Volume II Part 2 (2/2)
The great difference between the words at Shoal Bay and Port Darwin, must now be apparent to the reader; a inal inhabitants of Australia, has shown that nify in reality, ”What do you reat difficulty of arriving at the truth This must often be the case; for what isof a thing, and knows not, but that he should express his ignorance? How often this expression of ignorance has been registered as the deno, we leave the reader to conjecture Moreover, there are many words totally obliterated froo constant alteration This in part arises fro 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 Froiven 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 nized a feords spoken by the natives on the West coast, about 200 e 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 acco, in the survey of New Holland, and of those who accost 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 fro those affinities, still less those identities of language, froht be inferred Those European visitors or explorers who adduce, in support of a coous in sound, construction andspoken all over New Holland, have juerness Besides ation of such a nature presents, there was one quite sufficient to defeat all attenorance of the language to which the inquiry related Indeed, to any es, it will be at once apparent, that to seize upon, and note fro to one country, so as to co 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 discrih, however, we e of the truth at once, yet should we never lose an opportunity ofa vocabulary of such words as we know to be correct This should be the case fro it is, when visiting an uncivilized people, to find that you knoord or two of their language! The satisfaction is mutual--there is at once a syh strangers to each other, and this slight knowledge of their dialectuseful acquaintances
To return, however, to the thread of our narrative
LEAVE PORT DARWIN
The opening to the ard, visited by Captain Wickha further exa out on theleave, however, of this place, it will not be deeht description of it
The entrance points, I have already said, are white cliffy projections, and distant fro four fathoether with a very extensive flat of one, and two fatho it fro the north side of the west entrance point, coh of considerable size, is much occupied by shoal water, particularly on the western side, coe is near Point Emery The extreme of the latter, and a clump of peaked bushes on the south point of the eastern ar 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 so froh-water at the full and change ofhalf an hour earlier than at Clarence Strait, fully bears out the opinion I have before expressed, that the flood-tide coainst the seabreeze, the flood-tidemidway between Ports Darwin and Patterson, and ere cohbourhood, a circureeable by the recurrence of another ht 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 fra, that it had all the effect of a shower-bath,away the power of speech It caused a rapid fall in the therrees 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 e of clouds had wholly disappeared froht which calory over the cloudless sky, as thetowards Port Patterson, which we entered, passing on the eastern side of the reef in theclose to the eastern shore of the outer the west entrance point of the harbour, and extending eight miles in a North-North-East 1/2 East direction froe that dries in part at loater, thus affording the natives theover easily to them, a circumstance of which they avail themselves, as we found them on the outer island They would not, however, co off as we landed Doubtless the terror of soreat measure arose from a vivid recollection of the raft interviehich 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 nareat 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, asthe reh low, and composed entirely of sand, we found a native well of excellent water near the ed, afforded an ample supply, a circumstance that at once renders this a spot of iroup there were a few s 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 therees 30 9/10 ree 42 1/4 ton 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, e 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 loater, distant two and a halfTo 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 fro set West-North-West
PORT PATTERSON
The reader will be able to have an idea of the large sheet of water these united harbours for and seven wide at the entrance; though at the upper part, for the mouth of Bynoe Harbour, it is not half that width The latter winds round to the South-East for a distance of 15 e width of two, and a depth of nine fathohbourhood; the result having been to give this part of the coast quite an insulated character The sheets of water creating this new feature, although rove-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 greaterin all probability to lead far into the interior now lay before us, at a distance of 140we had lost sight of the land near Port Patterson, and were steering towards the opening that proap in the coastline, 28to 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 theparts 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, e passed four , Point Pearce His visit to this part of the coast was in September 1819, and under very adverse circu 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 fro on shore, he bore away to examine the coast to the south-west, where he was repaid for his disappointe 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 shi+p, 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 fatho 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 arloaf hills, the highest being 350 feet, rose about eight miles in the rear of it
October 10