A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888

E >> Ernest Favenc >> The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888




Chapter XX
Nationality of the first finders of Australia--Knowledge of the
Malays--The bamboo introduced--Traces of smallpox amongst the natives in
the north-west--Tribal rites--Antipathy to pork--Evidence of admixture in
origin--Influence of Asiatic civilisation partly visible--Coast
appearance repelling--Want of indigenous food plants--Lack of intercourse
with other nations--Little now left of unexplored country--Conclusions
respecting various geological formations--Extent of continental
divisions--Development of coastal towns--Inducements for
population--Necessity of the first explorings--Pioneer squatters'
efforts--First Australian-born explorer--Desert theory exploded--Fertile
downs everywhere--Want of water apparently insurmountable--Heroism of
explorers--Inexperience of the early settlers--Grazing possible--Rapid
stocking of country--The barrenness of the "Great Bight"--Sturt, the Penn
of Australia--Results--Mitchell's work--Baron von Mueller's researches--A
salt lake--Stuart first man across the continent--Burke and Wills'
heroism--Services of McKinlay and Landsborough--John Forrest's
journeys--Camel expedition by Giles--The Brisbane Courier
expedition--Further explorations--Stockdale at Cambridge Gulf--Carr-Boyd
and O'Donnell open good country in Western Australia--Work done by
explorers--Their characteristics--Conclusion.





APPENDIX

The Pandora Pass
Death of Surveyor-General Oxley
List of Men Comprising Sir Thomas Mitchell's Party in 1846
Richard Cunningham's Fate
Cave Drawings
Smith, a Lad of Eighteen, Found Dead, May 8th, 1839
Eyre's Letters
Extract of Letter from Major Mitchell
Extract of a Letter from Mr. Walter Bagot
The Last Letter Received from Dr. Leichhardt
The Nardoo Plant
The Finding of John King
Poison Plants

Index of Names, Dates and Incidents

Chronological Summary





MAPS AND FAC-SIMILES (Not included in this eBook)

Exploratory Map of Australia
Dauphin Map
Map of Tasman's Track, 1644
Captain Flinders' Letter to Sir J. Banks
Map of Australia in 1818
Extract from Letters--E. J. Eyre, Sir G. Gipps and Sir Thomas Mitchell
Fac-simile of Signatures
Fac-simile of Cave Paintings and Drawings, discovered by
Lieutenant George Grey, 1838





INTRODUCTION



Part I


Rumours of the existence of a Southern Continent in the Sixteenth
Century--JAVE and JAVE LA GRANDE--Authentic Discoveries and visits of
the early Navigators--Torres sails between New Guinea and Terra
Australis--Voyage of the DUYFHEN in 1606--Dirk Hartog on the West Coast,
his inscribed plate--Restored by Vlaming--Afterwards by Hamelin--Nuyts on
the South Coast--Wreck of the BATAVIA on Houtman's Abrolhos--Mutiny of
Cornelis--Tasman's second voyage--Dampier with the Buccaneers--Second
Voyage in the ROEBUCK--Last visit of the Dutch--Captain Cook--Flinders;
his theory of a Dividing Strait--Plans for exploring the Interior--His
captivity--Captain King--Concluding remarks.


The charm of romance and adventure surrounding the discovery of hitherto
unknown lands has from the earliest ages been the lure that has tempted
men to prosecute voyages and travels of exploration. Whether under the
pretext of science, religion or conquest, hardship and danger have alike
been undergone with fortitude and cheerfulness, in the hope of being the
first to find things strange and new, and return to civilized communities
with the tidings.

In the days of Spain's supremacy, after the eyes of Europe had been
dazzled with the sight of riches brought from the New World, and men's
ears filled with fairy-like tales of the wondrous races discovered, it
was but natural that the adventurous gallants of that age should roam in
search of seas yet to be won.

Some such hope of finding a land wherein the glorious conquests of Cortes
and Pizarro could be repeated, brought De Quiros on a quest that led him
almost within hail of our shores. What little realization of his dreams
of cities rich with temples, blazing with barbaric gold, inhabited by
semi-civilized people skilled in strange arts he would have found in the
naked nomads of Terra Australis, and their rude shelters of boughs and
bark we now know; and perhaps, it was as well for the skilful pilot that
he died with his mission unfulfilled, save in fancy. His lieutenant,
Torres, came nearer solving the secret of the Southern Seas, and, in
fact, reports sighting hills to the southward, which--on slight
foundation--are supposed to have been the present Cape York, but more
probably were the higher lands of Prince of Wales Island. In all
likelihood he saw enough of the natives of the Straits to convince him
that no such rich pickings were to be had, as had fallen to the lot of
the lucky conquerors of Mexico and Peru. He came across none of the
legendary canoes from the land of gold, deep laden with the precious
metal, nor sandy beaches strewn with jewels, to be had for the gathering.
He puts on record what he thought of the islanders in the few terse
words, that they were "black, naked and corpulent," beyond that, they do
not seem to have impressed him.

Apparently they, on their part, were not impressed at being informed that
they were thenceforth subjects of the King of Spain, for their dislike to
Europeans appears to have increased as the unfortunate Dutch captains,
Carstens and Poole, afterwards found to their cost. Even the gracious act
of His Holiness the Pope in partitioning these unknown lands between
Spain and Portugal did not meet with the favourable consideration at
their hands that it deserved.

The jealousy with which the maritime nations of Europe guarded their
discoveries from each other has been the means of putting great
difficulties in the way of tracing out the early traditions of the great
South Land. The domineering Spaniard looked upon the Portugese navigator
as a formidable rival in the race for trade; and the sturdy Hollander
they regarded as a natural enemy and a rebel. The generous emulation of
fellow-workers in the cause of scientific discovery was unknown, and the
secrets of the sea were scrupulously kept.

On behalf of Dutch reticence, it may be said that the cause of the
merited hatred they bore to Spain was still too fresh in their memory to
allow them to divulge anything that might possibly benefit a Spaniard.

Sir William Temple, ambassador at the Hague in the time of Charles II.,
gives it as his opinion that "a southern continent has long since been
found out." He avers that, according to descriptions he has gathered, "it
is as long as Java, and is marked on the maps by the name of New Holland,
but to what extent the land extends either to the south, the east, or the
west, none know." He states, that he has heard it said among the Dutch
that their East India Company "have long since forbidden, and under the
greatest penalties, any further attempts at discovering that continent,
having already more trade than they can turn to account, and fearing some
more populous nation of Europe might make great establishments of trade
in some of these unknown regions, which might ruin or impair what they
already have in the Indies."

But although no documentary evidence has been brought to light, proving
beyond all doubt the certain discovery of the South Land in the sixteenth
century, we find on the old charts of the world various tracings
indicating a knowledge of the existence of this continent, which would
appear to have been derived from other than fabulous sources.

A shadowy claim to the honour of being the first discoverer of Terra
Australis has been advanced on behalf of the Frenchman Gonneville, who
sailed from Honfleur in 1503, on a voyage to the East Indies. He is said
to have doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and being driven by stress of
weather into an unknown sea, found a land inhabited by friendly people,
with whom he stayed some time, being accompanied back to France by one of
the king's sons who was desirous of studying the precepts of
Christianity. The general belief, however, is that it was probably
Madagascar whereon De Gonneville landed.

Another claim, based upon the authority of an ancient map, is put forward
for the noted Portugese navigator Magalhaens, when in the service of the
Emperor Charles V. of Spain; but there is little appertaining to the
arguments advanced on behalf of this belief to render it credible.

In some of the old charts, dating back to the middle of the sixteenth
century, a large country south of Java is portrayed, which from its
position appears to be intended for the conjectural South Land. In all
these maps the outlines of this TERRA INCOGNITA are so nearly identical
that it is evident various hydrographers drew their inspirations from the
same sources. The annexed tracing is a copy of a portion of one of the
most ancient of these maps; the original was presented to the British
Museum by Sir Joseph Banks in 1790. It is most carefully drawn, the coast
line being elaborately filled in with names in French, and it is
embellished with drawings of animals and men, being also ornamented with
two shields bearing the arms of France. The map is undated, but was
probably designed in the latter part of the reign of Francis L, for his
son, the Dauphin, afterwards Henry II.

It has been alleged that Captain Cook was guided by these charts to the
eastern shore of New Holland, and the similarity of some of the names
thereon, such as COSTE DES HERBAIGES, and COSTE DANGEROUSE, to names
given by him, has been pointed out. This allegation, however, will not
stand criticism. Botany Bay, for instance, is about the last place that
any one would select to bestow such a name on as COSTE DES HERBAIGES,
which name would signify a rich and fertile spot, certainly not such a
desolate place as Botany Bay was in Captain Cook's time. Captain Tench,
one of the survey party sent there in 1789, writes in his journal:--"We
were unanimously of the opinion that had not the nautical part of Mr.
Cook's description been so accurately laid down, there would exist the
utmost reason to believe that those who have described the contiguous
country had never seen it. On the side of the harbour, a line of sea
coast more than thirty miles long, we did not find two hundred acres
which could be cultivated." Any approximation then in position between
Botany Bay and the fabulous COSTE DES HERBAIGES must be considered as
accidental.

The generally received opinion of this and the other charts is, that Java
(JAVE) is fairly well laid down, and that Great Java stands for the
supposed South Land. Plausible as this theory reads, it is, however, open
to objection. If it be accepted, and the narrow strait the river GRANDE
be looked upon as that portion of the Indian Ocean dividing Java from the
north-west coast of Australia, any resemblance to the present known shape
of our continent is very hard to trace, unless after a most distorted
fashion. If, however, we make the necessary allowances for the many
errors that would creep in from one transcription to another, and look
upon JAVE and JAVE LA GRANDE as one continent intersected by a
mediterranean sea, we have a fair, if rude, conception of the north coast
of Australia. Moreover, let the reader imagine a south coast line drawn
from BAYE PERDUE on the east to HAVRE DE SYLLA on the west, doing away
with the conjectural east and west coast continuations south of those
points; the deep inlet between JAVE and JAVE LA GRANDE standing for the
Gulf of Carpentaria, a very passable outline of the whole continent is
obtained. And it is more than probable that this view was originally
suggested by this map, and from it sprang the belief current, even to the
beginning of this century, that an open passage existed from the west
coast, either into the Gulf of Carpentaria, or to the head of Spencer's
Gulf. The other maps give no more information than this one, and the
identity of their origin is obvious. One, however, has been found in the
British Museum the features of which are different. It is a rough copy of
an old map showing the north west portion of a continent to the south of
"Java Major." It bears a legend in Portugese, of which the following is a
translation:--"Nuca Antara was discovered in the year 1601 by Manoel
Godinho Eredia, by command of the Viceroy Ayres de Soldanha." This would
point to a Portugese discovery of Australia immediately preceding the
Dutch one.

In Cornelius Wytfliet's "Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum," Louvain,
1598, the following passage is to be found:--

"The Australis Terra is the most southern of all lands; it is
separated from New Guinea by a narrow strait; its shores are hitherto
but little known, since, after one voyage and another, that route has
been deserted, and seldom is the country visited unless when sailors
are driven there by storms. The Australis Terra begins at two or three
degrees from the equator, and is maintained by some to be of so great
an extent that if it were thoroughly explored it would be regarded as
a fifth part of the world."

The above is so vague and suppositious that it would scarcely be worth
quoting, were it not for the singular mention of the narrow strait
separating Australis Terra from New Guinea; for at this time Torres had
not sailed through the straits, nor was the fact of his having done so
known to the world until the end of the eighteenth century, when
Dalrymple discovered his report amongst the archives of Manila, and did
justice to his memory.

In 1605, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, having for his second in command Luis
Vaez de Torres, sailed from Callao with two well-armed vessels and a
corvette. After the discovery of several islands, they came to a land
which Quiros supposed to be the continent he was in search of, and
therefore named it Australia del Espiritu Santo. "At one hour past
midnight," says Torres, in his account of the voyage, "the CAPITANA"
(Quiros' vessel) "departed without any notice given to us, and without
making any signal." This extraordinary conduct was supposed to be the
result of discontent and mutiny amongst the sailors, an outbreak having
already taken place which was not quelled quite so firmly as Torres
advocated. After vainly waiting for many days, Torres set sail, and first
ascertaining that it was only an island where they had been anchored, he
made his way by the dangerous south coast of New Guinea to Manila, where
he arrived in 1607.

Up to the preceding year popular knowledge concerning the South Land must
be looked upon as being mixed up with much that is both doubtful and
hazardous. We now, however, reach the period which may be regarded as the
beginning of the authentic history of the discovery of New Holland. In
1606 the yacht DUYFHEN sailed from Bantam, and, coasting along the
south-west shore of New Guinea, her commander unknowingly crossed the
entrance of Torres Straits, and continued his voyage along the eastern
side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, under the impression that it was part of
the same country. They sailed nearly to latitude 14 degrees south, when
want of provisions and other necessaries compelled them to turn back.
Cape Keer-Weer (Turn Again) they named the furthest point reached by them.
Their report of the country was most unfavourable. They described it as
being "for the greatest part desert, but in some places inhabited by
wild, cruel, black savages, by whom some of the crew were murdered, for
which reason they could not learn anything of the land or waters as had
been desired of them."

The name of the captain of the DUYFHEN--the Columbus of the south--has
not been preserved. Ten years after this visit, in 1616, Captain Dirk
Hartog, in command of the ship ENDRACHT, from Amsterdam, discovered the
west coast of Australia. He left a tin plate on an island in Dirk
Hartog's Roads bearing the following inscription:--

"Ao 1616, den 25sten October, is hier vangecommen het schip de ENDRACHT
van Amsterdam, den Oppercoopmen Gilles Mibais van Luyck; schipper Dirk
Hartog, van Amsterdam, den 27sten, dito t' zeijl gegaen na Bantam, den
Ondercoopman Jan Stoyn, Opperstierman Pieter Dockes, van Bil, Ao 1616."

[Translation.--On the 25th October, arrived here the ship Endraght of
Amsterdam; the first merchant, Gilles Mibais, of Luyck; Captain Dirk
Hartog; of Amsterdam; the 27th ditto set sail for Bantam; undermerchant
Jan Stoyn, upper steersman, Pieter Dockes, from Bil, Ao, 1616.]

Captain Vlaming, of the ship GEELVINK, found this plate in 1697, and
replaced it with another, on which he copied the original inscription,
and added to it as follows:--

"1697. Den 4den Februaij is hier vangecommen het schip de GEELVINK van
Amsterdam, den Commandeur schipper, Williem de Vlamingh, van Vlielandt,
Adsistent Joan van Bremen, van Coppenhage; Opperstierman Michiel Blom van
Estight, van Bremen. De Hoecker de NYPTANG, schipper Gerrit Collaert van
Amsterdam; Adsistent Theodorus Heermans van de; d`Opperstierman Gerrit
Gerritz, van Bremen, 't Galjoot t' WESELTJE, Gezaghabber Cornelis de
Vlamingh van Vlielandt; Stierman Coert Gerritz, van Bremen, en van hier
gezeilt met ons vloot den 12do voorts net Zuijtland te ondersoecken en
gedestineert voor Batavia."

[Translation.--On the 4th of February, 1697, arrived here the ship
GEELVINCK, of Amsterdam; Commandant Wilhelm de Vlamingh, of Welandt;
assistant, Jan van Bremen, of Copenhagen; first pilot, Michiel Bloem van
Estight, of Bremen. The hooker, the NYPTANGH, Captain Gerrit Collaert, of
Amsterdam, Assistant Theodorus Heermans, of the same place; first pilot,
Gerrit Gerritz, of Bremen; then the galliot WESELTJE, Commander Cornelis
de Vlaming, of Vlielandt; Pilot Coert Gerritz, from Bremen. Sailed from
here with our fleet on the 12th, to explore the South Land, and
afterwards bound for Batavia.]

In 1801, the boatswain of the NATURALISTE found this plate half buried in
sand, lying near an oaken post to which it had been nailed. Captain
Hamelin, with rare good taste, had a new post made, and the plate erected
in the old spot. Another outward bound ship, the MAURITIUS, touched on
the west coast in 1618, and discovered and named the Willems River, near
the Northwest Cape, probably the present Ashburton. The LEEUWIN
(Lioness), visited the west coast in 1622, and the well-known reef of
Houtman's Abrolhos was so-called after Frederick Houtman, a Dutch
navigator of distinction who, however, never personally visited
Australian shores. The next navigator to the South Land met with an
untimely end. In the year 1623, Governor Coen dispatched two yachts, the
PERA and the ARNHEM, on a voyage of discovery. Landing on the coast of
New Guinea, Captain Jan Carstens, of the ARNHEM, and eight of his crew
were murdered by the natives, but the vessels proceeded, and touched upon
the north coast of New Holland, west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, still
known as Arnhem's Land. A river, the Spult, is here laid down in the old
charts, in the vicinity of the present Liverpool River, and there is also
another opening marked the "Speult," on the eastern side of the Gulf,
since determined to be the Endeavour Strait of Captain Cook,

At Arnhem's Land the yachts parted, the Pera continuing the voyage alone.
Crossing the head of the Gulf she followed the course of the DUYFHEN, and
passing Cape Keer-Weer, made as far south as 17 degrees, where the
Staaten River is laid down. Their report was also unfavourable, and is
summed up in the official dispatches of the company, thus:--"In this
discovery were found everywhere shallow waters and barren coasts, islands
altogether thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal nations, and
of very little use to the Dutch East India Company." Pera Head, in the
Gulf, is another memorial of this voyage.

Now came the turn of the south coast of New Holland. In 1627, Captain
Pieter Nuyts, in his ship the GULDE ZEEPARD, accidentally touched on the
south coast. He followed it along for seven or eight hundred miles, and
bestowed on it the name of Pieter Nuyts' Land. The VIANEN sighted the
west coast in 1628, and kept in sight of it for some two hundred miles,
reporting "a foul and barren shore, green fields; and very wild, black,
barbarous inhabitants."

The wreck of the BATAVIA on Houtman's Abrolhos, in 1629, is one of the
most tragic incidents in early Australian history. The BATAVIA, commanded
by Commodore Francis Pelsart, was separated from her consorts by a storm,
and during the night of the 4th of June struck on the rocks of Frederick
Houtman. The crew and passengers were landed on one island, and two small
islets in the neighbourhood, and the ship broke up. No fresh water was
found, and Pelsart sailed in one of the boats in search of some on the
mainland. He was unsuccessful, and finally steered for Batavia.
Meanwhile, a terrible scene of riot and murder was enacted. Jerome
Cornelis, the supercargo, headed a mutiny, and those refusing to join his
band were in part cruelly assassinated. One company however, on one of
the islets, in charge of Weybehays defended themselves valiantly, finally
taking Cornelis prisoner. Fresh water was found, and the two hostile
camps awaited the reappearance of Pelsart. The design of the mutineers
had been to surprise Pelsart on his return, capture his vessel, and sail
away on a piratical cruise. The determined front shown by Weybehays and
his party, who, although unarmed, had twice defeated them with some
slaughter, disarranged their plans.

When the SARDAM, with Pelsart on board, hove in sight of the Abrolhos,
the smoke rising from the islands assured the captain, who was naturally
tormented with anxiety, that some, at any rate survived. To their
surprise, a boat came off to meet them, pulled by men dressed in rich
uniforms, made from the silks and stuffs that had formed part of the
BATAVIA'S cargo. Pelsart's suspicions were at once aroused, knowing as he
did, that insubordination had &hewn itself even before his departure.
These men were ordered to come on board unarmed, with the alternative of
being sunk, and Weybehays coming off at the same time, they had no choice
but to obey, and the whole of the mutineers were soon in irons. After
recovering most of the treasure, with the exception of one chest,
containing eight' thousand rix dollars, a consultation was held as to the
fate of the murderers. It was unanimously decided that, having in view
the overcrowded state of the ship, and the temptation presented by the
recovered treasure, the presence of such turbulent spirits on board would
be dangerous to the safety of the company. Therefore, it was thought best
to try the offenders there and then, instead of taking them to Batavia.
This was done, and the sentences at once carried into effect. Two men,
however, were condemned to the more lingering punishment of being
marooned on the mainland, there to meet a cruel death at the hands of the
savages. These two blood-stained criminals were the first Europeans to
leave their bones in Australia, an unhappy omen of the future. According
to the instructions issued to Tasman, on his second voyage, he was
directed to "enquire at the continent thereabout" (i.e., the
neighbourhood of the Abrolhos) "after two Dutchmen, who, having by the
enormity of their crimes forfeited their lives, were put on shore by the
Commodore Francisco Pelsart, if still alive. In such case, you may make
inquiries of them about the situation of those countries, and if they
entreat you to that purpose, give them passage thither." He was also
instructed to recover, if possible, the chest of rix dollars.
Unfortunately Tasman's journal has never been discovered, and it is not
known how he fared on his mission.

Captain Gerrit Tomaz Poole sailed from Banda in 1636, with the yachts
KLYN, AMSTERDAM, and WESEL, to meet his death on the New Guinea coast, in
the same place that had been fatal to Carstens, and in a like manner. The
supercargo took charge, and prosecuted the voyage, revisiting Arnhem's
Land.

A name familiar to all is that of Abel Janz Tasman. In 1644, after his
discovery of Van Dieman's Land, he was sent out on a second voyage of
exploration. His instructions were: "To discover whether Nova Guinea is
one continent with the Great South Land, or separated by channels and
islands lying between them, and also whether that New Van Dieman's Land"
(Arnhem's Land) "is the same continent with these two great countries, or
with one of them." He was also directed to search for the strait between
New Guinea and New Holland, in a large opening said to exist in that
locality. Apparently, this portion of his instructions was, for some
reasons, not thoroughly carried out.

Although Tasman's journal of this voyage has never been found, we have
pretty good evidence that he safely accomplished it. Dampier, in his
volume of voyages, mentions having in his possession a chart laid down by
Tasman, and an outline copy of the same was inlaid in the floor of the
Groote Zaal, in the Stadhuys in Amsterdam. The annexed tracing is from a
fairly authenticated copy of Tasman's map, with the discoveries of former
navigators attached, soundings being given along that portion of the
north-west coast that would have embraced Tasman's proposed track. Many
of the names still retained in the Gulf of Carpentaria are significant of
Tasman's visit. Vanderlin Island, after Cornelis Van der Lyn; Sweer's
Island, after Salamon Sweers; Maria Island, after his supposed
sweetheart, Maria Van Dieman; and Limmen Bight, after his ship, the
LIMMEN. This chart may be looked on as being the first one to give a
reliable and good outline of the Australian coast as then known--namely,
from Endeavour Strait, in the extreme north, to the eastern limit of
Pieter Nuvt's Land, on the south. The two placer, where "Ffresh" water is
marked would be the Batavia River, near Cape York, and the present
Macarthur River, at the head of the Gulf, the well defined headlands
shown there having been resolved by Captain Flinders into a group of
islands, now known as the Sir Edward Pellew Group. Tasman's ships were
the LIMMEN, the ZEEMEUW, and the tender DE BRAK.

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