Volume I Part 21 (1/2)

August 8.

At eight o'clock the next morning we were near Goulburn Island, steering through Macquarie Strait; and at eleven o'clock we anch.o.r.ed in South-west Bay, near our former watering-place.

As soon as the vessel was secured I went on sh.o.r.e to examine whether water could be obtained. In this object we were successful; and a basin was dug to receive the water that drained through the cliffs; but, from the advanced state of the dry season, it did not flow in half the quant.i.ty that it did last year. The vegetation appeared to have suffered much from drought and the gra.s.s, which at our last visit was long and luxuriant, was now either parched up by the sun or destroyed by the natives' fires, which at this time were burning on the low land in front of Wellington Range.

In the evening I went to Bottle Rock, but found our bottle had been removed; the rocks were covered with the eggs of terns, of which the boat's crew collected eight dozen. On our return to the cutter a turtle was noticed swimming towards the sandy beach at the north end of the bay, which induced me to send a boat's crew on sh.o.r.e to watch its landing, but in this they were unsuccessful. At their return at night they reported having seen the recent marks of natives and of a dog on the beach.

August 9.

The following morning Mr. Bedwell went with a watering party to the sh.o.r.e; the tide had however reached the hole, and spoilt what had been collected during the night: after cleaning the hole again he visited our last year's wooding-place where he found some remains of our cuttings; but the greater part had been burnt. On his return to the watering-place the well was full, and the party commenced their occupation: they had however scarcely been twenty minutes employed before a shower of large stones was thrown down upon them by a party of natives who suddenly appeared on the verge of the cliff; but as suddenly retreated upon a volley of muskets being fired over their heads from our boat, which we had previously taken the precaution of mooring off the sh.o.r.e as we had done last year. After this our people continued their work without being further molested although many other attacks were premeditated by the natives during the day, they having once or twice approached near the verge of the cliffs; but their courage forsook them before they were sufficiently near to throw either spears or stones with effect. A flag was always hoisted on board whenever they were observed advancing, which prepared our people on the beach to give them a reception. This signal was certainly noticed by the natives, for they always stopped short the moment it was displayed.

The run of water was so trifling that we could not procure more than from sixty to one hundred gallons per day, for while the high tides lasted the well in the morning was always found full of salt water. This inconvenience did not occur last year because it was not found necessary to dig a hole, the stream being of itself sufficiently abundant for our purpose.

August 10 to 16.

The delay however was not lost, inasmuch as it gave an opportunity of finding new rates for the watches, as well as of obtaining a set of lunar observations for the longitude.

On the 13th Mr. Bedwell went to Sims' Island for turtle but no recent tracks were observed, excepting the remains of one that had a week before furnished a repast to the natives. Near to this place were found disinterred some of the bones of a human body that had been buried in a grave close by, not longer than two or three months since. The footsteps of the followers of the body to the grave were still visible in the sand, but other steps appeared to have been more recently impressed; which must have been those of the natives, who had dug the body up either from a motive of curiosity or revenge.

I cannot account for the absence of many of the bones of the skeleton unless the natives are cannibals, of which we have hitherto neither had proofs nor entertained the least suspicion; dogs or birds may certainly have carried them off, or the natives themselves may have removed them as trophies or as evidences of their discovery to their companions on the main. From the quant.i.ty of bamboo which was found scattered about the spot there was every reason to conclude it was the grave of a Malay; and according to the time of the Malay fleet's pa.s.sing these islands last year, they would at this time have quitted it about three months, which will nearly agree with the appearance of the bones and the grave. On returning on board our party brought a great quant.i.ty of the bulbous roots of a crinum which grows abundantly among the rocks on Sims' Island.

August 17.

On the 17th our wood and water were embarked; the former having been obtained from the verge of the cliff immediately over the watering-place and thrown over, was readily conveyed to the boats. When our party first mounted the cliffs a throwing stick, a broken spear, and some stones were found that had evidently been left by the natives in their hasty retreat when the muskets were fired: the spear was made of the mangrove tree, hardened and made straight by exposing it to fire; and the throwing stick, of hard wood, probably either of eucalyptus or casuarina; the latter weapon was only two feet in length, and not near so large or long as that used by the natives of Endeavour River. After the first day the natives did not make their appearance; the smoke of their fires was however observed over the south point of the island, about two miles off; but notwithstanding the undisturbed manner in which our occupations advanced, it was found necessary to keep an armed party always ready, for there was no doubt that we were narrowly watched and the first unguarded moment would have been taken advantage of by them for our annoyance, if not to our loss. This precaution prevented my improving my last year's survey of the main coast; and as there did not exist any good reason to attach much importance to the sinuosities of the coast hereabout we did not remain at this anchorage after our wooding and watering were completed, from an anxiety to reach those parts which we had not yet seen, and where we might expect a better chance of finding something of greater interest.

Mr. Cunningham was confined to the vessel during our stay by a serious attack of jaundice brought on by the fatiguing examination of Liverpool River.

The weather during our stay was throughout fine. A breeze usually sprung up at daylight from South-East; and by noon veered to and blew fresh from East, sometimes reaching North-East, from which quarter it was generally strongest; as sunset approached the wind usually died away, and before dark it was quite calm and continued so until the morning. The temperature was much lower than we expected to find it, the thermometer ranging only between 75 and 84 degrees; so that during the day, while the sea breeze lasted, the heat was not at all oppressive.

August 18.

We left South-West Bay on the 18th at daybreak; but from light airs made so little progress that it was not until the following afternoon that we pa.s.sed between McCluer's and New Year's Islands; between the latter and Oxley's Island we pa.s.sed over two coral banks, separated from each other by a deep channel. On the easternmost bank were nine fathoms, but on the other we found overfalls between five and seven fathoms. A native's fire that was burning on Oxley's Island served to fix the position of this last bank.

August 19.

The next morning we were off Cape Croker and at noon were pa.s.sing Port Essington; the projecting heads of which, at the distance of four or five leagues, have the appearance of being two small islands, for the land at the back and on either side is too low to be seen. Between Port Essington and Cape Van Diemen we steered so as to see several parts of the coast of Melville Island in order to compare their relative meridional distances with those of last year's survey.

August 22.

The latter projection, which is the western limit of the north coast, came in sight on the evening of the 22nd when its longitude was found to be 130 degrees 19 minutes 33 seconds, which is 1 minute 2 seconds to the westward of last year's observation; the mean therefore may be considered as its true longitude, which is 130 degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds.

At sunset we were eleven miles from the Cape, bearing South 67 1/2 degrees West.

August 23.

And the next morning it was seen in the South-South-East. After rounding it a course was steered down the western side of Bathurst Island.

August 26.

But it took us until the 26th before we pa.s.sed Cape Fourcroy.