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The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888

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




"After having carefully copied these two inscriptions, Captain Hamelin
had another post made and erected on the spot, and replaced the plate in
the same place where it had been found. Captain Hamelin would have
thought it sacrilege to carry away this plate, which had been respected
for near two centuries of time, and by all navigators who might have
visited these shores. The Captain also ordered to be placed on the N.E.
of the island a second plate, on which was inscribed the name of our
corvette, and the date of our arrival on these shores."


Evidently M. de Freycinet had no such veneration for antiquity, for on
his return from the voyage round the world he subsequently made, he is
reported to have carried the relic home and deposited it in the Museum of
the Institute in Paris.

Having done much to determine the size and formation of the great bight
called Shark's Bay, the NATURALISTE resumed her voyage, and joined her
consort at Coepang, finding the GÉOGRAPHE had arrived there more than a
month before. The NATURALISTE, more fortunate than her companion, had few
cases of scurvy on board, owing principally to their many and long
stoppages on shore.

The ships in September took their departure from Timor for Van Dieman's
Land, having on board a large proportion of sick. On drawing near the
coast, the humidity of the climate and short allowance of water caused
many deaths.


"On the 2nd of December, in 15 deg., we observed the first bird of
paradise--the most beautiful of equatorial sea-birds. On the 22nd we saw
more of them, and on this day we passed the Tropic of Capricorn. Thus
these observations agree with what is so elegantly said by Buffon on the
limits of the climates in which these beautiful birds are seen.

"Following the chariot of the sun in the burning zone between the
tropics, ranging continually beneath that ardent sky, without ever
exceeding the extreme boundaries of the route of the mighty stars of
heaven, it announces to the navigator his approaching passage under the
celestial signs.

"On the 29th of December, the sea appeared covered with janthines, the
most beautiful of the testaceous molusques. This jellyfish, by means of a
bunch of small vesicles filled with air, floats on the surface of the
waters. On this shining shell I discovered a new kind of crustaceous
animal, of a beautiful ultramarine blue, like the shell; I knew this to
be a Pinnothera. This discovery is so much the more interesting, as it
does not appear that any of these adhesive animals were ever before found
in univalve shells. On this same day died my colleague, M. Levillian.
During his stay in Dampier's Bay, he had made a fine collection of shells
and petrifactions, which form long banks on these shores, and which are
so much the more interesting, as most of them seem to have their living
resemblance at the feet of the same rocks, which are composed of these
petrified shells."


On their departure from Timor the ships sailed for Van Dieman's Land,
having on board a large proportion of sick, and losing many lives on the
way.

Through calms and wind they had much difficulty in doubling Cape Leeuwin,
and on the 10th of January, 1802, they sighted the southern coast of Van
Dieman's Land, and devoted some time to the examination of that island,
finding many discrepancies in the chart of D'Entrecasteaux.

Sailing up the east coast, the GÉOGRAPHE sighted the mainland of
Australia on the 28th March, near Wilson's Promontory, most carefully
examining and naming all capes, bays, and harbours, little thinking that
they were directly after Flinders. Whilst off this shore, the encounter
with the INVESTIGATOR took place, which has before been referred to.
After the ships parted, Baudin continued along the south coast, already
surveyed by Flinders, which he re-christened Napoleon's Land, and in
Péron's narrative no reference at all is made to Flinders' prior
investigation.

The French claim to the discovery and names of these shores was not
received in France until after the publication of Flinders' book, which
took place the day after his death.

Throughout the voyage Baudin had greatly embittered himself with his
crew. He showed no sympathy nor care for the sick, and was harsh and
unfeeling in his conduct to all on board; in fact, he is blamed for the
constant presence of scurvy that had decimated his men. He seemed utterly
to ignore all precautions for health, and refused to take the many
preventatives that were accessible to prevent that dread disease. After
the magnificent preparations that had been made, it is astonishing to
read of the state of the ship before entering Port Jackson. M. Péron
writes:--


"Several of our men had already been committed to the deep already more
than the half of our seamen were incapable of service from the shocking
ravages of scurvy, and only two of our helmsmen were able to get on deck.
The daily increase of this epidemic was alarming to an extreme degree,
and, in fact, how should it be otherwise?

"Three-quarters of a bottle of stinking water was our daily allowance;
for more than a year we had not tasted wine; we had not even a single
drop of brandy, instead was substituted half a bottle of a bad sort of
rum, made in the Isle of France, and there only used by the black slaves.
The biscuit served out was full of insects; all our salt provisions were
putrid and rotten, and both the smell and taste were so offensive that
the almost famished seamen sometimes preferred suffering all the
extremities of want itself to eating these unwholesome provisions, and,
even in the presence of their commander, often threw their allowance into
the sea.

"Besides, there were no comforts of any kind for the sick. The officers
and naturalists were strictly reduced to the same allowance as the
seamen, and suffered with them the same afflictions of body and mind."


With unlimited credit and a princely outfit, this state of things did not
speak well for the captain's management.

The sickness of his crew and want of provisions compelled the French
commander to make for Port Jackson, and on arrival they heard of the
safety of the NATURALISTE, that vessel having parted from them off the
coast of Van Dieman's Land and arrived there earlier, but left in search
of them a few days before the GÉOGRAPHE made the port.

From Port Jackson the NATURALISTE went home to France, the GÉOGRAPHE, in
company with a small vessel purchased in Sydney, and placed in charge of
Lieutenant Freycinet, pursuing her geographical labours in other parts of
the world.

The many voyages of Captain P. P. King, son of the Governor of that name,
are some of the most adventurous voyages ever chronicled in our history.
On the 22nd December, in a tiny cutter called the MERMAID, he left Sydney
for the first of his survey trips. It was the year 1817, and his mission
was:--


"To examine the hitherto unexplored coasts of New South Wales from Arnhem
Bay, near the western entrance of the Gulf of Carpentaria, westward and
southward, as far as the North-West Cape, including the opening, or deep
bay, called Van Dieman's Bay, and the cluster of islands called Rosemary
Islands, also the inlets behind them, which should be most minutely
examined; and, indeed, all gulfs and openings should be the objects of
particular attention, as the chief motive for sour survey is to discover
whether there be any river on that part of the coast likely to lead to an
interior navigation into this great continent.

"It is for several reasons most desirable that you should arrive on this
coast and commence your survey as early as possible, and you m-ill
therefore, when the vessel shall be ready, lose no time in proceeding to
the unexplored coasts, but you are at liberty to commence your survey at
whichever side you may judge proper, giving a preference to that which
you think you may be able soonest to reach, but in case you think that
indifferent, my Lords would wish you to commence by the neighbourhood of
the Rosemary Islands.

"Either on your way out, or on returning, you should examine the coast
between Cape Leeuwin and the Cape Gosselin, in M. De Freycinet's chart,
and generally you will observe that it is very desirable that you should
visit those ranges of coast which the French navigators have either not
seen at all, or at too great a distance to ascertain and lay down
accurately."


Captain King was further instructed to take from Port Jackson seeds of
all vegetables that he considered most useful to propagate on the coasts
to be visited, and to plant them not only in the best situations for
their preservation, but that, also, they might be in sight and reach of
succeeding navigators.

All notes, surveys, and drawings were to be made in duplicate, and on
every opportunity to dispatch a copy, with full report, of his progress.

The most important subjects to obtain information on were:--


"The general nature of the climate as to heat, cold, moisture, winds,
rains, periodical seasons, and the temperature. The direction of the
mountains, their names, general appearance as to shape, whether detached
or continuous in ranges. The animals, whether birds, beasts or fishes,
insects, reptiles, etc., distinguishing those that are wild from those
that are domesticated. The vegetables, and particularly those that are
applicable to any useful purpose, whether in medicine, dyeing carpentry,
etc.; all woods adapted for furniture, shipbuilding, etc. To ascertain
the quantities in which they are found, the facility, or otherwise, of
floating them down to a convenient place for shipment. Minerals, any of
the precious stones, how used or valued by the natives; the description
and characteristic difference of the several tribes of people on the
coast. Their occupation and means of subsistence. A circumstantial
account of such articles growing on the sea coast, if any, as might be
advantageously imported into Great Britain, and those that would be
required by the natives in exchange for them. The state of the arts, or
manufactures, and their comparative perfection in different tribes. A
vocabulary of the language spoken by, every tribe which you meet, using
in the compilation of each word the same English words."


How much was expected to be accomplished by King with his company of
seventeen, including Messrs. Bedwell and Roe as mates, and Mr. Allan
Cunningham, botanical collector! he also had "Boongaree," a Port Jackson
native, who had accompanied Captain Flinders in the INVESTIGATOR, And
promised to be of great service in any intercourse with the natives.
Provisions for nine months were procured, and twelve weeks water.


The MERMAID'S outfit being completed too early in the season to attempt
the passage by way of Torres Straits to the north-west coast, King,
rather than remain inactive, determined to sail VIÂ Bass' Strait and Cape
Leeuwin.

At Seal Island they landed, and searched in vain for the bottle left
there by Captain Flinders, containing an account of the INVESTIGATOR'S
visit, not with any motive of removing it, but to add a memorandum. On
the summit of the island or rock--for it can scarcely be called an
island--the skeleton of a goat's head was found, and near it were the
remains of a glass case-bottle. These, as was afterwards learned, were
left by Lieutenant Forster, R.N., in 1815, on his passage from Port
Jackson to Europe.

Next day they anchored off Oyster Harbour, and examined the bar, finding
they could lie close to the shore. It was convenient for all purposes,
the wood being abundant and close to the waterholes, which were dug in
the sand; so that both wood and water could be procured without going far
away from the vessel, thus preventing any possibility of a surprise from
the blacks.

It was here that Captain Vancouver planted and stocked a garden with
vegetables, but no signs of it now remained, also the ship ELLEGOOD'S
garden, which Captain Flinders found in 1802; the lapse of sixteen years,
however, would make a complete revolution in the vegetation. Cunningham
made here a large collection of seeds and dried specimens from the vast
variety of beautiful plants and flowers.


"A small spot of ground near our tent was dug up, and enclosed with a
fence, in which Mr. Cunningham sowed many culinary seeds and peach
stones; and on the stump of a tree, which had been felled by our wooding
party, the name of the vessel and the date of our visit was inscribed;
but when we visited Oyster Harbour three years afterwards, no signs
remained of the garden, and the inscription was scarcely perceptible,
from the stump having been nearly destroyed by fire."


Sickness having attacked the crew, little attempt was made to investigate
the west coast, but a straight course was steered to Cape North-west,
that goal of so many navigators. On the 10th of February, 1818, while at
anchor off the Cape, the cable parted, and they lost one of their
anchors, an accident which considerably endangered the remainder of the
voyage, as on the 12th the fluke of a second anchor broke in consequence
of the wind freshening during the night. Three days afterwards they
reached a secure anchorage, which he named the Bay of Rest, as the crew
had been long fatigued when the found it. Here a landing was effected,
and Allan Cunningham took occasion to measure one of the gigantic
ant-hills of that coast. He found it to be eight feet in height and
twenty-six in girth, which after all is not so large as some to be seen
in that region. All examinations of the country tending to give King and
his companion a very poor opinion of the place; they left the inlet in
which they had found shelter, and the large bay in which it was situated
received the name of Exmouth Gulf.

They pursued their course to the north-east. On the 25th they arrived at
Rosemary Island, so long supposed to mask the entrance to a strait, and
commenced a closer examination of the coast line. Here the always active
botanist planted peach stones, and the party made their first capture of
an "Indian." He and some more were paddling from island to island on
logs--their only means of navigation--and a regular "duck hunt" ensued
before one was caught, and taken on board the cutter by a boat's crew.


"The tribe of natives collected upon the shore, consisting of about forty
persons, and of whom the greater number were women and children, the
whole party appeared to be overcome with grief, particularly the women,
who most loudly and vehemently expressed their sorrow by cries and
rolling on the ground, covering their bodies with the sand. When our
captive arrived alongside the vessel, and saw Boongaree, he became
somewhat pacified, and suffered himself to be lifted on board; he was
then ornamented with beads and a red cap, and upon our applauding his
appearance, a smile momentarily played on his countenance, but it was
soon replaced by a vacant stare. He took little notice of anything until
he saw the fire, and this appeared to occupy his attention very much.
Biscuit was given him, which as soon, as he tasted it he spat out, but
some sugared water being offered to him he drank the whole, and upon
sugar being placed before him in a saucer, he was at a loss how to use
it, until one of the boys fed him with his fingers, and when the saucer
was emptied he showed his taste for this food by licking it with his
tongue."


He was then restored to his log and around his neck a bag was suspended
containing a little of everything he had appeared to fancy during his
short captivity, this was to induce him to give a favourable account
to his companions. He rejoined his tribe, and the amused seamen
watched the interview on the beach. He was ordered to stand at a
distance until he had thrown away the red cap and axe that had been
given him. Each black held his spear poised, and a number of
questions were seemingly put to him. Upon his answering them apparently
satisfactorily he was allowed to approach, his body was carefully
examined, then they seated themselves in a ring, he placed in the middle.
Evidently he told them his story, which occupied about half an hour. When
finished, after great shouting, the tribe departed to the other side of
the island, leaving the presents on the beach, having carefully examined
them first. After some days spent amongst this group of islands,
endeavouring to establish friendly communication with the natives, the
little vessel resumed her voyage, and on the 4th of March anchored in and
christened Nickol Bay.

Steering on E.S.E. to Cape Arnheim, where the examination of the west
coast was to commence, they named and passed through Macquarie Strait,
and anchored off Goulburn Island, making a complete survey of the Bay in
which they were anchored, and the surrounding islands, calling them
Goulburn Islands. Here they found traces of the visits of the Malays on
their voyages after trepang, before mentioned by Captain Flinders, and
also could tell from the boldness and cunning of the natives that they
were well used to visitors; they even had the audacity to swim off after
dark and cut the whale boat adrift, fortunately the theft was detected
before the boat drifted out of sight.

Their hostile conduct caused much trouble whilst getting wood and water,
so much so, that King determined to finish wooding on Sims Island to the
northward. It was fortunate that they were not often obliged to resort
to the muskets for defence, as the greater number of the twelve they had
taken from Port Jackson were useless, yet they were the best they could
then procure in Sydney.

Meantime Cunningham greatly added to his collection, and took advantage
of a good spot of soil to sow every sort of seed he possessed, but with
little hope of their surviving long; as fire no doubt would soon destroy
all.


"The country, was thickly, in some parts impenetrably, clothed with
eucalyptus, acacia, pandanus, fan-palms, and various other trees, whilst
the beaches are in some parts studded, and in others thickly lined with
mangroves. The soil is chiefly of a grey sandy earth, and in some parts
might be called even rich; there was, however, very few places that could
bear so favourable a character.

"The climate here seems to favour vegetation so much, that the quality of
the soil appears to be of minor importance, for everything thrives and
looks verdant."


Whilst on this part of the coast they encountered a fleet of Malay proas,
fifteen in number, but King, with his little unarmed cutter, did not care
to have any communication with such very doubtful characters.

On the 16th of April, Raffles Bay was found, and named after Sir Stamford
Raffles, and the next day they entered Port Essington, which was
christened after Vice-Admiral Sir William Essington.

King thought that:--


"Port Essington being so good a harbour, and from its proximity to the
Moluccas and New Guinea, and its being in a direct line of communication
between Port Jackson and India, as well as from the commanding situation
with respect to the passage through Torres Straits, it must at no very
distant period become a place of great trade, and of very considerable
importance."


At Knocker's Bay, immediately to the west of this port, the natives made
a very determined attack on the boat, whilst she was hemmed in amongst
the mangroves, but without doing any damage. King next entered and
examined Van Dieman's Gulf, so called by the three Dutch vessels that
sailed from Timor in 1705. The examination of this Gulf formed a
prominent feature in his instructions. Here he found part of the Malay
fleet at anchor, and feeling strong enough to encounter a few of them at
a time, he anchored and allowed them to come on board. He showed them his
rough chart, when they instantly understood the occupation of the cutter.
Like the visitors who came off to Flinders, they showed a great liking
for port wine. Upon mentioning the natives of the coast, and showing a
stone-headed spear, they evinced great disgust. They called them
"Marega," being the Malay definition of that portion of the coast.

King, during his survey of Van Dieman's Gulf, found and named the two
Alligator Rivers, afterwards traversed by Leichhardt on his trip to Port
Essington. From the Gulf they sailed to Melville Island, which was named
after the First Lord of the Admiralty. He says:--


"We passed round Cape Van Dieman and anchored in the mouth of a very
considerable river-like opening, the size of which inspired us with the
flattering hope of having made an important discovery, for as yet we had
no idea of the insularity of Melville Island."


Here once more they had trouble with the natives, whose intercourse with
the Malays had made them adroit and treacherous thieves.

Whilst on shore taking some bearings, the party was suddenly surprised,
and, beating a hasty retreat, the theodolite stand and Cunningham's
insect net were left behind, and immediately appropriated by the natives.

This stand they obstinately refused to deliver or exchange, although
offered tomahawks and other tempting presents. Once, after a long
discussion, they brought it down to the beach and minutely examined it,
but the brass mountings took their fancy too much to allow them to part
with it, and King could not take it by force without bloodshed. On the
19th May, Apsley Strait was discovered, and the second island received
the name of Bathurst.

King next surveyed and named the Vernon Islands, and Clarence Strait.


"The time had now arrived for our leaving the coast; our provisions were
drawing to an end, and we had only a sufficiency of bread to carry us
back to Port Jackson; although we had been all the voyage upon a reduced
allowance; our water had also failed, and several casks which we had
calculated upon being full were found to be so bad that the water was
perfectly useless; these casks were made in Sydney, and proved-like our
bread casks-to have been made from the staves of salt provision casks:
besides this defalcation, several puncheons were found empty, and it was,
therefore, doubly necessary that we should resort to Timor without any
more delay."


While at Timor, "Dramah," the principal rajah of the Malay fishing fleet,
gave King the following information respecting the coast of New Holland,
which he had frequently visited in command of the fleet that visits its
shores yearly for trepang:--


"The coast is called by them 'Marega,' and has been known to them for
many years. A fleet, to the number of two hundred proas, annually (this
number seems exaggerated), leave Macassar for this fishery; it sails in
January, during the westerly monsoons, and coasts from island to island
until it reaches the north-east of Timor, where it steers S.E. and
S.S.E., which courses carry them to the coast of New Holland; the body of
the fleet then steers eastward, leaving here and there a division of
fifteen or sixteen proas, under the command of an inferior rajah who
leads the fleet, and is always implicitly obeyed. His proa is the only
vessel provided with a compass; it also has one or two swivel or small
guns, and is perhaps armed with musquets. Their provisions chiefly
consist of rice and cocoa-nuts, and their water--which during the westerly
monsoon is easily replenished on all parts of the coast--is carried in
joints of bamboo. Besides trepang, they trade in sharks' fins and birds'
nests."


Their method of curing is thus described by Flinders:--


"They get the trepang by diving in from three to eight fathoms of water,
and where it is abundant a man will bring up eight or ten at a time. The
mode of preserving it is thus--the animal is split down on one side,
boiled and pressed with a weight of stones, then stretched open by slips
of bamboo, dried in the sun and afterwards in smoke, when it is fit to
put away in bags, but requires frequent exposure to the sun. There are
two kinds of trepang, the black and the white or grey slug."


From Dramah's information, it would seem a perpetual warfare raged
between the natives and Malays, which was unfortunate for King, as it
would make it a very difficult matter to establish friendly communication
with people who could not be expected to distinguish between the English
and Malays. After a short stay in Timor, he sailed for Sydney by way of
the west coast, and anchored in Port Jackson on the 29th of July, 1818.

The early loss of the anchors had not allowed King so much opportunity of
detailed examination as would otherwise have been the case; but much of
the work that he had been sent to do had been carried out; the
examinations of the opening behind Rosemary Island, and of Van Dieman's
Gulf, beside the survey of the numerous smaller openings and islands.


"Mr. Cunningham made a very valuable and extensive collection of dried
plants and seeds; but, from the small size of our vessel and the constant
occupation of myself and the two midshipmen, who accompanied me, we had
neither space nor time to form any other collection of natural history
than a few insects, and some specimens of the geology of those parts
where we landed!"

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