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




On the final abandonment of Melville Island, in 1829, the live animals,
stores, plants, etc., were transferred to Raffles Bay, but although such
doleful accounts of the island had been sent down, Captain Lawes, who
visited it only a few months before the removal, gives a favourable
report of its healthiness, and of the success attending the growth of
vegetables and tropical fruits. The same dismal reports concerning the
unhealthiness of the climate were reported about Raffles Bay, and, much
to the surprise of the commandant, Captain Barker, orders were received
to abandon that place, too, in the same year.

On the 28th of August the abandonment took place. The principal natives,
who had been admitted near the settlement, were taken over the stockade
and garden, and an attempt made to teach them the value of the fruits.

The whites left behind them orange, lime, and lemon trees, bananas, in
abundance, shaddocks, citrons, pine-apples, figs, custard apples,
cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, and many other plants. In addition, paw-paws,
bananas, and cocoa-nuts were planted in many other places where it was
thought they would thrive.

Poultry, pigs, a bull and three cows (buffaloes), a Timor horse, and mare
in foal, were also left, in the hope of their increasing. An old Union
Jack was then nailed on the deserted fort, and the garrison went on board
the brig. On notice being given of the intended removal, a disposition to
abscond had been evinced by many of the prisoners. Some succeeded; the
idea being to hide until the departure of the commandant, and then live
with the natives until the arrival of the Malay proas. All returned and
gave themselves up with the exception of two, and these two were left
behind. Their fate is of course unknown. This was the end of the first
attempt at colonisation of the north coast.




CHAPTER XIX.



Cruise of H.M.S. BEAGLE--Passengers Grey and Lushington--Swan
River--Northern coast survey commenced--Supposed channel at Dampier's
Land non-existent--Lieutenant Usborne accidentally shot--King's
Sound--Effects of a rainy season--Point Cunningham--Skeleton of a native
found--New discoveries--Fitzroy River explored--Exciting incident--Boat
excursion to Collier Bay--Swan River--Native steward "Miago"--Amusing
inspection--Meeting with the explorers at Hanover Bay--Lieutenant Grey's
description of native tribes--Miago's memory--Fremantle--Needed
communication--BEAGLE at Hobart Town--Survey work at Cape
Otway--Exploration of northwest coast--Reminiscences of
colonisation--Discovery of the Adelaide River--A serious comedy--Port
Essington and Clarence Straits--Harbour of Port Darwin named--The
Victoria River--Extravagant hopes--Land party organized--Captain Stokes
speared--Return to Swan River--BEAGLE again North--Examination of Sweer's
Island--Flinders and Albert Rivers discovered--Inland navigation--Gun
accident--Native mode of burial--Fallacious Theorising--The BEAGLE'S
surveying concluded--Maritime exploration closes.

The next voyage of importance in these waters was conducted by Captains
Wickham and Stokes. Few narratives of the survey of our coasts have read
with so much interest as that of the cruise of the BEAGLE. Partly is this
owing to the intense love of exploration and discovery that seems to have
animated the spirit of her commander, Captain Lort Stokes, throughout
whose journal there breathes the very essence of genuine enthusiasm. In
addition, the incidents and results of the survey added so much to our
knowledge of Australia, that one can look upon him as a most worthy
successor to Flinders and King.

The BEAGLE was an old surveying vessel, and Captain Stokes had served on
board of her for nearly eighteen years, passing through all the grades,
from midshipman upwards, in many parts of the world. She left Plymouth on
the 5th July, 1837, under the command of John Clements Wickham, who
invalided in March, 1841, when John Lort Stokes, lieutenant and assistant
surveyor, was appointed to the vacant command.

On board the BEAGLE, at her departure from Plymouth, were Lieutenants
Grey and Lushington, on their way to explore the interior of Western
Australia. These gentlemen parted company from the BEAGLE at the Cape of
Good Hope, the sloop proceeding to the Swan River. In January, 1838, the
BEAGLE left Swan River, and sailed north, where, on the 15th, they
anchored in Roebuck Bay, and commenced a search for the much talked of
channel supposed to exist by Captains King and Dampier--a channel that
would connect Roebuck Bay with an opening behind Buccaneer's Archipelago,
thus making Dampier's Land an island. As was anticipated by Stokes, this
proved unsuccessful, but the stay there was terminated by an unfortunate
but, luckily, not fatal accident, Lieutenant Usborne being accidentally
shot.


"At the time this unlucky accident occurred, some twenty natives rushed
from the concealment, whence they had been, doubtless, watching all the
proceedings of the party, as though they, designed to bear a part in what
probably seemed to them, as poor Usborne went down, an approaching fray;
however, the sight of the two boats in the distance, which, upon
deploying, they had full in view, deterred them from acting upon any
hostile intentions, supposing such to have existed in their minds. The
accident, however, and their sudden appearance could only serve
additionally to flurry the little party, who had to convey their disabled
officer to a place of safety, and Mr. Helpman, who may well be pardoned
the want of his usual self-possession at such a moment, left behind a pair
of loaded pistols. They would puzzle the savages greatly, of course, but
I hope no ill consequences ensued; if they began pulling them about, or
put them in the fire, the better to separate the wood and iron, two or
three poor wretches might be killed or maimed for life, and their first
recollections of the 'Quibra men,' as Miago calls us, would naturally be
anything but favourable.

"Thus disastrously terminated our examination of Roebuck Bay, in which
the cheering reports of former navigators had induced us to anticipate
the discovery of some great water communication with the interior of this
vast continent. A most thorough and careful search had clearly
demonstrated that the hoped-for river must be sought elsewhere."


Touching here and there along the coast, and having occasional
communication with the natives, which Stokes amusingly describes, they
finally anchored in, and christened King's Sound after the narrow escape
that King experienced there from the tidal race. The point had now been
reached where they expected to carry on their most important operations,
and the first question to settle was if they could rely on fresh water.
The delightful verdure that clothed the country after the long ranges of
sandhills, and shores covered with mangroves, also the fact of many
natives living here, would on any other coast have been looked upon
favourably, but upon the coasts, and in the heart of Australia nature
seems to delight in contradiction.

Heavy rains provided them with an abundance of rain water, and they
collected in the hollows of the rocks several boat loads, so preventing a
more distant search.


"While waiting here a party was made up for the purpose of penetrating a
little way into the interior. Everything wore a green and most delightful
appearance, but the reader must bear in mind how vegetation had just been
forced by heavy rains upon a light, heated soil, and also recollect that
to one who has been pent up for some time on board ship a very barren
prospect may seem delightful. The country was more open in character than
I had before noticed it, and the numerous traces of native fires which we
found in the course of the excursion seemed readily to account for this.
Indeed, during dry seasons it not infrequently happens that an immense
tract of land is desolated with fire, communicated either by the design
or carelessness of the natives, to the dry herbage on the surface. The
moment the flame has been kindled, it only waits for the first breath of
air to spread it far and wide; then, on the wings of the wind, the fiery
tempest streams over the hillsides and through the vast plains. Brushwood
and herbage, the dry grass, the tall reed, the twining parasite, or the
giant of the forest, charred and blackened, but still proudly erect-alike
attest and bewail the conquering fire's onward march; and the bleak
desert, silent, waste, and lifeless, which it leaves behind, seems for
ever doomed to desolation. Vain fear! The rain descends once more upon
the dry and thirsty soil, and, from that very hour which seemed the date
of cureless ruin, Nature puts forth her wondrous power with increased
effort, and again her green and flower-embroidered mantle decks the earth
with a new beauty."


Leaving this anchorage, another was found in a bay on the mainland,
eleven miles N.W. from a remarkable headland, named by Captain King Point
Cunningham, and remained here a week, by which time the coast, as far as
Point Cunningham, was carefully examined.


"We named this Skeleton Point, from our finding here the remains of a
native, placed in a semi-recumbent position under a wide-spreading
gum-tree, enveloped, or, more properly, shrouded, in the bark of the
papyrus. All the bones were closely packed together, the larger being
placed outside, and the general mass, surmounted by the head, resting on
its base; the fleshless, eyeless skull 'grinning horribly' over the right
side. The removal of the skeleton was effected, and presented by Captain
Grey to the Royal College of Surgeons, in whose museum it is now to be
found."


From the summit of Point Cunningham a fine view of the opposite shore of
the sound was obtained. It appeared very rugged and broken, and from the
geological formation of the country, and no land to the south-cast or
south, Captain Stokes' hopes were again raised of finding the long and
anxiously expected river. A singular cliff on the south-east side of the
point is called by King, "Carlisle Head." Rounding Point Cunningham, they
anchored near a red cliffy head, called by Captain King "Foul Point." It
was here King was compelled to leave the coast, and Foul Point marks the
limit of his survey on the northern shore.

On the 23rd February they crossed the limit of King's Sound, and entered
unknown waters. Here, at Disaster Bay, Stokes was sent in command of the
whaleboat and yawl, to inspect the coast ahead, whilst the survey of the
bay proceeded. On the 26th, Stokes discovered a new river, which he named
the Fitzroy, after his former commander. Whilst exploring this river,
Stokes and his companions, Helpmann and a sailor, had a most narrow
escape. They had left the boat, and were making their way through the
mangrove-fringed banks on foot to a certain point where they were to meet
the boat again; but rising tide proved so strong that the boat could not
reach them, and although Stokes and Helpman could swim, the sailor could
not, and they would not desert him. There they had to stand with the tide
creeping up their bodies, and watch the desperate efforts of the crew to
contend against its force. Only when the water was high enough to allow
the boat to creep along the shelter of the mangroves, and they were
shoulder deep, were they rescued.

On the return to the ship, a fresh expedition was immediately despatched,
Captain Wickharn himself taking command, and they pulled up the Fitzroy a
distance of twenty-two miles in a straight direction, and ninety miles
following the bend of the river. Returning, Stokes had the satisfaction
of seeing a monster alligator reposing on the mud-bank, where he had such
a near escape from drowning.

After a lengthened survey of the sound, the BEAGLE returned to Port
George the Fourth, where she arrived on the 7th of April, from whence
they made a boat excursion to Collier Bay. Many natives were seen on the
shore, evidently wanting to be friendly. On board the BEAGLE, the party
had a native of Swan River--Miago. He turned out an excellent gun
room waiter, and they hoped that in any communication with the natives he
might prove useful. When off Point Swan, Stokes says:--

"They closely examined the heroic Miago, who submitted to be handled by
these much-dreaded 'northern men' with a very rueful countenance, and
afterwards construed the way in which one of them had gently stroked his
beard, into an attempt to take him by the throat and strangle him--an
injury and indignity which, when safe on board, he resented by repeated
threats, uttered in a sort of wild chant, of spearing their thighs,
back, loins, and, indeed, every individual portion of the frame.

"When Captain Wickharn and myself left the ship at Point Cunningham, in
the hope of inducing the natives to return with us, Miago, hearing of the
expected visit, immediately went below and dressed himself to the best
possible advantage. No sooner did the boat come alongside, than he
appeared at the gangway, inquiring, with the utmost possible dignity,
'Where blackfellas?' and was evidently deeply mortified that he had no
opportunity of 'astonishing the natives.'"


On their return to the ship, from the examination of Collier Bay, they
found the exploring party, under Grey and Lushington, had arrived on the
coast at Hanover Bay, twelve miles away.


"From Lieutenant Grey's description of the tribes his party had
encountered, he must have been among a people more advanced in
civilization than any me had hitherto seen upon this coast. He found
several curious figures, images, and drawings, generally in colours, upon
the sides of caves in the sandstone rock, which, notwithstanding their
rude style, yet evince a greater degree of advancement and intelligence
than we have been able to find any traces of; at the same time, it must
be remembered that no certain date absolutely connects these works with
the present generation; the dryness of the natural walls upon which they
are executed, and the absence of any atmospheric moisture may have, and
may yet preserve them for an indefinite period, and their history, read
aright, may testify-not the present condition of the Australian School of
Design, but the perfection which it had formerly attained. Lieutenant
Grey, too, like ourselves, had seen certain individuals, in company with
the natives, much lighter in colour, and widely differing in figure and
physiognomy from the savages by whom they were surrounded, and was
inclined to believe that they are descended from Dutch sailors who, at
different times suffering shipwreck upon the coast, have intermarried
with its native inhabitants; but as no authentic records can be produced
to prove that this portion of the coast was ever visited by Dutch
navigators at all, I am still more disposed to believe that these lighter
coloured people are Malays captured from the trepang fishers, or,
perhaps, voluntarily associating with the Australians, as we know that
the Australian not unfrequently abandons his country and his mode of life
to visit the Indian Archipelago with them."


From Port George the Fourth the BEAGLE sailed for Swan River, where she
arrived on the 25th of May. Her most important discovery during this
cruise was King's Sound and the Fitzroy River. As they neared Miago's
birthplace, Stokes says he questioned him upon the account he intended
giving his friends of the scenes he had witnessed.


"I was quite astonished at the accuracy with which he remembered the
various places we had visited during the voyage. He seemed to carry the
ship's track in his memory with the most careful accuracy. His
description of the ship's sailing and anchoring was most amusing. He used
to say: 'Ship walk--walk--all night--hard walk--then, by-and-by, anchor
tumble down.' His manner of describing, his interviews with the wicked
'northern men' was most graphic. His countenance and figure became at
once instinct with animation and energy, and no doubt he was then
influenced by feelings of baffled hatred and revenge, from having failed
in his much-vaunted determination to carry off in triumph one of their
gins. I would sometimes amuse myself by asking him how he was to excuse
himself to his friends for having failed in the promised exploit, but the
subject was evidently a very unpleasant one, and he was always anxious to
escape it.

"We were considerably amused with the consequential air Miago assumed
towards his countrymen on our arrival, which afforded us a not
uninstructive instance of the prevalence of the ordinary infirmities of
our common human nature, whether of pride or vanity, universally to be
met with, both in the civilised man and the uncultivated savage. He
declared that he would not land until they first came off to wait on him.
Decorated with an old full-dress lieutenant's coat, white trousers, and a
cap with a tall feather, he looked upon himself as a most exalted
personage, and for the whole of the first day remained on board,
impatiently, but in vain, prying into each boat that left the shore for
the dusky forms of some of his quondam friends. His pride, however, could
not long withstand the desire of display. Yielding to the impulse of
vanity he, early the following morning, took his departure from the ship.
Those who witnessed the meeting described it as cool on both sides,
arising on the part of his friends from jealousy; they, perhaps, judging
from his costume that he had abandoned his bush life."


The BEAGLE had arrived at Fremantle just in time to allow her company to
share in the annual festivities with which the inhabitants celebrate the
formation of the colony. It may give some idea of the neglected state of
this then infant colony to mention that during the six months' absence of
the BEAGLE, only one boat had arrived there, and that, H.M.S. PELORUS
from the Indian station. Communication with the home country was sadly
needed, apart from the wish for news. Necessary articles of home
manufacture or importation were becoming unattainable.

From the Swan River settlement, the BEAGLE proceeded to Sydney, passing
Cape Leeuwin on the 23rd June, the south-western extremity of the
continent named by the first discoverer in 1622, "Landt van de Lewin," or
the Land of Lions. It was their intention to pass through Bass's Strait,
but the weather had been extreme on rounding Cape Leeuwin, making that
impossible.

On the morning of the 8th, the south-western extremity of Van Dieman's
Land was seen. Van Dieman's Land, as before noted, was discovered in 1633
by Abel Janz Tasman, the Dutch navigator, and so named by him after the
Governor of Batavia, under whose authority his voyage had been performed,
but the insularity of the island was not fully proved until Bass passed
through the Strait in 1798.

The bad state of weather detained the BEAGLE in Hobart Town for some
time, reaching Port Jackson on July 24th.

It was not until the 11th of November that the BEAGLE left Port Jackson,
and anchored close to the southern shore of Port Phillip. Surveying
operations were set to work in good earnest, chiefly in determining the
position of the mouths of the various channels intersecting the bank that
extended across the entire bay, three miles from the entrance, then
continuing the examination to the westward. Passing the mouth of the
Barwon, the nature of the country begins to change, and high grassy
downs, with rare patches of woodland, present themselves; then, as they
near Cape Otway, a steep rocky coast, with dense woodland rising abruptly
over it. Cape Otway, being the northern point of the western extremity of
Bass's Strait, is swept by all the winds that blow into that end of the
funnel, and this is the cause of the stunted appearance of the trees in
that neighbourhood.

Having coasted the northern side of the strait, they cross to Tasmania to
examine the south side.

Again, in May 1840, the BEAGLE left Sydney to cruise on the north coast,
and explore the north-western part of the continent, this time taking
the inside passage between the east coast and the Barrier Reef to reach
her destination, and after discovering the mouth of a river near Cape
Upstart (the present Burdekin), and making other minor corrections and
additions in King's chart, the vessel anchored at the new settlement of
Port Essington. In 1829, it will be remembered that Fort Dundas and Fort
Wellington had been abandoned, and it was not until the year 1829 that
any fresh attempt was made. The ships ALLIGATOR and BRITOMART, under Sir
Gordon Bremer and Lieutenant Owen Stanley, were then despatched to Port
Essington; but the new settlement to be formed was intended to be a
purely military one, and although many intending settlers volunteered and
sought permission to try their fortunes, no inducement was held out to
them.

The township (destined to follow the date of its predecessors) received
the imposing name of Victoria. Not long after the arrival of M. D'Urville
with the ASTROLABE and ZELIE in Raffles Bay, Lieutenant Stewart, when
visiting that bay to invite the French officers to the new settlement,
found nothing remaining of the old one, but the graves of those buried
there; the garden and stockade had totally disappeared.

Leaving Port Essington, the BEAGLE discovered a river at the head of Adam
Bay, which was explored for eighty miles, and called the Adelaide. Here
occurred the trago-comic episode that gave the name of Escape Cliffs to
the neighbourhood.


"Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Keys went ashore to compare the compasses. From
the quantity of iron contained in the rocks it was necessary to select a
spot free from their influence. A sandy beach at the foot of Escape
Cliffs was accordingly chosen. The observations had been commenced and
were about half completed, when on the summit of the cliffs, which rose
about twenty feet above their heads, suddenly appeared a large party of
natives with poised and quivering spears, as if about immediately to
deliver them. Stamping on the ground and shaking their heads too and fro,
they threw out their long shaggy locks in a circle, whilst their glaring
eyes flashed with fury as they champed and spit out the ends of their
long beards (a custom with Australian natives when in a state of violent
excitement). They were evidently in earnest, and bent on mischief. It was
therefore not a little surprising to behold this paroxysm of rage
evaporate before the happy presence of mind displayed by Mr. Fitzmaurice,
in immediately beginning to dance and shout, though in momentary
expectation of being pierced by a dozen spears. In this he was imitated
by Mr. Keys, and they succeeded in diverting them from their bad designs
until a boat landing in a bay drew off their attention.

"Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Keys had fire-arms lying on the ground within
reach of their hands, the instant, however, they ceased dancing, and
attempted to touch them, a dozen spears were pointed at their breasts.
Their lives hung upon a thread, and their escape must be regarded as
truly wonderful, and only to be attributed to the happy readiness with
which they adapted themselves to the perils of their situation. This was
the last we saw of the natives in Adam Bay, and the meeting is likely to
be long remembered by some and not without pleasant recollections, for
although at the time it was justly looked upon as a serious affair, it
afterwards proved a great source of mirth. No one could recall to mind,
without laughing, the ludicrous figure necessarily cut by our shipmates,
when to amuse the natives they figured on the light fantastic toe; they
literally danced for their lives."


The BEAGLE now returned to Port Essington, first examining the southern
shore of Melville Island. It was a visit not soon to be forgotten. Here
they encountered their first experience of the green ants. Standing under
a tree, whilst taking some observations, they found themselves covered,
and nothing but undressing, at least tearing off their clothes, relieved
them of the torture. The name of Ant Cliffs records this visit on the
south shore of Melville Island.

Leaving Port Essington for the second time on September 4th, 1839, the
BEAGLE threaded her way through Clarence Straits, to examine the western
entrance, and on the 7th came in sight of the mouth of an opening not
examined by Captain King. The next morning, with the boat provisioned for
four days, they started on their exploring trip, and named the opening
Hope Inlet, to commemorate the feelings it excited on its first
discovery, and the bay in which it lies, Shoal Bay, it being very shallow
at the head. Another wide opening, some fifteen miles ahead, having a
more favourable appearance, they pulled for it, and reached the entrance
at dark. In the morning, they found themselves at the entrance of a large
and promising harbour, which they at once proceeded to investigate, and
Stokes gave it the name of Port Darwin. Stokes seems to have been far
more anxious to discover a river than a harbour; the discovery of the
Adelaide elated him far more than did the finding of Port
Darwin, and he does not seem to have at all anticipated finding the site
of the future capital of the north, that was to take the place of all the
former settlements. Stokes returned to the ship, and the BEAGLE entered
the new found port, and a thorough survey was made. Resuming her voyage,
the BEAGLE, after examining Port Patterson and Bynoe Harbour, sailed for
a large opening one hundred and forty miles to the westward.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.