Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Volume I Part 9

We caught two sharks today; the sailors said that they saw fourteen or fifteen little sharks swimming round one of these, and that when the bait was thrown into the water and made a noise some of these swam into her mouth: directly after they had told me this the shark was caught. I had it opened and four young ones were found inside, two had never left the uterus, for they were attached to it at the time, the other two were not so attached, and were larger than the former, and swam well and strongly when put into the water: whether or not they had ever left the mother I cannot of course say. I have preserved two in spirits, one that was attached and one that was not; two intestinal worms were found in the stomach of one of the sharks.

CHAPTER 4. HANOVER BAY.

NEW AND DANGEROUS SHOAL.

November 29.

This morning at twenty minutes after nine, when in lat.i.tude 15 degrees 26 minutes 32 seconds and longitude 121 degrees 55 east, we suddenly made the very unpleasant discovery that we were in the midst of shoals, owing to some negligence in our lookout. This was not found out until we were hemmed in between two, one lying not more than fifty fathoms from our larboard quarter, and the other about three times the distance on the starboard beam. I went up to the mast-head, and distinctly saw the rocks, not more than two or three feet under water on the larboard side. We fortunately pa.s.sed through this danger without accident; and, directly we cleared it, found bottom at twenty-five fathoms, coa.r.s.e sand and sh.e.l.ls.

RED ISLAND.

December 2.

I was called at four A.M. to keep my watch, and, as soon as I had ascertained that the men composing it were all present and at their stations, I went up aloft, and as I antic.i.p.ated a speck of land soon appeared above the horizon. This was Red Island. Other points shortly rose behind it: hill after hill came up into view, at a distance looking like islands, which indeed many of them were; but, on a nearer approach, the parts connecting the others became visible, and the mainland of this vast insular continent gradually revealed itself to our anxious eyes.

MAKING THE LAND.

We stood on until eleven A.M.; but in making land there always rests a certain degree of anxiety upon the mind of the seaman and traveller, more especially when that land is imperfectly known. As there appeared to be every chance of our losing the sea-horizon, and consequently our noon observation, if we stood on and the breeze continued, our course was changed to the other tack until that hour; and then having correctly ascertained our position, Red Island bearing south-east by east, distance 8 miles, we once more stood in for the land.

Red Island is small, rocky, and of no great elevation; its colour is a very dark red; the sides are precipitous, and in its centre is a clump of trees which cannot be seen until you have run by the island, as it falls gradually from the south-west to the north-east, so that the north-east side is the least elevated. We sounded when about seven miles to the north-west of it, and found bottom at twenty-five fathoms, of green sandy mud.

The sandbank laid down on the Admiralty charts to the north-east of Red Island is small and barren; it is very low, and at some distance looks like a white rock in the water; being apparently an island formed of the same rock as the former, and topped with quartz or white sand. In entering Hanover Bay, or Port George the Fourth, a good course is to run nearly midway between this and Red Island. At sunset we anch.o.r.ed off Entrance Island (Port George the Fourth) in twenty-five fathoms water.

ARRIVAL OFF THE COAST OF AUSTRALIA. ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY FROM s.h.i.+P-BOARD.

At the first streak of dawn I leant over the vessel's side to gaze upon those sh.o.r.es I had so longed to see. I had not antic.i.p.ated that they would present any appearance of inviting fertility; but I was not altogether prepared to behold so arid and barren a surface as that which now met my view. In front of me stood a line of lofty cliffs, occasionally broken by sandy beaches; on the summits of these cliffs and behind the beaches rose rocky sandstone hills, very thinly wooded. Whilst I mused on this prospect, all hands were busied in getting the vessel under weigh, which was soon accomplished; but there was little or no wind, and the s.h.i.+p lay almost motionless upon the waters.

LAND AT HIGH BLUFF POINT. WALK TO HANOVER BAY.

By ten o'clock however we were abreast of High Bluff Point and, as there appeared to be little chance of our having even a gentle breeze for some time, I determined to land with a party at the Point, and to walk from thence to Hanover Bay, where on our arrival we could make a signal to the vessel for a boat to reconvey us on board. By the adoption of this course I hoped to be able at once to select a spot affording water and forage, in the neighbourhood of which the sheep and stores might be landed; the vessel could then proceed without delay to the Island of Timor to procure the requisite number of ponies for our expedition, and, if she made a quick pa.s.sage there and back, I trusted, notwithstanding the numerous unforeseen delays that had arisen, we might yet be able to start for the interior before the rainy season set in.

LANDING AND DISTRESS FOR WANT OF WATER ON THE ROUTE.

The necessary orders were soon given: the boat was lowered and, whilst the party prepared themselves, I went below to arrange with the master the precise spot at which the vessel was to anchor in order that no mistake might occur upon so vital a point. This done, I returned once more on deck, and found all ready for departure.

The party to land consisted of Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton, Mr. Walker, and three men who were selected to accompany us. I also brought away three of the dogs, to whom I was anxious to give a run after their long confinement on board.

The sh.o.r.e for which we pulled was not more than half a mile distant, and we soon gained the edge of a sandy beach, on which I sprang, eagerly followed by the rest; every eye beaming with delight and hope, unconscious as we were how soon our trials were to commence.

DISTRESSING MARCH.

I soon found that we had landed under very unfavourable circ.u.mstances.

The sun was intensely hot. The long and close confinement on board a small vessel had unfitted us all for taking any violent or continued exercise without some previous training, and the country in which we had landed was of a more rocky and precipitous character than any I had ever before seen; indeed I could not more accurately describe the hills than by saying that they appeared to be the ruins of hills; composed as they were of huge blocks of red sandstone, confusedly piled together in loose disorder, and so overgrown with spinifex and scrub that the interstices wore completely hidden, and into these one or other of the party was continually slipping and falling.

The trees were small, and their foliage so scant and slight that they afforded no shelter whatever from the burning rays of the sun; which appeared to strike up again from the sandstone with redoubled heat, so that it was really painful to touch or to stand upon a bare rock: we therefore kept moving onwards in the hope of meeting with some spot favourable for a halting place; but the difficult nature of the ground which we had to cross rendered our progress slow and oppressively laborious.

A feeling of thirst and la.s.situde such as I had never before experienced soon began to overcome all of us; for such a state of things we had unfortunately landed quite unprepared, having only two pints of water with us, a portion of which it was necessary to give to the dogs; who apparently suffered from the heat in an equal degree with ourselves.

These distressing symptoms I can only ascribe to the extreme heat of the sun reflected from the sandstone rocks, and our previous long confinement on board.

LOSS OF OUR THREE DOGS.

Our small supply of water, although but sparingly used, was soon exhausted; and the symptoms of la.s.situde, before so excessive, now became far worse. As usual, the endurance of the animals gave way before that of the men. We had not completed more than a mile of our route (although it was far more if the ascents and descents were taken into account) when Ranger, a very fine young dog, dropped behind some rocks, and although we turned back to look for him directly he was missed he could not be found.

The next to give way was Ringhalz, a fine Cape buck-hound; he fell amongst the rocks, and died almost instantly. The only dog now left was a greyhound, who manifested his extreme distress by constantly lying down.

For some time we dragged him along, but he was at last from necessity abandoned. The cry of water was at length raised by one of the party, and immediately afterwards we found ourselves on the edge of a deep ravine, the precipitous sides of which were composed of nearly horizontal layers of red sandstone. Down these some of us contrived to scramble, although not without difficulty; but on reaching the bottom we had the mortification to find the water salt; and as it would have been very laborious to follow its course along the bottom of the ravine over the mud, mangroves, and rocks which filled it, we had the pleasure of scrambling up again as we best could.

For some short time we remained seated on the edge of the cliffs above the ravine; but as there was no shelter here from the sun's rays, and the pangs of thirst were pressing, I roused the men at last, and moved on again, following the course of the ravine upwards. We had not walked more than half a mile when the salt water inlet terminated and the bed of the ravine became thickly wooded. At the moment we gained this point some white c.o.c.katoos came soaring upwards from beneath our feet; and, as we knew that this was an infallible sign of the presence of water, we descended again to renew our search for it.

WATER DISCOVERED.

Our efforts this time were successful: in a few minutes we found a pool of brackish water which appeared, under the present circ.u.mstances, to afford the most delicious draughts, and, having drunk, we lay down by the pool to rest ourselves. Being however doubtful as to which was the best route to lead us out of the ravine we were now in, I walked up its course, accompanied by Corporal Coles, leaving the others to rest themselves, and soon reached its head; when we found ourselves in a small but fertile valley, surrounded on all sides by rocky hills. Here were many tracks of natives, and we came upon one of their regular haunts, where they had arranged a circle of large flat stones round a fireplace occupying the centre; on each of these stones was laid a smaller one, evidently used for the purpose of breaking small sh.e.l.lfish, for the remains of the sh.e.l.ls were lying scattered about in all directions;*

kangaroo bones were also plentifully strewed about, and beside each pair of stones was laid a large sh.e.l.l, probably used as a drinking cup.

(*Footnote. We found the marks of an encampment of a tribe of natives.

Eight or nine spots were cleared away amongst the gra.s.s, and in the centre of each were the ashes of a small fire, close to which we noticed some loose flattened stones with a smaller one lying upon them, which the natives probably used for the purpose of bruising or grinding the seeds of plants and breaking sh.e.l.lfish. King's Survey of Australia volume 1 page 302.)

TRACES OF NATIVES. THEIR HUTS.

Natives had been at this spot within the last day or two, and we followed their traces, which were quite recent, across a dry watercourse till they led to a hut built of a framework of logs of wood, and in shape like a beehive, about four feet high and nine in diameter. This hut was of a very superior description to those I found afterwards to be generally in use in South-Western Australia, and differed from them altogether in that its low and narrow entrance rendered access impossible without stooping; and with the exception of this aperture the hut was entirely closed.

PROGRESS TOWARDS HANOVER BAY. ALARMING INCREASING DEBILITY OF THE MEN.

EFFORTS TO REACH THE VESSEL.

Considering that the best route out of these ravines would be by this valley, I returned with Coles to the party, whom we found much refreshed and, having consulted with Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton as to the route we should follow to the vessel after reaching the valley, we once more moved on; but the same symptoms of la.s.situde and thirst began very soon again to afflict us in an aggravated form; probably from the brackish water we had all swallowed. In less than two hours more these symptoms became so distressing that I could scarcely induce the men to move, and we therefore halted under the shade of some high rocks.

It was now growing late, and the nature of the country was so rocky and difficult that I thought it would be impossible for us to attempt to march in the night-time; whilst on the other hand the men seemed so completely worn out that I feared another day without fresh water would be more than they could bear. I therefore became anxious to make the sea coast before nightfall, considering that we could easily walk along the sh.o.r.e after dark and fire a gun as a signal to the schooner to send a boat for us. With this view therefore I moved on towards the sea, requesting Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton, when I fired, to follow my course with the men.

As I walked ahead I found the country very rocky, with lofty bare pinnacles standing up every here and there in the forest, one or two of which I climbed, but could see nothing of the vessel. I now fired a signal shot which, being answered by another from the party, I knew that they were on my traces, and again moved on towards the sea. I presently fired again, as I thought that they might augur favourably from the report, and continued occasionally to do so until I had reached the sh.o.r.e.

The cliffs were so steep that I found some difficulty in descending, but directly I had gained the sea beach I pulled off my clothes and plunged into the water: the quant.i.ty of moisture taken into the system by absorption as I lay in the sea soon relieved my burning thirst, and by the time that the first of the party (Corporal Coles) came up I was quite recovered. He followed my example and soon began to revive also. The remainder of the party now arrived with Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton, who had found much difficulty in getting them along. Of his exertions under these trying circ.u.mstances I cannot speak too highly. But for his persuasion and example I think two of the men were so exhausted that they would before this have given up in despair.

Corporal Coles being now nearly recovered I left the rest of the party under Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton to follow the plan of refres.h.i.+ng themselves by immersion in the sea and, as two men appeared to me to be very ill, I arranged with him that he should keep the whole together and, as soon as he considered them sufficiently recovered, they should follow myself and Coles; whilst we preceded them along the beach for the purpose of sending a boat back from the Lynher to pick them up.

FURTHER COURSE OBSTRUCTED.

I accordingly started with Coles and had not proceeded more than a mile when we found two huts (one in ruins and the other complete) of exactly the same size and form as that which we had seen in the morning: the recent track of a native along the beach close to these was also visible.

In another half mile our progress was arrested by an arm of the sea, about four or five hundred yards across, from which the tide was running out with fearful rapidity; and on the opposite cliffs we observed a native watching our movements.

As night was coming rapidly on it was necessary for me to decide at once what I should do. Coles was unable to swim. If therefore I crossed the stream it must be alone: to do so with natives on the opposite bank, of whose intentions towards us we were entirely ignorant, was not without considerable danger; yet I was very unwilling to leave the men in such a state of suffering from thirst when I was so near the schooner, from whence their wants could be supplied. Whilst I was debating what to do Coles kept firing his gun in hopes that they might hear the report on board and send a boat to our relief; in vain however we strained our ears, the report of Coles's gun was reverberated from cliff to cliff and from hill to hill, but no answering sound came back across the tranquil water.

In the meantime I felt more and more anxious about the portion of the party who were with Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton, having left with them certain orders and promised to send a boat up to them; on which promise all their further movements would be regulated. The beach near us afforded no wood wherewith to make a fire as a signal to the schooner; the cliffs hereabouts were too precipitous to climb; and it was evident that but very few of the party could swim so broad a s.p.a.ce of water; granting that they ever reached so far as the point where Coles and myself now were.

SWIM AN INLET OF THE SEA. DANGER IN THE Pa.s.sAGE ACROSS AND AFTER LANDING.

I therefore determined to run all risks, and swim the arm of the sea which stopped our way.

I directed Coles to wait until the others came up and then to remain with them until I returned in a boat. From the rugged nature of the sh.o.r.e I could not have walked a yard without shoes, so I kept them on, as well as my s.h.i.+rt and military cap, and I took a pistol in one hand as a means of defence against the natives, or else to fire it when I reached a spot where it could be seen or heard from the vessel.