at any other place, seen similar contrivances resorted to
+by the aborigines; in this neighbourhood they have probably been
+suggested by the great abundance in which the kangaroo is found. I am
+certain there could scarcely have been less than a hundred in a herd. It
+was curious to observe them hopping along over the grass or underneath
+the trees, with the large males bringing up the rear of a certain number
+of does. We had several very beautiful courses, but the dogs being
+footsore were beaten on all occasions.
+
+I was very much pleased with this portion of the country: it quite
+resembles the park-like features of Port Phillip. We heard the kangaroos
+thumping the ground all night, as they hopped along round our bivouac,
+the heavier fall of the male being plainly distinguishable. It was now
+determined to shape a southward course for Ungerup, one of Lady Spencer's
+farms on the Hay River; and after laying down our position by a sort of
+dead reckoning I had kept to find the course, we started.
+
+Soon after moving off, Lieutenant Warburton discovered that he had
+forgotten to leave some message or other at the station, and determined
+on sending back his native servant. But as he was out of the limits of
+his own tribe, it required some persuasion to induce him to go; and he
+was only prevailed on to do so by being allowed to carry his master's gun
+for protection.
+
+Part of our road lay through a thick mahogany scrub; and as the horse I
+rode was a young unbroken one from the Cape, I might perhaps with less
+trouble have tried to take an elephant straight with a snaffle bit in his
+mouth. The sameness of the trees in this part being very great it is
+difficult to hold a direct course; and if, after having chosen one to
+steer by, my attention happened to be taken off by a kangaroo starting
+up, I was always obliged to refer to the compass.
+
+We made the Hay a mile or two above Ungerup; it is there a small tortuous
+rivulet, with rich grassy banks, overhung by wide shady trees. The valley
+is narrow, sloping gently up on either side. If I had been pleased with
+the good piece of land just left, I was still more so with this; the
+mould was rich and fine: I did not believe there was land of such quality
+near the Sound.
+
+LADY SPENCER'S FARMS.
+
+In passing another of Lady Spencer's farms, seven miles farther down the
+same river, we were glad to pocket a large piece of damper for our
+evening meal, which we made at our old bivouac near the Great Plain,
+where we found the native under the break-wind, which he had covered with
+another bough or two. Next evening we got into Albany, and on the morning
+of the 15th the Beagle was running out of King George's Sound.
+
+It was resolved that we should touch at South Australia, to secure a good
+meridian distance by short stages between Swan River and Sydney.
+Accordingly, on the morning of the 27th, we entered Investigator Strait,
+having been detained by strong easterly winds about a hundred and fifty
+miles to the westward of Kangaroo Island. Whilst contending with them we
+discovered a small high rocky island, the summit of which we found to be
+in latitude 34 degrees 49 minutes South and in longitude 19 degrees 4
+minutes East of Swan River; it bore South 8 degrees East nine miles from
+the high peak on Greenly's Island. The name of the Beagle was bestowed
+upon it.
+
+At noon, as we entered the Strait, we committed to the deep the body of
+Nicholas Lewis, seaman, who died of sickness contracted at Timor.
+
+NEPTUNE ISLES.
+
+We kept close to the Neptune Isles, a low rocky group, the southernmost
+of which we give the position of; Captain Flinders, who passed too far to
+the northward, having not exactly determined it: it lies in latitude 35
+degrees 22 minutes 15 seconds South and longitude 20 degrees 22 minutes
+15 seconds East of Swan River. These islands appear well adapted for a
+light-house.
+
+There was a strong indraught of a knot an hour into Spencer's Gulf.
+Kangaroo Island has no remarkable features; whilst Althorpe and Quoin
+islands are sufficiently striking to be recognized by anyone who has once
+seen them.
+
+On the morning of the 29th we anchored in Holdfast Road, in 4 1/2
+fathoms, Mount Lofty,* a slight excrescence on the highest part of the
+range of hills eastwards, bearing North 80 degrees  East; a flagstaff at
+a straggling village under it pointed out the township of Glenelg. At the
+foot of this we made our observations, which place it in latitude 34
+degrees 58 minutes 30 seconds South and longitude 12 degrees 41 minutes
+15 seconds West of Sydney.
+
+(*Footnote. This hill, bearing east, is a guide to Holdfast Road.)
+
+Landing at Glenelg we proceeded towards Adelaide, which lay about six
+miles to the northward, in the centre of a rich plain, stretching from
+the foot of Mount Lofty to the sea, and contracting gradually to the
+southward, where beyond Glenelg it rises into downs, increasing in height
+as they approach Cape Jervis, and ultimately blending with spurs thrown
+off from Mount Lofty range. Adelaide itself is situated on the banks of
+the Torrens, a very insignificant stream, or rather series of pools, in
+the dry season.
+
+ADELAIDE.
+
+I have spoken, in a former chapter, of my astonishment at first seeing
+Sydney; but certainly the same feeling was roused in a still greater
+degree by the first appearance of Adelaide; although I was prepared for
+something great by what I had heard of the multitudes that had flocked
+thither from the mother country. In truth a noble city had in the course
+of four years sprung, as if by magic, from the ground, wearing such an
+appearance of prosperity and wealth that it seemed almost incredible it
+could have existed but for so short a time.
+
+GOVERNOR GAWLER'S POLICY.
+
+The fact is that this was mainly owing to the liberal expenditure of the
+governor, Colonel Gawler, who saw the policy at the earliest possible
+opportunity of making adequate preparation for the stream of population
+that was so rapidly flowing in. Every public building was erected on a
+scale to suit the anticipated splendour of the colony, and in so
+substantial a manner, that it will be long ere another outlay becomes
+necessary. That this was the best line of conduct to adopt, most persons,
+on reflection, will acknowledge. In New Zealand, for example, much of the
+disturbances that have arisen may be attributed to the fact of so many
+settlers arriving before sufficient preparation had been made for their
+reception.
+
+Much fault has been found with Colonel Gawler's military display, as it
+is called; in other words, with his raising a corps of volunteers. But
+the necessity of this may be presumed from the facts, that Sir Charles
+Napier, the conqueror of Scinde, as we learn from his own pen, refused
+the government, because a military force was not to be sent with him; and
+that it has been found advisable to place a body of troops at the
+disposal of Colonel Gawler's successor.
+
+I paid a visit to the port, distant from the town about five miles, made
+easy by an excellent macadamized road, carried, in some places, on a
+causeway over a swamp, and forming a great and imperishable monument of
+the Governor's enterprising spirit. The port reminded me of one of the
+quiet mangrove creeks on the North coast, except that it had only one
+bend, changing from a northerly to a south-westerly direction, which at
+certain times of the day renders it navigable, with a fair wind, each
+way. For instance, the seabreeze will take a vessel out through the
+northerly part, and next morning she will have the land breeze to carry
+her the rest of the distance; whilst, alternating, the same breeze serves
+to take ships in. The mouth of the port is well marked with black and
+white buoys; and a light vessel is moored off the entrance, with pilots
+in attendance; a red buoy is on the bar, where at high-water there is
+sometimes 15 feet, but the tides are very irregular, being much higher
+with south-west winds; the general rise was about four feet.
+
+MR. EYRE'S EXPEDITION.
+
+We were very much pleased with the animated description we had of the
+departure of Mr. Eyre's expedition to the north; but what gave us
+particular satisfaction was the evidence afforded of how much the whole
+colony had the welfare of this enterprising little band at heart. I had
+not before seen in Australia any place where the progress of discovery
+was so liberally forwarded, as the readers will at once learn from Mr.
+Eyre's book. One cause of this we may discover in the fact that the
+richness of the country immediately surrounding Adelaide made them eager
+to ascertain its extent. Indeed until this was known they were
+necessarily unsettled, as few liked to locate themselves permanently
+until the extent of the field within which they were to make their choice
+was determined.
+
+To what extent the colonists of South Australia are indebted to the
+sacrifice of property, the loss of time, the bodily fatigue, and
+unceasing exertions of Mr. Eyre, I also leave the reader to gather from
+his own lucid narrative. The country has now been found to be almost
+hemmed in by sterile districts; and the good lands, contrary to our
+experience of the rest of the continent, to be nearly all in one spot. A
+number of enterprising colonists, therefore, concentrated within
+comparatively narrow limits, could not fail of developing the resources
+of the country, and of discovering what mineral treasures it may contain.
+The good encouragement it has lately received has, to a certain extent,
+assisted in bringing it back to the position of one of the most thriving
+colonies in Australia; though we must attribute much of its present
+prosperity to the impulse originally given by the policy of Colonel
+Gawler, which, though it may have caused a temporary financial
+embarrassment, is now making its happy effects sensibly felt.
+
+THE OVERLANDERS.
+
+The eastern extent of the country of South Australia was determined by
+the Overlanders, as they call the gentlemen who bring stock from New
+South Wales. The first that came across were Messrs. Bonny and Horden. An
+interesting account of them will be found in Captain Grey's work. Many of
+these pioneers of civilization endure extraordinary hardships during
+their expeditions; as an example of which I may mention that Mr. Bonny,
+in endeavouring to find a new route, was compelled to kill a calf and
+drink its blood to save his life. On this occasion water was found by the
+cattle, turned loose for that purpose. Another gentleman, who had lost
+his way in the bush, had recourse to a curious expedient to assuage his
+burning thirst, namely, to bleed the horse he rode, which was the means
+of preserving both himself and the quadruped also.
+
+On our arrival in Adelaide the town was full of the Overlanders, and
+everyone was engaged in buying or selling stock, which gave the place
+quite an animated appearance. From one of these gentlemen I learned
+undeniable proofs that the Australians indulge in cannibalism. He had
+seen in a woman's bag the hand of a child that had been partly eaten.
+Since that time the matter has been placed beyond a doubt by the report
+of the Protector, Mr. Sievewright, who witnessed with his own eyes a most
+horrible feast off the body of a young woman.* It is extraordinary that a
+custom so remarkable should have so long wanted confirmation.
+
+(*Footnote. See Mr. Eyre's Discoveries in Central Australia.)
+
+CAPTAIN STURT.
+
+At Adelaide I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the intrepid
+traveller Captain Sturt, who has since again taken the field,
+endeavouring to penetrate to the interior of the Australian continent,
+and to remove the veil of mystery that now hangs over it. From him I
+learnt that the same strange kind of bird, a species of rail, that once
+visited Swan River, also made its appearance in South Australia on one
+occasion. I have already alluded to this remarkable circumstance in a
+former chapter.
+
+During our stay we visited Mount Lofty, placed by our observations in
+latitude 34 degrees 58 minutes 20 seconds South, and longitude 12 degrees
+30 minutes 20 seconds West of Sydney. The cool air of this range, the
+greatest elevation of which is 2200 feet, was very pleasant after a ride
+over the heated plain. I was agreeably surprised to find in the heart of
+the hills a most comfortable inn, where our party sat down to a luncheon
+of lamb chops and green peas, with a beautiful cool bottle of sherry.
+Such is the march of civilization! To the north of our road was a lead
+mine, which will ultimately be a source of great riches to the colony;
+for which, indeed, nature has done much in the way of mineral
+productions.
+
+NATIVE SCHOOLS.
+
+I was greatly pleased with the apparent success that had attended the
+schools of the German Missionaries; and especially with the aptitude for
+learning displayed by both boys and girls; but my pleasure would have
+been much increased had I not felt convinced that the system of education
+adopted, possessed many serious defects. In the first place, sufficient
+care did not seem to have been taken to recommend the schools to the
+natives, and to induce them to send their children voluntarily. That it
+was necessary to resort to some means of effecting this beyond mere
+persuasion, will be evident when we recollect how useful even the
+youngest member of an Australian family is to its parents. Almost as soon
+as the child begins to walk, certainly as soon as it is capable of
+receiving instruction, light tasks, even in the hunting expeditions, are
+allotted to it; so that, to remove either boys or girls, and take them to
+school, is, in reality, to deprive their friends of assistance, which to
+them is valuable. For this reason, some compensating advantage should be
+offered to the father, to prevail on him to send his children to school.
+
+Again, when once pupils have been procured, it is exceedingly unwise to
+allow them to maintain a constant intercourse with their tribe, and be
+thus subjected to deteriorating influences that must almost irresistibly
+combat the beneficial effects of their education. But it is needless to
+dwell further on this subject, as Mr. Eyre has so completely stated the
+question in his late work.
+
+REMARKS ON THE SYSTEM FOR CIVILISING THE NATIVES.
+
+I cannot, however, refrain from alluding to another point in connection
+with this matter; namely, that when I visited South Australia, all
+instruction was communicated in the native language. My attention had
+already been drawn to the subject on visiting Tahiti, in 1835, when I
+perceived with regret, that the missionaries, instead of endeavouring to
+introduce the English tongue, persisted in imparting instruction in a
+kind of corrupted dialect, of which the words were for the most part
+native, whilst the syntax and construction were in exact conformity with
+our own; the observation of the same circumstance at New Zealand, had
+further induced me to reflect on the subject. How much more prudent would
+it have been to introduce, at once, the language of Great Britain into
+the islands of the Pacific; as, judging from every indication, it must
+ultimately prevail over the vast variety of primitive and imperfect
+dialects now spoken; and which serve as barriers between the various
+tribes. That the same mistake should have been made in South Australia
+was the more remarkable, as public opinion seems to run completely
+counter to it. It appears evident indeed, that if the object was to
+benefit and civilize the aboriginal inhabitant, the right course to take,
+was to give him an instrument which he could employ to enlarge his mind
+and extend his experience. It was wrong to expect that much good could be
+done by confining him within the sphere in which his thoughts had been
+accustomed to move; or at any rate, to limit the expansion of his
+knowledge, within the bounds of a dialect which was only imperfectly
+understood by the masters who taught it. I am aware that the excellent
+men who adopted this plan, were fearful of allowing the natives to
+acquire a facility of communicating with the vicious part of the white
+population; but had they taken a more enlarged view, and considered the
+absolute impossibility of preventing a certain amount of intercourse--had
+they had more confidence in the better part of their own race, and
+reflected on the immense advantage which the inquisitive savage would
+derive from being enabled to put questions to men who could enlighten him
+by their answers, they would more speedily have effected their benevolent
+intentions. I am of opinion that no surer method of raising the
+Australian in the scale of civilization could have been devised, than to
+put him in possession of the English language; and I am glad to hear that
+the opinion I so early formed has at length been partially acted upon.
+The natives will soon be open to an engagement on board a vessel, and may
+expect to emulate the New Zealanders, some of whom have risen to be
+mates; and to acquire the information and experience of which they stand
+so much in need. Whereas, were their knowledge confined to their own
+imperfect dialect, not only would they be unable to extend their
+acquaintance with other parts of the world, and with the arts of
+civilization, but they would remain, as many of them now are, actually
+incapable of communicating with many inhabitants of their own districts.
+For it must be borne in mind, that very frequently, a tribe inhabiting
+one valley is ignorant of the language spoken in the next. So that to
+instruct them only in their own forms of speech, is not only difficult,
+since, on the death of each master someone else has to learn the grammar
+and vocabulary to supply his place, but absolutely tends to perpetuate
+the isolation in which the natives now live; and which is the main cause
+of the little development of their minds, and the inferior position they
+occupy in the scale of civilization.
+
+LEAVE HOLDFAST ROAD.
+
+We sailed from Holdfast Road, on December 7th, but in consequence of
+light winds, with occasional very heavy squalls, it was not until the
+afternoon of the 10th, that we got out to sea by Backstairs Passage,
+between Cape Jervis and Kangaroo Island. On the morning of the 8th, we
+were obliged to shorten all sail to a very heavy squall from
+West-South-West, which announced its appearance by a distant roaring,
+some time before it was seen on the water. These squalls generally
+succeed the hot winds that prevail at this season in South Australia,
+coming from the interior.*
+
+(*Footnote. During the hot winds we observed the thermometer, in the
+direct rays of the sun, to be 135 degrees.)
+
+ARRIVE AT SYDNEY.
+
+Easterly winds prevented us from entering Bass Strait until the 16th. In
+reaching in towards the coast, seven or eight miles west of Cape Otway,
+we found that it projected three or four miles too much on the charts.
+Bass Strait appeared under a different aspect from what it had been
+accustomed to wear; light winds, by no means in keeping with our
+impatience, detaining us till the 21st, when we got a kick out of the
+eastern entrance from a strong south-wester, and afterwards had a good
+run up to Sydney, where we arrived on the 23rd.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.7.
+
+Land Sales.
+Unsettled boundaries.
+New Zealand.
+Hunter River.
+Midnight alarm.
+Ludicrous scene.
+Changes in Officers of ship.
+Leave Sydney.
+Port Stephens.
+Corrobory.
+Gale at Cape Upstart.
+Magnetical Island.
+Halifax Bay.
+Astonish a Native.
+Description of country.
+Correct chart.
+Restoration Island.
+Picturesque arrival.
+Interview with the Natives from Torres Strait.
+Their weapons.
+Shoal near Endeavour River.
+Discover good passage through Endeavour Strait.
+Booby Island.
+New birds.
+The Painted Quail.
+
+LAND SALES.
+
+No improvement had taken place in colonial affairs, and the sales of
+land, in consequence of the high price, were very limited. The fact was,
+the regulations that had recently been made gave very little
+satisfaction. By these the minimum price was fixed at one pound per acre;
+in consequence of which many predicted that millions of acres would be
+excluded from the market for ages to come, as it seemed not conceivable
+that any change could make them worth a quarter that sum, especially as
+on an average the natural grasses of the country will only support one
+sheep to four acres. The inevitable consequence was to prevent an
+augmentation of the emigration fund, which inflicted a serious evil on
+the colony, though by many the high price was considered a great boon, as
+it enabled them to enjoy, at a trifling charge, immense back runs, as
+safe from the intrusion of interlopers as if they had been granted by the
+Crown in perpetuity. It is my impression that the attempt to raise the
+largest sum of money by the sale of the smallest number of allotments is
+unwise, as it operates as a discouragement to small capitalists, who wish
+to occupy the land for themselves; it would in the end be more
+advantageous almost to give the land away, to a certain extent, in order
+to encourage people to go there. It may be worth remarking here, that on
+a rough calculation the pound per acre system would realise, supposing
+the whole continent were sold, the sum of about 1,679,616,000 pounds.
+
+UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES.
+
+The most curious circumstance connected with the division of land in New
+South Wales, is the uncertainty that prevails respecting the boundary
+line of estates, which must be the source of endless disputes and
+expensive litigation among the colonists. The whole arises from the
+system adopted of laying down the boundaries by the magnetic north
+instead of by the true. This is in itself no easy matter, owing to the
+local attraction and the difficulty of finding needles that agree. But
+the chief cause of endless change is the variation, which has
+progressively increased at Sydney since the colony was first formed, so
+as to make a difference in the boundary of a grant of land of one square
+mile in ten.
+
+I will suppose a case in order to illustrate my meaning. In the early
+days of the colony a piece of land is obtained by a person who merely
+performs the location duties, and does nothing to his estate until the
+present time, when he or his successor goes to occupy it. When the land
+was purchased the direction of the boundary line was, by compass North 20
+degrees East; but the proprietor finds that in consequence of the
+increase of variation during the interval, a North 20 degrees East line
+by compass at this time would differ from what it was when his title
+deeds were made out, one square mile in ten. As this change has at Sydney
+been progressive, and may indeed take a contrary direction, the boundary
+lines of grants of lands depending on it will vary accordingly, and
+afford endless food for the lawyers. A scientific friend of mine, who was
+once trying to remedy the evil in a particular instance, was entreated by
+one of that profession not to interfere, for by so doing he would be
+taking the bread out of the mouths of himself and his brethren.
+
+NEW ZEALAND.
+
+Since our last visit to Sydney the colonisation of New Zealand had taken
+place, but from what I heard of the loose system pursued by the Company
+of obtaining lands from the natives, I could not but form an opinion that
+those who bought lots of them must in the end be ruined; even their right
+to sell these lands at all was at the time much questioned. This being
+the case, the difficulty any Governor must have to contend with, who
+should attempt to solve the intricate problem involved in the
+land-question, was apparent, and it will be evident also that those who
+pretend to form a judgment on the conduct of Captain R. Fitzroy, must
+take into consideration the character of the people, both white and
+coloured, with whom he had to deal, and various other circumstances that
+are usually kept out of sight.
+
+During our long stay at Sydney I visited the mouth of the Hunter, for the
+purpose of determining the position of Newcastle. The courthouse,
+according to my observations, is in latitude 32 degrees 55 minutes 50
+seconds South and longitude 0 degrees 34 minutes 45 seconds East of
+Sydney. This is the district from which all the coal used in New South
+Wales is brought, and a good harbour is therefore of importance. A party
+of convicts were employed in building a breakwater, connecting a cliffy
+island at the entrance with the south point of the river, for the purpose
+of deepening the mouth, but I much question whether it will answer, as
+the silt that is washed down by the stream not finding its former exit
+may by meeting the sea form a bar.
+
+In ascending the valley of the Hunter I saw sufficient to convince me
+that a railroad could easily be carried up from Newcastle to Maitland,
+and thence to Patrick's Plains.*
+
+(*Footnote. It appears that a company having for its object the
+realization of this idea has just been formed.)
+
+MIDNIGHT ALARM.
+
+I cannot at this place resist the temptation of relating an anecdote,
+which, though it is not exactly connected with the subject of my work,
+may not be thought uninteresting by the reader. I was one night sleeping
+at a friend's house; all the family had retired to rest, and I have no
+doubt that a perfect stillness prevailed around. Suddenly, a noise like
+thunder startled me from my slumbers, and as soon as I was able to
+collect my scattered thoughts, I distinctly heard a series of violent
+blows against a door at the foot of the staircase leading up to my
+bedroom. Though the first impression might have been that the disturbance
+was caused by thieves breaking into the house, it appeared improbable
+that such characters should make their approach with so much clamour. I
+instantly leaped out of bed, and arrived in time to see a sight which I
+shall never forget.
+
+LUDICROUS SCENE.
+
+The owner of the house, who slept on the ground floor, equally astonished
+with myself at the noise, had also quitted his pillow, and, arming
+himself with a sword and taper, advanced, in the costumes of Iago, when
+he reappears upon the stage after stabbing Cassio and Rodorigo, towards
+the door against which the monotonous thumping still continued at regular
+intervals. It now appeared that the cause of his alarm was on the inside;
+and my host who believed that a party of robbers had introduced
+themselves into his premises, hailed them in a loud voice, promising that
+if they did not cease their hammering, and surrender, he would put them
+every one to death. So far from attending to his suggestion the thumps
+increased in rapidity and violence, and he had scarcely time to put
+himself in a defensive position when the door burst open and out rushed
+his assailants--a multitude of round figures of all sizes, without heads,
+legs, or arms! His first thought was that the supernatural existences of
+New South Wales had now for the first time revealed themselves to his
+eyes! Here was material for a fairytale! The genii of this country in
+which everything runs into leg were then it appeared all body! Such were
+the fancies that flashed through his mind as he made a desperate lunge at
+the advancing foe, one of whom he transfixed from breast to back, whilst
+the rest in an instant overthrew and trampled him under foot, if I may
+use the expression. And now arose a wild scream--of laughter from myself
+and the others who had witnessed this mortal combat, for the disturbers
+of our night's repose were no other than a number of huge pumpkins, which
+had been placed in a heap upon a press on the landing, and from having
+been perhaps carelessly piled had given way, and rolled, one by one,
+downstairs, accumulating at the bottom against the door, until by their
+weight they forced it open!
+
+CHANGES ON BOARD THE BEAGLE.
+
+During our stay at Sydney some important changes took place among the
+officers of the ship, the principal of which were the departure for
+England of Captain Wickham, who had never thoroughly recovered from the
+attack of dysentery he experienced on our first arrival at Swan River,
+and the promotion of the writer to the vacancy thus created. Lieutenants
+Emery and Eden also left for England; the former was succeeded by
+Lieutenant Graham Gore.
+
+This almost total change in the arrangements of the ship requiring some
+delay, and the season for passing through Torres Strait, moreover, not
+having commenced, it was the 3rd of June 1841, before the Beagle again
+rounded Breaksea Spit, having touched on the way for a meridian distance
+at Port Stephens.*
+
+(*Footnote. We ran out of Port Stephens before a westerly gale. After
+passing between Entrance Island and Soldier Point, we steered for
+Salamander Head, and then for Tomaree Summit, when it was over the centre
+of the first projection inside Nelson Head, which led over the south-west
+corner of the shoal patch lying abreast of Red Point in 4 fathoms. When
+Nelson Head just shut in Yacaba extreme, we steered for the former, and
+passing it hauled over North-East 1/2 East for the western part of Yacaba
+Head, keeping a white spot on the second point inside Nelson Head, just
+open of the latter, until the leading marks for running out (which I have
+before given in my former visit to Port Stephens) were on.)
+
+SINGULAR CORROBORY.
+
+Whilst at the latter place, I witnessed a corrobory presenting a peculiar
+feature. As soon as it was dark, a number of heaps of fuel scattered here
+and there were simultaneously ignited, and the whole surface of the green
+was speedily lighted up by the flames. When the illumination was
+complete, the men, painted with spots and lines of white commenced the
+dance, which consisted in running sideways or in file, stamping with
+great violence, and emitting an inharmonious grunt, gesticulating
+violently all the time, and brandishing and striking together their
+weapons. The peculiar feature in this corrobory, was the throwing of the
+kiley, or boomerang, lighted at one end; the remarkable flight and
+extraordinary convolutions of this weapon marked by a bright line of
+fire, had a singular and startling effect.
+
+As we were rounding Breaksea Spit, we met four merchant ships, who gladly
+availed themselves of our convoy. On the 6th, being anxious to repeat our
+last meridian distance, and also the magnetic observations, we anchored
+under Cape Upstart. We likewise availed ourselves of the visit to
+complete the examination of the bay on the east side of the Cape. The 7th
+was a remarkably gloomy day, signalized by a very unusual fall in the
+barometer between 8 A.M., and 2 P.M., from 30.14 to 30.00, when the
+breeze which had been fresh in the morning, increased to a gale with
+squalls. At 3, the wind shifted to the southward, and at 8 when it
+moderated, the barometer again rose to 30.17. It is these sudden breezes
+that are so fatal to ships caught off the outer barrier without an
+opening to get within its shelter. No traces of natives were seen; but
+the supply of water was as abundant as before, and we took the
+opportunity of completing our stock.
+
+MAGNETICAL ISLAND.
+
+On the 8th in the evening we left for Magnetical Island, about half a
+mile off the west side of which we anchored next day in 5 fathoms. The
+depth from thence shoals in gradually to the head of the bay. A small
+rocky islet, to which our observations refer, bore south half a mile, in
+latitude 19 degrees 7 minutes 10 seconds South and longitude 4 degrees 29
+minutes 12 seconds West of Sydney. On this I found a greyish kind of
+slate; but on Magnetical Island I discovered no local attraction
+affecting the needle, so as to warrant the name bestowed by Cook. It is a
+high piece of land, with an ill-defined peak in the centre, 1770 feet
+high.
+
+A description and view of it have been given in the first volume. We
+remained there five days, in order to rate the chronometers, and to
+examine the head of Halifax Bay, where a large estuary had been reported
+by Captain King; but of this we could see nothing, and came to the
+conclusion that he must have been deceived by mirage. The land certainly
+was low in that direction, and trending in to the southward appeared
+afterwards to wind round to South-West, offering facilities for getting
+over the range before spoken of as 3,600 feet high, and bounding the
+shore of Halifax Bay. We were, however, glad of this opportunity of
+examining a portion of the continent, that had always excited the
+attention of those who passed, by its fertile aspect.
+
+HALIFAX BAY.
+
+A party landed in the south corner of Halifax Bay, on a long flat sandy
+beach, which at high-water is completely covered. Crossing some small
+sand dunes, bound together by a sort of spinifex, we got into a luxuriant
+growth of grass, rich and soft, with a springing sort of feel to the
+feet. A few wallaby were started in this, but we obtained none; and
+seeing a group of rich-looking eucalypti and tea-trees, some of us bent
+our steps thitherwards, and found a small stream of fresh water, which
+filtered itself through the sand towards the beach. There was no time to
+trace it; but for some distance inland we could follow its course with
+the eye, from the luxuriant vegetation it nourished. The soil was light
+and sandy, covered with dense creepers, and innumerable quantities of the
+Angustifolia in splendid flower, many of the clusters occupying a space
+of three feet in diameter, with a proportionate stem of about five feet
+from the earth. The hum of insects, and sudden disturbance of
+rich-coloured parrots, screaming and fluttering through the branches, and
+the strong, short, rapid flight of the dove, with its melancholy cooing,
+transported us in imagination a long way inland, whereas we were not
+three hundred yards from the beach. We now wended our way towards a small
+eminence, through long grass, in most places interwoven with creepers,
+compelling us to tear our way through them in the ascent.
+
+ASTONISH A NATIVE.
+
+In doing so Mr. Bynoe flushed a native; but before the rest of the party
+could come up, he had taken to flight. The simultaneous cries of "here's
+a native!" "where!" "here!" "there he goes stark naked," rose; and before
+ALL EYES could catch a glimpse, his dark figure insensibly blended with
+the waving branches of his wild solitude, and without a cry of fear or
+joy, he was lost to us, perhaps for ever! We burst through the same
+brushwood he had recently thrown aside, and entered a labyrinth of forest
+trees, without finding a clue to the direction he had taken.
+
+The whole of the country appeared to be granitic; the eminence on which
+we stood bore that character, and some parts, near the beach, were thrown
+into massive blocks, at high-water, completely surrounded by the flux of
+tide. The view inland was intercepted by hills and trees, the former
+assuming the same appearance as the one we were on, but higher. Our
+game-bag was thinly lined with small curlews, oyster-catchers, and
+sanderlings.
+
+A sandy spit connects Magnetical Island on the south side with the main,
+and must be sufficiently shoal at low water to allow the natives to ford
+over; for we found no canoes with those we met on the island, who were
+numerous and apparently very well disposed. Although not a large race,
+they were in very good condition; part of their food, is the native yam,
+called warran in Western Australia. The birds on the island are common to
+other parts; and the wallaby, of which Mr. Bynoe shot three, are light
+coloured.
+
+CORRECT CHART.
+
+On the evening of the 13th, we again proceeded on our passage; the night
+was hazy, with a few slight squalls, much resembling the weather which we
+had before experienced in the same place. Towards the close of the 15th,
+we anchored eight miles from Cape Tribulation, bearing North 11 degrees
+West. The summit of Snapper Island, bore South 7 degrees East six miles;
+by which we found that both it and the coast are placed on the charts too
+much to the eastward.
+
+In passing Point Barrow I was very much struck with the similarity which
+the low line of cliffs, running along the summit of the high land, bears
+to that on the Victoria River.* We avoided the reef off Cape Flinders, by
+following the directions given in the first volume, and by making a
+detour to the southward round Princess Charlotte's Bay, were enabled to
+keep underweigh all night.
+
+(*Footnote. See Sketches.)
+
+RESTORATION ISLAND.
+
+Continuing, we reached Restoration Island soon after dark on the 19th. It
+was rather a confined anchorage, to be taken up at that hour with five
+ships. Our arrival was under rather singular circumstances. The night
+being dark, we could not make out even the outline of the high rocky
+island, which appeared one dark mass; and the meeting of the land and sea
+was only occasionally distinguished by patches of white, where the water
+broke against the steep rocky sides of the island. Not a sound came from
+the shore as we drew near our berth; but no sooner did the heavy splash
+of the anchor, and the noise of the cable running out, resound among the
+heights, than one loud yell of startled natives seemed to rise from one
+end of the island to the other. The discharge of a signal rocket,
+however, that curved its flight over the island, instantaneously quieted
+the uproar, and a death-like silence succeeded.
+
+NATIVES OF TORRES STRAIT.
+
+In the morning we found that the island was occupied by a party of
+natives from Torres Strait. Their canoes, which were furnished with
+outriggers, were hauled up on the beach, and their spears were deposited
+in the bushes around, ready for immediate use; but, although they seemed
+to suspect our friendly intentions towards them at first, no disturbance
+occurred, and some were prevailed upon to come on board. Their presence
+forcibly reminded us of the melancholy fate of the crew of the Charles
+Eaton; and no doubt they had come to the southward on a wrecking
+expedition. They were a much finer race of men, than those met with on
+the shores of the continent; their voices sounded softer, and their
+language appeared quite different. They instantly recognized the drawing
+of a Murray Island canoe, in Flinders' Voyage, and constantly kept
+repeating the word toolic, meaning iron, in the Murray Island language.
+The lobe of their ears was perforated with a large piece of bone; and
+their hair was like that which I have before described as crisp. I
+noticed that their spears were all pointed with bone, and that the shafts
+in those used for fishing were large, with a coil of line attached, and a
+string also connecting the head, which came loose when a porpoise or
+turtle was struck; whilst the wood, floating, acted as a drag. At
+daylight on the 21st we proceeded on our passage.
+
+About four or five miles to the southward of Endeavour River, we passed
+some discoloured patches near the shore; and thereabouts a shoal has
+since been discovered. Having before expressed an opinion that there was
+a safe passage through Endeavour Strait, I resolved to take this
+opportunity of setting the question at rest. Before passing between the
+Possession Isles, towards the entrance of it, I acquainted the rest of
+the convoy with my intentions, to give them the option of taking the
+chance of a passage with me, or of proceeding by the ordinary route. They
+chose the former, and we accordingly entered the Strait, which we found
+navigable for vessels drawing 18 feet, by passing about a mile and a half
+to the northward of the Wallis Islands, steering a westerly course. In
+crossing the ridge extending off Cape Cornwall, the least water was 3 1/2
+fathoms at low tide; North Wallis Island bearing South 64 degrees East
+seven miles. There still, however, appeared to be more water to the
+southward, which determined me to examine this passage more minutely on
+my return from the Gulf. A course was now held for Booby Island, where we
+anchored in the evening (the 23rd).
+
+PASSAGE THROUGH ENDEAVOUR STRAIT.
+
+It was my intention, in order that we might commence our exploration of
+the Gulf with a good supply, to have searched for water in Port Lihou, on
+the south side of Cook Island, in Endeavour Strait; but the ships in
+company being able to supply us the delay was avoided. Since our last
+visit, the book at the Post Office, on Booby Island, had been destroyed
+by some mischievous visitors, and the box was in a very dilapidated
+state. We repaired the latter, and left a new book with a supply of pens
+and ink.
+
+A ton or two of water was also procured from some holes in the rocks on
+the island. I have before spoken of the heaps of stone which Captain King
+concluded were erected by seamen; but Dr. Wilson, in his Voyage round the
+World, mentions some cairns of stone on certain islands to the northward,
+not previously visited by Europeans, and which must have therefore been
+the work of natives.
+
+THE PAINTED QUAIL.
+
+Mr. Bynoe was fortunate enough to procure two pigeons of a new species
+(Ptilinopus superbus) and of beautiful colours; the breast being dark
+purple, the crown of the head red, and the other parts green; besides one
+specimen of a bird, of the same genus as one on the Abrolhos, generally
+called a quail, but with this difference, that it only lays four eggs,
+whereas quails lay fourteen or fifteen. It is known to the colonists as
+the Painted Quail; and has been called by Mr. Gould, from the specimen we
+got on Booby Island, Haemipodius melinatus.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.8. GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
+
+Leave Booby Island.
+Eastern shore of Gulf.
+Van Diemen's Inlet.
+Exploration of.
+Party of Natives.
+Level country.
+Tides.
+Visit Bountiful Islands.
+Description of them.
+Sail for Sweers Island.
+Investigator Road.
+Natives.
+Locusts.
+Record of the Investigator's visit.
+Dig a well.
+Boats explore island and coast to the westward.
+Sweers and Bentinck Islands.
+Tides.
+Take ship over to the main.
+Another boat expedition leaves.
+Ship proceeds to the head of the Gulf.
+Discovery and exploration of Disaster Inlet.
+Narrow escape.
+Description of Interior.
+Wild Fowl.
+Explore coast to the eastward.
+Inlets.
+Discover the Flinders.
+The Cuckoo.
+Ascent of the river.
+Night scene.
+Burial tree.
+Remarks.
+Return to the ship.
+Exploration of south-western part of Gulf.
+Large inlets discovered.
+
+June 26.
+
+The vessels forming our convoy departed this morning, and soon
+disappeared in the western horizon, leaving the Beagle, that seemed
+destined to be a solitary roamer, once more alone at anchor under Booby
+Island.
+
+On the same evening she was herself pursuing her lonely way towards the
+Gulf of Carpentaria, the eastern shore of which we saw on the morning of
+the 1st of July. In the afternoon we anchored in 3 1/4 fathoms; the north
+end of a very low sandy piece of coast, which we found to be in latitude
+16 degrees 13 1/2 minutes South, longitude 9 degrees 10 East of Port
+Essington, bearing South 70 degrees East, six miles and a half. From this
+place the coast trended South 10 degrees West, and was fringed with
+mangroves; a few straggling casuarinas grew near the sandy parts, a
+feature which we constantly afterwards found to recur; their tall
+broom-like shapes form a remarkable element in the coast scenery of the
+Gulf.
+
+SINGULAR TIDAL PHENOMENON.
+
+A fruitless attempt was made to visit the shore, which was fronted for
+the distance of a mile by a bank of soft mud. We could therefore gain no
+information respecting the interior; but from the numerous fires, it
+appeared to be thickly inhabited. It was here that we first observed the
+singular phenomenon of the tides ebbing and flowing twelve hours.
+
+GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
+
+Next day the coast was examined for fifteen miles to the southward; its
+general character has already been given, which renders it unnecessary to
+dilate further here. North-east winds now forced us away from the land,
+and we did not see it again till the morning of the 3rd; when, finding as
+much as four fathoms within two miles and a half of a projection, we
+named it, in consequence, Bold Point. It is in latitude 17 degrees 0
+minutes South, longitude 8 degrees 48 minutes East of Port Essington, and
+is rendered conspicuous by two clumps of trees. North 23 degrees West two
+miles from Bold Point, we observed an opening, and after anchoring the
+ship as near the entrance as possible, I left with the whaleboats,
+accompanied by Messrs. Forsyth, Fitzmaurice, and Tarrant, to examine it,
+early in the afternoon. The view annexed, taken by Lieutenant Gore, just
+after the boats had shoved off, will give the reader an excellent idea of
+the appearance of the south-eastern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria,
+from a distance of only two miles. In this view, a gull, resting on the
+back of a sleeping turtle, will attract the attention of the reader.
+
+Proceeding, we crossed the bar, extending three quarters of a mile off
+the mouth of the inlet, on which we found only two feet at low-water. The
+coast on each side was sandy, with clumps of trees, and to the northward
+was fronted by an extensive flat of sand. The first reaches of the inlet
+promised well, having a depth of from 1 1/2 to 3 fathoms, and a width of
+from two to three hundred yards; but it ultimately became much narrower,
+and so torturous that, after following its windings for twenty-seven
+miles, we had only advanced eight miles in a South 60 degrees East
+direction from the entrance. It then divided--one branch trending south,
+and the other east; and each being only fifteen yards wide and two feet
+deep, the water quite salt, and the mangroves on either side, moreover,
+almost meeting, rendered it impossible to proceed further. Our hopes had
+been buoyed up as we advanced, an impression prevailing that we had
+discovered a river, from our finding that at low tide the water was
+simply brackish. I can only account for this by supposing that there was
+an imperceptible drainage of fresh water through the banks.
+
+The highest part of the country we saw was on the south side of one of
+the reaches, six miles from the mouth; but even there the utmost
+elevation was only ten feet. This rise was marked by a growth of
+tolerable-sized eucalypti. Elsewhere the banks were scarcely three feet
+above high-water level, and generally fringed with mangroves, behind
+which in many places were extensive clear flats, reaching occasionally
+the sides of the inlet towards the upper parts, and forming at that time
+the resort of large flights of the bronze-winged pigeon.
+
+In many of the reaches we met with flocks of wild ducks, of the white and
+brown, and also of the whistling kind. The birds we had not before seen
+were a large dark brown species of rail, so wary that I could never get
+within shot of it, and a rather small blackbird with a white crest. A few
+of the large species of crane, called the Native Companion, were also
+seen. The only kind of fish taken was the common catfish.
+
+PARTY OF NATIVES.
+
+Alligators were very numerous for the first fifteen miles as we ascended;
+and we saw a party of natives, but did not communicate with them. Their
+astonishment at the appearance of such strange beings as ourselves must
+have been very great. It could never before have fallen to their lot to
+behold any of the white race; and until our presence undeceived them,
+they must have been living in happy ignorance that they were not the only
+specimens of humanity upon the face of the earth.
+
+There was little to interest us in our examination of this inlet,
+especially as the Dutch had probably visited it some two hundred years
+before; thus destroying the principal charm it would have possessed,
+namely, that of novelty. We inferred this from there being an opening
+laid down in this neighbourhood by them as Van Diemen's River. I, in
+consequence, continued the name, altering river to inlet; though,
+probably, at times, it may deserve the appellation of a river, as after
+heavy falls of rain it must contain fresh water. Our finding the water
+only brackish near the head favours this supposition.
+
+The habitations of the natives were of a more substantial kind than we
+should have expected to meet with in these latitudes, being snug
+oval-shaped huts, thatched with coarse grass. The extremely low level
+nature of the country, the reader can imagine, as also how much it
+surprised us to find that from the boat at high-water our eyes could
+wander over miles. Occasionally on the plains, rendered warm from their
+colour reflecting the powerful beams of the sun, were to be seen whirling
+clouds of dust, towering upwards until their centrifugal force became
+exhausted. The temperature, however, was lower about four in the morning
+than we had noticed it since leaving Sydney, being only 65 degrees, when
+easterly or land winds prevailed; those in the afternoon were generally
+from seaward.
+
+A slight rise, even of ten feet, in the water beyond the tidal change,
+must overflow a vast portion of such very low country; many evidences of
+this having taken place were observed.*
+
+(*Footnote. At the entrance of Van Diemen's Inlet it is high-water on the
+full and change of the moon at a quarter to seven; but in the upper part
+the tides are three hours and a quarter later. The length of both flood
+and ebb is twelve hours, and the direction of the former stream from the
+northward, following the eastern shore of the Gulf.)
+
+NATIVE WELL.
+
+The formation of this part of the continent is of very recent date, as we
+did not observe any rock; and the soil is chiefly alluvial. The only
+fresh water found was at a native well, half a mile South-East from the
+eastern entrance point of the inlet.
+
+In the morning of the 5th, the boats reached the ship. During our absence
+a few natives had made their appearance on the beach, attending some
+fires, it seemed, on a hunting excursion. Several grampuses were seen at
+the anchorage, also many dugongs and turtles.
+
+In the evening the Beagle was standing across the Gulf towards Bountiful
+Islands. I found that with the winds we had experienced the last few days
+it would be the most expeditious way of completing our survey of the Gulf
+to proceed at once to the head of it, as we should then have a fair wind,
+to examine the coast back to Van Diemen's Inlet.
+
+I also resolved to ascertain if the supply of water that Flinders found
+on Sweers Island was still to be obtained; and on our way thither
+determined on visiting Bountiful Islands, where we arrived accordingly on
+the morning of the 6th. The greatest depth we had in crossing the Gulf
+was 15 fathoms, the nature of the bottom being a fine dark sandy mud.
+
+Bountiful Islands form the eastern part of a group called Wellesley
+Islands, and were so named by Flinders from the great supply of turtle he
+found there. As, however, it was two months before the season of their
+visiting the shores, we only caught twelve, for the most part females.
+Near the islands was noticed the same shrubby thick compact kind of
+seaweed, that had previously been seen on the parts of the North-west
+coast frequented by the turtle. Flinders speaks of finding here in one
+turtle as many as 1,940 eggs; and such is their fecundity that were it
+not for the destruction of the young by sharks and birds of prey, these
+temperate seas would absolutely swarm with them.
+
+Our anchorage was in 7 fathoms, three quarters of a mile South-East from
+the highest hill, which I called Mount Flinders; it stands close to the
+beach, near the east end of the island, and is in latitude 16 degrees 40
+minutes 0 seconds South, longitude 7 degrees 45 minutes 25 seconds East
+of Port Essington.
+
+BOUNTIFUL ISLANDS.
+
+Bountiful Islands, two in number, are distant a mile and a half in a
+North-East direction from each other. The northern and largest is two
+miles and a half long, and three-quarters of a mile wide; whilst the
+other is rather more than half a mile each way, and has at the northern
+end a mound with a remarkable casuarina tree on its summit. Both are
+fronted with coral reefs, particularly at the North-East extreme; there
+are some cliffs on the south-east side of the large island of sand and
+ironstone formation, the latter prevailing; and over the low
+north-western parts a ferruginous kind of gravel was scattered. The
+crests of the hills or hillocks were of a reddish sort of sandstone, and
+so honeycombed or pointed at the top that it was difficult to walk over
+them.
+
+MOUNT FLINDERS.
+
+Near the landing-place, at the foot of Mount Flinders, were a few
+isolated gum-trees, and small clusters of the casuarina, which were the
+only trees on the northern island. Some drift timber was on the
+south-east and north-west sides. On the latter was a tree of considerable
+size, doubtless brought from the shore of the Gulf by the North-West
+monsoon. Its whole surface was covered with a long brown kind of grass,
+interwoven with creepers. There were great quantities of a
+cinnamon-coloured bittern seen, as well as quails, doves, and large
+plovers, but not any of the bustards mentioned by Flinders. We saw no
+traces of land animals of any kind; neither did we of the natives. A
+flock of screaming white cockatoos had taken up their abode on the south
+island, where also some bulbs of the Angustifolia were found. A few small
+fish, besides sharks, were caught alongside the ship.
+
+I was surprised to find the tides an hour later than at Van Diemen's
+Inlet; their velocity, likewise, was increased to two knots; the
+flood-stream came from the north-east at the anchorage.
+
+FOWLER ISLAND.
+
+July 7.
+
+At daylight, we left for Sweers Island; but owing to light winds, chiefly
+easterly, did not reach Investigator Road, between Sweers and Bentinck
+Islands, before the afternoon of the 8th. The soundings on the way were
+generally 9 fathoms, fine sandy mud. A small islet, lying off the
+South-East side of Bentinck Island, and forming the immediate eastern
+side of the Road, I named after the first lieutenant of the Investigator,
+now Captain Fowler.
+
+Under Mount Inspection, a hill 105 feet high, and the most remarkable
+feature hereabouts, on the South-East extreme of Sweers Island, a party
+of twelve natives was observed as we passed. They gazed silently at us,
+making no demonstration of joy, fear, anger, or surprise. It is possible
+they may have been stupefied by the appearance of that wonderful creation
+of man's ingenuity--a ship; in their eyes it must have seemed a being
+endowed with life walking the waters, for purposes to them
+incomprehensible, on a mission to the discovery of which they could not
+even apply the limited faculties they possessed. Fortunately or
+unfortunately for them--according as we determine on the value of
+civilization to the aboriginal races of the South--they did not possess
+the fatal, or salutary, curiosity that prompts most men to attempt
+fathoming the depth of whatever is mysterious. Restrained by their fears,
+or by their ignorant, or philosophical indifference, they did not again
+show themselves: and though when we landed we once or twice thought we
+heard sounds of life in our vicinity, the natives of the island never
+again came under our observation. It is remarkable that the same
+circumstance happened to Flinders. He also perceived human beings at a
+distance; but when he endeavoured to communicate with them, they retired,
+as he mentions, to some of the caverns that exist on the island, and were
+seen no more.
+
+SWEERS ISLAND.
+
+Sweers Island appeared to be very woody, and bounded by low dark cliffs
+on the north-east side. We found a long extent of foul ground, with a dry
+reef near its outer end, extending off two miles in a South 33 degrees
+East direction from the South-East extreme. Our anchorage was in 5 1/2
+fathoms, nearly abreast of a remarkable and solitary sandy point on the
+above-mentioned island. As we beat up, the navigable width between this
+and Fowler Island was found to be one mile, and the depth 4 and 5
+fathoms.
+
+INVESTIGATOR'S WELL.
+
+A party was immediately despatched in search of the Investigator's well.
+Previous to landing, the whole island appeared to be perfectly alive with
+a dense cloud of small flying animals, which, on our reaching the shore,
+proved to be locusts in countless numbers, forming a complete curtain
+over the island. They rose from the ground in such prodigious flights at
+each footstep that we were absolutely prevented from shooting any of the
+quails with which the island abounds. This annoyance, however, was only
+experienced for the first day or two, as the locusts winged their flight
+to Bentinck Island, leaving the trees only laden with them; out of these
+they started, when disturbed, with a rushing noise like surf on a pebbly
+beach.
+
+FLINDERS' WELL.
+
+The Investigator's old well was discovered half a mile eastward of the
+point, to which I gave the name of Point Inscription, from a very
+interesting discovery we made of the name of Flinders' ship cut on a tree
+near the well, and still perfectly legible, although nearly forty years
+old, as the reader will perceive from the woodcut annexed. On the
+opposite side of the trunk the Beagle's name and the date of our visit
+were cut.
+
+It was thus our good fortune to find at last some traces of the
+Investigator's voyage, which at once invested the place with all the
+charms of association, and gave it an interest in our eyes that words can
+ill express. All the adventures and sufferings of the intrepid Flinders
+vividly recurred to our memory; his discoveries on the shores of this
+great continent, his imprisonment on his way home, and cruel treatment by
+the French Governor of Mauritius, called forth renewed sympathies. I
+forthwith determined accordingly that the first river we discovered in
+the Gulf should be named the Flinders, as the tribute to his memory which
+it was best becoming in his humble follower to bestow, and that which
+would most successfully serve the purpose of recording his services on
+this side of the continent. Monuments may crumble, but a name endures as
+long as the world.
+
+Being desirous of ascertaining if now, in the dry season, water could be
+obtained in other parts of the island, I ordered a well to be dug on the
+extreme of Point Inscription, a more convenient spot for watering a ship,
+and at a depth of 25 feet met excellent water, pouring through a rock of
+concreted sand, pebbles, and shells.
+
+Our success may be attributed, as Flinders says, to the clayey
+consistence of the stratum immediately under the sand, and to the
+gravelly rock upon which that stratum rests; the one preventing the
+evaporation of the rains, and the other obstructing their further
+infiltration.
+
+INVESTIGATOR ROAD.
+
+This was a very important discovery, as Investigator Road is the only
+anchorage for vessels of all sizes at the head of the Gulf in either
+monsoon, and possesses an equal supply of wood, fish, and birds, with
+turtle close at hand on Bountiful Islands. Moreover, should an expedition
+be formed for the purpose of exploring the interior from the head of the
+Gulf, it is, as Flinders remarks, "particularly well adapted for a ship
+during the absence of the travellers." In addition to this, it is a point
+at which an expedition would first arrive to arrange plans for the
+future; and lastly, I should observe that in case of our being fortunate
+enough to find rivers or fertile country on the southern shores of the
+Gulf, we at once saw that we might look forward to the time when
+Investigator Road* should be the port from which all the produce of the
+neighbouring parts of the continent must be shipped, and when it should
+bear on its shores the habitations of civilized man, and the heavenward
+pointing spires of the Christian Church. The feeling that we might be the
+means of bringing about this happy state of things by discovering a
+country habitable by Europeans, greatly added to the zest with which we
+prosecuted our subsequent researches.
+
+(*Footnote. This road fully deserves the name of a good port, being four
+miles in length by one in breadth, with a depth of from 4 to 6 fathoms,
+and sheltered at all points except from south to South-South-East, in
+which direction the shoalness of the water prevents any sea from getting
+up.)
+
+SURVEY THE ANCHORAGE.
+
+On duly weighing these considerations in my mind I determined to make an
+accurate survey of this anchorage, including Sweers and the eastern
+portion of Bentinck Island; and to despatch two boats to examine the
+group of islands to the north-west, and the mainland from thence to
+abreast of the south-west end of Bentinck Island. On the morning of the
+9th, accordingly, Messrs. Forsyth and Parker proceeded with the
+whaleboats on this service.
+
+Near Point Inscription, I found a native skull on the shore, with
+forearm, left tibia, and a portion of the inferior maxillary. They must
+have been exposed some time, as they were very nearly destroyed by the
+action of the air. How they could have come in this situation was a
+mystery, as there was nothing indicating a place of burial.
+
+On the eastern Point of Bentinck Island a number of rafts were seen,
+which suggested the name of Raft Point. We also on one occasion perceived
+some natives at a distance.
+
+Mount Inspection being the highest land in the neighbourhood, became the
+principal station of the survey. From it a glimpse was got of the
+mainland, bearing South 17 degrees West about eighteen miles. The
+north-eastern end of the island, also, could be seen, fronted with rocky
+ledges extending three quarters of a mile off. This hill is a mass of
+calcareous rock, similar to the high parts of Bountiful Island, with the
+same honeycombed surface, as if it had been exposed to the action of the
+sea. In other parts of the island there is a great quantity of ironstone;
+and the cliffs on the eastern side are mixed with this and pipe-clay; on
+the northern extreme are some lakes or swamps.
+
+SOIL, ETC. OF BENTINCK ISLAND.
+
+The soil is chiefly a mixture of sand and decomposed vegetable matter;
+but it cannot boast of fertility. The wood on the island, which consisted
+for the most part of gums, wattles, a few acacias, palms, and, near the
+beach, a straggling casuarina or two, bespoke this by its stunted
+appearance; but as cotton grows well at Port Essington, there can be
+little doubt that it will thrive here. Several of the bustards spoken of
+by Flinders, were noticed; but too wary to be killed. They were as large
+as those seen in the neighbourhood of Port Phillip, but much browner. The
+other birds, most common, will be found in an extract from the game book,
+given in a future page. We saw no animals, except some large iguanas.
+
+Investigator Road is sheltered to the northward by shoal water stretching
+across between Sweers and Bentinck islands. The latter is slightly
+elevated, and thickly wooded; it is large in comparison with its
+neighbours, being about ten miles in extent either way. Its south side is
+much indented, and the projections as well as the extreme of Fowler
+Island, are lined with mangroves; they are fronted with coral ledges.
+Near the south-east point, I noticed large patches of the ferruginous
+sort of gravel, before alluded to in King's Sound.
+
+On one occasion a party thought they heard a cooey--or cry peculiar to
+the natives of Port Jackson--uttered by some of the aborigines in the
+distance. It would have been exceedingly interesting to ascertain if this
+actually was the case; as the sound generally emitted by the natives of
+the northern coasts when they wish to communicate with each other afar
+off, is the monotonous "oh! oh!"
+
+MR. FORSYTH'S REPORT.
+
+On the 13th the boats returned, having completed the work that had been
+allotted them. Mr. Forsyth reported their proceedings as follows: Leaving
+the north point of Bentinck Island, off which a reef extends nearly three
+miles, they crossed over to the south end of Mornington Island, bearing
+North 60 degrees West twenty-three miles, the depth, midway between being
+7 and 8 fathoms. The south shore of this island was found to be low and
+sandy, much indented, and fronted with reefs. From the south extreme, the
+nearest part of the main, called Point Bayley, bore South 32 degrees West
+eleven miles, the intervening space being occupied by four low isles,
+which I named after Mr. Forsyth. With the exception of 5 fathoms two
+miles south-west from the end of Mornington Island, the space between it
+and the main is only navigable for boats; and westward of Forsyth
+Islands, shoals, partly dry, extend off four miles from the main.
+
+POINT PARKER.
+
+From Point Bayley,* where we found a native well, the coast trended on
+one hand North 73 degrees West, in which direction, at the distance of
+two and four miles, were small openings in the low mangrove shore;
+whilst, on the other, it trended South 53 degrees East with inlets two,
+three, and six miles distant, and a point ten miles and a half from Point
+Bayley, which was named after the officer in charge of one of the boats,
+Point Parker. A hillock elevated about thirty feet, which was great for
+this part of the continent, rendered it conspicuous. Like Point Bayley,
+it is fronted with a rocky ledge, and has a sandy beach on the south
+side. From Point Parker the coast trended south ten miles, which was the
+furthest the boats reached; beyond, it appeared to take a more easterly
+direction.
+
+(*Footnote. In latitude 16 degrees 35 minutes 10 seconds South, and
+longitude 6 degrees 55 minutes 30 seconds East of Port Essington. )
+
+The hillock on Point Parker, afforded Mr. Forsyth a slight view of the
+interior: it was a vast plain with clumps of small trees interspersed
+here and there; a growth of gums rose close behind the fringe of
+mangroves that lined the coast to the southward, and in other places
+constituted the only vegetable production of the country that could be
+seen. Although there was little that could be called actually interesting
+in the vast level that stretched away to an indefinite distance from
+Point Parker, yet still, when the reflection presented itself that never
+before had the eye of a European wandered over it, the feelings of the
+exploring party were necessarily of a pleasing character.
+
+This projection in the coast brought it within thirteen miles of the east
+end of Bentinck Island. Allen's Isle lay between at the distance of three
+miles and a half; on some ironstone cliffs at the south-east end of it,
+Mr. Forsyth, after leaving, saw some natives; he speaks of this island as
+being more fertile than any other part visited, being clothed with rich
+grass, and with small trees and shrubs of a very green appearance.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES.
+
+It was on a little island, two miles to the eastward of it, that Flinders
+succeeded in obtaining an interview with a party of natives; two of whom,
+he says, were of the great height of six feet three inches, but with
+features similar to those on the south and east coasts. They were
+deficient in two front teeth of the upper jaw; their hair was short but
+not curly; and with the exception of a fillet of network worn round the
+head of one of them, they had not a vestige of clothing. Two of the older
+men of the party, Flinders was surprised to find had undergone the rite
+of circumcision; they had rafts of precisely the same construction as
+those in use on the North-west coast.
+
+On the 17th, very unusual gloomy weather was experienced, quite what we
+should have expected from the opposite monsoon; indeed the wind was light
+from the westward for a short time. The morning broke, however, with a
+moderate South-South-East breeze, accompanied by constant heavy rain; the
+temperature, before daylight, was 61 degrees.
+
+(*Footnote. Our observations place Point Inscription in latitude 17
+degrees 6 minutes 50 seconds South and longitude 7 degrees 28 minutes 30
+seconds East of Port Essington; variation, 4 degrees 35 minutes easterly:
+the time of high-water at the full and change, was 8 A.M., when the tide
+rose 9 feet; the stream changes to the northward two hours before
+high-water. At other times the change takes place about one hour before.
+The direction of the flood is South by West and that of the ebb North;
+the strength of the former is from half a knot to one knot an hour, and
+of the latter, three quarters of a knot to one and a half. Near the full
+and change days there is no slack water; the northerly stream is then
+longer by two hours: during the neaps they are more equal, each being of
+twelve hours duration.)
+
+Our operations were completed by the 19th, but in consequence of strong
+winds from the South-South-East we did not leave before the 21st; when,
+beating out against a fresh breeze,* we stood over towards the main to
+the south-west of Bentinck Island, but found the water so shallow that we
+could not approach within eight miles.
+
+(*Footnote. The west point of Sweers Island, bearing North 10 degrees
+East and the east point of Bentinck Island, North 8 degrees East mark the
+limits of each board. The north-west part of Sweers Island just shut in
+with Point Inscription leads in, and the dry part of the reef off the
+south-east end of Sweers Island, bearing South 85 degrees East, clears
+the reef off the south end of Sweers and Fowler Islands. A white patch of
+cliff to the northward of Point Inscription, in one with it, leads over
+the extreme of the shoal off the south-east end of Fowler Island.)
+
+PROCEED TO SURVEY THE MAIN.
+
+The boats were again sent, with Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Pasco, to
+continue the examination of the shore of the Gulf, towards the head of
+it, where they were to meet the ship. We made the best of our way
+thither, after securing some soundings to the South-West of Sweers Island
+and carrying a line eastwards from it, midway across the gulf, where we
+found a very even dark sandy mud bottom, with a depth of 7 fathoms.
+
+THE SANDHILL.
+
+Strong south and south-east winds, which reduced the temperature, on one
+occasion, to 56 degrees about 4 A.M., generally prevailed, excepting for
+a few hours in the afternoon; quite reminding us of the winds we
+experienced at Depuch Island on the North-west coast, and preventing us
+from reaching our destination till the morning of the 24th, when we
+anchored two miles and a quarter from a particularly bare sand hillock,
+bearing South 53 degrees West. This was named The Sandhill, par
+excellence; there being no other on the shore of the Gulf. To the
+eastward there appeared an opening with a remarkable quoin-shaped clump
+of tall mangroves at the entrance. It being neap tide, we were enabled to
+take the ship thus close to the shore, and as it was the nearest approach
+we could make to the head of the Gulf, another boat expedition was set on
+foot to explore it, consisting of the yawl and gig, in which Lieutenant
+Gore and myself left the ship the same afternoon. The first spot visited
+was The Sandhill, which we found to be forty feet high, in latitude 17
+degrees 38 minutes 20 seconds South, longitude 7 degrees 48 minutes 00
+seconds East of Port Essington. From its summit we immediately perceived
+that our conjecture was right respecting the opening close to the
+eastward. The shore was sandy to the westward, a remarkable circumstance,
+considering that nearly everywhere else all was mangrove. Whatever we saw
+of the interior, appeared to be low patches of bare mud, which bespoke
+frequent inundations. We could also trace a low mangrove shore forming
+the head of the Gulf, without any appearance of a large opening, which
+was a bitter disappointment; in some measure, however, compensated by the
+fact that it was all new, Flinders having expressed himself doubtful how
+far back the shore lay.
+
+DISASTER INLET.
+
+The point on which The Sandhill is situated I called after Lieutenant
+Gore, and the inlet, which we entered just before dark, Disaster Inlet,
+from a circumstance of what may be called a tragical nature which
+happened in it. Like all the other inlets, as we afterwards found, it had
+a bar scarcely passable at low-water for boats; but within there was a
+depth of two and three fathoms. It appears that the streams passing out
+of these openings groove out a channel in the great flat fronting the
+shores for from one to three miles; but as the distance from their mouths
+increased, the velocity and consequent strength of the stream diminished
+in proportion, and, as we afterwards found, at this season was never
+strong enough to force a channel the entire way through the flat or bank
+at the entrance, which was thrown out in consequence further from the
+shore. The projection thus formed in the great flat indicated the
+importance of the inlet.
+
+We passed the night a mile within the mouth of Disaster Inlet, and next
+morning, which was cool and bracing enough for a latitude twenty degrees
+further south, we followed its upward course, which was more westerly
+than suited our impatience to proceed direct into the interior. Four
+miles and a half from the entrance, in a straight line, though ten by the
+distance the boats had gone, we came on a reach trending south. This
+improvement in the course was equally felt by all, as was shown by the
+bending of the oars to the eager desire of the crew to push on; but
+scarcely had the boats glided midway through the hitherto untraversed
+piece of water, when the tragical event occurred, which the name of the
+inlet serves to recall, although it is too deeply engraven on the
+memories of both actors and spectators ever to be forgotten.
+
+COCKATOOS.
+
+The mangroves that in patches fringed the banks, whilst all besides was
+one flat grassy plain, were literally whitened with flocks of noisy
+cockatoos, giving the trees an appearance as if they were absolutely
+laden with huge flakes of snow--a somewhat remarkable aspect for a scene
+in such a clime to wear. It seemed as if the rigid hand of winter had for
+once been permitted to visit with its icy touch this tropical land; but
+the verdure of all around, the serenity of the heavens, warm with the
+fervid beams of the sun that gilded the rippling waters of the reach,
+dispelled the illusion. And soon the huge masses of white plumage began
+to float from tree to tree across the reach, whilst their screams as they
+flew by seemed a fair challenge to the sportsman. Mr. Gore accordingly
+resolved to secure a few of them for dinner, and put out his gun for the
+purpose.
+
+NARROW ESCAPE.
+
+The sudden arrest of the birds' flight--the flash of the gun--the volume
+of smoke--caught the eye as it closed at the explosion; with some of us
+it might have been for ever! Twas the affair of but a second. Death came
+to our sides, as it were, and departed ere the report of the gun had
+ceased to roll over the waters of the reach. Something whizzed past my
+ear, deafening and stupefying me for a moment--the next I saw my
+much-valued friend Gore stretched at his length in the bottom of the
+boat, and I perceived at a glance the danger we had incurred and
+providentially escaped.
+
+ACCIDENT TO LIEUTENANT GORE.
+
+His fowling piece had burst in his hand, and flown away in fragments,
+leaving only a small portion of the barrel at my feet. How it happened
+that the coxswain and myself were unhurt seemed a miracle. I was on the
+right of Mr. Gore, in the stern-sheets of the yawl, and the coxswain was
+a little on the left, and over him, steering. Our preservation can only
+be attributed to Him whose eye is on all his creatures and who disposes
+of our lives as it seemeth good in his sight. Without intending to be
+presumptuous, we may be permitted to believe that we were spared partly
+on account of the service in which we were engaged--so beneficial to
+humanity, so calculated to promote the spread of civilization, which must
+ever be the harbinger of Christianity. At any rate it is not, in my
+humble opinion, any impeachment of the wisdom of the Almighty, to imagine
+that he determines the fortunes of men according to the work in which
+they are engaged.
+
+Mr. Gore's hand was dreadfully lacerated; but no bones were broken; and
+on recovering from his swoon, the first words he uttered were: "Killed
+the bird!"--an expression truly characteristic of a sportsman, and
+evincing how exactly the mind, when its perception has been momentarily
+suspended, reverts, on recovering, to the idea last present to it.
+
+My first impulse was to return to the ship; but at the earnest request of
+Mr. Gore, who felt somewhat revived after I washed his hand in brandy and
+tied it up, we continued; but the utter silence and grave demeanour of
+all showed that each was occupied with thoughts of the danger some of us
+had escaped of being ushered unprepared into the presence of our Maker. A
+rustling in the bushes on the bank, as we wound round an island of some
+size at the extremity of this nearly fatal reach, broke the reverie in
+which we were indulging. Fancying it was a kangaroo, I fired at the spot,
+when a half-grown wild dog came rolling down into the water. It was of a
+dark brown colour, with large patches of white, differing from any of the
+kind I had ever seen before.
+
+Above this island we pursued a general West-South-West direction; but to
+our great mortification there was water for the yawl only four miles
+further. In the gig I was able to ascend nearly two miles higher in a
+South-West by South direction. Our position was then nine miles
+South-West 1/2 West from the mouth in a direct line; but thrice that
+distance by the meandering course of the inlet through this vast level.
+The width had decreased from three hundred yards at the entrance to
+scarcely one hundred, and the depth from two fathoms to a quarter. The
+banks were, at intervals fringed with mangroves, the country behind being
+very open plains, with patches of dwarf gums scattered here and there.
+
+DUCKS, PIGEONS, ETC.
+
+The brown whistling wood-ducks were in great abundance at the yawl's
+furthest; and in three shots I bagged twenty. The native companions were
+also numerous, of two kinds, one with black on the back, and the other,
+which kept more on the plain, of a blue or slate colour. Pigeons, too,
+were abundant; and the rare large brown rail was frequently observed at
+low-water, running along the edge of the mangroves, too wary, however, as
+before, to be shot. There were few alligators seen; and the only fish
+caught was the catfish, common in the Adelaide and Victoria Rivers. Where
+the yawl lay the bank was clear, forming cliffs ten feet high, in which
+no stone or rock was found; neither had we seen any before.
+
+ARRANGE FOR A PEDESTRIAN EXCURSION.
+
+In the evening and early part of the night observations were made for our
+position.* A party was also arranged for a pedestrian excursion in the
+morning, as I was determined on seeing a few miles more of the interior
+than it was our good fortune to have obtained by water conveyance. I had
+ordered a gun to be fired in the evening to inform Mr. Fitzmaurice and
+his party of the ship's position; and we distinctly heard it booming over
+the plain, for the first time awakening the echoes to the sounds of
+warfare peculiar to civilized man. May many years elapse ere they be once
+more roused by the voice of cannon fired with a less peaceful intent!
+
+(*Footnote. Latitude 17 degrees 42 minutes 55 seconds South, longitude 7
+degrees 42 minutes 30 seconds East of Port Essington.)
+
+July 25.
+
+The first grey streaks of the morning were scarcely visible in the
+horizon, ere my party were scrambling up the eastern bank, eager to
+penetrate where no European foot had hitherto pressed. After leaving the
+inlet some distance behind, we took a South 1/2 East direction. The
+morning was deliciously cool for our purpose, the temperature being 56
+degrees; and there was a most delightful elasticity in the air, quite in
+unison with the buoyant spirits that sustained us, as we stepped out over
+what we felt to be untrodden ground.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+It had often before been my lot to be placed in a similar position, and I
+have necessarily, therefore, given expression already to identical
+sentiments; but I cannot refrain from again reminding the reader how far
+inferior is the pleasure of perusing the descriptions of new lands,
+especially when attempted by an unskilled pen, to that which the explorer
+himself experiences. All are here on an equal footing; the most finished
+writer and the most imperfect scribbler are on the same level; they are
+equally capable of the exquisite enjoyment of discovery, they are equally
+susceptible of the feelings of delight that gush upon the heart as every
+forward step discloses fresh prospects, and brings a still more new
+horizon, if I may so speak, to view. And it may be added, that to the
+production of the emotions I allude to, beauty of landscape is scarcely
+necessary. We strain forward incited by curiosity, as eagerly over an
+untrodden heath, or untraversed desert, as through valleys of surpassing
+loveliness, and amid mountains of unexplored grandeur; or perhaps, I
+should say, more eagerly, for there is nothing on which the mind can
+repose, nothing to tempt it to linger, nothing to divert the current of
+its thoughts. Onward we move, with expectation at its highest, led by the
+irresistible charm of novelty, almost panting with excitement, even when
+every step seems to add certainty to the conviction that all that is
+beyond resembles all that has been seen. In the present case, with the
+exception of a clump of trees to the southward, there was nothing to
+break the vast level that stretched before us, its rim sharply defined
+against the morning sky. Here and there a charred stump, the relic of
+some conflagration, reared its blackened face, serving to keep us in the
+direction we had taken at starting, which was over a rich alluvial soil,
+that seemed to hold out a promise of a future brilliant destiny to this
+part of the continent. A partially dry lagoon communicating with another
+that was wet, to the eastward, and with a slight drain from the inlet to
+the westward, was crossed at the distance of four miles, when the
+direction we pursued was changed to South by West and a mile further we
+gained the raised patch of woodland already mentioned, where we put up a
+small light-coloured kangaroo. Descending from this we entered a low
+plain, the northern part of which is evidently at times under water. It
+is five miles across, surrounded with trees of small and open growth.
+Continuing over a clayey soil till we had made six miles from the boats,
+we turned off to the eastward, for the wood on that side, distant two
+miles, with the hope of getting a better view of the country around from
+the top of a tree; but there was nothing for my eager eyes to wander over
+but alternate plain and patches of stunted wood, stretching away in
+unbroken monotony on every side. The furthest we saw of this new country
+was in latitude 17 degrees 55 minutes South. It was with great reluctance
+that we turned our backs on a route so direct to the interior of the
+continent, now comparatively a proximate point; and the tide of animal
+spirits that flowed so high during our advance to the southward ebbed
+rapidly as soon as the retreat commenced; and our return appeared
+wearisome.
+
+We now varied our track, and traced the head of the inlet, where we saw
+the smokes of the natives and heard them shouting to each other, though
+they did not come in sight; the prints of their feet also seemed quite
+recent. Near the partially dry lagoon a small freshwater lake was found,
+and the only rock formation yet seen; it was a sand and ironstone. About
+two miles south of the boats we discovered another freshwater lake,
+literally alive with waterfowl, whose varied colours contrasted
+charmingly with the bright verdure of the banks that seemed to repose on
+the silent waters, and were reflected on its glassy surface, now and then
+disturbed by the birds as they winged their way from one part to the
+other. Spoonbills and ibises, some white and some glossy rifle-green, and
+two kinds of a small grey duck, seen once only before on the Victoria,
+are among those worth enumerating. In the afternoon we got back to the
+boats. I may here mention, that as in Van Diemen's Inlet, the water
+appeared to be less salt at low tide.
+
+RETURN TO THE SHIP.
+
+July 26.
+
+At daylight the boats moved off on their return; and soon after the sun's
+bright orb had sunk into the same vast dead level from which it rose, we
+reached the entrance. Being anxious that the surgeon should see Mr.
+Gore's hand, I sent the gig on with him to the ship; next morning, as we
+crossed the bar, he rejoined us, and I was very happy to find the
+ablution in brandy had been of great service to his wound.
+
+After leaving Disaster Inlet, the coast was examined to the eastward, and
+at the distance of fifteen miles, in an East 5 degrees South direction,
+we came to a projection that we called Middle Point. The shore between
+fell back, forming a bight three miles deep, in latitude 17 degrees 44
+minutes South, the most southern shore of the Gulf. A growth of mangroves
+prevented our landing at high-water, and at low, soft mud flat fronted
+the shore for the distance of a mile and more. Five miles from Disaster
+Inlet there was a small creek; with others, three, four, and six miles
+westward of Middle Point.
+
+MORNING INLET.
+
+Two miles south-east of it was another opening of more importance, almost
+forming a channel quite through the flat at the entrance, which extended
+three miles off the north-west side of Middle Point. I named this Morning
+Inlet, from the time at which I entered it; and after proceeding a mile
+in a southerly direction landed for observations, just within the
+mangroves that fringe the entire coast. My view of the interior was very
+limited: for some distance were patches of bare mud, whitened with a salt
+incrustation, which appeared the character of the country immediately
+behind the mangroves; afterwards it rose into plains, on which small
+gum-trees were to be seen in the distance.
+
+From Morning Inlet the coast was slightly waving and trended East 20
+degrees North. At the end of twelve miles we found a little opening on
+the south-east side of a small point which concealed the boats from two
+natives, who were out on the mud flats, till we got close to them. They
+gazed for a moment at the strange apparition, and then made off as fast
+as the nature of the ground would admit; they were quite naked, and we
+were not a little amused to see them floundering through the soft mud.
+Close to the westward of this opening are two clumps of tall mangroves,
+the only remarkable objects on the shore of the Gulf from Disaster Inlet.
+There was another small inlet four miles further on; and what is
+remarkable for this neighbourhood, a sandy beach midway between them.
+
+EXPLORE AN OPENING.
+
+On the evening of the 28th we entered a large and promising opening,*
+distant twenty-one miles from Morning Inlet; its importance was made
+manifest by its forming a channel of two feet at low-water through the
+flat at the entrance, which it threw out considerably.
+
+(*Footnote. The mouth is in latitude 17 degrees 36 minutes 40 seconds
+South, and longitude 8 degrees 27 minutes 0 seconds East of Port
+Essington.)
+
+The boats proceeded up the opening at daylight on the 29th; our hopes
+were considerably raised by finding a depth of three and, in some places,
+five fathoms, and a width of about a hundred and twenty yards. The banks
+were, as usual, lined with mangroves; behind which, on the eastern side,
+retreated vast plains, with trees of some size scattered over them. They
+extend to the coast eastward of the entrance, which is sandy for some
+distance, with casuarinae, acacias, and small gums, which was not only a
+pleasing change from the monotonous mangrove shore, but had also its
+utility, serving to show the mouth of the opening from the offing.
+
+We pursued a general South-South-East direction, though from the
+windings, and the tide being against us, our progress was slow; and at
+the end of eleven miles were obliged to wait its changing. Here we landed
+in the mouth of a small creek at the end of a clear bank on the eastern
+side; the opposite one also began to wear the same character, and our
+eyes therefore were permitted to wander over an immense extent of very
+level open grassy country, dotted with clumps of trees.
+
+The tides changing only twice in twenty-four hours presented a great
+impediment to our exploration, and it was evening before we could again
+move onwards.
+
+AUSTRALIAN CUCKOO.
+
+Whilst waiting the tide, the note of a bird resembling the cuckoo broke
+the deep stillness that prevailed. It was evening; all around was calm:
+the wide extended plain dimly stretching away on every side, the waters
+as they imperceptibly swelled between the curving banks, the heavens in
+which the last rays of the sun still lingered, gilding the few clouds
+that hovered near the horizon. A pleasing sadness stole over the heart as
+these familiar sounds--the note of this Australian cuckoo, if I may
+venture to name a bird from its voice--floated through the tranquil air.
+Recollections of the domestic hearth, and the latticed window shaded with
+vines and honeysuckles, and the distant meadows, and glades, and
+woodlands, covered with the bursting buds of spring; and--pervading all
+and giving a charm to all--the monotonous but ever welcome and thrilling
+note of the cuckoo sounding afar off: recollections of all these things,
+I say, rushed o'er each fancy, and bore us for a moment back in
+imagination to our island home.
+
+DISCOVERY OF FLINDERS RIVER.
+
+The more rapid flow of the tide and the announcement that there was now
+sufficient water for the boats to proceed, broke our reverie; and we were
+soon once more cleaving the moonlit reach. I may here mention that this
+bird, and another with a more mournful cry, the same before spoken of up
+the Victoria River, were heard again at eventide.
+
+Avoiding a large shoal, which threatened to arrest our further progress,
+by a narrow channel close to the west bank, we continued to pursue the
+upward course of this inlet or river--we were yet uncertain what to call
+it--in a general southerly direction; though the reaches were singularly
+tortuous, resembling the folds of a snake. The depth was now only about
+one fathom, and our progress was much impeded by banks; but by the
+friendly aid of the moon we were able to proceed, and many of the sudden
+bends were revealed by the silvery stream of light it shed over the still
+waters as they lay between banks now overhung by mangrove thickets, now
+receding in plains dotted with gloomy clumps of gumtrees, as far as the
+eye, from our low position and by the imperfect light afforded, could
+reach. As we advanced, the measured plash of the oars frightened from
+their roosting places in the trees, a huge flock of screeching vampires,
+that disturbed for a time the serenity of the scene by their discordant
+notes; and a few reaches further up, noisy flights of our old friends,
+the whistling-ducks, greeted our ears. Their presence and cries were
+hailed with delight, not exactly because they gave rise to any romantic
+associations, but because they promised to recruit our victualling
+department, which had not been supplied with such dainties since leaving
+Disaster Inlet. Had our taste resembled that of some of the natives of
+the western coast of Africa, the vampires would have answered our
+purpose.
+
+The yawl grounding repeatedly, occasioned so much delay, that after
+proceeding seven miles I pushed on with the gig alone. Our course was
+still South by East and the reaches were less crooked. Four miles further
+we were delighted to find our progress rendered hazardous by sunken
+trees, so much so indeed, that I was most reluctantly obliged to wait a
+few hours for daylight. There could now no longer be a doubt that we were
+in a river, and I immediately embraced the opportunity of gratifying my
+earnest and heartfelt desire of paying the promised tribute to our
+scientific predecessor; and accordingly named this, our first discovery,
+after him, The Flinders.
+
+As soon as the blackened heads of the fallen trees, evidences of how
+fierce a torrent had borne them hither, could be discerned, we proceeded.
+The reaches became again tortuous, but we still made some progress. The
+mangroves were no longer to be seen fringing the banks with their garden
+shrubbery appearance. In a broad easterly reach, some natives were
+burning the country close to the west bank, but they did not show
+themselves. At the end of it the river expanded into a beautiful sheet of
+water a quarter of a mile in width, though only three feet deep.
+
+ACCIDENT TO THE BOAT.
+
+Some low grassy islets were scattered here and there, reposing in emerald
+verdure on the surface of the stream, which was reverting under the
+influence of the tide, towards its source, and now hurried the boat so
+rapidly through a narrow channel between the west side of a large island
+and a low line of earthy cliffs, as to carry her foul of a submerged tree
+and half fill and almost capsize her. In order to ascertain the extent of
+the damage, we landed on a small sandy beach, in which was the fresh
+print of a native's foot; but we neither heard nor saw him or his
+companions, although columns of smoke from their fires stole upwards
+through the calm still air on all sides. A fine sheet of water now lay
+before us, trending southwards for upwards of two miles, with a width of
+about a quarter; and it was with increasing interest and anxiety that we
+pulled up it.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE RIVER.
+
+Passing a line of cliffs, twenty feet high, the banks became green and
+grassy, descending with an almost imperceptible slope into the stream,
+and blending with their vivid reflections so as to render it difficult to
+determine where was the point of contact. It seemed as if we were gliding
+through an indefinite expanse of limpid water reposing between two vast
+plains, that here rose higher than we had before seen the land on this
+part of the continent.
+
+Hurrying on with a still favourable tide, but at a rate much too slow for
+our impatience, we passed two other small grassy islets, and a third was
+before us. The eastern bank had become steep, overhanging, and clothed
+with a mass of luxuriant creepers; whilst on the opposite side was a low
+woody patch, partly immersed by the lake-like glassy water of the river,
+into which one slender tree dipped its feathery crest, appearing like
+another Narcissus, to admire its own beauty in the stream. In front, the
+eye could penetrate far down the reach hemmed in as it was by trees that
+clustered thick on the water's brink.
+
+NATIVE BURIAL TREE.
+
+To the right was what might be called an open glade; in the midst of it
+rose a tree the branches of which were laden with a most singular looking
+bundle or roll of pieces of wood. Struck with its appearance, we rested
+on our oars to observe it;* but scarcely had we done so, when from a
+point higher up, that appeared to divide the river into two branches,
+rose a thick volume of smoke that soon filled the air, as if a huge black
+cloud had lighted on the earth in that direction. We endeavoured to
+proceed in order to satisfy our curiosity, but a rocky ledge extending
+across the river arrested our further progress at this time of the tide.
+Landing, accordingly, I advanced for nearer inspection, towards the huge
+bundle of sticks before mentioned. It seemed almost like the nest of some
+new bird, and greatly excited my curiosity. As I approached a most
+unpleasant smell assailed me; and on climbing up to examine it narrowly,
+I found that it contained the decaying body of a native.
+
+(*Footnote. See the view annexed. )
+
+Within the outer covering of sticks was one of net, with an inner one of
+the bark of the papyrus tree enveloping the corpse. According to the
+singular practice of uncivilized people, of providing for the wants of
+those who have nothing more to do with earthly things, some weapons were
+deposited with the deceased in this novel kind of mortuary habitation;
+and a little beyond was a rill of water.
+
+There was an air of loneliness in the spot, perfectly in keeping with the
+feelings this strange discovery naturally called forth; and from the few
+recent signs of the natives, it would appear that here, as in other parts
+of the continent, spots where the dead lie are kept sacred. Some dark
+brown and black hawks were perched on the trees near, looking like so
+many mutes stationed to show respect to the departed; but their
+intentions were of a different character, as they were waiting, I
+imagine, for some friendly gust of wind to shake off the covering of the
+deceased.
+
+EXTENSIVE CONFLAGRATION.
+
+While we were making these observations, the conflagration on the point
+above continued to rage with great fury; and I have no doubt that it was
+kindled in order to attract our attention and prevent us from visiting
+this sacred spot. Though we saw not the form of a living being, I am
+persuaded that the eyes of the natives were upon us, and that our every
+movement was watched. The method they adopted to lure us away from the
+neighbourhood of the dead was simple and ingenious, and might have proved
+successful had not the interposing ledge of rocks prevented our further
+progress. To effect their purpose they must have burnt up a very large
+space, as the smoke that arose obscured all that quarter of the heavens.
+We observed also that the ground about the burial tree had been submitted
+to the flames, as if to keep away the few kangaroos that visit this spot.
+
+This singular mode of disposing of the dead among the aborigines of
+Australia, extends to the banks of the Murray River, on the south coast,
+as we learn from Mr. Eyre's vivid narrative; and as we know that it
+exists in New Guinea, we may fairly infer that so far we can trace the
+migration of the population of the fifth division of the globe.*
+
+(*Footnote. It is a curious circumstance to observe that the same custom
+prevailed among the ancient Scythians, as we learn from Mr. St. John's
+History of the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Greeks volume 3 page
+345.)
+
+REMARKS ON NATIVE RITES.
+
+I have always considered that Eastern and Western Australia were
+originally separated by the sea; and that when they were thus separated
+(which the narrow space, and as I conjecture, lowness of the country
+between the Gulf of Carpentaria and Lake Torrens fully bears out) the
+habits of what is now the northern side of the continent found their way
+to the southern. It is true I have in another place conjectured, that in
+cases where similar habits are found to prevail at widely distant points,
+they may be looked upon as relics of a former universal state of things,
+now preserved only in particular localities; yet without invalidating
+this general rule, I think that the facts of the mode of burial I have
+described, and likewise the rite of circumcision, existing in the bottom
+of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and on the south side of the continent,
+strongly support the opinion that there once existed water communication
+between them.
+
+However this may be, the discovery we had made highly interested the
+whole party, and suggested the name of Burial Reach for that part of the
+river. Knowing, or at least feeling, that we were narrowly watched by
+those into whose territories we had penetrated, I did not venture far
+inland. In the few miles traversed there was little of interest, except
+that we felt the pleasure which almost surpasses that created by beauty
+of scenery, of traversing a country totally new to the European. It is
+astonishing how charming mere plains covered with clumps of trees appear
+under such circumstances. But this feeling can be enjoyed but once; for
+it is the explorer alone who can either experience or deserve it.
+
+This part of the country, though to all appearance equally level with any
+other, was higher, and may perhaps have attained to the elevation of
+thirty-five feet above the level of the sea. Over the plains were
+scattered flocks of beautiful rose-coloured cockatoos, several of which I
+shot; they were precisely the same as those on the southern parts of the
+continent.
+
+Beyond Burial Reach the river separates into two branches, one taking an
+easterly and the other a southerly direction; but neither of them,
+unfortunately, was it at that time in my power to explore. Here we again,
+for the second time only, met with a rocky formation: it was of a red
+ferruginous character. Our furthest position on the Flinders was in
+latitude 17 degrees 51 minutes South in a general South by East 1/2 East
+direction from the entrance, nearly thirty miles by the distance the
+boats had traversed.
+
+MOVE DOWN THE RIVER.
+
+After noon observations, the gig moved down the river. On passing the
+large island, I shot an animal resembling a water-rat, of large
+dimensions, particularly expanded across the loins, with stout hind legs
+and palmated feet, of a light slate colour and soft fine hair approaching
+fur, the colour gradually becoming lighter under the abdomen; the head
+was flatter than that of the usual tribe of water-rats, and resembled an
+otter.*
+
+(*Footnote. There is a species of water-rat inhabiting the coast of
+Australia, called Hydromys chrysogaster; but this was the first time we
+met with anything like it.)
+
+RETURN TO THE SHIP.
+
+It was not until long after dark that we reached the mouth, where,
+meeting the yawl, both boats ran out of the river on their return to the
+ship, distant thirty-three miles. The prevalence of light winds made it
+noon before we got on board, when I found that in consequence of the
+tides approaching the springs and falling 12 instead of 6 feet, it had
+been necessary to move the ship farther off.
+
+During our absence light winds had prevailed; on several days land and
+seabreezes. The cessation of strong southerly winds kept the temperature
+about 60 degrees. Mr. Fitzmaurice had returned and gave the following
+account of his examination.
+
+MR. FITZMAURICE'S EXPLORATION.
+
+Commencing at Mr. Forsyth's furthest, he found the southerly trend of the
+coast change in the course of nine miles to the eastward, forming a large
+shoal bay, which at low-water had a mud flat extending off nearly two
+miles. The east point of this bay, named Point Tarrant,* I had seen from
+the south-east end of Sweers Island, bearing South 17 degrees West
+eighteen miles. It is rendered remarkable by a slight rise in the land
+behind it, forming low mounds or hillocks. Two miles to the westward Mr.
+Fitzmaurice discovered an inlet, which he followed a league in a general
+south-west direction, when it had in no way lost the promising appearance
+it possessed from its breadth at the mouth, which was further increased
+by the manner in which the bank was thrown out off it.
+
+(*Footnote. After one of the officers who had shared all the hard work, a
+practice generally adopted.)
+
+Nine miles further westward were two other small openings. Mr.
+Fitzmaurice's exploration terminated seventeen miles South 56 degrees
+East from Point Tarrrant, where another inlet was found of still greater
+magnitude and importance. The coast between fell back slightly, forming
+two shallow bights with the usual low monotonous mangrove shores, and
+extensive frontage of mud. At the distance of six and ten miles from
+Point Tarrant were two other inlets, the latter of which was large and
+received Mr. Pasco's name. It was examined for a short distance in a
+South by West direction, and presented the usual low banks lined with
+mangroves. Near the entrance a native came down to the shore to look at
+the boat; he was very tall and quite naked, and would not allow our party
+to approach.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.9. GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
+
+Boat expedition.
+Explore an opening.
+Discovery of the Albert.
+Natives.
+Picturesque Scenery.
+Hope Reach.
+Birds and Fishes.
+Upper Branch.
+Beauty of the Landscape.
+Land excursion.
+The Plains of Promise.
+Halt the party and proceed alone.
+Description of the country.
+Return down the Albert.
+Mouth of River.
+Arrive at Van Diemen's Inlet.
+Find Mr. Fitzmaurice severely wounded.
+General result of the survey of the Gulf.
+Winds and Temperature.
+Booby Island.
+Endeavour Strait.
+Reach Port Essington.
+
+ANOTHER BOAT EXPEDITION.
+
+Mr. Fitzmaurice reported so favourably of the last opening he discovered,
+bearing West by South fifteen miles from the ship, that I determined on
+making up a party to explore it, while another expedition, consisting of
+the yawl and whaleboat, was to examine the coast to the eastward from
+Flinders River to Van Diemen's Inlet. My party, including Lieutenant Gore
+and Messrs. Forsyth and Dring, left the ship with the gig and the other
+whaleboat on the evening of the day we returned from the Flinders.
+
+The prospect that lay before us raised our spirits to the highest; and
+the weather, clear, cool, and bracing, could not have been more
+favourable, the temperature being 60 degrees. The ripples rolled rapidly,
+expanding from the boat's bows over the glassy smooth surface of the
+water, whilst the men stretched out as if unconscious of the exertion of
+pulling, every one of them feeling his share of the excitement. From the
+western sky the last lingering rays of the sun shot athwart the wave,
+turning it, as it were, by the alchemy of light into a flood of gold.
+Overhead, the cope of heaven was gradually growing soberer in hue from
+the withdrawal of those influences which lately had warmed and brightened
+it; but in the west a brilliant halo encircled the declining ruler of the
+day. In these latitudes the sunset is as brief as it is beautiful. Night
+rapidly came on, and presently the masts of the ship could no longer be
+discerned, and we were pursuing our way in darkness towards the mouth of
+the opening.
+
+After vainly endeavouring to get over the bank extending off the mouth of
+the opening, in the dark, we anchored the boats outside. The awnings were
+spread, and the kettle for our evening's meal was soon hissing over a
+blazing fire. Of all things tea is the most refreshing after a day of
+fatigue; there is nothing that so soon renovates the strength, and cheers
+the spirits; and on this occasion especially, we experienced a due
+portion of its invigorating effects. Grog was afterwards served out,
+pipes and cigars were lighted, the jest was uttered, the tale went round;
+some fished, though with little success; and the officers busied
+themselves with preparations for the morrow's work. But all things must
+end; the stories at length flagged; the fishermen grew tired; and getting
+into our blanket bags, with a hearty good night, we resigned ourselves,
+with the exception of the look-out, to the arms of slumber.
+
+EXPLORE AN OPENING.
+
+July 30.
+
+The morning broke with a strong breeze from South-South-East and although
+the temperature was not below 52 degrees, we were all shivering with
+cold. Soon after daylight we entered the opening, which for three miles
+was almost straight, in a South by West direction, with a width of two
+hundred yards, and a depth of from 2 1/2 to 5 fathoms. The banks were
+fringed with mangroves, behind which stretched extensive mud flats, which
+from being encrusted with salt and glistening in the sun were mistaken at
+first for sheets of water.
+
+The inlet now became slightly tortuous, pursuing a general South-West by
+South direction; but the width being greater our hopes rose as we
+proceeded. Eight miles from the mouth two islands were passed, and two
+others four miles further on. The breadth at this point was nearly a
+mile, but the depth was scarcely two fathoms; one less than we had before
+found it. The above-mentioned islets, one of which was of some size, lay
+at the upper end of a reach, trending south, where this inlet or river,
+as we anxiously hoped it would prove to be, divided into two branches,
+one continuing in a southerly direction, and the other turning short off
+to the westward.
+
+EXAMINE THE SOUTHERN BRANCH.
+
+Though the latter had a greater volume of water passing through it than
+the other, I still, from the direction and size of the south arm, decided
+on ascending it first. For some distance the banks had been less fringed
+with mangroves, leaving clear patches covered with coarse grass. The
+trees on the side of the first reach in the southerly arm were laden with
+the snowy plumage of a large flock of cockatoos. After proceeding about
+five miles further we rested a few hours, continuing again soon after
+midnight. As the tides run twelve hours each way, it was necessary that
+we should take advantage of the favourable stream, whatever might be the
+hour, though this plan kept the men for a very long time together at the
+oars.
+
+The general direction we pursued was still south, for six miles by the
+windings of the stream, which was so reduced in breadth and volume, as to
+be scarcely a hundred yards wide, and not a fathom deep. There was now
+little hope that it would lead into fresh water, although, from the
+number of trials that were made, I am sure there was salt water enough
+drunk to have physicked a whole village.
+
+APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+The banks were still of the same monotonous character. In one of the
+reaches I was fortunate enough to shoot a specimen of the large wary
+brown-coloured rail I have before mentioned. From this, the only one
+obtained, it has been described as Eulabeornis castaneoventris. It is
+doubtless the bird called by the Port Essington natives, Morduggera, the
+eggs only of which were found there, the bird itself not having been
+seen. They were equal in size to those of a guineafowl, of a dirty white,
+finely speckled with reddish brown.
+
+Our course now changed to south-west, and as the width and tortuousness
+began to decrease--a sure indication that the country was rising--we soon
+made another six miles. But after this the boats could no further
+proceed--the inlet, in short, having become a mere ditch at low-water.
+The head of a large alligator was found on the bank near the upper part;
+where might be seen an occasional acacia mingled with the mangroves.
+Behind, the country was very open, consisting of plains covered with
+coarse grass, interspersed with patches of dwarf gums. About seven miles
+in an East by North direction the country was thickly wooded, and
+appeared to be a little higher--the only interruption to the level
+monotony of the portion of the continent by which we were surrounded. The
+soil was of a light brown colour void of sand, and of considerable depth.
+
+Nothing now remained but to retrace our steps and try the other branch;
+and as our want of success in this case rather heightened our expectation
+we hurried back with some rapidity. It was dark before we reached the
+point of separation, where the boat's crew regaled themselves on some
+large brown hawks, in the absence of better fowl. There was this evening
+a beautiful eclipse of the moon. The temperature had again fallen to 60
+degrees; at noon it was 87 degrees; and at four A.M. 52 degrees.
+
+August 1.
+
+As time and tide wait for no man we were obliged to move off at one in
+the morning. The earth's shadow having passed over the moon, the pale
+light of her full orb fell in a silvery stream on the tortuous reaches,
+as the waters swelled in silence between the growth of mangroves fringing
+the banks.
+
+DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT.
+
+At the end of three miles in a West by South direction, nearly double by
+the windings, we passed an island on the left. The depth at low-water, so
+far, being nearly 2 fathoms, and the width about 250 yards, promised
+well. Water-tasting had now become rather out of fashion. However, it so
+happened that one of the whaler's crew put his hand over, and gave us the
+delightful news that the stream was quite fresh! A general tasting
+followed, each being anxious to get the first draught of the water of our
+new-found river; and the agreeable intelligence was confirmed. Of the
+importance of our discovery there could now no longer be any doubt, and
+the exhilarating effect it produced on all was quite magical, every arm
+stretching out as if the fatigue they had experienced had suddenly passed
+away.
+
+There could be little difficulty in finding a name for our new discovery.
+We had already called two rivers, explored by the Beagle's officers, the
+Victoria and the Adelaide; and we were glad of such an opportunity of
+again showing our loyalty to Her Majesty, by conferring the name of her
+noble consort upon this important stream; it was accordingly christened
+The Albert.
+
+The boats now glided rapidly onwards, and West by North another mile
+brought us to three islands, which we passed on the right; after landing
+for observations, with the stars Achernar and Aldebaran, at some earthy
+cliffs ten feet high on the left bank. The river now wound round a point
+to the westward, three-quarters of a mile wide; in the first bend we
+passed four islands on the right, with a creek on either side, and
+towards the end of the next, two more on the left.
+
+CHANGE IN THE VEGETATION.
+
+August 2.
+
+Daylight now burst upon us with tropical rapidity. The banks had assumed
+a very different appearance; the monotonous mangroves had given place to
+gumtrees and acacias, which drooped over the stream, partly concealing a
+rich growth of large flags. This change in the character of the foliage
+was not only in itself a relief, but evinced that we had at length, in
+some sort, escaped the influence of the sea, and that we were in reality
+penetrating towards the interior of the continent.
+
+Our course was now North-West 1/2 West for a mile and a half, with an
+increase in the width, and a depth of nine feet. Here we found the river
+suddenly turn round to the southward and eastward, bringing us back
+within five hundred yards of where we started from, which was one mile
+West by South 1/2 South from the morning's observation spot. Brown
+whistling wood-ducks now made their appearance, and being unaccustomed to
+man and his destructive weapons, allowed us to revel in wildfowl for some
+days afterwards.
+
+PROCEED UP THE ALBERT.
+
+The morning sun was hailed with delight, as sitting cramped up in a boat,
+with the unusually low temperature of 53 degrees made us very chilly, and
+brought flushing jackets and trousers into great request, whilst in
+midday the light clothing natural to the latitude was sufficient. We
+found the tides rise here four feet, and both flood and ebb ran from one
+to two knots. After following a reach, trending South-East 1/2 East a
+mile, with a string of islets in the upper part, our westerly progress
+became more rapid and direct, and with the exception of one bend to the
+northward we made three miles in a West-South-West direction.
+
+But we were once more doomed to be interrupted by the sudden turning of
+the river short off to the northward, when it wound round a point a mile
+long, and a quarter wide, the extremity of which is low and sandy, a
+character only this once observed in the Albert; on the opposite side
+were cliffs thirty feet high.
+
+NATIVES.
+
+Near the sandy point we observed some fires; and on our return, by
+crawling up the bank, I got a peep at a small party of natives engaged
+intently in digging for the esculent called warran. As they were few in
+numbers our abrupt appearance would have too much terrified them to leave
+any chance of an interview; and we accordingly did not disturb them, but
+contented ourselves with watching their movements for a while. The
+spectacle was an interesting one. Both men and women were engaged in
+delving for their food, whilst a little beyond a few more were burning
+the bush, and looking out for game and snakes. It does not often fall to
+the lot of the white man to behold the wild people of the earth, engaged
+in their daily avocations, completely unconscious that the gaze of a
+superior class of beings is upon them. We have seen savages exhibited to
+us professedly in all the simplicity of the woods; but how can the
+children of nature retain their freedom of action and manners under the
+curious gaze of a civilized multitude? We may depend upon it that we
+gather nothing but erroneous ideas from such a display. If we would
+understand, truly, what our savage brethren are like, we must penetrate
+into the woods and the wilds where they are to be found; we must mingle
+with them in the exercise of their domestic avocations; we must see them
+as they are, in all their excusable degradation; and not invested with a
+fictitious dignity, or a theatrical simplicity; we must observe them,
+also, unawares, and see how they conduct themselves under the ordinary
+influences that beset them.
+
+It was with great reluctance that I departed without making our presence
+known; but I could not refrain from leaving, at the place where we
+landed, the perplexing legacy of a few presents. With what curious
+anxiety must these people have traced our footmarks, from which alone
+they could gather evidence that we belonged to a different race!
+
+After making two miles in a south and nearly three in a west direction,
+with but few interruptions from windings, we opened a splendid sheet of
+water, trending South-West 1/2 South. A mile back I had found, in a
+crooked reach, some native huts, built of sticks and neatly plastered
+over, with doors so narrow that none of our broad-shouldered fellows
+could enter.
+
+At this place we saw the last whistling-ducks on our way up; further on,
+other species, to be hereafter mentioned, were found. A large alligator
+also afforded us sport, although we did not secure him.
+
+PICTURESQUE SCENERY.
+
+The country was gradually becoming perceptibly higher, and the scenery
+extremely picturesque. Tall palm-trees and bamboos were now to be seen
+among the rich foliage on the lower slope of the banks, that rose here to
+an elevation of fifty feet, and were much intersected with watercourses.
+Onwards we hurried; the influence of the tide being scarcely felt, and
+the river preserving its South-West 1/2 South direction, with a width of
+two hundred yards, and a depth of two fathoms and a half. At the end of
+three miles no change was perceptible, and we began to congratulate
+ourselves on, at last, having found a stream that would carry the boats
+far towards the point it was always the height of my ambition to reach,
+the centre of the continent.
+
+HOPE REACH.
+
+To this part of the Albert that had given rise to such expectations we
+gave the name of Hope Reach. A little higher up we landed on the right
+bank to cook a meal and examine the country. I shall here attempt, with
+the aid of Lieutenant Gore's sketch,* to give the reader some idea of the
+beauty of the scene that now presented itself to our anxious gaze.
+
+(*Footnote. See the view annexed.)
+
+It was in truth as glorious a prospect as could greet the eye. A
+magnificent sheet of water lay before us in one unbroken expanse,
+resembling a smooth translucent lake. Its gentle repose harmonized
+exquisitely with the slender motionless boughs of the drooping gums,
+palms, and acacias, that clustered on the banks, and dipped their
+feathery foliage in the limpid stream, that like a polished mirror bore,
+within its bosom, the image of the graceful vegetation by which it was
+bordered. The report of our guns, as they dealt destruction among the
+quails that here abounded, rolled for the first time along the waters of
+the Albert, breaking in on the hush of stillness that appeared to reign
+over all like the presence of a spirit. The country that stretched away
+from either bank was an extensive plain, covered with long coarse grass,
+above which was occasionally seen the head of a kangaroo, listening, with
+its acute ear, for our approach.
+
+No high land presented itself in any direction, and the eye was only
+relieved by the growth of trees and shrubs that marked the line of the
+watercourses, the natural drains of the country, which had formed deep
+channels through the banks. The gumtrees, near the river, were of
+considerable size, though small on the plains. A light kind of mould of
+great depth, without a particle of stone of any kind, was the character
+of the soil.
+
+BIRDS AND FISHES.
+
+One of the boats tried the hooks and lines during our rambles over the
+country, and from the number of catfish and a dark kind of bream that was
+caught, we are enabled to state that this part of the Albert abounds with
+them. Besides quails, pigeons and a beautiful finch, before seen on the
+Victoria, are to be numbered among the land birds. Those of the water
+consisted of large brown, and small grey ducks, spoonbills, black and
+white geese, and a dark blue kind of rail, bearing a great resemblance to
+the English moor-fowl, that afforded us excellent sport, as they flew out
+in great numbers from the long flags that border the banks on the upper
+part of Hope Reach. We did not see any black swans, neither were they
+noticed by us on the north-west coast. I, myself, believe they are not to
+be found to the northward of latitude 27 degrees 0 minutes South. This
+part of the river is subject to a tidal influence, producing a slight
+rise, which takes place about four hours after the time of high-water at
+the mouth.
+
+In our eagerness to proceed we moved off rapidly up the river, after a
+hasty meal. All beyond was mystery; and it seemed that we were destined
+to remain long in suspense; for the day soon closed in, leaving only the
+pale light of the moon to guide us. The depth continued regular, at two
+and a half fathoms, and the width two hundred yards. We hastened onwards;
+the night scenery being almost more beautiful than the day. The heavens
+seemed more deep, the water more glittering, the trees more graceful and
+feathery; and here and there a tall palm reared its thin and spectral
+form above the dense foliage through which the moonlight broke at
+intervals, and fell, as it were, in showers of silver on the placid
+waters.
+
+Nearly seven miles had been traversed in the same South-West 1/2 South
+direction, when our hopes of proceeding further were suddenly for a time
+destroyed, by the appearance of a dense woody mass ahead. A little
+further on, the moon peering through the matted foliage showed one branch
+of the river turning off to the southward, whilst another, in the mouth
+of which we found ourselves, trended west. The lead giving the great
+depth of six fathoms, we were induced to follow the latter. Utter
+darkness soon surrounded us; the trees, on either side, over-shadowing
+the river, which in this branch was not eighty yards wide.
+
+PROGRESS IMPEDED.
+
+Our progress, also, at length began to be impeded by fallen or sunken
+trees, which not only rendered the ascent dangerous, but at the end of
+about two miles fairly brought us to a standstill, and forbade our
+further advance. This detention was a bitter disappointment to us all,
+and we crept into our blanket-bags with disgust, but with the hope that
+in the morning a passage might still be found.
+
+August 4.
+
+Daylight brought no better hopes of our taking the boats higher up by
+this branch, as a succession of large trees lay across it a quarter of a
+mile above. It was a gloomy corner we had got into, and so sheltered that
+it seemed as though a breath of wind had never swept through it; the
+leaves of the low-spreading palms that drooped over the water, damp with
+the morning dew, had unbroken edges, as if an eternal quietude had
+pervaded the spot.
+
+BEAUTY OF THE LANDSCAPE.
+
+This triste appearance wore off as the sun rose, and the scenery under
+his smiles was soon clothed with beauty. Trees with every variety of
+foliage overhung each other, connected, as it were, by bowers of creepers
+depending in festoons and concealing odd-shaped fragments of fallen
+timber, which here and there reared their blackened heads out of the
+water, the unruffled smoothness of which was occasionally disturbed by
+the splash of some wildfowl, and chequered with alternate spots of gold
+and gloom by the sun's rays, as they pierced through the dense
+surrounding foliage.
+
+Returning, we entered the south branch; the opening of which was almost
+equal in beauty, as the reader will perceive from the view in the
+beginning of the first volume; but we were again stopped by fallen trees
+after proceeding about a mile and a half.
+
+Here we observed driftwood and rushes in the trees, fifteen feet above
+our heads. It was now quite clear that all hopes of water carriage
+towards the interior were at an end. The boats were at this time above
+fifty miles from the entrance, and our provisions only admitting of the
+remainder of this day being spent in land exploration, a party was
+immediately selected for this service.
+
+LAND EXCURSION.
+
+Following up a short woody valley, on reaching the summit of the level a
+view burst upon me, the nature of which the reader may learn from the
+accompanying plate. A vast boundless plain lay before us, here and there
+dotted over with woodland isles. Whilst taking the bearings of one of
+these to guide us in the direction we were to steer, I sent a man up a
+tree to have a further view; but nothing beyond an extension of the plain
+was to be seen. The river could be traced to the southward by a waving
+line of green trees; the latter were larger at this spot than in any
+other part, and consisted of tall palms, and three kinds of gums. No
+trace of the western branch could be discovered.
+
+Time being, as I have before said, very precious, we moved off in a
+South-South-East direction, at the rate of almost four miles an hour, in
+spite of the long coarse grass lying on the ground and entangling our
+legs.
+
+THE PLAINS OF PROMISE.
+
+The soil* was still a light-coloured mould of great depth, and according
+to one so well qualified to judge as Sir W. Hooker, who kindly examined
+some that I brought to England, is of a rich quality, confirming the
+opinion I entertained of it, which suggested for this part of the
+continent, the name of The Plains of Promise.
+
+(*Footnote. My immediate visit to Port Essington afforded me an
+opportunity of comparing the qualities of the two soils; and the result
+was that the richest land I saw there, in spite of the aid of manure,
+etc. was very inferior to that on the Plains of Promise.)
+
+We were now once more stepping out over a terra incognita; and though no
+alpine features greeted our eyes as they wandered eagerly over the vast
+level, all was clothed with the charm of novelty. The feelings of delight
+which are naturally aroused in those whose feet for the first time press
+a new and rich country, and which I have so often before endeavoured in
+vain to express, burst forth on this occasion with renewed intensity.
+
+At the end of nearly four miles we turned off to the westward for a rise
+at a short distance, concealing the line of trees that marked the course
+of the river, from which we had been gradually receding. We found it to
+be on the opposite side of a watercourse twenty-five feet deep. From its
+summit we got a view of the country to the south-west, over the growth of
+trees at the margin of the river.*
+
+(*Footnote. See the view annexed. )
+
+On this rise we met an emu, which, after several bad shots, got away from
+the whole of us. This, in some measure was owing to our over-eagerness,
+as the bird was at first inclined to approach. Proceeding a little
+farther we observed a small lake bearing north half a mile. Attracted by
+the beauty of the vernal tints on its borders we went to taste the
+waters. On the same refreshing errand was a luckless beautiful
+slate-coloured egret, which Mr. Gore shot. Holding our west course we
+made the river at the end of another mile. Its size was reduced to a mere
+rivulet; being scarcely fifteen yards wide, with a depth of five feet.
+Yet it had greater velocity than we had before observed, running at the
+rate of a mile an hour, a clear babbling brook, over which, acacias and
+drooping gums formed a leafy tunnel; its course was still from the south.
+
+HALT THE PARTY AND PROCEED ALONE.
+
+Whilst the rest of the party halted I proceeded, with the freshest man,*
+in a southerly direction; urged on by what was, perhaps, now the
+unjustifiable hope of discovering some distant point rising above the far
+horizon as a definite result and reward of my exploration. It seemed,
+however, almost impossible that this same wearisome monotony could long
+continue; and I experienced much of that painful depressing excitement
+which is created by a series of similar impressions when we are longing
+for variety.
+
+(*Footnote. A marine, of the name of John Brown, possessing great powers
+of endurance. He died in 1845, in a situation I got him under the Trinity
+House, on his obtaining a pension for long
+servitude.)
+
+We soon gained almost another two miles, when I availed myself of the
+opportunity to satisfy a second time my ambition of outstripping my
+companions in approaching towards that land of mystery, Central
+Australia. Desiring Brown to make the river abreast, I ran a short
+distance further, when I again met the Albert, flowing on as before, with
+undiminished size. Even this short distance was something to gain in a
+new and untrodden country.
+
+The line of verdure still pointed out the southerly course of the river
+across the endless plain; and it became natural to speculate on its
+source or origin; whether it was the drainage of a swamp, or the outlet
+of some lagoon, fed by the Cordillera to the eastward. But to speculation
+alone was I reduced, it not being permitted me to clear up this point.
+All I could do was to give one long lingering look to the southward
+before I returned. In that direction, however, no curling smoke denoted
+the presence of the savage; all was lonely and still; and yet even in
+these deserted plains, equally wanting in the redundance of animal, as in
+the luxuriance of vegetable life, I could discover the rudiments of
+future prosperity, and ample justification of the name which I had
+bestowed upon them. I gazed around, despite my personal disappointment,
+with feelings of hopeful gratitude to Him who had spread out so fair a
+dwelling place for his creatures; and could not refrain from breathing a
+prayer that ere long the now level horizon would be broken by a
+succession of tapering spires rising from the many christian hamlets that
+must ultimately stud this country, and pointing through the calm depths
+of the intensely blue and gloriously bright skies of Tropical Australia,
+to a still calmer and brighter and more glorious region beyond, to which
+all our sublimest aspirations tend, and where all our holiest desires may
+be satisfied.
+
+The recent formation of this part of the country was very striking. We
+met no rocks during our walk; a porphyritic pebble or two being the only
+stones noticed; they were flattened, evidently showing that the water by
+which they were carried had a slow motion, which supports the view I have
+put forward in an early page of this volume, with reference to the
+gradual northerly discharge of the accumulated waters of Central
+Australia.
+
+EXPLORATION OF THE INTERIOR.
+
+My position was in latitude 17 degrees 58 1/2 minutes South longitude 7
+degrees 12 1/2 East of Port Essington, or 139 degrees 25 minutes East of
+Greenwich; and within four hundred miles from the centre of the
+continent. What an admirable point of departure for exploring the
+interior! A few camels, with skins for conveying water, would be the
+means of effecting this great end in a very short time. In one month
+these ships of the desert, as they have been appropriately called, might
+accomplish, at a trifling expense, that which has been attempted in vain
+by the outlay of so much money. When we consider that Australia is our
+own continent, and that now, after sixty years of occupation, we are in
+total ignorance of the interior, though thousands are annually spent in
+geographical research, it seems not unreasonable to expect that so
+important a question should at length be set at rest.
+
+RETURN DOWN THE ALBERT.
+
+In the whole continent there exists no point of departure to be compared
+with the head of the Albert. The expedition should, as I have before
+remarked, go to Investigator Road, fulfilling my prediction of the
+ultimate importance of that port, which lies only twenty-seven miles
+North-North-West from the entrance. Here the flat-bottomed boats, taken
+out in frame, for the purpose of carrying up the camels, should be put
+together, and towed from thence to the river.
+
+A shout from Brown, who, alarmed at my lengthened absence, had come in
+search of me, roused me from the reverie in which I was indulging, and
+which had carried me rolling along on the back of a camel, girded round
+with an anti-pleurisy belt, over many miles of the new lands of
+Australia. Returning with him I rejoined the rest of the party, and we
+all moved back in the silence that usually succeeds great excitement,
+towards the boats. Mr. Forsyth having made the necessary observations for
+latitude, we were soon following the downward course of the Albert.
+
+KANGAROO POINT.
+
+We reached the mouth before daylight on the 6th. This was the coldest
+morning we had experienced; the thermometer being at 51 degrees with a
+strong breeze from South-South-East, which rendered somewhat dangerous
+the task of collecting the requisite soundings on the bar at the mouth;
+the gig being once or twice nearly half filled in doing so. Behind the
+eastern entrance point, was seen a large light-coloured kangaroo, which,
+for want of a better, afforded us a name. Our observations refer to this
+spot, Kangaroo Point, which they place in latitude 17 degrees 35 minutes
+10 seconds South and longitude 7 degrees 35 minutes 50 seconds East of
+Port Essington. Instead of the usual mangrove shore, the coast to the
+eastward was sandy; but the most remarkable feature, hereabouts, is a
+clump of tall mangroves, towering over their fellow evergreens, close to
+the western entrance point. They are called in the chart the High Trees
+of Flinders, having been noticed by that celebrated navigator whilst
+passing at a distance from the coast. Bearing South-West 1/2 South they
+guide a ship to the bar, which can only be taken at high-water springs,
+when the depth averages eleven feet.* When the eastern part of this clump
+of trees bears South 45 degrees West, and Kangaroo Point South 10 degrees
+West the bar will have been passed, and the depth, at the same time of
+tide, will be seventeen feet; when the bearing of Kangaroo Point, given,
+leads up the channel, which deepens in a quarter of a mile to
+twenty-three and soon after to thirty feet. The impetus given to the
+water, from the first reach of the Albert, being straight, forces a
+channel of two miles in extent; with a width of nearly a quarter of a
+mile, growing gradually shallower towards the outer part, and,
+ultimately, becoming lost in the great flat fronting the shore, which is
+thrown out in proportion to the length of the channel, beyond which the
+bar extends for above a mile. Part of its inner side, however, is
+intersected by a narrow channel of thirteen and seventeen feet; the guide
+through which, is the eastern edge of the clump of trees before
+mentioned, bearing South 45 degrees West. The Albert is navigable, for
+vessels of a draught suited to the bar, thirteen miles; and within five
+of where the water is fresh.
+
+(*Footnote. The tides in the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria appear to be
+a compound of many others, obliterating the common daily difference, and
+producing only one tide in 24 hours. The direction of the flood stream
+commences at South-South-East, changing gradually to South-South-West as
+it terminates; that of the ebb changes from North-West to
+North-North-East. The strength of each is from a quarter to one knot. The
+rise at springs is from 9 to 12 feet, and at neaps from 3 to 8 feet.)
+
+After observing the latitude, we took advantage of the afternoon's lull
+to make the best of our way to the ship, which we met underweigh, running
+down towards us; Mr. Parker, the master, having become anxious at our
+lengthened absence.
+
+In the evening and next morning, we got more soundings off the mouth of
+the river; and found that there was only six feet at low-water springs, a
+mile and a quarter outside the bar. We afterwards carried a line along
+the south-eastern shore of the gulf; and at noon, on the 9th, anchored
+off Van Diemen's Inlet, where I had arranged to meet Mr. Fitzmaurice's
+party.
+
+ACCIDENT TO MR. FITZMAURICE.
+
+The whaleboat was soon seen hastening from the shore without the yawl,
+which made us suspect all was not right; and I was much distressed to
+hear that Mr. Fitzmaurice had been seriously wounded in the ankle by the
+discharge of a gun which had gone off within a few yards of it. Mr. Bynoe
+went on shore immediately to assist in bringing him on board. The
+accident having happened several days ago, and the whole charge of shot
+being buried in his foot, his sufferings were intense. It was thought for
+some time that amputation would be necessary; but though this was not the
+case, he was maimed for life; for which, in some measure, he has been
+compensated by promotion and a pension. By this melancholy accident the
+service sustained a great loss, which was at no time felt more than when
+it occurred.
+
+COMPLETION OF THE SURVEY OF SOUTH SHORE OF THE GULF.
+
+Mr. Fitzmaurice had fortunately, before he was disabled, completed his
+examination of the coast between the Flinders and Van Diemen's Inlet,
+with his usual praiseworthy activity. On leaving the former he found that
+the shore trended North 47 degrees East, with a large inlet at the end of
+ten miles. This was only examined a short distance in a south direction;
+but from the bank being thrown out six miles from its mouth, with a
+channel nearly halfway through, it evidently disembogues a large volume
+of water, and we may reasonably infer it to be a river. It is named in
+the chart Bynoe's Inlet. Seven miles beyond was another inlet, with a
+sandy beach extending for two miles to the south-west of it. Five miles
+further, the trend of the coast changed to North 4 degrees East,
+continuing almost straight in that direction to Van Diemen's Inlet,
+distant twenty-five miles; and, with the exception of the first five, is
+sandy throughout. Thirteen miles from Van Diemen's Inlet is an opening of
+some magnitude, near the south entrance point of which are ponds of fresh
+water. Two and four miles south of it were small openings; and two and
+seven miles north of it, two others.
+
+During his excursion Mr. Fitzmaurice had killed one of the rare species
+of kangaroo, seen for the first time by us at King Sound, called Macropus
+unguifer; this was a somewhat important discovery, as it showed the
+extent to which the animal is diffused over the continent. I may here
+mention, that the night before we reached Van Diemen's Inlet a flight of
+rose-coloured cockatoos,* several of which were caught and kept alive for
+some time, alighted on the rigging.
+
+(*Footnote. Cacatua eos.)
+
+Thus terminated our exploration of the southern shores of the Gulf of
+Carpentaria, nearly two hundred miles of which had been minutely examined
+in the boats.* Twenty-six inlets had been discovered, of which two proved
+to be rivers, whilst three more were nearly as promising. That all the
+others may contain fresh water in the rainy season there is every reason
+for supposing, from the fact of deep channels being found in their banks;
+from what I have already observed regarding the water being less salt
+towards the heads at low tides; and from the report we afterwards heard
+at Port Essington that Malay proas occasionally visit the southern shores
+of the Gulf, and fill fresh water from alongside, some distance off the
+land. If we receive this statement as correct, we must suppose that at
+certain seasons the discharge from the various inlets and rivers we
+discovered is sufficiently powerful to force back the great body of
+seawater, as is the case at the embouchures of many large rivers.
+
+(*Footnote. As the reader will perceive by a glance at the chart
+accompanying this work.)
+
+The general appearance of the head of the Gulf is that of a low mangrove
+shore, between ten and thirty feet high, over which the interior is not
+visible from the offing.
+
+OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATE AND WINDS IN THE GULF.
+
+During our visit to this part of the continent we found the climate well
+suited for Europeans; but what it might be in the middle of the
+north-west monsoon we had no opportunity of ascertaining. At its
+commencement in the month of November, Flinders found the thermometer to
+range on board between 81 and 90 degrees; but on shore, he says, that in
+the course of the day it might have been about seven degrees higher; the
+temperature, however, being alleviated by constant breezes either from
+sea or land, it was seldom oppressive. In July, as I have already stated,
+the thermometer, on one occasion, at 5 A.M., was down to 51 degrees; and
+on another, at noon, up to 87 degrees, being, in the first instance, six
+degrees lower than it was on board, and in the second, seven degrees
+higher, which gave an excess in the shore range of thirteen degrees.
+Generally on the land it was below 62 degrees before 7 A.M. and after 6
+P.M. The range of the barometer in November was from 29.70 to 30.06;
+whilst with us, in July, its maximum height was 30.08, and minimum 30.02;
+the lowest being in both seasons with winds from the land, coinciding
+with what had been observed on other parts of the continent, that winds
+from the sea raise the mercury, and those from the land depress it.
+
+The winds in July were fresh from South to South-East for about two days
+before and after the change in the moon. They began at midnight,
+increasing to almost a strong breeze between five and six in the morning,
+and dying away again towards noon, when a calm of five hours duration
+succeeded; at other times light land and seabreezes prevailed.
+
+It will appear from this description of the winds in the Gulf of
+Carpentaria that they bear a great similarity to those experienced at the
+same season on the North-West coast, near Depuch Island; and the
+circumstance of the temperature being lowest when they were strongest
+from the land is also the same. This was there supposed to have been
+occasioned by the great radiation of heat from the land over which they
+blew; but as the country at the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria is not of
+a cold clayey nature, the idea is naturally suggested that there must be
+a great extent of swampy ground in the interior, which strengthens the
+opinion I have before expressed.
+
+SUPPOSED ISLANDS.
+
+After hoisting in the boats we shaped a course along the eastern shore of
+the Gulf towards Booby Island. Our being obliged to return thither, for a
+chronometric departure prevented our examining the middle of the upper
+part of the Gulf, where, according to certain vague reports, there exist
+islands. It is stated, for example, that after the south-west monsoon has
+set in strongly, numbers of coconuts are thrown on the north-west shore
+of the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the year 1839, moreover, a small proa was
+driven off the coast of Timor Laut during the north-west monsoon. The
+wind blowing hard drifted them to the South-East for three days and three
+nights, when they came to a low island, with no traces of inhabitants,
+and abounding in coconut trees, upon the fruit of which they lived until
+the monsoon changed, when they sailed back to Timor Laut. Flinders, when
+off Batavia River, on the North-East side of the Gulf, was led to suppose
+that an island existed to seaward of him, from seeing some flocks of
+geese coming from that direction one morning. Wilson, also, in his Voyage
+round the World, speaks of the Macassar people reporting an island in the
+Gulf of Carpentaria, with sandalwood growing on it.
+
+EXAMINE ENDEAVOUR STRAIT.
+
+Soon after daylight on the 13th, we anchored under Booby Island,* the
+flagstaff bearing East-South-East half a mile to the south. The weather
+looked unusually threatening the previous night. Between the observations
+for rating the chronometers I fulfilled my intention of making a cursory
+examination of the entrance of Endeavour Strait, and anchored a mile and
+three quarters off the North Wallis Island, bearing South 23 degrees
+East. It is a conical rocky isle, upwards of 70 feet high, of a coarse
+sandstone formation; an extensive coral reef fronts it on all sides,
+except the north. The result of a night's observations on shore placed
+the summit in latitude 10 degrees 51 minutes 25 seconds South; the true
+bearing of Booby Island was North 22 degrees 13 minutes West. The natives
+appear to make a cemetery of this island; for on a small sandy point on
+the north side we found a large grave, covered with turtle backs, and
+containing several skeletons. This is a very different mode of burial
+from that noticed in Flinders River.
+
+(*Footnote. The result of the whole of our observations at this island
+are as follows: Latitude of the west point 10 degrees 36 minutes 42
+seconds South, longitude, 141 degrees 57 minutes 45 seconds East;
+variation, 7 degrees 0 minutes East. The tides are equally strange here
+and in Endeavour Strait; the stream setting to the westward
+(West-South-West to West-North-West) from nineteen to twenty hours, and
+to the northward and eastward (North to North-East) only from four to
+five hours. The latter stream commences about an hour before high-water,
+which takes place at 4.30, on the full and change days, when the rise at
+springs is 12 feet, and at neaps 7; the length of flood and ebb is nearly
+six hours.)
+
+Leaving our anchorage, we steered West 1/4 North, six miles, in soundings
+of 6 and 7 fathoms. We then crossed in 4 1/2 and 5 fathoms, North Wallis
+Island bearing South 75 minutes East, a ridge which appeared to be an
+elbow of the spit extending off the latter, and forming the south side of
+the channel. Continuing the same course, the depth soon increased to 6
+and 7 fathoms. This was highly satisfactory, as it proved there was water
+for the largest vessels.* In the afternoon we anchored again under Booby
+Island.**
+
+(*Footnote. Captain Blackwood's recent survey of this Strait confirms my
+opinion of its being the best passage through this part of Torres
+Strait.)
+
+(**Footnote. The following is the extract from the game book referred to
+in a former page: Booby Island (June and August) 145 quails, 18 pigeons,
+12 rails, of two kinds, 3 doves; Van Diemen's Inlet (July) 14 doves, 6
+pigeons, 1 native companion; Bountiful Island (July) 8 quails, 11 doves,
+1 pheasant, 3 plovers, 4 white cockatoos; Sweers Island (July) 151
+quails, 87 doves, 20 pigeons, 3 pheasants, 8 white and 2 black cockatoos,
+5 spurwing plovers; Disaster Inlet (July) 36 ducks, 9 white cockatoos, 2
+native companions, 1 green ibis; on the coast (July) 10 curlews and
+plovers; Flinders River (July) 10 ducks, 5 rose-coloured cockatoos, 4
+pigeons, 3 spurwing plovers, 1 rail of a new species, 1 white ibis, 1
+spoonbill; Albert River (August) 20 ducks, 4 large water rails, 2
+pheasants; between Van Diemen's Inlet and Flinders' River (August) 12
+cockatoos, 1 kangaroo (Macropus unguifer); Wallis Isles (August) 6
+quails, 6 doves, 1 pigeon.)
+
+LOOK FOR CAPE WESSEL.
+
+On the evening of the next day, the 17th, we weighed, and steered West by
+South across the Gulf; and in the afternoon of the 18th passed eleven
+miles from Cape Wessel, according to the position assigned to it in the
+chart: but as the weather was tolerably clear, and nothing was seen of
+it, there appeared to be some truth in the report I had previously heard
+of its being to the southward of the position given to it.
+
+The wind freshened by midnight, and, as usual, became more southerly,
+that is to say, South-South-East, whilst during the day it was generally
+East-South-East and East, and very much lighter. The current was steady
+at North-West by West from half a knot to three-quarters per hour,
+maintaining about the same direction and strength as in 1839. On the
+evening of the 19th we crossed the meridian of the centre of New Year
+Island, which our observations placed in 8 degrees 52 minutes west of
+Booby Island, one mile less than Flinders.
+
+RETURN TO PORT ESSINGTON.
+
+It was late in the afternoon of the 20th before we reached an anchorage
+off the settlement of Victoria, where we met Captain Stanley, who had
+just returned in the Britomart from a cruise in the Arafura Sea, of which
+the reader will find an interesting account, from his own pen, in the
+following chapter.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.10. INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
+
+Leave Port Essington.
+Dobbo Island.
+Visit from the Schoolmaster.
+Church.
+Trade of the Arrou Islands.
+Their productions.
+Visit from Natives.
+The Banda Group.
+Penal Settlement.
+Adventures of a Javanese.
+Captain de Stuers.
+Native dance and sports.
+Nutmeg Plantations.
+Mode of preserving the fruit.
+Amboyna.
+Visit a natural grotto.
+Sail from Amboyna.
+Island of Kissa.
+Village of Wauriti.
+Missionary establishment.
+Serwatty Group.
+Return to Port Essington.
+
+SAIL FOR DOBBO.
+
+We sailed from Port Essington on the 19th of June, and found a very heavy
+confused sea running outside, which made the topsides leak so much that
+we were obliged to have recourse to the pump every hour. On the second
+day we made the south end of the Arrou Islands, the latitude of which
+agrees with the position assigned to it in the Admiralty Chart. On
+attempting to close the land, which is very low, we shoaled the water
+suddenly from 15 to 6 fathoms, when at some distance from the shore, and
+from the heavy sea running, and the appearance of the land, I did not
+think it prudent to stand in closer, but steered to the northward towards
+Dobbo. At sunset we anchored off the village of Maykor, situated at the
+entrance of a small inlet, and had a visit from an old man who had been
+lately appointed Orangtua by the Captain of a Dutch frigate, that had
+touched on the coast. He was very dirty, talked a great deal, and imbibed
+a considerable quantity of brandy and arrack. We allowed him to remain on
+board till daylight, when he returned to his village, leaving one of his
+boat's crew behind to pilot us round to Dobbo.
+
+After leaving Maykor, we had very deep water until we came abreast the
+island of Babi, off which a shoal extends to the eastward two miles. We
+crossed the end of it in 8 fathoms, and immediately afterwards deepened
+our water to 15; and did not again strike soundings until we were close
+off the old Dutch fort, at the entrance of Dobbo harbour. Here we
+anchored, as I wished to see the native village close to it.
+
+The anchor was hardly let go, when the monotonous sound of a tom-tom gave
+notice of the approach of some chief; and shortly afterwards, a boat,
+carrying a huge Dutch flag, was seen pulling towards the brig, with a
+great many round-bladed paddles.
+
+VISIT FROM THE SCHOOLMASTER.
+
+Seated in state, in the stern sheets, was an old man dressed in a long
+black serge coat and trousers, with a white shirt and handkerchief. His
+servant who sat behind him, attempted to protect him from a heavy shower
+by holding over his head, with very great care, an old Chinese umbrella
+that leaked like a sieve.
+
+The old man, on coming on board, introduced himself as the schoolmaster
+of the village, and gave us a pressing invitation to land and inspect the
+church, of which he seemed to be very proud. A younger man, who
+accompanied him, he introduced as the Orang kaya of the village. As the
+rain still continued, I invited them into the cabin, where they were much
+delighted at all they saw; and, during the conference, they expressed
+much surprise at being told that all Englishmen were Christians. The
+chief of Wakan, an island which forms the other side of the entrance to
+Dobbo harbour, also favoured us with a visit. He came to request us to
+assist him in waging war against the chief of a neighbouring island, and
+did not at all understand our refusing his petition.
+
+CHURCH AT DOBBO.
+
+As soon as the rain cleared off, our visitors landed, and Mr. Earl and
+myself soon followed them to their village, where they were all drawn up
+to receive us, and saluted us with one musket. We were conducted to the
+village in state, and immediately taken to see the church, which had been
+a nice building, capable of holding all the inhabitants of the place; but
+it had latterly been allowed to get very much out of repair. In the font
+they had placed a saucer containing a small coin, as a hint that we
+should contribute something towards the restoration of the church, which
+was not thrown away, and most probably led to the largest donation the
+church had received for some time. After inspecting the church and
+village, we walked for some distance along the beach, and saw a great
+many parrots, parakeets, and large wood-pigeons, of varied and beautiful
+plumage, flying amongst the splendid kanari* trees, which, from all
+accounts, afford most valuable timber for ship-building.
+
+(*Footnote. Cannarium commune.)
+
+June 23.
+
+Mr. Earl and myself visited the village of Dobbo. We found it very little
+changed since our last visit. The trading vessels had all sailed, but the
+village was occupied by a few Dutch traders from Macassar, some dozen
+Chinese, and about 300 Bughis and Macassars; the greater portion of whom
+were preparing to visit the eastern side of the group to collect the
+produce for the vessels expected to arrive at the setting-in of the
+westerly monsoon.
+
+The only sea-going vessels in the harbour were two large Macassar proas
+and a Ceramese junk; which were to sail in a few days.
+
+Whilst I was employed, making astronomical observations to determine the
+position of the point, Mr. Earl obtained considerable information from
+the traders.
+
+TRADE OF THE ARROU ISLANDS.
+
+The commerce of these islands appears to have increased considerably of
+late years, four or five ships and brigs, with a number of Macassar and
+Bughis proas, whose united crews were said to have amounted to 5,000
+persons, having sailed with cargoes about two months previous to our
+visit.
+
+The produce of the Arrou Islands consists chiefly of pearls,
+mother-of-pearl shell, tortoise-shell, birds of paradise, and Trepang;
+but the trade of Dobbo is not dependent on the productions of the Arrou
+Islands alone. The Bughis proas import large quantities of British
+calico, iron, hardware, muskets, gunpowder, etc. from Singapore, to
+obtain which Dobbo is visited by the natives of Ceram, Buru, New Guinea,
+and of all the adjacent islands, it being the only spot in this part of
+the world where British manufactures can at present be procured. The
+articles brought for sale from New Guinea consist of nutmegs, tortoise
+and mother-of-pearl shell, ambergris, birds-of-paradise, ebony, clove,
+and Massay bark, rosamala (an odoriferous wood) and Kayu-buku, a wood
+much prized for cabinet-work. British calicoes and iron are the principal
+articles taken in exchange for these by the proas from New Guinea.
+
+The closeness with which the native traders conceal their commercial
+transactions, even from each other, rendered it impossible for me to
+learn the amount of exports and imports. Each Bughis proa imports to the
+amount of from 10,000 to 30,000 dollars, and at least one half of her
+cargo consists of British goods. Taking the yearly average of thirty
+proas, and the amount of her import cargo at the lowest above stated,
+this will give 150,000 dollars, or 32,500 pounds sterling, as the amount
+of British goods imported annually into Dobbo. This appears a large
+amount; but it will be found, upon examination, that it is rather under
+than above the actual value. In fact, the greater portion of our cotton
+manufactures sold at Singapore is consumed in the less civilized parts of
+the Indian Archipelago, where the natives prefer cheap goods and gaudy
+patterns; while the people of Java, Celebes, etc. prefer their own or
+Indian manufactures, which, although dearer, are far more durable than
+ours.
+
+The value of a return cargo of a Bughis proa at Singapore is about 200
+per cent on the outlay. Of the timber of the Arrou Islands there are
+several varieties, highly spoken of by the Bughis (who build and repair
+their proas there) for their durability, and the ease with which they are
+worked. Although of immense size, the trees are almost invariably sound;
+and as they can be felled within a few yards of the beach, it is not
+impossible that at some future period timber may form a valuable article
+of export.
+
+The western islands of this group are very thinly inhabited. Wamma,
+though nearly forty miles in circumference, contains only between 200 and
+300 inhabitants, who are scattered along the coast in little villages,
+each containing about half a dozen houses. The eastern islands are said
+to be more thickly inhabited. The natives appear to be a harmless race;
+and though their country is so rich in produce, the greater portion are
+in a state of poverty. This is to be attributed to the immoderate use of
+spirituous liquors, large quantities of which are brought by the traders
+from Java and Macassar. From their language and personal appearance, the
+natives appear to be a mixture between the Malayan race and the
+Polynesian negro.
+
+PRODUCTIONS OF THE ISLANDS.
+
+We also learnt that the emu and a small species of the kangaroo are found
+in the islands. From the varieties of birds, insects, butterflies, and
+parasitical plants, etc. that we saw, these islands promise a rich field
+to the naturalist and botanist.
+
+We were shown some of the pearls that had been collected, some of which
+were very large, and highly prized by the Chinese; though from their
+irregular form and golden hue, they would not suit the European market.
+The smaller pearls, about the size of Number 1 shot, were very perfect in
+figure but tinged with colour.
+
+As soon as the observations were concluded we returned on board, and got
+underway to proceed to the Ki Islands. On the 25th we passed the north
+end of the Great Ki, and along its western side, which appeared to be as
+steep as the eastern, and to afford no anchorage whatever. At 2 P.M. we
+were off the Lesser Ki, and anchored nearly in our old berth, in 14
+fathoms. As soon as the brig was secured, Mr. Hill and myself commenced a
+survey of the harbour, with which we were rather disappointed, as on
+further examination the water proved to be too deep for convenient
+anchorage.
+
+NATIVES ON BOARD.
+
+June 27.
+
+The natives came on board in great numbers, bringing abundance of yams,
+coconuts, bananas, pumpkins, and a few fowls. As our usual hour for
+divine service approached, Mr. Earl explained to them what we were going
+to do, and that they must go on shore till we had finished; but the
+chiefs requested so earnestly to be allowed to remain, that I permitted
+them to do so, upon the condition that they would be quite silent during
+the service. This they promised, and seating themselves on the hammock
+nettings all round the ship, remained the whole time most quiet and
+attentive spectators of the scene before them, which they seemed to
+understand and appreciate perfectly.
+
+In the afternoon we landed, and accompanied by one of the chiefs, walked
+into the interior of the island for some distance. The country was very
+low, and covered with an impenetrable jungle, through which a path had
+been cut with considerable care; on each side, we noticed some patches of
+ground surrounded by stone walls, very neatly constructed. Our guide
+informed us that they had been farms, but the soil was exhausted. As only
+the underwood had been cleared away, the crop must have been produced
+beneath the shade of the large trees, through which the rays of the sun
+could scarcely penetrate. At Ki Doulan we saw nothing new. The
+inhabitants had sold nearly all their canoes to the Bughis, who had
+touched here on their return from Arrou to their own country.
+
+THE BANDA GROUP.
+
+June 29.
+
+As soon as our survey was finished, we sailed for Banda, where I hoped to
+find some vessel in which our shipwrecked passengers* might find their
+way to a more civilized part of the world.
+
+(*Footnote. Crew of the Montreal, lost in Torres Strait, who reached Port
+Essington in their boats.)
+
+June 30.
+
+At 8 A.M. we saw Banda, and at 11 entered the harbour; which is formed
+between the two islands of Great Banda and Banda Neira; and were here
+advised by the Resident to take the seamen on to Amboyna; where the
+papers requisite for their embarkation, in a Dutch merchant vessel, could
+be procured with less difficulty.
+
+The Banda group consists of three large islands and two smaller ones. The
+nutmegs, which form the only export of the place, are all grown upon
+Great Banda, the largest of the three islands. It averages 500 feet in
+height, and is luxuriantly wooded.
+
+BANDA NEIRA.
+
+Banda Neira, the next in point of size, is the residence of the
+government officers, the troops, and the convicts. It is not so high as
+Great Banda, and does not produce a single nutmeg. The third island is
+called the Gounung Api, or Burning Mountain; and is, as its name implies,
+a volcano, from which more or less smoke, impregnated with sulphur, is
+constantly issuing; during the westerly monsoon, this smoke is blown over
+the town, which it renders very unhealthy. One of the small islands is
+inhabited entirely by lepers, who are sent there to prevent the disease
+from spreading among the inhabitants.
+
+Banda is used as a penal settlement by the Dutch Government, and, at the
+period of our visit, there were from 3000 to 4000 convicts, guarded by
+about 300 soldiers, most of whom were natives of Celebes and Amboyna,
+being commanded by European officers. The town of Banda is clean, and
+contains, besides the houses of the Government officers, ample
+storehouses for the reception of the nutmegs grown upon Great Banda;
+together with very commodious barracks for the troops, and an airy and
+well appointed hospital. In addition to the Government officers and
+troops, a considerable number of Chinese have settled in Banda Neira.
+They reside in a part of the town by themselves; and some of them,
+judging from the appearance of their houses, seem to be prospering in the
+world.
+
+The harbour is well sheltered in both monsoons, and is easy of access,
+but it is closed against foreign merchant vessels.* We found two merchant
+vessels under Dutch colours, at anchor; one was commanded by an
+Englishman, and the other, the property of a rich Chinaman living in
+Banda, by an old friend, who piloted us last year into Dobbo Harbour.
+
+(*Footnote. A shoal extends from Great Banda towards the Gounung Api,
+leaving a deep passage of not more than a quarter of a mile wide. Upon
+this shoal, a considerable portion of which is dry at low-water,
+extensive bamboo fish-weirs are erected, which seem to be very
+productive. The natives also use fish-pots formed of bamboo, resembling
+in principle the common drum-net, which they leave down in shoal water
+during the night, and generally find a good supply in the morning. On
+another part of the shoal we observed a number of large stones, which are
+said to have been projected from the volcano, during a violent eruption
+some years ago.)
+
+ADVENTURES OF A JAVANESE.
+
+His history was a strange one. He was a half-caste, born in Java, who,
+after various adventures in different parts of the world, had been
+pressed into our naval service, and served some time on board a
+man-of-war, where he learned the English language. On his discharge from
+her, he was for some time in distress in London, and eventually he found
+his way back to his native country, where his enterprise, knowledge of
+seamanship, and facility in acquiring languages, of which he spoke seven
+or eight, soon got him employment.
+
+The commandant of the troops, Captain De Stuers, nephew to the
+Governor-General of the Moluccas, who had very civilly pointed out the
+best anchorage to us, and given us every information in his power, on our
+first arrival, finding that we were interested in the manners and customs
+of the natives, very kindly invited us to see a menado dance performed by
+some of the native soldiers of the garrison. We landed with him in his
+Oram-bay, a large native boat, pulled by twelve men, who kept time by
+striking their round-bladed paddles against the gunwale between every
+stroke.
+
+NATIVE DANCE.
+
+On landing, the prettiest sight possible awaited us. The barrack-square,
+a green grass field of considerable extent, was covered with the native
+soldiers, all dressed in their gayest holiday costume, and decorated with
+scarves and handkerchiefs of the brightest colours, which streamed
+loosely from their elbows. Some of the men were armed with narrow bamboo
+shields, others with wooden swords, and the remainder with the light
+stems of the sago-palm, which were to be used as javelins. Each of these
+warriors came dancing up to us in turn, to make his obeisance, as we
+advanced to the spot where seats had been prepared for us. As soon as we
+were all seated the dance commenced. At first the spear-men advanced
+towards each other, holding the spear in the right hand, and the bamboo
+shields in the left, keeping time to the rude music of a couple of drums
+with very great accuracy, and dancing quite as much with their arms as
+their legs, in the most graceful manner possible. When they had
+approached sufficiently near to each other, one threw his spear with
+great force and dexterity, still keeping time to the music, and the other
+parried the weapon with his bamboo shield. I only saw one instance of
+failure, and then the unfortunate man received the blunt spear full on
+his breast with such force that it sent him rolling head-over-heels, much
+to the amusement of the spectators, and equally to his own discomfiture.
+
+As one of the Port Essington natives, a very fine active man, had
+accompanied us on shore, we persuaded him, with some difficulty, to join
+in the dance, thinking that the quickness of eye, so common to all
+savages, would enable him to avoid the spear; but in this we were all
+disappointed, as he was struck nearly every time the spear was thrown.
+
+NATIVE SPORTS.
+
+After the dance was over sundry gymnastics followed, and the evening was
+wound up by an exhibition of the Ombres Chinoises, in which the soldiers
+seemed to take very great delight. The moving figures were very cleverly
+managed; and, to judge from the shouts of laughter which accompanied the
+storyteller in his tale, it must have been a very amusing one.
+
+July 5.
+
+The Resident having invited us to visit the nutmeg plantations on Great
+Banda, we accompanied him to the landing-place at Lontar, where we found
+chairs waiting for us, fitted with long poles, like those of a sedan, and
+were carried by eight men, who placed the poles on their shoulders, thus
+raising the chair, with its occupant, above their heads, a position which
+we found at first anything but pleasant.
+
+In these conveyances we ascended to the summit of the island by a broad
+flight of stone steps, leading up from the landing-place, at the top of
+which we saw a ruined fort, and a church, that still retains traces of
+having been a fine building, though it had been much shaken by an
+earthquake. After passing the church, we entered the nutmeg plantations.
+
+NUTMEG PLANTATIONS.
+
+The scenery was most beautiful. Under the shade of large kanari trees,
+whose luxuriant foliage most effectually excluded the sun's rays, were
+thousands of nutmeg trees loaded with blossom and fruit in every stage of
+development. After passing through above a mile of these, we arrived at a
+house belonging to one of the planters, where we saw the process of
+curing the nutmeg.
+
+In nine months from the opening of the blossom, the fruit, which
+resembles in appearance and shape an unripe peach, is gathered from the
+tree, by means of a long stick with an iron hook at the end. The outer
+covering, a tough fleshy skin which being opened divides in two halves,
+is then pulled off, and the mace, which is found partly enveloping the
+nut, is carefully separated and dried for two or three days in the sun.
+The nutmegs are then placed on long bamboo platforms, under sheds built
+for the purpose, where they are dried by means of wood fires. When
+sufficiently dry, they are handed over to the Government (who monopolize
+the whole produce of the island) and are then placed in the Government
+stores, where they are heated with quick-lime, which has the effect of
+preserving them from insects: they are then ready for exportation.
+
+The annual produce of the island is said to average from 300,000 to
+400,000 pounds of nutmegs; and about one-fourth that quantity of mace.
+Nutmegs are the only produce of Banda. Cloves are grown upon the island,
+but are considered to be so much inferior in quality to those produced at
+Amboyna, that they are not exported.
+
+In returning to the ship, the bearers amused themselves by racing with
+each other, a proceeding far from agreeable to us who were carried,
+particularly when we came to the flight of steps, which they descended at
+full speed, shaking the chairs to such a degree that we had some trouble
+in keeping our seats. On arriving at the bottom we were most hospitably
+received by one of the nutmeg planters.
+
+On the 6th July we sailed from Banda, passing out through the western
+entrance, between the shoal extending from Great Banda and the Gounung
+Api; though very narrow, it is quite safe, and by keeping over on the
+Gounung Api shore, which is very steep, we found plenty of water.
+
+BAY OF AMBOYNA.
+
+July 7.
+
+We entered the bay of Amboyna; but light winds prevented our reaching the
+anchorage till noon on the 8th. We found a Dutch frigate, the Bellona, a
+14-gun brig, and several merchant vessels under Dutch colours lying in
+the roads.
+
+On landing, I was most kindly received by the Governor-General of the
+Moluccas, Colonel de Stuers, who gave me a most pressing invitation to
+take up my abode at his delightful residence a short distance out of the
+town, which was gladly accepted. During our stay at Amboyna the rain was
+almost incessant. This prevented our seeing the clove plantations, which
+were described as being very beautiful, and the cloves of Amboyna are as
+much prized as the nutmegs of Banda.
+
+VISIT A NATURAL GROTTO.
+
+The only fine day was devoted to an excursion some miles inland to visit
+a curious natural grotto. We started in chairs, borne on men's shoulders,
+similar to those at Banda, and which seem to be the usual conveyance of
+the country. Our party consisted of more than 100 natives, preceded by
+drums, gongs, and two large Dutch flags. The men who were not employed in
+carrying the chairs, ran by our side, and amused us by their songs and
+war-cry, which was the most thrilling yell I ever heard. The grotto
+itself, prettily situated on the side of a well wooded hill, was of
+considerable length but not otherwise curious.
+
+July 20.
+
+Having at last succeeded in getting a rate for the chronometers, which
+the unsettled state of the weather had rendered a matter of some
+difficulty, we sailed from Amboyna, much delighted with the kindness and
+attention we had all received. During the night we passed a small
+insulated volcano that was emitting a faint smoke, and in the morning
+made the north side of Wetter, which ranges from 3000 to 4000 feet in
+height, is very barren, and apparently thinly inhabited.
+
+ISLAND OF KISSA.
+
+We were beating to the eastward against a strong breeze and heavy swell
+from the south-east till the 25th, when we reached the small island of
+Kissa, off which we anchored, in 30 fathoms, a quarter of a mile from the
+shore, to the great delight of Mr. Earl's servant, who was a native of
+this place. His countrymen, on coming on board, received him with the
+most extravagant expressions of joy; and kept him up all night, relating
+the wonders he had seen since he left them; in doing which he talked to
+such a degree that when he came on board in the morning he could hardly
+speak from hoarseness. We found the natives had been suffering most
+severely from famine, occasioned by a long-continued drought that had
+dried up everything on the island, to such an extent, that the rice
+crops, upon which they chiefly depend for food, had entirely failed; but
+of livestock we found no difficulty in obtaining an abundant supply, and
+at a very moderate price. A couple of fowls were purchased for two feet
+of thin brass wire, highly prized by the natives for making fishhooks
+(which they prefer to our steel ones) and bracelets. A large pig was
+obtained for two fathoms of white calico, and everything else in
+proportion.
+
+VILLAGE OF WAURITI.
+
+On landing, we were met by a chief who had seen Mr. Earl on a previous
+visit. He promised to procure chairs to carry us up to Wauriti, the
+principal village on the island; and, while waiting for them, came on
+board and dined with us, behaving with great decorum, and appearing much
+interested in all he saw. After dinner we found the chairs waiting for us
+on the beach, and proceeded to the village, ascending a deep ravine with
+a streamlet running down the centre, overshadowed by the most luxuriant
+foliage.
+
+After emerging from this ravine we found ourselves near the highest point
+of the island, of which we had a good view. Every part exhibited abundant
+signs of industry and cultivation, although parched up from want of rain.
+The chief of Wauriti received us with great hospitality, and offered
+refreshments of tea, rice cake, and a sort of beer, made from the Sago
+palm.
+
+MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENT.
+
+He then escorted us round the village, which contains a very good church
+and schoolhouse, constructed under the direction of a Dutch Missionary,
+who had been for some years a resident on the island, with his family,
+and who appeared to have been very successful in converting the natives;
+but the distress occasioned by the want of rain was too great a trial of
+their faith; they declared that their old gods had sent the drought upon
+them as a punishment for deserting them, for they had never had such a
+visitation before Christianity had been introduced into the island. The
+poor Missionary's influence was over; he was obliged to quit the island,
+and went to Amboyna. A mile north of Wauriti we visited a smaller village
+inhabited by the descendants of some Dutch families, who had lived upon
+the island many years ago. They were quite different in appearance from
+the natives, and some of the women were very goodlooking. In returning to
+the ship, we examined an old Dutch fort built on the beach, but now in a
+very dilapidated state. It consisted simply of a square building, with
+bastions at the opposite angles. At sunset we made sail for Letti, off
+which we anchored the next day, in 13 fathoms; half a mile north of the
+Missionary establishment; where we found a resident minister and his
+family, and two others from another part of the island staying with them.
+A visit from Europeans was, to them, an event of rare occurrence, and
+must have been an interesting break in their monotonous lives; they had
+been very successful in their labours, and had converted many of the
+natives. They had several establishments on the island; the one we
+visited consisted of a church, schoolhouse, and house for the missionary;
+the church had been built more than 100 years, and was a very substantial
+edifice. The school appeared to be well attended by the native children.
+
+The island of Letti, which is about 10 miles in extent, had also suffered
+much from the want of rain, but was fast recovering its green appearance.
+A high ridge of hills extends along the centre of the island from east to
+west; the sides of which, sloping gradually towards the sea, are covered
+with trees, and the whole island presents an appearance of great
+fertility. The anchorage off Letti, which we surveyed, is very good
+during the south-east monsoon, but affords no shelter when the wind blows
+in an opposite direction. There may be an anchorage on the south side of
+the island, which we did not visit, that would be available during the
+North-West monsoon.
+
+SERWATTY GROUP.
+
+After completing our survey at Letti we worked to the eastward, against
+the monsoon, keeping as close as possible under the lee of the Serwatty
+group, which enabled us to make a rough survey of the islands composing
+it. These proved to be very incorrectly laid down in the only chart we
+had, and from what we saw they require a far more detailed examination
+than we had time to devote to them; this would, I have no doubt, lead to
+the discovery of many anchoring-places, where vessels might carry on
+trade with the natives, with much greater ease and safety than they can
+do when obliged to stand off and on with the vessel while the boats are
+sent in to trade; since, by these means, the crew are necessarily
+divided, are liable to fall an easy prey to the natives, should the
+latter be inclined to treachery.
+
+The various traders we met with, during this, as well as on our former
+visit to the islands, all agreed in warning us against the inhabitants of
+Timor Laut and Baba, as people not at all to be trusted. It is much to be
+hoped that if Port Essington should ever become a place of much trade,
+that these people will be more civilized, as from the easy communication,
+in either monsoon, Timor Laut will be much frequented by the settlers at
+Port Essington, in order to procure the tropical productions abounding
+there, which they would not find on the Australian coasts. The Arrou
+islands, for the same reason, will hold out great inducements to traders,
+as the timber found there is infinitely superior, for most purposes, to
+any found on the Cobourg peninsula.
+
+RETURN TO PORT ESSINGTON.
+
+As our provisions were running short, and the time had arrived when we
+were expected to return to the settlement, I had not time to stop to
+examine several places I wished to see, particularly the southern part of
+the island of Timor Laut, where from information we received at Banda, a
+very large and secure harbour is said to exist, available in both
+monsoons. The island of Serra was another point, as it is stated to be a
+very good place for obtaining supplies.
+
+In crossing over to Australia we saw Timor Laut, off which we experienced
+a very fresh South-East breeze and a heavy sea, which continuing to
+prevail with a strong current setting to leeward, we were in consequence
+eight days reaching Port Essington, where we found that all had gone on
+well during our absence.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.11. PORT ESSINGTON AND THE NORTH-WEST COAST.
+
+Appearance of Settlement.
+Effects of climate.
+Native mother.
+Trade in teeth.
+Macassar Proas.
+Lieutenant Vallack visits the Alligator Rivers.
+Interview with Natives.
+Prospects of Port Essington.
+Lieutenant Stewart's Route.
+Climate.
+Remarks of Mr. Bynoe.
+Harbour of refuge.
+Sail from Port Essington.
+Sahul Shoal.
+Arrive at Coepang.
+Timorees.
+Sail for North-west Coast.
+Strong winds.
+Cape Bossut.
+Exploration of North-west Coast.
+View of Interior.
+Birds.
+Solitary Island.
+Visit the Shore.
+Amphinome Shoals.
+Bedout Island.
+Breaker Inlet.
+Exmouth Gulf.
+Arrive at Swan River.
+
+PORT ESSINGTON.
+
+The period of our arrival at Port Essington had been looked forward to by
+all with deep interest, and, I may say, some anxiety. Two years had
+elapsed since our last visit, and various and contradictory were the
+reports in circulation respecting the welfare of the settlement. We were
+accordingly truly rejoiced to find it in a state of prosperity that will
+ever reflect the highest credit on the hardy few who have laboured so
+earnestly for its welfare. It was an emblem of the rapidity with which,
+in young countries, it is possible to recover from any disaster, that the
+trees which had been uprooted, shattered, and riven in fragments by the
+hurricane of 1839, were for the most part concealed by the fresh foliage
+of the year; there was scarcely anything left to commemorate that
+dreadful visitation, but the tombs of twelve brave fellows, of the
+Pelorus, who lost their lives at the time.
+
+There was a care-worn, jaundiced appearance about the settlers, that
+plainly revealed how little suited was the climate for Europeans to
+labour in; and yet there had been, I was told, no positive sickness. The
+hospital, however, had been enlarged, and rendered a very substantial
+building. Captain Macarthur had built a strong and well-contrived
+blockhouse, of the excellent kind of wood, a species of teak, before
+alluded to. A new garden also had been laid out, in which the banana and
+pine, besides many other tropical fruits, were flourishing. The
+arrow-root and sugar-cane grown here are allowed by those who have seen
+these plants in the West Indies not to be surpassed in excellence; and
+the cotton from Pernambuco, and Bourbon seed, has been valued in England
+at sixpence-halfpenny a pound. The colonists were beginning to understand
+the seasons; they had taken out of the ground sweet potatoes nearly
+sufficient to last them until the next crop. This was the first time they
+had been tried. I have never seen any in South America half the size. In
+short, I may say that the settlement was fast approaching the state in
+which was that at Raffles Bay when it was abandoned.
+
+Considering the few days given to sporting, our game-book contains a very
+tolerable list, comprising seven kangaroos, twenty quails, ten ducks,
+seven pigeons, two pheasants, and two ibises.
+
+The natives in the neighbourhood of Port Essington are, like all others
+on the continent, very superstitious; they fancy that a large kind of
+tree, called the Imburra-burra, resembling the Adansonia, contains evil
+spirits. Here, also, as I have elsewhere observed, they fancy that after
+death they reappear as whites; the bones of the dead are frequently
+carried from place to place.
+
+The reader will remember the native named Alligator, whom I have
+mentioned on a previous visit to Port Essington. I witnessed in his
+family an instance of affection for a departed child, which, though it
+exhibited itself in this peculiar manner, was extremely touching. The
+wife had treasured up the bones of the little one, and constantly carried
+them about with her, not as a memento mori, but as an object whereon to
+expend her tenderest emotions, whenever they swelled within her breast.
+At such times she would put together these bones with a rapidity that
+supposed a wonderful knowledge of osteology, and set them up that she
+might weep over them. Perhaps, in her imagination, as she performed this
+melancholy rite, the ghastly framework before her became indued with the
+comely form of infancy; bright eyes once more sparkled in those hollow
+cells, and a smile of ineffable delight hung where, in reality, was
+naught but the hideous grin of death. I exceedingly regret that the
+mother who could feel so finely was some time afterwards over-persuaded
+to part with the bones of her child.
+
+I may here mention that the medical officer of the settlement was in the
+habit of extracting teeth for the natives, who found the European method
+much more easy than their own mode of knocking them out. The supercargo
+of a vessel, learning this fact, was anxious to become a purchaser of
+teeth to some extent for the London market, being persuaded that they
+would find a ready sale among the dentists; and it is more than probable
+that many of our fair ladies at home are indebted for the pearls on which
+the poets exhaust so much of their fancy to the rude natives of
+Australia.
+
+Among the information I gained during this stay at Port Essington
+respecting the Macassar people, who periodically visit the coast, was
+that of their discovering a strait leading into the Gulf of Carpentaria,
+behind English Company's Islands. Passing Cape Wilberforce, called Udjung
+Turu, or Bearaway Point, they continue their course down the Gulf to the
+Wellesley Islands, named by them Pulo Tiga, or The Three Islands; this is
+the usual southern limit of their voyage. The Macassar proas that visit
+Port Essington, amounting in one season to fourteen, usually brought for
+barter tea, sugar, cloths, salt-fish, rice, etc. Several of the nakodhas,
+or masters, have expressed a wish to abandon fishing, and occupy
+themselves only in trade, if there is sufficient encouragement held out
+to them.
+
+During our stay a report was brought into the settlement by the natives
+that there was a large vessel wrecked on the mainland, near the Alligator
+Rivers, which was accompanied by so many details of place and
+circumstance that Captain Stanley was induced to send Lieutenant Vallack,
+of the Britomart, away in the decked tender to procure information, and
+to render all assistance in his power. He was accompanied by several of
+the Port Essington natives; and on arriving at the Eastern River, found
+that there was no foundation for the report. But having got so far away
+from the settlement, he ascended the river some little distance, and
+towards sunset came on a tribe of natives. The anchor was let go, and
+signs were made to induce them to approach, for some time without
+success. At last, however, encouraged by seeing so many of their own
+countrymen, two or three of the more courageous ventured to draw near.
+The scene that followed was a curious illustration of the slight
+communication that exists between natives of different tribes, and also
+of the great difference in their language, as the strangers could hold no
+conversation with the people from Port Essington, who, when they found
+their own dialect was not understood, tried to explain themselves in such
+few words of broken English as were then used at the colony, and seemed
+very much surprised at their want of success. A large mess of boiled
+rice, which had been prepared by way of a feast for the newcomers, was
+then produced; but it was not before they saw their countrymen eagerly
+devouring it that they could be induced to eat, as they evidently did not
+know what it was. The result of Lieutenant Vallack's visit is hostile to
+the idea entertained that clothes given to natives at Port Essington pass
+into the interior, which I always much doubted. Had the fence before
+alluded to by me been run across the neck, and an out-station formed
+there, we should have had further acquaintance with the natives of the
+main, besides other advantages that would necessarily have accrued.
+
+As it seemed extremely probable that the course of events would not again
+permit the Beagle to visit Port Essington, we naturally experienced some
+regret on our departure, and were led to speculate, with interest, on its
+future destiny. A young settlement, so remote and solitary, cannot fail
+to awaken the liveliest sympathy in the voyager. How small soever may be
+the circle of its present influence, the experience of the past teaches
+us confidently to expect that wherever a knot of Englishmen locate
+themselves, there are deposited the germs of future greatness. For Port
+Essington, a sphere of action, of great extent and importance, appears
+marked out by the hand of nature; though, to a careless observer,
+unskilled in discerning the undeveloped capabilities of geographical
+positions, it may appear in the light simply of an isolated military
+post. And, certainly, whatever may be its actual resources, little or
+nothing has, as yet, been done to ascertain them. We are still reduced to
+base our opinions on conjecture and hypothesis; we know nothing of the
+amount of commerce that might be carried on with the islands of the
+Indian Archipelago--nothing of the productions of the mainland--nothing
+of the extent to which colonization might be carried in the
+neighbourhood. Without data of this kind it is impossible, with any
+pretensions to accuracy, to estimate the probable future importance of
+our settlement at Port Essington, the value of which does not depend on
+the fertility of Cobourg Peninsula, any more than that of Gibraltar on
+the productiveness of the land within the Spanish lines. Victoria, if we
+regard its own intrinsic worth, might be blotted out of the list of our
+possessions without any material detriment to our interests; but its
+importance, as a commercial station, is incalculable. It is, indeed, to
+the country behind--at present unvisited, unexplored, a complete terra
+incognita--and to the islands within a radius of five hundred miles, that
+we must look if we would form a correct idea of the value of Port
+Essington to the Crown. At present it may seem idle, to some, to
+introduce these distant places as elements in the discussion of such a
+question; but no one who reflects on the power of trade to knit together
+even more distant points of the earth, will think it visionary to suppose
+that Victoria must one day--insignificant as may be the value of the
+districts in its immediate neighbourhood--be the centre of a vast system
+of commerce, the emporium, in fact, where will take place the exchange of
+the products of the Indian Archipelago for those of the vast plains of
+Australia. It may require some effort of the imagination, certainly, to
+discover the precursor of such a state of things in the miserable traffic
+now carried on by the Macassar proas; but still, I think, we possess some
+data on which to found such an opinion, and I am persuaded that Port
+Essington will ultimately hold the proud position I predict for it.
+
+As steam communication, moreover, must soon be established between
+Singapore and our colonies on the south-eastern shores of Australia,*
+this port, the only really good one on the north coast, will be of vast
+importance as a coal depot.
+
+(*Footnote. By this arrangement Sydney could be brought within nearly
+sixty days of England.)
+
+As I have already observed, however, little pains have been taken to
+ascertain all the capabilities of the place, and to extend our
+acquaintance with the country behind. No European has ever yet penetrated
+any great distance beyond the neck that connects Cobourg Peninsula with
+the mainland; and even the report of the existence of the settlement has
+scarcely travelled farther. At least in 1841, when Lieutenant Vallack
+visited one of the Alligator rivers he found the natives completely
+ignorant that we had established ourselves in their neighbourhood.
+
+From the account of Lieutenant P.B. Stewart,* of which I have given a
+brief abstract above, it appears that there is some good land on the
+Peninsula, though such is decidedly not the case near the settlement.
+
+(*Footnote. This officer has since forwarded me his route. It appears
+that on leaving Victoria he proceeded to the south-west side of the
+Peninsula, and followed the shore to the neck, when taking an east
+direction he crossed it, and then pursuing a northerly course made his
+way to Middle Head, on the side of the harbour opposite the settlement.
+The frequent opportunities Lieutenant Stewart had of determining his
+positions by cross-bearings of the islands, leave no doubt as to the
+correctness of his route.)
+
+The reports of late sent in respecting the climate have, in some measure,
+been unfavourable; and, as I have observed, the appearance of the
+garrison was rather sickly; but may not this arise partly from the
+indifferent manner in which they are housed? Small, low, thatched
+cottages, in a temperature much too warm for Europeans to labour in
+constantly, are apt to engender disease. There is, besides, a mangrove
+swamp immediately behind the settlement, which at present decreases its
+salubrity. With regard to the range of the thermometer, it has been known
+as low as 62 degrees, and it is never so high, by ten or twenty degrees,
+as I have seen it in South Australia during the hot winds: the average,
+however, is about 83 degrees. The fact that the site of Victoria lies so
+far from the entrance of the harbour is injurious to its prosperity, as
+it prevents many vessels from calling, and deprives it of the breezes
+that constantly prevail on the coast, and would of course conduce to its
+healthiness.*
+
+(*Footnote. The following remarks from Mr. Bynoe, on the climate of
+Northern Australia, corroborate the views put forward in the text:
+
+I find on a reference to the Medical Journals, as well as to a
+Meteorological table kept by me during a period of six years, on the
+coasts of Australia, and under every variety of climate, that we had no
+diseases peculiar to that continent, and I am led to believe it a
+remarkably healthy country. On the North and North-west coasts, where you
+find every bight and indentation of land fringed with mangroves,
+bordering mud flats, and ledges formed by corallines in every stage of
+decomposition, with a high temperature, no fevers or dysenteries were
+engendered.
+
+Our ship's company were constantly exposed, in boats, to all the
+vicissitudes from wet to dry weather, sleeping in mangrove creeks for
+many months in succession, pestered by mosquitoes during the hours of
+repose, yet they still remained very healthy; and the only instance where
+the climate was at all prejudicial (if such a term can be applied) was in
+the Victoria River, on the north coast, where the heat was, at one
+period, very great, and the unavoidable exposure caused two of the crew
+to be attacked with Coup de Soleil.
+
+Our casualties consisted of two deaths during our stay on the Australian
+coast, one from old age; and the other, a case of dysentery, contracted
+at Coepang.
+
+It may not be uninteresting to state, that from the time that Port
+Essington was settled in 1838, up to the period of our last visit to that
+military post, and for some time after, no endemial form of disease had
+manifested itself, and the only complaints that the men had been
+suffering from were diseases such as were usually to be met with in a
+more temperate clime, and those were few. But we must take into
+consideration their isolated position, the constant sameness of their
+life, their small low thatched cottages, mostly with earthen floors;
+their inferior diet, and also the absence or scantiness of vegetables.
+Most of the men, moreover, experience a constant yearning for home,
+which, yearly increasing, terminates in despondency, and leaves them open
+to the attacks of disease. Scorbutic symptoms were at one period very
+prevalent, arising principally from the poor form of diet; similar cases
+occurred in a former settlement on that part of the coast, from the same
+causes; but although Port Essington has been of late visited by sickness,
+I do not consider it by any means an unhealthy spot.)
+
+Considering Port Essington as a harbour of refuge for the crews of ships
+wrecked in Torres Strait, it is certainly far removed from the scene of
+distress; and looking upon it in this light only, a military station at
+Cape York would probably be attended with greater benefit and less
+expense, though, as it might be expected to meet with annoyance from the
+natives of the islands in Torres Strait, who are badly disposed and
+wander over a great space in search of plunder, the party should not be
+very small. There is, moreover, no real harbour; but, at the same time,
+as the post would be on a low narrow projection, with a seabreeze
+sweeping over it in either monsoon, it would doubtless be cooler than at
+Port Essington.
+
+I may observe that the only instance that came under my immediate notice
+of the benefit of a harbour of refuge on the north coast, was that of a
+vessel wrecked too far to the westward to reach Cape York, the crew of
+which arrived at Port Essington in their boats.
+
+It was in some measure at the request of the surgeon, in order to
+alleviate Mr. Fitzmaurice's great sufferings by a little rest, that our
+stay was lengthened to September 7th, when we left in the morning.*
+
+(*Footnote. While steering North by East 1/2 East for Point Record, we
+discovered a bank of 4 1/2 fathoms, with 7 and 8 on each side. When just
+off it, to the northward, in 7 fathoms, the west extreme of Point Record
+bore North 19 1/4 East, and its east extreme North 35 1/4 East, and the
+north-east end of Spear Point North 59 degrees West.)
+
+SAHUL SHOAL.
+
+By noon we had cleared the heads of Port Essington, and a course was then
+shaped for the supposed Sahul Shoal, the northern and central parts of
+which we passed over without finding any remarkable decrease in the
+soundings.*
+
+(*Footnote. This clearly proved that our knowledge of the extent of the
+Sahul Bank was very imperfect. It appears that between the latitudes 11
+degrees 0 minutes South and 11 degrees 25 minutes South, and the
+longitudes 125 degrees 20 minutes East and 125 degrees 50 minutes East,
+there are no less than six patches of coral known, of 12 and 16 fathoms.
+It is my belief that the whole of this shoal, if it merit the name, lies
+between the latitudes of 11 degrees 15 minutes South and 11 degrees 35
+minutes South, and the longitudes of 123 degrees 35 minutes East and 124
+degrees 15 minutes East.)
+
+ARRIVE AT TIMOR.
+
+The winds were singularly light from the eastward, until we approached
+Timor, the South-West end of which we saw in the morning of the 15th,*
+when, after passing through Samow Strait,** we anchored in 13 fathoms off
+Coepang; the flagstaff of Fort Concordia bearing South-South-East a
+quarter of a mile.
+
+(*Footnote. In passing the north-east end of Rottee a good lookout was
+kept for a 5-fathom patch, laid down in the Admiralty Chart as lying four
+miles east of it. Nothing, however, could be discovered of it; and close
+to the place we had 50 fathoms. In Flinders' Atlas we find 50 fathoms
+marked on this spot; and it is probable that the mistake has occurred in
+copying, the 0 being left out, and the space dotted round, to draw
+attention to the supposed shoal-water.)
+
+(**Footnote. The tides in Samow Strait run from one to two knots an hour,
+eight hours to the northward, and four in the opposite direction. The
+time of high-water at Coepang at the full and change is half-past eleven,
+when the rise is twelve feet. On the north side of Timor, between it and
+Ombaye, the current sets to the westward at the rate of from two to four
+knots an hour, in the south-east monsoon; but close to the Timor shore it
+sets to windward. Ships make the passage to the eastward during its
+prevalence by keeping close to the north sides of the Lomblen, Pantar,
+and Ombaye Islands, where they find a favourable current, and winds from
+the southward drawing through the straits separating the islands. There
+is no anchorage between Pantar and Ombaye; but on the south side of
+Timor, at the mouth of the Naminie River, and twenty-five miles further
+eastward, and also at the east point, inside the small island of Pulo
+Jackie, there are good anchorages in from 10 to 15 fathoms. The southern
+coast of Timor is washed by heavy surf in either monsoon.)
+
+Arrangements were immediately made for watering the ship, by having the
+barecas filled and carried to the boats by persons from the shore,
+thereby saving our crew from exposure in this, I believe at all times,
+unhealthy climate. When our stock was completed, with the additional
+casks procured at Port Essington, we had sufficient for eighty days.
+
+We found the Resident, Mr. Gronovius, as usual, very communicative; he
+was much astonished at the size of some bananas I gave him from Port
+Essington.
+
+TIMOREES.
+
+I may take this opportunity of giving some additional information
+respecting the Timorees. It appears that after killing an enemy they,
+like the New Zealanders, preserve the head by baking it; and, during
+meals, place food in the mouth of their bodiless foe. On the death of a
+Rajah, a favourite slave or two is killed and buried with him; some
+weapons, also, are laid in the grave, in order that the deceased may not
+want for anything in the next world; this clearly shows that they have an
+idea of a future state.
+
+The mode in which trade is carried on with the wild natives of Timor is
+extremely singular. The goods intended for barter are left in parcels on
+the shore; the natives come down and place against them, generally, bees'
+wax, and a kind of cotton cloth, to the amount which they conceive to be
+the value, when they also retire. The trader returns, and if satisfied,
+takes the native's goods, leaving his own; if not, he goes away without
+touching either. The natives again come down and weigh the relative value
+of the heaps of merchandize, and either consent to the proffered bargain
+or take away their own property. Neither party ever comes in sight of the
+other; and the strictest honour is preserved in the transaction. Most of
+my readers will recollect that a similar method of trading is attributed
+to one of the nations of antiquity.
+
+A tribe of Sumbawa,* who call themselves the Danga people, have a custom
+worth mentioning. They are the only tribe on that island not Mahomedans,
+and worship the evil spirit, to appease whom they frequently leave a
+roasted pig, with rice, at a well near a tree, a species of wild mango;
+the priest, of course, reaps the benefit of this pious offering. A
+similar custom prevails among the natives of Eastern Patagonia.
+
+(*Footnote. I may here mention, that when the great eruption took place
+on this island, the report of it was heard at Macassar, nearly three
+hundred miles distant, and the motion was felt by the ships at anchor
+there.)
+
+SAIL FROM COEPANG.
+
+By the morning of September 24th the rough charts were completed, and
+tracings, with other despatches, being deposited with the Resident, to be
+forwarded to England, we sailed from Coepang. On the 26th the first
+lieutenant, the surgeon, and the master, were seized with a violent
+attack of cholera, which lasted twenty-four hours--another evidence of
+the unhealthiness of Timor.
+
+The work that now lay before us was, perhaps, one of the most interesting
+features of the North-West coast--a remarkable indentation, south of
+Roebuck Bay, many parts of which had never been seen. Its peculiar
+configuration naturally suggested the idea that a river must exist there;
+and it was accordingly with great anxiety that we looked forward to the
+result. I had intended to examine the eastern part of Scott's Reef in the
+way; but westerly winds, which were, however, favourable for reaching our
+destination, prevented us. The track we pursued was entirely new, and in
+order to see if any shoals existed, we sounded every twenty miles,
+without, however, getting bottom, at nearly 200 fathoms, until the 1st,
+when in latitude 14 degrees 24 minutes South, and longitude 123 degrees
+23 minutes East we had 70 fathoms.*
+
+(*Footnote. From the result of our soundings on the passage to the coast,
+it would appear that a ship in 60 or 70 fathoms would be about the same
+number of miles from the land between the latitude of 14 or 15 degrees
+South--quality of bottom, a greyish sand, which becomes coarser as the
+depth increases.)
+
+After midnight on the 3rd and 4th we had strong breezes of short duration
+from South-East, and although a hundred miles from the nearest land to
+windward, a fine kind of dust was found on the rigging, which, on
+examination by a microscope, proved to consist of sand and wood ashes.
+
+REACH THE NORTH-WEST COAST.
+
+We saw the land to the southward of Roebuck Bay on October 8th, and at
+noon passed four miles from Cape Bossut, which we found to be in latitude
+18 degrees 42 minutes South and longitude 121 degrees 45 minutes East.*
+On the south side opened a bay two miles deep, with a small high-water
+inlet at its head. From thence we held a general South by West 1/2 West
+course, passing along the land at the distance of from three to four
+miles, in soundings of 5 and 6 fathoms, and at sunset anchored four miles
+from a low sandy coast, on which the sea broke heavily. Cape Joubert,**
+distant sixteen miles, was the last projection of any kind we passed.
+
+(*Footnote. The longitudes depend on the meridian of Coepang. which has
+been considered in 123 degrees 37 minutes 0 seconds East.)
+
+(**Footnote. In latitude 18 degrees 58 minutes South and longitude 121
+degrees 42 minutes East. It is crested with bare white sand, and although
+only forty-five feet high is a remarkable headland on this low coast.)
+
+APPEARANCE OF NORTH-WEST COAST.
+
+From that headland commenced a low, wearisome, sandy shore, which we
+traced for sixty-five miles in a South-West by West direction, looking in
+vain for some change in its character. Nothing beyond the coast
+sand-dunes, sprinkled with vegetation, and only twenty feet high, could
+be seen from the masthead, although the ship was within three miles of
+the beach. This cheerless aspect was heightened by the total absence of
+native fires, a fact we had never before observed in such an extent of
+country, and truly significant of its want of fertility. Still, in our
+sight it possessed a greater charm than it may, probably, in that of
+others; as every fresh mile of coast that disclosed itself, rewarding our
+enterprise whilst it disappointed our expectations, was so much added to
+the domains of geography. That such an extent of the Australian continent
+should have been left to be added to the portion of the globe discovered
+by the Beagle was remarkable; and although day by day our hopes of
+accomplishing any important discovery declined, a certain degree of
+excitement was kept alive throughout.
+
+It was the 13th before we had made good the distance I have above
+mentioned, when a reddish hillock, of fifty-six feet in elevation, in
+latitude 19 degrees 48 minutes South, and longitude 120 degrees 36
+minutes East, promising a view of the interior, we went to visit it.
+There was less surf on the beach than we expected, and we landed without
+much difficulty. Our old friend, the black and white red-bill, or
+oyster-catcher, was in readiness to greet us, accompanied by a few
+families of sanderlings, two or three batches of grey plovers, and a
+couple of small curlews. Crossing the beach, a line of reddish sandstone
+cliffs, twelve feet in height, was ascended, and found to face a bank of
+sand, held together by a sort of coarse spinifex. This bank, which ran
+parallel to the coast, was narrow, subsiding into a valley three quarters
+of a mile wide, on the opposite side of which rose a hummocky ridge of
+coarse ferruginous sandstone formation. The valley was covered with brown
+grass and detached stunted bushes. Water had recently lodged in it, as
+appeared from the saucer-like cakes of earth broken and curled up over
+the whole surface. The nature of the soil was shown by the heaps of earth
+thrown out at the entrances of the holes of iguanas, and other burrowing
+creatures; it was a mixture of sand, clay, and vegetable matter.
+
+VIEW OF INTERIOR.
+
+From the highest hillock beyond the valley a view of the interior was
+obtained: it presents, like most of the portions of the continent we had
+discovered, the aspect of a dreary plain, clothed with grass and detached
+clumps of green brushwood. "What a strange country!" was the exclamation
+that naturally burst from us all, on beholding this immense and
+apparently interminable expanse, with no rise to relieve the tired eye.
+As we gazed, our imaginations transported us to the Pampas of South
+America, which this vast level greatly resembled, except that the motions
+of no startled deer or ostriches scudding over the country, and leaving a
+train of dust behind, gave life and animation to the scene. No trace of
+kangaroos, or of natives, not even the sign of a fire, greeted us on this
+inhospitable coast. The evidences of animal were as scanty as those of
+vegetable life.
+
+BIRDS.
+
+Two brown bustards rose out of the grass; they were of the same size and
+colour as those seen in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and quite as wary, which
+was very singular. A couple of specimens of land birds were shot; one of
+them resembled a Meliphagus, although its stomach was filled with small
+beetles, finely broken up;* its head was covered with yellow pollen, out
+of a flower resembling the mallow, which is frequently resorted to by
+small beetles during the heat of the day, when the petal closing over
+them they are extracted, with some difficulty, by the bird. The other
+specimen was a brown grain-feeding kind; it invariably rested on the
+ground, where in its habits, head erect, tail down, and short, sudden
+run, it greatly resembled a tit-lark.
+
+(*Footnote. Usually observed in the specimens of this species procured by
+Dr. Bynoe.)
+
+At daylight on the 14th we continued our exploration from the spot where
+we visited the shore, marked on the chart as Red Hill; and found that the
+coast trended West by South to the part fronting the Amphinome Shoals,
+and that instead of the continued sandy beach were occasional low rocky
+projections. Eleven miles from Red Hill, a detached rocky ledge extended
+two miles from the shore, and at the end of twenty, commenced a line of
+low red sandstone cliffs five miles in extent. Here we, for the first
+time, saw native fires; and the country was evidently higher.
+
+SOLITARY ISLAND.
+
+October 15.
+
+In the evening the ship was anchored five miles from a small island,
+bearing South-South-East, which we found to be in latitude 19 degrees 55
+minutes South, longitude 120 degrees 55 minutes East; and which, from its
+lonely situation, was named Solitary Island. Six and nine miles North by
+East from it we had crossed several lines of ripplings and shoal patches
+of 4 and 5 fathoms. On visiting it next morning (16th) it was found to be
+of red sandstone formation, thirty feet high, and devoid of vegetation.
+Although lying a mile from the shore it is connected at low-water by a
+flat of sand. From its summit the view of the interior presented a slight
+change. At the distance of six miles there was a bank or rise in the
+country having rather a fertile aspect, above a hundred feet high,
+trending South-West with dense woodland intervening.
+
+On the same afternoon the ship was moved fourteen miles further on. The
+many patches of ripplings we now saw in every direction westward, assured
+us that the Amphinome Shoals were close at hand; on patches one and two
+miles west and south of the ship there was only six and nine feet.
+
+VISIT THE SHORE.
+
+October 17.
+
+In the morning another party visited the shore, landing under a low
+sandhill, sixty feet high, bearing South by East six miles, called Mount
+Blaze, in latitude 20 degrees 0 minutes South and longitude 119 degrees
+40 minutes East. This was found to stand on a projection, with two small
+rocky islets on either side. Eastward from it cliffy points separating
+shoal mangrove bays, formed the character of the coast; whilst in the
+opposite direction extended a bay, fifteen miles wide, over the western
+point of which we recognised the sandhills seen on our visit to this part
+in July, 1840; the shores of this great bay were fronted for some
+distance by shoal water.
+
+Behind Mount Blaze the country was swampy, with mangroves, for a few
+miles; it then gradually rose, and on the bearing of South 7 degrees
+East, distant nearly fifteen miles, were seen conical-sided flat-topped
+hills about two hundred feet high. This was the first remarkable
+elevation in the country we had seen during the two hundred miles of the
+coastline traced by the Beagle; it appears to be the North-East
+termination of the high land seen southward from the Turtle Isles.
+
+Some small burrowing animal had so excavated the ground in the vicinity
+of Mount Blaze, that at each step we sunk in knee-deep; a few quails were
+shot, but no varieties of birds were seen beyond what had been already
+observed at the other points of the coast visited.
+
+Weighing, we stood to the westward, after making a short stretch to the
+north-east; but shoal water, at the end of six miles, obliged us to go on
+the other tack. The change in the direction of the flood- tide, from
+westerly to northerly, did not leave much hope of our finding a passage
+to the westward. At sunset the anchor was dropped in 9 fathoms, with a
+shoal patch of 5 fathoms two miles to the eastward, Mount Blaze, just
+visible from the masthead, bearing south sixteen miles. During the
+afternoon we had crossed no less than five lines of ripplings, on which,
+at low-water, there was only from 2 to 5 fathoms.
+
+October 19.
+
+After the noon observation another attempt was made to find a passage to
+the westward; but at the end of eighteen miles we found ourselves embayed
+among patches of ripplings and breakers. The western sandhills, seen
+yesterday, bore at this time South by East fifteen miles. Two-thirds of
+the distance from the shore was a continued line of broken water.
+Finding, by sounding with the boats, that there was no passage for the
+ship, we retraced our track east; and in the evening anchored again in 7
+fathoms, between two ridges of 4.
+
+AMPHINOME SHOALS.
+
+The outer breaker of the Amphinome Shoals bore North 37 degrees West
+three miles, which placed it in latitude 19 degrees 41 minutes South and
+longitude 119 degrees 24 minutes East; and as these shoals extend
+eighteen miles off such low land, they may fairly be considered
+dangerous.
+
+BEDOUT ISLAND.
+
+Next evening we anchored off the east side of Bedout Island, having, in
+the morning, nineteen miles to the east of it and twenty-two from the
+mainland, passed over a ridge of 5 fathoms.
+
+October 21.
+
+We spent the day on Bedout, the centre of which we found to be in
+latitude 19 degrees 35 minutes 45 seconds South, longitude 119 degrees 08
+minutes 45 seconds East. It is a circular sand islet twenty feet high,
+and half a mile in extent. Off its western side ripplings and rocks
+extend nearly three miles; in other parts it is fronted by a circular
+reef a mile in extent, and of a different kind from the Turtle Isle
+reefs, being composed of live corallines and fan-like leaves, which
+giving way readily to the feet, we suddenly found ourselves immersed
+almost up to our necks; within fifty yards of the island this became
+worse. The reefs and beaches abounded with turtles of two kinds, the
+Mydas and a species of the Imbricated. We were in time for the noddy's
+eggs; but the other birds had hatched theirs, and left for sea, returning
+only at night. From their great abundance and constant visits they had
+formed a kind of guano on the island. Among the varieties of the
+feathered tribe was the golden plover.
+
+On the following afternoon we stood over, South-South-East for the main;
+but were again prevented by shoal water from approaching within twelve
+miles of the nearest part, which was the western point of the bay seen
+from Mount Blaze. Broken water and dry sands extended between south and
+east, and to the south-west the entrance of Breaker Inlet and other parts
+of the last year's survey were readily distinguished.
+
+October 22.
+
+During the forenoon the boats completed the soundings, and in the evening
+the ship was anchored under the North Turtle Isle. Thus terminated the
+examination of this hitherto unexplored part of the coast, which had been
+the field of many years' speculation. One of the most remarkable points,
+is the great rise of twenty-eight feet in the tide, which can only be
+accounted for by the fact of the water being heaped up in the concavity
+formed by the coast; on the first part of the bight the direction of the
+flood was from West, and on the latter from West-North-West. We had found
+that no river or other interesting feature existed; and that it was the
+most dull and uniform portion of the continent we had seen, or that could
+possibly be imagined.
+
+BREAKER INLET.
+
+While I have no reason to believe that an examination of Breaker Inlet,
+which, from the numerous sandbanks forming the Amphinome Shoals, has
+probably a considerable outlet, would lead to a discovery of any
+importance, nevertheless, I regret that the heavy surf which breaks
+across its entrance at this season of the year entirely prevented my
+exploring it.
+
+The winds we had experienced on this part of the coast were light, from
+the eastward, during the night, and moderate from North-North-West to
+West-South-West towards the latter part of the day, the morning being
+frequently calm. On one or two occasions in the night we had slight
+squalls from South-East accompanied by lightning; but, commonly speaking,
+the weather was very fine, the temperature on board being generally 77,
+the maximum being 82 and the minimum 75 degrees. On shore it was about
+five degrees higher.
+
+EXMOUTH GULF.
+
+The necessary chronometric and magnetic observations were completed, and
+a supply of turtles taken on board by the evening of the 26th, when after
+leaving a paper in a bottle, recording our visit and describing the
+nature of the coast eastwards, we left with the intention of exploring
+Exmouth Gulf, which was the only remaining portion of the north-western
+shore of the continent that had not been visited by Captain King or
+ourselves. But as we were forced away from the land by southerly winds as
+we approached the North-West Cape, and as there was no certainty of
+procuring water, I have been obliged to content myself with the report of
+a whaler who went in there and found it to be the mouth of a large inlet
+conveying a vast body of water into the interior, occasionally, I
+imagine, even as far as the neighbourhood of the north-east shore of
+Shark's Bay, as Captain Grey speaks of finding there extensive plains of
+mud and sand, at times evidently flooded by the sea and presenting no
+limit in a north-east direction.
+
+Continuing our passage we arrived at Swan River on November 23rd.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.12.
+
+Reported Harbour.
+Set out for Australind.
+The Grass-tree.
+Correspondence with Mr. Clifton, etc.
+Sail from Gage Road.
+Examination of coast.
+Reach Champion Bay.
+Visit Mount Fairfax and Wizard Peak.
+Arid nature of country.
+Want of water.
+Native Grave.
+The Greenough river.
+Natives.
+Leave Champion Bay.
+Koombanah Bay.
+Naturaliste Reef.
+Reach South Australia.
+Port Adelaide.
+Proposed Railroad.
+Visit Mount Barker.
+Encounter Bay.
+Native fishing.
+Return to Adelaide.
+Sail from South Australia.
+Portland Bay.
+Squatters.
+Tour in the interior.
+Fertile country.
+View from the Sugarloaf.
+Visit Cape Bridgewater.
+Sail for Hobart.
+Liberality of Sir John Franklin.
+Atmospheric changes.
+Arrive at Sydney.
+
+REPORTED HARBOUR.
+
+Among the news that most interested us on our arrival at Swan River, was
+the report of the discovery of a harbour on the west coast, near
+Moresby's Flat-topped Range. In the Surveyor General's office I was shown
+a map of that portion of Western Australia by Mr. Arrowsmith, "from the
+surveys of Captain Grey," whose name the port bore; and the united
+authorities of this talented explorer, and this celebrated geographer,
+would have removed all doubt from my mind as to the correctness of the
+report to which I have alluded, even if the alleged discovery had not
+taken place on a portion of the coast unvisited by Captain King or
+myself. In the colony, however, very different opinions were held; and it
+was confidently maintained that Port Grey, although placed, by accident
+or otherwise, twelve miles to the southward, was no other than the bay we
+had previously visited, called by us Champion Bay. It is true I could
+trace a resemblance between their southern parts; but they differed so
+widely in their northern--Port Grey being represented in the chart, and
+printed description, to be perfectly safe, and sheltered in that quarter
+by a point and a reef--that I saw no grounds for giving credence to the
+opinion industriously circulated at Swan River, that the reef and point,
+or perhaps the whole port, had been fabricated by the land-jobbers at
+home. Such an opinion, however, was quite a disinterested one on their
+part; as an extension of the colony northwards, and the establishment of
+a settlement near Moresby's Flat-topped Range, would have led to a result
+much desired by them, the occupancy, namely, of the intervening country.
+It was in the neighbourhood of the harbour, the existence or identity of
+which was thus called in question, that Captain Grey had reported to have
+seen a fertile district; and a company had actually arrived from England
+for the purpose of forming a settlement there. Mr. Clifton, the Chief
+Commissioner, however, on hearing the opinion prevalent in the colony,
+did not think proper to risk the lives of the people under his charge, by
+conveying them to a port that might be fabulous, and to a country the
+fertility of which was absolutely denied; and the destination of the new
+settlement was, accordingly, provisionally changed to the shores of the
+Leschenault Inlet, which held out a prospect of solid, if not brilliant,
+success, and possessed advantages, which, if not dazzling, were at least
+exempt from the suspicion of being visionary.
+
+Anxious to have further information on this subject through a personal
+interview with Mr. Clifton, I accompanied His Excellency Governor Hutt
+and the Surveyor General on a tour in the direction of the new
+settlement, whilst the ship underwent a slight refit, and the men had a
+run ashore. The survey of the Swan, from the entrance to Perth, was,
+meanwhile, undertaken by Mr. Forsyth.
+
+THE GRASS-TREE.
+
+Leaving Fremantle, the first part of the road lay between low ranges of
+limestone hills, and through quite a forest of grass-trees, gums
+(Xanthorroea) some knobby, old and crooked, others erect and reaching the
+height, occasionally, of perhaps seventeen feet, with their tufted and
+overarching crests towering above those of smaller growth that were
+scattered over the earth around.*
+
+(*Footnote. These trees, called Blackboys by the colonists, from the
+resemblance they bear, in the distance, to natives, attain, it is said, a
+great age, and there is a vague report that when fifty years old they are
+only a foot above ground.)
+
+ROAD TO AUSTRALIND.
+
+The road passes through the township of Pinjarra, on the fertile banks of
+the Murray. Where it crosses the river, the first and only great affray
+took place with the natives, whose blood on that unfortunate occasion
+stained the waters of the reach that now slept in peaceful beauty, as if
+strife had never polluted its banks.* Here we met Mr. Clifton, who
+accompanied us to his new township of Australind, to plant the germs of
+which, in the wilds of Western Australia, he and his worthy family had
+left England and all the comforts of society. This interesting spot is
+situated on the east side of Leschenault Inlet; the approach is laid out
+with much taste, the road leading along the foot of a hill covered with
+wood, whilst on the right is an open growth of trees, affording every now
+and then a glimpse of the beautiful estuary, with its surface just
+ruffled and glittering in the rays of the setting sun. I was much struck
+with the beauty of the scenery during this evening's and the morrow's
+excursion, having had no idea that there was such a fertile, well
+watered, and heavily timbered district so near the coast in Western
+Australia.**
+
+(*Footnote. A spirited painting of this encounter I saw ornamenting the
+walls of Captain Mears' cottage at Guildford.)
+
+(**Footnote. Her Majesty's dockyards are now availing themselves of this
+supply of excellent timber; and its proximity to the sea must greatly
+enhance the value of this part of the continent.)
+
+CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. CLIFTON, ETC.
+
+Having conversed with Mr. Clifton on the subject of the settlement he had
+intended to make near Port Grey, and been made acquainted with his
+reasons for doubting the existence of the harbour, and the fertility of
+the surrounding country, as well as with his desire to have the question
+satisfactorily set at rest, I requested him to write to me on the
+subject; and on the receipt of his letter,* I communicated, also in
+writing, with his Excellency, Governor Hutt, and the Surveyor-General,
+Mr. Roe; the result of which correspondence was, that I determined to
+examine that portion of the coast; and to afford Mr. Clifton the
+opportunity of accompanying me, and with his own eyes convincing himself
+of the policy or impolicy of the course he had adopted.
+
+(*Footnote. From which the following is an extract: Your arrival at Gage
+Roads, in her Majesty's surveying vessel, Beagle, under your command,
+affords me an opportunity of soliciting your able assistance towards the
+solution of a question of great interest, not only to the Western
+Australian Company, whom I represent, but to this colony at large; and I
+feel assured that your known zeal in the cause of Geographical and
+Hydrographical research will induce you, if it be within your power, to
+comply with the request which I now take the liberty to make. Under these
+feelings I proceed to state to you, that the Western Australian Company,
+after all their plans had been formed for founding their intended Colony
+of Australind, in Leschenault inlet, were led under circumstances which
+occurred, and information which reached them, to abandon that intention
+and to determine to fix their settlement at a port discovered by Captain
+Grey, designated in England by the appellation of Port Grey, and lying on
+the North-West coast of this colony, in or about the latitude of 29
+degrees south, within the limits of the district between Gantheaume Bay
+and the River Arrowsmith, in which district her Majesty's Government had
+permitted the Company to take possession of extensive tracts of land in
+lieu of their property in other parts of Western Australia.
+
+Upon my arrival, however, in March last, at Port Leschenault, with the
+intention of conveying in the Parkfield, with the first body of settlers
+and emigrants to the new district, the Company's surveying establishment
+already employed in this neighbourhood, I received such communications
+from his Excellency the Governor, and such information respecting the
+supposed Port Grey, and the country in its vicinity, together with a
+tracing of the partial survey made by you in Champion Bay, lying in
+latitude 28 degrees 47 minutes South which is presumed to be identical
+with Port Grey, that I was induced, after full consultation with his
+Excellency, to unite with him in opinion, that it would be proper for me
+to depart from my instructions, and to found the colony under my charge
+on the spot originally contemplated in Leschenault Inlet, instead of at
+Port Grey, which determination I accordingly carried into effect under
+the Governor's sanction.
+
+It naturally was my most anxious wish, as it would have been my duty, if
+it had been practicable, to visit myself the supposed port, before I
+took, in conjunction with his Excellency, a step involving so great a
+personal responsibility, and so seriously affecting all the predetermined
+plans of the company, settlers, and emigrants. I have since made every
+practical endeavour, but without success, to obtain means of proceeding
+to the district in question, in order to establish the fact by actual
+observation and research, whether that district does or does not afford a
+proper site for the establishment of a new settlement on an extensive
+scale, or is totally inapplicable for it, according to the information
+which led to the decision come to. And as the result of such examination
+involves measures which may prove of very great importance to the local
+interests of this colony, and even to the interests of the
+mother-country, I venture to submit to your consideration, whether you
+would not deem that inquiry of sufficient importance to justify your
+proceeding to Champion Bay, in her Majesty's sloop, Beagle, under your
+command, to ascertain fully the capabilities of the country in its
+immediate vicinity, and to determine whether there be another harbour or
+not at the place assigned to Port Grey on the map recently published by
+Arrowsmith.
+
+If your proceeding to that part of this coast should be within the scope
+of the service assigned to you by the Lords Commissioners of the
+Admiralty, or the importance of the solution of these questions, on which
+such extensive interests and operations depend, should induce you to take
+upon yourself the responsibility of going there, I earnestly request you
+will allow me the honour of accompanying you, for the purpose of
+fulfilling my duty to the Directors of the Company, and to the very
+numerous body of persons interested in the formation of the intended
+settlement under them.)
+
+EXAMINATION OF COAST.
+
+On the 12th, accordingly, we sailed from Gage Roads, and next morning
+closed with the land in latitude 29 degrees 13 minutes South being
+thirteen miles south of the position assigned to Port Grey in
+Arrowsmith's map, before alluded to. From thence we followed the shore at
+a distance of between three and five miles, in soundings of 7 and 12
+fathoms; the first part trended North by West two miles, and then
+North-West 1/2 West to Point Grey, lying five miles South by East of
+Point Moore (a bight of that width being formed between) without any sign
+of the sought-for harbour. The general appearance of the coast was that
+of high sandhills, partly covered with vegetation; immediately in the
+rear of which there appeared a range rather higher, and of a less barren
+appearance; behind these again, at a distance of eight or nine miles,
+rose a series of singular table-topped broken ranges, terminating
+southwards in about latitude 29 degrees 5 minutes South. Mount Fairfax
+and Wizard Peak are the most conspicuous objects in this range.
+
+REACH CHAMPION BAY.
+
+Owing to the water being very smooth, we found ourselves embayed on
+approaching the point of the above mentioned bight, by a reef, the outer
+part of which bore South 37 degrees West fifteen miles from Mount
+Fairfax. The delay caused in clearing this danger, made it evening by the
+time we reached Champion Bay, in latitude 28 degrees 47 minutes South,
+from whence we had previously examined the coast northward for nearly
+thirty miles. We had, therefore, now satisfactorily ascertained that,
+excepting Champion Bay, there was no good anchorage on the coast between
+the latitudes of 28 degrees 20 minutes South and 29 degrees 20 minutes
+South.*
+
+(*Footnote. For a description of Champion Bay, see above.)
+
+From what I have said it will appear, that the point represented in
+Arrowsmith's map, as sheltering the north side, has no real existence. It
+is probable, that the following passage from Mr. Moore's Journal, may
+have had some share in suggesting the contrivance.
+
+"To the south of the tongue of land which forms the bay, there is also
+another bay, which would be completely sheltered from all northerly
+winds, so as to combine, between the two bays, perfect shelter at all
+seasons of the year."
+
+VISIT MOUNT FAIRFAX.
+
+This point being set at rest, we proceeded with a large armed party at
+daylight on the morning of the 15th, to examine the country. Landing, we
+took an East by South direction for Mount Fairfax, the nearest and most
+commanding point. About one mile and a half from the beach, we crossed
+the dry bed of a stream, trending South by East about twenty yards wide,
+with banks from twenty to thirty feet high, composed of reddish earth and
+sand, having considerable portions of ironstone in it. A few small
+tea-trees of the colonists grew in the sand that formed the dry bed of
+the stream. Our course continued afterwards uninterrupted, over a
+gradually rising plain, of a sandy scrubby nature, until reaching the
+foot of Mount Fairfax, when we crossed another small watercourse,
+trending South by West where, for the first time, we noticed a solitary
+stunted casuarina. Mount Fairfax is the southern and most elevated part
+of an isolated block, forming Moresby's Flat-topped Range. It rests on a
+reddish, sandy, sloping plain, on which were occasionally noticed
+fragments of quartz and ironstone, which latter formation is the
+character of Mount Fairfax, and apparently of the neighbouring heights.
+Having completed our observations, which place Mount Fairfax 582 feet
+above the level of the sea, we continued our journey to the south-east,
+in the direction of Wizard Peak. Two miles, over a scrubby sandy plain,
+brought us again to the Chapman or Greenough. Here, for the first time,
+there was an appearance of fertility; but only in the valley of the
+river, which was about a quarter of a mile wide.
+
+With the exception of a few brackish pools, the bed, as where we before
+crossed it, was dry, and formed of white sand, growing in which was a
+small crooked kind of drooping gum, besides a species of wattle and
+tea-tree. Its course was about South by West and appeared to come from
+the valleys, formed by the ranges in the rear of Mount Fairfax, and north
+of Wizard Peak. Continuing our journey, we proceeded over an undulating
+plain, on the higher parts of which a reddish sand and ironstone gravel
+universally prevailed; in the lower parts, and near the watercourses, the
+soil approached a light mould, and produced the warran, so much sought
+after by the natives. In all this district the vegetation was of the
+worst description--the trees, which grew only in the valleys, were small
+kinds of banksia, wattles, and drooping gums--not large enough to furnish
+building materials.
+
+ASCEND WIZARD PEAK.
+
+In the course of the afternoon we reached the summit of that remarkable
+and almost solitary pyramidal hill, Wizard Peak,* which we found composed
+of large blocks of ironstone, having a most powerful effect on the
+needle, and changing its direction in different places ten degrees. Here
+we noticed two or three stunted xanthorrhoeas growing on the South-West
+side of the hill; and a few small casuarinas, and wattles were thinly
+scattered on its summit, which, by barometric measurement, was found to
+be 715 feet above the level of the sea. Part of the range lying
+immediately north was absolutely a mass of bare ironstone. This view was
+very commanding--to the North-North-West and North-East lay extensive
+valleys, all of which appeared through a spy-glass to be of the same arid
+nature; for a few miles to the eastward, and a great many to the
+northward, the formation of the country was of the same flat, broken, and
+irregular character, but no part visible appeared to be of greater
+elevation than that on which we stood; to seawards the appearance of the
+country was that of an undulating plain, with patches of stunted woodland
+widely scattered.
+
+(*Footnote. Distant eleven miles from Champion Bay.)
+
+APPEARANCE OF COUNTRY FROM WIZARD PEAK.
+
+After attentively examining with my glass, resting on the ground, all
+that lay within the extensive range of vision afforded by Wizard Peak,* I
+could not help congratulating Mr. Clifton on his display of judgment, in
+taking the responsible step I have mentioned; and it is to be deeply
+regretted, that one so energetic, and so well adapted for the duty he had
+undertaken, should have been totally abandoned by those who sent him out.
+It was now clear that this part of the country was not fit for the
+settler, being deficient in the three most necessary articles, water,
+timber for building, and food for stock.** It was also now clear that the
+opinion expressed at Swan River, regarding both the harbour and the
+quality of the country was substantially correct. But it was not until it
+became apparent to my own eyes, that I could believe anyone could be so
+reckless as to induce a large number of individuals, including women and
+children, by false, or at least exaggerated representations, to sever the
+ties of kindred and of friendship, and become voluntary exiles to a far
+country, in search of a new and more prosperous home; whilst in lieu of
+the promised streams and fertile plains, nothing in reality awaited them
+but sterility--the certain loss of property, and the imminent risk of
+their lives.
+
+(*Footnote. The reader will see my position, at this time, together with
+the track of the Beagle's party, and that of Captain Grey's, laid down in
+one of the charts accompanying this work.)
+
+(**Footnote. Mr. Moore's description of the country near Champion Bay, is
+as follows: "Judging by the eye at that distance, the entire space, as
+far as we had any opportunity of seeing, after going a little way back
+from the coast, on the slope to the hills, upon the hills, among the
+hills, beyond the hills, and, in short, everywhere, as far as the eye
+could discern, appeared a grassy country, thinly sprinkled with some low
+trees or shrubs, perhaps acacias. If this be the case, and there be water
+sufficient, of which there is no reason to doubt, this may certainly turn
+out to be the finest district for sheep pasture that this colony can
+possess." This testimony, one would have thought, was much too vague to
+justify the expression of any decided opinion as to the capabilities of
+the country. Mr. Moore judged entirely from a distant view with the naked
+eye: he could not discern the nature of the trees, does not assert
+positively that the land was grassy, is unable to speak with certainty as
+to the existence of sufficient water, and ventures only to draw the
+conditional conclusion that this district MAY turn out to be the finest
+the colony can possess.
+
+Mr. Bynoe, who accompanied me in my excursion over this part of the
+continent, writes as follows respecting it: "There can be but one opinion
+of the country in the vicinity of the supposed Port Grey, namely, that it
+is comparatively sterile. All the soil passed over, during our two days'
+journey, was of a sandy nature; and the gumtrees, particularly in the
+open country, were stunted and gnarled. Isolated clumps, however, of a
+taller, straighter, and smoother character, were met with in the dried
+watercourses. Near Wizard Peak, the warran, or native yam seemed to grow
+in great abundance, and to some considerable depth. There the soil could
+be pretty well judged of; and the deeper the holes had been dug by the
+natives to obtain the root, the more pure was the sand; it was only the
+surface soil that held decayed vegetable matter. Twice during the trip,
+near the bases of cliffs, I saw a few acres of alluvial deposit, two very
+circumscribed beds, which were lost in the bottom of a watercourse,
+sliding, as it were, gradually under the sand. Near Moresby's Range,
+where the soil became freely mixed with ironstone and pebbles, the
+vegetation was more stunted, consisting principally of a prickly bush,
+mingled with coarse brown grass. During the whole time of our ramble, we
+saw only three kangaroos, and five emus; and in some parts of the tall
+scrub were wallaby tracks.")
+
+Descending, we found the party left below in the dry bed of a watercourse
+had failed in their endeavour to procure water by digging; we, therefore,
+as we supposed, had no resource but to return, exhausted as we were, to
+the brackish water-pools we had seen in the Chapman or Greenough.
+
+NATIVE WELL AND BURIAL PLACE.
+
+Happily, however, our dog discovered a deep hole under a drooping gum,
+which proved to be a native well, and after clearing and digging deeper,
+afforded our thirst relief. The soil through which this well was sunk was
+a light alluvial deposit, based on sand six feet below the surface.
+Numerous native paths and deep holes, from which the warran root had been
+extracted, encircle this spot; some neighbouring huts of a superior
+structure gave us snug quarters for the night; Wizard Peak bearing South
+50 seconds East about a mile distant.
+
+At break of dawn we resumed our exploration. The morning was dull and
+cloudy, thermometer 59 degrees; on the previous day its greatest height
+had been 85 degrees. Two miles from our bivouac, we fell in with a recent
+native grave--a circular pit three yards in diameter, filled within a
+foot of the surface with sand, carefully smoothed over. Small sticks,
+some with red horizontal marks painted on them, and others scraped, with
+the shavings tastefully twisted round, ornamented the edge of the grave;
+a large semicircular fence fronted the south-east side; and the
+neighbourhood bore evidence, in the shape of several destroyed huts, of
+its having been deserted by the companions of the dead. After walking at
+least five miles, we again made the Chapman or Greenough, above a mile
+south of the point at which we before met it, and pursuing its usual
+course between South and South-South-West. The bed was still dry sand,
+but we found a small hole of brackish water in a hollow. Crossing, we
+continued our west direction, and were surprised to find ourselves again
+on the river; a line of red cliffs thirty feet high, forming the south
+bend, had changed its course to the northward. We subsequently again
+crossed two dry parts of it; from an elevation on the South-West side of
+the last, Mount Fairfax bore North 50 degrees East and Wizard Peak South
+58 degrees East.
+
+RECOGNITION BEND.
+
+Hitherto I had been in doubt whether this was the Chapman or Greenough of
+Captain Grey; but here finding that a branch trended southwards, I was
+convinced it was the latter, and gave this part the name of Recognition
+Bend, as it further led to my discovering that Captain Grey had mistaken
+the hills in Captain King's chart,* and that, therefore, his description
+of the country refers to another portion; and it is only justice to him
+to state, that considering he was travelling for his life, and the great
+hardships he endured, it is surprising how the information collected was
+obtained.
+
+(*Footnote. This error Captain Grey candidly acknowledged in the
+following letter to me, afterwards published by his authority in the
+South Australian Register.
+
+Government House, Adelaide, January 28th, 1842.
+
+My dear Sir,
+
+I have attentively read your letter to the Honourable the
+Surveyor-General of Western Australia; I have also considered the
+observations made by you to me, relative to the error you suppose I have
+fallen into in mistaking the Wizard Peak of Captain King for the hill
+named by him Mount Fairfax; and I find that I have certainly fallen into
+this error, a by no means unlikely one, considering the very similar
+character of the singular group of hills, called Moresby's Flat-topped
+Range, and the circumstances under which I was journeying. Consequently
+the country I have described as lying near Mount Fairfax, lies near some
+other hill to the north of Mount Fairfax, and the country I have
+described as lying near Wizard Hill lies near Mount Fairfax, being placed
+from ten to twelve miles south of its true latitude.
+
+The mistake arose thus: I carried Captain King's chart, and having only a
+Kater's compass with me, on recognizing what I considered to be Mount
+Fairfax, I assumed the latitude of that hill as laid down on the chart to
+be my true latitude, and made an entry in my journal accordingly.
+
+On substituting the name of Mount Fairfax for Wizard Hill, the
+description of the small portions of the country traversed by us in
+common, will be found to coincide almost exactly...I am, my dear Sir,
+yours faithfully, G. GREY.
+
+I need scarcely add, that Captain Grey having been obliged to assume his
+latitude, none of his positions, during this harassing journey, can be
+expected to be accurate.)
+
+MOUTH OF THE GREENOUGH.
+
+From this point we proceeded one mile west over a dry, arid plain,
+covered with yellow and white everlasting flowers of small growth: a
+little patch of woodland, consisting of a species of wattle and a very
+small kind of gum, here delayed our progress. The ground beneath these
+trees was entirely barren of vegetation; but emerging from them, we came
+upon the only piece of grass of a useful nature seen in the route; it
+was, however, quite parched, and occupied a space only of three or four
+acres. From thence to the coast dunes, to reach which we made a detour to
+the South-West walking over about six miles of country, all was scrub and
+sand. On the low ridge, lying immediately behind the coast range of
+sandhills, limestone occasionally cropped out. Embarking, we proceeded in
+a boat to examine a small estuary, seen from Mount Fairfax, at the
+northern part of the bay. This we found to be separated from the sea by a
+low bank of sand, thirty feet wide and five high, over which the sea
+appeared in gales to enter; but from the manner in which the sandhills
+overlapped at the mouth, it was not possible to detect the entrance from
+seawards. We landed and traced it for a mile in an east direction, until
+we proved it to be the mouth of the Greenough; the water was entirely
+salt, and the banks, in some places seventy feet high, were composed of
+limestone. Near the head of this estuary we discovered the place where
+Captain Grey crossed it, as described in the following extract from his
+notes communicated to Lord John Russell, then Secretary for the Colonies.
+
+CHARACTER OF COUNTRY.
+
+"The character of the country again changed, and for the next two miles
+and a half the plains were sandy, and covered with scrub. At the end of
+another mile we reached a river, about twenty-five yards wide; it was
+salt where we made it, and it was so shallow, that we soon found a place
+where, by jumping from rock to rock, we could cross it. This river
+discharged itself into a bay;* it ran rather from the South of East.
+[East of South?] Four miles further, South by East, were sandy plains,
+with scrub, etc."
+
+(*Footnote. This was doubtless Champion Bay; but in our examination of
+the coast, we did not see anything of the bay or harbour which Captain
+Grey speaks of in his work (volume 2 page 35) about nine miles north of
+the Greenough, and which he supposed to be Champion Bay, "since
+denominated," he says, "Port Grey." According to the true latitude of
+Champion Bay, the bay in question would be in about 28 degrees 38 minutes
+South or nearly twenty-two miles north of the position assigned to Port
+Grey in Arrowsmith's map, before alluded to.)
+
+Thus terminated our exploration of this part of the country, called, by
+Captain Grey, the Province of Victoria; and certainly all we had seen of
+it deserved the character of sterility, which in some measure it appears
+to retain further northward, as we learn from the report of Lieutenant
+Helpman, who has recently visited it in the colonial schooner Champion.
+We did not, on our route, fall in with any native, but on reaching the
+boat, found that a party of five men had approached the beach, and held
+friendly communication with Mr. Pasco, who, in exchange for a
+handkerchief or two, had obtained from them a hunger belt, composed of
+wallaby furs, a throwing stick, and a nose-piece of kangaroo bone. They
+were entirely naked, and slightly scarred, but were not smeared with the
+red pigment called wilgy, and had their hair knotted upon the crown of
+their head, like the natives of the neighbourhood of King's Sound.
+
+SAIL FROM CHAMPION BAY.
+
+On the morning of the 16th we were again on our way southwards, with,
+strange to say at that season of the year, westerly winds, which
+prevailed for the three succeeding days.
+
+KOOMBANAH BAY.
+
+After touching at Swan River (where, finding His Excellency the Governor
+still absent, an account of our cruise was left with the
+Surveyor-General) we reached Koombanah Bay on the 27th. Mr. Forsyth, whom
+I had sent overland, had completed the survey of this anchorage, and
+Leschenault Inlet, which it joins in the south corner by a narrow boat
+channel. The wreck of a large whale ship in the head of the bay shows the
+folly of attempting to ride out the winter gales to which it is exposed;
+but this may be remedied by a breakwater thrown out from Point Casuarina,
+of which nature has laid the foundation in the reef that extends out
+across the bay in the desired direction. The strong outset from the
+estuary during the rainy season materially lessens the strain upon the
+cables of ships caught there by a gale. The peculiarity in the formation
+of this neighbourhood consists in some basaltic columns on the coast
+close to Point Casuarina.
+
+We devoted the 28th to making observations,* etc.; and I was surprised to
+find that this part of the coast was laid down four miles too much to the
+northward.
+
+(*Footnote. These observations were made on the beach, midway between
+Point Casuarina and the mouth of the estuary, which spot they place in
+latitude 33 degrees 19 minutes 10 seconds South and longitude 0 degrees 7
+minutes 00 seconds West of Swan River. From a sandhill, 190 feet high,
+bearing South 11 degrees West, six-tenths of a mile from that spot, I
+found that the highest part of the Darling Range, Mount William, bore
+North 40 degrees 6 minutes East thirty-three miles, and was in height
+1720 feet; and that Mount Leonard, another excrescence on this range bore
+South 81 degrees 44 minutes East distant thirteen miles and seven-tenths,
+and was of an elevation of 1270 feet; whilst the summit of Cape
+Naturaliste bore South 65 degrees West and the visible extreme South 66
+degrees 50 minutes West which confirmed the error I had before remarked
+in the position assigned it in the chart, being four miles too far north.
+All the above bearings are true. The rise of the tide, and the time of
+high-water, are the same as at Swan River.
+
+ARRIVE AT SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
+
+Daylight, on the 29th, found us outside Koombanah Bay, running to the
+westward before a light land breeze. From the offing, this part of the
+western shore of the continent was much more prepossessing than any we
+had before seen. The outline of the Darling Range, here approaching
+within fourteen miles of the sea, and broken only by Mount Leonard and
+the gorge of the Harvey, was sharply pencilled against the eastern sky
+that glowed with the pure light of morning; whilst the country between
+was clothed with trees of such magnitude that their verdant summits could
+be seen, over the coast sandhills, stretching away in one sea of foliage
+as far as the eye could reach.
+
+The course we held led us within five miles of the north side of
+Naturaliste Reef,* in 29 fathoms; the depth we found sixteen miles west
+of it was 60 fathoms, and half a mile south of it 26 fathoms. It partakes
+of the error in latitude previously discovered in Cape Naturaliste, which
+is distant sixteen miles, and bears, when over the centre of it, South 2
+1/2 degrees West (true).
+
+(*Footnote. A circular patch of breakers half a mile in extent, with,
+according to report, six and nine feet water on it.)
+
+Being desirous of confirming our meridian distances along the south
+coast, we visited for the purpose King George's Sound and South
+Australia, at which latter place we arrived on the morning of January
+26th, 1842. Since our former visit, a change had taken place in the
+governorship of the colony; and though it was with great regret that we
+learnt Colonel Gawler had left for England, we were glad he had found a
+worthy successor in our brother explorer Captain Grey.
+
+His Excellency and the merchants expressing a wish that the Beagle should
+visit the port, no man of war having yet done so; and being anxious
+myself to examine the capabilities of the place, as well as to complete
+our survey of twenty-three miles of the eastern shore of Spencer's Gulf,
+on the afternoon of the 29th the Beagle was running into Port Adelaide.*
+The ladies of the Governor, the Surveyor-General, and others, honoured us
+with their presence on the passage round.**
+
+(*Footnote. Besides the light vessel off the bar at Port Adelaide, a
+flagstaff close to the southward at the pilot station serves to point out
+the entrance to strangers.)
+
+(**Footnote. I have already given some account of this port; and here,
+therefore, I need do no more than refer the reader to the accompanying
+chart.)
+
+PROPOSED RAILROAD.
+
+It was the examination I made on this occasion of Colonel Gawler's
+excellent road between the port and Adelaide, which convinced me that a
+portion of it might easily be converted into a railroad, as there is
+sufficient width for a single line of rails without detracting from its
+present value. That such an undertaking would prove of great advantage to
+the colony there can be no doubt; and it is equally certain that it would
+be profitable to those engaged in it. The exports and imports of South
+Australia are, year by year, rapidly increasing; and now that its vast
+mineral resources have been discovered, and are in progress of
+development, no bounds can be set to its probable wealth and prosperity.
+A railroad would be sure to attract a large amount of traffic even at
+present. As, however, the Port of Adelaide only admits vessels of
+moderate draught, large ships must discharge part of their cargo outside,
+or at Holdfast Roads; between which place and Adelaide a railroad might
+also be carried without any difficulty, there being a complete level the
+whole way.
+
+VISIT MOUNT BARKER.
+
+Being desirous of seeing a little more of this fertile part of the
+continent, I left Adelaide accordingly, after sunset, on January 31st,
+for Mount Barker,* and before sunrise next day visited its summit, nearly
+1700 feet high, in order, if possible, to obtain a view in the clear
+atmosphere of early morning of Lake Alexandrina, or Victoria, and the
+river Murray. In this, however, I was disappointed, the weather being
+hazy in that direction, so that nothing could be seen but the extensive
+scrub on the eastern side of the river, stretching away like a
+brown-coloured sea. Mount Barker, which may be recognised by a
+saddle-shaped hill to the south of it, lies about thirty miles South-East
+by East from Adelaide; the latter part of the road between is hilly; from
+its foot a strip of very rich land, about one mile wide and three long,
+extends to the south-west, in the direction of Willunga, on our way to
+which I noticed several similar blocks. Following the southerly course of
+the Finnis, at that time a dry rich flat, we entered a hilly picturesque
+country with deep fertile valleys. Tracks of wild cattle were numerous on
+the ridges, but we saw none, and were again disappointed by the haze that
+prevailed throughout the day, of a view of the surrounding country. In
+the evening we reached Willunga, distant thirty-five miles from Mount
+Barker; though sight-seeing had taken us, during the day, over fifty
+miles of country. This township is prettily situated at the western foot
+of the hills on a woodland slope, bordered by the waters of the Gulf, at
+a distance of about six miles.
+
+(*Footnote. Named after the unfortunate Captain Barker by his friend
+Captain Sturt.)
+
+ENCOUNTER BAY.
+
+Our party was to have been here joined by Governor Grey, who, however,
+did not arrive till late next morning; when, after examining the slate
+quarries in the neighbourhood, where the cleavage and quality equalled
+any I have seen in Wales, we left for Encounter Bay, bearing nearly
+south-east. The first three miles of the road lay over stony ridges; and
+the next eighteen traversed the worst part of the province, a sandy,
+scrubby, slightly undulating country, about five hundred feet above the
+sea. We were glad to find ourselves descending from this wearisome
+sterile tract upon some rich flats at the head of the river Hindmarsh,
+named after the first governor of the colony. These we followed four
+miles in a South-South-East direction, where meeting the river, its
+tortuous course led to the southward for about five miles. Where it joins
+the sea, in the north-western corner of Encounter Bay, a township, also
+named Hindmarsh, had been laid out, which will, doubtless, be a pleasant
+summer residence, as we felt a great change in the temperature; indeed
+the evening was quite bleak, with a moderate breeze from seaward.
+
+I was naturally much interested in this part of my journey, being anxious
+to see if the shelter here existing merited the name, given in the chart,
+of Victor Harbour; but the only protection, excepting for a small vessel
+in the north-west corner, and from northerly and westerly winds, is under
+a little island, where it is possible one or two vessels may lie. From
+Hindmarsh I saw the entrance of Lake Alexandrina, among some sandhills at
+the entrance of which Captain Barker was murdered by the natives; a
+circumstance which gave rise to the name of Encounter Bay, and attached a
+melancholy interest to the spot.
+
+NATIVE MODE OF FISHING.
+
+Here for the first time, I met a Murray River native among a party of
+others. He was certainly the finest Australian in make I had ever seen,
+being robust and stout, like a South Sea Islander. A German Missionary,
+who had a native school at Hindmarsh, took us to see a curious method of
+catching fish resorted to at this place, which, as it has not been
+noticed by Mr. Eyre, I shall describe. A party of natives, each provided
+with a large square piece of net, rolled up, with a stick at either end,
+swam out to a certain distance from shore, and spread themselves into a
+semicircle. Every man then relinquished one of the sticks round which his
+piece of net was rolled, to his right-hand neighbour, and received
+another from his left; when, bringing the two together, a great seine was
+formed. They now swam in, followed by other natives, who, by throwing
+stones and splashing the water, frightened the fish, and prevented them
+from getting out.
+
+VISIT RAPID BAY.
+
+Leaving Encounter Bay, we for some distance followed the left bank of the
+Inman, when the road turned off to the westward. The country was good in
+patches, till we made a cattle-station of Mr. Hacks, near Yankalilla Bay;
+when, instead of a succession of forested hills and dales, we passed over
+extensive treeless downs, contrasting strikingly in appearance with the
+woody country around. Here we pitched our tents for the night: and next
+morning were deprived of the company of His Excellency, who was obliged
+to return to Adelaide; whilst Messrs. Macfarlane, Burr, and myself, who
+were mounted from the station, went to Rapid Bay, lying about fifteen
+miles South-West by West. As there was some difficulty in catching the
+horses, it was 10 A.M. before we got away. I was by no means pleased with
+my mount; I had suspected that all was not right by an exchange of looks,
+I caught the overseer and stockman indulging in, as I threw my leg over
+as ugly a hammer-headed, standing-over brute as ever man crossed; but
+with the aid of a severe bit and a sharp pair of spurs I kept him alive,
+and he only came down twice during the journey, which, although over a
+very hilly country, was performed in four hours. After taking some
+refreshment, we started at 4 P.M. for Adelaide, distant nearly sixty
+miles.
+
+MOUNT TERRIBLE.
+
+We crossed the Myponga; and led our horses down a winding path on the
+almost precipitous side of Mount Terrible, well worthy its name, just as
+the sun was shedding his last rays over the waters of the Gulf, that
+stretched away westward, apparently, from our feet; the white sails of a
+coaster here and there dotting the blue expanse. Hitherto the road had
+been over a succession of hills and dales, with occasionally a patch of
+pretty scenery; but from the foot of Mount Terrible a level,
+lightly-timbered piece of country extended to the Unkaparinga, which we
+crossed, passing through the township of Noarlinga, on its north bank.
+
+After stopping to bait the horses, we continued our ride; but it was now
+so very dark that I lost all the beauty of this part of the country, and
+from the undulations in the road I could easily imagine that many a
+pretty glen was veiled from us by the darkness. Getting off the track, we
+became entangled among some high five-railed fences, from which we were
+extricated by the sagacity of my horse, belonging to the mounted police;
+on being given his head, he soon brought us back upon the road to
+Adelaide, where we arrived about midnight, having ridden, since 10 A.M.,
+nearly ninety miles. We had scarcely reached the town before a hot wind
+set in, which lasted forty-eight hours, when a squall from seaward
+relieved the gasping inhabitants: at one time the thermometer at the
+public offices was 158 degrees.
+
+SAIL FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
+
+We sailed from South Australia on February 7th, but it was not until the
+forenoon of the 9th that we cleared Backstairs Passage, passing half a
+mile from the reef fronting the east end of Kangaroo Island, in 16
+fathoms; the south-eastern part of this island is a steep rocky shore,
+with few sinuosities. Southerly winds brought us in sight of the land at
+daylight on the 11th. The most remarkable features were Mounts Gambier
+and Schanck; the summit of the latter, the least conspicuous, is flat,
+with a hollow in the centre. According to my observations, it is in
+longitude 10 degrees 29 minutes West of Sydney. The ship's position, just
+before dark, was ten miles North 65 degrees West from Cape Bridgewater,
+which is a hummocky cliff-faced point of land, separated from the main by
+a low neck.
+
+ARRIVE AT PORTLAND BAY.
+
+February 12.
+
+Finding ourselves still off this part of the coast, which was laid down
+three miles too much to the northward, I resolved, for the better means
+of determining this fact by observations on shore, to go to the nearest
+anchorage, Portland Bay, where we arrived in the evening. I had another
+object in visiting this place, namely, that of helping to determine the
+141st meridian, which had been fixed on as the western boundary of the
+colony of New South Wales.
+
+The approach to this anchorage is remarkable, and cannot escape the
+memory of anyone who has seen it; for the information of those who have
+not, I give a woodcut.*
+
+(*Footnote. Lawrence Isles lie off the point forming the south side of
+Portland Bay.)
+
+Our anchorage was in 7 fathoms, midway between the bluff on either side
+of the settlement, which we were surprised to find had already assumed
+the appearance of a town, lying in the western corner of the bay, on a
+sloping grassy bank.
+
+Here I met Mr. C.J. Tyers, government surveyor, who had laid out the
+township of Portland. As he had also made an accurate survey of the Bay,
+little remained for us except to test its qualities, which the prevalence
+of easterly winds gave us an opportunity of doing. They at first caused a
+little anxiety, as the anchorage was exposed in this quarter; but this
+feeling rapidly subsided on our discovering the excellence of the holding
+ground--mud with a coating of sand, out of which we had some difficulty
+in weighing our anchors.
+
+NEW SOUTH WALES BOUNDARY. SQUATTERS.
+
+At Portland I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Stephen
+Henty,* the leader of an enterprising family who had been the hardy
+pioneers of civilization, in discovering and laying open the fertile
+districts of this part of the continent, and under whose fostering care
+Portland has risen from a mere whaling station to its present prosperity.
+Such being the case, it is with regret that I am obliged to say that Mr.
+Henty received no consideration from Government when the land was put up
+for sale, being obliged to bid against the public for ground he had
+brought under notice, and spent years of labour in getting into
+cultivation.**
+
+(*Footnote. My observations refer to this gentleman's new house, which
+they place in latitude 38 degrees 20 minutes 45 seconds South and
+longitude 9 degrees 36 minutes 22 seconds West of Sydney, by satisfactory
+meridian distances to the latter place, and from South Australia.
+Preferring Mr. Tyers' difference of longitude by triangulation to the
+east entrance point of the Glenelg River, 37 minutes 29 seconds, which is
+1 minute 27 seconds more than his chronometric measurement; the mouth of
+the Glenelg will be 10 degrees 13 minutes 51 seconds West of Sydney. By
+Mr. Tyers' triangulation, calculated by Captain Owen Stanley from Port
+Phillip, Batman's Hill, with my longitude of the latter 6 degrees 16
+minutes 17 seconds West of Sydney, the Glenelg is West of Sydney 10
+degrees 14 minutes 02 seconds, which is 57 seconds less than Mr. Tyers'
+calculation. The longitude of Sydney, by different observers, ranges
+between 151 degrees 12 minutes 0 seconds and 151 degrees 17 minutes 0
+seconds; but, as I myself believe 151 degrees 16 minutes to be within a
+minute of the truth, the Glenelg will, accordingly, by my observations be
+in 141 degrees 02 minutes 09 seconds East and therefore within the New
+South Wales territory, the limit of which it had been supposed to mark.
+If the 141st degree had been selected as the boundary of the colony, with
+reference to the longitude of Sydney, there would not be much difficulty
+attending its determination.)
+
+(**Footnote. The squatter, who often at great risk locates himself in a
+remote spot, and renders such essential service to the mother country by
+finding new lands, yea new homes, for the surplus population, merits much
+greater encouragement than he receives, particularly in instances similar
+to that of Mr. Henty, whose station at Portland was, for years, hundreds
+of miles removed from other occupied parts. This gentleman's case makes
+it clear at once that something ought to be done for the squatter. His
+comfortable house and garden he was obliged to leave to make room for a
+street of the new township; but this would not have been very hard had he
+been given an allotment in lieu; which, however, as I have stated, was
+not done; and he was compelled to witness the labour of his hands
+entirely swept away, and found himself, after years of toil, placed
+exactly in the same position with those who came to enjoy the fruits of
+his enterprise.
+
+But the greatest hardship sustained by the squatter is the Special Survey
+system, according to which, anyone desirous to become a purchaser to the
+extent of twenty thousand acres may choose his land where he pleases. A
+party clubs together and finds out spots, that have been improved by
+squatters, with a view of purchasing them when able; many of these are
+often included in one special survey block: and even if the squatter is
+able to purchase the rich and hardly-won small patch he occupies, the
+special survey party, generally a knot of jobbers, have the preference.
+This is apparently for the benefit of the crown, twenty thousand pounds
+being thus added to the revenue under the pound per acre system; but it
+is certainly not advantageous to the country, as the large purchasers
+seldom buy for occupation, but for sale; and the smallholder, the
+squatter, is driven from the land in distress. I have seen instances of
+persons being utterly ruined in this way. My own opinion is, that the
+squatter ought to be allowed to purchase the land he occupies by private
+contract from government; or that an allowance should be made him,
+equivalent to his improvements.)
+
+The detention we had experienced afforded me an opportunity of visiting
+the country; and having just seen between two and three hundred miles of
+the Province of South Australia, I was glad of the chance of comparing
+these two parts of the continent. Accordingly, after making a series of
+magnetical observations, and others for the errors of the chronometers, I
+left Portland one morning in company with Mr. Tyers. Taking Mr. Henty's
+road to the northward we soon passed the rich land surrounding Portland,
+and entered a stringybark forest, eight miles in extent. Then crossing a
+heathy tract we came to the Fitzroy, distant fifteen miles from Portland.
+Here, as elsewhere, the presence of water improves the soil, for along
+the banks of the river there was some good land. This was also the case
+near a hill just beyond it, called Mount Eckersley. where I saw Sir
+Thomas Mitchell's initials cut in a tree at the time when he explored
+this country, and found to his surprise that Mr. Henty had a station in
+Portland Bay.
+
+EXCURSION INTO THE INTERIOR.
+
+With the exception of the flats near the Crawford, twenty miles from the
+Fitzroy, the road lies through a poor country, until it approaches Mr. J.
+Henty's station, fifteen miles further. Here we appeared to have turned
+our backs on the bad land; and entered a tract of country in which the
+herbage is so excellent that an acre is capable of feeding one sheep,
+whereas in other parts three or four are required.
+
+From a pointed hill, called the Sugarloaf, fifty-eight miles from
+Portland, I had an extensive view of this fertile district: the outlines
+of those magnificent mountains, the Victoria and Grampian ranges, that
+completed the distant part of the landscape, to the eastward, were
+distinctly defined against the clear morning sky; whilst, in the
+foreground, grassy round-topped hills, rose on either side of wide
+valleys sparingly dotted with trees, marking the course of the streams
+that meander through them, and the margin of the singular circular
+waterholes, with sides so steep as to render it necessary to cut through
+them to enable the cattle to drink, that were distributed around as if
+formed by art, rather than by nature. Westward, I saw the winding course
+of the Glenelg, and was told that some of the squatters had located
+themselves on its banks, and that others were even talking of stations
+(which they have since made) as far as the volcanic mountains, Schanck
+and Gambier, where there is some rich country, recently visited from
+Adelaide, by Governor Grey, who has discovered that the barrier of desert
+between New South Wales and South Australia, is less marked than was
+supposed; there being patches of good land intervening, so that at no
+very distant day, we may hope to see the whole of the coast, from Port
+Phillip to Spencer's Gulf, supporting a scattered white population.
+
+I noticed that there was a vast superiority in the soil on the north-west
+side of the hills; but saw none equal in richness to the five-mile patch
+at Mount Eckersley.
+
+The steep sides of a part of the valley of the Wannon, however, a few
+miles to the eastward of the Sugarloaf, are very fertile, and being
+clothed with patches of woodland, form extremely pretty scenery. The
+rocks of this part of the country are chiefly trappean; in the immediate
+neighbourhood of Portland, they consist of limestone, ferruginous
+sandstone, and trap.
+
+CAPE BRIDGEWATER.
+
+After having extended our ride to above seventy miles, we returned,
+having satisfied ourselves, from what we had seen and heard, that there
+was a greater extent of good land here, than at South Australia; though
+it was more scattered, and farther from the sea. On our way, we met a
+party of natives; and seeing a bundle of spears leaning against a tree, I
+rode up to examine them, but the owner instantly ran and seized them, in
+a manner that confirmed the report I had before heard, to the effect,
+that the settlers and the aborigines of this part, either through the
+mismanagement of the one, or the evil disposition of the other, are not
+on very good terms.
+
+February 17.
+
+I went this day to Cape Bridgewater, to make a sketch of the coast, and
+visit some caves lying four miles north of it. These we found to be from
+forty to fifty feet high, and of the same depth; the ceilings were
+encrusted with stalactites and the mouths overlooked some pretty
+freshwater lakes, three miles in extent separated from the sea by a
+narrow chain of sandhills; upon these were a few swans, and a black and
+white kind of goose, one of which Mr. Bynoe shot; it resembled the
+species we had seen flying over the Albert in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
+
+ARRIVE AT HOBART.
+
+February 20.
+
+A slight cessation of the easterly wind allowed us to leave Portland Bay
+in the morning; but scarcely had we got outside, when it blew strong
+again from the same quarter: accordingly, it being highly desirable that
+I should consult with His Excellency, Sir John Franklin, before we
+commenced the survey of Bass Strait, we proceeded direct to Hobart, where
+we arrived on the 26th. The latitude of the south-west cape was
+determined on the passage to be 42 degrees 35 minutes South: and a
+running survey was made of the south coast of Tasmania.
+
+Our stay in the Derwent, during which land and seabreezes prevailed,
+afforded me an opportunity of comparing our compasses at the magnetic
+observatory, established since our last visit by the Antarctic
+expedition, and left in charge of Lieutenant Key and Messrs. Dayman and
+Scott, officers belonging to it. This place His Excellency, who took part
+in the observations made there, named after the leader of the expedition,
+Ross Bank Observatory: I found it to be 20 seconds west, and 1 minute 10
+seconds, north of the Beagle's observation spot in Fort Mulgrave.
+
+Sir John Franklin, who has always taken great interest in the Beagle's
+voyage, testified every wish to afford me assistance: and in the most
+liberal manner placed at my disposal the colonial cutter, Vansittart, to
+assist in the survey of the Strait. Messrs. Forsyth and Pascoe were
+selected for the service, the former being in command. After giving the
+Vansittart a slight refit, and a few alterations which were expedited in
+a most praiseworthy manner by Captain Booth, commandant at Port Arthur,
+she was to proceed to the scene of operations near Banks Strait. In the
+meantime the Beagle sailed for Sydney to receive the stores we expected
+from England.
+
+ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES.
+
+March 10.
+
+This was our second day from the Derwent; but owing to the prevalence of
+North-East winds we had not made further progress than to be at noon,
+thirty miles east from Cape Pillar. The atmospheric changes during this
+day were curious. The morning broke hazy, with a moderate breeze from
+North-North-East, which gradually subsiding and veering at the same time
+to East-South-East, left us becalmed for three or four hours; thick
+impenetrable fogs meanwhile passed at intervals to the South-West; and
+whenever this obstruction to our vision was removed, could be seen a dark
+heap of clouds collecting, some of which detaching themselves passed
+rapidly over our heads. About three P.M. there was the sighing of a
+breeze from that quarter. The barometer, also, at this time, ceased
+falling and stood at 29.57, being as much as two-tenths lower than what
+it was an hour before, and having fallen since eight A.M. four-tenths.
+
+The rapid depression of the mercury was quite perceptible to the eye.
+Under reduced sail the ship, like the petrel with closed wing, waited the
+coming blast. A dense fog enveloped us; but an hour after the barometer
+had ceased falling, it lifted up and revealed a long sheet of hissing
+foam crowning the troubled waters that were rolling, urged by the
+tempest, tumultuously towards us from the south-west.
+
+RETURN TO SYDNEY.
+
+For a while the heavy reduced canvas still flapped with a lazy swag
+against the masts; but suddenly it was filled by a violent gust; and the
+Beagle was hurried swiftly onwards, careering over the waves like the
+misty spectre in a storm. Two hours after (six P.M.) the barometer had
+risen a tenth. We now expected our passage to Sydney to be short: but the
+ill luck of foul winds again attending us, it was the fifteenth before we
+arrived.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.13.
+
+Exploration of Interior.
+Twofold Bay.
+Survey of Bass Strait.
+Dangerous situation of the Beagle.
+Kent and Hogan Groups.
+Gipps Land.
+Wilson's Promontory.
+The Tamar.
+Eastern entrance of Strait.
+Steam communication between India and Australia.
+New Guinea.
+Straitsmen.
+North coast of Tasmania.
+Aborigines.
+Port Phillip.
+Directions for ships passing King Island.
+Complete survey of Bass Strait.
+Farewell to Sydney.
+Moreton Bay.
+The Comet.
+State of Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land.
+Lighthouses in Bass Strait.
+
+EXPLORATION OF INTERIOR.
+
+The most interesting topic of conversation on our arrival at Sydney was
+the projected expedition into the interior. Two candidates for this
+important and deeply interesting undertaking had presented
+themselves--Mr. E.J. Eyre and Sir Thomas Mitchell, both experienced
+Australian explorers. The latter proposed to start from Fort Bourke on
+the Darling; and the former from Moreton Bay. In my own humble opinion,
+strengthened by recent experience, neither of these are practicable
+routes;* or at any rate, they are not the best that could be selected.
+The centre of the continent must be reached by the shortest possible
+journey; it being advisable to avoid the despondency that seizes on a
+party during a protracted expedition, and to keep up throughout a certain
+degree of excitement. As, therefore, the greatest indentation on the
+shores of the continent is the Gulf of Carpentaria, the head of the
+Albert River, which discharges its waters into the bottom of it, is
+unquestionably the best point of departure that could be selected, being
+one-half the distance of Fort Bourke from the centre, and two-thirds
+nearer than Moreton Bay.
+
+(*Footnote. Whilst this sheet was going through the press, the report of
+our greatest Australian traveller, Captain Sturt, reached England;
+wherein he writes, speaking of his furthest (February 1845) in latitude
+28 degrees South and longitude about 141 degrees 22 minutes East having
+apparently entered the central desert, as follows: "I could see no change
+in the terrible desert to which I had penetrated. The horizon was
+unbroken by a single mound, from north round to north again, and it was
+as level as that of the ocean. My view to the north extended about eight
+miles, but I did not venture to compass that distance, only perhaps to
+have overlooked a similar heart-rending and desolate scene." This bears
+out the opinion expressed in the text. I do not hesitate, however, in the
+face of the interesting evidence brought forward by Captain Sturt, still
+to doubt the existence of an inland sea. I think the high temperature he
+experienced contradicts such an hypothesis; and I believe the large
+expanse of water, reported by the natives, to be the Gulf of Carpentaria,
+which bore about north (true) six hundred miles from his position,
+Moreton Bay being nearly equidistant on an east bearing, whilst Adelaide
+bore South by West 1/2 West about four hundred and thirty miles.
+
+SUGGESTED ROUTE.
+
+I have before recommended the use of camels, with skins for carrying
+water, in an undertaking of this kind; and I may here add, that they
+might be procured in the neighbourhood of the Gulf of Cutch,* which place
+the vessel should leave in the North-East monsoon, in time to have the
+latter end of the North-West monsoon to take her to the Gulf of
+Carpentaria, where at Sweers Island the final arrangements for
+disembarking, before alluded to,** could be made.
+
+(*Footnote. Camels are to be procured in this neighbourhood, when they
+are not required for war service, for about five pounds a head. Besides,
+the natives of that part are more easily to be obtained as attendants
+than Arabs.
+
+(*Footnote. See above.)
+
+In a country like Australia, with so varied a surface, it is certainly
+impossible to indicate with confidence anything beyond the point of
+departure for an exploring party. Their direction must, of course, depend
+on the country they find; but I think it may be said from the most
+recent, and I much fear melancholy, experience, that the routes from
+neither Moreton Bay nor Fort Bourke are practicable. That from the head
+of the Albert is, I believe, much superior, and I consider, after mature
+deliberation, that the plan I have recommended is at once the most
+expeditious and the most economical way of solving a question of daily
+increasing interest, and of removing an imputation on English enterprise
+which is daily becoming more serious.
+
+The other routes of exploration which appear to me both practicable and
+useful are from Halifax Bay to the Albert,* a distance of above four
+hundred miles, and from Limmens Bight to the Victoria, about three
+hundred. These will be found marked in the chart accompanying this work.
+
+(*Footnote. This route I suggested to his Excellency Sir George Gipps, in
+March, 1842.)
+
+TWOFOLD BAY.
+
+After leaving Sydney we had a succession of south-easterly gales, of
+three or four days' duration, and equal in severity to any we had
+experienced since leaving England. To avoid one from the westward we put
+into Twofold Bay;* a remarkable high-peaked hill, Mount Imlay, lying
+behind the head of it, bearing South-West 1/2 West, leads in.
+
+(*Footnote. This we found to be a very convenient anchorage; and the
+constant resort of coasters. From its proximity to the southern parts of
+the Manero country, it is likely to become a very thriving place, under
+the auspices of Mr. Boyd, who is erecting a town there. This gentleman, I
+am happy to say, employs the natives as part of the crew of his yacht;
+they are also constantly engaged in the boats of the whaling station,
+where their excellent eye renders them extremely useful in seeing and
+harpooning the fish; and being particularly well-disposed, they might he
+made something of.)
+
+I was surprised to find by my observations* here that this part of the
+coast is laid down ten miles too much to the eastward of Sydney, an error
+I subsequently found to be continued to Jervis Bay; so that the course
+from thence to Sydney, instead of being, according to the chart, North
+1/4 East magnetic is North by East, a fact that should be borne in mind
+by masters of vessels, until this part of the coast is properly surveyed.
+
+(*Footnote. Which placed Point Brierly in latitude 37 degrees 6 minutes
+40 seconds South, longitude 1 degree 18 minutes 18 seconds west of
+Sydney; or 149 degrees 57 minutes 42 seconds east of Greenwich, according
+to what I consider the meridian of Sydney.)
+
+The error I found in the position of Twofold Bay induced me to commence
+our survey there, for the purpose of ascertaining the position of Cape
+Howe," which I discovered to be rather more out in longitude; while the
+islet, instead of lying off it, lies four miles to the south-west.
+
+(*Footnote. This Cape, in latitude 38 degrees 31 minutes 00 seconds South
+and longitude 1 degree 14 minutes 15 seconds West of Sydney, although
+rather low, is of bold approach, and admirably situated for a lighthouse.
+Others erected on Montague Island and Point Perpendicular, would light
+the whole coast as far as Sydney.)
+
+FLINDERS ISLAND.
+
+Leaving, we again spent several days under a close-reefed main-topsail
+and a reefed fore-sail; but at length reached an anchorage on the eastern
+shore of Flinders Island within the north-east side of a granitic lump
+called Babel Islet. The flood tide came from the north-east at this
+anchorage, which can only be used in easterly winds. There is a curious
+dome on the inner side of Babel, which is connected by a sandy spit with
+the large island. Within the eastern point of the latter are the
+remarkable pyramidal hills, called the Patriarchs, rising out of a
+scrubby plain, much cut up with lagoons, which forms the character of
+this side of Flinders. We were enabled to fix the eastern shore of the
+island, from Babel Islet and the outer Patriarch, whence the view was
+commanding. A range of bare-topped hills lies to the west, whilst to the
+south-west, through a mass of clouds, we occasionally caught glimpses of
+some high peaks, which I named after my friend Count Strzelecki. A heathy
+valley stretches across the island to the westward, through which I saw
+the sea on the opposite side; on the northern part the hills are more
+rounded and lower.
+
+TO KENT GROUP.
+
+From Babel Islet we proceeded towards Kent Group, passing, in 11 or 12
+fathoms, along the eastern shore of Flinders Island, where we discovered
+a dangerous sandy spit extending five miles off; from its extreme the
+eastern part of the outer Sister bore North 64 degrees West, six miles
+and a half. After rounding the latter the wind changed in a violent
+squall to the westward, and gave us a long beat of a day to reach Kent
+Group, during which we discovered a reef,* just awash at high-water, and
+bearing East 8 degrees South, five miles and a half from Wright's Rock.**
+
+(*Footnote. Beagle's Reef.)
+
+(**Footnote. A pyramidal lump, three hundred feet high, resembling a
+cutter under sail.)
+
+This, Endeavour Reef, and a sunken rock, about a mile east of Craggy
+Island, constitute the chief dangers between Kent Group and Flinders. The
+extremes are marked to the north and south by Wright's Rock and Craggy
+Island, between which ships should not pass, although there is a channel
+close to the south side of the former. It should also be particularly
+borne in mind that the tides, which here sometimes run two knots, set
+rather across the channel South-West by South and North-East by North.
+The north-easterly stream beginning a quarter before noon at the full and
+change of the moon.
+
+DANGEROUS SITUATION
+
+The Beagle passed half a mile from the north-west side of Wright's Rock,
+in 29 fathoms, in the evening; and having spent the night standing
+to-and-fro between it and Kent Group, in the morning was abreast of the
+opening between the islands called Murray Pass, when we steered towards
+it. The weather, for the season, was fine; and the sun, although weak,
+shone brightly from a clear wintry sky--it well-nigh happened for the
+last time--upon the poor old Beagle!
+
+The sea, still vexed and chafing from the breeze of yesterday, rolled in
+with solemn grandeur on the storm-beaten sides of the islands; each
+heaving swell carrying the ship nearer towards the almost fatal opening.
+Her motions, however, as if she was conscious of the fate that threatened
+her, were sluggish and slow, and she seemed unwillingly to obey the
+impulse of the light southerly breeze that aided her progress. Indeed
+there appeared to be an opposing tide until we drew in between the high
+rocky sides of the channel, when suddenly the ship was hurried onwards
+with such rapidity that to prevent our being swept past a cove on the
+right it was necessary to close with its outer point, towards which a
+merciless eddy flung the ship's head so rapidly, that before the
+thrown-aback sails checked her way, her jib-boom was almost over the
+rocks.* During the few awful moments that succeeded, a breathless silence
+prevailed; and naught was heard but the din of waters that foamed in fury
+around, as if impatient to engulf us in their giddy whirl. Still, it must
+be confessed, that our hearts sickened within at the thought that our
+little bark, after having braved so many storms, and done so much good
+service to the state, might be left to whiten a foreign shore with her
+timbers. Providence, however, decreed it should be otherwise; and the
+next moment the Beagle's head was slowly paying off from the shore. But
+her broadside becoming exposed to the swell, she was again driven in
+towards the point, and so close, that before the well-trimmed sails gave
+her way, as her stern went down with the swell, the assurance that she
+must strike, pervaded every shuddering frame. To myself, the sensation
+was just as if my feet were under the keel; and I almost expected to feel
+the bones crushing. Still we clung to hope, which can find a place even
+in the narrowest interval of danger; and our eyes and hearts were lifted
+up in supplication to Him who had already so miraculously reprieved us.
+Scarcely, however, had the prayer been formed and preferred, when the
+peril was past: in the course of an hour we were safely moored in East
+Cove, Kent Group.
+
+(*Footnote. See the view annexed.)
+
+LIGHTHOUSE HILL.
+
+In this wild and confined anchorage we were detained by constant westerly
+gales for a fortnight, during the whole of which there was only one
+really clear day, when I got angles to all the distant points from a hill
+near the south-east extreme of the group, nine hundred and ten feet high
+and quite precipitous on its seaward face. We named it Lighthouse Hill,
+its admirably conspicuous situation suggesting the purpose to which it
+might be devoted; the materials for building, moreover, are all at hand.
+
+DEAL ISLAND.
+
+The principal islands of Kent Group have been named Deal and Erith; they
+occupy a square of four miles, and are separated by Murray Pass, a
+channel half a mile wide. Conical granitic hills, in some cases clothed
+to their very summits with an impervious scrub, are scattered over them.
+On Deal, the eastern isle, there are charred stumps of a few large
+eucalypti: but otherwise the trees are small, the largest being a few
+casuarinas over the head of East Cove. The valleys on the north side are
+rich; and in one leading from Garden Cove we found a quantity of fine
+carrots, planted by some sealers; their seed had been carried by the wind
+until the whole valley was filled with them; fresh water also is abundant
+on that side of Deal Island; and as limestone crops out at the head of
+East Cove, a small party of convicts might be kept here and
+advantageously employed in erecting the lighthouse and cultivating the
+soil. By holding out to them a slight reward, many of the islands in Bass
+Strait might be brought under cultivation, and supply grain, potatoes,
+etc., for the consumption of the prisoners in Tasmania. This plan of
+dispersing the convicts would also be beneficial in producing a change
+for the better in themselves; for whilst together they are certainly more
+likely to brood mischief.
+
+ERITH ISLAND.
+
+Besides East Cove there are others on the north-east and south-east sides
+of Deal Island; whilst on Erith there is only one called West Cove, in
+the north part of Murray Pass; it is subject to violent gusts that do not
+reach East Cove.
+
+The formation of this group is a little singular, the calcareous
+limestone on Deal occurring two hundred feet above the sea and between
+granite; whilst on Erith vesicular lava was found. These islands are
+connected with Flinders by a sand ridge, on which the depth is 28 and 30
+fathoms; but the islets and rocks between would appear, from the evidence
+of upheaval we have just cited, to be elevated portions of a submerged
+piece of land about to disclose itself.*
+
+(*Footnote. The observations on the tides at these islands make the time
+of high-water on the full and change of the moon a quarter past eleven,
+when it rises eight feet. The stream in Murray Pass, which runs from two
+to five knots, changes to the northward twenty minutes after high-water.)
+
+In a valley behind East Cove there was a stream of water, which strange
+to say was quite salt and came from the middle of the island. In the same
+neighbourhood I turned loose about a dozen rabbits for the benefit of any
+unfortunate voyagers who might be thrown hungry ashore in this locality.
+During the few days that we were there they appeared to thrive very well,
+and I have no doubt that if not disturbed the island will soon be overrun
+with them, there being no wallabies to offer molestation.
+
+HOGAN GROUP.
+
+We were not sorry to find ourselves one fine morning turning our backs on
+the scene of one of the Beagle's many narrow escapes; so favourable did
+the weather continue, that, although in the first week in June, we were
+able to pass both the following nights at anchor in the middle of the
+strait;* on the first occasion between the Devil's Tower and Curtis's
+Island;** and on the second, five miles to the southward of Hogan Group.
+
+(*Footnote. I gladly seized these opportunities of ascertaining exactly
+the set of the tides. At the first anchorage they ran East-North-East and
+South-East only from half to a quarter of a knot, the latter beginning
+half an hour before low-water at Kent Group; at the second the tide set
+North-East by East, one knot, and South-South-West a knot and a half; the
+southerly stream began one hour and a half after low-water at Kent Group:
+on both occasions there was a light westerly wind.
+
+(**Footnote. The central position of this island renders it quite a
+finger-post for ships passing through the Strait. It has at the south end
+a square summit 1060 feet high, in latitude 39 degrees 28 minutes 20
+seconds South, and longitude 4 degrees 33 minutes 45 seconds West of
+Sydney; towards the north it slopes away something in the shape of a
+shoe, from which it is called by the sealers The Slipper. Two sugarloaf
+rocks, each 350 feet high, lie two miles and a half off its southern
+end.)
+
+I landed on the largest island;* which I found to be a mile and a half in
+extent, inhabited by a number of dogs left by sealers, that had become
+quite wild; in a cave on the south-east point were some fur seals. Two
+small islets front a boat-cove on the north-east side, where there is
+fresh water; and outside these there is a rock just awash. The summit of
+the large island was a most important station; and with Lighthouse Hill
+at Kent Group, formed an astronomical base for the survey.
+
+(*Footnote. The highest point I found to be in latitude 39 degrees 13
+minutes 04 seconds South, and longitude 4 degrees 13 minutes 15 seconds
+west of Sydney; and 430 feet high.)
+
+CORNER INLET.
+
+From Hogan Group we stood to the northward, and were able to pass another
+night at anchor six miles from a low sandy shore, and fourteen to the
+eastward of Corner Inlet, which we found on examination had a bar
+extending off six miles from the entrance, on which at low tide there is
+water for vessels drawing sixteen and eighteen feet. A group of islets,
+named from their utility Direction Isles, lies in the fairway, a few
+miles outside the bar.
+
+During the examination of this great useless sheet of water, the ship lay
+near a small islet close to the Promontory about seven miles from the
+entrance, which, from the abundance of rabbits, we called Rabbit Island;*
+I have since learnt that these animals had multiplied from a single pair
+turned loose by a praiseworthy sealer six years before; and the sight of
+their number did not a little encourage me to expect a similar result
+from the gift I had bestowed on Kent Group.
+
+(*Footnote. The outer extreme of this island, in one with Cape
+Wellington, forms a leading mark into Corner Inlet, but vessels should
+get them on within a mile of the island. These marks are of use until the
+eastern and highest of the Direction Isles opens out just clear of the
+others, when by keeping it in that position, or steering for the middle
+of the entrance, a ship may be taken safely in. The tide rises eight feet
+at springs, when the time of high-water is twenty minutes before noon.)
+
+GIPPS' LAND.
+
+From the highest hill on the south-eastern point I had obtained a most
+excellent view of Corner Inlet, which bore a great resemblance to a
+basin. I have before called it useless, from its being only navigable a
+mile or two within the entrance and that chiefly on the northern side,
+the rest being occupied by mud flats. It was a bitter cold day; but
+between the sleet squalls I was able to trace the coast westward as far
+as Cape Liptrap over the low neck connecting Wilson's Promontory with the
+main, and forming the south-western shore of Corner Basin; and eastward
+beyond Shallow Inlet,* where the Clonmel steamer was lost. About six
+miles to the north-east the masts of some vessels pointed out the
+approach to Alberton. The intervening space was filled with islands and
+mud banks; which character the shore appeared to retain further eastward,
+being fronted by a margin of low sandy land, sometimes broken by the
+pressure of the sea from without or of the waters from within, when the
+streams that add to the fertility of Gipps' Land are swollen by the
+melting of the snows on the Australian Alps.
+
+(*Footnote. Vessels bound to Alberton, the capital of Gipps' Land,
+generally pass through this inlet, but as the water is shallow, and
+breaks across the entrance, if there is any swell, it is more prudent to
+enter by Corner Inlet, and take the second opening on the right within
+the entrance.)
+
+STRZELECKI.
+
+To commemorate my friend Count Strzelecki's discovery of this important
+and valuable district, which he named in honour of His Excellency the
+Governor, I called the summit of a woody range 2110 feet high, over the
+north shore of Corner Inlet, Mount Fatigue.* The only vegetation this
+part of the promontory supports is a wiry grass, stunted gums and
+banksias in the valleys, and a few grass-trees near the crests of the
+hills which are generally bare masses of granite. Behind a sandy beach on
+the east side beneath where I stood were sinuous lines of low sandhills,
+remarkable for their regularity, resembling the waves that rolled in on
+the shore.
+
+(*Footnote. It was in the rear of this range that Count Strzelecki and
+his companions, on their way to Western Port, experienced the sufferings
+related in the Port Phillip Herald, June 1840, from which I extract the
+following: "The party was now in a most deplorable condition. Messrs.
+MacArthur and Riley and their attendants had become so exhausted as to be
+unable to cope with the difficulties which beset their progress. The
+Count, being more inured to the fatigues and privations attendant upon a
+pedestrian journey through the wilds of our inhospitable interior, alone
+retained possession of his strength, and although burdened with a load of
+instruments and papers of forty-five pounds weight, continued to pioneer
+his exhausted companions day after day through an almost impervious
+tea-tree scrub, closely interwoven with climbing grasses, vines, willows,
+fern and reeds. Here the Count was to be seen breaking a passage with his
+hands and knees through the centre of the scrub; there throwing himself
+at full length among the dense underwood, and thus opening by the weight
+of his body a pathway for his companions in distress. Thus the party inch
+by inch forced their way; the incessant rains preventing them from taking
+rest by night or day. Their provisions, during the last eighteen days of
+their journey, consisted of a very scanty supply of the flesh of the
+native bear or monkey, but for which, the only game the country afforded,
+the travellers must have perished from utter starvation...On the
+twenty-second day after they had abandoned their horses, the travellers
+came in sight of Western Port.")
+
+SEALER'S COVE.
+
+Water and fuel are abundant on the point abreast of Rabbit Island.
+Southward from this projection a sandy beach extends five miles, with a
+rivulet at either end, and separated from a small deep bay* open to the
+east, by a remarkable bluff, the abrupt termination of a high-woody
+ridge. The trees on the south-west side were large and measured eight
+feet in diameter. In the humid shelter they afforded the tree and a
+variety of other kinds of fern were growing in great luxuriance, with a
+profusion of creepers matted together in a dense mass of rich foliage.
+From thence southwards the shore is rocky and the water deep.
+
+(*Footnote. This bay is evidently Sealer's Cove in the old charts; but
+this part of the Strait is so much in error that it is hardly possible to
+recognize any particular point.)
+
+REFUGE COVE.
+
+Refuge Cove, lying seven miles South 1/4 West from Rabbit Island, was our
+next anchorage. It was so named from its being the only place a vessel
+can find shelter in from the eastward on this side of the Promontory. Of
+this we ourselves felt the benefit; for although in the middle of June
+east winds prevailed the first few days we stayed there, with thick hazy
+weather, whilst at Rabbit Island we had constant westerly gales with a
+great deal of hail and sleet. This small cove, being only a cable wide at
+the entrance may be recognized by Kersop Peak, which rises over the south
+part, and from its lying between Cape Wellington and Horn Point,* and
+also from its being the first sandy beach that opens north of the former.
+
+(*Footnote. This projection has two pointed hummocks on it resembling
+horns.)
+
+Such of us as had been in Tierra del Fuego were particularly struck with
+the resemblance of the scenery in Refuge Cove; the smooth quiet sand
+beaches, and dense forests reaching the water's edge, the mist-capped
+hills, and the gusts that swept down the valleys and roared through the
+rigging, forcibly recalled to our recollection that region of storms.
+
+We found a whaling establishment in the south-east corner,* and the
+houses for the boats and their crews formed quite a little village. The
+person in charge, with one or two others, remains during the summer.
+These people had a novel safeguard against the attacks of the natives: a
+horrible looking figure, dressed so as to represent the evil spirit, of
+which the Australian aborigines are so much afraid, was placed in a
+conspicuous place; but whether it would have had the desired effect was
+not proved, as the natives had never been seen in those parts. There can,
+indeed, be little to tempt them to wander thither; for there are neither
+kangaroos nor wallabies, and but few birds. Among the most curious of
+those belonging to the land, is a kind of finch, with a black head,
+yellow beak, a dark brown back, and dirty white belly; across the wings
+and arching over the back, at the stump of the tail, was a stripe of
+white.
+
+(*Footnote. Our observations made this spot in latitude 39 degrees 02
+minutes 30 seconds South, and longitude 4 degrees 44 minutes 45 seconds
+West of Sydney. High-water on the full and change of the moon, takes
+place at 12 hours 5 minutes when the tide rises eight feet; a mile in the
+offing the northern and ebb stream, which runs from one to two knots,
+begins at 11 hours 40 minutes. Past the south end of the promontory the
+same stream sweeps round from the westward, sometimes at the rate of two
+knots and a half.)
+
+WATERLOO BAY.
+
+Cape Wellington, the eastern projection of the Promontory, forms the
+north point of Waterloo Bay, which is wide and spacious. These names were
+suggested by the fact that the day of our anchoring there was the
+anniversary of one of the greatest triumphs ever achieved by British
+arms. At the head of the bay, lies the low valley, three miles in length,
+which stretches across the promontory and forms a very conspicuous break
+in the high land. On the northern side of it, the highest hill, Mount
+Wilson, rises abruptly until its woody crest reaches an elevation of 2350
+feet. On the southern, was a ridge strewn over with immense boulders of
+granite, one, near where I stood, measuring eighty feet in height, and
+resting with such apparent insecurity, that little seemed required to
+send it rolling and crashing into the valley below, along which a rivulet
+winds, and falls into the sea at the north end of a sandy beach, forming
+the head of Waterloo Bay. The depth in the middle of the latter is 12
+fathoms, muddy bottom; it lies four miles from the south end of the
+Promontory, and there is no good anchorage between.
+
+SAIL FOR PORT DALRYMPLE.
+
+From a small flattened sugarloaf, forming the summit of Cape Wellington,
+I got an angle to the Crocodile Rock,* and with others from the
+south-west end of the Promontory, and from the ship on passing, I
+determined the position of this danger most satisfactorily.
+
+(*Footnote. This rock, in latitude 39 degrees 21 minutes 30 seconds
+South, and longitude 4 degrees 41 minutes 45 seconds West of Sydney, lies
+in a line midway between the western extremities of Curtis and Rodondo
+Islands, nearly nine miles from each. It is a smooth round-topped granite
+boulder, just protruding above the surface; and in fine weather the sea
+runs over it without breaking. The depth being 43 fathoms close to it, if
+the waters of the Strait were drawn off the shape of it would be that of
+a column nearly 260 feet high.)
+
+As we had not, as I expected, met the Vansittart, I was anxious to learn
+something of her, and crossing over to the south side of the Strait, for
+the purpose, entered Port Dalrymple, where I found that Mr. Forsyth and
+his party had preceded our arrival by a day or two. The Vansittart's
+employment had been the examination of the north-east extreme of
+Tasmania, some portions of which were found to be nine miles out in
+latitude; the greater part was fronted with kelp and rocky patches. The
+work, also, included a portion of Banks' Strait, and the southern part of
+the western side of Flinders Island, among the islets fronting which were
+discovered several good anchorages: the best in westerly winds being
+under Goose or Western Chappell Island, where a lighthouse was in course
+of construction.
+
+YORK TOWN.
+
+His Excellency, Sir John Franklin, requesting that I would send the
+Vansittart round to Macquarie Harbour, on the west coast, after a party
+of runaway convicts, we were for a time deprived of her services. As the
+rise of the tide in the Tamar was sufficient for laying the ship ashore,
+I took the opportunity of doing so on the west bank, just above Garden
+Island, to examine her bottom, and found it so defective that 130 sheets
+of copper were required to make good the damage; in some places the
+two-inch sheathing was completely destroyed. The original settlement,
+York Town, was at the head of a shoal bight just above us; I found it
+almost quite in ruins, though there were one or two of the original
+settlers there; the chief part of the inhabitants were a lawless set, who
+were said to live, chiefly, by plunder.
+
+LAUNCESTON.
+
+Whilst the ship underwent these repairs, the triangulation was extended
+to Launceston,* at the head of the Tamar, thirty miles from the sea.
+Large vessels are prevented from approaching close to the town by a bar.
+The greatest difficulty found in navigating the river is Whirlpool Reach;
+near the middle of this lies a rock, an attempt to remove which, by
+blasting, was made; the top was blown off, so that now vessels are liable
+to be carried upon it, whereas, before, when it broke the surface, such
+was not the case.
+
+(*Footnote. The latitude of the Port office I found to be 41 degrees 26
+minutes 5 seconds South longitude 4 degrees 42 minutes 24 seconds West of
+Sydney. High water 3 hours 35 minutes; springs rise 12 feet. During the
+winter, after rains, the stream sets down for days together at the rate
+of from one to three knots.)
+
+The valley, through which the Tamar winds, is narrow, with sides
+generally steep and densely wooded; in some places, the reaches are wide,
+and the hills recede; on their lower slopes, near Launceston, are
+situated many pretty villas, peeping through garden shrubberies; whilst
+further down are the straggling habitations of the more recent settlers,
+surrounded by clear patches, with difficulty won from the forest by the
+axe and the firebrand. On the whole, therefore, it may be said that art
+and nature combine to render beautiful the scenery on the banks of this
+important stream.
+
+The first view of Launceston, the second town in Tasmania, is very
+pretty. The valley of the river expands as you approach, and over a low
+tract of land on the east bank, the straggling mass of buildings forming
+the town is descried. Though very healthy it lies on a kind of flat,
+backed with open woodland undulations at the junction of the North and
+South Esks; and, during the winter, is subject to fogs so dense that many
+persons well acquainted with the town frequently lose themselves. Where
+the streams unite, they become the Tamar, one of the principal rivers in
+Tasmania. At the distance of half a mile from the confluence, the North
+Esk makes a by no means insignificant waterfall. This forms one of the
+first sights to which strangers arriving at Launceston are conducted, by
+a path which, winding along the face of a precipice, suddenly brings the
+cataract in sight, tumbling and roaring over the rocks into the pool,
+which seethes like a cauldron below, and sends up a steaming mist into
+the air. From the waters of the South Esk, the country around Launceston
+derives its fertility; and perhaps there is no part of our southern
+colonies that more resembles England. The number of gentlemen's seats,
+before alluded to, thickly scattered over an undulating country cleared
+of all timber, save a few monumental trees, and well cultivated, strongly
+suggested thoughts of home.
+
+GEORGE TOWN.
+
+When the weather permitted, the boats were employed in continuing the
+survey of Port Dalrymple. Observations were made at the flagstaff in
+George Town,* which we found to be in latitude 41 degrees 6 minutes 20
+seconds South and longitude 4 degrees 23 minutes 44 seconds West of
+Sydney; variation 9 3/4 East. This place is only a straggling village,
+situated on the east bank, about three miles and a half from the mouth of
+the Tamar, upon a flat, forming the north side of a snug cove at the
+western foot of a group of conical hills; on one of them is a signal
+station, by means of which, with another intervening, communication is
+kept up with Launceston.
+
+(*Footnote. The geological formation in the neighbourhood of this place
+will be found in Volume 1.)
+
+CRAGGY ISLAND.
+
+The entire month of July was occupied by the repairs of the ship, and the
+surveying operations; when we sailed from the Tamar and examined the
+passage at the eastern entrance of the strait, between Craggy Island and
+Flinders, which we found perfectly free from danger--a fact of great
+importance, as it had, hitherto, been reported full of sunken rocks. The
+Beagle passed a mile and a half from the south side of Craggy Island in
+25 and 28 fathoms. This passage has a depth of 26 and 27 fathoms, and is
+six miles wide, whilst between Wright's Rock and Kent Group the width is
+nearly eleven miles. There appears, by the ripplings, to be foul ground
+between Craggy Island and Endeavour Reef, and the space intervening has,
+accordingly, been marked as one shoal in the chart.
+
+THE BEAGLE ORDERED HOME.
+
+Leaving the eastern entrance of the strait, we ran up to Sydney, for the
+supplies that had not arrived from England on our last visit; we now
+found them waiting for us, together with orders for the Beagle to return
+to England. Fortunately, however, the survey of Bass Strait was in such a
+forward state, thanks to Sir John Franklin's kind assistance in lending
+the Vansittart, that I could take upon myself the responsibility of
+waiting a few months to complete it.* I was, however, compelled by the
+brief interval of time allowed me, and the urgent demand that existed for
+a correct chart of the whole strait, to work on a smaller scale than I
+could have wished. It seemed to me that detached portions on a very large
+scale would be of far inferior utility to a complete survey on a
+comparatively small one.
+
+(*Footnote. This step was approved of by the Commander in chief.)
+
+It was not, however, my being prevented from completing Bass Strait in
+the manner most satisfactory to myself that occasioned the greatest part
+of the regret that accompanied this summons for the old Beagle to wend
+her way homewards; for we were thus also deprived of the opportunity of
+gratifying our desire to explore the southern parts of New Guinea, which
+we had always looked forward to as one of the most interesting parts of
+our voyage, containing elements of excitement sufficient to cheer the
+hearts that were yearning for home, and a character of novelty that would
+have amply compensated for whatever fatigue and exertion we might have
+experienced. On many occasions, during the heavy and monotonous part of
+our labours, the anticipated delights of discovery refreshed our
+imaginations and elevated our spirits, imparting to our most irksome
+occupations an interest that did not belong to them, but was borrowed
+from those hoped-for scenes of adventure on the unvisited shores of New
+Guinea to which we believed that each dull day's hard work brought us
+nearer. But it was not destined to be our lot to add any more new lands
+to the geography of this part of the world; and H.M.S. Fly and Bramble
+had been commissioned at home for surveying service in Australasia. This
+expedition, under the command of Captain F.P. Blackwood, arrived at
+Sydney on the 10th of October, whilst we were there, and sailed soon
+after our departure, to commence tracing the outer Barrier Reefs, a
+service attended with no ordinary risk, but which has been happily
+completed, and a beacon erected to show vessels the best entrance,
+without a mishap.
+
+Since the early part of this work was written this valuable addition to
+the survey of New Holland has induced an enterprising master of a
+merchant vessel to try the eastward passage through Torres Strait. As a
+proof of the practicability of this route I may state, that the above
+vessel passed through Torres Strait in January, went to Sydney, and
+returned for another cargo to Ballytown, in Allas Strait, by the May
+following. This passage, an account of which has been published in the
+Nautical Magazine, was made through the Barrier Reef by Captain
+Blackwood's Beacon on Raines Islet; but as this is out of the limits of
+the westerly monsoon, a better passage, doubtless, would have been
+effected by following a more northerly route, as recommended by Captain
+Blackwood.*
+
+(*Footnote. See Nautical Magazine for December 1845.)
+
+STEAM COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INDIA AND AUSTRALIA.
+
+With reference, however, to the anticipated steam communication* between
+India and Australia, which will bring Sydney within nearly sixty days of
+England, I think with Captain Blackwood that steamers should at all times
+use Captain King's inner route;** and much of the delay occasioned by
+anchoring at night would be obviated by cautiously approaching, at
+reduced speed, the reefs, the position of which might be distinguished by
+means of a powerful light at the vessel's head or bowsprit end; when a
+course might be shaped for the next and so on. As the smooth water within
+the shelter of the Great Barrier Reefs affords facilities for steering
+with great nicety, a steamer, with care, might effect a saving of fuel as
+well as time by passing through Torres Strait without anchoring.
+
+(*Footnote.  Steam communication between Sydney and Singapore would
+require three vessels of six hundred tons, one of which should leave
+Sydney and Singapore on the 1st of each month. Their engines should be of
+200 horse-power, and furnished with tubular boilers, which consume a
+fifth less fuel than the others; they must carry at the least 200 tons,
+which, at the rate of 14 tons per diem, is sufficient for fourteen days
+fullspeed steaming, in which time, at the rate of 7 knots an hour, 2,352
+miles will have been traversed, which is about 100 miles more than the
+distance between Sydney and Port Essington, and about 420 miles more than
+between the latter place and Singapore. This clearly shows that Port
+Essington is, as I have before stated, the best place for a coal-depot;
+and that one there would suffice for the whole line of communication. As,
+moreover, it is necessary that such a station should have protection
+against the natives, it further enhances the value of the settlement at
+Port Essington. This depot might be economically made, from the cheapness
+and abundance of coals in New South Wales; and the number of ships that
+are constantly passing Port Essington in ballast would be glad of the
+freight so far. The cost of steam vessels of the size mentioned would be
+about 20,000 pounds, if built of wood, and 16,000 pounds, if of iron; and
+the annual expense of running one would be between 3,000 and 4000
+pounds.)
+
+(**Footnote. On this inshore track steamers would be able to replace with
+wood any deficiency in their fuel. I take this opportunity of saying that
+vessels carrying troops from Sydney to India should be compelled to use
+it, the chances of the loss of life being much less. On one occasion a
+ship called the Ferguson sailed from Sydney with part of a regiment,
+whilst we were there. The master ridiculed the advice given him by one of
+the Beagle's officers, to take the inner passage. The next news we heard
+of her was, that she had been wrecked on the outer Barrier at four in the
+morning; no observation having been taken since the previous noon, by
+which they might have found a current drifting them to the northward.
+Fortunately, another ship was in company, and saved the loss of life, but
+that of property was great. The fact that the lives of so many souls
+should be placed at the mercy of careless masters of ships, who run such
+risks, in spite of the warnings of experience, deserves the serious
+attention of Government.)
+
+NEW GUINEA.
+
+The part of New Guinea above alluded to, which had often afforded us the
+materials of interesting speculation, also formed part of the survey of
+Captain Blackwood, who writes as follows: "On the coast of New Guinea we
+found a delta of fine rivers, and a numerous population, all indicating a
+rich and fruitful country. It is true that we found the inhabitants very
+hostile; but it must be considered that we were the first Europeans that
+they had ever seen; and I have no doubt that, on a further acquaintance,
+and convinced of our power, they might be easily conciliated. Their
+houses, arms, and cultivation, all indicate a considerable degree of
+civilization, and no small intelligence in the construction of their
+canoes; and I think it probable that a trade might be opened with this
+hitherto perfectly unknown people and country."* The people inhabiting
+the islands fronting the coast, Captain Blackwood found to be highly
+inclined to trade, readily bartering a valuable species of tortoise-shell
+for European articles of hardware.
+
+(*Footnote. See Nautical Magazine for December 1845.)
+
+H.M.S. FAVOURITE.
+
+During our stay at Sydney we also met H.M.S. Favourite, Captain T.R.
+Sullivan, just returned from visiting the Eastern Polynesian Isles,
+having succeeded in rescuing the guns that were lost from the ship in a
+melancholy and much to be lamented affray with the natives of Tongataboo,
+previous to the command of Captain Sullivan, whose adventure in this
+affair was very interesting, and cleverly managed.
+
+HURRICANE.
+
+The Favourite had experienced a hurricane* off Mangaia Island, the
+natives of which gave notice of its approach; and at Tahiti Captain
+Sullivan was also told that he might expect a hurricane before long. From
+this, and the experience of other navigators, it appears that rotatory
+gales are prevalent in the Pacific as well as in the Indian Ocean.
+
+(*Footnote. Although this hurricane has been noticed, and the Favourite's
+Log published in the Nautical Magazine, I think it will be useful to
+continue the practice of entering into some detail respecting every
+hurricane that came under my observation. This storm, it appears, was
+encountered off Mangaia, one of the Harvey Isles, lying about midway
+between the Society and Hapai Groups. The Favourite was in latitude 21
+degrees 58 minutes South, longitude 158 degrees 02 minutes West, five
+miles South-West by West from Mangaia, at noon on the 17th December,
+1842, steering West by South 1/2 South before a moderate gale from
+East-North-East, with cloudy rainy weather. At 3 P.M. she had gone 27
+miles, when the wind, which had increased to a strong gale, veering to
+North-East, the course before it was now South-West; but at the end of
+another hour, having run eight miles, the wind increased to a storm, and
+veering again to the eastward, the ship was brought to the wind on the
+port tack under a main trysail. For the hours 5 and 6, she headed from
+South to South-West, which would give for the direction of the wind about
+South-East by East. At 6.30 a man was washed away with the lee
+quarter-boat. At 8, the wind had veered to South by West, having blown a
+hurricane, with constant rain for the last hour; at 9 most of the
+half-ports were washed away, the sea making a clean sweep over the decks.
+By midnight the wind had subsided to a whole gale; but still veering had
+reached the West-South-West point, and at 3 the next morning it was
+blowing only a moderate breeze from West-North-West, with tolerably clear
+weather. Sail was now made, and a South-West by South course held for 28
+miles, when by the noon observation the latitude was 22 degrees 1 minute
+South, longitude, by chronometer, 158 degrees 44 minutes West. The day
+following the hurricane the wind was moderate from the westward; and on
+that previous to it of about the same strength from the northward. The
+ship's position at noon of the latter day was about 130 miles to the
+North-East by East of Mangaia Island. The duration of this storm, then,
+may be considered to have been from 4 P.M. to midnight, in which eight
+hours the wind had veered gradually from East round by South to
+West-South-West. The veering being much more rapid between 8 and 9 P.M.
+when the storm was at its height, the ship must at that time, have been
+nearer the focus. The tack on which the Favourite was hove to carried her
+into the course of the hurricane, or rather placed her in a position to
+be overtaken by it, as it passed along to the southward and westward; but
+as the ship broke off to the westward and northward, she fell out of its
+north-western edge. Doubtless, if a West-North-West course had been
+pursued in the first instance, or at noon on the 17th, the Favourite
+would have avoided the storm. It is to be regretted that the barometer
+was broken in the commencement of the hurricane, when it was unusually
+low, having been falling for some time before. Besides this, there was
+ample warning in the unusually gloomy lurid appearance of the sky; the
+weather also was misty, with showers of rain as the ship approached the
+course of the storm.)
+
+BANKS STRAIT.
+
+Leaving Sydney, we resumed our work to the southward; and towards the end
+of October anchored under Swan Island, lying midway on the south side of
+Banks Strait, which trends West by North, with a width of twelve miles, a
+length of seventeen, and a depth of from 16 to 25 fathoms; it is formed
+by the north-east point of Tasmania and the islands lying to the south of
+Flinders. Barren Island, one of the latter, has a remarkable peak at its
+south-eastern end, and some high rounded hills on the north-western; it
+is twenty-two miles in extent, lying in an east and west direction. It is
+separated from Flinders by a channel, which I named after Sir John
+Franklin, four miles wide, thickly strewed with islands and shoals. The
+eastern entrance is almost blocked up by sandbanks, extending off five
+miles and a half from a large island (called by us after the Vansittart,
+but known to the sealers by the name of Gun-carriage Island) and leaving
+only a narrow, shifting passage of 2 and 4 fathoms between their northern
+side and Flinders Island. The anchorages which lie in the western part of
+Franklin Channel are not so sheltered as those between Barren and Clarke
+Islands. The latter has two rounded summits, the highest 690 feet,
+resembling a saddle, either from west or east. The rugged peaks of
+Strzelecki, reaching an elevation of 2,550 feet, rise immediately over
+the northern point of the west entrance of Franklin Channel.
+
+BLACK REEF.
+
+The north-east extreme of Tasmania is singularly low, with a coastline of
+sandhills. Out of this level tract rise Mounts William and Cameron; the
+latter, 1,730 feet high, is the highest of a group of peaks, cresting a
+ridge, whilst the former is a solitary pyramidal hill, 730 feet high,
+used as a guide for craft in working through the strait. When it bears
+South by West, vessels may close with the south shore, being then past
+the Black Reef,* and the rocks that lie off the coast to the eastward, as
+far as Eddystone Point. The most outlying and remarkable are the St.
+George's Rocks, a cluster of grey granite boulders, 66 feet high; a patch
+of moored kelp, however, on which the water sometimes breaks, lies three
+miles East-South-East from the Black Reef. The principal danger on the
+northern side of the eastern entrance of the strait is Moriarty Bank,
+which extends off four miles and a half east from the south-east point of
+Clarke Island; there is, however, a narrow passage of 16 fathoms close to
+the latter. This Bank, which has a couple of rocks near its north-eastern
+part, is steep to, and may be avoided by keeping the south point of
+Clarke Island, to bear to the southward of West 12 degrees North. Mount
+William, also, bearing South 7 degrees West clears the outer end of it.
+
+(*Footnote. This reef is a low, dark, rocky islet, with reefs extending
+off North 45 degrees West three quarters of a mile, and South 56 degrees
+East, one mile. There is a passage of 7 fathoms, a mile wide, between it
+and the main, through which the highest St. George's Rock, bearing South
+52 degrees East, leads. Black Reef bears from the latter North 45 degrees
+West, six miles and a half, and from the summit of Swan Island, South 53
+degrees East, eight miles and three-quarters. Mount William, also, bears
+from it South 22 degrees West.)
+
+I may here mention, that the importance of Banks Strait is great, as all
+the trade between Hobart, Launceston, and Port Phillip, passes through
+it.
+
+SWAN ISLAND.
+
+Swan Island is a narrow hummocky strip of land, a mile and a half long,
+trending South-West by West; the loftiest part, 90 feet high, near the
+north end,* was selected by Sir John Franklin for the site of a
+lighthouse, the foundation of which he laid, after resigning the reins of
+government; it was the last benefit he was able to confer on the colony.
+
+(*Footnote. In latitude 40 degrees 43 minutes 36 seconds South, longitude
+3 degrees 5 minutes 50 seconds West of Sydney, and 148 degrees 10 minutes
+10 seconds East of Greenwich; variation, 10 east.)
+
+A well of indifferent water was found near the north-west end of the
+island; and some sealers had recently turned loose a couple of pigs, to
+which I added a third.
+
+Two small islets lie one mile and a half West-North-West from Swan
+Island, and a dangerous patch of rocks, one and a quarter North-West by
+West from the summit; they are all connected with the large island by
+shoal water.
+
+TIDES.
+
+We found the best anchorage to be a quarter of a mile off the south point
+of a sandy bay, near the outer end of the island. During the time we lay
+here for the purpose of obtaining a series of tidal observations,* and
+verifying a few of the principal points of Messrs. Forsyth and Pasco's
+survey, constant strong westerly gales prevailed; and from all the local
+information obtained it appeared that such was generally the case.
+
+(*Footnote. The result of these observations makes the time of high-water
+at the full and change of the moon 9 hours 36 minutes when the rise of
+the tide is six feet and three at neaps. The flood-stream comes from the
+eastward; and both it and the ebb is of 6 hours 15 minutes duration at
+springs; but during neaps the flood runs 7 hours 0 minutes and the ebb 5
+hours 30 minutes. The interval of slack-water never exceeded a quarter of
+an hour, and the western stream begins 0 hours 30 minutes after low-water
+at springs, and 0 hours 50 minutes after it at neaps; whilst the eastern
+begins 0 hours 40 minutes after high-water at springs, and 0 hours 10
+minutes before it at neaps. The velocity of the stream was from one to
+three knots, the strongest being the ebb, which at springs and with a
+strong westerly breeze attains a strength in the middle of the strait of
+nearly four knots, and causes, when opposed to the wind, a high-topping
+sea, dangerous for small craft.
+
+Whilst in other respects the tides are the same, the time of high-water
+at Preservation Island, though only at the northern side of the strait,
+is 1 hour 15 minutes later than at Swan Island. This great difference is
+caused by the influence of the flood-stream out of Franklin Channel and
+from the northward along the west side of Flinders Island. The
+flood-streams setting to the westward through Banks Strait, and to the
+south-westward past the north-west end of Flinders, meet about ten miles
+to the westward of the Chappell Isles, when their united stream curves
+round by south to west, becoming gradually weaker, and soon after passing
+the mouth of the Tamar ceasing to be felt at all, leaving in the middle
+of Bass Strait a large space free from tidal influence as far as the
+production of progressive motion is concerned, that given to it from the
+entrances being neutralized by their mutual opposition. There is,
+however, an easterly current of nearly a knot an hour, in strong westerly
+winds. The meeting of the tides on the west side of Flinders also leaves
+a space, close to the shore near the centre, free from any stream. At the
+eastern entrance of Franklin Channel there is also a meeting of the
+flood-streams, one coming from North-North-East and the other from
+South-East.)
+
+Whilst at this anchorage two boats belonging to the whaling station on
+Wilson's Promontory passed on their way to Hobart, which they reached in
+safety. They made the passage, hazardous for boats, across the strait by
+touching at Hogan and Kent Groups and so over to Flinders Island.
+
+CAPE PORTLAND.
+
+Leaving, we beat through between Swan Islands and the main, which we
+found to be a good channel,* a mile and a half wide, with an average
+depth of ten fathoms. After passing the western islet the south side of
+the strait should be given a wide berth, particularly on approaching Cape
+Portland, off which some islets with foul ground and a sunken rock at
+their extreme, extend two miles and a half. The summit of Swan Island,
+bears South 75 degrees East and Mount Cameron South 2 degrees East from
+the outer edge of this danger; which masters of vessels should remember,
+both in reaching to the southward in the strait, and in running for it
+from the westward.
+
+(*Footnote. Mount William bearing South 40 degrees East leads into the
+western entrance.)
+
+PRESERVATION ISLAND.
+
+Crossing Banks Strait we anchored under Preservation Island, lying
+between the western extreme of Clarke and Barren Islands; it owes its
+name to the preservation of the crew of a ship run ashore upon it in a
+sinking state. The value of the shelter this anchorage affords is in some
+measure destroyed by the presence of a sandbank extending off three miles
+from the eastern side of Preservation Island. Two small rocky islets lie
+a mile and a half off the western side of the latter, and several ugly
+rocks are scattered along the face of Barren Island, and as far as
+Chappell Group; on the outer isle of this group, which is low and level,
+the lighthouse bearing North 60 degrees West fifteen miles and a half
+forms a very conspicuous object, and is visible to the eye in clear
+weather from the top of Preservation Island. Over the northern point of
+the latter, towers the summit of Barren Island, forming a sort of double
+mount 2300 feet high.
+
+STRAITSMEN.
+
+I found Preservation Island inhabited by an old sealer of the name of
+James Monro, generally known as the King of the Eastern Straitsmen.
+Another man and three or four native women completed the settlement, if
+such a term may be applied. They lived in a few rude huts on a bleak
+flat, with scarce a tree near, but sheltered from the west by some low
+granite hills; a number of dogs, goats and fowls constituted their
+livestock. In this desolate place Monro had been for upwards of
+twenty-three years; and many others have lived in similar situations an
+equally long period. It is astonishing what a charm such a wild mode of
+existence possesses for these men, whom no consideration could induce to
+abandon their free, though laborious and somewhat lawless state.
+
+The term sealers is no longer so appropriate as it was formerly; none of
+them confining themselves to sealing, in consequence of the increasing
+scarcity of the object of their original pursuit. Straitsmen is the name
+by which those who inhabit the eastern and western entrance of Bass
+Strait are known; they class themselves into Eastern and Western
+Straitsmen, and give the following account of their origin: Between the
+years 1800 and 1805, the islands in Bass Strait and those fronting the
+south coast of Australia, as far westward as the Gulfs of St. Vincent and
+Spencer were frequented by sealing vessels from the old and the new
+country, if I may use this expression for England and Australia. Many of
+their crews became so attached to the islands they were in the habit of
+visiting, that when their vessels were about to leave the neighbourhood,
+they preferred to remain, taking with them a boat and other stores as
+payment for their work. There can be no doubt, however, that their
+numbers were afterwards recruited by runaway convicts.
+
+NATIVE WIVES.
+
+On one island reside seldom more than two families. The latter word will
+at once satisfy the reader that these people were not deprived of the
+pleasures of female companionship: man was never born to be satisfied
+with his own society; and the Straitsmen of course found beauties
+suitable to their taste in the natives of the shores* of Bass Strait. It
+appears that a party of them were sealing St. George's Rocks when a tribe
+came down on the main opposite and made a signal for them to approach.
+They went, taking with them the carcasses of two or three seals, for
+which the natives gave as many women. These, perhaps, were glad of the
+change, as the aborigines of Tasmania often treat them shamefully. The
+sealers took their new-bought sweethearts to an island in Banks Strait,
+and there left them to go on another sealing excursion. Returning one
+day, they were surprised to find their huts well supplied with wallaby by
+the native women. Interest cemented a love that might otherwise have been
+but temporary. Visions of fortunes accumulated by the sale of wallaby
+skins flashed across the minds of the sealers; who, however, to their
+credit be it spoken, generally treated their savage spouses with anything
+but unkindness; though in some instances the contrary was the case. It
+must be confessed, at the same time, that having once discovered the
+utility of the native women, they did not confine themselves to obtaining
+them by the lawful way of barter; making excursions, principally to the
+shores of Australia, for the express purpose of obtaining by violence or
+stealth such valuable partners.
+
+(*Footnote. The islands were never inhabited by the aborigines until the
+remnant of the original population of Tasmania was sent by government to
+Flinders.)
+
+HALF-CASTE CHILDREN.
+
+Thus commenced a population likely to be of great service to shipping,
+particularly as they make excellent sailors, and excel as headsmen in
+whalers, where the keenness of their half-savage eyes, and their
+dexterity in throwing the spear, render them most formidable harpooners.
+The young half-castes I saw were very interesting, having a ruddy dark
+complexion, with fine eyes and teeth. On Preservation, and the islands in
+the neighbourhood, there were twenty-five children; among whom were some
+fine-looking boys. Had the survey just been commenced I should have taken
+one of them in the Beagle. Their fathers, I am happy to say, give them
+all the instruction in their power: many can read the Bible, and a few
+write.
+
+The common native belief in the transmigration of souls did not extend, I
+was glad to find, beyond the mothers, whom nothing could induce to think
+otherwise. When we were at Preservation Island, there was a young woman
+on her way, in company with her father, to Port Dalrymple, to be married
+to a European; and I afterwards learned from the clergyman there, that he
+had not for some time seen a young person who appeared to be so well
+aware of the solemn vow she was making.
+
+MUTTON BIRDS.
+
+The principal trade of the Straitsmen is in the feathers of mutton birds
+(Sooty Petrels) which annually visit the islands, between the 15th and
+20th of November, for the purposes of incubation. Each bird lays only two
+eggs, about the size of that of a goose, and almost as good in flavour.
+The male sits by day and the female by night, each going to sea in turn
+to feed. As soon as the young take wing they leave the islands. Their
+nests are two or three feet underground, and so close that it is scarcely
+possible to walk without falling. The collection of the eggs and birds,
+which is the business of the women, is frequently attended with great
+risk, as venomous snakes are often found in the holes. When the sealers
+wish to catch them in large quantities they build a hedge a little above
+the beach, sometimes half a mile in length. Towards daylight, when the
+birds are about to put to sea, the men station themselves at the
+extremities, and their prey, not being able to take flight off the
+ground, run down towards the water until obstructed by the hedge, when
+they are driven towards the centre, where a hole about five feet deep is
+prepared to receive them; in this they effectually smother each other.
+The birds are then plucked and their carcasses generally thrown in a heap
+to waste, whilst the feathers are pressed in bags and taken to Launceston
+for sale.* The feathers of twenty birds weigh one pound; and the cargoes
+of two boats I saw, consisted of thirty bags, each weighing nearly thirty
+pounds--the spoil of eighteen thousand birds! I may add, that unless
+great pains are taken in curing, the smell will always prevent a bed made
+of them from being mistaken for one composed of the Orkney goose
+feathers. Some of the birds are preserved by smoking, and form the
+principal food of the Straitsmen, resembling mutton, according to their
+taste, though none of us could perceive the similarity.
+
+(*Footnote. They now fetch 3 pence a pound; formerly the price was 1
+shilling.)
+
+PRODUCE OF ISLANDS.
+
+The habitations of these people are generally slab and plaster, of very
+rude and uninviting exterior, but tolerably clean and comfortable within.
+They generally take what they may have for the market to Launceston twice
+in the year, lay in stores for the next six months, and return home,
+never, I believe, bringing back any spirits, so that while on the
+islands, they lead, from necessity, a temperate life.
+
+It is sometimes in the power of these men to be of infinite service to
+vessels who are strangers in the strait, when driven into difficulties by
+westerly gales. Portions of the islands on which they reside are brought
+into cultivation; but at Gun Carriage they complain of their crops having
+been very backward since they were disturbed by the natives, with Mr.
+Robinson, as they destroyed with fire all the shelter that was afforded.
+The water throughout the islands is not always very good; grain, however,
+thrives tolerably, and potatoes do very well indeed. The latter are
+taken, with peas and other garden produce, to Port Dalrymple. This is an
+evident proof of what these islands are capable of producing, and is
+worthy the attention of Government, in case the idea, which I have
+suggested, is entertained, of sending convicts thither from Tasmania.
+
+WATERHOUSE ISLAND.
+
+Taking advantage of a very unexpected breeze from the eastward we left
+Preservation Island for Port Dalrymple, which was made after a night's
+run, on the morning of the 26th November. Eighteen miles from the
+entrance of Banks Strait, and as far as abreast of Waterhouse Island,*
+and nine miles from it, we had soundings of from 18 to 20 fathoms;
+afterwards the depth was 30 and 40; whilst in the fairway nine miles from
+the opposite entrance of the Strait we had 37.
+
+(*Footnote. This island lies about a mile and a half from the main, and
+affords shelter for ships in westerly winds. They should anchor in 6
+fathoms, midway in a line between the north points of the island and of
+the bay lying to the south-east. This anchorage being not so far to
+leeward as those on the western side of Flinders, is the best place of
+refuge for strangers arriving in a westerly gale off Port Dalrymple,
+where, as they can get no assistance from the pilots, they may not like
+to run in, on account of its treacherous appearance. Tenth Island (a mere
+white rock) and Ninth Island, are admirably situated for guiding a ship
+to Waterhouse; the first, bears North-East 1/2 East, twelve miles from
+the entrance of Port Dalrymple; the course from it to Ninth Island (which
+should be passed on the outside) is North 52 degrees East, fourteen
+miles; and from Ninth Island to Waterhouse, North 69 degrees East,
+seventeen miles. The latter islands are very much alike in the distance,
+being both rather low, with cliffy faces to the westward, and sloping
+away in the opposite direction. Mount Cameron, bearing South 61 degrees
+East, is also a distant guide for Waterhouse Island. The great advantage
+of running for this place, instead of for an anchorage on the western
+side of Flinders, is that, in the event of missing it, Banks Strait will
+be open to run through; and should the Anchorage under Swan Island not be
+tried, shelter will be found in about 15 fathoms under the main to the
+southward.)
+
+MR. FORSYTH.
+
+Mr. Forsyth, in the Vansittart, had again preceded our arrival in the
+river Tamar by a few days. His visit to the west coast had been attended
+with considerable risk.* Still, with his usual zeal, he had not lost
+sight of the important branch of the service in which he was employed,
+and had made a survey of Port Davy and the coast to the South-west Cape,
+which completed our chart of the south-western shores of Tasmania.
+
+(*Footnote. Mr. Forsyth entered and examined Macquarie Harbour in his
+boat, and found on an island, in the head of it, two men in a state of
+starvation. These he took with him and returned to the mouth of the
+harbour; but a gale of wind having set in in the meantime, the Vansittart
+had sought shelter in Port Davy, lying ninety miles to the southward. Day
+after day passed away without any sign of the cutter. The increase of
+two, requiring much more than could be afforded, to their small party,
+soon consumed their stock of provisions, sparingly dealt out; so that, to
+preserve the lives of his party, Mr. Forsyth was obliged to risk a
+boat-passage, in the depth of winter, and along a storm-beaten coast, to
+Port Davy, which he most providentially reached in safety; though, at one
+time, in spite of the precaution taken to raise the gunwale by strips of
+blanket, the sea was so great that they expected each moment would be
+their last.)
+
+The coast on either side of the Tamar still remained to be surveyed, and
+accordingly I undertook the examination of that to the eastward, whilst
+Mr. Fitzmaurice, although even now scarcely convalescent, proceeded to
+the westward.
+
+DESCRIPTION OF COAST.
+
+Without entering into details, I may briefly say, that to the eastward
+the coast trended North 62 degrees East to Cape Portland, distant
+fifty-eight miles; and that at the distance of eight, eighteen,
+twenty-nine, forty-eight, and fifty-three miles, the rivers Currie,
+Piper, Forestier, Tomahawk, and Ringarooma, empty themselves into wide
+bays, which increase in depth as they advance eastwards. That formed by
+the point opposite Waterhouse Island and Cape Portland,* which receives
+the two last-mentioned rivers, and bears the name of the larger
+Ringarooma Bay, is seven miles deep and fifteen miles wide. Mount Cameron
+lies behind the head of it, where there is a vast extent of boggy land;
+this is also the case in the next bay to the westward, Anderson Bay,
+which receives the waters of the Forestier River.** The only good soil
+seen was on the large Piper River, so that the disproportion of land fit
+for cultivation on this part of the northern shore of Tasmania, with that
+which is not, is very great. Behind the coast the eye wanders over
+interminable woody ranges of various heights, thrown together in
+irregular groups, called by the colonists Tiers. They are seldom
+separated by valleys of any width, but rather by gullies, and are
+generally covered with an impervious scrub. The most conspicuous points,
+in addition to Mount Cameron, are Mounts Barrow and Arthur, two peaks
+about 4,500 feet high, very much alike, and lying nine miles in a
+north-west direction from each other. Mount Barrow bears, from
+Launceston, East-North-East, thirteen miles.
+
+(*Footnote. Small vessels anchor behind an island on the west side of
+this cape, to take away the wool from the sheep-stations in the
+neighbourhood. The rivers mentioned in the text are only navigable for
+boats, and by them only at high-water.)
+
+(**Footnote. A small bay, with some outlying rocks off its points,
+bearing South-South-East, seven miles from Ninth Island, affords shelter
+for small vessels in its north-west corner. The passage inside that
+island should be used with caution.)
+
+DON TOMAS.
+
+At the large Piper River I passed a night at the station of a gentleman
+of the name of Noland, whom I found to be the nephew of a person of
+remarkable talent and great influence with the Peruvian Government, known
+only, at Lima, by the name of Don Tomas. There was a good deal of mystery
+about his character and position, nobody being able to explain who he
+was, whence he came, or what was the source of his influence; and it was
+rather a curious circumstance that I should learn the explanation of what
+had so much puzzled me in South America, at a solitary sheep-station in
+Van Diemen's Land.
+
+Shortly before we crossed the Great Piper River a party of convicts had
+run away with a fishing boat. Although only three in number they made the
+fishermen take them to Banks Strait, where they forced a party of sealers
+to pass them over to Wilson's Promontory. Notwithstanding they were
+several weeks on the passage, waiting for fine weather at the different
+islands (the sealers, too, being twice their number) such was their
+vigilance that they never allowed them a chance of escape. These men were
+afterwards seen near Sydney.
+
+CONVICTS' STORY.
+
+The most remarkable coast-feature, between Waterhouse Island and the
+Tamar, is Stony Head, a bluff three hundred feet high,* lying twelve
+miles from Port Dalrymple. A small sandy bay separates it from a point to
+the westward, and it is the nearest part of the main to Tenth Island. In
+the neighbourhood of this headland I was induced to enter a hut at a
+sheep-station, by seeing stuck round a fence a number of the heads of an
+animal called by the colonists a hyena, from the resemblance it bears in
+shape and colour, though not in ferocity, to that beast.** My object was
+to obtain a few of these heads, which the hut-keeper, who was the only
+inmate, instantly gave, along with an unsolicited history of his own
+life. In the early part we instantly discovered that this loquacious
+personage was, what he afterwards mildly confessed to be, a government
+man, in other words a convict, sent out of course, according to the usual
+story, through mistake. It appears that he had been a drover, and that a
+few beasts were one morning found (quite by accident) among a herd he was
+driving through the West of England. He had spent the early part of his
+servitude at Circular Head, where he was for some time in charge of the
+native woman caught stealing flour at a shepherd's hut, belonging to the
+Van Diemen's Land Agricultural Company--a fact mentioned in a former
+chapter.***
+
+(*Footnote. Of basaltic formation; whilst the rocks that prevail to the
+eastward are of primary character. But as Strzelecki has written so
+largely on the geology of Tasmania, it will be needless for me to enter
+further into the subject, except to say, that the raised beaches found on
+the western side of Flinders, are evidences of an upheaval having
+recently taken place.)
+
+(**Footnote. This is the only animal the Tasmanian sheep-farmer is
+annoyed with; and from its paucity, they have not, as in New South Wales,
+the trouble of securing their flocks in yards or folds every night.)
+
+(***Footnote. See Volume 1.)
+
+INHUMAN CONDUCT.
+
+I was curious to know how he managed to procure the obedience of this
+aboriginal victim; and the inhuman wretch confessed, without a
+blush--which must rise instead to the cheeks of my readers, when they
+hear of what barbarities their countrymen have been guilty--that he kept
+the poor creature chained up like a wild beast; and whenever he wanted
+her to do anything, applied a burning stick, a fire-brand snatched from
+the hearth, to her skin! This was enough. I could listen to no more, and
+hurried from the spot, leaving my brutal informant to guess at the cause
+of my abrupt departure. It is possible that the emotion I allowed to
+appear may have introduced some glimmering of the truth into his mind,
+that he may have faintly perceived how disgusted I was with his
+narrative; but such is the perversion of feeling among a portion of the
+colonists, that they cannot conceive how anyone can sympathize with the
+black race as their fellow men. In theory and practice they regard them
+as wild beasts whom it is lawful to extirpate. There are of course
+honourable exceptions, although such is a very common sentiment. As an
+instance, I may mention that a friend of mine, who was once travelling in
+Tasmania, with two natives of Australia, was asked, by almost everyone,
+where he had CAUGHT them? This expression will enable the reader better
+to appreciate the true state of the case than many instances of ferocity
+I could enumerate. It shows that the natives occupy a wrong position in
+the minds of the whites; and that a radical defect exists in their
+original conception of their character, and of the mode in which they
+ought to be treated.
+
+CAPTURE OF NATIVES.
+
+Soon after I returned to the ship at Port Dalrymple, a party of natives
+was sent on board, with a request that I would allow the Vansittart to
+take them to Flinders Island; it consisted of an elderly woman and man,
+two young men, and a little boy. These were the remainder of the small
+tribe to which belonged the woman who received, as I have related, such
+cruel treatment from her keeper. I should here state, that when she was
+removed to Flinders Island, none of the natives there could understand
+her--a fact somewhat hostile to the theory of those who hold that there
+is little or no variety in the aboriginal languages of Australasia.
+
+The party of natives in question were taken by some sealers on the
+western coast, near Arthur's River, and not far from the Van Diemen's
+Land Agricultural Company's station at Point Woolnorth, to which place
+they were first brought. A reward of 50 pounds had been offered for their
+apprehension, on account of some depredations they were said to have from
+time to time committed. A countrywoman of their own, the wife of one of
+the sealers, was instrumental in their capture. Pretence was made that
+the boat would carry them to some good hunting ground; but when they were
+all afloat, and prostrated by sea-sickness, the sealers made sail for the
+Company's station at Point Woolnorth, with a freight more valuable than
+seal-skins.
+
+THE LAST MAN.
+
+These were supposed to be the last of the aboriginal inhabitants of
+Tasmania; though a report at one time prevailed that a solitary young man
+had been left behind. If this be the case, his position must be truly
+lamentable. Alone of all his race on that vast island, belonging to a
+people against whom the deepest prejudices are entertained, who have been
+hunted down like wild beasts by the new population, professing a religion
+which should teach them to act otherwise towards their brethren, no
+resource must have been left to him but to fly to the most inaccessible
+fastnesses, to hide in the gloomiest forests and darkest caverns, and to
+pass the remainder of his miserable life in constant struggles to prolong
+it, and in ceaseless endeavours to stave off that final consummation
+which could alone ensure him peace, and safety, and rest. Whether or not
+the report of the existence of this Last Man was true I cannot say; but,
+certainly, his story, imaginary or real, suggests numerous reflections,
+and opens a wide field for conjecture and speculation. What was the
+character of his thoughts, what importance he attached to the
+prolongation of his life, cut off as he was from the world, a solitary
+being, with no future prospect of the enjoyment of society, with no hope
+of seeing his race continued, we cannot tell. But his fate, at least,
+must force upon us the questions--have we dealt justly by these wild
+people? have we nothing to answer for, now that we have driven them from
+their native land, leaving no remnant, save one single individual, whose
+existence even is problematical? Without wishing to press too hard on any
+body of my countrymen, I must say I regret that that page of history
+which records our colonization of Australia must reach the eyes of
+posterity.
+
+The woman, whose capture I have more than once alluded to, was,
+doubtless, the wife of one of the young men taken by the sealers, and
+mother of the boy who accompanied him. The prospect of meeting her
+probably lightened the hours of his captivity. But what a tale of
+suffering she had to relate! What had she not undergone as the penalty of
+an attempt to procure food for her family. With the narrative of her
+sorrows fresh in my memory, I could not but sympathize deeply with the
+last five of the aboriginal Tasmanians that now stood before me.
+
+CHARACTERISTICS AND REMOVAL OF NATIVES.
+
+These natives differed even more than others I had seen as the wives of
+sealers, from the inhabitants of the Australian continent, possessing
+quite the negro cast of countenance, and hair precisely of their woolly
+character. These characteristics are nowhere to be found on the
+continent, natives from every part of which have come under my
+observation. The difference existing is so great, that I feel warranted
+in pronouncing them to be a distinct race. Excellent likenesses of
+Tasmanian natives will be found in Strzelecki's work on New South Wales,
+where the truth of these remarks will be perceived at a glance.
+
+Having thus been engaged in the removal of the last of the natives to
+Flinders Island, I feel that it is incumbent on me to give a short
+account of the causes which led to it. In the first place, history
+teaches us that whenever civilized man comes in contact with a savage
+race, the latter almost inevitably begins to decrease, and to approach by
+more or less gradual steps towards extinction. Whether this catastrophe
+is the result of political, moral, or physical causes, the ablest writers
+have not been able to decide; and most men seem willing to content
+themselves with the belief that the event is in accordance with some
+mysterious dispensation of Providence; and the purest philanthropy can
+only teach us to alleviate their present condition, and to smooth, as it
+were, the pillow of an expiring people. For my own part I am not willing
+to believe, that in this conflict of races, there is an absence of moral
+responsibility on the part of the whites; I must deny that it is in
+obedience to some all-powerful law, the inevitable operation of which
+exempts us from blame, that the depopulation of the countries we colonize
+goes on.
+
+WAR OF EXTERMINATION.
+
+There appear to me to be the means of tracing this national crime to the
+individuals who perpetrate it; and it is with the deepest sorrow that I
+am obliged to confess that my countrymen have not, in Tasmania, exhibited
+that magnanimity which has often been the prominent feature in their
+character. They have sternly and systematically trampled on the fallen. I
+have before remarked that they started with an erroneous theory, which
+they found to tally with their interests, and to relieve them from the
+burden of benevolence and charity. That the aborigines were not men, but
+brutes, was their avowed opinion; and what cruelties flowed from such a
+doctrine! It is not my purpose to enter into details; I will only add
+that the treatment of the poor captive native by her inhuman keeper was
+in accordance with the sentiments prevailing, at one time, in the colony,
+and would not have received the condemnation of public opinion.
+
+The natural consequence of such conduct by the whites, commenced in the
+very infancy of the colony, was a system of frightful retaliation on the
+part of the natives. These led to counter-reprisals, every year
+accumulating the debt of crime and vengeance on either hand, until the
+memory of the first provocation was lost, and a war of extermination, the
+success of which was, in the end, complete, began to be carried on.
+
+ATTEMPTED CAPTURE OF NATIVES.
+
+It was not until exasperation, on either side, rose to its highest, that
+measures were taken to prevent the complete destruction of the
+aborigines. The first method selected was not characterized by prudence;
+being the result of the passionate counsels of the great body of
+colonists, who were smarting under evils entailed upon them by their own
+violent conduct. As is natural in all these cases, they looked only to
+the necessity of protecting their property and their lives; and did not
+take into account the massacres, the cruelties of every description,
+which had been at one time encouraged, or at least not condemned by the
+general voice. The casuistry of the human heart, in most instances,
+concealed the true state of the case, and many, if not the majority, felt
+the virtuous indignation which some only affected. At any rate, they set
+about the hunting down and capture of the aborigines, as a duty which
+they owed to themselves and their families. Government, with the best
+intentions, lent them every assistance in its power. The whole colony
+rose to a man; and military operations on a most extensive scale were
+undertaken. Cordons were established, marches and countermarches
+performed, complicated manoeuvres planned and executed, and every method
+resorted to, which in a different country and against a different enemy
+must have been rewarded with complete success. But in this instance, the
+impenetrable forests of Tasmania baffled the generalship and the tactics
+that were displayed; and an expedition attended with immense expense, and
+carried on with the greatest enthusiasm, ended in the capture of a single
+native.
+
+REMOVAL OF ABORIGINES TO FLINDERS ISLAND.
+
+It was now evident that means of another character must be tried, and the
+plan which Mr. Robinson had laid before Government for the capture of the
+natives in the meshes of persuasion was adopted. This enterprising
+person, accordingly, went alone and unattended among the aborigines,
+endured great privations, ran much risk, but finally, partly by his
+eloquence, partly by stratagem, contrived to bring in the tribes one by
+one, and to transport them quietly to the islands in the eastern entrance
+of Bass Strait. Mr. Bateman, commanding the colonial brig, Tamar, who
+took them across, describes them as reconciled to their fate, though
+during the whole passage they sat on the vessel's bulwark, shaking little
+bags of human bones, apparently as a charm against the danger to which
+they felt exposed.
+
+They were first taken to Swan Island, but that not being found
+convenient, they were landed on the west side of Flinders Island, under
+the superintendence of Mr. Robinson. This place, also, was discovered to
+be ill-adapted for a permanent settlement; and a removal again took place
+to Vansittart or Gun-carriage Island, at the eastern extremity of
+Franklin Channel, where a number of sealers had been resident for some
+years; as, however, they could not show any title to the land they
+cultivated, except that of original occupancy--a title which I think
+should be respected, as it is the only true basis of the right of
+property--they were obliged to vacate, leaving their huts and crops to be
+laid waste. In the course of a few weeks, when considerable mischief had
+been effected, this position, likewise, was abandoned, and a location
+made once more on the west side of Flinders, about sixteen miles to the
+northward of Franklin Inlet.
+
+SETTLEMENT.
+
+The Home Government directed that in this their place of banishment every
+attention should be paid to the wants of the aborigines, and a liberal
+scale of necessaries provided. The officers of the establishment
+originally consisted of the superintendent, medical officer, catechist
+and storekeeper; but when the buildings, etc. for the settlement, were
+completed, the convicts were withdrawn, which diminished the number so
+much, that it was deemed practicable to reduce the staff of officers, and
+the whole duties of the four departments above alluded to devolved on one
+person, under the name of Surgeon-Superintendent. The combination of so
+many duties has, unfortunately, necessitated the neglect of some portion
+or another, possibly of the most material. The Sabbath afternoon is the
+only time that can be set apart for the religious instruction of the
+natives. This is to be regretted, as we have ample evidence of how
+capable they are of receiving it, in the lasting effects produced by Mr.
+Clarke, who sometime since filled the office of storekeeper; and for whom
+they all continue to feel great veneration, and to exhibit that respect
+which is due to a parent. On our visit in 1842 we heard all the natives
+of both sexes, old and young, sing several hymns, taught them by this
+excellent person. A few comprehended the full meaning of the words they
+uttered; and all, no doubt, might be brought to do so if proper
+instructions were again granted them.
+
+Walter and Mary Ann, a married couple, who had recently returned from
+Port Phillip, where they had been living in the family of the former
+superintendent, Mr. Robinson, were so civilized, and proficient in all
+the plain parts of education, that they possessed great influence over
+their countrymen, who, incited by the contemplation of their superiority,
+were apparently desirous of acquiring knowledge. The barracks in which
+the natives dwell form a square of good stone buildings; but Walter and
+his wife have a separate cottage, with a piece of land attached. Mary Ann
+is a very tolerable needlewoman, and capable of teaching the others; some
+of whom, encouraged by the prizes that are awarded to industry, already
+assist in making their own dresses.
+
+MORTALITY AMONG NATIVES.
+
+The men, to whom inducements are also held out to labour in farming,
+etc., are, however, generally indolent. They still retain a taste for
+their original wild habits, taking to the bush, occasionally, for several
+days together; and in order to enjoy all the freedom of limb to which
+they had been accustomed, throwing off their European clothing. This
+practice has been expressly prohibited, as from the sudden resumption of
+savage habits, and the abandonment of the covering to which they had
+become accustomed, severe illness resulted. To this may in part be
+attributable the rapid mortality which exists among them, and which leads
+us to suppose that at no distant period their utter extinction must take
+place. Out of two hundred who were originally taken to Flinders Island,
+more than one hundred and fifty had perished in 1842, to replace which
+loss, an addition of only fourteen by births, besides seven brought in
+the Vansittart, had been made. It seems, in truth, impossible that a race
+transported from their country, suddenly compelled to change all their
+habits and modes of life, kept under restraint, however mild and
+paternal, obliged to repress all the powerful instincts which lead them
+to desire a renewal of their wild and unfettered life, tormented by the
+memory of the freedom they once enjoyed, and galled by the moral chain
+which they now wear, constantly sighing in secret for the perilous charms
+of the wilderness, for their hunts, and their corrobberies, for the hills
+and mountains and streams of their native land--it is impossible, I say,
+that a people whose life has undergone such a change, who cherish such
+reminiscences and such regrets, should increase and multiply and
+replenish the face of the land.
+
+TREATMENT OF NATIVES.
+
+Their destiny is accomplished. In obedience to a necessity--of man's
+creating certainly, but still a necessity--they have been expatriated for
+their own preservation; to restore them, would be but to ensure their
+speedier destruction; and all we can do is to soothe their declining
+years, to provide that they shall advance gently, surrounded by all the
+comforts of civilization, and by all the consolations of religion, to
+their inevitable doom; and to draw a great lesson from their melancholy
+history, namely, that we should not leave, until it is too late, the
+aborigines of the countries we colonize exposed to the dangers of an
+unregulated intercourse with the whites; that, without giving them any
+undue preference, without falling into the dangerous extreme of
+favouritism--an error of which the most high-minded and generous are
+susceptible in the case of a depressed race--we should consider, that in
+entering their country we incur a great responsibility, and that it
+behoves us at once to establish distinctly the relation in which they
+stand to the government, the colonists, and the soil!
+
+COAST FROM THE TAMAR TO EMU BAY.
+
+Mr. Fitzmaurice's examination of the coast to the westward extended to
+Dial Point, distant twenty-nine miles from the Tamar. In this space there
+are no less than five rivers, all with very short courses, and not
+navigable except by boats and small craft; and by these only, on account
+of the surf on their bars, in fine weather. The first empties itself into
+an estuary, called Port Sorel; but it is difficult to detect the mouths
+of the others in the low sandy shore, which is deceptive, as the hills
+rising immediately in the rear give the coast a bold striking appearance
+from the offing. These rivers, namely, the Sorel, the Mersey,* the Don,
+the Frith, and the Leven, are distant from the Tamar, eleven, eighteen,
+twenty, twenty-three and twenty-seven miles.
+
+(*Footnote. A horse-shoe reef, extending nearly two miles from the shore,
+lies two miles to the eastward.)
+
+A range of hills, nearly 2000 feet high, in which asbestos is found, lies
+midway between Port Sorel and the Tamar; and immediately over Dial Point
+rises a peaked range, of the same name; whilst Valentine Peak,* 4000 feet
+in height, is situated twenty-three miles South 40 degrees West from the
+above point. This peak is a bare mass of granite, and as it glistens in
+the first beams of the morning sun like an immense spire, forms the most
+remarkable hill-feature in the north side of Tasmania. High level ranges
+extend to the eastward of it for some distance.
+
+(*Footnote. In latitude 41 degrees 17 minutes South and longitude 5
+degrees 28 1/2 minutes West of Sydney, and when bearing South by West is
+a distant guide to Emu Bay.)
+
+From Dial Point to Circular Head the coast trends North 72 degrees West,
+and as far as Rocky Point the shore is steep and woody. Emu Bay* lies at
+the end of the first ten miles; it is a confined anchorage, affording
+shelter in westerly winds. A river of the same name runs into it, and
+another called the Blyth joins the sea a mile and a half on the Tamar
+side of the east point, which has a remarkable round hill on it: nearly
+four and five and a half miles to the westward of this bay are other
+small streams. An islet lies at the mouth of the eastern one; and in its
+neighbourhood only the shore, which falls back a little, is sandy and
+faced with rocks.
+
+(*Footnote. The North-West or Blackman's Point is low, and in latitude 41
+degrees 2 minutes 45 seconds South, longitude 5 degrees 18 minutes 50
+seconds West of Sydney.)
+
+ROCKY CAPE.
+
+The River Inglis is of a good size; but a reef extends off the mouth and
+some distance to the eastward; it is two miles and a half to the
+South-South-East of a headland, called Table Cape, the distances between
+which, Rocky Cape, Circular Head, and Emu Bay, are equal, namely, eleven
+miles and a half. Rocky Cape has a high pointed summit, with other peaks
+in the rear; a sunken rock is said to lie a mile and a half north of it;
+and the coast from thence to Circular Head falls back, forming a bight;
+five miles to the south-east of it is a sandy bay with a small rivulet
+running into it. The Sisters, two round hills, 870 feet high, renders the
+east point remarkable; an islet with a reef of considerable extent fronts
+it for some distance.
+
+ESCAPED CONVICTS.
+
+One of the pilots at Port Dalrymple, I found, had travelled along the
+west coast of Tasmania, from Macquarie Harbour to Point Woolnorth. He
+crossed four or five small rivers; but the country was covered with a low
+scrub, growing in an impenetrable network along the surface of the soil,
+so that he could only make progress by keeping the shore. He was landed
+from a colonial vessel, by a party of convicts who had taken possession
+of it, and afterwards succeeded in reaching Valdivia, on the west coast
+of South America. They scuttled the vessel off the harbour's mouth, and
+came in in the boat, reporting it to have foundered. Being useful
+artificers in such an out of the way place, few inquiries were made about
+them, and they were received by the governor as a very acceptable
+addition to the population. Singular to say, when at Valdivia in 1835, I
+saw some of these men; they were married, and continued to be regarded as
+a very great acquisition, although a kind of mystery was attached to
+them. However, their enjoyment of liberty and repose was destined to be
+but short. Their whereabouts became known, and a man of war was sent to
+take them. All but one again effected their escape, in a boat they had
+just finished for the governor; and they have not since been heard of.
+The remaining delinquent was afterwards hanged at Hobart, where he gave a
+detailed and interesting narrative of the whole affair.
+
+DIRECTIONS FOR THE NAVIGATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE TAMAR.
+
+The few quiet days we had during our stay at Port Dalrymple, enabled us
+satisfactorily to complete the soundings at the entrance. Beacons were
+also erected on the shore by the Beagle's crew, for guiding vessels
+through the channels; they, however, require to be kept white, in order
+to show well against the dark ground behind. I furnished Lieutenant M.
+Friend, R.N. the port officer, with a few notes on the navigation of the
+Tamar, which, for the sake of the nautical reader, I give below.*
+
+(*Footnote. The most formidable shoal in the mouth of the Tamar, bearing
+the name of the Middle Ground, is a rocky patch, with, according to
+report, only 9 feet on one spot at low-water, spring tides, but the least
+depth found on it by the (Beagle's) boats was 12 feet. The north extreme
+of Low Head, in one with the first black cliffy projection to the
+eastward of it, or the flagstaff on Low Head, open northward of the
+lighthouse, clears the northern edge of it. The leading marks for
+entering eastward of the Middle Ground, generally called the Eastern
+Channel, are the Shear and West Beacons. The latter stands in front of
+Dr. Browne's house, which is the first inside Point Friend, the western
+entrance point. The Shear Beacon must be kept a little open to the left
+or eastward of the West Beacon, until you get abreast of the lighthouse;
+after which, both beacons should be kept in one. When within two cables
+and a half of the Shear Beacon, the course should be changed in the
+direction of the Red Beacon on the Barrel Rock, the first on the eastern
+side, to avoid a patch of kelp, extending one cable and a half in an
+easterly direction from the Shear Beacon, the depth, there, at low-water
+is 9 fathoms, and the least in the channel is 4 fathoms, on a ledge,
+apparently extending from Low Head to the Middle Ground.
+
+The Western Channel is two cables wide, with a depth, in the shoalest
+part, of 10 fathoms; it is formed by the Middle Ground on the eastern
+side, and the Yellow Rock Reef on the western; the latter is an extensive
+patch of kelp, with a double light-coloured rock near its extremity. The
+least water on it at low-water is 6 feet; from the Shear Beacon, it bears
+North 50 degrees West five-tenths of a mile, and from the lighthouse,
+South 52 degrees West eight-tenths of a mile. The Shear Beacon and the
+flagstaff at George Town in a line lead over the outer extreme. There is
+generally a white buoy in its vicinity, and a black one on the western
+edge of the Middle Ground. The Barrel Rock red beacon, and the high and
+low white beacons, erected by the Beagle's crew on the shore over Lagoon
+Bay, kept in one, lead through the Western Channel. When abreast of the
+Shear Beacon, steer for the next beyond on the west side of the channel,
+to avoid a long patch of kelp, with three and five fathoms in it,
+extending two cables and a half to the South-South-West of the Barrel
+Rock.
+
+The high part of the Western Reef, bearing South by East leads into the
+fairway of the Western Channel, when will be seen the white beacons over
+Lagoon Bay. The latter is the second sandy beach inside the lighthouse on
+the eastern shore. The Western Reefs are those fronting Point Friend; the
+part above-mentioned, the only spot uncovered at high-water, is a black
+patch of rocks near their northern extreme.
+
+The only danger near the entrance of the Tamar is the Hebe Reef, named
+after a ship lost on it in 1808; it occupies a space of a quarter of a
+mile, chiefly in an east direction. A small portion of its centre is
+nearly dry at low-water; this part bears South 89 degrees West, three
+miles and three-tenths from the lighthouse on Low Head; inside it there
+is a channel of 7 fathoms. The guide for passing northward of it, is a
+white spot on the North-West extreme of Low Head in one with the
+lighthouse; the latter will then bear East 16 degrees South.
+
+The shoals, on either side, within the entrance of the river, are marked
+with beacons. Those on the western shore, have a letter V sideways with a
+vertical bar on the top; and those on the eastern a dagger. Shoals marked
+with chequered buoys, may be passed on either side; a red or black buoy,
+signifies that the danger extends from the eastern shore; and a white
+one, that it extends from the western.
+
+The result of 115 tidal observations, taken three miles within the
+entrance, gives 12 hours 06 minutes for the time of high-water on the
+full and change day. The rise of tide was irregular, the least being 4,
+and the greatest 10 feet. The highest noticed in the Beagle was during
+the neaps, caused by a strong North-West gale forcing the water into the
+river. The tides flow 5 hours 50 minutes, and ebb 6 hours 25 minutes,
+with a velocity varying from two to five miles an hour, according as the
+river is confined or open. The ebb-stream setting round Low Head into the
+bay to the eastward, is apt to drift vessels in that direction. Three
+miles in the offing the flood-stream runs from one to two knots to the
+West-North-West.
+
+The position of the lighthouse on Low Head is as follows: latitude 41
+degrees 03 minutes 26 seconds South, longitude 4 degrees 25 minutes 44
+seconds West, of Sydney; or 146 degrees 50 minutes 16 seconds East of
+Greenwich, variation 10 degrees 05 minutes easterly. The light is
+elevated 140 feet above the sea-level, and may be seen, in clear weather,
+sixteen miles from the decks of small vessels, revolving once in fifty
+seconds.)
+
+THE GLENNIE ISLES.
+
+On December 19th both vessels left the Tamar; the Vansittart for Flinders
+Island, to land the unfortunate natives; whilst the Beagle crossed the
+strait to Wilson's Promontory, anchoring behind an island two miles long,
+trending north and south, with a hollow in the centre, forming a saddle,
+the highest part being 450 feet high. It is the northernmost of a group
+called the Glennie Islands, fronting the south-western face of the
+Promontory; and is strewn over with blocks of granite, which give it a
+castellated appearance. We did not find this anchorage very good, the
+depth being 20 fathoms, and the bottom sand over rock. Three small islets
+lie close to the south-west point, and a reef extends a cable's length
+off the northern. There is a passage nearly four miles wide, and 23
+fathoms deep, between this part of Glennie's Group and the Promontory.
+The singular break in the high land on the latter, bearing East 1/2 North
+is a distant guide to the anchorage, in which the flood-tide sets to the
+northward, and when aided by the current, attains a strength of a knot
+and a half; the time of high-water, is a quarter of an hour later than at
+Refuge Cove.
+
+We found on this, the largest of the group, a small black dog, that had
+been left behind by some visitor, recently I should say, from his anxiety
+to be taken on board, which was done. It was, also, on this island that
+the intrepid Bass met a number of runaway convicts, who had been
+treacherously left by their companions one night when asleep, the party
+being too large for the boat they had run away with from Sydney, with the
+intention of plundering the wreck of the Sydney Cove, at Preservation
+Island in Banks Strait. Thus they were actually the first to traverse
+this part of the Strait, which has received its name from the
+enterprising Mr. Bass.
+
+CAPE LIPTRAP.
+
+Leaving the Glennie Isles we examined the coast beyond Cape Liptrap;* and
+from thence made the best of our way to Western Port. There I availed
+myself of the kind offer of Mr. Anderson--a settler on the Bass River,
+who was going to Cape Patterson, to shoot wild cattle, the produce of the
+stock left behind when the old settlement was abandoned--to give Mr.
+Fitzmaurice, and a small party, conveyance in his bullock dray to that
+projection, for the purpose of determining its position. A party was also
+landed on the eastern entrance of Grant Island, to collect tidal
+observations.
+
+(*Footnote. The next headland to Wilson's Promontory, from the extreme of
+which it bears North-West by West, twenty-four miles; the shore between
+recedes, forming a bay nine miles deep. The Cape lies in latitude 38
+degrees 55 minutes South, longitude 5 degrees 17 minutes West of Sydney,
+145 degrees 57 minutes East, and is the extreme of a tableland three
+hundred and fifty feet high. A small islet lies close to the shore, about
+two miles northward from the extreme, where there is a boat cove. Where
+the rocky coast ceases to the eastward, the shore falls back, affording
+shelter for vessels in north-west winds; a rock lies off the southern
+point of this anchorage.)
+
+CORIO HARBOUR.
+
+Having made these arrangements, we left for Port Phillip, where, after
+landing another party at Shortland's Bluff, also to make tidal
+observations, we pursued our course round Indented Head towards Corio
+Harbour, anchoring off Point Henry--where no less than four vessels were
+lading with wool for England--early on the morning of the 27th. We
+devoted the remainder of this day and the next to making a plan of the
+harbour; and from the result of our survey I feel more than ever
+convinced that the bar (through the northern part of which a channel
+winds for vessels of eight feet at low-water) might be removed, and the
+entrance rendered fit for vessels of any draught. There is deep water in
+the south-western part, close to the northern side of Geelong, where, by
+erecting wharfs, large ships might discharge alongside, an advantage
+which can never be obtained at Melbourne,* and of so great importance
+that I am induced to believe Geelong will ultimately be the capital of
+Australia Felix. In this event communication will be held with Melbourne
+by railroad, for which the country intervening is admirably adapted,
+being a complete level the entire way. At present a steamer plies daily
+between the two places; and when we consider that on our last visit, only
+two years before, Geelong consisted of a few sheds at its north end only,
+and now stretched across from Corio Harbour to the River Barwon, a space
+of more than a mile, the belief seems warranted that at no distant period
+the line of rail I allude to must be laid down. The township is now
+divided into North and South Geelong; the latter lies on a slope,
+reaching the river's edge.
+
+(*Footnote. Corio Harbour is in fact the best anchorage in Port Phillip,
+that at Hobson's Bay being very confined, and scarcely affording any
+shelter from southerly winds for large ships. Moreover, Corio Harbour
+lies more convenient for the western districts, there being no other
+place where the sheep-farmers of those parts can, with safety, ship their
+wool, except Portland Bay.)
+
+CAPTAIN FYANS.
+
+Located in a snug house, with a garden teeming with flowers, that
+reminded one of home, and overlooking a still reach of the Barwon, I
+found Captain Fyans, of whom I have before spoken.
+
+ENCOUNTER WITH A NATIVE.
+
+In the course of conversation, pointing to a weapon used by the natives,
+called a Lliangle, resembling a miner's pick, he said, "I had that driven
+through my horse's nose, a short time since, by a native, of whom I was
+in pursuit." As I expressed a desire to be made acquainted with the
+circumstance, he informed me, that being out with a party of mounted
+police, in search of some natives who had been committing depredations on
+the flocks of the settlers, in the neighbourhood of Port Fairey, he
+suddenly, whilst crossing a valley in advance of his men, came upon the
+chief of those of whom he was in chase. He, too, was alone; an attack
+immediately commenced. The native threw his spears, but without effect;
+and Captain Fyans, finding that the rain had wetted the priming of his
+pistols, charged to cut him down; but such was his antagonist's dexterity
+in defending himself with his shield, only a narrow piece of wood, that
+beyond a few nicks on the fingers, Captain Fyans' sword-cuts were of no
+avail. Several times he attempted to ride over the native; who, however,
+doubled himself up in a ball under his shield, and was saved by the
+natural reluctance of a horse to trample on a prostrate man in going over
+him. After having been apparently more than once ridden down, the chief
+managed to drive his lliangle through the horse's nose, and so firmly
+that he was unable to withdraw it. The wound inflicted bled so freely
+that Captain Fyans was obliged to pull up, and the native made his
+escape. He was not only a fine fellow in conduct, but in person, having a
+chest, as Captain Fyans expressed it, like a bullock's. I afterwards
+learned that he displayed the sword-cuts upon his shield in triumph at
+some of the sheep-stations.
+
+From Corio Harbour* we proceeded to Hobson's Bay, for a meridian
+distance, the result of which was highly satisfactory, differing from our
+former measurement only five seconds. The longitude, therefore, of
+Batman's Hill, 6 degrees 16 minutes 17 seconds West of Sydney, or
+(approximately) 144 degrees 59 minutes 43 seconds East of Greenwich, may
+be relied on.
+
+(*Footnote. The approach to this harbour would be vastly improved by a
+buoy placed at the end of the spit extending nearly across from Point
+Wilson on the north shore.)
+
+MELBOURNE.
+
+A great improvement had been made since our last visit in the approach to
+the anchorage, by the erection of a light on Point Gellibrand.* This we
+found to be a small lamp fixed at the top of a kind of wooden framework,
+thirty feet high, suggested by the superintendent, Mr. LaTrobe; and for a
+temporary economical affair, until a more expensive light can be
+afforded, it is certainly a clever contrivance.
+
+(*Footnote. This light may be seen from a ship's deck, in clear weather,
+seven miles off. Vessels intending to anchor in Hobson's Bay should keep
+the light bearing North-West by North until the water shoals to 6
+fathoms; then steer North by West. When the lights of William Town open
+out, bearing South-West by West, haul in West-South-West for the
+anchorage. The best berth is in 3 1/2 fathoms, with the light bearing
+South 1/4 East and the jetty at William Town South-West 1/2 West.)
+
+The last three years had also made great additions to the buildings of
+William Town; but Melbourne had so increased that we hardly knew it
+again. Wharfs and stores fronted the banks of the Yarra-yarra; whilst
+further down, tanners and soap-boilers had established themselves on
+either side, where, formerly, had been tea-tree thickets, from which the
+cheerful pipe of the bell-bird greeted the visitor. Very different,
+however, were now the sights, and sounds, and smells, that assailed our
+senses; the picturesque wilderness had given place to the unromantic
+realities of industry; and the reign of business had superseded that of
+poetry and romance.
+
+MANNA.
+
+Near Melbourne I again noticed the manna mentioned above, but had no
+opportunity of making further observations upon it. Mr. Bynoe, however,
+having since visited Australia, has turned his attention to the subject,
+and the result of his experience, which will be found below, tends to
+overthrow the opinion I have previously expressed, to the effect, that
+this substance is the exudation of a tree, not the deposit of an insect.*
+
+(*Footnote. There is a prevailing opinion in some parts of New Holland,
+particularly on the east side, that the gumtrees distil a peculiar form
+of manna, which drops at certain seasons of the year. I have heard it
+from many of the inhabitants, who, on a close investigation, could only
+say, that it was to be found adhering to the old and young bark of the
+trees, as well as strewed on the ground beneath.
+
+In the month of December, about the warmest period of the year, during my
+rambles through the forest in search of insects, I met with this manna in
+the above-mentioned state, but could never find in any part of the bark a
+fissure or break whence such a substance could flow. Wherever it
+appeared, moreover, the red-eyed cicadae were in abundance. I was
+inclined to think that the puncture produced by these suctorial insects
+into the tender shoots for juice, would in all probability give an exit
+for such a substance; but by wounding the tender branches with a
+sharp-pointed knife, I could never obtain a saccharine fluid or
+substance. It was the season when the cicadae were abundantly collected
+together for reproduction; and on warm, clear, still days, they clung to
+the more umbrageous parts, particularly to trees that, having been
+deprived of old limbs, shot forth vigorous stems, thickly clustered with
+leaves. To one of these, in which the male insects were making an
+intolerable noise, I directed my steps, and quietly sheltered myself from
+a hot wind that was crossing the harbour, bringing with it a dense column
+of smoke, which for a short time shut out the powerful rays of the sun. I
+found that the ground about the root of the tree was thinly covered with
+the sugar-like substance, and in a few minutes I felt that a fluid was
+dropping, which soon congealed on my clothes into a white substance. On
+rising cautiously to ascertain from whence it came, with a full
+determination not to disturb the insects but to watch their pursuits, I
+observed that it was passing of a syrup-like consistence per anum from
+the cicadae. As it ran down the smooth branches of the gumtree and over
+the leaves it gradually congealed, and formed a white efflorescence.
+Whilst ejecting this fluid, the insect raised the lower part of the
+abdomen and passed off three or four drops in sudden jets, which either
+streamed down the stem, or fell on the leaves or ground.
+
+I watched them for nearly half an hour, and in that space of time
+observed between twenty and thirty distil this fluid, which gradually
+concreted into a white substance. I collected above three ounces, some of
+which I still have in my possession. The natives gather it in their rush
+baskets and use it as a part of their food.)
+
+RED BLUFF.
+
+Leaving Hobson's Bay we passed along the east shore of Port Phillip in
+search of a ledge of rocks, reported to lie about three miles off Red
+Bluff, which is eight miles to the southward of the above-mentioned bay.
+We, however, found this danger to be nothing more than the extreme of the
+reef fronting that bluff for a distance of half a mile, in a West by
+North direction, and which has three feet on it at low-water, with three
+fathoms just outside. As the soundings gradually decrease to this depth,
+the lead will always keep a ship clear of it.
+
+Anchoring under Arthur's Seat, I delivered the letters with which Mr.
+Powlett, Commissioner of Crown Lands at Melbourne, had kindly furnished
+me, to the different settlers in the neighbourhood, requesting them to
+afford me every assistance in my contemplated visit to Cape Shanck, for
+the purpose of determining its position.
+
+DR. BARKER.
+
+One of them was addressed to a gentleman residing close to the Cape, Dr.
+Barker, to whom it was forwarded, and who returned with the messenger to
+welcome me to his station, and in the most liberal manner placed at my
+disposal, his horses and his services.
+
+ARTHUR'S SEAT.
+
+Early the following morning, a well mounted party of us started for
+Arthur's Seat. I wished to get a few angles from its summit, and to show
+to Captain Bunbury, R.N., Superintendent of Water Police at Melbourne,
+the banks at the eastern entrance of the South Channel. Dr. Barker had
+brought his dogs over with him, to show us some sport on our way to Cape
+Shanck. They formed quite a pack; and among them were two bloodhounds of
+a celebrated Duke's breed at home. Their deep rich notes as they wound
+round the foot of Arthur's Seat, after a kangaroo, were quite cheering to
+the heart; but the ground was too hilly for the fast dogs, and too dry
+for the scent to lie.
+
+I was disappointed in not seeing Port Western from Arthur's Seat, which
+had one of those unsatisfactory woody summits, of which it is difficult
+exactly to ascertain the highest part. We passed a spring of water near
+the south-eastern foot, and in a level beyond were some large lagoons.
+
+Our course was now bent towards Cape Shanck, lying eight miles to the
+south. The first part lay over a level open woodland country; low hills
+then made their appearance, becoming more numerous as we neared our
+destination. At their commencement we turned off the road to look for a
+kangaroo; a herd was soon found; but all, after a sharp burst of a few
+miles, got away from us.
+
+KILLING A KANGAROO.
+
+When both horses and dogs had regained their wind we went to better
+ground, and came suddenly on a fine herd. A large male, called an Old Man
+by the colonists, loitering to protect the does under his care, was
+singled out by the fastest dog; and a splendid run ensued; the country,
+however, being rather woody, and strewed with fallen timber which was
+concealed by long grass, only those who risked the pace over it enjoyed
+the sport. The dogs stuck well to their game, and coming at last to an
+open piece of ground, the fleetest began to close with the Old Man, who
+was covering an immense space in each bound. At length the dog reached
+the kangaroo's quarters, and burying his teeth in them, made him face
+about, cutting at his pursuer, who kept out of reach, with his hind feet,
+and then turning round and endeavouring to escape. But the same liberty
+being again taken with his haunches he was once more brought to bay. The
+rest of the pack now came up, and a fine half-bloodhound rushed in and
+seized the kangaroo* by the throat; whilst the latter, in return,
+fiercely clutched the dog round the neck; a violent struggle ensued, each
+trying to choke the other. Although the dog that had first reached the
+Old Man was biting his quarters, the danger that the game hound would be
+laid open by a cut from the kangaroo's hind feet, determined Dr. Barker
+and myself to watch an opportunity of creeping up behind a tree to assist
+in the struggle. We accordingly did so, and managed to seize the animal
+by his monstrous tail, so that by keeping a strain on it he was prevented
+from lifting his hind leg, as if he had we should have pulled him over.
+
+(*Footnote. Although these animals have a most innocent countenance, the
+large males are very dangerous when brought to bay. I know an instance of
+a gentleman, who was endeavouring to assist his dog in killing one of
+them, having his clothes severed in front and the skin of his body just
+scratched by a cut from the hind leg. Had this person been any nearer the
+kangaroo, his bowels would have been torn open. The middle toe projecting
+and being armed with a strong nail, enable them to inflict dreadful
+wounds, and frequently to kill dogs. It is seldom, indeed, that they will
+attack a kangaroo in front; old dogs never do, but have a very clever way
+of throwing the smaller kind by the stump of the tail when running.)
+
+The dogs, thus protected from injury, were at last victorious; and the
+kangaroo, a great beast, weighing nearly two hundred pounds, was soon
+stretched on the ground.
+
+CAPE SHANCK.
+
+Having secured the tail and hind feet we continued our road to Dr.
+Barker's station, situated in one of the rich valleys I have spoken of,
+in an early part of the work, as lying a mile and a half to the
+North-East of Cape Shanck.
+
+On account of the state of the weather we were obliged to tax this
+gentleman's hospitality for two nights, both the early parts of which
+were passed on Cape Shanck, watching between the clouds for observations.
+This cape is a narrow projection of calcareous formation, rendered
+remarkable by a pulpit-shaped rock lying close off it. About a mile to
+the north is a hill 190 feet high, which has been selected for the site
+of a lighthouse for showing vessels their position off the entrance of
+Port Phillip. Being so distant, however, it is of more service for Port
+Western.
+
+From Dr. Barker I received some curious information respecting the
+Aborigines. It appears that there is great hostility between the Port
+Phillip and Gipps' Land natives, who occasionally visit each other's
+territory for the purposes of war. So great is the feeling of enmity
+between them, that they will frequently take a piece of the flesh of
+their foes and pass it through the skin of their thighs or arms, where
+they leave it until it withers.
+
+SOUTH CHANNEL.
+
+Returning to the ship we placed a buoy* on the five-fathom bar at the
+eastern entrance of the South Channel, the bearings from which are Whale
+Head South 33 degrees West, and Arthur's Seat South 79 degrees East;
+Points Nepean and Lonsdale being a little open. Passing through this
+channel,** we spent an afternoon within the heads for the purpose of
+visiting the lighthouse just built on Shortland's Bluff.*** This I found
+to be 108 feet high; the lantern, to contain a fixed light, had not been
+established. The position of this light being so far within the entrance
+it is only visible between South-West 1/2 West, and South 1/4 West; and a
+light placed at the extremity of the rocky ledge off Point Nepean would
+be of infinitely more service in showing vessels the entrance of the
+port.
+
+(*Footnote. Another buoy at the east extremity of the bank on the north
+side of the channel, which is very steep to, and one at the west end of
+the bank on the south side, would render the navigation free from
+difficulty, as the banks on either side can be readily made out.)
+
+(**Footnote. The directions for entering by this line-of-battle ship
+channel are as follows. After passing Point Nepean steer for Arthur's
+Seat, keeping Point Flinders open south of Lonsdale Point until the last
+cliffy projection is passed and bears South 1/4 West. Then steer half a
+point to the left of Arthur's Seat, shutting in Point Flinders with Point
+Nepean, and keeping Point Lonsdale a little open of the latter. The buoy
+at the eastern entrance will now soon be made out, and should be kept in
+line with Arthur's Seat. Pass on the north side of the buoy and then haul
+up South-East until the water shoals to five fathoms, or until Whale Head
+bears South-West by West; then steer North-East by East for Mount Martha,
+the next hill north of Arthur's Seat, until the latter bears South-East,
+when a course may be shaped for Hobson's Bay.)
+
+(***Footnote. The patch of dark bushes, breaking the sand beach to the
+northward, and forming one of the leading marks in, had been so thinned
+that it was very indistinct. Mr. LaTrobe, however, was going to remedy
+this evil by erecting a beacon on that spot.)
+
+Whilst we were at Port Phillip this time, a schooner left in a somewhat
+mysterious manner, on board of which was the Honourable Mr. Murray, who
+fell afterwards in a conflict with the pirates at Borneo. The particulars
+of this gallant affair must be fresh in the recollection of my readers.
+
+TIDES AT PORT PHILLIP.
+
+Leaving Port Phillip,* we returned to Port Western to pick up the party
+we had left there. Mr. Fitzmaurice found Cape Patterson, of which I have
+before spoken, to lie fourteen miles South-West by West 1/2 West from the
+eastern entrance of Port Western,** and twenty-one miles North 55 degrees
+West from Cape Liptrap, the next headland to the eastward.
+
+(*Footnote. The result of the tidal observations made at Shortland's
+Bluff, gives 12 hours 20 minutes for the time of high-water on the full
+and change days. The simultaneous ones made in other parts of this great
+sheet of water during our stay, gave the times of high-water later as
+follows:
+
+At William Town: 1 hour 0 minutes.
+Under Arthur's Seat: 1 hour 45 minutes.
+At Corio Harbour: 2 hours 30 minutes.
+
+At the entrance of Port Phillip the rise at springs is only three feet
+and a half, when the stream makes in at 2 hours 0 minutes. It also
+continues to run out from one to two hours after the water begins to rise
+by the shore. The outward and inward streams differ considerably; the
+latter being from 5 to 5 1/2 hours' duration, whereas the former is from
+6 to 6 1/2 and 7. The outward stream between the heads sometimes attains
+a strength of nearly 7 knots, and when opposed to a southerly gale,
+causes a sea dangerous to small craft; these gales heap the water up in
+all parts of the bay, particularly at William Town in the northern
+corner. On such occasions there is scarcely any fall of tide perceptible
+near the entrance; the outward stream is then also much weaker. In the
+West Channel the flood and ebb-streams have a velocity of from 1 to 2 1/2
+knots; but in the south it seldom exceeds two. Above the banks or in the
+inlet leading to Corio harbour there is scarcely any stream of tide
+perceptible; but through the channel over the bar at the latter the flood
+runs nearly three quarters of a knot. Outside the entrance the ebb sets
+between South by East and South-South-West for seven miles, when its
+strength is weakened to about a knot; from thence it trends more westerly
+towards the mouth of the Strait.)
+
+CAPE PATTERSON.
+
+Five and seven miles to the westward of Cape Patterson there are two
+rivulets, near the former of which an inferior kind of coal crops out; it
+occurs in beds of the carboniferous series. Between the two headlands
+above mentioned the shore falls back, forming a bight six miles deep, at
+the head of which is Anderson's Inlet, six miles in extent, full of mud
+banks, and available for boats only. A river, called Toluncan by the
+natives, empties itself into the head of it.
+
+(*Footnote. The observations on the tides at this place make the time of
+high-water at the full and change days 1 hour 10 minutes, when the rise
+is 8 feet. The stream in the main channel runs upwards of 2 knots, and
+off the North-East end of Grant Island it makes to the eastward about two
+hours before the time of high-water; this difference is to be attributed
+to the flood entering round both ends of the island.)
+
+From Port Western we carried a line of soundings across the Strait to
+Circular Head,* the greatest depth midway between being 40 fathoms. Here,
+according to arrangement, we met the Vansittart. Bad weather had
+prevented Mr. Forsyth from completing the work allotted the cutter. We
+found the management of the Van Diemen's Land Agricultural Company in the
+hands of Mr. Gibson, from whom we received great attention. The new
+system of letting lands, recently adopted by this Company, was working
+well; and it certainly appeared to be a very fair mode of getting their
+lands occupied.
+
+DIRECTIONS FOR THE WESTERN ENTRANCE OF BASS STRAIT.
+
+(*Footnote. My intention of getting some more soundings in the western
+entrance of Bass Strait was frustrated; but as I have entered into detail
+respecting the eastern entrance, I am induced to devote some space to a
+few directions, which may aid in averting a repetition of such terrible
+catastrophes as the late wreck of the Cataraqui on the western side of
+King Island. The western entrance, formed by the islands off the
+north-west point of Tasmania and the projection on the Australian
+continent called Cape Otway, is 108 miles wide. King Island, lying nearly
+midway, occupies 35 miles of this space, and leaves to the north of it a
+passage of 47 miles in width, and to the south one of 37 miles. The
+latter, however, is impeded by Reid's Rocks, the Conway and Bell sunken
+rocks, with Albatross Island and the Black Pyramid; the tide also sets
+across it at the rate of from one to three knots, as I have already
+mentioned in the first volume; consequently, the entrance between King
+Island and Cape Otway is much safer, the chief danger being the Harbinger
+Rocks, two granite boulders, with deep water between, one lying North 74
+degrees West three miles and a half, and the other North 88 degrees West,
+nearly four miles and a half from the north point of King Island, Cape
+Wickham, which may be recognized by a round hill, 595 feet high, over it.
+The southern Harbinger is a few feet only out of the water, and the other
+scarcely awash. These, with the Navarin Rock, lying North 25 degrees
+West, one mile and a half from the same cape, and the reef lying half a
+mile off Cape Otway, constitute the sole dangers in this entrance.
+
+Masters of vessels should endeavour, if possible, to make the land in the
+neighbourhood of Cape Otway; but if the weather be thick they may know
+they are in the fairway of the Strait when they get into sixty fathoms,
+fine grey sand; in the same depth, with a rocky bottom, ships will be to
+the southward, and off the west side of King Island, which, as I have
+before described, is a rocky dangerous coast. There is a doubtful
+position of a sunken rock, ten miles West 1/2 North of the south point,
+which is low and rocky, and in latitude 40 degrees 10 minutes South,
+longitude 143 degrees 58 minutes East; whilst Cape Wickham is in latitude
+39 degrees 35 minutes South, longitude 143 degrees 59 1/2 minutes, East;
+and Cape Otway in latitude 38 degrees 51 minutes South, longitude 143
+degrees 35 1/2 minutes East of Greenwich, considering Sydney, to which
+these longitudes refer, to be in 151 degrees 16 minutes East.
+
+Various opinions have been expressed as to the best position for a
+lighthouse at this entrance of the Strait, some recommending Cape
+Wickham; others, Cape Otway. I, however, hold to the latter, for this
+simple reason, that it will avoid bringing ships in the neighbourhood of
+the Harbinger Rocks and the western side of King Island. If a light were
+erected on Cape Wickham, and a vessel running for it should be to the
+southward of her position, she would risk sharing the fate of the
+Cataraqui,* unless more caution were used than is generally the case, I
+regret to say, in merchant vessels. Whereas, if the light were on Cape
+Otway, a ship to the southward of her position would have the Strait open
+to run through, and to the northward, would discover her error, by
+falling in with the land. The lead, also, would inform the master that
+his ship was near it, there being 30 fathoms ten miles from the land
+thirty-five miles to the westward of Cape Otway; the trend of the coast
+besides is too westerly to make it a lee shore.
+
+(*Footnote. In consequence of a letter of mine that appeared in the
+Times, the owners of the Cataraqui have communicated with me, stating
+that they have reason to believe the Beagle's chart of Bass Strait was
+among those with which the ship was furnished, and that with regard to
+leads and lines she was well supplied.)
+
+From the middle of the entrance between Cape Wickham and Cape Otway, in
+57 fathoms, fine grey sand, and in latitude 39 degrees 13 minutes South,
+longitude 143 degrees 48 minutes East, the course to the entrance of Port
+Phillip, is North-East 1/2 North seventy miles; the soundings will be
+found, at first, to decrease rapidly, and in the parallel of Cape Otway
+the depth will be 47 fathoms, fine sand and shells. Further particulars
+respecting the quality of the bottom off this part of the coast will be
+found in the first volume.
+
+A South-East 1/2 East course 176 miles, from the same position, will take
+a ship to Port Dalrymple. In the first twenty-nine miles of this
+distance, the soundings will have decreased to nearly 30 fathoms, and the
+ship's place should be then abreast of the North-East end of King Island,
+distant ten miles. The sight of this and, further on, of the Hunter
+Group, which should be passed at a distance of 20 miles to the
+South-West, will show if the right allowance has been made for the set of
+the tides. In the courses given in this note, the tidal influence has not
+been noticed; but I have above noticed the direction of the streams, and
+the allowance to be made will of course depend on what stream the ship
+enters or leaves the Strait with.
+
+Again, from the same position, an east course, 136 miles, will place a
+ship four miles to the south of the Curtis Isles. The soundings will be
+found to decrease to 40 fathoms thirty miles to the eastward of King
+Island, and will continue within a fathom or two of that depth for the
+remainder of the distance.
+
+Two hundred and four miles from the above position, on a North-East 1/4
+East course, will take a ship to abreast of Cape Howe, distant twenty
+miles; passing midway between Hogan and Kent Groups, distant nearly nine
+miles from each, at which time twenty-eight miles will have been run on
+the above course. In passing the latter group, attention should be paid
+to the set of the tides; as with the flood-stream and a northerly wind
+vessels may be obliged to pass on the south side of it. Cape Howe bears
+from Kent Group, North 36 degrees East, 170 miles. When a ship gets into
+30 fathoms she will be within 8 miles of the North-East side of these
+islands; and on the opposite she will have that depth half the distance
+off.
+
+It only now remains to notice the tides in the passage north of King
+Island. It is high-water on the full and change days at 1 o'clock; the
+stream begins to set to the South-West three hours and a half before
+high-water, running with a velocity of from 1 to 2 knots; past the
+Harbinger Rocks, however, it sweeps round to the South-South-West,
+sometimes at the rate of nearly two knots and a half.
+
+Having alluded to the entrance south of King Island in an earlier part of
+the work, and as it is a passage I do not recommend, I shall not here
+enter into many details respecting it, further than to say that if a ship
+is obliged to enter Bass Strait by that entrance, she should keep to the
+southward of Reid's Rocks, passing close to the Black Pyramid, a dark
+rocky lump, 240 feet high, in latitude 40 degrees 28 minutes South,
+longitude 144 degrees 18 1/2 minutes East. This should be made bearing
+North-East 3/4 East, which would keep ships clear of the Conway and Bell
+sunken rocks, the former and outermost of which lies fifteen miles North
+83 degrees West from it. The cross set of the tides should be
+particularly borne in mind, and likewise their strength, which is
+sometimes 3 knots. The stream to the South-West by South begins at 3 P.M.
+on the full and change days, or three hours and a half before high-water.
+The depth in the south entrance varies from 35 to 38 fathoms.
+
+I shall perhaps make this note more useful by stating that January and
+February are the best months for making a passage to the westward through
+Bass Strait; although easterly winds blow on some rare occasions at other
+times, but these are mostly gales, and generally terminate in a breeze
+from the opposite quarter, having much the character of a rotatory gale,
+one of which I have described in an early part of the work. The gales
+that chiefly prevail in this Strait begin at North-North-West, and
+gradually draw round by West to South-West, at which point they subside;
+but if the wind, before it has so much southing, veer again to the
+northward of west--or backs, as it is expressed--the gale will continue;
+but its duration may be told by the barometer, as it is seldom fine when
+it registers less than 29.95, and bad weather is certain if it falls to
+29.70.
+
+N.B. The courses recommended in this note are marked in the chart
+accompanying the work.)
+
+Our anchorage this time was on the south side of the singular natural
+fortification I have before described; and whilst there we were placed in
+some anxiety by being caught in a gale from the eastward. The
+holding-ground, however, being very good, and a strong outset sweeping
+out of the bay round the south side of the head, lessened the strain on
+the cables. The sudden appearance of this breeze, and the manner in which
+it was succeeded by another from the westward, afforded additional
+evidence of how necessary it is for anchorages in this strait to be
+sheltered from both quarters. A jetty, which has been run out by the
+Company, forms available shelter at high-water for vessels of nine and
+ten feet draught.
+
+On the 20th of January, having made a valuable set of tidal* and other
+observations, and arranged with Mr. Forsyth to meet him at Hobart, we
+sailed in the afternoon, and next morning passed half a mile from the
+south side of the Pyramid, in 35 fathoms. It is a light-coloured mass,
+worthy of its name, 300 feet high. From thence we steered towards Cape
+Frankland, the North-West point of Flinders Island, which we had still to
+examine, decreasing the soundings gradually to 26 fathoms within two
+miles and a half to the West-North-West of it. We could see nothing of
+the sunken rock said to lie two miles west from the above headland; yet,
+as we have not exactly gone over the spot, it has been marked in the
+chart with a p.d. against it.
+
+(*Footnote. The line of high-water at the full and change is 11 hours 40
+minutes, when the rise is 9 feet.)
+
+HUMMOCK ISLAND.
+
+I was also anxious to obtain a distant seaward view of Hummock Island,*
+which affords the best shelter for ships in westerly winds.
+
+(*Footnote. This island, which affords a plentiful supply of fuel, is
+between five and six miles long, and scarcely half a mile in width, with
+a North by East trend. The anchorage lies abreast of the middle Hummock,
+where the depth is six fathoms, and may be approached by passing round
+either the north or south end of the island. Some low islets lie a mile
+and a half off the latter, with a narrow passage between; and a reef
+extends three quarters of a mile off the north point, which is in
+latitude 40 degrees 1 minute South, longitude 3 degrees 27 minutes West
+of Sydney, or 147 degrees 49 minutes East. It is distant three miles and
+a half from the nearest point of Flinders, where is situated the
+settlement of Tasmanian natives. A tide of from half to one knot sets
+through between, and the flood-stream comes from the northward. The
+outline of Hummock Island is so remarkable that it cannot fail of being
+recognised. In thick weather the navigator may know he is approaching
+this, and the other islands fronting the western side of Flinders, by
+having a depth of less than thirty fathoms.)
+
+The north-west part of Flinders Island has a bold rugged outline. From
+our position off Cape Frankland, we carried a line of soundings across
+the passage south of Craggy Island, passing two miles to the eastward of
+it in twenty-seven fathoms. We then ran out of the strait and up to
+Sydney, to leave what stores were not absolutely required during the
+passage to England, for the use of the ships on the station.
+
+RAILROADS FROM SYDNEY.
+
+Having spoken of the feasibility of railroads in other parts of New South
+Wales, I cannot leave Sydney without suggesting what appear to me to be
+the most practicable directions for lines leading from that capital. As
+the country between Parramatta and Sydney is very hilly, I would
+recommend that part of the journey should be performed in a steamer; and
+that the railroad should commence on the right bank, about seven miles
+from the town. An extension of this line would lead into the
+north-western interior. Towards the south, and in the direction of the
+Manero district, the line ought to pass round the head of Botany Bay, and
+by following some of the valleys trending southwards, might reach nearly
+to Illawarra, the garden of New South Wales. In this manner, the rich
+Manero corn country, and the coalfields of Illawarra, might be brought
+into connection with Sydney, and a prodigious development imparted to the
+whole colony.
+
+MORETON BAY.
+
+I regretted being obliged to leave this part of Australia without
+visiting Moreton Bay, as a survey of the mouth of the Brisbane River
+would have enabled the settlers of that district, now rapidly increasing,
+to have sent their produce direct from thence to England; whereas, until
+a chart of it is published, masters of large ships do not like to go
+there. The residents are in consequence obliged to submit to the expense
+of first shipping their merchandise to Sydney. The Moreton Bay district
+is perhaps one of the most fertile on the continent, combining the
+advantages of great partial elevation and of proximity to the equator, so
+that, within a comparatively short distance, the productions of both the
+tropical and the temperate zones may be found. Corn grows on the high
+plains; bananas, raisins, etc., on the lowlands; in short, as in Mexico,
+the traveller finds, in ascending from the sea-coast to the summit of the
+hills, almost the same successive gradations of climate as in passing
+from the tropics towards the poles.
+
+FAREWELL TO SYDNEY.
+
+Our final arrangements were soon made; and on the 18th of February, the
+Beagle was turning out between the heads.* I cannot for the last time bid
+adieu to a place, which had become to us as it were a second home,
+without once more alluding to the reception I had experienced from its
+inhabitants. To enumerate any particular instances would be invidious;
+space forbids me to pay due acknowledgments to all. In general,
+therefore, I must say, that every attention which kindness and
+hospitality could suggest, was paid to the officers of the Beagle, and a
+debt of gratitude accumulated which it will be difficult to repay.
+
+(*Footnote. It is worthy of mention, that vessels working in against the
+ebb-tide, should get close under the inner south head before making a
+board across the entrance, as the stream sets round the north head a knot
+an hour to the northward, but has a southerly direction from one to two
+miles off.)
+
+Fresh easterly winds in the first instance, and light northerly ones
+latterly, carried us rapidly to the southward, and towards midnight of
+the 21st, we crossed the parallel of 39 degrees 31 minutes South,*
+steering South by West 1/2 West.
+
+(*Footnote. In this latitude a shoal was reported to have been seen by a
+vessel bound to Sydney, from Banks Strait, in 1838. The master of her
+states, that he sounded on it in seven fathoms, and saw moored kelp
+occupying the space of about half a mile. As this vessel's latitude, by
+her run from Banks Strait, was twenty miles further south, we cannot
+place much confidence in this report, in which it is stated, that when
+Cape Barren bore West eight miles, they steered North-East for sixty
+miles, when finding themselves, near noon, close to broken water, they
+wore the vessel's head round to the southward, and sounded in seven
+fathoms in kelp; the latitude by observation being 39 degrees 31 minutes
+South. As it was blowing strong at the time from the North-West with a
+high sea, and as there was only one cast of the lead taken, in the
+confusion of wearing, it is possible they might have been deceived. The
+kelp might have been adrift, and the sea, in that neighbourhood, often
+breaks irregularly as if on foul ground. The position of this supposed
+shoal, by the run from Banks Strait would be, latitude 39 degrees 51
+minutes South, longitude 149 degrees 40 minutes East; but as this gives a
+difference of twenty miles in the latitude by observation, and as the
+Beagle has crossed those parallels ten times between the meridians of 148
+degrees 4 minutes and 150 degrees 13 minutes, and, moreover, as the
+position assigned this shoal lies so much in the track of vessels running
+between Hobart and Sydney, there is every reason to doubt its existence.)
+
+EAST COAST OF TASMANIA.
+
+On the 23rd, we passed along the east coast of Tasmania, at the distance
+of eight miles. The weather being fine and the water smooth, we had
+frequent opportunities of testing the accuracy of the present chart,
+which we found to be about three miles in error both in latitude and
+longitude; the latter with respect to the meridian of Fort Mulgrave.*
+
+(*Footnote. Strange to say, the position assigned this place in the
+chart, 147 degrees 28 minutes East is much in error with regard to
+longitude, as Fort Mulgrave is 3 degrees 52 minutes 35 seconds West of
+Sydney, or 147 degrees 23 minutes 25 seconds East; this, with the error I
+have already alluded to in the east coast of Tasmania, the most available
+one for shipping, points out the necessity of having the survey of that
+island completed.)
+
+JOURNEY TO LAUNCESTON.
+
+Next afternoon we entered the Derwent and anchored off Hobart. Finding
+that his Excellency Sir John Franklin had just left for Launceston, I
+proceeded thither to wait on him. Our stay in the Derwent depending on a
+favourable change in the weather, it was necessary that we should be
+always in readiness to leave, and accordingly I travelled by the fastest
+conveyance, the mail-cart, a sort of gig drawn by one horse, which,
+however, by means of frequent changes and good cattle, manages to average
+nine miles an hour. It leaves Hobart, at half-past seven P.M., and
+reaches Launceston a little before eleven the following morning. It was a
+cold, bleak night; but as the road was excellent, and I was well muffled
+up, with my feet in a bag, the time passed cheerily. The general topic of
+conversation during the journey was about some three desperate
+bushrangers,* who appeared to keep all the innkeepers in dread of a
+visit. At one place we stopped at, the host came up with a rueful
+countenance, and told us that it was only the previous night that he had
+been stuck up, with a pistol at his head, while they took what they
+wanted from his larder.
+
+(*Footnote. The most notorious of these characters was one Michael Howe,
+who became a bushranger in 1812. In 1817 he separated from his party,
+taking with him a native girl, whom he shot when hotly pursued, because
+he imagined she might occasion delay. He twice surrendered on condition
+that his life should be spared; but soon resumed his predatory habits. In
+1818 he was killed by three men who had planned his capture; having been
+nearly seven years in the bush, part of the time entirely alone. He
+committed several murders, and robberies innumerable. His head was
+conveyed to Hobart. In his knapsack was found a sort of journal of his
+dreams written with blood, and strongly indicative of the horrors of his
+mind.)
+
+The first half of the journey was over a rather hilly and gradually
+rising country; the road then winds through almost one continued vale,
+bounded on either side by broken ranges of mountains. The noble Ben
+Lomond appears quite close on the right as you approach Launceston. I was
+much pleased with the comfortable inns on this line of road, the greater
+part of which is as smooth as a gravel walk.
+
+RAILROADS IN TASMANIA.
+
+I could not avoid, during this journey, being forcibly struck with the
+great facilities afforded by the road from Hobart to Launceston for a
+railway; and I have since heard and seen enough to convince me, that not
+only would such an undertaking be practicable, but that it would greatly
+conduce to the prosperity of Tasmania. At present, most of the
+productions of the northern part of the island are necessarily, on
+account of the expense of land-carriage, shipped at Launceston or Port
+Dalrymple, whereas the Derwent affords such superior facilities for the
+purposes of commerce, that if a means of cheap and rapid intercourse with
+it existed, nearly the whole export and import traffic of the coasts
+would be drawn thither. I have already observed that large vessels at
+Launceston cannot discharge alongside the wharfs. Besides, on the whole
+of the northern coast, with the exception of the Hunter Islands, there is
+no place of safety for a ship in all winds that a stranger would like to
+run into, the mouth of the Tamar being too much occupied with shoals. On
+the other hand, Hobart lies on that part of the island which may be
+approached with the greatest safety, being on a weather shore, whereas
+the northern side is partly a lee one. In saying thus much, I do not mean
+to imply that a private company, under ordinary circumstances, could
+construct a line with immediate advantage to itself, though I will go so
+far as to say, that in a very few years, comparatively, an ample
+remunerative return might be expected. What I especially desire to insist
+upon, is the fact, that a railroad traversing Tasmania from north to
+south would be a great benefit to the community, would stimulate trade,
+and consequently production, and would aid in restoring the prosperity
+which it once enjoyed.
+
+LABOUR MARKET.
+
+This being granted, let us take into consideration the condition of the
+labour market in that country, and observe what an opportunity now
+presents itself of executing a work of prodigious magnitude at a
+comparatively trifling cost. It will be seen at once that I allude to the
+population of probationers, pass-holders, ticket-of-leave men, who now
+compete with the free inhabitants, and cause the whole land to throng
+with people in want of work, with paupers and with thieves.
+
+The great evil at present complained of by the settlers of Tasmania, is
+the superabundance of labour. In most other colonies the contrary
+complaint is made; and were it not for peculiar circumstances, the great
+demand in one place would soon relieve the pressure in the other. But it
+must be remembered, that the glut in the Tasmanian labour market is
+produced by the presence of crowds of convicts, in various stages of
+restraint, all prevented from leaving the island, and forced to remain
+and seek employment there; so that as soon as the demand for labour falls
+off, or the supply of it becomes disproportionately large, it is the free
+population that is necessarily displaced.
+
+The effect, therefore, of the gradual pouring of a superabundance of
+convict labour into this island, must naturally be, first, to check free
+immigration; and secondly, to drive away those who have actually
+established themselves on it as their second home, and may perhaps have
+abandoned comfort in England in hopes of affluence there. So great is the
+number actually leaving the place every year, that it is calculated that
+in six years, at the same ratio, there will be absolutely none left.
+
+COMMERCIAL DISTRESS.
+
+And yet, no further back than 1841, the Legislative Council voted 60,000
+pounds to encourage immigration, thus needlessly taxing the colony to aid
+in producing a disastrous result, which certainly, however, no one seems
+to have foreseen.
+
+Who, indeed, four years ago, could have believed that, above all other
+things, there should arrive a glut in the labour market? Such an event
+was looked upon as absolutely impossible in the full tide of prosperity
+that covered the island. Everything wore a smiling aspect. The fields
+were heavy with harvests, the roads crowded with traffic; gay equipages
+filled the streets; the settler's cottage or villa was well supplied with
+comfort, and even with luxuries; crime, in a population of which the
+majority were convicts or their descendants, was less in proportion than
+in England; in short, for the first time, in 1840 the exports exceeded
+the imports; trade was brisk, agriculture increasing, new settlers were
+arriving; everything betokened progress; no one dreamed of retrogression
+or decay.
+
+In four years all this has been reversed. We now look in vain for the
+signs of prosperity that before existed. In their place, we hear of
+complaints loud and deep; of insolvency, of reduction in the Government
+expenditure; of a falling off of trade; of many beggars, where none
+before were known; of large agricultural estates allowed partially to
+return to their natural wildness; of cattle and all stock sold at half
+their original cost, and of every symptom of agricultural and commercial
+distress. I may further add, that the funds derived from the sale of
+Crown lands in Tasmania in the year 1841, amounted to 58,000 pounds; in
+1844, to 2000 pounds; and in 1845, to nothing. The revenue, in the same
+time, has decreased one half; and, to close the financial account, at the
+end of 1844 the colony was in debt to the Treasury, 100,000 pounds.
+
+REMARKS ON CONVICT DISCIPLINE.
+
+Though many other causes may have co-operated in producing this change,
+it seems acknowledged by most persons, that the result is chiefly
+traceable to the disproportionate increase of the convict population,
+acting in the manner I have already described; and this is itself
+encouragement to reconsider the system of 1842. But if, as some maintain,
+this plan has inflicted serious evils, in a moral point of view, both on
+the free population and on the convicts themselves, there is still
+greater inducement to examine whether some better mode could not be
+devised.
+
+I do not intend, however, to enter into the question of convict
+discipline. It would be beside my purpose to do so; and want of space,
+moreover, forbids it. But I cannot refrain from observing, that one
+feature in the new plan--that of congregating criminals during one period
+of their punishment in probation gangs, almost isolated from the free
+settlers--seems productive of anything but good. Under the system of
+assignment, whatever other objections there may have been to it, the
+convict had at least an excellent chance of becoming a better man,
+especially when drafted to a pastoral or agricultural district. Whereas,
+now that the well-disposed and the irreclaimably bad are often brought
+constantly together in the same class, it is much more difficult for them
+to regain that self-command and those moral sentiments, the loss of which
+brought them to their degraded position of prisoners. Having constantly
+before their eyes the garb and stamp of their infamy, reformation, if not
+impossible, is extremely difficult. Pass them on the highways at any
+time; and, in obedience to an irresistible impulse, they will leave off
+their work to look at you, and the comparison of your dress and
+condition, with their own distinctive costume and forced occupation,
+instead of awakening a spirit of hope and a determination to regain
+freedom, induces melancholy and despair. A dogged and sullen silence soon
+becomes the characteristic of these men; their features are stamped with
+the worst passions of our nature; and in many cases despondency is
+triumphant, and they make no proper or continued efforts to reclaim
+themselves.
+
+Even when a probation pass has been obtained, it is grievous to reflect
+that, in numerous instances, except in the single quality of industry,
+not only has no improvement taken place in the character of the prisoner,
+but that he has become more hardened and corrupt than when he left
+England. The horrible scenes of depravity he has witnessed in the
+barracks whence he has emerged, must have produced their natural effect
+on his mind. I cannot help thinking that this system of concentration is
+extremely impolitic. We all know what a detrimental influence the
+associating of men, punished for an offence comparatively trifling, with
+others convicted of the most flagrant outrages upon society, exerts upon
+the former. The experience of our prisons testifies to the fact. Can it
+be expected, then, that the same agglomeration of bad characters in
+Tasmania should be harmless? I foretell that this part of the new system
+will be shortly abandoned, and that at any rate the men will be provided
+with separate cabins for sleeping berths. The granting the prisoners
+occasional holidays of a week, would have a great effect in whetting
+their desire to finally obtain their liberty; and a change or improvement
+in their apparel, in proportion to their good conduct, would also be very
+beneficial.
+
+In my opinion, however, the system of concentration is radically
+defective. It supposes the existence in the breasts of criminals of a
+principle of action, and a desire of improvement and of a change in their
+condition sufficiently powerful to enable them to resist the temptations
+to vice held out by habitual intercourse with the depraved. No doubt
+there are individuals to be found, even among those who have incurred the
+penalty of banishment from their native country, of firm character and
+strong sympathy for virtue; but the majority must of course consist of
+men almost incapable of resisting momentary impulses, of weak or
+perverted understandings, of strong animal passions, naturally or from
+habit averse to what is good, and prone to that which is bad. In such
+cases association must inevitably be pernicious; and pardon can only be
+obtained by comparative, not absolute reformation. By the dispersion of
+convicts, under the assignment system or otherwise, the effects of evil
+communication will be guarded against, and those of intercourse with the
+virtuous and the honest substituted.
+
+I am not of course, as I have said, prepared here even to sketch a new
+plan of convict discipline; but I think that the suggestion I have made
+with reference to the employment of prisoners in the construction of
+railroads, the capital to be supplied by a private company, would afford
+a temporary relief to the labour market, whilst it would confer a lasting
+benefit on the colony. During the diversion thus created, time would be
+afforded for digesting a plan of convict discipline, which should be
+consistent with economy, with a due regard to the interests of the
+settlers, and with the moral improvement of the prisoners.
+
+LIGHTHOUSES IN BASS STRAIT.
+
+I would also suggest another mode of employing the probationers. They
+might be dispersed through the islands in Bass Strait, and engaged in
+constructing the lighthouses which are so much wanted there. Six years
+ago his Excellency Sir John Franklin drew the attention of the Government
+of New South Wales to the necessity existing for these lighthouses. On
+this occasion a mass of evidence was given before the Legislative Council
+as to which would be the most eligible sites; but up to this period only
+two have been founded, both by the Tasmanian Government, one on the
+Chappell Isles, another in Banks Strait. The important ones for the
+eastern and western entrances of the Strait have been neglected, although
+the fullest information was obtained on the subject. Opinions concur in
+representing Kent Group as the best position for a light at the eastern
+entrance, where certainly one is most required, the Strait being there so
+much impeded with rocks and islands. I gave my opinion to this effect
+before the Legislative Council, in September, 1842. At the same time, for
+the western entrance, I recommended Cape Otway in preference to the north
+end of King Island, for reasons already assigned.* The melancholy wrecks
+that have of late occurred in Bass Strait will, it is to be hoped, direct
+immediate attention to the construction of these lighthouses, and I think
+that the collateral benefits to be derived from the dispersion of the
+convicts ought to be given their due weight. The expense would, in
+consequence of the ample supply of labour, be small; some of the islands
+afford stone in abundance; and the convicts might raise part of their
+food in the vicinity of the proposed buildings. I cannot but think that
+this, in the end, will prove a lucrative undertaking for Government; as
+on the number of vessels that pass, light-dues of about a penny a ton
+might be levied.
+
+(*Footnote. The following is the Report of the Committee of the
+Legislative Council of New South Wales, on lighthouses proposed to be
+erected in Bass Strait: Your Committee have the honour to report, that
+having been favoured with the attendance of Captain Stokes, of her
+Majesty's ship Beagle, lately returned from a survey of Bass Strait, and
+ascertained his ideas as to the best position for placing a lighthouse at
+the western entrance thereof, they are induced to change their opinion as
+set forth in their Report of the 1st September, 1841, and to coincide
+with him in thinking that Cape Otway would be a better site for a
+lighthouse than King Island, as being equally advantageous to the trade
+at large, and much more so to that of Port Phillip.
+
+It would appear, too, that no danger could accrue to vessels endeavouring
+to make the former, while much mischief might arise in trying to sight
+the latter, should there be any error in their reckoning; and that it is
+therefore desirable to keep them as far as possible to the northward of
+King Island, instead of inducing them to risk the danger of approaching
+it, to ascertain their true position.
+
+Captain Stokes perfectly coincides with the Committee, in the opinion
+formerly expressed by them, that the eastern island of Kent Group, is the
+best position for a light at the eastern entrance of Bass Strait; and
+they beg leave respectfully to recommend to your Excellency and
+honourable Council, that immediate steps may be taken for commencing so
+desirable an undertaking as the erection of a lighthouse on that spot.
+
+(Signed) J. GIBBES, Chairman. Council Chamber, 6th September, 1842.)
+
+In another part of this work I have adverted to the desirability of
+forming other convict establishments than those at present existing,
+particularly on the north-west and north-east coasts; and I would
+especially recommend the neighbourhood of Hanover Bay on the former, and
+Halifax Bay on the latter.* By these means many hitherto untrodden lands
+may speedily be adapted to the purposes of colonization, and reclaimed
+from their present unprofitable state. In a country like Australia, where
+the proportion of bad land predominates, it is almost necessary, in the
+first instance, to force settlements by means of convict labour. A number
+of buildings is always a cheering sight to a settler on his first
+arrival, and gives him encouragement to exertion; whereas, if the country
+wears its natural arid, desolate, uninviting appearance, dejection and
+despondency ensue.
+
+(*Footnote. We have just learned that it is the intention of Government
+to form a settlement of the kind mentioned in the text on the north-east
+coast; and that the province is to be called North Australia, the
+southern boundary of which is to be the 26th parallel. I have already
+expressed my opinion, that convicts should not be sent to Port Essington,
+as the proximity of the islands would afford them facilities of escape.)
+
+COMET.
+
+During our stay in the Derwent, perhaps one of the most splendid comets
+that has ever appeared, illuminated the southern hemisphere for several
+nights. We did not see it until the evening of the 5th of March; but it
+was observed on the 2nd at Launceston; and by a ship at sea, off Cape
+Leeuwin, on the 27th of February. Several observations were made with it,
+when the nucleus, which was of a deep red colour, somewhat resembling the
+planet Mars, was visible.* The length of the tail (on the 5th) measured
+forty degrees; but was afterwards ten degrees longer. Towards its centre
+it showed great intensity of light, becoming visible in the crepusculum
+before stars of the second magnitude. Through its more attenuated
+extremity, the stars were plainly seen, the coma seeming to be much less
+dense, showing the sky through the centre like a dark line.
+
+(*Footnote. On the evening of the 5th its right ascension was found to be
+about 0 hours 13 minutes 0 seconds, and declination about 13 degrees 0
+minutes South. The following evening it was observed to have had a motion
+of above three degrees and a half in the direction of the constellation
+Orion; the right ascension being 0 hours 26 minutes 0 seconds, and the
+declination 12 degrees 50 minutes South. On the following night it was
+found to have had a further motion in the same direction, and with much
+the same velocity. Its position, shortly before setting, was as follows:
+right ascension 0 hours 41 minutes 0 seconds, declination 12 degrees 30
+minutes South.)
+
+COLONIAL CORN.
+
+Whilst we were in the Derwent, a ship was loading with corn for England;
+and I could not help regretting that, although grain from these colonies,
+on account of its dry nature, is well adapted for a long voyage, the
+heavy duty almost shut it out from the English market. It was impossible
+not to feel, that justice as well as policy should have dictated the
+admission of Australian wheat on the same terms as Canadian. The injury
+inflicted by the exclusive system pursued, is, that less land is put
+under cultivation, and fewer people are encouraged to go there; both the
+colony and the mother country are sufferers thereby.
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.14. AUSTRALIA TO ENGLAND.
+
+Sail from Tasmania.
+The South-west Cape.
+Monument to Flinders.
+Rottnest Island.
+Lighthouse.
+Penal Establishment.
+Longitude of Fremantle.
+Final departure from Western Australia.
+Rodrigue Island.
+Effects of a hurricane at Mauritius.
+The crew and passengers of a foundered vessel saved.
+Bourbon.
+Madagascar.
+Simon's Bay.
+Deep sea soundings.
+Arrival in England.
+Take leave of the Beagle.
+The Surveying service.
+
+The barometer, which had been rising gradually within the last three
+days, now standing at 30.20, showed that the opportunity of getting round
+the South-West Cape, had at length arrived. We therefore left Sullivan
+Cove on the morning of the 15th; and by the following midnight passed the
+above-mentioned storm-beaten headland with a fine northerly wind.
+Previous, however, to so doing, we had soundings in 84 fathoms, six miles
+South-West of the Mew Stone. From the result of others we had obtained at
+different times off the south coast of Tasmania, it appears that
+soundings of a moderate depth extend out only a short distance, and that
+a ship in 60 fathoms will be within ten miles of the land.
+
+MONUMENT TO FLINDERS.
+
+It had been my intention, on our passage to the westward, to have
+examined the south and west sides of Kangaroo Island, with the rocks
+lying off the former. I was also anxious to visit South Australia for
+another meridian distance, those already obtained not being satisfactory,
+I wished, moreover, to comply with Sir John Franklin's desire, that we
+should set up a monument, dedicated to the memory of poor Flinders, which
+he had sent to Port Lincoln, the centre of his honoured commander's most
+important discoveries on the south coast of Australia.* The performance
+of such a task would have constituted an appropriate conclusion to our
+labours on the shores of this great continent; and certainly nothing
+could have been more agreeable to our feelings than to be instrumental in
+paying a tribute of respect to our distinguished predecessor in the
+career of discovery. I shall always regret that we were prevented from
+doing so. At the same time I must say, that it will reflect great
+discredit on the colony of South Australia, if some portion of its wealth
+be not devoted to the erection of a suitable monument to the memory of
+Flinders in one of the squares of Adelaide.
+
+(*Footnote. Sir John Franklin was a midshipman with Captain Flinders when
+he discovered this part of Australia.)
+
+Strong northerly winds prevented us, as I have above hinted, from closing
+with the land, we consequently continued our course to the westward; and
+on the twenty-third day arrived at King George's Sound, whence, after
+completing our wooding and watering, we sailed on the morning of the 21st
+of April. At noon we passed between Bald Head and Vancouver Reef.*
+
+(*Footnote. See plate.)
+
+ROTTNEST LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+In the forenoon of the 23rd we saw the lighthouse of Rottnest; and
+regarded it with great interest, as the work of the aborigines imprisoned
+on the island. I could not avoid indulging in melancholy reflections as I
+gazed upon this building, erected by the hands of a people which seemed
+destined to perish from the face of the earth without being able to leave
+any durable monuments of their existence, except such fabrics as this,
+constructed under the control of a conquering race. The time indeed, if
+we may judge from past experience, seems not far distant when the
+stranger, on approaching the shores of Western Australia, and asking who
+erected that lighthouse to guide him in safety to the shore, will be told
+it was the work of a people that once were and are now no longer.
+
+Passing over the foul ground extending off the Stragglers, we ran into
+Owen's anchorage during the first watch. Whilst waiting to rate the
+chronometers several soundings were added to our plan of this place, and
+a three-fathom patch, about a quarter of a mile in extent, was
+discovered, with nine on either side of it, lying nearly two miles and a
+quarter North 39 degrees West from Fremantle gaol.
+
+PENAL ESTABLISHMENT.
+
+We also visited Rottnest to inspect the establishment. It had now been a
+penal settlement for four years; besides erecting the buildings, the
+aboriginal labourers had cleared thirty-four acres of land, chiefly in
+detached valleys. These grew thirty-five bushels of wheat to the acre (in
+the Port Phillip district the return is about five more to the acre) and
+from thirty-four to forty bushels of barley. There are about two thousand
+acres of available land in the whole island. The average number of native
+convicts is about seventeen, and the expense of the whole establishment
+to Government is about 200 pounds per annum; but, under the good
+management of superintendent Vincent, it has realized 1500 pounds by the
+sale of corn and salt, and allowing for the value of the buildings
+erected.
+
+His Excellency Governor Hutt had done a great deal for the improvement of
+the natives; the schools established for their instruction work
+exceedingly well; and I am happy to see that a most important step
+towards civilizing them has since been made, a white having taken a
+native woman as his wife. This may be regarded as in a great measure the
+result of the notice bestowed on them.
+
+No opportunity occurred during our stay of adding to the observations I
+had previously made for the longitude of Fremantle (Scott's Jetty);
+which, however, is the only part of the continent absolutely determined
+during the Beagle's voyage. It is considered to be in longitude 115
+degrees 47 minutes 50 seconds East.
+
+Before leaving we received a letter of thanks from his Excellency and the
+members of the Legislative Council for the services we had rendered the
+colony. My friend Lieutenant Roe presented me, also, with two specimens
+of the Spined Lizard Moloch horridus, which I intended to present to Her
+Majesty; but, unfortunately, I did not succeed in bringing either of them
+alive to England; one, however, lived beyond the Western Islands.
+
+DEPARTURE FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
+
+We left Swan River on the evening of the 6th of May, 1843, running out
+with a moderate North-East breeze. Everything seemed auspicious. The
+water was smooth, and the sails, as they slept in the breeze, echoed back
+the sounds of the well-known song, We are homeward bound, that was sung
+with an earnestness that could not be mistaken. I fancied I could
+discern, in the rough tones of the crew under my command, the existence
+of the same emotions that swelled in my own breast at this moment. For
+seamen, high and low, though content to pass the greater portion of their
+lives upon the world of waters, can never entirely suppress that yearning
+for home, which, perhaps, after all, is one of the finest traits in human
+nature. And now that it might be legitimately indulged, I was not sorry
+to see such strong evidences of its existence.
+
+Ere the last vestige of day had passed, the coast of Australia had faded
+from our sight, though not from our memory; for, however much thoughts of
+the land to which we were returning crowded on our minds, they could not
+as yet entirely obliterate the recollection of that we were quitting. The
+Swan River colony--its history, its state, its prospects--naturally
+occupied much of our mind. What a change had come over it even since our
+visit! From a happy little family, if I may use the expression, it had
+grown into a populous colony, in which all the passions, the rivalries,
+the loves and the hates of the mother country were in some sort
+represented. And yet there remained still much of that old English
+hospitality, which rendered our first stay so pleasant, and which almost
+made us desire to prolong our last. The alteration that had taken place
+was rather to be referred to the increasing number of settlers, which
+rendered inevitable the formation of circles more or less exclusive, and
+which, with the forms of European society, promised to introduce many of
+its defects.
+
+But our thoughts wandered, from time to time, over the whole of this
+extraordinary continent, which we saw for the first time in November
+1837, at the point from which we took our departure, in May, 1843. The
+strange contrasts to the rest of the world which it affords were
+enumerated and commented upon--its cherries with their stones growing
+outside--its trees, which shed their bark instead of their leaves--its
+strange animals--its still stranger population--its mushroom cities--and,
+finally, the fact that the approach to human habitations is not announced
+by the barking of dogs, but by the barking of trees!*
+
+(*Footnote. The trees in the vicinity of houses are generally barked to
+obtain a covering for the roofs.)
+
+Westerly winds carried us into the South-East trade by the 13th, in
+latitude 22 degrees 30 minutes South four hundred miles from the
+North-west Cape, when our course was directed for the Mauritius. We found
+the trade very squally, and on one or two occasions managed to screw as
+much as eleven knots out of the old craft.
+
+RODRIGUE ISLAND.
+
+A little after noon on the 27th we saw Rodrigue Island sooner than we
+expected, in consequence of our finding it placed seven miles to the
+westward of its true position, even with reference to the meridian of the
+Mauritius. Our observations, in passing to southward, made the eastern
+end of it 5 degrees 59 minutes East of Port Louis, and 63 degrees 31 3/4
+East of Greenwich, latitude 19 degrees 42 minutes South. I was rather
+surprised to find this error in the position of Rodrigue, as it is quite
+a finger-post for ships on their voyage from India to Great Britain. It
+trends east and west for seventeen miles, and is in width about six. For
+a volcanic island its features are not very remarkable; the highest part
+is a peak or excrescence, 1700 feet high, rising towards the eastern end
+out of a rather level ridge.
+
+On the morning of the 29th, the high land of the Mauritius was seen
+breaking through the mass of clouds. Passing round the north end of the
+island, in the evening we reached Port Louis, where we found a French
+man-of-war that had just brought in the crew of a vessel foundered at
+sea. Their escape had been one of the most remarkable on record. The ship
+was from Liverpool, and was rounding the south-eastern point of Africa
+with a strong north-west wind, when she sprang a leak, which increased so
+fast, that the crew were ultimately obliged to abandon her and take to
+the boats. The sea was so great that they were compelled to run before
+the wind, with the prospect only of prolonging their lives for a brief
+space, no land lying in that direction.
+
+PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.
+
+Providentially, the morning following they found themselves alongside a
+French frigate; but the boats were so low in the water that for some time
+they escaped observation, and were nearly passed. At length, by waving a
+lady's shawl in the air, they attracted the attention of the Frenchmen,
+and were taken on board, and treated with an attentive kindness, which
+entitled their preservers to the thanks of all who would wish to be so
+received under such circumstances. I regret that the name of the captain
+of the ship has escaped me; though I remember it being said, that he had
+himself been saved on a previous occasion by a Liverpool ship in the
+China Sea.
+
+Not long before the arrival of the Beagle in Port Louis, a fleet of
+crippled vessels, the victims of a recent hurricane, might have been seen
+making their way into the harbour, some dismasted, others kept afloat
+with difficulty, firing guns of distress, or giving other signs of their
+helpless condition. The monotony of colonial life was suddenly disturbed,
+by no means disagreeably to some, as the telegraph told off a succession
+of lame ducks, as they were jocularly called, such as seldom or ever had
+been witnessed, even at that place. It required but a visit to the bell
+buoy, to see at a glance the destructive effects of the storm on the
+unfortunate ships.
+
+EFFECTS OF HURRICANE AT MAURITIUS.
+
+On the tranquil surface of the harbour lay a group of shattered vessels,
+presenting the appearance of floating wrecks. In almost all, the
+bulwarks, boats, and everything on deck had been swept away; some, that
+were towed in, had lost all their masts, others more or less of their
+spars; one had her poop and all its cabins swept away; many had four or
+five feet water in the hold, and the clank of the pumps was still kept up
+by the weary crew.
+
+Such was the description given me of the circumstances under which the
+crowd of vessels that lay at anchor in Port Louis had arrived. I had
+anticipated that I should here be enabled to make some important
+additions to the notices of hurricanes that have occasionally appeared in
+this work; and certainly ample opportunity now presented itself. But I
+found that this interesting subject was in more able hands, those,
+namely, of Mr. Alexander Thom, of H.M. 86th Regiment, whose valuable
+observations have been laid before the public, in a work called, An
+Inquiry into the Nature and Course of Storms; a volume that embraces many
+important considerations for seamen, to whom, indeed, and to the
+ship-owner, Mr. Thom, by his scientific investigations, has proved
+himself a true friend.
+
+It is curious that military men should have been the first to study the
+causes of hurricanes, and to tell sailors how to avoid their effects; but
+that such is the case, the works of Colonel Reid and of my friend Mr.
+Thom will testify.
+
+I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the latter gentleman in
+Port Louis. What he considered to be the grand sources of rotatory
+storms--winds charged with opposite kinds of electricity and blowing in
+opposite directions--appeared to account satisfactorily for the
+occurrence of hurricanes in the Pacific, where there are no continents or
+chains of mountains to produce them and guide their courses.
+
+As so much has been already written about this interesting island, the
+Mauritius, and as, moreover, space forbids, I do not here make use of the
+mass of information with which Mr. Thom has kindly furnished me,
+respecting its history and resources, and the subject of Coolie labour;
+but on some future occasion I may be able to lay it before the public.
+
+During my stay at Port Louis I received much hospitality, particularly
+from the family of Colonel Staveley, Commander of the Forces, which I
+take this opportunity of acknowledging.
+
+We sailed from the Mauritius on the 10th of June, and on the following
+day passed about 20 miles south-east of the Island of Bourbon. It
+resembles a large cone emerging from the water; and its features are
+strikingly different from those of the Mauritius; the outline is not
+softened by luxuriant vegetation, but is sudden and steep and massive.
+
+MADAGASCAR.
+
+Southerly and westerly winds brought us in sight of Madagascar on the
+16th, and on the same evening, aided by a southerly current of 2 knots an
+hour, we were just able to weather its South-East extreme. The features
+of this great island that were presented to our view approached the
+Alpine, and from a passing glimpse of the small hills near the shore, it
+appeared to be a fertile country. This portion of the globe is one of
+great interest to the world at large, especially when we know that, if
+considered as a naval or military station, it is scarcely equalled by any
+in the Indian Ocean; besides having a soil of the best description, and
+abounding also in mineral wealth, with timber fit for any purposes, and
+thousands of cattle running wild in its valleys. On the afternoon of the
+27th we were within seven or eight miles of the land, near the great Fish
+River, on the south-eastern coast of Africa, having apparently got within
+the eddy of the westerly current, which sweeps round that part of the
+coast at the distance of thirty miles with a velocity of from two to five
+miles an hour, which we entirely lost after passing Algoa Bay. Within
+thirty miles of the latter place we had a strong gale from the southward
+of twenty-four hours duration; and on the morning of the 1st of July
+arrived at Simon's Bay, in company with Her Majesty's ship Belleisle,
+which sailed two days before us from the Mauritius. Nearly six years had
+elapsed since our last visit, and little improvement had taken place in
+colonial affairs.
+
+(*Footnote. The little difficulty that strangers found in recognizing
+this anchorage at night, is now overcome by a light-vessel being placed
+near the Roman Rocks; but the streaks of sand, resembling snow, down the
+sides of the hills over Simons Bay, and the remarkable break in the high
+land over another bay, just to the northward, are sufficient guides of
+themselves in clear weather.)
+
+On the 9th we were again on our way homeward. Touching at St. Helena* and
+Ascension, we crossed the equator on the forenoon of the 15th, in
+longitude 19 degrees 45 minutes West, where we endeavoured to obtain
+soundings with 2000 fathoms of line, which parted at 1600 fathoms.
+Respecting deep-sea soundings, there are some sceptical persons who, in
+consequence of the bottom not being brought up from the great depths
+reported to have been found, are inclined to doubt that soundings were
+actually obtained on those occasions.
+
+(*Footnote. This place is famed for its large flying-fish, of which some
+are from 18 to 24 inches in length: and not a little so, for those
+monsters of the finny tribe called sharks. In the Admiralty book of
+directions, the fact is related of an artillery-man being found fully
+accoutred in the stomach of one taken there.)
+
+ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND.
+
+On the 24th a continuation of westerly winds* brought us in sight of St.
+Jago and Bravo, of the Cape de Verd Group; on passing which we got the
+North-East trade, and, after staying a part of the 10th and 11th at
+Fayal, where we met Her Majesty's Steamer Styx, Captain Vidal, who, on
+parting, gave us three hearty farewell cheers, we did not, in consequence
+of easterly winds, arrive at Spithead until the 30th day of September,
+after an absence of upwards of six years. During this period we only lost
+two men, and preserved throughout almost the same spars** and boats,***
+we left Plymouth with in 1831. From Portsmouth we proceeded round to
+Woolwich, where the ship was paid off on the 18th of October, 1843.
+
+(*Footnote. Ships availing themselves of these winds, when, also, the
+westerly current ceases near the equator, might, by running away to the
+eastward in them, shorten the passage to either Ascension or St. Helena.)
+
+(**Footnote. I have already mentioned that the Beagle was fitted with Mr.
+Snow Harris's lightning conductors; the fact mentioned in the text is
+ample proof that they do not weaken even the smallest spars.)
+
+(***Footnote. It is in justice due to say, that the boats were chiefly
+built by Mr. Johns, of Plymouth Dockyard.)
+
+TAKE LEAVE OF THE BEAGLE.
+
+After giving the men their certificates, I loitered a short time to
+indulge in those feelings that naturally arose on taking a final leave of
+the poor old Beagle at the same place where I first joined her in 1825.
+Many events have occurred since my first trip to sea in her: I have seen
+her under every variety of circumstances, placed in peculiar situations
+and fearful positions, from nearly the antarctic to the tropic, cooled by
+the frigid clime of the extreme of South America, or parched by the heats
+of North Australia; under every vicissitude, from the grave to the gay, I
+have struggled along with her; and after wandering together for eighteen
+years, a fact unprecedented in the service, I naturally parted from her
+with regret. Her movements, latterly, have been anxiously watched, and
+the chances are that her ribs will separate, and that she will perish in
+the river* where she was first put together. She has made herself as
+notorious as during the war did her namesake, that reaped golden opinions
+from her success in prize-making; while my old friend has extensively
+contributed to our geographical knowledge.
+
+(*Footnote. The Beagle, now employed in the Preventive Service, is moored
+in Crouch Creek, near South End.)
+
+THE SURVEYING SERVICE. CONCLUSION.
+
+There was only one drawback to the pleasure I experienced on arriving in
+England--namely, that Lieutenant G. Gore did not obtain his promotion,
+but was compelled to seek it by a second voyage to the North Pole. All
+the mates were, in the course of a short time, promoted, and the ship's
+company received the favour of having half of their slop bill deducted,
+an indulgence which the Lords of the Admiralty, from the kindest and most
+considerate motives, have in some instances bestowed upon the crews of
+surveying vessels, on their return from distant voyages. This boon,
+however, in some instances, operates unfairly. In the first place, it
+often happens, in spite of the strictest surveillance, that the worst
+characters will, if they can, take up the greatest quantity of slops,
+which they convert either into money or grog, whenever an opportunity
+presents itself. The really steady men generally look clean and neat as
+long as possible, without much assistance from the purser. Then again,
+the boats' crews of all surveying vessels are necessarily so much more
+exposed, that they not only the sooner wear out their ordinary clothing,
+but absolutely require additional comforts in that way. I am therefore
+strongly of opinion that, in this department (and I speak from
+experience) the Captain should be allowed a certain portion of slops, to
+be placed at his disposal, and distributed under his sole authority; or
+might not he be enabled to recommend a certain number of the best men for
+a small increase upon their regular pay? This judicious exercise of
+discretion would be the means of retaining in this important branch of
+the service, a class of men who would become most valuable to their
+officers when engaged in the arduous and responsible duties of a survey.
+
+As in the Royal Engineers, a great deal of the superior talent of the
+officers might be better bestowed, by abandoning to the petty officers
+the rougher part of the surveying work, in which calculation is not
+required. For this purpose, a kind of instruction might be imparted,
+which that class of men, if encouraged by extra pay, is capable of
+receiving, particularly those who have had the advantage of a Greenwich
+education.
+
+To strengthen the suggestions I have made regarding the surveying
+service, I cannot refrain from alluding--and I do so with honest
+pride--both to the actions in China, and the very recent gallant
+destruction of the Argentine batteries in the River Parana, as instances
+of the importance of this branch of the profession in time of war. During
+peace the new countries that are explored, and the new fields of commerce
+that are opened to the world, will speak for themselves.
+
+...
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+WINDS AND WEATHER ON THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN COASTS OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+BY COMMANDER J.C. WICKHAM, R.N.
+
+The winds on the western coast of Australia, are, for the most part, from
+some southern point--chiefly between South-South-West and
+South-South-East.
+
+During the summer, or from the early part of October to the beginning of
+April, they are almost constant from this quarter; but in the winter
+their regularity is broken in upon by occasional winds between north and
+west that at times blow with great violence, and are accompanied by heavy
+rain, and thick dirty weather.
+
+Near the shore, land and seabreezes appear to be regular, the former
+generally dying away towards the middle of the day, after having reached
+as far as East from about South-East at sunrise; then follows a short
+interval of calm, after which, the seabreeze sets in, mostly at
+South-South-West, and draws to the eastward of south in the evening.
+
+At times the land wind veers round the compass, and is then generally
+stronger than usual; blowing fresh for a short time from North-East, and
+bringing a parching heat from the land; upon these occasions the
+seabreeze comes in from a more western point, and is lighter.
+
+At Swan River, in the months of December, January, and February, the
+seabreezes are very strong, for intervals of from three to five days;
+during which time they blow fresh throughout the night--drawing to the
+southward after midnight, and towards sunrise to South-South-East and
+South-East, but more moderate. In the middle of the day, they back again
+to the southward, and soon to South-South-West, from which quarter they
+blow very fresh until midnight.
+
+Intervals of such weather are from three to five days' duration, and are
+followed by the like number of days of moderate weather, with winds
+mostly off the land; sometimes strong gusts from the east, for a few
+hours, with oppressively hot weather.
+
+I have noticed, that when the seabreeze sets in from a point to the
+westward of South-West, it does not blow so strong, and generally lulls
+at sunset; but if more southerly, or from South-South-West, it is a fiery
+breeze, and often lasts until midnight.
+
+During the prevalence of these strong seabreezes, communication between
+Gage Road and the shore is very inconvenient--particularly for laden
+boats.
+
+In March, the seabreezes are not nearly so strong, but are generally
+moderate, and not unfrequently bring in thick misty weather from
+southwards, with drizzling rain.
+
+Generally speaking, when the seabreezes are the strongest, the land winds
+are light, and vice versa.
+
+I cannot speak from experience of the winds or weather during the month
+of April, at Swan River, but have been told that the seabreezes are
+moderate, and the land winds of longer duration; calms are frequent--and
+the weather altogether seems to indicate the breaking up of the summer
+season; light winds are occasionally felt from the northward, with a
+dull, gloomy appearance between that point and South-West.
+
+May is the month in which the winter weather fairly sets in, and it
+rarely happens that the middle of this month passes without the rains
+having commenced. This season seems to vary but little as to the time and
+manner of setting in--it is ushered in by blowing weather, from about
+North-North-East, the wind gradually veering round to the westward, as it
+increases in strength. The first of this weather usually lasts from a
+week to fourteen days; then comes an interval of fine weather, generally
+of a fortnight's duration, and sometimes a month; after which the rains
+set in more constant, and the intervals of fine weather are shorter; this
+weather lasts until October, and at times throughout that month.
+
+During the intervals of fine weather the climate is delightful, and the
+country has a fresh and pleasing appearance; land and seabreezes are as
+regular as in summer, with the exception, that the latter are much more
+moderate.
+
+The North-West gales that occasionally occur during the winter months, on
+the southern parts of the west coast of Australia, are probably felt as
+far north as Shark's Bay. They blow with great violence, and are
+accompanied by dark, gloomy weather, and rain. It is then unsafe to be
+near the land--as the gale that commences at North-North-East, invariably
+veers to the westward, making a lee shore of the whole line of coast, and
+between West-North-West and West-South-West blows the hardest.
+
+Fortunately these gales give ample warning; the barometer always
+foretells their approach, and generally begins to fall three or four days
+before the commencement of the gale--besides which, there are other
+never-failing indications of a northerly wind, such as, the change of the
+current, which (owing to the prevailing southerly winds) usually sets to
+the northward, but runs strong to the southward during northerly
+winds--frequently preceding them, and giving more timely notice than the
+barometer.
+
+A rising of the water is likewise a certain prognostic of a northerly
+wind; and has been invariably noticed, at Swan River, to precede all
+gales from that quarter--this, of course, can only be observed while at
+anchor on the coast.
+
+Another, and perhaps equally certain sign of approaching bad weather,
+during the winter season (and which is almost certain to be from the
+northward) is the strength of the North-East winds--as it has been
+observed, that when the land winds blow strong, particularly from the
+North-East and the seabreezes are light, with a falling barometer, a gale
+from the northward will follow. Perhaps these latter remarks, are only
+applicable to that distance from the shore, where a ship will be within
+the influence of the land and seabreezes; but as I conceive the limit of
+that distance to be full 30 miles off shore, a notice of such a symptom
+of approaching bad weather, may not be altogether useless. I am of
+opinion, that land winds are at times felt as far off shore as the edge
+of soundings, which is not less than 30 miles, and generally between that
+and 40.
+
+(In latitude 30 degrees 25 minutes South and 65 miles from the land,
+soundings were got from the Beagle, with 185 fathoms of line, upon a
+coral bottom. Between Swan River and Houtman's Abrolhos, soundings may be
+had at a greater distance from the land, than off any other part of the
+west coast.)
+
+The North-West gales are of longer duration, in the latitude of Swan
+River, and south of that, than they are to the northward; they do not
+appear to be entirely confined to the winter months, as I am told that a
+very heavy one was experienced at Swan River, early in March, 1832, and
+on the 13th December, 1839, the Beagle experienced a strong breeze from
+the northward, while at anchor in Gage Road, in consequence of which, it
+was considered necessary to let go an extra anchor.
+
+As it may be satisfactory to know more particularly the progress of these
+gales, and the effect they have upon the barometer and sympiesometer, I
+give the details of two that were experienced in H.M.S. Beagle, one at
+Swan River, in the beginning of June 1838, the other at Houtman's
+Abrolhos, in the beginning of May 1840; they may be taken as fair
+criterions of the strength and duration of these gales, the latter having
+been experienced, probably, within 5 degrees of their northern limit, and
+the former near the southern extreme of the west coast.
+
+As our barometer had been broken in March 1838, the register of a
+sympiesometer will be given in describing the gale of June in that year;
+but as this instrument had been found (by comparison with the barometer)
+to act exceedingly well, it will be sufficient for our purpose; the
+GENERAL use of a marine barometer being merely that of a weather glass,
+for which purpose a sympiesometer is equally good, and more sensitive.
+
+For the gale of 1840, the register of a barometer is shown, which,
+although 0.2 too low, will serve to show the effect upon the mercury.
+
+At Swan River, on the 24th of May, 1838, the wind was strong and squally
+from North-East by North; sympiesometer standing at 30.74. During the day
+the oil commenced to fall, and continued falling slowly until the 30th,
+when it was 30.16; during the greater part of this interval, the winds
+were light, generally from some eastern point in the morning, and going
+round the compass, by north and west, during the day; the nights were
+mostly calm, a heavy bank of clouds was collecting between
+North-North-East and South-West and the whole western horizon had a
+gloomy appearance. On the evening of the 30th, the water had risen
+considerably at the anchorage, and the stream ran to the southward; a
+fresh breeze also set in from North-East and gradually veered to the
+northward, as it increased in strength. On the 31st it blew hard all day,
+between North-North-East and North-North-West, with dark squally weather,
+much lightning in South-West and heavy rain, that continued all night. On
+June the 1st, the gale was at its height, and at 8 A.M. (the
+sympiesometer having fallen to 29.93) was blowing a hard gale, with heavy
+squalls and rain, from North-West; towards noon the wind veered to west,
+but still blew very hard; the sympiesometer now began to rise, and in the
+evening the wind was West-South-West and had moderated considerably, the
+weather was also clearer, although heavy clouds still hung on the western
+horizon.
+
+The next morning (the 2nd) the sympiesometer had risen to 30.26; but this
+was much too sudden a rise (0.33 in 24 hours) to allow us to suppose,
+that the favourable change in the weather was to be of long continuance;
+during the day the oil began to fall again, and the wind veered to West
+and North-West and on the 3rd blew harder than ever, with heavy rain,
+thunder, and lightning; and, with the exception of occasional intervals,
+when the wind moderated, this weather continued until the 10th. The wind
+during this time was variable, between North-North-West and
+West-South-West, the sympiesometer between 29.81 and 30.16--falling with
+the North-West winds, and rising as the wind veered to west and
+West-South-West.
+
+This gale, which may be said to have been of ten days' continuance,
+caused a very heavy sea upon the coast; the oldest residents at Swan
+River said they had never experienced so heavy a sea before. On the 10th
+the glass commenced to rise steadily, and the weather was fine, with
+light variable winds, until the Beagle sailed (on the 20th).
+
+Owing to the security of Owen's anchorage, and the good quality of the
+bottom, the Beagle rode out this bad weather, without causing the
+slightest apprehension to anyone on board; but had a merchant vessel been
+in Gage Road, in all probability, she would have added one more to the
+list of wrecks, that have already done too much in prejudicing strangers
+against the Swan River settlement.
+
+The gale of May, 1840, at Houtman's Abrolhos, commenced in a similar
+manner with that already described, but being in a lower latitude, was of
+shorter duration, and the indications did not precede it such a length of
+time; still they were in every respect similar.
+
+This gale commenced on the 2nd of May, in the evening, and lasted until
+the evening of the 4th.
+on April the 29th, the barometer stood at 30.17 (having been some days
+steadily high); it then commenced to fall, and on the evening of May the
+2nd, was 29.86; during this interval we daily experienced strong
+East-North-East and North-East winds; they generally commenced after
+midnight, and lasted until noon; a bank of clouds was also collecting in
+the North-West and there was occasional lightning in that quarter; the
+early part of May the 2nd was nearly calm, and there was a heavy bank of
+clouds between North and South-West. After noon a light breeze sprang up
+from North-West which gradually freshened; and during the night the
+barometer fell 17-hundredths.
+
+At sunrise on May the 3rd, there was a fresh breeze from North-North-West
+and the weather had a very dull and gloomy appearance, the wind
+increasing rapidly, and by noon it blew a heavy gale at West-North-West;
+the barometer had fallen to 29.58, at which it continued until midnight,
+when the wind drew to the southward of west, and the mercury began to
+rise. The gale continued unabated, with squalls and rain, until noon of
+the 4th, although the barometer had been rising since the previous
+midnight; in the afternoon the wind moderated, and the weather became
+fine.
+
+From this it would appear that the barometer gives ample warning of an
+approaching North-West gale, as it had been falling nearly four days
+before the commencement of the bad weather, this alone ought to be
+sufficient to put a man upon his guard if near the shore. Between April
+the 29th (the first day of the fresh north-easterly winds) and May the
+3rd (when the gale was at its height, and the wind began to draw to the
+southward of west) the mercury had fallen 6-tenths. The change of current
+did not precede the wind, but changed with it; when the gale was strong
+from North-West and West-North-West the current ran a knot an hour to the
+South-East, and when the wind changed to South-West it ran with the same
+velocity to the North-East.
+
+The west coast of New Holland is at times visited by sudden squalls,
+resembling hurricanes. I was told by the master of an American whaler,
+that in March 1839, when in company with several whalers off Sharks' Bay,
+he experienced some very bad weather, which came on suddenly, without
+having given any previous warning, but it was not of long continuance;
+the gusts of wind were very violent, shifting suddenly to all points of
+the compass. Some of the ships suffered considerable damage, in loss of
+topmasts, etc. others in sails, but all more or less. I think the first
+squall was from North-East off the land.
+
+The American whalers that resort to the west coast of Australia, are upon
+different parts of it at all seasons of the year; their range is between
+the parallel of 10 and 50 degrees of south latitude. In the summer they
+fish to the southward, and at that season visit Swan River and King
+George's Sound, for refreshments; but during the winter months they are
+rarely to the southward of Sharks' Bay; numbers are to be met off the
+North-West Cape.
+
+Between the parallels of 40 and 45 degrees they meet much bad weather, as
+it is generally blowing strong with a heavy sea; but between 45 and 50
+degrees the weather is much more settled, and finer. November is said to
+be generally the finest of the summer months, the winds are mostly
+moderate, and the weather more settled than at other periods.
+
+Two gales that were experienced by the Beagle in November 1837, between
+the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam and Swan River, will serve to show
+the different effects upon the barometer by gales from opposite quarters,
+one being from North-West and the other from South-East.
+
+On November the 1st, the barometer stood at 29.90, having been gradually
+rising for some days previous to that, and the wind had been fresh
+between north and west. After 8 P.M. on the 1st, the mercury began to
+fall, and on the 2nd, the wind was strong from
+North-North-West--barometer falling all day. During the night it blew a
+heavy gale, and the barometer fell to 29.34. On the morning of the 3rd
+the wind veered to the westward, and the mercury began to rise, the
+weather also became more moderate, and gradually fine.
+
+On the 8th of the same month, the barometer was 30.05 at 8 P.M. with fine
+weather, wind South-East by East, it then commenced to fall, and at 8
+P.M. on the 9th was 29.80, and blowing a heavy gale at South-East, which
+continued all night, and until 8 P.M. on the 10th, at which time it
+became more moderate, and the barometer began to rise.
+
+What a different effect these gales had on the barometer; that from the
+North-West causing the mercury to fall nearly 6-tenths, whereas, the
+last, from South-East only lowered it 2-tenths, and 5-hundredths; they
+were of equal strength and duration, and both accompanied by heavy rain.
+
+...
+
+ON THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+The great extent of the North-West coast of Australia, lying as it does
+between the parallels of 12 and 22 degrees of south latitude, no doubt
+subjects it to a variety of winds and weather, that is not experienced on
+the north coast; although, on that part of it north of the parallel of 15
+degrees, there is probably much similarity.
+
+As I cannot speak with certainty of the winds and weather that prevail on
+this extent of coast, at all seasons of the year, the following remarks
+will be confined to such portions of it as were visited by the Beagle,
+and will apply only to the particular seasons in which she was employed
+there.
+
+To the eastward of the meridian of 123 degrees east longitude, and at a
+short distance from the land, the east and west monsoons will be found
+regular; but the easterly monsoon is very light to the southward of 13
+degrees latitude.
+
+Between Clarence Straits and Cambridge Gulf, and during the months of
+September, October, November, and December, the wind during the day is a
+seabreeze between North-West and West. In September, and until the middle
+of October, we found the wind as follows: About sunrise, a light breeze
+sprang up from South-East or East which gradually drew to the northward
+towards the middle of the day, in the afternoon, a seabreeze from
+North-West or west, becoming light towards sunset, but freshening again
+soon after that, and blowing a moderate and pleasant breeze between
+North-West and South-West all night.
+
+During the latter part of the period (November and December) the winds
+were more constantly from the West or West-North-West, blowing from that
+quarter throughout the twenty-four hours, but much more moderate at night
+than during the day; at full and change of the moon, the breezes were
+much stronger than at other times, and upon one or two occasions, at the
+time of the moon's quartering, there was a light breeze from South-East
+in the morning.
+
+During the month of November, the ship was at anchor, twelve miles within
+the entrance to Victoria River, and sixty-five from Point Pearce, on the
+sea coast. For the first three weeks of this time, the seabreeze was
+regular from North-West or West-North-West, generally setting in about
+noon, and lasting the greater part of the night; in the mornings, and
+until noon, it was mostly calm, or very light winds from the northward.
+In the last week of this month the weather was very unsettled and
+squally, with much thunder and lightning, and rain, the wind mostly
+between South-East and North-East; after which, the westerly breezes set
+in again, and continued until we left the coast in the middle of
+December.
+
+During the whole of this period the westerly winds did not appear to come
+from any distance, but to be merely local seabreezes, as they did not
+cause any sea upon the coast, nor did they reach far in shore; as we
+frequently observed smoke at no great distance from the coast, rising
+perpendicularly, or influenced by a light south-easterly wind, and this
+at times when the seabreeze was strong. From this it would appear, that
+the westerly monsoon had not reached so far to the southward, nor did we
+find, after sailing from Point Pearce, that the winds were at all steady
+from the westward, until we had reached to the northward of Cape
+Londonderry, which is in latitude 13 degrees 45 minutes South. To the
+northward of this, the winds were from the westward, accompanied by fine
+weather during the day to the southward of that point--sometimes as far
+as South-West--and at night inclining to the northward of west, but
+generally speaking, we found the wind to the southward of west, and the
+current running from half a mile to a mile an hour to the North or
+North-North-East.
+
+The currents between New Holland and Timor, are said to run to the
+westward, during the easterly monsoon--and in the opposite direction with
+the westerly; but they seem to be influenced by every trifling change of
+wind--as on the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of December (when the westerly
+monsoon might be supposed at its height) we experienced light, variable
+winds, between South-East and East-North-East--during which period the
+current ran to the westward--at times, a knot an hour. We were then
+between the parallels of 11 1/2 and 13 degrees, south of which we
+experienced winds between South-South-West and West until we were to the
+southward of the North-West Cape, when they became more southerly, and at
+times South-South-East (in January). Throughout all this period, the
+weather was fine, and different from what was expected during the
+westerly monsoon.
+
+All that part of the North-West coast of New Holland, between the
+North-West Cape, and Cape Londonderry, appears to be very much subjected
+to light winds, particularly during the easterly monsoon, the strength of
+which is not felt to the southward of 13 or 14 degrees of south latitude.
+During the westerly monsoon, strong winds and gales from the North-West
+at times blow upon the coast, but they do not appear to be frequent. The
+strongest winds at this season, are the heavy squalls between
+East-South-East and North-East (and which may with propriety be termed
+hurricane squalls); fortunately they are not of long duration, rarely
+lasting over two hours. They give ample warning of their approach, by the
+gathering of a heavy bank of clouds between North-East and South-East,
+and much lightning in that quarter. Appearances such as these frequently
+precede the squall some days, but coming gradually nearer (to the
+westward). The barometer shows no indication of approaching bad weather,
+being only acted upon by the immediate change; these squalls mostly occur
+in the night, or between sunset and sunrise.
+
+During the latter part of the westerly monsoon, on that part of the coast
+between Cape Villaret and Point Swan, we found the weather remarkably
+fine, with the exception of an occasional short, but severe squall, from
+the eastward. During the day there was generally a moderate seabreeze
+between North-West and South-West commencing in the forenoon, and lasting
+sometimes nearly until midnight--on which occasions it blew strongest
+during the night); during the other part of the twenty-four hours the
+wind was light from the eastward or calm. Captain King experienced
+similar weather in August.
+
+It was not until we had reached Point Swan, in latitude 16 degrees 20
+minutes South that we experienced any of the bad weather that is usually
+met with, at this season of the year, a few degrees to the northward; it
+commenced in the last week of January, and continued until the middle of
+February, during which period, there were some strong gales from the
+westward, between North-West and South-West accompanied by heavy rain,
+thunder and lightning; but although there was a good deal of dirty
+weather, it was by no means constant, as there were occasional intervals
+of fine weather, with moderate westerly winds. This was the only bad
+weather on this part of the coast, during the season, that could be said
+to be caused by the westerly monsoon, if we except the East-South-East
+squalls, that do not occur in the easterly monsoon.
+
+While this weather lasted, the easterly squalls were quite suspended, and
+the heavy bank of clouds that had generally been noticed in the
+South-East had dispersed for the time; but after the strong westerly
+winds had ceased, the weather was generally fine, and the wind mostly
+from some western point; there were occasional showers, and the clouds in
+the eastern horizon resumed their threatening appearance, bringing some
+hard squalls, and rain from that quarter. In the middle of March (being
+the time when equinoctial gales are looked for in most parts of the
+world) there were two or three days of squally, unsettled weather, with
+rain, that seemed to terminate the season of the westerly monsoon. After
+the 1st of April, the weather was invariably fine, and the easterly
+squalls had ceased to trouble us; land and seabreezes became regular, and
+the easterly monsoon had no doubt set in to the northward; the strongest
+breezes now were from South-East but, generally speaking, the winds were
+very light near the land.
+
+It does not appear that the westerly monsoon blows with any degree of
+regularity, to the southward of the 13th degree of south latitude;
+although for some degrees south of that, the weather is influenced by it,
+and winds between West-North-West and South-West will be experienced, and
+from the appearances on many parts of the coast, there are no doubt
+strong gales at times from the westward, that send in a very heavy sea.
+During the easterly monsoon, the weather is fine on the North-West coast,
+particularly in the months of May, June, July, and August; this is
+undoubtedly the best time for visiting it; land and seabreezes are
+regular, and the temperature is very agreeable.
+
+The average range of the thermometer on that part of the coast, between
+the North-West Cape, and the meridian of 120 degrees east longitude,
+during the above-mentioned period, was between 75 degrees in the middle
+of the day, and 60 degrees at night, on board the ship, and the general
+course of the wind as follows, viz.
+
+About sunrise, or sometimes a little before that, a breeze springs up
+between South and South-South-East and draws to the eastward as the sun
+rises, rapidly increasing in strength, and between 8 and 11 A.M. often
+blows a fiery breeze; towards noon it moderates, and rarely lasts until 2
+P.M., after which there is a light breeze from North-East which at times
+reaches to north; the nights are mostly calm, or a light breeze from the
+south-westward; at the full and change of the moon, we found the
+south-easterly winds stronger than at other times; dews at times very
+copious.
+
+All this part of the coast is subject to the effects of mirage, by which
+its outline is at times very much distorted, but generally speaking it
+ceases with the strength of the breeze, and as the sun attains a little
+altitude. When the effects of mirage was observed in the morning, I
+noticed that the winds were much lighter throughout the day, than usual.
+
+During this part of the year, the atmosphere is clear, with a cloudless
+sky, and the coast is exempted from the violent East-South-East squalls,
+that are of frequent occurrence, while the sun is in the southern
+hemisphere, and the land consequently very much heated.
+
+Towards the latter end of August, and in September, the winds are not
+quite so regular, and there are occasional intervals of two or three days
+of westerly winds.
+
+That part of the North-West coast between the North-West Cape, and the
+116th degree of east longitude, seems to be subject to westerly winds at
+all times of the year. The prevailing southerly winds that blow along the
+west coast, appear to draw round the Cape, and follow the direction of
+the land. Between April and October (when the easterly monsoon is blowing
+to the northward) they are generally to the southward of west, or between
+that point and South-West, but during the westerly monsoon between West
+and North-West.
+
+Upon getting to the westward of the North-West Cape, the wind becomes
+more southerly, and draws to the eastward of south as the distance from
+the land increases, and will be found varying between South-South-East
+and East-South-East, generally speaking as far south as the parallel of
+30 degrees of south latitude, after which it is mostly to the westward of
+south, so that ships making a passage to the southward, along the west
+coast of New Holland, will rarely be able to make any easting, before
+reaching that latitude, particularly during the summer months. In the
+winter a ship may occasionally make a quick passage to the southward, if
+happening to be upon the coast during a northerly gale; and as all these
+gales are preceded by North-East winds, a sufficient offing may be gained
+to enable her to run on, when the wind gets to the southward of west.
+
+...
+
+ON THE NORTH COAST OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+That part of the coast of New Holland from Cape York to Cape Van Diemen,
+and extending as far south as the parallel of 12 degrees south latitude,
+may be said to be within the limit of the east and west monsoons, as at a
+short distance from the coast, these periodical winds will be found to
+blow with great regularity.
+
+Near the land, the easterly monsoon sets in between the 1st and middle of
+April, and the westerly monsoon in October, and sometimes not until
+November. At a distance from the land they are probably more regular, as
+the changes of the monsoons are said to take place about the first week
+in April and October.
+
+In the month of July, we found the winds between Booby Island and Port
+Essington, fresh from the eastward, veering at times to East-South-East
+and occasionally to South-East but rarely to the northward of east. Close
+to the land these winds are not so constant, but take more the character
+of land and seabreezes, and the nights are mostly calm; this we found to
+be the case during part of the months of July and August, while at anchor
+in Port Essington. The general course of the winds during that period was
+as follows. A little before sunrise, a breeze sprang up from South or
+South-South-East which gradually became more easterly as the sun
+approached the meridian; sometimes in the middle of the day, it was light
+from the eastward, or calm, and at other times veered gradually to
+North-East, from which quarter there came a fresh seabreeze every
+afternoon; this breeze lasted until sunset, and at times later, but the
+nights were always calm.
+
+We experienced similar winds between Melville Island and Port Essington,
+but being a short distance from the land, the nights were not calm,
+although the winds were very light.
+
+During the easterly monsoon, it is difficult to get to the eastward, as
+at a few miles from the land the current is always running to the
+westward, and runs strong past the projecting points; but by contriving
+to be near the land at daylight, at which time the wind is always more
+southerly, something may be gained.
+
+At Port Essington, the rainy season can scarcely be said to set in before
+the middle of November; there is then, squally, dirty weather, with rain
+from the westward and North-West, and at this season, there are at times
+heavy squalls from South-East accompanied by rain, thunder, and
+lightning.
+
+In 1838, the westerly monsoon set in at Port Essington, in the first week
+in November; there had been no rain before that.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2
+by John Lort Stokes
+
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