Volume I Part 8 (2/2)

January 25

The forenoon was devoted to the exae, and a party was also despatched to haul the seine On landing they were met by a party of natives, who saluted thely resembled the eastern , and bowed down until they almost kissed the water

CONDUCT OF MIAGO

Their speech was shrill and quick, perfectly unintelligible to our friend Miago, who seereatly in fear of them: they seemed astonished to find one apparently of their own cliers, who s; nor was their wonder at all abated when Miago threw open his shi+rt, and showed them his breast curiously scarred after their fashi+on--for this custoes tattoo it, by way of ornahout Australia--as a convincing evidence that he, though now the associate of the white ed to the saree, recovered from his alarm--and their want of all weapons no doubt tended to reassure hiaciously addressed the, ”How do you do?” and then began to ie, and so perfectly did he succeed that one of our party could not be persuaded but that he really understood theh for this suspicion I aeneral appearance this tribe differed but little froht, and tied behind in a rude se, and two or three a them were daubed with a kind of black ochre All of theer joint; in this particular they differed frost whom the practice of thisto the southward, at the ti the party, by whom they are usually at other ti unarainst the supposition that they were travelling, but it is to be borne in mind that these people universally consider the absence of offensive weapons as the surest test of peaceful intentions, and would therefore, if they desired towith the newcomers, most probably deposit their arms in some place of concealment before they made themselves visible

(Footnote A similar custom was noticed by Captain Cook at the Sandwich Islands, where it was regarded as a propitiatory sacrifice to the Eatooa, to avert his anger; and not to express, as the sarief for the loss of a friend)

NATIVE SMOKES

The coast seele Bays; as the smoke from native fires was constantly to be seen, but in all cases these signs of huhbourhood of the sea The fishi+ng proved unsuccessful, so ere fain to content ourselves without the pro meal We found the tide rise here 18 feet

In the afternoon we reached another anchorage, so which we sailed within the distance of twocliffs, with here and there a s We anchored under Point Emeriau, so named by Captain Baudin, by whom it wasfroed with red towards their suotten by any who have once seen it Beyond this the coast curved away to the eastward, forth

January 26

Leaving our anchorage at daylight, we passed the north point of the bight just ed cliffy point, called Borda by the French, having a much more weather-beaten appearance than would have been anticipated in this latitude Behind it the country rose obliquely, the horizon ter in an inconsiderable, undulatory, and ooded elevation

CAPE LEVEQUE

We passed another bight in the afternoon, the shores of which were low and rocky, with a ht the coast beco hardly broken by rocky points and shallow sandy bays, to Cape Leveque, on the North-East side of which we found an indifferent anchorage just before sunset Cape Leveque is a red cliffy point soht, with an islet of the sa close off it The latter bore frorees West 2 rees South fro, ere now about to explore, with an interest rather stimulated than decreased by the want of success that attended our examination of Roebuck Bay

POINT SWAN

This point was na, Point Swan, in honour of Captain Swan of the Cygnet, under whom Dampier first discovered it; and was an appropriate tribute of respect and aduished no less than Dampier himself, by the possession of those qualities of firment and perseverance, which ator, to him by whom he had been preceded in Australian discovery The country between Point Swan and Cape Leveque has a very sandy and barren aspect; the hillocks near the latter partook of its prevailing red colour

TIDE-RACES

January 27

We proceeded thisin the direction of Point Swan, and remarked, as we approached it, the heavy tide-race which used Captain King so roughly, and which subsequent surveying operations enabled us to account for, fro al no wish to experience the full effect of the current, for slack water, and thus passed round it quietly enough; we anchored in a srees West 1 1/2 htly conjectured, would leave us in three, at loater

(Footnote The following is Captain King's graphic account of his encounter with this race: ”On my way towards Point S fro from the Point in a North-West by West direction, within which we at first atte they were connected to the Point, hauled up to steer through theerous As we approached, the noise was terrific; and although ere not st the breakers, yet the shocks of the sea were so violent, as to make us fearful for the safety of our masts A sh the sea was in other parts quite sht, yet the water broke over the bows, and strained the brig considerably”)

As we had now arrived at the point fro on our most important operations, it became of paramount interest to knohether we could rely for that indispensable article, fresh water, upon the resources of the wild and barbarous shores The vast extent of country; the delightful verdure which clothed great portions of it; nay, even the evidences of a people living upon its shores, would, under any other circumstances, and on any other coast, have been deemed conclusively to decide this point in the affirer knows, from the best authority, that upon the coasts, and within the heart of Australia, nature seeht in contradiction, and that she is more than usually capricious with respect to the supply of what is ordinarily her ifts

A feretched es trained to privation from their earliest infancy, but for ourselves it was clear, either that a reasonable supply of fresh waterbeyond the time which would leave us sufficient to proceed to Hanover Bay, where this , to be found

SEARCH FOR WATER

No sooner, therefore, was the Beagle properly secured in her new berth, than a party was despatched in the boats to co on the necessary observations: scarcely, however, had we pushed off fron at our ht fro our eyes to the shore, we beheld it thronged with savages: the rapidity of whose move their spears, and whirling their arh to threaten our advance, rendered it impossible to estimate their number with any confidence, but they were evidently in considerable force However, we pulled to the shore, a o stoutly protested, and landed in a position not directly commanded by the natives They made no attempt to prevent us, but anxious to avoid hostilities--in every event almost equally deplorable--we deferred any distant search for water; and having fixed on a spot for our temporary observatory, returned to the shi+p

(Footnote This signal was always made when natives were seen from the shi+p, if any parties were away)