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




To close this discussion, it may be added, that in most instances the
early voyages of the Dutch or possibly the Portuguese to Western
Australia were the result of such accidents as befell De Gonneville, as
they were carried by storms out of their course to India or the Sunda
Islands, and thrown on the west coast of the Australian Continent.

The first claim to the discovery of the Australian Continent may be,
therefore, settled in favor of De Gonneville; although, there is little
doubt that the existence of a great southern land was suspected by the
Chinese, and also by the ancients. This great land, situated on the
opposite side of the world, was named by them ANTI-CHTON, and its
supposed inhabitants "Antichtones," and the fact of the possibility of it
being inhabited at all gave rise to a good deal of discussion among
ancient writers. They, however, agreed in the belief that "the fury of
the sun, which burns the intermediate zone," rendered it inaccessible to
the inhabitants of the world. Plinus, Pomponius Mela, Scipio, Virgilius,
Cicero, and Macrobius considered this land as habitable, and the two
last mentioned authors held the opinion that it was inhabited by a
different race of beings.

This question was also debated by the early Christian fathers, and
perhaps the most remarkable argument against the existence of the
ANTICHTONES will be found in the works of the celebrated theologian and
venerated father, St. Augustine, who devotes the whole of Chapter IX.,
Book XVI. of his admirable work, "De Civitate Dei," to the discussion of
this knotty question.


"Quod verò," writes St. Augustine, "Antipodes esse fabulantur, id est,
homines a contaria parte terrae, ubi sol oritur, quando occidit nobis,
adversa pedibus nostris calcare vestigia, nulla ratione credendum est.
Neque hoc ulla historica cognitione didicisse se affirmant, sed quali
ratiocinando conjectant, es quod intra con vexa coeli terra suspenda sit,
eum demque locum mundas habeat, et infirmum, et medium: et ex hoc
opinantur alteram terra pattern, quae infra est, habitatione hominum
carere non posse. Nec adtendunt, etiamsi figura conglobata et rotunda
mundus esse credatur, sive aliqua ratione monstretur; non tamen esse
consequens, ut etiam ex illa parte ab aquarum congerie nuda sit terra
devide etiamus nuda sit, neque hoc statum necesse esse, ut homines
habeat, Quoniam nulla modo Scriptura ista mentitur, quae narratis
praeteritis facis sidem, eo quod ejus praedicta complentur: nimisque
absurdurn est, ut dicatur aliquos hornines ex hae in illam partem, oceani
immensitate trajecta, navigare ac pervenive potuisse, ut etiarn illic ex
uno illo primo hornine genus institueretur hurnanurn?"

The substance of which is: "That there can be nothing more absurd than
the belief of some ancient writers who imagined that the land on the
opposite side of the world could be inhabited by human beings. Those who
made this assertion admit they have no historical fact to base it upon,
and that it is merely a logical deduction of philosophy. But if we accept
as true the principles upon which they base their arguments, is it to be
necessarily admitted that because these countries are habitable, that
they are in reality inhabited. As the Holy Scripture, which is our guide
in all matters of belief, makes no mention of this, and as it is an
accepted fact that the descendants of our first parents could not have
sailed to and reached these countries, how is it possible that they could
be inhabited."

Although the existence of a great Austral land was a subject of
philosophical and theological discussion among the ancients, they,
however, never attempted to sail across that ocean which was the limit of
the world they knew. It is possible that the Chinese may have been more
bold, but it is very doubtful whether they ever sailed so far south as to
land on the coast of the Australian continent. They have left no trace of
their passage, either on the land itself, or among its inhabitants.
Besides, the Chinese were never very enterprising sailors, the form of
their junks, their peculiar sails, and the scantiness of their nautical
knowledge prevented them from extending very far the radius of their
maritime explorations. Marco Polo is the authority generally quoted in
this matter, as he states that the people of Cathay knew of the existence
of a great land far to the southward, with the inhabitants of which they
were accustomed to trade. This is rather an indefinite description, and
might apply to New Guinea as well as to the Australian Continent. More so
to the former and the islands surrounding it on the north and east, where
evidence exists of the voyage of the Chinese traders and fishermen in
search of the precious trepang. But as these holothuriae are generally
found in the vicinity of the coral banks of Polynesia, to the eastward of
New Guinea, and not in the direction of the Australian coast, there is
much reason to think that the Chinese claim to the discovery of this
continent is purely mythical, although, like the ancients, they may have
believed in its existence as a logical deduction of philosophy.





CHAPTER XVI.

Captain Cook compared to former Visitors--Point Hicks--Botany Bay-First
natives seen--Indifference to Overtures--Abundant flora--Entrance to Port
Jackson missed--ENDEAVOUR on a reef--Careened--Strange animals--Hostile
natives--A sailor's devil--Possession Island-Territory of New South
Wales--Torres Straits a passage--La Perouse--Probable fate discovered by
Captain Dillon--M'Cluer touches Arnheim's Land--Bligh and Portlock--Wreck
of the PANDORA--Vancouver in the south--The D'Entrecasteaux
quest--Recherche Archipelago--Bass and Flinders--Navigation and
exploration extraordinary--The TOM THUMB--Bass explores south--Flinders
in the Great Bight--Bass's Straits--Flinders in the INVESTIGATOR--Special
instructions--King George's Sound--Lossof boat's crew--Memory
Cove--Baudin's courtesy--Port Phillip--INVESTIGATOR and LADY NELSON on
East Coast--The Gulf of Carpentaria and early Dutch navigators--Duyfhen
Point--Cape Keer-Weer--Mythical rivers charted--Difficulty in recognising
their landmarks--Flinders' great disappointment--A rotten ship--Return by
way of West Coast--Cape Vanderlin--Dutch Charts--Malay proas,
Pobassoo--Return to Port Jackson--Wreck of the PORPOISE--Prisoner by the
French--General de Caen--Private papers and journals
appropriated--Prepares his charts and logs for press--Death--Sympathy by
strangers--Forgotten by Australia--The fate of Bass--Mysterious
disappearance--Supposed Death.

The maritime exploration of our coast may be said to have fairly
commenced on the morning of the 19th of April, 1770, when Captain Cook
first sighted land. True we had many visitors before, [See Introduction.]
but none had given the same attention to the work, with an eye to future
colonisation, nor sailed along such an extent of shore.

The present coast of Gippsland was the place that first caught the
attention of Lieutenant Hicks on that eventful morning, and Point Hicks
received its name in commemoration of the incident.

From this point they sailed eastward, and at the promontory, where the
coast turned to the north, the name of Cape Howe was bestowed. Cook,
fresh from the shores of New Zealand and its more rugged scenery, was
pleasingly impressed with his distant view of Australia, but it must have
been the force of contrast only, as the portion of Australia first
sighted by him is devoid of interest. No available landing place was
seen; the shore was too tame, and for many days they coasted along,
looking for a break, or entrance, but none could he found where a safe
landing could be effected.

Botany Bay was the spot where the men from the ENDEAVOUR sprang on shore
for the first time, and although the flora of the surrounding country
brought joy to the heart of Mr. Banks, the botanist, it could not have
held out very high hopes of the future to the others.

Here they first saw the natives, "Indians," as Cook calls them, and hoped
to effect a peaceable landing. He says:--


"The place where the ship had anchored was abreast of a small village,
consisting of about six or eight houses; and while we were preparing to
hoist out the boat, we saw an old woman followed by three children come
out of the wood; she was loaded with firewood, and each of the children
had also its little burden. She often looked at the ship, but expressed
neither fear nor surprise. In a short time she kindled a fire, and four
canoes came in from fishing. The men landed, and having hauled up their
boats, began to dress their dinner, to all appearances, wholly
unconcerned about us, though we were within half-a-mile of them. We
thought it remarkable that of all the people we had yet seen, not one had
the least appearance of clothing, the old woman herself being destitute
even of a fig leaf.

"After dinner the boats were manned, and we set out from the ship. We
intended to land where we saw the people, and began to hope that as they
so little regarded the ship's coming into the bay, they would as little
regard our coming on shore. In this, however, we were disappointed, for
as soon as we approached the rocks, two men came down upon them to
dispute our landing, and the rest ran away."


For some time they parleyed with the blacks, and threw them nails, beads,
and other trifles, trying to make them understand that only water was
wanted, and no harm would be done them; but the natives refused all
offers of friendship, and three charges of small shot had to be fired at
their legs before they would even allow a peaceable landing.

Many expeditions were made inland for plants, birds, and flowers, also to
try if some intercourse could be established with the natives, but after
the first contest they would not come near enough to speak to. Nor did
they touch any of the presents--beads, ribbons, and cloth, that had been
left about and in their huts.

The great quantity of plants collected here by Mr. Banks induced Cook to
give it the name of Botany Bay. The King's colours were hoisted each day
of the stay, and the ship's name with the date of the year was inscribed
upon one of the trees near the watering place.

Having now provided a supply of fresh water, the anchor was weighed on
the 6th of May, and they sailed northward. Unaware of what he had missed,
Cook passed the entrance of Port Jackson, and followed up the coast for
over a thousand miles to the north, without incident or adventure, beyond
the routine work of the ship. But, on June 10th, this quiet was rudely
broken by the ENDEAVOUR running on a coral reef when off the site of the
present town of Cooktown. Fortunately a jagged point of coral stuck in
the hole made, and acted as a plug, otherwise this voyage of Cook's would
have proved his last, and the history of this continent been much delayed
and altered.

Passing a sail under the hull, and throwing guns and other stores
overboard, Cook got his ship once more afloat, and took her into the
mouth of a river (now the Endeavour River) where, on a convenient beach,
she was careened, and the carpenters set to work to repair her, whilst a
forge was set up, and the smiths occupied making bolts and nails. Many
animals strange to them were seen, and among them the first kangaroo. One
of the firemen who had been rambling in the woods, told them, on his
return, that he verily believed he had seen the devil.


"We naturally enquired in what form he had appeared, and his answer was
in so singular a style, that I shall set it down in his own words. 'He
was,' says John, 'as large as a one gallon keg, and very like it; he had
horns and wings, yet he crept so slowly through the grass that if I had
not been afeared, I might have touched him.' This formidable apparition we
afterwards discovered to have been a bat. They have indeed no horns, but
the fancy of a man who thought he saw the devil might easily supply that
defect."


Many excursions Mr. Banks and the men made inland, finding one very
useful plant, at the time when scurvy had appeared among them, a plant
that in the West Indies is called Indian Kale, and served them for
greens.

Some communication was established with the natives, but it ended as
usual by their commencing to steal, and having to be chastised for it. In
revenge they set fire to the grass, and the navigator very nearly lost
his whole stock of gunpowder. He was astonished by the extreme
inflammability of the grass and the consequent difficulty in putting it
out, and vowed if ever he had to camp in such a situation again, he would
first clear the grass around. Leaving the Endeavour River, Cook, after
passing through the Barrier Reef and again repassing it, as he says,
"After congratulating ourselves upon passing the reef we again
congratulate ourselves upon repassing it," landed no more until he had
left Cape York, and there on an island called "Possession Island," he
formally took possession of the east coast of New Holland, under the name
of New South Wales, for his Majesty King George III.


"AS I WAS ABOUT TO QUIT THE EASTERN COAST OF NEW HOLLAND, WHICH I HAD
COASTED FROM LATITUDE 38 DEG. TO THIS PLACE, AND WHICH I AM CONFIDENT NO
EUROPEAN HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE, I ONCE MORE HOISTED ENGLISH COLOURS, AND
THOUGH I HAD ALREADY TAKEN POSSESSION OF SEVERAL PARTICULAR PARTS, I NOW
TOOK POSSESSION OF THE WHOLE EASTERN COAST, FROM LATITUDE 38 DEG. TO THIS
PLACE, LATITUDE 10 DEG. 30 MIN., IN RIGHT OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE THE
THIRD, BY THE NAME OF NEW SOUTH WALES, WITH ALL THE BAYS, HARBOURS,
RIVERS, AND ISLANDS SITUATED UPON IT. WE THEN FIRED THREE VOLLEYS OF
SMALL ARMS, WHICH WERE ANSWERED BY THE SAME NUMBER FROM THE SHIP."


This ceremony concluded, and rejoicing in the re-discovery of Torres
Straits--the waters of which had borne no keel since the gallant Spaniard
had passed through--he sailed to New Guinea, Cook having thus completed
the survey of that portion of the South Land so long left a blank upon
the map, never returned--unless his visit to Van Dieman's Land, in 1777,
can be called a visit-to our shores, but the names he bestowed on the
many bays, headlands, and islands of the east coast have clung to them
ever since. So accurate were his surveys, even under extreme
difficulties, that he left little for his successors to do but
investigate those portions of the coast he had been forced to overlook.

But Cook's fame and career are such household words amongst all
English-speaking races, and the results of his visit to Australia so
extensive, that no space that this history could afford would be
sufficiently large to appreciate the merits of his work.

When Phillip landed in Botany Bay he was followed, as is well known, by
the distinguished French navigator, La Perouse, and although the name of
this unfortunate man does not enter largely into the history of our
colonisation, it is essential that it should come under notice. After a
short stay, La Perouse sailed from Australian shores, and of him and his
stately ships no tidings ever reached Europe. Years passed, and Captain
Dillon, the master of an English vessel trading amongst the South Sea
Islands, found a sword-belt in the possession of the natives; this led to
further investigations, and the hapless story was finally elucidated.

Wrecked on the coast of one of the islands, and all attempts to save the
ships having proved futile, the crews took to the boats, only to suffer
death from drowning or at the hands of the savages. The guns and other
heavy equipment were afterwards recovered, proving beyond doubt that that
was the end of the French vessels and their unhappy commander-the
Leichhardt of the sea.

In 1791, Lieutenant McCluer, of the Bombay Marine, touched upon the
northern coast of Arnheim's Land, but as he did not land, no result
accrued to the continent from his coming.

Before his advent, however, Captain Bligh, making his way home from the
spot where the mutineers of the BOUNTY had set him afloat, passed through
Torres Straits, and sighted the mainland of Australia. Situated as he
was, he could do little more than take hasty observations.

Two years afterwards, the PANDORA, under Captain Edwards, struck on a
reef in Torres Straits, and sank in deep water. Thirty-nine of the crew
were drowned, and the remainder, destitute of almost everything, made for
the coast of Australia in four boats. Edwards landed on Prince of Wales
Island, but not on the mainland. He finally reached Timor, with his
shipwrecked men, amongst whom were some of the mutineers of the BOUNTY.
Many of these men had been obliged to remain on board perforce, and in no
way participated in that famous mutiny. Their treatment by the captain of
the PANDORA, and afterwards by the English authorities, was both harsh
and unjust.

In 1792, the PROVIDENCE and ASSISTANT, Captains Bligh and Portlock,
sailed through the Straits, conveying the bread-fruit plant from Tahiti
to the West Indies. Serving in this expedition was Lieutenant Flinders.

In 1791, Captain George Vancouver, on his way to America, came to the
southern shore, and found and named King George's Sound. He landed and
examined the country, but saw nothing of any consequence, and, after a
short stay, sailed away to the eastward, intending to follow the coast
line, but was prevented by baffling winds.

In 1793, previously to the INVESTIGATOR, and in the year following Bligh
and Portlock, Messrs. William Bampton and Matthew B. Alt, commanders of
the ships HORMUZEER and CHESTERFELD, sailed from Norfolk Island, with the
intention of passing through Torres Straits by a route which the
commanders did not know had been before attempted.

The terrible dangers of the Straits encountered appear to have deterred
others from following them up to the time of the INVESTIGATOR.

Vancouver was quickly followed in the year 1792 by M. D'Entrecasteaux,
who, having with him the ships LA RECHERCHE and L'ESPÉRANCE, was in quest
of the fate of La Perouse. Off Termination Island-the last land seen by
Vancouver--a gale sprang up, and the French ships had to seek shelter.
They remained at anchor a week, and the officers made many excursions to
the islands now known as the Recherche Archipelago.

He sailed along some portions of the Great Bight, which he described as
of "an aspect so uniform that the most fruitful imagination could find
nothing to say of it." Water failing him, he steered for Van Dieman's
Land.

We now come across one of the grandest names in the history of our
colony. Bass, the surgeon of the RELIANCE, whose work has survived him in
the name of the well-known strait.

In a tiny cockle shell, the TOM THUMB, a boat of eight feet long, he and
Flinders, at first but an adventurous middy, cruised around the coast and
examined every inlet and opening visible, at the very peril of their
lives. It is almost equal to an imaginative story of adventures to read
the tale of their various trips, suffice it they did good work, and came
back safely to carry that work on with better and fuller means.

A voyage to Norfolk Island interrupted their further proceedings until
the next year, 1796. Bass and Flinders then again, in the TOM THUMB, left
to explore a large river, said to fall in the sea some miles to the south
of Botany Bay, and of which there was no indication in Cook's chart.

In 1797, Bass obtained leave to make an expedition to the southward and
was furnished with a whale boat and a crew of six men. Although he sailed
with only six weeks' provisions, by birds and fish caught, and
abstinence, he was enabled to prolong his voyage to eleven weeks, and his
labours were crowned with a success not to be expected from such frail
means. In the three hundred miles of coast examined from Port Jackson to
Ram Head, a number of discoveries were made that had escaped Captain
Cook.

From Ram Head--the southernmost part of the coast that had been examined
by Cook-Bass began to reap a rich harvest of important discoveries, and
another three hundred miles followed, the appearance of which confirmed
his belief in the existence of a strait between the continent and Van
Dieman's Land.

It was with great reluctance he returned before verifying this belief
beyond doubt of others.

In September, 1798, we find him on board the NORFOLK, associated with
Flinders, seeking to prove his theory. After many and strong head winds,
and much delay, the two had the supreme pleasure of greeting the westward
ocean, and returning to Port Jackson with the tidings.

Flinders says:--


"TO THE STRAIT WHICH HAD BEEN THE GREAT OBJECT OF RESEARCH, AND WHOSE
DISCOVERY WAS NOW COMPLETED, GOVERNOR HUNTER GAVE, AT MY RECOMMENDATION,
THE NAME OF 'BASS'S STRAITS.' THIS WAS NO MORE THAN A JUST TRIBUTE TO MY
WORTHY FRIEND AND COMPANION FOR THE EXTREME DANGERS AND FATIGUES HE HAD
UNDERGONE IN FIRST ENTERING IT IN THE WHALE BOAT, AND TO THE CORRECT
JUDGMENT HE HAD FORMED, FROM VARIOUS INDICATIONS, OF THE EXISTENCE OF A
WIDE OPENING BETWEEN VAN DIEMAN'S LAND AND NEW SOUTH WALES."


In 1799, Flinders, in the NORFOLK, followed up Cook's discoveries in the
neighbourhood of Glass House Bay, and in 1801 we must accompany him on
his great voyage round Terra Australis.

The north coast of Australia, both from its more interesting formation
and the lack of settlement, has received a good deal of attention from
our navigators of the present century, and by far the most fascinating
part of Captain Flinders' log refers to the north coast.

In 1802, we find him following the track of M. D'Entrecasteaux round the
Great Bight. Flinders seems to have been as much puzzled as he was
regarding the great extent of level cliffs passed. He conjectures that
within this bank, as he terms it, there could be nothing but sandy plains
or water, and that, in all probability, it formed a barrier between an
exterior and interior sea. He little thought how, some years afterwards,
a lonely white man would tramp round those barren cliffs, eagerly
scanning Flinders' chart for any sign of a break in their iron
uniformity.

On February 16th, 1801, Matthew Flinders was promoted to the rank of
commandant, and left England with the INVESTIGATOR, to prosecute his
voyage to Terra Australis. His instructions were:--


"To make the best of your way to New Holland, running down the coast from
130 degrees east longitude to BASS'S Straits, putting, if you should
find it necessary, into KING GEORGE THE THIRD'S HARBOUR for refreshments
and water, previous to your commencing the survey, and on your arrival on
the coast, use your best endeavour to discover such harbours as may be in
those parts, and in case you shall discover any creek or opening likely
to lead to an INLAND SEA OR STRAIT, you are at liberty either to examine
it or not, as you 'shall judge it most expedient, until a more favourable
opportunity shall enable you so to do.

"When it shall appear to you necessary, you shall repair to SYDNEY COVE,
for the purpose of refreshing your people, refitting the sloop under your
command, and consulting the Governor of New South Wales upon the best
means of carrying on the survey of the coast; and having received from
him such information as he may be able to communicate, and taken under
your command the LADY NELSON tender, which you may expect to find in
Sydney Cove, you are to recommence your survey by first diligently
examining the coast from BASS'S Straits to KING GEORGE THE THIRD'S
HARBOUR."


Flinders was then instructed to repair from time to time to Sydney Cove,
to be very diligent in the examination, and to take particular care to
insert in his journal every circumstance that might be useful to a full
and complete knowledge of the coast--the wind, weather, the productions,
comparative fertility of the soil, the manners and customs of the
inhabitants, and to examine the country as far inland as it was prudent
to venture with so small a party as could be spared from the vessel
whenever a chance of discovering anything useful to the commerce or
manufacturies of the United Kingdom.

From thence they were to explore the north-west coast of New Holland,
where, from the extreme height of tides observed by Dampier, it was
thought probable valuable harbours might be found; also the Gulf of
Carpentaria and the parts to the westward. When that was completed, a
careful investigation and accurate survey of Torres Straits; then an
examination of the whole of the remainder of the north, the west, and the
north-west coasts of New Holland.


"So soon as you shall have completed the whole of these surveys and
examinations as above directed, you are to proceed to, and examine very
carefully the east coast of New Holland, seen by Captain Cook, from Cape
Flattery to the Bay of Inlets; and in order to refresh your people, and
give the advantages of variety to the painters, you are at liberty to
touch at the Fijis, or some other islands in the South Seas."


As soon as the whole of the examinations and surveys were completed, he
was to lose no time in returning with the sloop under his command to
England.

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