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Lately published, in 2 ols. 8vo. cloth, with 8 Maps and Charts, 
and 57 Illustrations. 


BY COMMAND OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY. 


DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRALIA ; 


OF THE | 
VICTORIA, ADELAIDE, ALBERT, AND FITZROY RIVERS 
AND EXPEDITIONS INTO THE INTERIOR ; 


WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE 


HITHERTO UNKNOWN COASTS 


: ‘SURVEYED DURING THE 
VOY AGE, :O.F , BeMes. ; B:B:AIG Lek, 


ie 
BETWEEN THE YEARS 1837 AND 1843: ALSO, 


A NARRATIVE OF THE VISITS OF H.M.S. BRITOMART, 
COMMANDER OWEN STANLEY, R.N., F.R.S. 


TO THE ISLANDS IN THE ARAFURA SBA. 
BY J. LORT STOKKS, 


COMMANDER, R.N. 

Tue Beagle sailed from England early in the year 1837, and returned 
towards the close of 1843. During that period, besides the ordinary 
incidents of naval adventure, many circumstances of interest marked 
the progress of her voyage. Unknown shores and untraversed plains 
upon the north and north-west coasts of Australia have been added to 
our geographical knowledge. An inroad into the interior, reaching 
within 500 miles of the very centre of the great Australian Continent, 
has been accomplished. The rivers Victoria, Adelaide, Albert, and 
Fitzroy, have been discovered. Great additions have been made to 
the several departments of Natural History, of which the various 
specimens will be classified and described by eminent Naturalists. The 
north-west coast of Australia has been carefully surveyed ; and Bass 
Strait, heretofore so justly dreaded by the Masters of ships, may now 
be navigated with that safety which ought to distinguish the high road 
between England and Sydney. The charts of the passage through 
Torres Strait, by the inner route, have been improved, and a safe 
channel discovered through Endeavour Strait: while anchorages— 
especially at Western and Southern Australia—now correctly laid 
down, and doubtful positions finally assigned, prove that in the 
unpretending though important duties of surveying, the officers of the 
Expedition failed not to do justice to the cause wherein they were 
engaged. 

Notices of Tenerife, San Salvador, the Brazils, the Cape of Good 
Hope, the Mauritius, its Hurricanes, and the numerous Islands, Waters, 
and Lands of Australia, now first discovered and described, will be found 
in the earlier portions of the work, and an account of the interesting 
visits of H.M.S. Britomart, to the islands in the Arafura Sea, prepared 
by Captain Owen Stanley, in the latter part. 


T. & W. Boons, Publishers, 29, New Bond Street, London. 


NEW HISTORICAL WORK BY G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ. 


Just published, in 3 vols. 8vo. cloth, 
THE 


LIFE OF HENRY THE FOURTH, 


KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 
By Gv. B..oR... J:ASM ES, Esa: 


AUTHOR oF “THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH.” 


‘Never was historian more scrupulously correct, more rigorously 
veracious than Mr. James ; he even deteriorates occasionally from the 
interest of his narrative, rather than allow his imagination to colour 
the picture, and contents himself in general with an animated detail of 
external events, appearing convinced that the duties of the historian 
and historical novelist are almost diametrically opposed to one another. 
In the ‘Life of Henry the Fourth’ he has produced a highly valuable 
work, which will retain its standard worth for ever.” 

New Quarterly Review. 

«‘There are few writers better known or more deservedly popular 
than Mr. James: for few have written so many books, and so many 
of these charming, instructive, and interesting. He has rendered 
fiction as spirit-moving as if it were fact, because he has invested it 
with all the vraisemblance of truth ; and in the work before us he has, 
by stepping into the wide domain of history, fortunately selected a 
hero whose life is full of adventure, and an epoch deeply tinged with 
the horrors, and in some instances brightly illuminated with the purest 
chivalry of the wildest romance. To write the Life and the Times of 
Henry IV. of France, required on the part of the author little of 
imagination, and nothing of fancy in illustration of its events. The 
events have but to be arranged; they only demand a due research into 
contemporary documents, and then, under the pen of a practised 
writer, they grow into a narrative of thrilling interest. Such is the 
work before us. It is a carefully composed history of that transition 
in France in which popular feeling became for the first time an essential 
element in polity—in which kings and oligarchies were convinced of 
the necessity that it should be baffled, coerced, deluded, cajoled, or 
trampled out of the soil of France, as if it were a noxious weed. It 
is impossible to read this work without being pleased, and it is equally 
impossible to read it without being instructed; for Mr. James has, by 
the abundant use of that valuable series of publications, for which 
France is indebted to Louis Philippe, thrown a great deal of light upon 
many transactions, which before were either misapprehended or im- 
perfectly understood. Finally, we declare that there seldom has been 
a more valuable contribution to history than these three volumes of 
‘The Life of Henry the Fourth of France and Navarre.’” Ke 

Morning Herald. 


T. & W. Boons, Publishers, 29, New Bond Street, London. 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2012 with funding from 
California Academy of Sciences Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/narrativeofsurve01 juke 


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NARRATIVE 


OF THE 


SURVEYING VOYAGE OF H.MS. FLY, 


COMMANDED BY 


CAPTAIN F, P. BLACKWOOD, R.N. 


IN 


TORRES STRAIT, NEW GUINEA, AND OTHER ISLANDS 
OF THE EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO, 


DURING THE YEARS 1842—1846: 


TOGETHER WITH 


AN EXCURSION 


INTO THE 


INTERIOR OF THE EASTERN PART OF JAVA. 


BY 


J. BEETE JUKES, M.A. F.G.S. 


NATURALIST TO THE EXPEDITION, 
AUTHOR oF ‘* EXCURSIONS IN NEWFOUNDLAND,” 


Published by permission of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. 


IN TWO VOLUMES. 
VOL. If. 


LONDON: 
T.& W. BOONE, NEW BOND STREET. 
1847. 


TO 


CAPTAIN F. P. BLACKWOOD, R.N. 


My pear Sir, 


Wuen you so kindly waived in my favour 

your privilege of publishing the narrative of our 
“late voyage, I fear you expected from me a much 
better and more complete account than the one I 
now offer you. Such as it is, however, I beg you to 
accept if; and with it, my hearty thanks for the un- 
interrupted friendship with which you have honoured 
me from the commencement of our acquaintance to 
the present time. Whatever interest, or value, the 
following pages may possess, is in great measure 
owing to the facilities for exploration you were always 
so ready to afford me, whenever the nature of the 
service permitted it. In many of those little explo- 
rations, | had the pleasure of your society, and the 
advantage of your remarks; while I thank you for 
the one, the reader will often have reason to be 
erateful for the other. 

More I forbear to add, except that I hope all your 
future voyages may be as agreeable and successful 
as the last, and that among your sincere well-wishers 
you will always number, 


Your attached friend and shipmate, 


J. BEETE JUKES. 


London, June, 1847. 


PREFACE. 


Wuen | first prepared this work for the press, I 
sought to make it a complete Journal of the Voyage 
of the Fly, from our departure in 1842 until our 
return to England in 1846. This design I sub- 
sequently abandoned, as I had no wish to repeat what 
might be already known, and no desire to re-describe 
scenes already familiar. That the purpose and the 
results of the Voyage might not, however, appear en- 
tirely unexplained, I have given a short narrative of 
these in the Appendix, and reserved for the more 
particular attention of my readers those portions only 
of my Journal which relate to places either hitherto 
imperfectly known, or of which, at least, no very 
recent accounts have been given to the public. These 
places are included between Sandy Cape on the 
N. E. coast of Australia, and the Strait of Malacca. 
I would add, that if it should seem I have apparently 
entered into too trifling details (more especially with 
reference to our intercourse with the natives), I have 
so done, not from any desire to extend my work, 
but because it appeared to me the only method of 
accurately conveying to the minds of others my own 
impressions, or of describing the manners, habits, 
social state, aspect, and condition, of the people and 


vi PREFACE. 


the countries which we visited. No particular in- 
cidents, however, have been selected for effect, but 
as they occurred, and illustrated my subject, so 
were they related. 1 might possibly, by selection, 
have rendered them more striking, but their impres- 
sion would then have been less real; in works of 
this nature, one line of plain fact is better than any 
heightened recollections, for the reader is apt to sus- 
pect the accuracy of details which are given appa- 
rently not because they are historical, but because 
they are amusing. For this reason, also, I have 
avoided all attempts at brilliancy, elegance, or 
graces of style, and endeavoured to relate with 
simplicity and fidelity whatever I had to tell, either 
of personal adventure, or of scientific research. 
With regard to the general arrangement of the work, 
it will be at once perceived that this is Geographi- 
eal, and not Chronological. Taking them in the 
order of simple locality, along the coast of Australia, 
through Torres Strait, into the Indian Archipelago, 
I have described every place and its incidents as they 
were visited or as they occurred, but without regard 
to the particular period. Had I not adopted this 
plan, I must necessarily have indulged in much 
repetition. For as we frequently retraced our tracks, 
so for the mere purpose of chronological accuracy, I 
must have repeated my narrative, and have succes- 
sively re-detailed events, possessing no necessary 
dependence on each other, and only separated by the 
mere lapse of time. 


PREFACE. Vil 


The illustrations now given consist of a few sub- 
jects selected from an extensive series of drawings 
made by Mr. Melville, who was attached to the 
expedition in the capacity of Artist, to whom I have 
to offer my acknowledgments not only for the use of 
the originals, but for his superintendence of their 
engraving. It is much to be regretted, that the ex- 
pense of their production renders it impossible to 
hope for the publication of the remainder. A simi- 
lar expression of obligation is due from me to 
Professor Owen, Dr, Latham, Mr. J. E. Gray, 
and Mr. Adam White, for the scientific contribu- 
tions which the reader will find in the Appendix. 
Nor can I refuse myself the pleasure of publicly 
recording my thanks to the officers generally of the 
Fly and Bramble (and to my own messmates in 
particular), for the uniform kindness I received at 
their hands. Those only who belong to the navy 
can understand how inconvenient it is to have on 
board as an officer of the ship ‘‘one who knows 
nothing of the service,’ more especially one who, 
from the nature of his employment as a naturalist 
and collector, must be frequently liable to trespass 
against the discipline, or at least the established 
order, and etiquette of a man of war. Were it only 
for the forbearance shewn with respect to these occa- 
sional delinquencies, | should have every reason to 
be grateful ; but the assistance and accommodation 
afforded me, the frank reception I met with, the un- 
broken social cordiality, and the steady friendship I 


Vill PREFACE. 


experienced, require a warmer acknowledgment, as 
being a far greater obligation. Nor ought I to omit 
all mention of the ships’ companies of the Fly and 
Bramble. Of their good conduct as regards the 
service 1 am of course not entitled to speak, but 
their behaviour towards myself was always such as 
to demand my thanks. | 

I look back, indeed, with much satisfaction to the 
time spent on board the Fly, for I saw sufficient to 
confirm the generally admitted belief that manliness, 
open-heartedness, kindness, and sincerity, are not 
merely the proverbial attributes, but the real charac- 
teristics of the service to which I had the honour of 
being thus temporarily attached. Finally, as the 
voyage of the Fly and Bramble follows that of her 
Majesty’s ship Beagle, executed under the command 
of Captain Stokes, in the years 1837—1843, so I 
trust it may be found to add to the information 
hitherto obtained upon countries of great interest, as 
connected with our own by the social ties of com- 
merce: but still greater, when, as in the case of 
Australia, they are lands over which the feet of 
our countrymen now hurry for the purpose of “ Dis- 
covery,” but wherein their descendants may here- 
after dwell the inhabitants of a great nation, the 
England of the New World, inheriting with the reli- 
gion, the language, the laws, and the free institutions 
of the parent race. 


CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 


CHAPTER I. 


PAGE 
Capricorn Group—Structure of a Coral Island—Number of Birds and 
Turtle—One-tree Island—Heron Island—Wreck Island—Swain’s 
Reefs—Gale of wind and dangerous anchorage—Number of Animals 
in a dead coral block—Anchor foul among coral rocks—Damage to 
Ship’s bows : : : ; : Ae 


CHAPTER II. 


Port Bowen—Boat cruise to its head—Walk to Shoalwater Bay—In- ° 
terview with Natives—Friendly communication—Cruise in the 
pinnace to West Hill : : ; : ~ 22 


CHAPTER III. 


Cape Upstart—Geological structure-—Pumice pebbles—Excursion to 
Cape Cleveland—Interview with Natives—Granite dyke—Excur- 
sion across Upstart Bay—Ascend Mangrove Inlet—Interview with 
Natives—Friendly demeanour—Excursion up Wickham River—In- 
terview with Natives—Two tribes—Uproar at meeting—Friendly 
walk—Gentle manners—Return down river—Character of neigh- 
bouring country—Return to Ship—Leave Cape Upstart . nt Ge 


CHAPTER IV. 


Rockingham Bay—Gould Island—Mount Hinchinbrook— Passage into 
Halifax Bay— Range of hills on mainland—Streams of fresh water 
—Natives at first friendly afterwards hostile—List of Native words 
—Endeavour River—Geological structure—Lizard Island—Granitic 
pumice pebbles—Sleep on its summit—See our shadows in the fog— 
Commence the survey of the northern end of the Barrier Reefs— 
Cape Melville—Apparent friendship but treacherons attack of 
Natives—Aspect of reefs—Deep water outside—Land on Cape 
Direction—Treachery of Natives—Death of Bayley : . 90 


».¢ CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER V. 


PAGE 
Two wrecks on the Barrier—Appearance of Scurvy—Fall in with 
Merchantmen and supplies—Beauty of coral reefs—Grandeur of 
surf—Night scene from the wreck of the Martha Ridgway—Sir C. 
Hardy’s Islands and Cape Grenville—Raine’s Islet-—Murray Islands 
— Mount Adolphus—Booby Island . - 115 


CHAPTER VI. 


Cape York—Native tombs—Evans’ Bay—Hut and bundle of bones— 
Meeting with Natives—Their characters—Another party of a dif- 
ferent tribe—Comatule—Method of preserving Echinodermata— 
Habits of Lingula— Possession Islands—Megapodius mounds— Port 
Lihou—The N.W. Monsoon—Islands of Torres Strait—Geological 
structure—Turtle-backed Island—Migration of birds . . 136 


CHAPTER VII. 


Island of Oomaga—Interview with Natives—Damood—Interview with 
Natives — Their houses, gardens, water-holes — Curious pipe —~ 
Masseed — Interview with Natives—Old Garia—Houses—Curious 
carving of Bird and Fish—Darnley Island, or Erroob—Its aspect— 
Interview with Natives—Their houses, gardens, tortoise-shell masks, 
wigs, bows and arrows, drum, images, yams, tobacco, sugar-cane— 
Walk over the Island—Its volcanic origin—Height by Barometric 
Measurement—Numerals used by the people. ° - 158 


~~ 


CHAPTER VIII. 


The Murray Islands—Friendliness of the people— Purchase of skulls— 
Search after a “ Barreet”—Geological structure of the Murray 
Islands, Erroob and Caedha— Volcanic origin—Second visit to 
Erroob—Way of using the bow—Doodegab’s sisters—New Guinea, 
called Dowdee by the Erroobians—Names of places in Do wdee— 
Anchor off Bristow Island on the South Coast of New Guinea— Low 
muddy shore—Canoes—Mouth of a large river—A body of five 
hundred natives seen—Two boats sent away — Anchor under 
Bramble Key—Return to New Guinea Coast—Ship’s cutter nearly 
swamped—Gale of wind—Anxiety for our boats—Aird’s Hill - 195 


CHAPTER IX. 


Search after the missing boats—Crnise in the first gig—Enter a River 
~—Interview with Natives at its mouth—Penetrate fifteen miles into 


CONTENTS. xi 
PAGE 
the country—Meet a larger tribe, and see a large native house— 
Return—Shoot a ‘ Cuscus”—Heavy rollers on the sand-banks off 
the mouth of the opening—Return to the ship—No news of the boats 
— Farther search for them — Skirmish with Natives—Return to 
Erroob ° f * ‘ : . 221 


CHAPTER X. 


Landing at Erroob— Excitement among the Natives—Visit Seewai, and 
bring him on board—Promises to accompany us, but dissuaded by 
his family—Drying a dead child—Seewai and Mammoos at war— 
Skirmish among the Natives—Some places said to be “ Galla” 
(tabooed ?)—-Mammoos promises to accompany us, but backs out 
—Apparent dread of New Guinea— We resolve to return and lighten 
the Prince George, in order to take her into therivers . 244 


CHAPTER XI. 


Take the Prince George into a river in lat 7050’—Large villages— 
Skirmish with the Natives—Land and examine an immense house— 
Bring off skulls and curiosities—Shoot two pigs—Proceed up river, 
but stopped by bad weather and shoal water—See other villages and 
many natives and canoes—Return to vessel—Damp character of 
country— Delta of large river— Best probable method of penetrating 
the interior of New Guinea ? , . 262 


CHAPTER XII. 


Last visit to Erroob—Seewai gives us news of our missing boats—Re- 
turn to Cape York for water—Find intelligence of our missing boats 
at the Post-office at Booby Island—They have gone to Port Essing- 
ton — Two wrecks happened recently, of which the crews and 
passengers are likewise gone to Port Essington—Notes on the im- 
portance of a post in Torres Strait : ; - 292 


CHAPTER XIII. 


Extent of the Barrier Reefs—The inner,and outer routes—General 
features of an “ individual coral reef’—Modes in which these reefs 
are grouped—The reefs of the Great Barrier divided into three 
kinds :—First, linear or barrier reefs ; second, detached reefs ; third, 
inner reefs—Form and extent of the Great Barrier Reefs—Likeness 
to a submarine fortification—Normal form of the Great Reef-mass 
—Variations from that form—The coral conglomerate and pumice 
pebbles of the North-east Coast of Australia—Structure of Raine’s 


Xll CONTENTS. 
PAGE 


Islet—Singular mass of points above high-water mark—All prove 
stationary condition of North-east Coast for long period of time— 
Mr. Darwin’s theory applied to the Great Barrier—Explanation 
through it of both the general form, the normal condition, and the 
occasional exceptions. and variations : - . 3ll 


CHAPTER XIV. 


First visit to Port Essington in August, 1843—General aspect of the 
country and settlement—Geological structure, sterility, unhealthi- 
ness—Native tribes—Second visit in September, 1844—Third visit in 
January, 1845—Arrival of a new party—Prahus collecting Trepang 
—Method of fishing for, and of preparing Trepang—Capabilities of 
Port Essington—Totally unfit for agricultural pursuits—No advan- 
tages for commerce—Inconveniently situated as a harbour of refuge 
—Fourth visit in June, 1845— Contrast between the vegetation of 
Port Essington aud Cape York — Deaths among the new party — 
Political reasons for retaining Port Essington 5 . 349 


CHAPTER XV. 


Coupang, Timor—Aspect of country, and of the town—Money trans- 
actions—Refreshments—The church, school, and schoolmaster— 
Chinese — Malay Rajahs— Appearance of the people—Pirates — 
Aborigines—Church Service in Malay—Excursion up the valley— 
View of the interior—Geological structure—Raised coral reef . 367 


CHAPTER XVI. : 


Aspect of the south-east end of Sandalwood Island—Alass Strait— 
Character of the shores of Sumbawa and Lombock—Lombock Peak 
—Approach to the Strait of Madura—Aspect of Madura and Java— 
Sourabaya, its extent and general aspect—Monetary affairs—Anec- 
dotes of the people— Excursion to Grissek—Hire a house—Kindness 
of the Resident—Preparation for a Tour—Varied population of the 
town : . : : , . 389 


LIST OF PLATES. 


VOL. I. 


Interview with Natives at Wickham’s River 


Lady Elliott’s Island 

Granite Dyke 

Raine’s Islet 

Murray Islanders eager for Barter 
Native Tombs 

——_———— on Cape York Island 
Natives of Cape York 

Native Tomb at Port Lihou 
Natives of Masseed 

Native Pipe, Dalrymple Tela 
Carved Ornament, Masseed 
Canoes off Erroob . 

Drum from Erroob 
Tortoise-shell Mask 

Carved Image 

Tortoise-shell Figure of a Boi. 
Treacherous Bay, Erroob 

New Guinea House 

Skull, Hatchet, and Drum 
Cane Loop and Bamboo Scoop 
Section of Great Barrier Reef . 
Plan of Raine’s Islet and Reef 
Section of Western End of ditto 
Victoria Square, Port Essington 


Chart of Great Barrier Reef. 


Frontispiece. 


to face p. 3 
: 63 
to face 126 
to face 133 
137 

‘ 138 
to face 141 
‘ 149 
to face 159 
165 

. 168 

to face 169 
176 

178 

185 

. 193 
to face 244 
: 273 
to face 274 
. 277 
333 

338 

. 3839 

to face 351 


Immediately will be published, in 1 val. 8v0. with Illustrations, 


JOURNAL OF AN OVERLAND EXPEDITION 
FROM 


MORETON BAY TO PORT ESSINGTON, 


By DR. LUDWIG LEICHHARDT. 


Describing extensive Tracts of fertile Country, watered by several 
large Rivers. 


N.B. A large Map of the Route, by Arrowsmith, containing much 
Geological Information, will be published at the same time. 


‘The journey performed by Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt from Moreton Bay to 
Port Essington, a distance of 1800 miles, through a country previously alto- 
gether unknown, prosecuted with almost unexampled perseverance, and crowned 
with the most complete success, opening to the settler in Australia new and 
extensive fields of enterprise, and connecting the remote settlements of New 
South Wales with a secure port on the confines of the Indian Archipelago, thus 
avoiding the circuitous and dangerous navigation through Torres Strait, has 
been deemed by the Council an enterprise worthy of the medal granted by our 
most Gracious Majesty the Queen.” 

Speech of Lord Colchester at Geographical Society. 


T. & W. Boones, Publishers, 29, New Bond Street, London. 


Poy AG EOF eT HE ok bh ¥: 


CHAPTER I. 


CAPRICORN GROUP=STRUCTURE OF A CORAL ISLAND— 
NUMBER OF BIRDS AND TURTLE—ONE-TREE ISLAND-—— 
HERON ISLAND—WRECK ISLAND—SWAIN'S REEFS—GALE 
OF WIND AND DANGEROUS ANCHORAGE—NUMBER OF 
ANIMALS IN A DEAD CORAL BLOCK-——-ANCHOR FOUL 
AMONG CORAL ROCKS—DAMAGE TO SHIP’S BOWS. 


On Jan. 7, 1843, I landed for the first time 
in my life on a coral island. This was a little islet 
called the First Bunker’s Island, in the northern part 
of the Capricorn Group, which is an assemblage of 
islets and reefs on the north-east coast of Australia, 
having the 152° of longitude, and the tropic of Ca- 
pricorn passing through them. 

The beach was composed of coarse fragments of 
worn corals and shells, bleached by the weather. 
At the back of it a ridge of the same materials, four 
or five feet high, and as many yards across, com- 


VOL. vie B 


Q CORAL REEF AND ISLAND. 


pletely encircled the island, which was not a quar- 
ter of a mile in diameter. Inside this regular ridge 
were some scattered heaps of the same stuff, the 
whole encircling a small sandy plain. The encir- 
cling ridge was occupied by a belt of small trees, 
while on the plain grew only a short scrubby vege- 
tation, a foot or two in height. ‘The materials of 
the encircling ridge were quite low and thinly co- 
vered with vegetable soil among the trees ; but the 
sand of the central plain, which was dark brown, 
was sufficiently compact to be taken up in lumps, 
and a little underneath the surface it formed a kind 
of soft stone, with imbedded fragments of coral. 
Some vegetable soil aiso was found, a few inches in 
thickness in some places,’the result of the de- 
composition of vegetable matter and birds’ dung. 
On the lee or north-west side of the island was a 
coral shoal or bank, sloping gradually off from low- 
water mark for about a quarter of a mile, when it 
was two or three fathoms under water. Imme- 
diately beyond this was a depth of fifteen fathoms. 
On the south-east, or weather side of the island, was 
a coral reef about two miles in diameter, having the 
form of a circle of breakers enclosing a shallow 
lagoon. Among the breakers, on the external edge 
of the reef, some large black rocks shewed them- 
selves above water here and there all round. The 
lagoon inside was shoal, having two or three fathoms 
water occasionally over spaces of white sand, the 
rest being occupied by flats of dead and living coral, 


mi re a a ell 


To face page 3. 


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— 


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SSS 
SS 


Lapy Exuiorr’s IsLAND, ONE OF THE CAPRICORN GROUP. 


NUMBER OF BIRDS AND TURTLE. oO 


of which the former was left dry at low water. In 
this lagoon we saw both sharks and turtle swimming 
about, and there were upwards of thirty fine turtle 
turned this morning, when the boats first landed. 
The island was well stocked with birds, of which 
black noddies and shearwaters were the most abun- 
dant ; the next in number being terns, gulls, white 
herons or egrets, oyster-catchers, and curlews. 
The trees were loaded with the nests of the noddies, 
each of which was a small platform of sea-weed and 
earth, fixed in the fork of a branch. They had one 
rather elongated lightish brown egg, rather less than 
a hen’s egg. The shearwaters burrowed in the 
ground two or three feet, their eggs were larger, 
rather pointed and speckled, and streaked with 
black. Under one tree | found a large green turtle 
either asleep or dying, as he would not move when 
I sat down on him, giving only a lazy flap with his 
hinder flipper occasionally. On the south side of 
the island, on the beach, were exposed some beds of 
pretty hard rock, formed of fragments of corals and 
shells, compacted together in a matrix of still smaller 
grains of the same material. The beds were thin 
and slab-like, and rose from out of the lagoon at an 
angle of about 8°, to a height of six or eight feet 
above high-water mark. Some of the finer slabs 
reminded me very much in general appearance of 
the slabs of the Dudley limestone. ‘The colour of 
the rock was dark brown, hard externally, but the 
inside was white and much softer. 
B2 


4 ONE TREE ISLAND. 


Jan. 9.—We sailed from the First Bunker's 
Island, and stood to the N.E. sounding. ‘The 
depth for six or seven miles gradually increased to 
40 fathoms, when we suddenly got no bottom with 
100 fathoms, having passed over the edge of the 
bank of soundings which runs parallel to the coast 
hereabouts, from Sandy Cape to the northward. We 
then hauled in to the westward, passed by the third 
or Northern Bunker’s Island, and anchored at night 
between it and a large oval reef with a shallow 
lagoon, and a small patch of dry sand on one part of 
its western rim. Sharks were very numerous here, 
and they attacked and bit the fiy of the patent log 
as it trailed overboard. 

Jan. 10.—After sounding outside again, and 
seeing more reefs and islands to the northward and 
westward, we anchored near one of them, which, 
from a single conspicuous tree on it, was called 
‘“‘One Tree Island.” 

Jan. 11.—Landed on this island, which exhi- 
bited the same general features as Bunker’s first 
island, with some modifications. The external 
ridge of loose coral fragments was loftier and steeper, 
owing I believe to this island being rather more on 
the weather, or at least the south side of the reef. 
Inside, the island sloped down every way towards 
the centre, forming a shallow basin, in the middle 
of which was a small hole of salt water at or near 
the level of the sea. ‘The inside slope was covered 
with low succulent plants, with pink flowers (me- 


STRUCTURE OF THE ISLAND. 5 


sembryanthemum ?) and low trailing bushes. On 
this green carpet were multitudes of young terns 
that fluttered before us like flocks of ducklings, 
with the old birds darting and screaming over our 
heads. In the single tree (which was in fact a small 
clump of the common pandanus of these seas, with 
its roots exposed above ground), was a large rude 
mass of old sticks, the nest of some bird of prey, 
probably the osprey. To the northward and east- 
ward of the island stretched the shoal lagoon, its 
bottom of clean white sand and dark patches of dead 
and living coral, bounded by the usual rim of snow- 
white breakers. Just round the island, part of the 
body of the reef was now exposed at low water. 
This was a flat surface of about a quarter of a mile 
in width, dotted here and there with pools and holes 
of water. It consisted of a compact, tough, but 
rather soft and spongy rock, many loose slabs of 
which, two or three inches thick, were lying about. 
It was rather fine grained, and only here and there 
exhibited any organic structure or remains. ‘There 
were no signs of living coral, except a few stunted 
specimens in some of the deeper holes of the reef, 
where also were some dead masses still standing in 
the position of growth. The whole was very differ- 
ent from my preconceived notions of a coral reef, 
and I erroneously imagined it must be an exception 
to their general character. It looked simply like a 
half drowned mass of dirty brown sandstone, on 
which a few stunted corals had taken root; and it 


6 HERON ISLAND. 


was not tilla piece of the rock was broken open and 
its component parts minutely examined, that its 
purely calcareous nature and organic origin became 
evident. Under the loose slabs we procured a few 
cowries and other shells and some crabs, but altoge- 
ther I confess ] was much disappointed with the 
first view of a coral reef, both as to its beauty and 
richness in animal life. The most beautiful things 
were the hippopus and tridacna (chama gigas of 
old voyagers), that were every where lying about 
half buried in the rock ; when their shells were open, 
and the mantle of the animal exposed, they were 
seen to be of rich velvety blues or greens spotted 
with black, or light brown spotted with yellow. 

Jan. 12.— We were anchored a few miles 
farther to the N.W. in the centre of a group 
of reefs and islands, under one thickly wooded island 
that afterwards obtained the name of Heron Island. 
In attempting to land at low water, we were com- 
pelled to quit the boat soon after getting on the 
edge of the reef, and wade ashore a distance of a 
third of a mile. The bottom was very irregularly, 
but pretty equally divided between white sand and 
blocks of dead and living corals, principally the 
former. On many of the rough blocks of coral 
there was scarcely a few inches of water, and many 
large masses, particularly along the outer edge of 
the reef, were high and dry. All the sandy spots, 
however, were about three to four feet deep, and as 
neither the sandy spots nor the coral masses were 


CORAL LIMESTONE. 2 


any where continuous for more than a yard or two, 
we had a succession of wading and scrambling that 
was rather laborious. Arrived at the island, the 
first thing that took my attention was a large deve- 
lopement of hard brown rock, like that on Bunker’s 
Island. Both the island and the reef were elon- 
gated in an east and west direction, the island being 
half a mile long and not more than 300 yards broad. 
It consisted in the interior of piles of loose sand, 
covered by a dense wood of pretty large trees, with 
broadish leaves, most of which had a white brittle 
wood, and grew in a singularly slanting position, 
the stems frequently curving at an angle of 45°, 
although three or four feet in circumference. The 
beach of the island was steep, about twenty feet 
high at low water, and composed partly of sand and 
partly of stone. The sand was very coarse, com- 
posed wholly of large grains and small angular 
pieces of broken and comminuted corals and shells, 
with some larger worn fragments of both intermixed. 
The stone was of precisely the same materials, but 
very hard, and dark brown externally, although still 
white inside. It sometimes required two or three 
sharp blows with the hammer to break even a corner 
of it off. Its surface was every where rough, honey- 
combed, and uneven; the beds were from one to 
two feet in thickness, with occasionally in the fine- 
grained parts a tendency to split into slabs or flags. 
It was perfectly jointed by rather zig-zag points 
crossing each other at right angles, and splitting the 


8 CORAL LIMESTONE. 


rock into quadrangular blocks of from one to two 
feet in the side. As far as external appearance 
and character went, it might have been taken for 
any old roughly stratified rock. As to position, the 
strike of the rock was parallel to the direction of 
the long diameter of the island and reef, or east and 
west ; and it dipped on the north and south sides 
of the island to the north and south respectively, or 
from the island towards the reef at an angle of 8° or 
10°. At the east end of the island it was not visi- 
ble, but at the west it appeared from under the sand 
in two places, in one being horizontal, and in the 
other having a slight flexure cr anticlinal line, 
which ranged also east and west. ‘The rock was in 
many places much worn by the wash of the break- 
ers, which had also a good deal undermined it in 
some places, and many blocks had fallen down in a 
line. ‘The joints were parallel to the dip and strike 
respectively. The rise and fall of tide here was 
fourteen or fifteen feet, and at high water the 
upper part of the rock was just about covered; at 
low water the reef was dry for a small space all 
round the island. Now the question is, how or 
under what circumstances did the loose calcareous 
sand and fragments become hardened into solid 
stone, acquire a regular bedding and a jointed 
structure, and the planes of stratification assume an 
inclination of 8° or 10°. If it be supposed that a 
regular deposition on a slope ot 8° took place every 
high tide, and a gradual and successive induration 


ORIGIN OF THE CORAL LIMESTONE. Q 


went on, why does not the same thing take place 
now ? or why did not the loose sand, which com- 
poses the greater part of the same beach, in the 
same position, become consolidated? Partial 
springs, containing carbonate of lime, are of 
course imprebable in so small a heap of low 
sand as the islet is composed of. Either then the 
stratification and consolidation is the result of a gra- 
dual deposition beneath the level of low water, in 
which case a movement of elevation must have 
taken place, which in so small a spot seems a diffi- 
cult and gratuitous hypothesis ; or else the present 
structure must have been produced in the interior 
of a mass of loose sand by the infiltration of sea or 
rain water, or some other cause of which we are 
ignorant. I say in the interior, for had it been on 
the outside, what was to defend it from the wash of 
the sea that is now breaking down the hard solid 
rock, and shifting and washing backwards and for- 
wards the loose sand of which the present beach 1s 
composed. After the interior of such a mass of 
sand had been consolidated, the loose exterior may 
have been washed away and the solid rock exposed. 
The speculation concerning the structure of this 
little island may seem a very unimportant circum- 
stance even to the geologist ; but it is not so, as this 
same rock is found along every beach and at every 
island near the coral reefs of Australia, and | 
believe in other parts of the world also. 

Jan. 13 to 18.—The Fly, the Bramble, and the 


boats were engaged im surveying the group oi 


10 ASPECT OF A CORAL REEF. 


islands and reefs about, which, from the tropic of 
Capricorn running through them, have been called 
the Capricorn Group. The weather was very favour- 
able, fine and clear, though very hot, as the sun was 
almost vertical. Turtle were very abundant, espe- 
cially the green turtle, and loggerhead, but only 
one small hawk’s-bill was taken. One night, Lieut. 
Shadwell,* being on one of the islands observing 
star altitudes, was actually obliged to place sentries 
round him to prevent the turtle from running over 
his artificial horizon as it lay on the ground. 
Although there is not much variety, there is con- 
siderable beauty in a small coral reef when viewed 
from a ship’s mast-head at a short distance in clear 
weather. A small island, with a white sand beach 
and a tuft of trees, is surrounded by a symmetrically 
oval space of shallow water of a bright grass green 
colour, enclosed by a ring of glittering surf, as white 
as snow, immediately outside of which is the rich 
dark blue of deep water. All the sea is perfectly 
clear from any mixture of sand or mud; even where 
it breaks on a sand beach, it retains its perfect 
purity, as the large grains of coral are heavy and 
do not break into mud, so that if a bucket full of 
coral sand be thrown into the sea, it may be seen 
gradually sinking like a white cloud without pro- 
ducing any discolouration in the surrounding water. 
It is this perfect clearness of the water which ren- 
ders navigation among coral reefs at all practicable, 
as a shoal with even five fathoms water on it can be 


* Now Commander Shadwell. 


WRECK ISLAND. 11 


discerned at a mile distance from a ship’s mast- 
head, in consequence of its greenish hue contrasting 
with the blue of deep water. In seven fathoms 
water the bottom can still be discerned on looking 
over the side of a boat, especially if it have 
patches of light-coloured sand; but in ten fa- 
thoms the depth of colour can scarcely be dis- 
tinguished from the dark azure of the unfathomable 
ocean. 

Sharks were very numerous and of great size and 
strength ; one was hooked one day under the bows 
of the ship, and while in the water he was _ har- 
pooned, pierced with a whale lance, and another 
very strong hook and line fastened in his jaws, but 
before a sufficiently large rope could be passed 
round his body to hoist him in by, he bent both the 
harpoon and the lance, disengaged himself from 
them and breaking both lines, got away. Many 
however were caught, remarkable for their great 
girth round the shoulders and capacity of mouth. 

Jan. 18.—Landed with Captain Blackwood on 
Wreck Island. This was so named from part of an 
old wreck that lay on the reef, apparently of a 
vessel of 6 or 700 tons. The island was about a 
quarter of a mile long, and not more than 100 yards 
broad ; a pile of sand covered by thick bushes. Its 
greatest length was ina N.N.E.and 8.8. W. direction, 
and along each side of it ran sloping beds of brown 
coral rock, exactly like that described before, dip- 
ping on each side from the island at an angle of 8°, 


12 STRUCTURE OF CORAL ROCK. 


but strikig as near as possible north and south. 
The surface of the reef was composed of soft, spongy, 
fine-grained rock, many slabs of which were lying 
about, under which we found a few shells and crabs 
concealed, and in the holes of water were some living 
corals and many beautifully coloured fish. The 
spongy reck, when broken open, often exhibited a 
cellular structure in some parts, while others were 
entirely granular. There was not unfrequently an 
insensible gradation from one part to the other, as 
if fragments of coral had gradually wasted away ex- 
ternally and coalesced, the internal parts of each 
retaining more or less of their organic structure. 
Many old fragments of coral, also lying loose about 
the reef, although merely worn and weathered out- 
side, were quite crystalline internally, the organic 
cellular structure being sometimes greatly obscured 
by a subsequent mineral structure, the formation 
namely of crystals of carbonate of lime. 

On getting under weigh, we ran out to the 
edge of the bank, which was about six miles to 
the eastward, and within the space of a mile we 
passed from 30 to 85 fathoms. Everything brought 
up by the lead, from coarse fragments of coral 
to the finest sand, was wholly calcareous, all dis- 
solving in muriatic acid. In the afternoon the 
wind freshened, with a heavy sea, and we ran back 
and anchored under the lee of Wreck Island and its 
reef. ' 
Jan. \9, 20.—Blowing a fresh gale of wind, with 


IN SIGHT OF SWAIN’S REEFS. la 


a very heavy sea, compelling us to remain at our 
anchors. 

Jan. 21.—Captain Blackwood and Mr. Evans 
being ashore to “ take sights ” for the chronometers, 
found on the island some traces of the wrecked 
crew. On one tree was cut ‘* The America, June, 
1831 ;” on another “Mary Ann Broughton ;” on 
another ‘‘ Capt. E. David ;” and “ Nelson, Novem- 
ber, 1831.” ‘There were likewise the soles of a pair 
of child’s shoes, some bottles, some broken dishes, 
and an old cask. I believe the wreck was that of a 
whaler, and that the crew were taken off by another 
whaler, as there were no signs either of graves or 
bones. . 

Jan. 22, 26.—Leaving the Capricorn Group, we 
passed into a clear space, in which neither islands 
nor reefs were visible; and during these five days 
we traversed a space of between 40 and 50 miles 
wide, backwards and forwards, without finding any 
shoals except a five fathom patch of coral within 
sight of the Capricorn Group. On this patch we 
lost a small anchor, and spent a day in trying to 
recover it. 

Jan. 27.—Standing to N.W. in search of Swain’s 
Reefs, having already passed over part of the space 
in which they were laid down in the charts, when 
about 10 a. m., breakers ahead were reported from 
the mast hea:l, and we shortly rounded the southern 
end of some reefs, and anchored in 30 fathoms on 
their western side, with the Bramble about a quarter 


14 GALE OF WIND. 


of a mile from us. The weather was squally and 
dirty-looking ; the reefs, made in small detached 
patches, seeming to become stronger and more per- 
sistent towards the north. The sea made a clean 
sweep over them, breaking very heavily, and al- 
though pretty well to windward of us, they did but 
little in smoothing the water or lessening the swell. 
The wind still freshened, blowing from the S.E. 
and S.S.E., with dirty weather. 

Jan. 28, 29.—Blowing a gale of wind, obliged 
us to remain at anchor, with a very heavy sea 
breaking over the forecastle. We veered to 140 
fathoms on one anchor, and let go another with 80. 

Jan. 30, 831.—The gale still continued, and drew 
gradually round towards the 8. W., so that the reefs, 
which at first afforded us some little protection, were 
now our greatest danger, as they lay to leeward in- 
stead of to windward. Much rain fell, and the whole 
aspect of things was far from cheering, as in case of 
our cables or anchors giving way, we could have 
very little hope of being able to escape drifting on 
the reefs, where we should have been dashed to 
pieces in a few minutes. 

Feb. 1.—The gale still increased in fury during 
the last night, and this morning broke dark and 
hazy, with the wind at W.S.W. We had yesterday 
been watching the Bramble as she rode over the 
seas, shewing half her keel at a time out of water ; 
but at daylight this morning she was no longer to 
be seen, till, to our great relief, we discovered her a 


SURVEYING SWAIN’S REEFS. 15 


mile and a half farther astern and nearer the reefs. 
It appeared her cable had parted during the night, 
but luckily another anchor brought her up before 
she reached the breakers, and by this she held on. 
This morning the topmasts were struck, and every- 
thing got on deck out of the rigging that was not 
down before. This, however, was the last of it, for 
in the evening it moderated, and both wind and sea 
gradually went down. 

Feb. 2.—A lovely morning, with a light breeze 
from the east, and smooth water. Quickly getting 
up our masts, we weighed anchor, and stood to the 
south, quitting our anxious and dangerous anchor- 
age, greatly to the satisfaction of all hands. 

Feb, 3.—We parted company with the Bramble, 
as she was to trace the inside or lee boundary of 
these reefs, while we ran along their weather or 
eastern boundary, our rendezvous being Port Bowen, 
on the main land. 

Feb. 4, 5, 6.—Running along and delineating 
the eastern edge of this large body of reefs, some- 
times standing out into the offing to sound, and 
taking care on the approach of night to run into 
some of the openings, and anchor in a sheltered 
position among them. ‘These reefs consist of a com- 
pact body of coral masses, intersected by narrow 
channels of deep water; each mass varies in extent 
from one to several miles, some of them being 
almost dry at low water, others having lagoons or 
hollows of greater or less depth. A very common 


16 FORM OF A MASS OF REEF. 


feature among them is a line of great detached 
blocks lying a little back from the outer edge of the 
reef, frequently not altogether covered even at high 
tide, and always quite exposed at low water. I landed 
on one reef from our anchorage of the evening of the 
5th. We carried blue water from the ship for about 
half a mile, and then began to see the bottom in 
about seven fathoms, from which it shoaled gra- 
dually, but rapidly, till the boat touched the top of 
the coral branches. Scraping on, however, over 
these, and winding between the more solid masses of 
meeandrina and astrza, we reached some of the 
large dry blocks on the seaward edge of the reef. 
I found some of them to be huge masses of meean- 
drina, six or eight feet in diameter, much water- 
worn, and lying upside down, having been torn by 
some heavy sea from their place of growth on the 
weather edge of the reef, and washed two or three 
hundred yards back from it. Others were a species 
of massive porites, while others again consisted of 
various corals, all matted and compacted together. 
After wading about for a short time knee-deep, and 
collecting a few shells, holothurie, crustacea, and 
echinodermata, the flood-tide began to make, run- 
ning in ina very rapid stream over the edge of the 
reef, and obliging us to hasten back to the boat. I 
got one or two very beautiful comatule, one espe- 
cially of a rich dark purple or wine colour, almost 
black, but did not succeed in my first attempt to 
preserve it. I kept it in salt water during the night, 


ANIMALS ON A DEAD CORAL BLOCK. 17 


but in the morning it fell to pieces on being han- 
dled, although the separated arms still preserved 
motion and vitality after being thus broken, for at 
least half an hour. A block of coral rock, that was 
brought up by a fish-hook from the bottom at one 
of our anchorages, was interesting from the vast 
variety and abundance of animal life there was 
about it. It was a mere worn dead fragment, but its 
surface was covered with brown, crimson, and yellow 
nullipore, many small actiniz, and soft branching 
corallines, sheets of flustra and eschara, and delicate 
retepore, looking like beautiful lacework carved in 
ivory. There were several small sponges and 
alcyonia, sea-weeds of two or three species, two 
species of comatula and one of ophiura of the most 
delicate colours and markings, and many small, flat, 
round corals, something like nummuli‘es in external 
appearance. On breaking into the block, boring 
shells of several species were found buried in it; 
tubes formed by annelida pierced it in all directions, 
many still containing their inhabitants, while two 
or three worms, or nereis, lay twisted in and out 
among its hollows and recesses, in which, likewise, 
were three small species of crabs. This block was 
not above a foot in diameter, and was a perfect 
museum in itself, while its outside glared with 
beauty from the many brightly and variously co- 
loured animals and plants. It was by no means a 
solitary instance; every block that could be pro- 
cured from the bottom, in from 10 to 20 fathoms, 
MOL. °T. c 


18 ANCHOR FOUL. 


was like it. What an inconceivable amount of 
animal life must be here scattered over the bottom 
of the sea, to say nothing of that moving through 
its waters, and this through spaces of hundreds of 
miles. Every corner and crevice, every point occu- 
pied by living beings, which, as they become more 
minute, increase in tenfold abundance. 

Feb. 7.—In attempting to weigh the anchor this 
morning, we found the cable had caught under 
some ledge of coral rock, and after carrying away 
the messenger as well as several tackles, we were 
obliged to wait till the ship swung to the turn of 
tide, when we weighed and let go in a better place. 
I took the opportunity of landing on the reef with 
Captain Blackwood, but we did not observe any- 
thing new. 

Feb. 8.—We sailed with a fresh breeze, tracing 
the continuation of the reefs to the northward, and 
were obliged to make a tack or two in order to wea- 
ther a point projecting farther to the eastward than 
usual; after which we stood out to the north-east 
for a few miles, when no reefs being in sight, we 
sounded and found no ground with 200 fathoms. 
We then stood back and anchored among the reefs, 
to leeward of those last seen, in 17 fathoms, with 
a very strong tide running in from the east. 

Feb. 9.—In trying to weigh this morning, we 
again found the anchor or cable foul among the 
rocks of the bottom, and applying all our force, 
split the inner starboard hawse-pipe. Passing the 


DAMAGE SHIPS BOWS. 19 


cable into the outer one on that side, we shortly split 
that also, and the cable began to cut down through 
the wood-work of the ship’s bows, obliging us to 
veer instantly, and wait for a turn of tide. In the 
middle of the night, when the strength of the tide 
slackened, we again tried to get under weigh, but 
after carrying away the messenger, and damaging 
one of the port hawse-pipes, we were compelled to 
desist. The current for thirty-six hours continued 
to run very strong from the northward and west- 
ward, never varying more than three or four points 
in direction, and having strength enough to sweep 
the leads from the bottom and carry out the line 
astern, almost as if wood were fastened to it instead 
of lead. 

Feb. 10.—This morning the ship swung a little 
to a slight change of current, and we found no diffi- 
culty whatever in weighing the anchor. It is pro- 
bable, therefore, that after the anchor was let go, 
the ship, in swinging to the tide, dragged the loose 
cable under some strong projecting ledge, or over- 
hanging mass of coral close to the bottom, so that 
all our efforts at tripping the anchor would only 
cause it to bite the deeper. 

We now steered west into the body of the reefs, 
intending to pass through them and join the Bram- 
ble in Port Bowen, in order to refit our damaged 
bows and tackles a little. We passed through nar- 
row channels, varying in depth from 10 to 30 

c2 


20 GREAT MASS OF REEFS. 


fathoms, more commonly the latter, with reefs in 
every direction, as far as we could see, distinguish- 
able even on the horizon by the light green of the 
shoal water upon them. ‘The bottom, as brought 
up by the lead, was a coarse coral sand, composed 
of rather worn but angular grains and fragments of 
corals and shells, often the eighth of an inch in dia- 
meter ; there were also many small chambered 
shells or foraminifera, and many flat circular disks 
were brought up sometimes as much as half an inch 
in diameter, which are, I think, the marginopora of 
De Blainville.* At 2 p.m., the sun having got to 
the westward, cast a glare upon the water that hin- 
dered us from seeing the channels between the reefs 
ahead, and compelled us to anchor. 

Feb. 11, 12, 138.—Still sailing all morning to 
the westward through the reefs, and anchoring in 
the afternoon, the water perfectly smooth and the 
weather delightful. About 1]. a.m. of the 13th, 
however, the reefs became fewer, and we began to 
feel a slight swell, and the depth increased to 45 
fathoms. At noon the character of the bottom had 
changed from a coarse coral sand to a green sand 
with black specks, which latter remained untouched 
by muriatic acid, although the sand effervesced. 
At 1 p.m. we saw an island which proved to be 
‘* High Peak,” and we found we were quite clear of 


* Professor Forbes, however, has, since my return, informed 
me that he believes these are disks of acetabularia. 


EXTENT OF REEFS. Q)] 


the coral reefs. We had now run 80 miles N. and 
S. along the eastern edge of this bed of reefs, and 
90 miles right through them in a W.S.W. direction. 
How far they were continuous to the north, we can- 
not say ; but omitting any minor breaks or irregu- 
larities, they stretch along the coast of Australia, 
across Torres Strait, nearly to the coast of New 
Guinea, a distance of 1000 miles. 


CHAPTER IL. 


PORT BOWEN-BOAT CRUISE TO ITS HEAD—WALK TO SHOAL- 
WATER BAY—INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES—FRIENDLY COM-~ 
MUNICATION—CRUISE IN THE PINNACE TO WEST HILL. 


‘eb. 14, 1843.—At day-light we were off Port 
Bowen, and at 8 o’clock anchored under Entrance 
Island. ‘The surrounding country was picturesque 
in outline ; many ranges of hills, both peaked and 
round-backed, rose near the coast, and could be 
perceived far back in the interior. Some of these, in 
both instances, must rise to a height of 2000 or 3000 
feet above the sea. They had, however, a brown, 
dry, and barren appearance, especially near the 
coast, where a few lines and tufts of pine trees alone 
relieved the aridity of their aspect. We found the 
Bramble at anchor under Entrance Island, and at 
the turn of tide we both weighed, and tried to enter 
the northern side of the harbour. The Bramble 
led in, but shortly making the signal for three 
fathoms, we came to an anchor a little within some 
small rocky islets off the first sandy beach. We 
remained at’ Port Bowen for the rest of the month, 
during which a detailed survey of the harbour was 


DRYNESS OF THE COUNTRY. 93 


made. This was found, in consequence of shoal 
bars, not to admit of the easy entrance of large ves- 
sels farther than our anchorage. There were also 
some large pine trees cut on Entrance Island for 
repairing the bows and other purposes, for which 
the wood was found very well adapted; and by cut- 
ting up a small anchor, iron bars were substituted 
at the lower part of the hawse-holes for our broken 
hawse-pipes. In our excursions about the neigh- 
hourhood we found the whole country dried up, and 
not a drop of fresh water to be found any where, 
except a gallon or two, very thick and dirty, in a 
hole in Flinders’ watering gulley behind Entrance 
Island. Although the peninsula of Cape Clinton 
abounded in gullies and water-courses, with evident 
signs of great torrents occasionally, we could not 
obtain a drop of water even by digging in them. 
All the grass was dry and brown. In consequence 
of this parched state of the country we found neither 
natives nor animals near us. ‘The only trace of the 
former was a small hut near the entrance of the 
north-west arm, and a man’s footstep on the sand 
leading to it. We saw also one day a native dog in 
that direction. All the rocks around were por- 
phyry, generally red outside and greyish internally ; 
but on the beach, near the ship, there were exposed 
at low water, some beds of a hard, compact, yellow 
sand-stone, containing pebbles of porphyry and frag- 
ments of recent corals and shells. 

On the 20th, at 8 o’clock in the morning, Cap- 


Q4 BOAT CRUISE UP THE PORT. 


tain Blackwood with Dr. Muirhead and myself set 
off in the third gig, with four hands, to explore the 
southern arm of the Port. After sailing six or 
seven miles we found this arm, which had hitherto 
been two or three miles in width, split into two 
among the great beds of mangroves which bordered 
it on either hand. We took the right hand branch, 
which at half-past eleven we found turning to the 
west, and half-an-hour afterwards curving round to 
the north. It was still, however, three or four 
hundred yards wide, and twelve feet deep at high 
water. As we approached we had _ observed 
columns of smoke rising in two or three places on 
the slopes of the hills behind the mangroves, and at 
half-past twelve, we saw a small opening or path- 
way through the mangroves on our left hand, and 
immediately landed on it. It led directly to a 
small mount twenty feet high, and about twenty 
yards across, consisting of porphyry, but almost 
covered with scattered oyster shells, and thence 
through another narrow belt of mangroves to a 
projecting ridge of the main land. Crossing 
on to this we found a bare sandy space running 
at the back of the mangroves, between them 
and ‘the bush’ or grasssy woodland, and a 
well-beaten native footpath leading along it both 
to the north and south. Ascending the ridge, 
which was probably about 300 feet high, and 
covered with gum-trees, we saw that the inlet we had 
come by ended altogether about a mile further to the 


: : 
———— Se a 


HEAD OF PORT BOWEN. a5 


north, in an immense mangrove swamp that occu- 
pied all the space between us and the other part of 
the port. Looking into the interior of the country, 
or towards the westward, we caught glimpses 
through the trees of a large sheet of water about 
five miles off, and though this was probably only 
the head of Shoalwater Bay, it was determined to 
go and ascertain the point the following morning. 
Returning to the boat, accordingly, Captain Black- 
wood ordered the provisions to be got out on to the 
little mount, and the dinner cooked. Dr. Muir- 
head and I, meanwhile, took our guns and walked 
along the native path to the south. In about 
thirty yards we came on the recent footsteps of two 
natives, apparently a man and a boy. They ended 
suddenly near the rocks towards our encampment, 
but we tracked them back a long way, as if they had 
been following and reconnoitering our boat as she 
came up from behind the mangroves, but had leapt 
aside into the bush on our landing. In about half- 
a-mile further we came on the track of four men 
running, but this was two or three days old. Near 
this was a pretty little grassy plain, about half-a- 
mile wide, in which was a deep winding water- 
course, now quite dry. The grass was of fine 
quality, and breast high, but it did not extend to 
the hills, which everywhere surrounded the little 
plain. Except one or two small birds, we could not 
find a living thing, so we returned to our camp and 
dinner. In the evening we were assailed by such 


‘_  -, 


26 WALK ACROSS TO SHOALWATER BAY. 


clouds of musquitoes and sand-flies that we deter- 
mined, leaving the men to guard the boat, to shift 
our quarters to a higher spot in hopes of escaping 
them. Weaccordingly selected a spot some distance 
up the ridge, but within hail of the boat, and taking 
our two dogs we lay down on our blankets. Here, 
however, we could get no sleep until we had lighted 
a large fire under the lee, and in the smoke of 
which we, in some measure, eluded our insect pests. 
At four in the morning, we went down and got 
some tea and bread ; and just as the day broke we 
heard a long drawn “‘ coey” or native cry at a dis. 
tance. It had afine harmonic tone, as if proceeding 
from several voices. 

Feb. 21.— Leaving two men with directions to 
get everything into the boat, and shove off into the 
middle of the stream, we set off at daylight along 
the native path to the northward, but shortly left it 
and struck up some low rocky hills on our left hand. 
We found much of the wood had been recently 
burnt, leaving the rocks all bare. These were en- 
tirely porphyry. We kept along the summit of a 
ridge leading to the westward, and shortly, at the 
head of a deep little valley on our right hand, started 
two large kangaroos. Our only kangaroo dog, 
however, was too much out of condition to catch 
either, though very near it at one time. Descend- 
ing from the rocky ridge, we crossed a sandy flat 
very thinly covered with grass, the wood, both here 
and on the hills was small, principally gum-trees, 


INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. oy 


with many small stunted grass-trees. Several 
water-courses traversed the plain, but they were all 
dry. In about five miles from our camp we came 
on a small channel full of salt water, and presently 
after on the edge of a large mangrove swamp. 
Crossing, with some difficulty, a channel where we 
sank more than knee deep in mud, we got on a bank 
beyond it about a hundred feet in height, but could 
not see far from the closeness of the trees. Satis- 
fied, however, from the salt water and the large 
mangrove tracts, that it was the head of Shoalwater 
Bay we had struck out upon, we returned. Some 
fine showers of rain now fell, in some degree cooling 
and refreshing the hot close woods. ‘Taking a 
slightly different route from that we had come in by, 
we struck out on the native path about a mile to the 
northward of our camp. On coming within sight of 
this we saw a lot of dark, naked figures come troop- 
ing over the mount through the trees, and occupy 
the opening in the mangroves which led to it, as if 
to dispute our passage. We immediately halted, 
not without a passing apprehension that they had 
murdered our two men, and destroyed the boat. 
Captain Blackwood, giving me his gun, went forward 
unarmed with a green bough in his hand, sat down 
on the ground, and practised all the ceremonies 
which we had been informed were expressive of 
friendship. None of these blacks would come 
forward, however, but kept under the shelter of the 
bushes with much shouting and jabbering from one 


28 BOAT SURROUNDED BY NATIVES. 


to the other, as they stood scattered behind the man- 
groves, and up the hill intheirrear. They were all 
armed with spears, but on Captain Blackwood 
calling us to come up, and our advancing to the 
opening, they retired a little leaving the path open 
Three or four stout fellows kept near us, to whom 
we took off our hats, held out our hands, shouted 
and danced. 

To one [ gave a small knife, and showed him how 
to use it. They seemed good tempered, and rather 
afraid, as most of them kept thirty or forty yards 
back up the slope of the hill. They were stout, 
strong, broad-shouldered fellows, in the prime of 
life, and we now counted seventeen of them. On 
coming to the boat, we found her all safe, as well as 
our two men. ‘They said that two black fellows 
came down soon after we left, and after scouting 
about for some time, disappeared ; but about an hour 
before we returned, they suddenly found themselves 
surrounded by twenty men with brandished spears ; 
that they made signs of peace to them, and so far 
succeeded as to get everything into the boat except 
the stove of the boat’s coppers, which was still hot 
and rather heavy. It being now low water, however, 
the natives easily waded off to the boat, and sur- 
rounded them, Still they did not offer violence, and 
though very curious in the examination of the boat’s 
sails and gear, and desirous of the former, they de- 
sisted from taking it on signs being made to them 
to doso. ‘They were evidently unacquainted with 


APPARENT DEPARTURE OF NATIVES. YO 


fire-arms, as one of them laid hold of one of the 
men’s muskets and tried to pull it out of his hand, 
holding it with the muzzle against his breast, but 
on being threatened, gave up the attempt. Our men 
prudently did not fire upon them, or attempt to use 
force, and the only thing now missing was the stove. 
While we were seated on the mount, getting some 
refreshment and hearing this account, the natives 
were all assembled just outside the mangroves at 
the foot of the ridge, chattering and laughing most 
vociferously, and one fellow sat in the fork of a tree 
watching our motions, and apparently describing 
them to his comrades. Presently we heard some- 
thing rattle like the stove struck against a stone, 
and picking up our guns, we rushed out. The 
natives slowly retired up the ridge, at the foot of 
which, under a tree, we found our stove. Pointing 
to this, we shook our guns at them, and scolded 
them for taking it away ; and, pretending to be very 
angry, we waved to them to leave us and go away. 
They seemed to understand this, and several of 
them, picking up nets and baskets, pointed to them 
and then to the water, as if to assure us they were 
going away fishing. ‘The nets seemed well made, 
consisting of a bag with its mouth stretched over a 
kind of bow, or stick bent into a semi-circle by a stout 
string. They then all went away towards the north, 
and the place became perfectly still, so that we 
cooked and eat our breakfast in tranquillity about 
noon, but were obliged to wait till two p. m. for the 


30 THEIR SUDDEN RE-APPEARANCE. 


tide coming up to float our boat. We found at low 
water this muddy inlet dry nearly all across. 

Just as we had got everything into the boat, I 
happened to say I wondered whether the black fel- 
lows were still within hearing, and going to the edge 
of the mount, gave a loud ‘‘ coey,’’ when, to our 
great surprise, it was instantly answered close to 
the mangroves on all sides of us, and the chattering 
and hubbub of voices commenced as loud as ever, 
although for two hours not a sound had been heard. 
Taking a preserved meat canister, an empty bottle 
or two, and some knives and handkerchiefs, we de- 
termined to go and have a talk with them. Ad- 
vaneing slowly, accordingly, and holding out our 
presents, four or five of them were induced gradually 
to approach us and receive them, and we walked 
together up the ridge towards the rest. There were 
now sixteen of them. 

Arrived at the spot where we slept last night, we 
leant our guns against a tree and sat down, those 
nearest us doing so likewise. Now commenced a 
great palaver, in the course of which we went 
through the motions of drinking water, imitated the 
leaping of a kangaroo, and dancing a corrobory, 
all which they seemed to understand ; but we could 
not learn from them where the fresh water was to 
be found. We shewed them the ashes of our fire, 
and laid our heads on our hands to shew we had 
slept there last night, at which they nodded their 
heads, as if to say they were fully aware of that. 


FRIENDLY COMMUNICATION. 31 


Presently an old grey-headed man came down the 
hill, whom they all pointed out to us, and calling 
him, Captain Blackwood placed on his head a red 
worsted nightcap. The old gentleman leant for- 
ward to have the cap adjusted, with great earnest- 
ness, and then, with a grave and dignified coun- 
tenance, took his seat among us, as if admitted of 
our company. Paying no further attention to his 
own tribe, he spoke first to one and then to the other 
of us in a low, serious tone of voice, and pointed to 
the dogs (of which they were rather afraid), as if 
requesting them to be removed. ‘Ten more young 
men, with white sticks through their noses and 
spears in their hands, now joined us from the man- 
groves round our mount, where they had been lying 
inambush. ‘They all then rose, and began rather 
to press upon us; by Captain Blackwood’s desire, 
accordingly, I called their attention, and fixing an 
oyster-shell in a tree about fifteen yards off, fired a 
ball into it. They started at the report, and one or 
two in the rear threw themselves down, but either 
they did not comprehend it, or trusted wholly in our 
good intentions, as they did not seem to care much 
about it. One man, indeed, laid hold of my gun, as 
if to take it away, but desisted on my looking grave 
and shaking my head. I asked for a spear from 
another to whom I had given a knife ; he was rather 
unwilling to part with it, but on my pointing to the 
knife in his hand, and gently detaining the spear, 
he let it go, laughing at me, however, and shaking 


Bp CRUISE IN THE PINNACE. 


his head, as if to say, ‘1 am afraid you are cheating 
me.” The spear was merely a long light stick, 
pointed at one end and not very straight. We now 
took our leave of them, raising our hats, and bowing, 
and waving our hands, in which latter action they 
imitated us. There were then twenty-four men and 
two boys visible, but no women. ‘They were ail 
perfectly naked, and the men were stout, broad- 
shouldered, stalwart fellows, and fat withal. Some 
of their countenances were good-humoured and in- 
telligent, others more reserved. _ They did not 
follow us down the hill, but saluted us with a fare- 
well ‘‘ coey ” as we embarked and shoved off. 

Want of water was now becoming a serious matter, 
as there was only two or three weeks’ supply left on 
board either vessel. The pinnace had been sent 
under Lieutenant Ince* to the Percy Islands to look 
for it, but returned unsuccessful. The Bramble 
accordingly was dispatched to the northward to 
search for water, and the pinnace was again sent 
under the command of Mr. Aird to look along the 
coast immediately north of Port Bowen, as for the 
next sixty miles the inshore navigation was too in- 
tricate and dangerous for a large vessel. West Hill, 
immediately N. of Broad Sound, was named as our 
rendezvous. I accompanied Mr. Aird in the pin- 
nace, in order to see as much of the land as possible. 
We had, however, a very rough and boisterous 
cruise, and were obliged, by the badness of the 
weather, to content ourselves with merely running 


* Now Commander Ince. + Now Lieutenant Aird. 


(@) 


COAST NEAR WEST HILL. Sa 


from one place of shelter to another, among the 
little islets which here fringe the coast. 

On March 3, we came in sight of West Hill, and 
after passing through some heavy seas and tide 
races, which filled our open boat once or twice up to 
the thwarts, we crossed Broad Sound, and sailed 
down along shore to the northward. The coast of 
the main land hereabouts is formed of a low sandy 
shore, with a flat country of five or six miles wide 
behind it, backed by a bold range of lofty hills, or 
rather a high flat-topped ridge, perhaps the edge of 
a table land. Here and there a conical hill stands 
out in advance of the range, and West Hill is one 
of these, rising directly from the sea to a height of 
nearly 1,000 feet. We saw smoke rising in two 
places from the top of the high land at the back of 
the coast, and in one from the slope of West Hill. 
The wind was now moderating and the sky clearing, 
and, for the first time during our boat cruise, the 
weather became pleasant. About one p.m, we 
rounded West Hill, and entered a wide shallow bay, 
with a broad sandy beach, to the northward of it, 
where we shortly anchored in four fathoms, about a 
quarter of a mile from the shore. Having dined, 
Aird and I landed, taking our guns and two men 
armed with muskets. As soon as we had got ashore, 
we heard the shouts and coeys of the natives on a 
woody cliff on our right hand. ‘Two or three shewed 
themselves at the edge of the wood below the cliff, 

VOL. I. D 


34 NATIVES OF WEST HILL. 


but retired as we advanced upon them, and took 
their post on the top of it, in an excellent position 
for throwing spears. They were painted with white 
streaks on various parts of the body. Giving my 
gun to Aird, I advanced with extended hands to 
shew them I was unarmed ; then, gathering a green 
branch, sat down. ‘They shouted and used much 
gesture and vociferation, and appeared very unwil- 
ling to approach, waving to us with their hands, as 
if to go out of the bay. I at last rose, and gradually 
got near an old lame man, who had remained below 
the cliff, and induced him to come to me, which he 
did, holding his spear and waddy ready for action. 

While I kept him amused as well as I could, 
Aird came up, and one or two of the tribe likewise 
advanced to us. We then tied an old pocket-hand- 
kerchief round the old man’s head, after which he 
spoke much and earnestly to us, frequently pointing 
to his knee, which was bent and much swollen, and 
talking ina lamentable tone of voice, as if describing 
his misfortune. We sympathised with him as much 
as possible, and then asked him by signs for fresh 
water, when he pointed in both directions along 
shore. We now left them, without taking any notice 
of the rest, which with these savages is often the 
best way of encouraging future friendly communi- 
cation. The tide receded a long way, leaving large 
fiat sands exposed, on which were a few oyster- 
catchers and curlew. We shortly, however, came 


WOMEN FISHING. 3S 


to a channel which separated West Hill from the 
main land, about a quarter of a mile in breadth, 
very muddy and bordered by mangroves. 

In returning we came on a place where the natives 
seemed to have been playing at some sort of game. 
Several flat tabular pieces of stone, about the size 
of an octavo volume, were stuck upright in the sand 
in a certain order, while others, both flat and round, 
were lying dispersed about. Striking into the bush 
a little, we came on a water-course, in which were 
several holes full of excellent water, the last of 
which was just by the beach. A quarter of a mile 
beyond we saw several women and children wading 
about in a muddy flat, apparently collecting shell- 
fish ; a man was standing on the beach as a sentry, 
who, as soon as he saw us, called to the women, and 
they all quitted their occupation and hastened into 
the bush, the man taking the rear and guarding 
their retreat. When we came back to the boat, at 
low water, we found a heavy surf breaking around 
her, and that she was barely in one fathom water, 
shewing the tide to have fallen 20 feet since we 
anchored ; we accordingly weighed and anchored 
again further out. Soon after sunset, Aird called 
my attention to a long bright ray of yellow light, 
rising perpendicularly over the tops of the trees in 
the west, just over the place of the sun. We could 
not conceive what it could be, but afterwards found 
it was the first appearance of the fine comet of this 
year. 

D2 


39 MATTED FORESTS. 


March 4.—Early this morning a native came 
down to the beach, opposite the boat, and shouted 
and gesticulated for along time, but there was then 
too much surf to land conveniently. When the 
flood tide made, we went ashore to fill our breakers 
at the water holes, and met three natives who, after 
coeying a little, came up in a friendly manner, appa- 
rently satisfied of our good intentions. I exchanged 
a bottle with one for a waddy, or short club. Aird 
and I left them with the watering party, who were 
armed, and set off to walk in the bush; but on our 
ascending the hill, they shouted and came towards 
us making signs not to proceed, one of them point- 
ing to his legs and twisting his hands round, as if 
to shew they would be entangled. Accordingly, a 
very little distance up the hill we came on the edge 
of a jungle, consisting of branching trees matted 
together by innumerable creepers hanging from the 
branches and trailing on the ground. This kind of 
wood occupied all the upper part of the hill, from 
which it extended down the gullies nearly to the 
shore, the intermediate parts and the flats only 
being covered with the usual open woodland of 
grass and green trees. In the latter there was 
excellent green grass covering a rather rocky 
ground.* This jungle was quite impenetrable. We 
now walked to the outer point where were some small 
hills, covered with long grass, under which, how- 


* T believe this kind of matted forest 1s called a ‘* brush,” in 
the northern part of New South Wales. 


WATER THE SHIP. 37 


ever, the ground was completely covered with 
angular blocks of rock. From this point we saw 
the Fly in the offing among the islands, and hurry- 
ing down, got off our breakers and went to meet 
her. She anchored some miles out, and we got on 
board about 5 o’clock. This evening we saw the 
comet very plainly. 

March 5.—A party went ashore for water this 
morning, and found another chain of water holes a 
little farther in the bay. The ship was accordingly 
moved farther in, a tent sent ashore, and prepara- 
tions made for completing our water. By means of 
a force pump and hoses the casks could be filled on 
the beach, not far from where the boats anchored ; 
but as the ship could not approach within much less 
than three miles of that spot, it was of course rather 
a protracted business. We remained at this anchor- 
age till the 13th, during which time I accompanied 
Captain Blackwood on two excursions to the south- 
ward. On each excursion we traversed the plain 
between the hills and the sea, and found it some 
six miles broad, covered with beautiful grass and 
fine timber, well watered with several little brooks 
issuing from the recesses of the hills. It was 
indented by muddy inlets, bordered by mangroves, 
which, at high water, allowed of the passage of 
boats of considerable size. ‘The soil was generally 
hard, stiff, and dark coloured, but became rocky 
near the hills. The lower parts of the hills were 
made of a hard and compact brown sandstone. ‘The 


38 GEOLOGY OF WEST HILL. 


natives avoided us as much as possible, and shortly 
disappeared altogether from the neighbourhood. 

The seaward cliff of West Hill, and apparently 
the mass of the hill itself, is composed of a very fine 
grained trap or basalt, with small crystals of feld- 
spar, only visible with a lens. The rock is 
split, by innumerable joints and veins crossing at all 
angles, into masses of allshapes and sizes. In a few 
places were traces of nodular concretions, and in 
others the rock split into flags. On the north side 
of the point, within the bay, another kind of rock 
shewed itself, forming low disconnected cliffs at the 
edge of the flat land beneath the hill. This was a 
rather soft, dull, earthy sandstone, generally fine- 
grained, but sometimes containing small quartz 
pebbles. Its colours were brick-red and white, the 
red appearing generally in irregular blotches, or 
sometimes looking like nodular concretions. These 
blotches were sometimes arranged in lines, and if 
they marked the stratification, it in one place dipped 
west at 15°. There was no lamination visible, nor 
any clear lines of bedding in this rock; but in one 
place it was capped by a dark brown sandstone, 
which was very distinctly bedded, and resembled 
some parts of the magnesian limestone near Not- 
tingham, in external appearance, having similar 
small thick lumps and plates. This was in a hori- 
zontal position : neither of them contained any or- 
ganic remains, so far as | could discover. 

March 13.—Weighed and ran to the northward, 


BAYS NORTH OF CAPE PALMERSTON. 39 


anchoring in shoal water a little north of Cape 
Palmerston; the surveying officers employed in 
laying down the coast and the neighbouring islands. 

March 14.—At daylight, Captain Blackwood, 
with Mr. Melville and myself, left the ship in the 
first gig to examine an opening in the shore like a 
harbour. We passed a small headland of red 
quartzose rock, on which we landed for a short 
time, and then steered for an opening in the man- 
groves ahead, which, however, we soon found to 
be a mere shallow creek. We then rounded another 
rocky headland, and landing on the inside of it, 
proceeded to the summit. From this we looked 
over what appeared a very fine port, five or six 
miles deep and three miles wide, but surrounded by 
a thick belt of mangroves round its upper portion. 
It was now high water, and we proceeded in good 
spirits to examine it, crossing ina N.W. direction. 
To our great regret, however, we got nowhere more 
than five fathoms in sailing across, and this only in 
a few places, the usual depth being only three or 
four. We steered for two grassy hills near the 
N.W. corner of the bay, and went first to examine 
an opening at the back of them, which we soon 
found, however, to be a mere shoal, muddy channel, 
winding among a great expanse of mangroves. Re- 
turning, we rowed nearly round the hills into a 
sandy cove, in approaching which the boat got 
aground, and as the tide was rapidly falling, she 
was shortly high and dry. 


40 COUNTRY NORTH OF CAPE PALMERSTON. 


Meanwhile, we waded ashore, and got our things 
out of her on to the beach, where we camped for the 
night. We shot a few small plovers on the beach 
to add to our dinner, and while it was being cooked, 
walked up the hills near us. ‘These were grassy 
slopes, the open woodland having very fine long 
grass everywhere about it; but much of the lower 
and flatter spaces, and some of the hills, were occu- 
pied by dense jungle. In this jungle were tall trees, 
with dark, umbrageous foliage, very different from 
the light, thinly-leaved gum-trees, and having 
immense creepers and climbers, like great ropes, 
stretching from tree to tree, and hanging down and 
matting the underwood into an impenetrable thicket. 
When we reached the top of the hill, it was low 
water, and we saw our fine looking port had now 
hardly a drop of water over half its space, the tide 
having receded to its entrance, and left mere de- 
tached pools among the mud flats and sand banks of 
the inner portion. The belt of mangroves appeared 
to stretch a mile or two into the interior of the 
country, but there seemed to be a considerable space 
of fine grass land between them and the hills, which 
were here more broken and detached than they were 
to the south of West Hill. Having returned to our 
camp, and dined about sunset, we made preparations 
for sleeping quite securely on the beach, as a fine 
sea breeze was blowing on it, but before ten o’clock 
this unfortunately died away, and for the remainder 
of the night we lay sleepless and helpless, but not 


REMAINS OF A DUGONG. 4} 


unrepining, victims to a numerous host of sand-flies 
and musquitoes. Compared to these pests, savage 
men or ferocious beasts are really slight evils, since 
they may be guarded against or overcome, while 
these plagues render life miserable, and paralyze all 
one’s energies by continual irritation and long want 
of sleep, without either the dignity or excitement of 
danger. 

March 15.—We found on the beach this morning 
the remains of a large dugong, which had been 
feasted on by the natives, consisting of the skull and 
part of the vertebre and flippers; it was too much 
burnt, however, and broken to make it worth bring- 
ing away, although the flesh still adhered to it in 
some places.* About six o’clock we continued our 
route along the north shore of the bay, shooting 
fifteen or sixteen plover out of a large flock as we 
proceeded. At the mouth of the bay we landed to 
ascend a green hill, forming its northern point, and 
saw thence another considerable indentation of 
the coast about two miles to the northward ; and it 
being determined we should go and examine it, 
Melville and I decided to walk across while Captain 
Blackwood went round in the boat. We found the 


* The upper part of the skull was thirteen inches long, six 
inches deep, and eight and ahalf wide. I subsequently succeeded 
in getting a fine skull and other parts of the skeleton from Port 
Kssington, where it was procured and prepared by Dr. Sibbald. 
I sent it to Professor Owen, whose description of it will be found 
in the appendix. 


42 COUNTRY BEHIND SHOAL BAYS. 


intermediate country a rich grassy woodland, the 
trees large and wide apart, and the grass so long 
and thick as considerably to impede our progress. 
In a hollow, just at the back of a mass of jungle, 
lying at the head of a small sandy cove, with a reef 
of rocks at each point of it, we found several deep 
holes and small pools of excellent fresh water ; and 
immediately after, came on a round bare grassy hill, 
just over the south point of the little bay. From 
this hill the bay appeared about two miles wide, 
stretching four or five miles into the country, with 
several coves and rocky headlands on each side, but 
large beds of mangroves round its upper portion. 
The country around, with the exception of the man- 
grove swamps, was very beautiful; low green hills, 
rising in every direction, with grassy slopes and fine 
timber. At the back of this fresh and fertile look- 
ing country, and distant about ten miles, continued 
the bold ridge of hills running parallel with the 
coast, and probably 2 or 3,000 feet in height. 
While we were looking at the view, the gig came 
round, and landed in a cove below us, and we 
hastened down to it. At the foot of the hill we 
crossed a small marsh, now dry, in which grew a 
very tall reed-like grass, large spaces of which had 
recently been pulled up by the roots, bare clods and 
the loose grass lying about in heaps. The root of 
this grass is probably eaten by the natives, and it 
was the only sign we saw of their presence, except 
some large smokes rising a few miles farther to the 


——— a 


a a a ee eee 


a etl ni a ata 


RISE AND FALL OF TIDE. 4:3 


northward. We saw no animals, except a reddish- 
coloured rat among some stones on the beach, of 
which, however, I only succeeded in catching the 
young ones. We now crossed to the north shore of 
the bay, but though it was high water, we nowhere 
succeeded in finding a greater depth than four 
fathoms. We established ourselves for the night on 
a little sandy beach at the foot of a green hill, where 
was a small deep hollow that the boat would pro- 
bably float in at low water, and enable us to ascer- 
tain the rise and fall of tide. This was found during 
the night to be 25 feet 6 inches, the moon not yet at 
the full. The spring tide rise and fall, therefore, is 
probably little less than thirty feet. Just before 
sunset, in a gap in the nearest range of hills, we 
could count three other ranges immediately behind 
it, the last very distant. Still I could not be sure 
that they were distinct ridges, as they might be only 
the projecting points of an indented table land; I 
am however inclined rather to look upon the hills as 
composed of parallel ranges than as a level table 
land. 

March 16.—Though at breakfast this morning 
we consumed all our remaining stock of provisions, 
Captain Blackwood decided on running up the bay 
with the flood tide, to examine one or two consider- 
able openings in the mangroves. We first tried one 
going in at the N.W. corner, but as it did not look 
promising, returned and went up one running due 
-west. <A very strong flood tide swept us rapidly up 


4,4, MANGROVE CREEK. 


the inlet, which gradually narrowed and wound 
about for the first three or four miles, when we found 
ourselves near some rocky, woody hills, with steep 
banks, and the inlet having all the aspect of a river. 
We landed at one or two points, but could get no 
view for the trees; and proceeding, came on more 
mangrove flats, till at length our winding channel 
ended when about five yards-wide and five feet deep, 
having a mangrove swamp on the right, a thick 
jungle ahead, and a steep bank of gravel, about 
twenty feet high, on our left hand. Climbing up 
this, we found a level grassy woodland, stretching 
away to S. and W. as far as we could see for the 
trees, and walking about half a mile, found one large 
and deep water-course and several smaller, leading 
towards the inlet. They were now all dry, but a 
little drain of fresh water came out of the jungle 
ahead of the boat. ‘The small cliffs were composed 
of gravel; the lower part a confused heap of quartz 
pebbles the size of the fist, but the upper part of 
much finer materials, with layers of sand pretty well 
sorted and stratified, and of course horizontal. As 
we were under the necessity of gomg back imme- 
diately, in order to save the tide, we had not much 
time for examination, and at half-past ten set out on 
our return. The ebb tide took us as rapidly down 
as the flood brought us up; and after passing a 
heavy sea on a shoal bar at the mouth of the bay, 
we made sail for the ship, which had now run down 
a few miles to the northward. The rocks about 


CAPE HILLSBOROUGH. 45 


these two shoal bays were all rough slate, or grey- 
wacke, or quartz rock, with a dip to the west in the 
only spot where the stratification was discernible. 
March 17, 18.—Running slowly on along shore 
to Cape Hillsborough, visiting Li. Cumberland 
Island on our way. This island exhibited a singular 
mass of rocks, looking as if made up of angular 
fragments of compact feldspar cemented together. 
Cape Hillsborough is a bold headland, 900 feet 
high, very steep nearly all round. Its base was 
composed of a singular assemblage of quartzose 
rocks, unstratified, and containing several imbedded 
minerals. The upper part is composed of stratified 
materials, in thick, well marked beds, dipping 
S.W. at an angle of 15°. On the inner side of the 
headland, accordingly, these rocks are found at the 
sea level. In the cliff on the north side of the hill, 
about 300 feet from the summit, the stratified rock 
is white, earthy, pulverulent, easily decomposing, 
but pretty tough when in mass; much worn into 
hollows with overhanging blocks and ledges. It 
contains either angular fragments or worn crystals, | 
of a green translucent mineral, like a dull variety of 
feldspar, but which may be olivine. Large round 
blocks of a black rock were also seen embedded in 
it, but in an inaccessible position. ‘The materials, 
notwithstanding their regular stratification and dip, 
look very much as if of volcanic origin. In the 
country at the back were some singular small conical 
hills, capped by clusters of small basaltic columns. 


4.6 WHITSUNDAY PASSAGE. 


March 25.—Anchored in Port Molle, at the 
N.W. end of Whitsunday Passage. At four this 
afternoon | accompanied Captain Blackwood to 
explore the head of the harbour, where, to our sur- 
prise, we found a broad passage right through by Pine 
Head, leading round again into Whitsunday Pas- 
sage. We never got less than eight fathoms water, 
but met with strong tide ripplings once or twice. 
We slept on a little rocky island at the opening of 
this strait, and the next day landed on the main, but 
found the woods too dense and the hills rising too 
abruptly to admit of much exploration. The shores 
here rise in a very steep slope, with occasional pre- 
cipices to a height of several hundred feet, and are 
completely covered by a magnificent forest, the 
greater part of which are pine trees. This pine is 
closely allied to the Norfolk Island pine, but is a 
distinct species and much handsomer in appearance. 
It is found occasionally along the east coast of 
Australia, especially on rocky hills, from Port 
Bowen to Cape Melville, but Whitsunday Passage 
seems to be its head-quarters. The timber is rather 
encumbered by knots, but reported on very favour- 
ably by the carpenter of the Fly for many ship’s pur- 
poses. Captain King made a spar of it, and speaks 
well of it. 

On returning to the ship, we found a melancholy 
occurrence had taken place. Dowling, the cox- 
swain of the pinnace, and an excellent man, had 
been some days ill with a low fever. He hung in a 


GEQLOGY OF PORT MOLLE. 4:7 


hammock under the forecastle, with a man constantly 
attending on him. At four o'clock this morning, 
however, on the hands being turned up, his attend- 
ant went below to get a drink of water, and soon 
after his return, found the hammock empty : search 
was instantly made all over the ship, but in vain, 
and Dowling was never seen again alive or dead. 
It was supposed he took advantage of the absence 
of the attendant to throw himself out of the bow- 
port, and was thus drowned. It was the first death 
that had occurred among us, and was felt accord- 
ingly. 

The rocks of Port Molle and its neighbourhood 
are of a doubtful character, it being often difficult 
to say whether they are of purely igneous or of me- 
tamorphic origin. In some places they are certainly 
stratified, being then a yellow or grey hard fine- 
grained gritstone, or greywacke. ‘The dip in these 
was always W.or W.S.W. In other places, without 
altering much in mineral character, the rock con- 
tained many small dispersed crystals, and thus in 
hand specimens had the appearance of a porphyry. 

The rock of Ragged Island, north of Port Molle, is 
sometimes a greenstone, or sometimes a finer grained 
igneous rock, but with many doubtful masses. In 
the little cove where we landed was a small coral 
reef, on which at low water several masses of madre- 
pora and mezandrina were left dry almost to their 
bases, although still living. About high water mark 
were several beds of recent coral conglomerate, 


4:8 FINE TRACT OF COAST. 


containing shells and corals. It was hard, thick- 
bedded, and quite horizontal. 

The tract of coast between Broad Sound and 
Whitsunday Passage, or the parallels of 22° 15 and 
20° 20’, differs in some respects from any other part 
of the coast of Australia we visited. Its apparent 
fertility is greater, it is better supplied with fresh 
water, and the rise and fall of tide is much greater. 
A solid range of hills, of a pretty uniform height, 
cuts off from the interior a lower undulating strip of 
land, from five to ten miles broad, the whole of 
which seems to be of a high average fertility for 
Australia; the grass was fine, close, and abundant, 
the timber large-sized and various in kind. The 
coast is indented by many small bays and inlets, 
and though these are dry at low water, many places 
might be found where small vessels could lie then 
securely in the mud, and be floated again at the 
return of tide. The great rise and fall of tide is of 
course admirably adapted for the construction of 
docks for building and repairing ships, and besides 
the pines, which in some places are very abundant, 
there is a probability of other good timber trees 
being found in the jungles, which are so different in 
character from the common gum forests of the coun- 
try. <A few miles off the coast are numerous small 
islands, lofty, rocky, and picturesque in character, 
and covered with grass and pines, with many small 
coves and anchorages. Outside these again are 
coral reefs, all uniting to shelter the coast and ex- 


~~ 
a 


— > > 2 ers" 


ADVANTAGES OF COAST. 49 


cellent anchorage is universally to be found along 
it. ‘The trade wind blows constantly from the S.E., 
but owing to the strong tides, vessels would be able 
easily to work up against it, the water being always 
smooth, compared with the open sea, having no 
ground swell in consequence of the reefs to wind- 
ward. This fresh perpetual sea breeze would 
render the country healthy, notwithstanding the 
mangrove swamps. These could all be avoided 
in choosing places. of residence, for which spots 
200 or 300 feet above the sea might easily be 
selected. The inlets through the mangroves would 
afford a boat navigation of a few miles into the in- 
terior of the country. As far as climate is concerned, 
almost any tropical production might be cultivated, 
but I have too little confidence ‘in the nature of the 
soil of any part of Australia to recommend that as a 
source of profit. If, however, it should be desirable 
to push the settlements of New South Wales farther 
to the north, I think this part of the coast has 
greater natural advantages than any other we have 
seen. I cannot recommend any particular spot in 
preference to another, as the subject was not in my 
thoughts at the time we were upon it.* 


* Penal stations or convict settlements would not, in my 
opinion, be advisable anywhere to the northward of Sandy Cape, 
since escape by sea to the northward would be so very easy. The 
coast being everywhere sheltered by reefs and islands, indented 
by small bays and mangrove creeks, the frailest canoe might be 
used along shore, and concealment from pursuit easily obtained, 

VOL. I. E 


50 HEIGHT OF TIDE. 


The height of the tide just hereabouts is very re- 
markable. A similar occurrence is found on the 
North-west coast of Australia, about Cambridge Gulf 
and Buccaneer’s Archipelago. In each casethe great 
rise and fall extends only over a limited space. At 
Cape Palmerston, for instance, the rise is from 24 
to 30 feet, while at Port Bowen to the south, and at 
Port Molle to the north, the rise and fall is only 
16 feet. At Port Bowen the flood tide comes from 
the south, while at Broad Sound, and thence to the 
northward, the flood tide comes from the north. It is 
probable, then, that the meeting of the two streams 
of flood causes the tides to have such a height in the 
intermediate space. ‘The great gap in the Barrier 
reefs, where Flinders passed out, a little north of 
Cape Upstart, is probably the cause of the northerly 
flood between that point and Broad Sound ; the tide 
wave finding a readier access through that space 
into the inner belt of water than from the southward 
through the rocks and shoals of the Percy and 


while life might always be supported by oysters and shell-fish, 
and the fresh water so frequently found near the coast between 


Sandy Cape and Cape York. Escaped convicts might ultimately © 


take refuge among the islands of Torres Strait, where they 
would be well received by the natives, and where they might 
assemble perhaps in sufficient numbers to seize a vessel passing 
through, or by going up the Gulf of Carpentaria, would find a 
refuge amongthe Bugis, who come there in January for trepang. 
A post at Cape York would obviate much of the risk of escape, 
but not all, as, if the convicts were aware of it, they might pass 
it in the night. 


———— ee ee 


ee ee ee ee 


TIME OF TIDE WAVE. ap 


Northumberland Islands. Mr. Evans, master of 
the Fly, informed me that the tide wave strikes the 
whole East coast of Australia, from Sydney to Torres 
Strait, much about the same time, namely, eight 
o'clock, at the full and change of the moon. He 
also told me that in the tract about the Palm Island, 
Rockingham Bay, and Endeavour River, there is no 
tide at all. I have never heard any explanation of 
the high tides on the North-west coast of Australia. 
Asno other pointon the west side of the South Pacific 
that I am acquainted with—certainly none near the 
colonies—has tides anything like so high as this 
tract of coast between Broad Sound and Whitsunday 
Passage, it seems destined at some future time to be 
the spot where the great ship-yards of that part of 
the world shall be situated ; but whether the time 
is come when such an establishment would be ad- 
visable, I am not competent to judge.* 


* After twice circumnavigating Australia, and visiting all its 
colonies, especially those of the southern coast, I look back upon 
this tract between 22° and 20°, with still higher expectations 
than before, and certainly have never seen any part of Australia, 
near the sea, of equal fertility, or of nearly equally pleasant and 
agreeable aspect, or combining so many natural advantages. 


CHAPTER III. 


CAPE UPSTART—GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE—PUMICE PEBBLES 
—EXCURSION TO CAPE CLEVELAND=—INTERVIEW WITH 
NATIVES—GRANITE DYKE—EXCURSION ACROSS UPSTART 
BAY—ASCEND MANGROVE INLET—INTERVIEW WITH NA- 
TIVES—FRIENDLY DEMEANOUR— EXCURSION UP WICKHAM 
RIVER—INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES—TWO TRIBES — UPROAR 
AT MEETING — FRIENDLY WALK —~ GENTLE MANNERS — 
RETURN DOWN RIVER-—-CHARACTER OF NEIGHBOURING 
COUNTRY— RETURN TO SHIP—LEAVE CAPE UPSTART. 


March 30, 1843.—Anchored this evening on the 
lee or north-west side of Cape Upstart, alongside the 
Bramble. Cape Upstart consists of a great mass of 
granite, about 2,000 feet high, rising abruptly from 
the water on all sides, and connected to the main- 
land by a mangrove swamp only. It is singularly 
rugged and barren in its aspect; its sides covered 
by huge blocks of loose rock, scantily hidden by a 
scrubby vegetation. A narrow rocky valley, with a 
small watercourse, runs down from the centre to the 
north-west side of the promontory, having good 
fresh water constantly in its deeper holes, and fre- 
quently running in a considerable stream. Near 
this is a small plain, about half a mile across, with 
a sand beach and small mangrove swamp; and near 
the north-west point of the Cape is another little 


; 
4 
x 


ee a ee 


CORAL ROCK AND PUMICE PEBBLES. 53 


plain, separated from the open sea by one or two 
detached hills of granite, 100 or 150 feet high. After 
heavy rains, a little water-course traversing this is 
likewise full of good water. These two little plains, 
although several feet above the reach of any possible 
tide, and covered with grass and trees, both old and 
young, are found just below the superficial covering 
of sand to rest upon coral rock, or the recent con- 
glomerate mentioned before, consisting of coral sand 
compacted together into hard rock, with imbedded 
fragments of corals and shells. At the head of the bay, 
in the ‘‘seining cove,” this rock is again seen form- 
ing a small flat, covered with trees, at the foot of the 
granite rocks. It is seen in one or two places along 
shore on the beach, where it frequently has nearly 
the same inclination as the beach itself, but where it 
is now much worn and broken by the sea washing 
against it. Over the whole of these flats, among 
the grass and under the roots of the trees, are found 
pebbles of pumice. Wherever we have landed, from 
Sandy Cape to this place, this singular fact has 
been observed. At Sandy Cape pieces were brought 
off to me larger than the fist; but at Cape Upstart 
and the neighbourhood they are generally about the 
size of a walnut, well rounded, and smooth exter- 
nally, light enough to swim in water, of an olive 
green or grey colour in general. I have never 
observed them at a greater height above the sea 
than fifteen feet. “They have never been seen float- 
ing in the water nor lying on the actual beach, 


54 SMALL ROCK KANGAROO. 


where they could have been recently brought, but 
always among grass and old trees, and sometimes 
embedded in the conglomerate, which, although of 
recent origin, the sea 1s now wearing away. 

A small kangaroo is common among the rocks of 
Cape Upstart, being often seen peeping over their 
summits, but darting into the holes and crevices on 
the slightest movement. We shot some, but I 
unfortunately lost the only skin I preserved. It 
agreed nearly with Gould’s Macropus penicillatus, 
except that it seemed a little larger, and the rusty 
colour about the rump was not very apparent. One 
measured—End of nose to root of tail, 21 in.; 
leneth of tail, 193 1n.; head, nose to base of skull, 
5 in.; girth of body just before the thigh, 18 in. © 

Immense beds of mangroves stretch round the 
head of Upstart Bay, and a wide flat runs for some 
miles beyond them into the country, over which are 
seen some bold hills, in separate groups, rising like 
islands out of the flat country. From their contours 
these hills are undoubtedly composed of granite, 
like Cape Upstart and the other hills on the coast. 
At one part there was a considerable space between 
two of these groups, in which no high land was 
visible, the flat seeming to stretch like a broad river 
valley into the interior. On our subsequent visit, 
however, to this anchorage, in 1844, being on deck 
one clear morning, just at day-break, I saw this gap 
filled up by a very distinctly marked range of hills, 
very distant, and evidently raised above the horizon 


a Se 
eo 


CAPE BOWLING GREEN. 3o 


by refraction. They formed a level flat-topped 
range, with steep sides. As the sun rose they 
melted away, and became invisible. 

Cape Upstart was the point named for our ren- 
dezvous with a store-ship, that, on our first cruise, 
was to be dispatched from Sydney with a fresh stock 
of provisions and necessaries for us. As waiting for 
this would necessarily cause some delay, advantage 
was taken of it to get the magnetical observatory 
and the astronomical instruments ashore. The pin- 
nace also was hauled up, it being determined to 
raise her sides, and fit her with a false keel and a 
shifting-deck, to enable her to keep the sea while 
we were engaged in surveying. During the whole 
month of April these occupations were carried on, 
and we had quite a little settlement ashore. Lieu- 
tenant (now Commander) Shadwell, superintended 
the magnetic observations, which were continued 
throughout the month. The natives luckily did not 
come near the point of the Cape, though they were 
numerous round the head of the bay. 

On May 2, Captain Blackwood, Lieut. (now 
Commander) Ince, Mr. Harvey, and myself, set off 
in a cutter on a cruise to the northward. We had 
very rough and blowing weather, but reached as far 
as Cape Cleveland. 

On our way we landed at the head of the bay, 
between Cape Bowling-green, and Cape Cleveland. 
Cape Bowling-green, and the land round it, is 
absolutely flat, and but little above the level of the 
sea. It is apparently comprised of large mangrove 


56 CAPE CLEVELAND. 


swamps and mud flats. It looks very like the delta 
of a large river, and it is probable that considerable 
streams come both from the northward and the 
southward, out of the valleys of the mountain-range 
that runs along the back of this eastern coast, and 
pour their united waters over this flat. The Bur- 
dekin, and others mentioned by Dr. Leichardt, are, 
in all probability, these streams. We landed on the 
south-east side of Cape Cleveland, the geological 
constitution and the aspect of which is just like that 
of Cape Upstart. Cape Cleveland, however, is still 
more broken and abrupt, and also more woody than 
Cape Upstart, having fine pines in many of its 
gullies. We followed a native path for some dis- 
tance along the beach, towards the point of the 
Cape, and in one cove behind the sandy beach we 
found a pool of fresh water. In this we enjoyed 
what in Australia is a rare luxury, a fresh-water 
bath, and while dressing, we saw suddenly a column 
of smoke rise up over the trees near the foot of the 
hill, and quickly disappear again. ‘This we took 
for a signal, and had no doubt that every motion 
of ours was followed and watched by the natives, 
although we could not perceive them. ‘This is one 
of the inconveniences of landing for a walk on this 
coast. However desert and uninhabited the place 
may appear, even for days together, you must 
always walk in the expectation that a native has his 
eye upon you, and may perhaps be lurking within 
spear throw. ‘This necessity for constant vigilance 
is very irksome at first, as you never can give your 


ARRIVAL OF NATIVES. 57 


undivided attention to any object you may meet 
with, nor be utterly regardless of the movements of 
your companions, nor throw yourself down to rest 
‘with conscious security. In a short time, however, 
watchfulness becomes habitual; an unusual sound 
or motion strikes upon your ear or eye unconsciously 
as it were ; your gun is always ready to your hand, 
and your hand ready to act instinctively, and with- 
out interrupting your occupation, or breaking your 
train of thoughts. 

After we had returned to the boat and dined, we 
saw eight or ten men come out of the bush on to 
the sands, about half a mile off, point to the boat, 
make several gestures, and come towards us. We 
sent a man to a rocky point to call and beckon to 
them; on seeing which, they ran towards us, and 
our man returned. When about 200 yards off they 
stopped, coeyed, and gesticulated, all which we 
returned, when, seeing them to be without arms in 
their hands, I, with Captain Blackwood’s permission, 
stepped ashore, and went up to them, with a red 
night-cap as a present. One man advanced to meet 
me, on whose head I placed the red cap, and then 
dancing ‘corrobory fashion” to each other, we 
immediately became good friends, and the rest came 
up. Captain Blackwood and Ince now joimed us, 
bringing some biscuit, and we all sat down and held 
a palaver, laughing, singing, grimacing, and playing 
all kinds of tricks. On our lighting our cigars they 
all called out ‘* medar,” meaning, I conclude, fire. 
Pulling out my powder flask, I made a small train 


58 NATIVE WOMEN. 


on a piece of a rock, and set fire to it, at which 
they were greatly surprised and delighted, and made 
signs to do it again. Their expression of surprise 


was a sound like “ phut! phut!” but when pleasure 


or satisfaction is mingled with it, it was “ wurrah ! 
wurrah!’’ or rather, “ wur-r-r-r.” vibrating the 
tongue continually. We sent for some brown sugar, 
with the taste of which they were highly pleased, 
and swallowed large mouthfuls with great satisfac- 
tion. We then invited them to come to the boat, 
and though at first rather reluctant, when we got in 
and sat down, and threw some biscuit ashore, they 
came and sat opposite us, one or two young ones 
coming down the slope of a projecting rock to the 
bow of the boat. Presently an old woman made 
her appearance, of rather a skinny figure, but a 
sharp, good-natured countenance: she had a grass 
basket over her shoulder, and a grass necklace 
round her neck, being her only apparel. She 
waded out to us with the greatest confidence and 
good humour, and we filled her two hands with 
sugar, with which, as soon as she had tasted it, she 
crammed her mouth as full as it could hold; then 
giving us her basket and necklace she held out her 
hands for more. ‘Two or three young girls and two 
boys now came down. The elder of the other 
women came down near the boat, but would not 
come out to us for sugar, on which the old dame 
offered to take her some. As soon, however, as she 
got it in her hands she began on it herself, and 
would have finished it had we not cried out, on 


Se ee ee 


A YOUNG COQUETTE. 59 


which she went and gave half a handful to the other 
woman, and then licked her own hands as clean as 
possible. The youngest and best looking girl we 
could not persuade to come to us. On beckoning 
to her to come for sugar she would advance hesi- 
tatingly a little way, and then turn round laughing, 
with her hand before her face, and run behind some 
of the men, with all the airs and coquetry of a rustic 
belle, which in her purely natural condition amused 
us not a little. We then gave some for her to a 
man who apparently was her husband. He took a 
heavy toll of it, but on our crying out he let her 
taste it, when, as she took only a little as if afraid 
or not liking it, he hastily crammed the remainder 
into his mouth, as if to settle the business, and 
seemed to treat our efforts at gallantry with pro- 
found indifference and contempt. On my stepping 
ashore to buy another basket, the young women ran 
away with the little children, but the rest took no 
notice. Some of the younger men were very inqui- 
sitive about our dress, pulling our coats as if they 
thought they were loose skin, on which I sat down 
and took off my boot and stocking, at which there. 
were many exclamations of ‘“‘ Phut! phut!” As I 
was throwing my stocking to one of the men in the 
boat, one of the boys, with a very comical air, jumped 
up and caught it in its passage, on which there was 
a general laugh: he examined it with great atten- 
tion, peeping down it like a magpie into a bone; 
and then, seeing one of our men holding out his 
hand for it, he pretended to throw it, but suddenly 


60 APPEARANCE OF. NATIVES. 


drew it back again, and all with such humorous 
gestures as elicited roars of laughter from both 
parties. At length, however, on my speaking to 
him, he threw it into the boat good-naturedly 
enough. We now gave them some bottles and other 
trifles, on which they offered us their armlets, made 
of plaited grass, and seemed anxious to find some- 
thing to give us in exchange. When the sun was 
getting low, they pointed to it and then to the foot 
of the hill, and laid their heads on their hands, to 
shew us they were going to sleep there, on which 
we laid our heads down in the boat, and then pointed 
across the bay to tell them we were going to sleep 
where we were, and were going away in the morn- 
ing, on which they all rose up and departed together. 
There were two old men, five middle-aged, and five 
young men, an old woman, three younger ones, and 
two children, and we saw another head or two peep- 
ing over some rocks at a little distance. These 
men were not so powerful as those we had seen at 
Port Bowen, but were well made, active, with gene- 
rally good expressions of countenance ; and, except- 
ing one, who appeared to be an idiot, and had a 
horrid misshapen head and face, they had no mark 
of disease or infirmity. All the men had one front 
tooth out, generally on the left side, but in one or 
two instances on the right. Their bodies, especially 
the shoulders and breast, were marked with the 
usual raised scars or weales. They all said “ Bar- 
bon,’ 
clude, their name for them. In some the scars were 


9 


when these were touched, that being, I con- 


Oe 


a ee eee 


CURIOUS POSTURES. 61 


numerous and very large, in others smaller, and 
they all appeared irregularly arranged, and differ- 
ently on each individual. ‘Their bodies are sin- 
gularly erect, and their gestures and motions easy 
and free, often assuming postures that no European, 
except a professed tumbler, could throw himself into. 
I observed one old man to-day sitting for an hour 
together with his heels close under him, one thigh 
lying flat out on the ground on one side of him, and 
the other thigh raised close to his body, with the 
knee under the arm-pit. Another frequent posture 
is to stand on one leg, with the foot of the other 
resting against the knee, and this appears to be a 
posture of rest. The women are smaller than the 
men, but of the same make, both being equally 
lanky, with straight hips and sides and thin legs, so 
that when viewed from behind at a little distance, 
it is difficult to tella woman from a man. The 
women did not appear to be scarred, or to have lost 
a tooth. In the old woman the breasts were small, 
but flat and pendant, and connected by a loose fold 
of skin. In the younger ones the breasts were full, 
but small and conical, instead of hemispherical. 
Their carriage is as erect as the men’s, with a kind 
of strutting gait. The only sign of clothing among 
them was a small rug, made of two or three opos- 
sum skins neatly sewn together: one man held this 
in his hand. 

Their string was made of a tough grass, very 
neatly twisted, and when a little worn, it looked at 
first sight very like our twine. Their armlets were 


62 NATIVE MANUFACTURES. 


strong string, wound round with a thick thread 
made of hair, probably that of the opossum, and 
looking just like worsted. The necklace worn by 
the old lady was made of the yellow joints of some 
kind of reed or thick grass, cut into lengths and 
strung on a piece of twine, and twisted two or three 
times round theneck. Someof themen, too, had bands 
of string round the neck or waist, with knots and tas- 
sels hanging down, and several had a band round the 
head among the hair. Their baskets were made of 
stout grass or rush, very neatly woven together, 
round and bag-shaped, widening towards the bottom, 
with a strong band round the mouth, from which was 
a loose loop of string by which it was suspended round 
the neck. This tribe was quite the most friendly 
and communicative we had yet seen’ on the coast. 
On their departure we strolled ashore again before 
it got dark, and on the top of the ridge near us we 
came on what in Europe I should almost certainly 
have set down as a ruined wall. This was a granite 
dyke, running nearly N. and S. over the crest of 
the ridge, and for nearly 100 yards it was four or 
five feet above the surrounding ground and three 
feet thick. It was jointed so regularly and com- 
pletely, and by such numerous planes at nearly right 
angles to each other, cutting it into blocks about a 
foot square, as to assume the exact appearance of 
old, rather rude masonry. It was broken down 
here and there, and its whole appearance was so de- 
ceptive, that Lieut. Ince, who was with me, declared 
it must be a wall: an opinion to which, in any 


Se ee ey 


GRANITE DYKE. 63 


other country, I should probably have at once as- 
sented, without further examination. It was not, 
indeed, until I detected several oblique joints at dif- 
ferent distances, cutting through the whole wall and 
quite parallel one to the other, that I could entirely 
satisfy myself of its strictly natural character. 


The granite did not greatly differ in mineral cha- 
racter from the rest of the rock which surrounded it, 
but much in its jointed structure, as the neighbour- 
ing rock was traversed only by planes at a distance 
of several feet or yards apart, forming very large 
cuboidal blocks. 

We returned to Cape Upstart on May 5, and on 
the 10th, as the pinnace was not yet quite completed, 
Captain Blackwood, with Lieut. Ince and myself, set 
off to look for an inlet on the opposite side the bay to 
our anchorage, where we had been informed by 
Captain Wickham, there was a freshwater river. A 


64 NATIVE DOG. 


low hill on that side was our landmark, immediately 
north of which we saw a considerable opening, out- 
side of which were very heavy breakers, stretching 
in a continuous line down the coast for several miles, 
and a full mile from the shore. Passing through 
the south end of these breakers, we pulled for the 
foot of the hill, where we landed on the rocks about 
10h. 30m. a.m. This hill is a lump of granite, 
about 500 feet high. We found a strong tide run- 
ning out of the bight, which was entirely surrounded 
by mangroves, among which were several inlets in 
different directions. Taking the largest of these 
inlets, we proceeded, but in two or three miles found 
it getting gradually narrower, and winding very 
much. One or two little open spaces now began to 
shew themselves, consisting of hardened mud; and 
on one of these we shot a native dog. His general 
colour was a rufous grey above, light yellow below, 
with white cheeks. He measured:” nose to root of 
tail, 2 ft. 104 in.; length of tail, 1 ft. ; top of shoulder 
to ball of foot, 1 ft. 9 in.; girth round the chest, 1 ft. 
84 in.; girth round skull (just before ears), 1 ft. 2 in. 
He was bold, coming up within 15 yards, and very 
tenacious of life, requiring four charges of large 
shot to kill him. He had nothing but lizards in 


* A much larger one was killed at Cape Upstart, quite black 
on the back and sides, tawny yellow or tan on the other parts 
of the body. He measured :—Length of body and head, 3 ft. 
3in.; tail, 1 ft. 2in.; girth round chest, 2 ft. 3in.; height of 
shoulder, 2 ft. ; length of head alone, 9 in. 


MANGROVE INLET. 65 


his stomach. Just beyond, we put up a covey of 
small brown ducks, that whistled like plovers as 
they flew over our heads. I was lucky enough to 
kill one by a long shot, but we did not get back to the 
ship early enough to preserve the skin. The creek 
now divided into two, of which we took the left 
hand branch. A little above this we came on a 
native weir, in a very narrow shoal part, where we 
landed at 2h. 30m. p.m. on a little grassy flat, 
surrounded by mangroves, and went for a walk till 
the flood tide should come up. Pushing through 
forty or. fifty yards of mud and mangroves, we came 
to a grassy bank, leading toa large open plain, with 
fine tall grass and light park-like timber scattered 
about. As soon as we emerged from the mangroves, 
two natives shewed themselves, and, giving me his 
gun, Captain Blackwood advanced to meet them. He 
presented them with his pocket handkerchief, and 
saluted them by dancing, native fashion, on which 
they immediately became friends. ‘Two more natives 
now coming up, Ince joined the party with similar 
ceremonies, and then I joined them, and having 
completed the introductory dance, we all proceeded 
together in a friendly manner; on which a young 
woman and two boys joined us from the mangroves. 
We walked on for about a’mile, over a fine grassy 
plain, till we again saw a large belt of mangroves, 
and a wide sandy space before us. The natives pro- 
ceeded towards this, where we saw others likewise 
VOL. I. F 


66 CHARACTER OF COUNTRY. 


assembled at the edge of the swamp. They strongly 
pressed us to go in that direction, but we thought 
it more prudent to return to the boat. As the tide 
was now coming up, we proceeded up the creek, 
which, however, was now too narrow to permit us 
to use our oars, so we poled along for about half 
a mile, till, coming on another small grassy flat, 
we determined to stop and encamp for the night. 
While the men were getting the things out of the 
boat, we walked along a small native track, through 
a belt of mangroves, beyond which we came out on 
an extension of the same plain we had been on be- 
fore. J ollowing on this for about half a mile, we 
completely headed the small creek we had come up 
by, and found it ended in a small skirt of man- 
groves, surrounded by an open, grassy country. In 
the same line with the creek, however, we found a 
tract of marshy ground, 200 or 300 yards wide, 
full of water holes, some fresh and some brackish, 
with a bank of sand on each side of it; and forming, 
I have no doubt, a kind of watercourse after heavy 
rains. ‘T'wo or three miles north-west of us rose some 
low hills, with grassy slopes and clumps of trees, 
and very good grass land seemed to stretch into the 
interior as far as we could see. As, however, it was 
getting dark, we hastened back to the boat, having 
seen no signs, either of kangaroos or more natives. 
Our little grassy spot was not more than 100 yards 
wide, surrounded on all sides by thick mangroves ; 
and the sun had no sooner set and we sat down to 


INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. 67 


eat our dinner, than the musquitoes surrounded us 
in swarms, and we looked forward to a sleepless 
night of torment. About seven o’clock we heard a 
native coey at a distance, and answered it; and 
about eight we sent the men to the inner mangrove 
swamp, to get wood for our fire. In order that all 
might work at this, I took a musket, and volun- 
teered for sentry; and while walking up and down, 
heard a stick crack in the bush, in the direction of 
the native path. I immediately walked up that 
way, and just at the edge of the wood, in the dark 
shadow of the trees, over which the moon was just 
rising, I nearly trod on an old man and two or three 
others that were lying crouched on the grass, watch- 
ing our movements. They immediately rose, and 
the old man, with a sort of deprecating murmur and 
gesture, began to pull out a handful of a kind of 
ground nuts from a basket slung round his neck, 
and offer them to me. I accepted them ; and, seeing 
I was inclined to be friendly, two or three others 
advanced, and we danced a corrobory. Captain 
Blackwood and Ince shortly joined me, having pre- 
viously got all our baggage back into the boat, and 
put a man in her to take care of it. We then in- 
vited them to our fire, and found there were alto- 
gether seventeen of them.’ They had no spears, 
but one old man had a waddy or club, and two or 
three had boomerangs, some of which were well 
made, but others were bent pieces of stick, hastily 


picked up. On coming to the fire we gave them 
F2 


68 NATIVE WORDS. 


some biscuit, and shewed them it was good to eat, 
but they did not seem to admire it much, and the 
men gave them an old jacket, frock, and trousers, 
which were divided among three of them. In these 
they looked ridiculous enough. They had very 
gentle manners, and their language was soft and 
vocalic. ‘Their curiosity, however, was too much 
excited to allow them to give us many words, but I 
got five of which I was pretty certain.* They 
mingled among us indiscriminately round the fire, 
laughing and talking; but we took care to keep 
one or two men walking about with their muskets 
ready in case of necessity. One fellow, with a very 
intelligent mild countenance, attached himself to 
me, and | christened him Thomas. He gave me 
his waist-girdle, made of twisted hair, and an orna- 
ment from his neck cut out of the shell of a nautilus 
pompilius. They seemed greatly to admire our 
Panama straw hats, often touching them, and then 
pointing to their own heads. One or two of them 
had a kind of skull-cap of net work, made, I think, 
of twisted hair. Three “gins” now joined us, two 
of whom belonged to an old man, and one to another. 
They were neither young nor good looking, being 
rather skinny, with flabby breasts. They wore 


* Boomerang : - barbarra. 
Scars of the skin . . « mambona. 
Beard . : : . nittigalla. 

Eye . : - - nitte or niddé. 


Mouth . : : . mallagana. 


AMUSE THE NATIVES. 69 


necklaces of jointed grass twisted round the throat, 
and sat down behind their husbands quite easy and 
confident. I observed, however, that wherever the 
man moved, his gin moved and followed him imme- 
diately, crouching down behind him again; and if 
he inclined to sleep, putting her foot under his head 
for a pillow, while she leaned her head on his 
shoulder, or sat up talking and laughing behind his 
back. We amused them in all kinds of ways, by 
shewing them a watch, a measuring tape, a dog 
whistle ; the last especially delighted them, and they 
begged one after another to be allowed to whistle 
through it, being greatly pleased when they suc- 
ceeded. On holding a watch to Thomas’s ear, he 
listened attentively, looked at it, listened again, and 
then his astonishment got vent in a long drawn 
cooh! ending in wurhrh! phut! phut! phut! One 
of our men began to drill two or three of them, and 
the gravity with which they imitated his motions 
and words as far as they could, taking enormously 
long strides when they marched; and then ‘ halt,” 
“right about face,’ and ‘march again,” afforded 
us much amusement. One young fellow, however, 
to amuse whom I had lighted some gunpowder 
among the grass with my cigar, was more frightened 
than gratified, and ever afterwards if he turned 
round and found me standing near him he hastened 
to hide himself on the other side of the fire as fast 
as possible. I have no doubt he set me down for a 
terrible magician. On our men striking up a song 


70 FRIEND THOMAS. 


in chorus they listened very attentively, leaning 
their heads down as if trying to make out the words, 
and evidently struck with a style of singing so 
different from their own. When we wanted more 
wood two or three of them cheerfully assisted to 
bring it from the swamp. At length we got tired 
and lay down, and they separated into little knots, 
each party taking a stick and making a little fire, 
which they sat over. My friend Thomas established 
himself by me, strewed some grass for me to lie on, 
and made a little fire in front to keep away musqui- 
toes; he then sat down close to my back, and began 
a long whispering communication, pointing to the 
gins. I concluded he was offering me a wife if I 
would come up the country and live with him, as he 
several times pointed to the bush. He sat carefully 
watching me as I lay trying to sleep, waiving off the 
musquitoes, bending down the flap of my hat to 
shade my face from the moon, or adding a stick or two 
to the fire. I confess I did not return his attentions 
with becoming gratitude, as | lay with my gun in 
my arms ready to shoot him if necessary, and once 
or twice rather roughly removed his head from my 
shoulder, which he seemed to think he had acquired 
a right to use as a pillow. Soon after midnight, 
either because sleepy themselves, or seeing us in- 
clined to sleep, they began to disappear by twos and 
threes, each taking a lighted fire-stick in his hand, 
and going off along the path through the mangroves. 
When they were all gone, by getting the boat’s 


5 
Fi 
% 
; 
. 


ee 


SHOOTING PARTY. Ts 


awning and sails ashore, and wrapping our- 
selves completely up in them, we managed to 
get two or three hours sleep in spite of the mus- 
quitoes. 

May 11.—At6a.M., after a cup of tea, we set 
off for a walk. On getting through the skirt of 
mangroves we found our friends of last night where 
they had been sleeping, in a little hollow, and they 
followed us into the country in single file. Presently 
the Captain’s pointer, Don, pointed at a quail, which 
on its risimg was shot, and fell among the grass. 
They started, and held back at the report of the 
gun; but seeing us looking for the bird, two or 
three came to help us, and on the dog finding him 
they took it up, examined it attentively allover, and 
handed it from one to the other with many excla- 
mations of wurrhh, and much earnest conversation 
arose among them on the circumstance. ‘They pre- 
sently entered into the spirit of the thing, however, 
and seeing a flight of crows coming over, they 
pointed to them, and begged us to shoot them. We 
took care not to fire except at easy shots, and, 
luckily, never missed one, which gave them, I have 
no doubt, a high opinion of our guns. We crossed 
a very pleasant grassy country towards the hills in 
the north-west, but in about a mile were stopped 
by a deep creek, ten yards wide, with muddy banks 
ten feet high, and a strong tide running up. The 
water was salt, with patches of mangrove here and 
there, and the creek fifteen or twenty yards wide. 
We came here on a native path, following which it 


t2 CHARACTER OF NATIVES. 


brought us to another bend of the creek, which it 
crossed and continued on the other side. Here 
several of them plunged in and waded and swam 
across, and were very urgent for us to follow. It 
looked, however, both deep and muddy, and we 
declined. My friend Thomas continued with us, 
and also another small man, whom we called Little 
Jacket, from his having had a jacket given him, and 
which he now wore the wrong side before, buttoned 
down his back. 

After going some way down the creek, however, 
and finding we were not inclined to cross, they 
also took their leave and went over. A little farther 
on, we arrived at the same open sandy space we had 
been upon yesterday when we first landed, so we 
struck back to our boat, for, as we had brought only 
one day’s provision with us, it was necessary to take 
advantage of the ebb tide to go down. ‘This tribe 
of natives had no very athletic men among them, and 
some of them were very short; they were all, how- 
ever, well made, active, lively, and good tempered. 
They were all more or less scarred, and had lost one 
front tooth. Some of the scars were very deep, or 
rather the raised fold of flesh very much in relief: one 
man especially had a double fold across his back 
from his shoulder to his loins, raised fully half an 
inch above his skin, and each half an inch wide, as 
if two pieces of rope had been let in under his skin 
side by side. The women were also scarred, espe- 
cially over the hips, and had likewise each lost a 
front tooth. 


ENTRANCE HILL. 19 


At eight a.m., it was high water, and all the 
mangrove swamps were afloat, so that it was some- 
times difficult to hit on the right channel. We went 
down very rapidly with the ebb tide, and in two 
hours reached the hill at the mouth of the bight. 
This we had called, from its situation, Entrance 
Hill. We now ascended it, and from the top saw 
great beds of mangroves running in each direc- 
tion along shore, with many inlets among them, and 
another very large bight about three miles to the 
northward, running up into the country, which we 
concluded to be the real mouth of Wickham’s River. 
We could see also a narrow winding creek running 
from one bight towards the other through the man- 
groves, and apparently connecting the two.* At 
11h. 20m., we returned to the boat, and after a heavy 
pull through the breakers and across the bay against 
a head wind, we reached the ship about 4h. 20m. 
p.m. As we found the ship would not be ready to 
leave Cape Upstart for two or three days more, 
Captain Blackwood gave me permission to make 
another excursion to Wickham’s River. 

May 13.—Lieut. Ince, Mr. Evans, Mr. Melville 
and myself, set off in the second gig, with three 
days’ provisions. It had been blowing hard all 
night, but at five a.m. we left the ship, and sailed 


* We had a copy of Captain Wickham’s chart of this part, 
made when he was here in the Beagle, but it had been so hastily 
and imperfectly copied, that we could not make it out till after- 
wards, when we found all these features correctly marked down. 


74 WICKHAM’S RIVER. 


across the bay before a strong breeze from the S.E. 
We made the breakers soon after sunrise, nearly 
opposite Entrance Hill, and ran down to the north- 
ward just outside of them, looking out for the open- 
ing of the river. The shore was very low and 
the breakers lofty, and compelled us to keep so 
far out that we could only now and then catch a 
sight of the tops of the mangrove bushes. ‘Twice 
we attempted to run in, but the rollers were so very 
heavy that we hauled out to look for a better spot. 
At last, however, we saw some sand cliffs, which we 
believed to be on the north point of the river, and 
then determined to run in. The first roller we 
surmounted was in about three and a half fathoms. 
It was very large, and as we rose on to it, it hurried 
us on with great rapidity, boiling and curling round 
us, and requiring a steady attention to the helm and 
sail to prevent its overwhelming us. Once within 
the influence of these rollers, there was no retreat- 
ing, and nothing for it but a straight onward course ; 
and we passed over a succession of similar breakers 
for nearly two miles, the water becoming gradually 
shoaler, and the waves less lofty but more frequent 
and broken, so that we took in much water. We 
had shoaled our water to five feet, when we sud- 
denly saw we were running straight for a smooth 
beach of sand, and that we had come two or 
three hundred yards too far to leeward, so 
watching our opportunity we let go the anchor, 
swung round, head to sea, got down the mast and 


HEAVY ROLLERS. 75 


sail, and while two hands baled the boat, we manned 
all the six oars, and set to work to pull off again. 
Luckily the flood-tide was setting in from the north 
into the mouth of the river, so that it gradually 
swept us up to windward till we opened it, when 
again watching an opportunity we pulled round, 
hoisted sail, and in a short time shot round the 
point into smooth water, and rapidly passed from 
the roar and din of the breakers into smooth tran- 
quil security. We escaped with the loss of our 
boomken and with a good wetting; but had we 
capsized the boat, or swamped her, we should have 
had the pleasing prospect of starving for several 
days on a barren beach as the best thing that we 
could have hoped for. The opening we had now 
got into was about three miles wide, and we had 34 
fathoms depth about 200 yards from the north shore. 
There was here a small cliff of sand, about ten feet 
high, and the land beyond was an open forest 
country, with green grass and scattered trees. At 
one spot was a small hill, shewing a cliff of sand 
fifty feet high. The south shore seemed a great 
mangrove swamp merely, with a spit of sand run- 
ning out to seaward among the breakers. In about 
two miles we came on a small low island, and passed 
on the south side of it in shallow water, the shoal 
apparently stretching all across. The tide was 
running up pretty strongly, and having a fair wind 
we went on rapidly. About a mile above the island 
the river suddenly contracted to a width of about a 


76 CHARACTER OF RIVER. 


quarter of a mile, and we observed a narrow opening 
leading through the mangroves to the south, in 
the direction of Entrance Hill. Indeed, it may be 
said, the river properly commenced here, all below 
being salt water and mangrove swamps. ‘The 
river now came from the north, running about 
north and south for nearly two miles, with a depth 
of from five to ten feet. At the head of this reach 
the water was perfectly fresh at high water, which 
took place at 10 a.m. ‘The depth was then thirteen 
feet, and the width a quarter of a mile. Entrance 
Hill bore south-east, and the Inner Hills due south. 
White cockatoos were very abundant here, as were 
also black cormorants and brown kites. We saw 
too, several pelicans, white cranes, and _ herons, 
some ducks, a native companion, and other birds. 
We heard several times a singular booming noise, 
which we at first took for the drumming of an 
emu, but had afterwards reason to believe it was 
made by the pelicans. A native dog now came out 
on the bank of the river, and looked at us very 
attentively, belonging, | have no doubt, to a party 
of natives lurking in the woods. From the head of 
this reach the river curved to the west, and became 
shallower, leaving the steep cliff and forest land of 
the north or left bank, and passing over beds and 
tlats of sand and pebbles that occupied an interme- 
diate space, till it struck another cliff and forest 
land on the south or right bank, when we again got 
some deep holes. There were many trees and snags 


INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. ta 


lying in the bed of the river here. ‘The patent log 
now gave us a distance of seven miles from the 
inside of the breakers, and we found that it was 
impossible to take our boat any higher from the 
shallowness of the water beyond. While trying to 
drag her over a sand bank we saw eight or ten 
natives advancing over the sands from the north 
bank, and one old man came directly up to us. 
We made friendly signs to him, but determined to 
make a reconnoissance on foot before engaging the 
boat in shallow water with natives about ; so hauling 
back into the first deep hole, we anchored under a 
small cliff where we could easily land. Then 
taking one man with us, and leaving four armed 
with muskets in the boat, we took our guns and 
went ashore to the natives. Eight of them had 
crossed the river and joined us: they were tall, 
athletic men, bold and confident in their manners, 
with energetic gestures and loud voices. One man 
had his hair dressed in small pipe-like ringlets, 
with a particularly impudent face and round bullet 
head, and he held a short stick in his hand, with a 
knob at the end of it. The rest were unarmed: 
We went over the small cliff, and then down on to 
the sands in the bed of the river, proceeding up its 
course. One of us shot a kite at the edge of the 
wood, at which the natives started a little, but 
rather exhibited curiosity than fear, when we gave 
them the bird to examine. Another small party of 
natives were on the opposite side of the river with 


78 SHALLOWNESS OF RIVER. 


two dogs, but they were probably women. We 
walked about two miles over the sand, when we 
arrived at a slight eminence with some bushes on it, 
whence we could look up and down the river. 
The real bed of the river, or the space from one 
bounding cliff to the other, was from half a mile to 
a mile wide. From the top of the little cliffs forest 
land stretched into the interior, the trees close toge- 
ther, and the underwood thick. ‘The intermediate 
space or river bed contained bare patches and banks 
of sand, with lines of pebbles, or grassy flats with pools 
of water and marshy ground. ‘The present stream 
wound through this intermediate space, from one cliff 
to the other, with a width of about 200 yards and 
a depth of about two feet, but with deeper holes oc- 
casionally, and sometimes a shallow rapid over a 
bed of pebbles. The height of the bounding cliffs 
was from ten to twenty feet above the river, but 
even on these were marks of occasional inunda- 
tions, the roots of the trees being matted with drift 
matter, which was often tangied among the bushes 
to a height of three or four feet above the cliff. We 
could see from this spot about two miles further up the 
river, for which distance its course was north-west, but 
then it curved gradually round to the west and south. 

The natives now beckoned us to the shade of a 
bush, and, smoothing the sand, made signs to us to 
sit down, which we did, and they sat down with us. 
One or two of them had skull-caps of net-work, and 
one fine young man, with a different cast of coun- 


i 
: 


LIGHTING A FIRE. 79 


tenance from the rest, his features being Nubian 
rather than Australian, took his off, and exhibited 
his hair carefully combed up and back, into a conical, 
or cocoa-nut form. 

Seeing us smear our hands and faces with tar 
and oil, to keep off musquitoes, they immediately re- 
quested some, and leant forward their heads while 
we anointed them, saying wurrbh all the while. On 
my saying “‘ meda,”* they immediately answered, 
‘* medané,” and picking up two sticks, one of them 
prepared them for getting a light. He chose a 
round stick and a flat one, and bit the round one 
into a rude point at one end. He then offered it to 
each of us in turn, either out of compliment or wish- 
ing to know whether we could set it on fire. On our 
all declining and making signs to do it himself, he, 
with a kind of air of superiority, put the flat stick 
on the ground between his feet, and taking the other 
between his hands, he began rubbing or twirling it 
rapidly round, till he made a small hole in the 
lower stick, which shortly began to smoke, and was 
just on the point of igniting, when he desisted. In 
order that we might not be outdone, I now produced 
a bit of punk and a burning-glass, and calling their 
attention, lit it by help of the sun; we then lighted 
our cigars, and made a little fire of sticks, at which 
they nodded their heads. As soon as the fire was 
lit, each of them held his hands for a short time in 
the smoke, and then smeared them over our faces, 

* The word I had got for “ fire,’ at Cape Cleveland. 


80 UPROAR AT MEETING. 


repeating it two or three times. Whether this was 
a ceremony meant to welcome us to their country, 
or equivalent to eating bread or salt with an Arab, 
I cannot tell. 

We now got up to return to our boat, of which, 
however, they highly disapproved, and endeavoured 
to detain us or to induce us to go further up the 
river. As, however, we saw others in the distance, 
coming up, we thought it best to return; but when 
they saw us so determined, they even laid hold of 
us by the arm, or took hold of our guns, on which 
we shook them off and spoke sharply to them, and 
most of them desisted. Our impudent friend with 
the stick, however, stuck close to us, laying hold 
first of one and then of another; seeing which, two or 
three more came up and joined him in his endea- 
vours. On coming in sight of the boat, we saw a 
large party of natives assembled near it, and several 
more here and there in the edge of the woods; all 
shouting and crying from one to the other. As soon 
as we came near, the uproar increased, and those 
with us renewed their attempts to stop us, vociferat- 
ing all the time at the top of their voices. Still they 
were mostly unarmed ; but we saw one man with a 
spear and shield at the edge of the bush, and two 
or three more had waddies and boomerangs, painted 
red ; and knowing how quickly they supply them- 
selves with weapons on an emergency, it was thought 
better not to go through the wood over the cliff, but 
to wade out towards the boat, and tell our men to 


MEET OUR OLD FRIENDS. 81 


come for us. ‘The uproar was now very great, and 
seeing one or two behind me, kicking up water at 
us with an evidently contemptuous motion, I fully 
expected we were going to have a scrimmage, and 
resolved to shoot our impudent friend with the bul- 
let head and shillelah the very first man. Just as 

_we were stepping into the boat, however, a little 
man came pushing down through the crowd, whom 
Ince and I recognized as Little Jacket, one of the 
men we had seen two days before, and immedi- 
ately made signs of recognition to him. He was 
very busy talking to them about us and pushing 
them back, pointing to our guns, and begging them, 
apparently, to let us alone. ‘The lead line having 
been used as a stern fast, was left on the bank when 
the boat shoved off, and one fellow was just picking 
it up, when Ince presented his gun at him, on which 
he dropped it and ran off. Every thing being now 
in the boat except that, we dropped down for it, and 
sent one hand to bring it off, when we shoved off 
into the stream about twenty yards, and then came 
to an anchor to change our clothes and get some- 
thing to eat and drink. 

Having now leisure to look about us, we shortly 
recognised several others of our old friends, and 
among the rest my friend ‘Fhomas, who was orna- 
mented or disguised with a broad band of red paint 
across his cheeks and nose, and smeared over his 
breast and body. We found now that there were 
two tribes present; that the first comers, who had 


VOL. I. G 


82 THOMAS S WELCOME. 


joined us from the north side of the river, probably 
belonged to that district; and that, while we had 
been absent, the other tribe had come up to the 
boat from the south. It was probably the jealousy 
between the two tribes, or the ceremonious intro- 
duction at meeting, that had caused all the shouting 
and uproar, which we had taken for preparations 
for hostility. None of the south tribe appeared to 
be armed, though several of the others were. We 
called the latter the Cockatoo tribe, from their wear- 
ing white cockatoo feathers stuck in their hair. 
Several on both sides were smeared with bands of 
red or white paint. ‘The two tribes sat apart from 
each other, our old friends on the cliff above the 
landing place, and the others on a flat a little farther 
up the river. We saluted our old friends by dancing, 
on which they began dancing, laughing, and singing, 
the others sitting still and looking on. As soon as 
we had dined we went ashore again, and our friends 
rushed down to meet us. Thomas came up, and 
embraced me several times, making a purring noise ; 
and whenever a new face came up, he put his arm 
round me again, and spoke to him ; introducing me, 
I suppose, as his particular friend. Ince, Melville, 
and I went with them along a path-way down the 
river, and both tribes followed us. They were very 
gentle in their manners and careful of us, one man 
going before each of us and stopping whenever he 
came to a hole or a stump among the grass, and 
pointing it out, in order that we might not hurt our- 


a ee ee ee ee eH 


NAMES FOR OPOSSUM AND DOG. 83 


selves. Thomas, who, had he been washed, would 
have been a rather good-looking fellow, tall and well 
made, had really graceful manners. We had a 
small flask of brandy and water with us, and offered 
them some: they all declined ; but seeing us press it, 
he took the cup and raised it to his lips, and then 
returned it with an inclination of the head, saying 
something with a smile, which we interpreted, ‘I 
am not thirsty, thank you.” They had none of the 
clothes which we had given to them the other day, 
and, on our inquiring, they pointed to the south, 
as if to say, they had left them there at head quar- 
ters. ‘ Little Jacket” had a string round his waist, 
from which there hung down in front a bunch of 
strips of opossum skin. On pointing to them, he 
said, ‘‘ unagua ;” and Thomas, pointing to some 
cuts in a tree (made by the natives in climbing to 
hunt for opossums), likewise said, “unagua,” which 
I suppose, therefore, to be their name for that ani- 
mal. We had a dog with us, which they always 
called “ alingo ;” very similar to the common word 
“dingo,” which, I presume, was derived from the 
tribes in the neighbourhood of Sydney. ‘They 
could not pronounce our words very well, and, if 
they ended in a consonant, always added “o” to 
them, as “‘hato” for * hat.” Their own language 
was remarkably soft and vocalic, without that itera- 
tion of the same sound usual in Australia; and they 
spoke earnestly, rapidly, and with a continuous flow 
of words. After a walk of half a mile, we sat down 
G2 


84 THE NATIVES IN THE BOAT. 


on an open, grassy space in the river bed, and the 
Cockatoo tribe having joined us, formed quite an 
animated scene. Melville made a portrait of ‘Tho- 
mas, during which he was tolerably patient and very 
tractable, putting himself into the required attitudes, 
aud when the sketch was finished, complimenting 
it with a long wurr-r. 

We observed one of the Cockatoo tribe with a 
dirty bag over his shoulder, which on examination 
proved to be made of a piece of a damask table- 
cloth. He pointed to the sea-coast, but we could 
not make out whether it was given him by a white 
man or was cast ashore. He probably, however, had 
got it from the Beagle. One man attempted to pick 
Ince’s pocket of his handkerchief, but was terribly 
alarmed on his taking up his gun, and the rest in- 
terposed to beg he would not shoot him. On our 
returning to the boat, Thomas and two others only 
accompanied us; and as we went away, a great 
shouting and confusion arose among the rest, which 
was probably occasioned by the Cockatoo tribe 
taking leave, as they shortly crossed the river to the 
north. On getting back to the boat, we added a 
piece of looking-glass to our other presents, with 
which they were highly delighted, each one as he 
looked into it holding up his chin, twisting his face, 
opening and shutting his eyes, screwing his mouth 
about, and contorting bis countenance in such a man- 
ner as convulsed us with laughter, especially as they 
preserved the utmost gravity all the time. One of 


LSS 


ANCHOR FOR THE NIGHT. 85 


them pointed to Ince’s chin, which had been re- 
cently shaved, and then to his own straggling beard, 
as if begging to have it cut off, and he submitted 
quite patiently while Ince cut or rather sawed it off 
with his pocket knife. They expressed a wish to go 
into the boat with us, and sat down very quietly while 
we hauled off into the stream, only making signs 
for the guns to be put away on one side. Presently 
the rest of their tribe came down, and seeing them 
in the boat were very clamorous, either to come in 
themselves, or for them to come ashore again. As 
it was now sunset we accordingly hauled in, and 
they immediately landed, and we wished them good 
night. We then proceeded a little way down 
the stream, in order to get into a clear open space, 
below the shoals, in which to anchor for the night. 
Seeing us stuck on a sand-bank, and all wading in 
the water, six of them came off and lent their assist- 
ance to get the boat over. It was now low water ; 
so when we came toa spot where the general depth 
was three feet, and were out of spear-throw from 
each bank, we anchored. After dark we saw 
several fires lit on both sides of us at the native 
camps. At 10 p.m. it was high water, and we had 
then a depth of ten feet, and the water very slightly 
brackish. / 

May 14.—At daylight we made preparations for 
our return. To this we were induced by our un- 
certainty as to how we should get out of the river, 
whether we could find another passage out, or if 


S86 COUNTRY NORTH OF RIVER. 


not, how long we should have to wait for the sea to 
go down on the bar by which we entered, sufficiently 
to enable us to pull across it. While bathing we 
saw three of our friends on the south side of the 
river, and one man came down on the north bank, 
and watched us for some time. When we got under 
weigh we pointed down the river, and our three 
friends proceeded in that direction, but we soon lost 
sight of them, and did not see them again. When 
we reached the cliff on the north bank of the river, 
I landed, and walked down some distance through 
the bush. The soil was principally sand, very 
uneven, full of holes and hollows and dry water- 
courses, as if very subject to inundation. It was 
covered principally with sedges or coarse grass, but 
the timber overhead was rather fine and lofty, close 
and leafy, with considerable variety of wood. There 
were many pigeons and parrots, but I did not suc- 
ceed in getting a shot at any of them, and shortly 
returned by a native path to the boat. We then 
crossed the river, and breakfasted at the edge of a 
large plot of grass, in which were many pools of 
fresh water, and whiled away the time till the 
tide should turn by looking for wild fowl, which 
however we did not succeed in finding. At 11 a.m. 
it being high water, we manned all six oars, and set 
off down the river. On getting down to the branch 
that led away to the south, we came on three gins, 
fishing at a weir that stretched across it made of 
sticks. They were up to their middles in water, 


ANOTHER CHANNEL. 87 


and very much alarmed on seeing us, and snatching 
up their nets hastened through a thin belt of man- 
groves into the bush, one of them carrying a very 
fine fish in her hand. Notwithstanding the tide 
was running out of this branch, we determined to 
try it, so pushing through the weir, and poling for 
about a quarter of a mile over a shallow sandy flat, 
we came to the mouth of another channel coming 
down on our right, 100 yards wide, with a strong 
stream of brackish water running out of it. This 
stream divided, part running down the small branch 
we had come up, and part following a channel 
which wound round on our left hand towards the 
south. This we determined to follow, but seeing a 
grassy bank before us, | landed for a short time, 
and crossing a little swamp, got on to a fine grassy 
plain, with light timber, over which I could see the 
hills near which we were on the 11th, and which we 
had christened the Inner Hills. I coneluded, there- 
fore, that this fine plain was continuous at the back 
of the mangroves from one place to the other, in which 
case there must be a considerable quantity of very 
good land (for Australia) within a slight distance of 
the sea. Returning hastily to the boat, lest we should 
lose the tide, we pushed on with a rapid current, 
and continued our course through a very winding 
channel among mangrove bushes, with arms going 
off in two or three directions. At several places we 
had to jump out and drag the boat over sand 
patches, but in about two miles got into a deeper 


88 LEAVE THE RIVER. 


channel with muddy bank. On one of these, at a 
sudden bend, we came on a flock of brown and white 
ducks, and wounded one, but after a vain chase over 
a mud bank, from which we had some difficulty in 
extricating ourselves, we gave him up. Our channel 
now’ got broader and deeper, and eventually led us 
out into the southern bight, where, about 2 p.m., 
we anchored under Entrance Hill. This bight was 
now a mere tract of mud banks, with shallow chan- 
nels, and it is doubtful whether we could have 
found one deep enough to allow of our boat passing 
out at low water. After a walk over the hill where 
I shot some common blue mountain parrots, and a 
fine grey and white eagle, we dined, and awaited the 
ceasing of the flood-tide, which was running past us 
at the rate of four or five knots an hour. At 10 
p.M., this having ceased, we went down to the outer 
point, where we anchored for the night. 

May 15.—At daylight the water was quite 
smooth, with a light air of wind off the land. We 
took advantage of it accordingly, and pulled out, a 
slight swell only marking the place of the usual 
heavy breakers at the edge of the bank. We then 
hoisted sail, and lay up the bay with a land wind, 
which, as the sun rose, gradually drew round by the 
south, heading us off continually, till we had the 
usual strong south-east breeze. By this time, how- 
ever, we were far enough into the bay to fetch the 
ship, which we reached about 10 a.m. 

May 16.—The pinnace was launched this morn- 


LAUNCH THE ‘* MIDGE.”’ 89 


ing, and named “The Midge.” She was now 
cutter-rigged, with a kind of shifting deck, and a 
much more sea-worthy craft than before, though 
still sufficiently wet and uneasy. 

May 17.—At 2 p.m. sailed from Cape Upstart, 
with the Bramble and Midge in company. ‘The 
weather for some time past had been very delightful, 
the average temperature during the day not being 
above 75°, with a clear sky and pleasant breeze. 


CHAPTER IV. 


ROCKINGHAM BAY—GOULD ISLAND—MOUNT HINCHINBROOK 
—PASSAGE INTO HALIFAX BAY—RANGE OF HILLS ON 
MAINLAND—STREAMS OF FRESH WATER—NATIVES AT 
FIRST FRIENDLY AFTERWARDS HOSTILE—LIST OF NATIVE 
WORDS—ENDEAVOUR RIVER—GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE-— 
LIZARD ISLAND—GRANITIC PUMICE PEBBLES—SLEEP ON 
ITS SUMMIT—SEE OUR SHADOWS IN THE FOG—-COMMENCE 
THE SURVEY OF THE NORTHERN END OF THE BARRIER 
REEFS—CAPE MELVILLE-—APPARENT FRIENDSHIP BUT 
TREACHEROUS ATTACK OF NATIVES—ASPECT OF REEFS 
DEEP WATER OUTSIDE=——LAND ON CAPE DIRECTION—TREA- 
CHERY OF NATIVES—DEATH OF BAYLEY, 


May 19 to June 1, 1843.—Tue next part we 
visited was Rockingham Bay, where we stayed a 
fortnight surveying. We anchored near Gould 
Island, where we were supplied with abundance of 
excellent water, from several perpetual rills that 
trickled down the rocky sides of the hill, and tra- 
versed a small plain at its foot. The peak of Gould 
Island is nearly 1,400 feet above the sea, and it 
appears to be an excellent condenser of the moisture 
of the S.E. trade wind, as a wreath of cloud often 
rests upon its summit. To the S.W. of it, about 
five miles distant, 1s Mount Hinchinbrook, about 
2,500 feet in height. This is the most singularly 
broken mass of hills I ever saw, covered with rugged 
knolls, and sharp inaccessible pinnacles, and fur- 
rowed by deep and precipitous gullies and ravines. 


CHANNEL BEHIND MOUNT HINCHINBROOK. JQl1 


Tt is cut off from the mainland by a narrow channel 
or arm of the sea, as was suspected by Captain King. 
This arm was explored in a boat by Lieutenant Shad- 
well, Mr. (now Lieutenant) Porcher and myself. 
Its southern opening is unfortunately blocked by a 
sand bar covered with breakers, and its northern 
entrance has a great dry sand-spit on one side, and 
only a depth of three fathoms on the other at low 
water. Inside, however, there is often from six to 
twelve fathoms depth over a large part of the 
channel, it is perfectly land-locked and sheltered 
from all possible storms. It is surrounded by a 
broad border of mangroves, which, towards the 
south, stretches far into the flat land behind Halifax 
Bay. Onthe main land an unbroken range of high 
land, none of which is less than 2,000 feet in height, 
stretches along shore, as far as we could see, to the 
southward, and after sweeping round Rockingham 
Bay, rises and spreads to the northward into still 
loftier and more broken and mountainous elevations. 
The summit of this range, near Rockingham Bay, is 
very level, but there are many projecting buttresses 
and ridges on its seaward slope, which is everywhere 
very steep, and seems furrowed by many gullies and 
ravines and narrow-winding valleys penetrating its 
sides. rom these flow several streams of fresh 
water; one of which, in the north-western part of the 
bay, explored by Captain Blackwood, is stated by 
him to be of considerable size. Two others, traced 
by Lieut. Ince, Mr. Pym, and myself, after winding 


92 TREACHERY OF NATIVES. 


about among very thick jungles growing on mud flats, 
ended without assuming any feature of importance. 

The natives of Rockingham Bay are very numer- 
ous. Those of Gould Island have been mentioned, 
and their peculiarly formed canoes and _ paddles 
described by Captain King. We found them very 
friendly and familiar at first, and they were in the 
habit of coming off every day to the ship, and having 
presents of food and other things made to them. So 
much confidence was placed in their good disposi- 
tion that our boats’ crews at last neglected to take 
their arms with them when they went ashore for 
water or to haul the seine. On the very last night 
of our stay, however, after catching a good haul of 
fish in the seine, and distributing some of them to 
the natives, they were suddenly assailed, as they were 
dragging the boat into deep water, by a shower of 
spears and stones from the neighbouring bushes. 
Mr. Weekes, the boatswain, who was in charge of 
the party, was knocked down by a large stone, and 
so much hurt as to be laid up for a week afterwards. 
Luckily, one of the men had a fowling-piece, and 
after firig his piece without producing any effect, 
a ball was found in the boat, with which one of the 
foremost black fellows was shot, and the attack im- 
mediately ceased. 

While away with Lieut. Ince and Mr. Pym, in 
one of the creeks on the north side of the bay, we 
were at one time surrounded by several parties of 
natives, amounting to forty or fifty in number, and 


a 


BARK CANOE AND PADDLES. 93 


one party commenced pelting us with large blocks 
of rough basalt, but desisted on a charge of No. 4 shot 
being fired at them. At the time the gun was fired, 
the group were not more than forty yards off, and 
the man who was principally struck, after giving a 
slight start and scream, shewed the marks on his 
breast and arms to his companions, and then going 
to the water and washing off the blood, seemed to 
think no more about it, but walked about afterwards 
with perfect unconcern. 

In the arm behind Mount Hinchinbrook, Shad- 
well and myself fell in with several small parties of 
natives, but they seemed quite peaceable and well 
disposed. One party had a very excellent bark 
canoe, capable of carrying several men, equal in 
point of workmanship to some of, the smaller bark 
canoes of North America. It contained five men 
when we saw it, and instead of the bits of bark held 
in the hand, which are used for paddles by the 
natives of Gould Island, these people had long 
wooden paddles, with a handle and a diamond- 
shaped blade, like those we afterwards saw in Torres 
Strait. 

Mr. Evans, master of the Fly, procured the fol- 
lowing words from the natives of Gould Island, 
taking them carefully with the proper precautions. 


Finger - - - manté. Beard - - -  talba. 
Eyes - - - kiaka. Neck - - -  tencol. 
Teeth - - -  eera. Thumb- - - campé. 


Nose - - -  wooro. Breast or chest woko. 


O04 ENDEAVOUR RIVER. 


Arms - + -  pankal. Coloured pig- 

Hair - - -  kiaram. ment onbody markara. 
Foot - - -  pinkan. Water - - - kamo. 
Kars - - = aspinna. Fire - -* - wampoe. 


June 2, 8.—We were sailing along shore to the 
northward, with beautiful weather. The coast con- 
sisted of bold ranges of rocky hills of various and 
picturesque outlines, rising to a height of two and 
three thousand feet, and even more. 

June 4.—This morning we hove to off the mouth 
of Endeavour River, and I accompanied Captain 
Blackwood to look at a spot that was to us classic 
ground, and the name of which, as the spot where 
Cook careened and repaired his vessel, was associated 
with my earliest boyish recollections of books of 
voyages and travels. Its external aspect is bare and 
barren—rocky hills of moderate height, with their 
seaward slopes, almost utterly destitute of vegetation. 
Inside, the inlet expands a little. The north shore 
is formed of a low line of sand dunes beneath the 
higher hills. On the south shore a hill of moderate 
elevation, tolerably clothed with small gum-trees, 
slopes down on to a small grassy flat, fronted by a 
line of mangroves, which gradually increase in 
width and density as they stretch up the inlet. 
Beyond these the land is low for some miles, and is 
backed by some tabular flat-topped hills, a few hun- 
dred feet high, of a different aspect to those usual 
on the coast. We found the steep beach marked 
A in Cook’s chart still pretty open, but the spot 


LIZARD ISLAND. 95 


marked B, where he careened his vessel, was quite 
overgrown by mangroves. 

We could find no traces either of his visit or the 
more recent one of Capain King, not even the mark 
of an axe on a stump of a tree. There was very 
good water in the little watercourse behind (B.) 
Parrots, doves, and other small birds were abun- 
dant, and the little plain was as pretty and con- 
venient a spot as any we had seen on the coast. 

The hill is composed partly of granite and partly 
of a dark schistose rock, apparently resting on or 
abutting against the granite. This schistose rock 
is one of those varieties for which it is difficult to 
find an accurately descriptive name: perhaps a 
laminated quartz rock or flinty schist would most 
nearly describe it. We did not stay long, as our 
visit was one merely of curiosity. In crossing the 
bar of the inlet, we found twelve feet on it at noon. 

We then proceded to Lizard Island, under which 
we anchored in the evening. 

June 5.—Lizard Island is composed entirely of 
granite. It consists of one bold hill nearly 1,200 
feet high, and some smaller ridges to the west, 
between which is a pretty grassy plain. Pumice 
pebbles were found on this plain at least one or two 
hundred yards back from the sea, and several feet 
above any possible tide. It is rather destitute of 
wood, which was a relief to us after the forests we 
have always been hemmed in by, and the plain 
abounded with quail. On this plain is a freshwater 


96 NIGHT VIEW FROM SUMMIT. 


swamp, from which a small brook runs out to the 
beach, on the north-west side of the island, where 
there is a cove with very good anchorage, and where 
vessels may get abundance of wood and water for 
their use with great convenience. In the afternoon 
ITaccompanied Mr. Evans and a party to the top of the 
hill, where they intended to pass the night, in order to 
get angles from the summit in the morning. We found 
the hill rocky and rather steep, but reached the top at 
5 p.m., and established ourselves in a small hollow, 
under the shelter of some large stones. We took 
up two barometers in order to find the height, 
taking observations both in going up and coming 
down.* We thought it prudent to post sentries 
during the night, and from eleven to twelve was my 
watch. The night was clear and beautiful, and the 
hour passed quickly as I leant against a large block 
of rock on the border of a precipice several hundred 
feet high, looking down upon the motionless ex- 
panse of the surrounding sea, into which the setting 
moon was just descending in the west, the light of 


* My barometer was of Englefield’s construction, No. 2, rel. 
cap. =1.58, neutral point = 29.800, temp. 70°. 

The other belonged to the ship, M. 106, Newman's construc- 
tion, rel. cap. 1.50, neutral point = 30.257, temp. 60°, capillary 
attraction = + .040. 

The observations were— 

Sea beach Ye 2,J. B.30.038 Ad.Th. 82 Do. Th. 80.5 


3h. 15’ p.m. @ M. 106. 30.006 a is) ae 
Top of bie No: 2;°3..'-B. 28.875 eet et 9 aes 
5 P.M: M. 106. 28.823 ay - PN fc 


MAGNIFICENT SUNRISE. O7 


our fire glimmering on the rocks and bushes about, 
and utter silence in the air around. It was from 
this hill that Cook, after having repaired his vessel, 
came to cast a look on the dangers that yet sur- 
rounded him, and from which he hoped here to see 
a method of escape. How little could he have fore- 
seen that in so short a time a British empire would 
be founded on the shores he had then first dis- 
covered, and that this reef-environed coast, danger- 
ous though it be, should be in the daily track of 
vessels! We were now going to commence marking 
out a more secure road through some of these reefs 
and shoals, and hoped in some degree to modify 
their danger. Such labours of detail, useful though | 
not brilliant, are all that Cook and the illustrious 
navigators of old have left for the moderns to aspire 
to. 

June 6.—At daylight we found our blankets wet 
through with the dew that had fallen. The sun-rise 
was a magnificent one: the morning calm, the sea 
like one of molten lead, with its horizon quite indis- 
tinguishable, or melting into the air, which was 
rather hazy, with a low bank of clouds. A few 
miles to the eastward of us we could just perceive 
upon the water a broken white line, curved and in- 
dented, and running to the horizon on either hand ; 
this was the surf breaking on the edge of the Barrier 
reef. As the run rose, the morning mists began to 
creep up the sides of the hill, at first in light curls; 
but shortly after in dense folds of. vapour, that ga- 

VOL. I. H 


08 SPECTRAL FIGURES. 


thering and sweeping round the summit of the hill, 
opening and closing here and there, greatly en- 
hanced the beauty of the view, both of our own island 
and the neighbouring rocky islets, but effectually 
hindered all surveying operations. Soon after the sun 
rose, and while his beams were nearly horizontal, we 
observed a very curious and interesting phenomenon. 
Whenever a bank of mist rested on the western 
brow of the hill, and the eastern one was clear, we 
could see our own shadows on the mist, surrounded 
as to the head and shoulders by a faint iris or rain- 
bow. By watching attentively, all our movements 
could be discerned in these spectral figures. On 
extending the arm, | found its shadow reached be- 
yond the halo that surrounded the head. By get- 
ting on a rock, the whole figure was perceptible, 
and each person thus saw his shadow standing in 
the air, apparently at a distance of about fifty yards 
from him, with its head surrounded by a halo of 
glory. Ido not exactly recollect, but 1 believe no 
one, unless standing very near to another, could see 
more than his own shadow, which, from the nature 
of the phenomena, I conclude would be the case. 

About seven o’clock we heard native voices below 
us, and coeyed to them, and shortly perceived in a 
gully, some hundred feet below us, a party of five 
men and some women and children. They shouted 
to us, but did not come up, nor did we get any com- 
munication with them afterwards. 

At nine o’clock, finding the mists not likely to 


LARGE ROCK COD. Q9 


disperse, we went down, having got all the observa- 
tions that were essentially necessary.* Soon after 
getting on board, we weighed and sailed for Direc- 
tion Island, to pick up Captain Blackwood, who had 
gone there in his boat yesterday. 

June 7 to 17.—During these ten days we were 
surveying the outer edge of the Barrier reef between 
Lizard Island and Cape Melville. We caught a 
great many fish, of a kind called by the seamen rock- 
cod. ‘They were not cod of any kind, being spiny- 
finned fish, but of what precise description I cannot 
say. Some of them were of very large size, ene 
weighing 115 lbs., 4 ft. 10 in. long, with a girth of 
3 ft.4 in. They had large mouths, and were of a 
white and brown colour, spotted with black. 

June 17.—I went ashore with Capt. Blackwood 
and Mr. Mackay, a mile or two south of the point 
of Cape Melville, just inside a little islet. Cape 
Melville is all granite, and covered with huge loose 
blocks of that rock, and a very dreary, broken, 


* The barometical observations were : 

Summit of hilly J. No.2. B. 28932 A.78 D.7 
10h. 30’ ee M. 106. B. 28°865 A.79 OD. 74. 

Sea beach. J. Nes24 BB. 30-106, ,A; 87. DoS1-5. 

10h. mend M. 106, B. 30:057. A. 87 D.bi-5. 
The results calculated were, ascending . J. No. 2 . 1161 feet. 

a MW. TOO’. bhaee ys 

descending . J. No.2.1145 ,, 

BS M. 106.1166 ,, 


Mean of the whole SE Pa OES feet: 
3 


100 CAPE MELVILLE. 


rugged-looking hill it is. We had hardly entered 
the skirts of a small wood behind the beach, when 
we heard the men in the boat calling to us, and 
looking round, saw, on a rocky height not far on 
our left hand, some natives watching us. We 
accordingly returned, and climbed up the rocks 
to go and speak to them. On seeing this they 
retired to another ridge; and on our again 
advancing, to another hill. Whereupon we stood 
still, and Captain Blackwood, advancing alone, 
one or two of them then came forward, and 
waved to him to put down his gun, which he 
did, and they then put down their spears, but 
did not come far away from them. Asthere were 
six or eight of them, I did not like Captain Black- 
wood’s. being unarmed among them, so giving 
Mackay my gun, I advanced quietly, picking up 
Captain Blackwood’s gun as I went along, and they 
at last allowed us to approach them with our 
weapons. ‘hey were fine active fellows—tall, well- 
limbed, upright, the hair short and curly, as also 
the beard, no front teeth wanting, and the scars few 
and small. ‘They were smeared with broad bands 
of brown or yellow ochre, both across the face and 
body. They seemed gentle in their manners, pointed 
to their mouths and down into the neighbouring 
gullies, as if to intimate that there was water. | 
gave them a necklace of glass beads, at which they 
expressed great delight, and insisted on shewing us 


TREACHERY OF NATIVES. 101 


the water.* In going down the hill, one attached 
himself to each of us, pointing out the sticks and 
stones that were concealed by the grass, lest we 
should hurt ourselves. In the little valley we found 
a small rill of excellent water, and they seemed quite 
pleased to see us drink. They often pointed to 
Captain Blackwood’s dog, and said ‘ angooa,” 
which I conclude is their name for that animal. 
We seemed, indeed, excellent friends, when, unfor- 
tunately, I took out a cigar and lighted it with a 
flint and steel and tinder. At this they all retired, 
except one, who, the moment he saw smoke coming 
out of my mouth, ran off too. We laughed, and 
called them back, but as the sun was setting, we 
could not wait, but returned to the boat, while they 
followed at a distance on the rocks above. Before 
we got into the boat, we discharged our guns, firing 
them along the water, the natives watching from the 
top of the rocks, about two hundred yards off. 
Hardly, however, had we stowed them away in the 
lockers and made sail, before a spear fell in the 
water close by us, and, immediately after, another. 
On this we tacked, and getting our guns out, [ 
loaded one barrel with ball and another with buck 
shot. One fellow was standing on a rock about 
eighty yards off, between two small trees, with 
another peeping behind him, being those apparently 


* From this, and the nail-headed spear they had, it is probable 
some vessel had once been here for water. 


102 A NATIVE’S SPEAR. 


who had thrown the spears. Captain Blackwood 

told me not to hit him if I could help it, but to let 
him hear the ball; and I struck off a small branch a 
foot or two above his right ear, on which he bounded 
into the bushes like a stag. They halted again on 
a slope about 150 yards off, and to convince them 
they were not out of our power, I gave them the 
buck shot, firing high that it might drop among 
them, on which they all disappeared. We picked 
up one of the spears, which was rather a savage 
affair. Into a piece of slender bamboo cane, six feet 
three inches long, was inserted a piece of heavy 
wood, two feet seven inches long, the junction very 
neatly and firmly secured with grass and gum. This 
piece of wood tapered gradually to a fine point, on 
to which was fastened by a fine grass line an old nail, 
very sharp at the point, and the head hammered flat 
and sharp, and bent up a little so as to serve for a 
barb; behind these again were two other barbs, 
made of the spines got from the tails of the sting- 
ray. All these were so secured by fine grass and 
gum, that, while quite firm and immoveable against 
any ordinary force or resistance in entering any 
body, a much less force would tear them off, if en- 
deavouring to withdraw the spear. Altogether I 
would prefer a musket-ball as perforator in any part 
of the body. What could be their reason or motive 
for this piece of treachery we were at a loss to un- 
derstand. ‘They may have been injured by white 
people before us, or it might have been an indivi- 


ASPECT OF CORAL REEF. 1038 


dual whim or caprice, or perhaps merely the elastic 
bound of fear recovering at our departure. 

June 20.—We passed out this morning through 
a small opening in the Barrier Reef, near Cape 
Melville, and ran down on the outside of the reefs, 
running in again in the afternoon, and anchoring 
under the lee of a sand bank, on which I was able 
toland. This reef was about two miles long and one 
mile broad, completely covered even at low water, 
except just about the sand bank, which was on its 
shoalest point on the leeward or N.W. extremity. 
The sand was wholly calcareous, grains of triturated 
corals and shells; many crabs burrowed in it; 
small sharks and sting-rays were cruising about in 
the shallow water, and a few sea birds flying over 
head. 

The shallow water of the reef was of a pale grass 
green, while the deep water all round it was of the 
dark ocean blue, the boundary line between the two 
colours being clear and sharp. On the windward 
side, or towards the open and unfathomable sea, the 
swell broke upon the reef in a huge roll of surf, while 
inside, where the water was not more than fifteen or 
twenty fathoms deep, there was only the surface 
ripple flaked with spray, from the action of the 
strong S.E. trade, which was blowing halfa gale of 
wind. ‘The outside edge of the reef was of course 
unapproachable, but the inside edge I examined as 
we passed it. The reef sloped gradually at its 
edge from a depth of one or two feet to about four 


104 SAND BANKS IN REEFS. 


fathoms, or between twenty and thirty feet. At this 
depth the white sandy patches at the bottom could 
be distinctly seen among the large dark masses of 
living coral. Immediately beyond this ‘the lead 
sank to ten fathoms, where nothing could be seen 
but the deep blue of the water. The outline of this 
inner edge of the reef was irregularly indented by 
spaces and narrow crevices, as it were, of blue water, 
sometimes only a foot or two wide, and penetrating 
several yards into the body of the reef, as if this 
were an overhanging ledge, and you could see 
through it into deeper water below. 

June 21.—In going out of the reefs this morning 
by the opening we came in at last night, we sounded 
immediately at its mouth, as soon as we could do so 
with safety, but got no bottom with 280 fathoms of 
line. In the afternoon we ran in and anchored 
under a reef with another sand bank on it. These 
sand banks are invariably on the lee side of the 
reef they are upon, which shows the nature of their 
origin. They are composed of the washings of 
the broken coral swept by the tides and winds 
towards the lee side of the reef, until that is made 
the shallowest, then, when this is dry at low water, 
the sand is piled up by the wind into a heap with a 
sloping bank, till it is at last reared above high 
water mark. 

June 24.—The Bramble being despatched to the 
mainland in order to measure a meridian distance 
between the barrier and Cape Direction, I seized 


CAPE DIRECTION. 105 


the opportunity of accompanying her. I had only 
time to take a pair of walking boots and a hammer, 
having stowed my gun away, as there was nothing 
to shoot upon the reefs. Yule however lent me 
a double-barrelled gun that he had bought from a 
merchant vessel. It was a Belgian piece, and not 
a very trust-worthy looking affair: however, I spent 
the afternoon in cleaning and putting it to rights, 
getting some English caps filed down to fit the 
nipples, and after firing it once or twice I thought 
I might depend on its going off at all events. We 
ran in some distance over clear ground, but on 
approaching the shore passed through some coral 
reefs, with sand banks on them, which we threaded 
till we got into King’s track, when we ran past 
Night Island, and anchored at sunset off Cape 
Direction. We came to, about three miles from the 
shore, as it was very shoal inshore of us, and 
were then only in three fathoms water, with a 
bottom of green mud. This mud when dried was 
wholly calcareous and soluble in acids. 

June 25.—At daylight this morning we saw a 
large canoe near us with two men in it fishing. We 
shouted to them, and after some hesitation they 
came alongside, and although they would not come 
on board, they frankly handed up to us their spears 
and other things, in exchange for bottles, biscuit, 
and ribbon, having apparently communicated with 
Europeans before. The canoe was more than 20 
feet long, made of a tree very much hollowed out, 


106 NATIVE CANOE. 


with the top sides tumbling well home. At both 
bow and stern was a projecting ledge, overhanging 
several inches. It had an outrigger on both sides, 
formed by laying a pole across the midship part, 
and another across the stern, projecting six or eight 
feet on each side, and fastening to the ends of these 
poles, which bent down so as nearly to touch 
the water, two flat boat-shaped pieces of light 
wood, about eight feet long, looked like two little 
boats parallel to the large one. Their paddles were 
diamond-shaped in the blade, with long handles, so 
that they might be used by a man standing up. A 
coil of neatly formed rope lay in the bows, spare 
paddles, outriggers, spears, throwing sticks, small — 
twine, fishing gear, large shells for baleing, lay 
in the boat, everything neatly fastened into its place 
by a bit of line. The men were tall, well made, 
with rather high square foreheads, the hair cut 
short, and small strageling beards. ‘They had each 
lost a front tooth, had a few horizontal scars upon 
the breast, and small epaulet-like* scars on the 
shoulder. In one man the rim of the right ear had 
recently been cut, so as to form a wide loop, the 
edges of which were still unhealed. The other had 
the lobe of his right ear pierced, and hanging down 
in a narrow strip to his shoulder. They were quiet 
in their manners, and seemed perfectly frank, open, 


* This is the first mention I found made in my note-books of 
that oval shoulder mark, which we afterwards found universal in 
Torres Strait, from Possession Isles to Darnley Island. 


ASCENT OF THE HILL. 107 


and friendly. We made them many presents, and 
after an early breakfast, Lieut. Yule, Dr. M‘Clatchie, 
and I, in one boat with four men, Messrs. Pollard 
and Sweatman, with five men, in another, prepared 
to go ashore. All the party were armed except 
Mr. Yule and Messrs. Pollard and Sweatman, who 
had the chronometer, sextant, theodolite, &c. to 
attend to. In landing, we found a slight surf upon 
the beach, and accordingly anchored the boats and 
waded ashore, leaving two men armed in each boat 
to take care of her. Mr. Yule was lame with 
rheumatism, I therefore volunteered to look after 
the natives, while he attended merely to his work. 
At the back of the beach rose some low crumbling 
sand cliffs, about 40 feet high, above which was a 
gentle slope for two or three hundred yards to the 
foot of the hill, which was steep and rocky. ‘This 
slope was rather uneven, and covered here and there 
with small scrubby bushes. On the right hand, as 
we went up, was an open hollow, and on our left a 
deep little gully, full of low dense scrub, apparently 
quite impenetrable. The hill was composed of 
granite, with many large loose blocks upon its sides, 
and its top was about 400 or 500 feet above the level 
of the sea. Soon after we reached the top our two 
black friends joined us, having followed us ashore 
in their. canoe, and whilst the observations were 
being taken M‘Clatchie and I kept them in good 
humour at a little distance, by talking, laughing, 
and dancing as usual. The country on the other 


108 MORE NATIVES. 


side of the hill was low and level, covered with 
short thick wood, with many bare sandy spaces 
towards the sea, round which were mangroves. 
Some low, level-topped hills swept round this flat, a 
few miles back, and at the back of Lloyd’s Bay, but 
there was nothing pleasing or inviting in the aspect of 
the country. The natives wanted us very much to go 
down the hill into the woody plain beyond it, and 
‘‘coeyed” frequently in that direction. These 
coeys were shortly answered, and we heard voices 
approaching the foot of the hill, though we could 
see no one for the trees. At half-past nine Yule 
had taken his observations for the longitude, but 
wished to stay and take the latitude at noon. On 
second thoughts, however, we judged it best to 
return to the boats and take that on the beach. 
While the instruments were being packed up, 
another young black fellow, unarmed, suddenly 
joined us from below, and we saw four or five more 
walking towards the boats across a little open plain’ 
on the other side the scrubby gully, by the side of 
which we had come up. The three with us, after 
saying something very earnestly, immediately ran 
down, and in a very short space of time we saw 
them all in the water round the boats. The instru- 
ments being packed up, we hurried down, but Yule 
was so lame, and the descent so rough that his 
progress was necessarily slow. When about half way 
down, hearing some shouting below, I ran forward 
to a projecting rock, and saw that the natives had 


SUSPICIOUS MOVEMENTS. 109 


left the boats, but three of them were on the scrubby 
slope below, going down to them again. I shouted 
to them, on which they halted, and I hastened down 
with M‘Clatchie and two men to see what they were 
about. On coming down to the slope, clear of the 
bushes, we found the three men we had seen before, 
on our side of the gully, one of whom had a spear, 
and four men on the other, apparently all with 
spears. There was much shouting from one party 
to the other, and one man pointed to and laid hold 
of me several times, but I did not suppose they 
would have the audacity to attack a party numeri- 
cally superior to themselves. When, however, on 
M‘Clatchie’s asking the man to let him look at his 
spear, he gruffly refused, and they began stealthily 
to retire, one by one, along the edge of the gully, 
into the bushes which our party were coming 
through, I began to be half suspicious of their 
intentions, and saying to M/‘Clatchie, “there is 
no harm in being too cautious ;” and telling the 
men to halt for the stragglers, I walked back to 
look for Yule. After meeting the rest of the party, 
and telling those unarmed to get out of the bushes, 
which were thin straggling trees about eight feet 
high, I met Yule limping along, andasked him if there 
was any one behind. “ Yes,’ said he, ‘‘ one man,” 
whom I immediately saw pushing through the 
bushes, about fifteen yards from me, and a little on 
my right. He had his musket under one arm, and 
the artificial horizon box under the other. At the 


110 FALL OF BAYLEY. 


same time I saw a black fellow standing in 
the bushes about twenty-five yards from me, 
and a little on my left. I called to our man 
to come on, and looked towards him to enforce it 
by gesture, and on turning my eyes again to 
the black, I saw him with his spear quivering 
over his head fixed in the throwing stick, and in the 
act of taking aim. I had my gun cocked in my 
hand, and immediately drew both triggers, but, 
alas! they both missed fire, the spear flew, and our 
man fell. The black fellow paused an instant, look- 
ing intently to see if his spear had taken effect, 
giving me time again to cock both barrels and cover 
him, but with the same ineffectual result, when he 
dived into the gully at his back and disappeared. 
Yule, who, when I met him, had guessed there was 
something wrong by the tone of my voice, and stop- 
ped, ran forward to pick up our man, whose name 
was Bayley. After rushing to the edge of the 
ravine, shouting for muskets, and finding no black 
fellow to be seen, I went to him and found Yule 
breaking off the long end of the spear, which was 
deeply fixed in the back between the shoulder blades, 
and the poor fellow writhing on his hands and knees 
in great pain, begging us to take it out. This could 
not now be done, and on M‘Clatchie saying he must 
be taken on board first, he was carried down to the 
boat, while the Doctor and myself, with another 
man, kept guard at the edge of the ravine. In order 
to try my gun, I fired into the bushes of the ravine, 


ESCAPE OF NATIVE. 111 


and this time, although I had done nothing to it, not 
even put ona fresh cap, both barrels went off.* | 
had hardly loaded again before we saw the black 
fellow emerge from some bushes on the other side 
the ravine, and walk across a sandy plain about 150 
yards off, with a jaunty step, as if congratulating 
himself on his prowess. Three bullets whistling 
about his ears, and striking up the dust of the plain 
before him, soon made him change his pace, and he 
rapidly disappeared. This time, when it was of 
little moment, the gun went off at the first trial ; 
after this we saw no more of them, and the party 
having reached the boat we slowly retired, burning 
with vexation. It was the first time in my life in 
which I had seen wounds (and, as it turned out, 
death) inflicted in open field, or in any kind of strife, 
and the sensations were as new to me as they were 
unpleasant. A burning feeling of mixed rageand grief, 
and a kind of animal craving for revenge, seemed 
to take possession of the heart, and a reluctance to 
leave the spot till some kind of amends had been 
obtained. A glance at the broken nature of the 
country, however, full of scrubs and gullies, shewed 
how impotent any pursuit would be ; and Yule, who 
hastened off with the Doctor and the wounded man 


* The caps were very excellent, strong ones, of Purdy’s make, 
and were, in fact, too stout, for the springs of the lock of this 
rubbishing piece of Belgian goods were not strong enough to 
split the sides of the cap and drive it home upon the nipple, with- 
out more than one blow. Thence the catastrophe ! 


112 NATURE OF WOUND. 


in the first boat, gave us positive orders not ‘to re- 
main behind, but to follow immediately. 

It was not till we got on board that we thought 
of the canoe, or we might at least have gone and 
brought off that, as some slight punishment, and it 
might have drawn them from their lurking-holes to 
receive a greater. On getting on board, we had great 
difficulty in withdrawing the spear from the wounded 
man, and when we did so, we found that the point 
and barb had remained behind.* Bayley lingered 


* The wood of the spear had penetrated 43 inches. On the 
post mortem examination it was found that the spear had passed 
between the heads of two of the ribs and the spine, splintering 
the bone of both, and had passed all but an eighth of an inch 
through the left lobe of the lungs. Had it not struck the spine, 
it would have passed through the body. The point was found 
to be a piece of bone, 33 inches long, about a quarter of an inch 
thick in the middle, and coming to a very sharp point at each 
end, and thus acutely spindle-shaped. This was fastened in a 
groove at the side of the spear, with its point a little projecting, 
the upper point, of course, serving as a barb. This barb had 
caught under the spine, so that when, under Dr. M‘Clatchie’s 
direction, I endeavoured to withdraw the spear, I was pulling the 
barb against the inner surface of the spine, until at last, the gum 
perhaps being loosened by the heat and moisture of the body, the 
fastenings gave way, and the spear came out, leaving the point 
remaining in the chest. I do not know whether this is one of 
the intended uses of the gum fastening of spear heads, so universal 
over all Australia ; but if the gum really does dissolve or soften, 
in such cases, it renders the spears still more deadly weapons than 
they appear. The force with which the spear is thrown by the 
aid of a ‘‘ womerah,” or throwing-stick, is tremendous. It acts 
just like a finger, between two and three feet long, applied to the 


MOTIVES OF NATIVES. 118 


till the third day, when he died, He was an excel- 
lent man: quiet and attentive to his duty, with a 
good character in every respect. 

It appeared from the account of the cockswain of 
the boat, that, while we were on the hill, the natives 
came down about the boats unarmed; that they 
were treated kindly, without any dispute or apparent 
offence given them, except that they were prevented 
taking several things out of the boats, which they 
attempted to do ; that they went away together, and 
were again returning to the boats with their spears, 
apparently to attack and plunder them, when our 
coming down the hill stopped them. Annoyance at 
being thus frustrated in their hopes of plunder was 
the only reason we could assign for this treacherous 
and cowardly attack upon us. Cowardly, as they 
waited till the last man’s back was turned, and ran 
as soon as they had speared him. I have always 
joined in reprobating the causeless injuries some- 
times inflicted by civilized, or quasi-civilized man, 
upon the wild tribes of savage life; and many 
atrocities have doubtless been committed in mere 
wantonness, and from brutality or indifference. I 
have always looked, too, with a favourable eye on 
what are called savages, and held a kind of precon- 


end of the spear. Any one who in darting a little bit of stick 
applies his finger to the end of it, will see how it increases its 
force, and may calculate what leverage he would gain in throwing 
a spear, if he had a finger three feet long to apply to the end 
of it. 


VOL; I. I 


114 FEELINGS TOWARDS NATIVES. 


ceived sentimental affection for them, that I believe 
is not uncommon. I had been inclined to suppose 
that they were rarely the aggressors, and were 
always more sinned against than sinning. One 
such practical example as this, however, wrought a 
great change in my feelings on these points; and 
though far, I hope, from abetting cruelty, I could 
make great allowances for any one who, under such 
circumstances as I have detailed, took a larger re- 
venge than the strict justice of the case demanded. 
I felt that the life of one of my own shipmates, 
whatever his rank might be, was far dearer to me 
than that of a wilderness of savages, and that to 
preserve his life or avenge his death I could wil- 
lingly shoot a dozen of these black fellows; and I 
could read the same feelings in the eyes of those 
around me. Nor was this feeling very transient ; 
for many days or weeks after, it would have been 
felt as a relief by all those who saw Bayley’s fall, to 
have come into collision with any party of black 
fellows they could have been justified in firing on. 


CHAPTER V. 


TWO WRECKS ON THE BARRIER—APPEARANCE OF SCURVY 
— FALL IN WITH MERCHANTMEN AND SUPPLIES BEAUTY 
OF CORAL REEFS—GRANDEUR OF SURF—NIGHT SCENE 
FROM THE WRECK OF THE MARTHA RIDGWAY-—SIR C. 
HARDY'S ISLANDS AND CAPE GRENVILLE—RAINE’S ISLET 
— MURRAY ISLANDS --MOUNT ADOLPHUS—BOOBY ISLAND. 


June 26 to July 12, 1843.—Durine this time we 
fell in with the wrecks of two large vessels, lying 
on the edge of the Barrier. ‘These were the Fer- 
guson and the Martha Ridgway; one wrecked in 
1840, the other in 1841. The former had part of 
the 50th Regiment on board at the time of the 
disaster ; but I believe all, or nearly all of the 
crews and passengers were saved by another vessel 
in company. The wrecks were lying high, and 
nearly dry, at low water, about 100 yards from the 
outer edge of the reef, and just within the breakers, 
which, having no power to lift them farther, were 
now at high water battering them to pieces. We 
also fell in with three vessels on their passage 
through Torres Strait, as we had now reached the 
part of the Barrier, a little south of the twelfth degree 
of latitude, where vessels generally effect their en- 
trance within the reefs. We were very glad to fall 
in with two of these vessels, the Winscales and the 
John Renwick, as they had some sheep, some 

12 


116 APPEARANCE OF SCURVY. 


Hobarton potatoes and some excellent ale, on board. 
Our crews had now been so long on salt provisions, 
that the scurvy was beginning to shew itself with 
rather alarming force. We had twelve on the sick 
list, one or two of whom could hardly stand. Dr. 
Muirhead, our surgeon, had never seen scurvy in 
the navy before-—so completely have modern dis- 
coveries and improvements eradicated that naval 
scourge. It is very seldom, however, that any 
vessel, except perhaps a whaler, remains, as we had 
now, eight months without putting into any port, 
or touching at any point where fresh vegetables or 
animal food could be procured. There is, I should 
imagine, no coast in the world, of anything like the 
extent, so utterly destitute as that of Australia, of 
everything in the shape of fruits, vegetables, or any 
other edible, except limpets and oysters. In our 
boat cruises along the coast, there was powder 
and shot supplied to the men; and Captain Black- 
wood had bought a double-barrelled fowling-piece 
for each boat for the men’s use; but I do not re- 
collect more than a single instance where a meal 
sufficient for all hands had been procured in any 
boat, or could have been procured, except by giving 
up every other object in order to shoot small plovers 
on the beach. Another drawback was, that many 
of the tins of preserved meat, supplied by the 
Government for the use of the sick and the boats’ 
crews, were found to be of bad quality, the contents 
being in a filthy putrid state. Some sheep and 


BEAUTY OF CORAL REEFS. 117 


potatoes were now purchased, though at rather a 
heavy price, and issued to all hands in lieu of salt 
provisions ; and the change produced by this diet, 
even on the worst cases, in a few days was really 
marvellous. 

I had hitherto been rather disappointed by the 
aspect of the coral reefs, so far as beauty was con- 
cerned ; and though very wonderful, I had not seen 
in them much to admire.* One day, however, on 
the lee side of one of the outer reefs, near the 
wreck of the Ferguson, I had reason to change my 
opinion. Ina small bight of the inner edge of this 
reef was a sheltered nook, where the extreme slope 
was well exposed, and where every coral was in 
full life and luxuriance. Smooth round masses of 
meandrina and astrea were contrasted with delt- 
cate leaf-like and cup-shaped expansions of expla- 
naria, and with an infinite variety of branching 
madrepore and seriatopore, some with mere finger- 
shaped projections, others with large branching 
stems, and others again exhibiting an elegant as- 
semblage of interlacing twigs, of the most delicate 
and exquisite workmanship. Their colours were 
unrivalled—vivid greens, contrasting with more 
sober browns and yellows, mingled with rich shades 
of purple, from pale pink to deep blue. Bright 
red, yellow, and peach-coloured nullipore clothed 


* Mr. Darwin, in his ‘ Researches,’ expresses somewhat of 


the same disappointment. (See his account of the Keeling 
Islands, p. 547.) 


118 EXTREME SLOPE OF REEF. 


those masses that were dead, mingled with beau- 
tiful pearly flakes of eschara and retepora; the 
latter looking like lace-work in ivory. In among 
the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, 
floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic 
greens or crimsons, or fantastically banded with 
black and yellow stripes. Patches of clear white 
sand were seen here and there for the floor, with 
dark hollows and recesses, beneath overhanging 
masses and ledges. All these, seen through the 
clear crystal water, the ripple of which gave motion 
and quick play of light and shadow to the whole, 
formed a scene of the rarest beauty, and left nothing 
to be desired by the eye, either in elegance of form, 
or brilliancy and harmony of colouring. 

This beautiful portion is, however, only to be 
seen on the extreme verge and outer slope of a 
coral reef, when circumstances are favourable for its 
examination, which is not often the case. 

The flat surface of the reef is a dull affair enough, 
though many elegant corals may be seen in the 
detached pools, or in the parts which are perma- 
nently covered by water. 

I spent a long time at low water, wading about 
on the higher pinnacles of the coral and collecting 
specimens. These, however, when dry, lose half their 
beauty, from losing all their colour, which seems to 
belong wholly to the animal matter. Madrepore 
branches, the living tips of which were of rich blue, 
gradually faded towards thedead base into the yellow- 


CORALS ABOVE WATER. 119 


ish white of the corals in our museums at home. 
Unfortunately, the finest and most beautiful speci- 
mens require so much space, both to dry them at 
first and to pack them in afterwards, that their 
transport is difficult, and in a small man-of-war 
impossible. ‘The smell of the animal matter 
also, while the corals are drying, is most sickening. 

I observed to-day, that some considerable portions 
of coral, all alive and coloured, were left by the 
tide six or eight inches above the water, and 
remained so till it returned, or for nearly an hour. 
They did not seem injured by the exposure, which 
of course must frequently occur. I often observed 
the same fact, both before and since, and believe, 
that an exposure, of two or three hours, to the air 
and the sun will not kill many of the coral polyps, as 
long as they are left in the position of growth, and 
their cells thus retain the moisture. Perhaps some 
portion of the common bedy remaining under water 
may be essential ; but [ have seen blocks of living 
astreea, with the green animals in their cells, the 
top of which was eighteen inches above the water, 
and if I recollect rightly, the base also was dry. 

During our next year’s cruise, I spent a night on 
the wreck of the Martha Ridgway, when a party 
was sent to cut out some tanks for the use of 
Raine’s Islet. I accompanied them, as I wished to 
take every opportunity of seeing the edge of the 
Barrier reef. 

We had a heavy pull of a couple of hours, dead to 


120 WRECK OF MARTHA RIDGWAY. 


windward, from the ship’s anchorage, before we 
reached the inside edge of the reefs, where we found 
the flood tide coming in over the reef like the rapids 
of a river. We passed, in a very short distance, 
from dark blue water to some coral blocks, on which 
we grounded. ‘The men then got overboard, and we 
proceeded by dragging the boat over the coral in the 
deepest channels we could find, the men at one time 
standing only ankle-deep, at the next unable to 
touch bottom, and holding on by the gunwale till 
they could lay hold of the next lump of coral. ‘This 
coral was nearly all alive over the whole surface of 
the reef, which had no sand bank or dry space upon 
it even at low water. Before we reached the wreck, 
we met a heavy ripple proceeding from the surf of 
the outer edge, often a couple of feet deep, and re- 
quiring some care to prevent the boat being staved 
as it fell in the hollow of the wave at the back of the 
ripple line. On getting alongside the wreck, we 
found a rather heavy surf breaking against her bow, 
and reached the deck with some difficulty by means 
of an old back-stay that had been part of her main 
rigging. She lay with her bow to the sea on her 


starboard bilge. She was still pretty perfect above, 


her deck, forecastle, and poop, and even the buik- 
heads of the cabins remaining. ‘The foremast also 
was standing, but the tide flowed in and out of her 
below. Her lower deck, however, was dry, and at 
low water there was not above a foot or two of water 
in her hold. Mr. Moore, the carpenter, and Mr. 


* 
‘ 
M 
es 
Lh 


>. 
:. 


ai 


SURF ON EDGE OF REEF. 121 


Weeks, the boatswain, with their assistants, imme- 
diately commenced operations for cutting through 
the decks, in order to get out the two five tun tanks, 
which, from their size, could not be got up the 
hatchways. Mr. M‘Gillivray and | found our pur- 
pose of exploring and collecting on the reef frustrated 
by the depth of water. The reef was about a quarter 
of a mile wide, and ran nearly due N. and S. for 
several miles. It appeared indeed to stretch to the 
horizon in both directions, the breaks in its con- 
tinuity being so narrow as to be barely perceptible. 
A fresh breeze was blowing from the S.E., and 
rather a heavy sea running outside. The water was 
perfectly clear, and of great and almost unfathom- 
able depth right up to the outer slope or submarine 
wall of the reef. The long ocean swell being sud- 
denly impeded by this barrier, lifted itself in one 
great continuous ridge of deep blue water, which, 
curling over, fell on the edge of the reef in an un- 
broken cataract of dazzling white foam. [ach line 
of breaker was often one or two miles in length, 
with not a perceptible gap in its continuity. After 
recovering from this leap, and spreading for some 


_.distance in a broad sheet of foam, the wave gra- 


dually swelled again into another furious breaker of 
almost equal height and extent with the first, and 
then into a third, which, although much less con- 
siderable, yet thundered against the bows of the 
wreck with a strength that often made her every 
timber quiver. Even then the force of the swell 


122 GRAND ASPECT OF SURF. 


was not wholly expended, two or three heavy lines 
of ripple continually traversing the reef, and break- 
ing here and there against the knobs and blocks of 
coral, that rose higher than usual. ‘There was a 
simple grandeur and display of power and beauty in 
this scene, as viewed from the forecastle of the 
wreck (about thirty feet above the water), that rose 
even to sublimity. The unbroken roar of the surf, 
with its regular pulsation of thunder, as each suc- 
ceeding swell first fell on the outer edge of the reef, 
was almost deafening, yet so deep-toned as not to 
interfere with the slightest nearer and sharpcr 
sound, or oblige us to raise our voices in the least. 
Both the sound and the sight were such as to impress 
the mind of the spectator with the consciousness 
of standing in the presence of an overwhelming 
majesty and power, while his senses were delighted 
by the contrast of beautiful colours afforded by the 
deep blue of the ocean, the dazzling white of the 
surf, and the bright green of the shoal water on the 
reef. 

The reef, when closely examined, appeared to 
consist of a sandy floor, on which were thickly-clus- 
tered clumps of coral, scattered closely but irregu- 
larly about it. ‘The corals appeared principally 
rounded masses of astreea and meeandrina, covered 
with their green-coloured animals in a state of 
expansion; there were, however, many finger-shaped 
madrepores of beautiful purple colours, and leaf-like 
expansions of explanaria and other branching corals. 


WRITTEN NOTICE IN CABIN. 123 


These were now generally covered with from one to 
four feet of water, but some masses were level with 
its surface. The whole was chequered with spaces 
of white sand, had a bright grass-green hue when 
viewed from a distance, and when looking down on 
it from the poop of the wreck, might have been 
likened to a great submarine cabbage garden. 

Before it got dark we had righted the old coppers 
of the ship, which were lying on the deck, in order 
to cook the men’s suppers, and after a little trouble 
we rigged a kind of table in the cuddy with some of 
the bulk-heads, and established ourselves for the 
night. We found written on one of the bulk- 
heads the following notice :— 

‘Boarded by us 27th Sept. 1842; found the 
vessel gutted of all portable articles of any value; 
found New Zealand newspaper of 14th June, and a 
writing on the forecastle importing the ship went 
ashore July, 1842. 

Norman Miller .Comr. of Wilmot, Greenock. 

Michael Wycherly ,, Platina, London. 

John C. Ward . ,, BrigCharlotte,Sydney.” 

As I was walking the poop of the wreck before look- 
ing out for a ‘‘soft plank” to sleep on, I could not help 
being struck with the wildness and singular nature 
of the scene. A bright fire was blazing cheerfully 
in the galley forward, lighting up the spectral-look- 
ing foremast with its bleached and broken rigging, 
and the fragments of spars lying about it. A few 
of our men were crouched in their flannel jackets 


124 © NIGHT SCENE FROM THE WRECK. 


under the weather-bulwarks, as a protection from 
the spray which every now and then flew over us. 
The wind was blowing strongly, drifting a few dark 
clouds occasionally-over the star-lit sky, and howling 
round the wreck with a shrill tone that made itself 
heard above the dull continuous roar of the surf. 
Just ahead of us was the broad white band of foam 
which stretched away on either hand into the dark 
horizon. Now and then some higher wave than 
usual would burst against the bows of the wreck, 
shaking all her timbers, sending a spout of spray 
over the forecastle, and travelling along her sides 
would lash the rudder backwards and forwards 
with a slow creaking groan, as if the old ship com- 
plained of the protracted agony she endured. 

She had been wrecked since we had ourselves 
left home, and entered the southern hemisphere, 
and there mingled perhaps some speculations as to 
our chance of leaving the old Fly in some similar 
situation with the highly-wrought feelings which 
the mere character and aspect of the scene sufficed 
to impress upon the mind. ‘The place was so far 
removed from the regions of civilized life, and so 
far even from any dry land at all; the reef, also, 
on which we stood, was one of nature’s mysteries, 
its origin equally wonderful and obscure, its extent 
so vast, and its accompaniments so simple, so grand, 
and appropriate ;—altogether, [ shall not easily 
forget my night-walk on the weather-beaten poop 
of the wreck of the Martha Ridgway. 


SIR C. HARDY S ISLANDS. 125 


July 12.—Sir Charles Hardy’s Islands are three 
small rocky islands, covered principally with coarse 
grass ; a few small trees, or bushes only, growing in 
the more sheltered corners. 

The southern one is very small; the two others 
larger; the northern one rising at its highest point, 
about 280 feet above the level of the sea. ‘The 
rock was siliceous, hard, and brittle, of a brown 
colour; it sometimes put on the appearance of 
flinty slate, at others it seemed to be passing into 
porphyry, containing here and there crystals of red 
feldspar. I could not make out any satisfactory 
lines of stratification, nor were any other of its 
divisional planes regular or persistent. Small 
fringing coral reefs surrounded the islands, on 
which I got a better harvest of shells and mollusca 
than I had hitherto been able to procure. Calca- 
reous sandstone, with corals and shells, was found 
here and there above the reach of high water, with 
pandanus trees growing upon it, but not sensibly 
differmg in structure or appearance from the mass 
of the reef that was covered at high water. 

July 14 to 18.—I accompanied Mr. Aird in the 
** Midge” to Cape Grenville, from the summit of 
which a set of angles was wanted. We anchored 
among Sir Everard Home's Group, and the next 
day landed with a party of six men, all being well 
armed, but did not see a single native, nor any 
trace of one. From the top of the hill over the 
Cape, which was about 400 feet high, we looked 


126 RAINE’S ISLET. 


over a barren and desolate country, very sandy, and 
having low ranges of hills, covered with short 
scrubby woods. ‘The rocks of Cape Grenville were 
the same as those of Sir C. Hardy’s Islands. Alto- 
gether the excursion was a most uninteresting one, 
with nothing to repay the discomfort of a two days’ 
beat back to the ship, in an open boat, against 
a strong breeze, and a short tumbling sea. Sir C. 
Hardy’s Islands were a frequent resort with us the 
following year, while the beacon was being built on 
Raine’s Islet, and we formed dams to catch the rain 
water at the mouths of the two principal valleys of 
the middle island, from which we procured a toler- 
able supply of that necessary article. During our first 
cruise we landed a sow and a boar, which, on our 
return, had produced a fine litter of young pigs, but 
I am afraid they were all shot at that time. The 
place, however, was well adapted to them, as the 
pork was excellent. 

July 29,1843.—I landed with Captain Blackwood 
and a party on Raine’s Islet, where we spent the 
afternoon and night. Raine’s Islet is about 1000 
yards long, by 500 wide, and in no part rises 
more than 20 feet above high-water mark. It is 
formed of a plateau of calcareous sandstone, which 
has a little cliff all round, four or five feet high, 
outside of which is a belt of loose sand, forming a 
low ridge between it and the sea. Some mounds 
of loose sand also rest upon the stone, especially at 
its western end. The length of the island runs 


‘LHIS[ S,ANIVY 


"9g1 osed soe} OL 


e 


hi 
v 


; q 


20 


ney) 
fae : 


VEGETABLE SOIL. 127 


in about a N.N.W. and S.S.E. direction. It is 
surrounded by a coral reef, that is narrow on the 
lee side, but to windward, or towards the east, 
stretches out for nearly two miles. The surface of 
this reef is nearly all dry at low water, and its sides 
slope rapidly down to a depth of 150 or 200 fathoms. 
The island is covered with a low scrubby vegeta- 
tion, partly of reed-like or umbelliferous plants, and 
partly with a close green carpet of a plant with 
succulent leaves and stem, which we subsequently 
found was good to eat, and so went with us by the 
name of “spinach.”’ ‘The central part of the island 
had a rich black soil several inches deep, and here 
we commenced to dig a well, having brought pickaxe 
and spade, to try if we could find water. We dug 
about five feet deep, but found the rock too hard and 
tough to allow us to proceed further. The following 
was the section :— 
ft«. in: 


Good black vegetable mould . » ‘ 0.5/6 

Stone, brown mottled with white, hard id 
coarse-grained . ; ‘ : . O 

Rich moist black soil, like Hoglededh : Save Baye: 


Stone of a light brown colour, rather soft, but 
tough, and yielding slowly to the pickaxe . 3 0 


The stone was made up of small round grains, 
some of them apparently rolled bits of coral and 
shell, but many of them evidently concretionary, 
having concentric coats. It was not unlike some 


128 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 


varieties of oolite in texture and appearance. It 
contained larger fragments of corals and shells, and 
some pebbles of pumice, and it yielded occasionally 
a fine sand that was not calcareous, and which was 
probably derived from the pumice. Some parts of 
it made a very fair building stone, but it got softer 
below, till it passed downwards into a coarser coral 
sand, unconsolidated and falling to pieces on being 
touched. In the quarries that were opened next 
year for the beacon, many recent shells, more or less 
perfect, were found compacted in the stone, and 
one or two nests of turtle eggs were discovered, of 
which, in some cases, only the internal cast had been 
preserved, but in others the shell remained in the 
form of white carb. lime. Some drusy cavities 
also were found in the stone, containing crystals of 
gypsum, or sulphate of lime. The presence of this 
mineral seems very odd, as I do not see whence the 
sulphuric acid could proceed. It is evident from 
the fossil turtle eggs, that the consolidation of the 
stone had taken place after it was raised above the 
sea. It was due, probably, to the infiltration of the 
rain water percolating through the calcareous sand, 
that had been gradually piled above high water 
mark by the combined action of the winds and waves. 
The thickness of the vegetable soil in its centre 
shews that it has been above water for a great 
length of time. 

The whole surface of the island was covered with 
old and young birds. These consisted of frigate- 


pees 
a 
pape ted 


MULTITUDE OF BIRDS. 129 


birds, boobies, gannets (a new species), noddies, and 
black and white terns (likewise new), the only land 
birds being land-rails. The frigate-birds had a 
small colony by themselves ; their nests consisted of 
a platform about a foot high, on each of which was 
one young bird. ‘There were young of all ages, 
some able to fly, others just hatched, and covered 
with yellowish white down. Those which could not 
fly assumed a fierce aspect as we approached, and 
snapped their beaks at us. The boobies and gannets 
each formed separate flocks, but few of them had 
either eggs or young ones. All the rest of the 
island was covered with the eggs and young ones of 
the terns and noddies. The terns’ eggs lay scattered 
about the ground without any nest, and how each 
bird found its own again among so many was a 
marvel to us. The young terns were also of all 
ages, some fluttering up into the air from under our 
feet, others just hatched. Each one seemed unal- 
terably attached to the spot where it had been 
hatched, and immediately returned to it on being 
driven off. We had picked a clean spot on the | 
sand, just on the top of the beach, for our bivouac ; 

but there was one young tern there, a few days old, 

that we could not keep away from among our 

things, and the old one kept hovering and sailing 

and screaming, just above our heads, to look after 

it. The whole island stank like a foul hen-roost, 

and we were covered with bird-lice and ticks after 

sleeping in the sand. We dined upon young boobies - 

VOL. I. K 


130 MANY DEAD TURTLE. 


and frigate-birds and terns’ eggs-—the latter were 
excellent, and the former very good, especially when 
cooked with a little curry powder. 

As night closed in, it was curious to see the long 
lines and flocks of birds streaming from all quarters 
of the horizon towards the island. ‘The noise was 
incessant and most tiresome. On walking rapidly 
into the centre of the island, countless myriads 
of birds rose shrieking on every side, so that the 
clangour was absolutely deafening, like the roar of 
some great cataract. There were a few turtle tracks 
on the beach, but we did not succeed in taking any, 
though many dead ones were scattered about 
the island, their shells and skeletons remaining. 
Some of these were lying on their backs, and we at 
first thought had been turned and left there by some 
casual visitors. Those in this position, however, 
were all near the foot of the little cliff behind the 
beach, and I found one tilted up against it, resting 
between it anda fallen block, and am inclined to 
suppose that when feeble, from sickness or age, the 
turtle have come here to die, and that those lying 
on their backs had died in a vain attempt to crawl 
up the broken bank into the interior of the island. 
We could see no traces of natives, nor indeed of any 
one else having visited the island. It is too far out 
of sight of any other land, and too much out to sea 
for the natives to visit it; nor is it likely that ships 
would often heave to, to send a boat ashore where 
there is no anchorage, and where the smooth water 


NIGHTS OUTSIDE THE BARRIER. 131 


inside the reefs is not yet attained. The Fly was 
obliged to anchor about twelve miles off in the 
S.W. inside the line of the Barrier. 

August 1.—We anchored in the Pandora en- 
trance, where H.M.S. Pandora was lost in 1791, 
on her return from Tahiti, with part of the mu- 
tineers of the Bounty. There is a large sand bank 
here, on which the crew of that vessel were saved. 
Many dead turtle were found here also lying on their 
bellies, so that it appears they come up on these 
banks to die on the land. 

August 3, 4, 5, 1843.—During this time we were 
running down to the north, outside the reefs, and 
not being able to find any opening were obliged to 
stand out to sea every afternoon and beat to wind- 
ward, in order to get a sufficiently large and clear 
space in which to spend the night. The S.E. trade 
wind was blowing very strongly, with a heavy sea 
running, so that, with a known danger on one side, 
and many unknown but very probable ones on the 
other, we passed but an anxious time of it. The 
opening by which we at last got inside on the morn- 
ing of the 5th, was by no means an inviting one, 
since it was encumbered by small patches, the ends 
of which overlapping, seemed almost completely to 
block the passage with a continuous line of foam. 
On getting among them, we found the. patches 
small, and by winding through them, we soon passed 
into smooth water and good anchoring ground, and 

K 2 


132 MURRAY ISLAND. 


ran down to Murray Island, where we came to 
anchor at 3 P.M. 

August 6.— Murray Island is about 700 feet high 
at its highest point, and consists of steep broken 
ground. Its whole aspect is singularly different 
from any part of Australia, since the whole of its 
lower portion, and a good part even of the hills, is 
covered by a continuous grove of cocoa-nut trees. 
The entire absence of these trees from every part of 
Australia is a most striking fact, since it is, I believe, 
the only country in the world so much of which lies 
within the tropics in which they have never been 
found. We had once or twice found cocoa-nuts on 
the beach, still more or less fresh; and here is an 
island, absolutely within the Great Barrier reef, 
completely covered by them, and yet neither by 
Flinders, King, Wickham, Stokes, or ourselves, 
have any trees been discovered anywhere upon the 
main land. We could perceive many natives on the 
beach of Murray Island, as also a nearly continuous 
line of large dome-shaped huts, surrounded by 
fences of tall poles ornamented by large shells ; 
everything shewing the natives to be a different 
race of beings from the Australians. The numbers 
of these people, and the character for treachery and 
ferocity they have hitherto borne, rendered us 
cautious how we put ourselves in their power; 
accordingly, Captain Blackwood ordered two boats 
to be got ready, in one of which was a guard of 


.> 
gar . 


Le Sry ‘ 
Ge eVeels 
nn 4 "t | ; 
vib tad 
wil ee 
AS 


s 
ot 


Pan 
ie ‘ 
> igh 


= 


i PA 
DWDWU, 


NATIVES OF THE ISLAND. 133 


marines ; while Mr. Melville the artist, and myself, 
accompanied him in the other.* The island is sur- 
rounded by a reef, which was now getting dry with 
the falling tide, and as soon as we got upon its edge, 
we were surrounded by about one hundred of the 
people, among whom were some women and _ chil- 
dren. They were all shouting and jabbering, 
holding up plates of tortoiseshell, bows and arrows, 
and cocoa-nuts, for barter, and clamorous for 
“‘toorree” (iron) and knives. For the latter they 
used the word ‘‘knipa,” evidently got from passing 
vessels. We got a few cocoa-nuts and a very 
powerful bow, made of bamboo, six feet long, with a 
thin band of bamboo for the string, and a bundle of 
arrows, each four feet long, made of areed, with a 
hard-wood piece inserted for the point. The men 
were tall, well made, stout and muscular, with fuller 
and more powerful limbs than the Australians. 
Their colour was a dark brown, approaching to 
black, the hair frizzled, but often dressed in 
short, close, pipe-like ringlets, something lke 
a thrum mop, and looking frequently like wigs ;f 
none of them had lost a front tooth, neither were 
they cicatrized or tatooed, except a faint oval scar 
on the shoulder. The men were naked, but the 


* In our subsequent voyage, we found these precautions su- 
perfluous, and established very friendly relations with these 
people. 

+ We afterwards found, to our great astonishment, that some of 
these really were wigs, and excellently made. 


134 MOUNT ADOLPHUS. 


women had a short petticoat of leaves, reaching from 
the waist to the knee. 

As they were so numerous, and we could not land 
without wading a long way over the reef and leay- 
ing the boats, we in a little time returned to the 
ship, hoping they would come off in some of the 
canoes we saw lying on the beach. One man volun- 
teered to go off with us, but after going a little 
way his heart appeared to fail him, and diving over- 
board, he swam back to his companions. In the 
afternoon, we were watching with our glasses from 
the ship a party of natives sitting in a circle on the 
beach, and another party outside playing with their 
children, apparently teaching them to use the bow 
and arrow, and running races on the sand. ‘Their 
canoes appeared to be similar to those we had seen 
at Cape Direction, but it was blowing too strongly 
for them to venture off. 

August 7.—'The wind was so very fresh and the | 
sea so rough, that no communication took place 
with the shore to-day, and the next day we beat up 
to the eastward of Murray Island, and then con- 
tinued the survey to the York Islands. On August 
11, we anchored in Blackwood Bay, under Mount 
Adolphus. On the 15th, the Bramble and Midge 
rejoined us here, and our surveying operations were 
closed for the season, the Midge being unrigged and 
hoisted on board the Fly again. The York Islands 
were exceedingly barren and uninteresting. ‘There 
were but few birds, and those small. The rocks are 


BOOBY ISLAND. 135 


all porphyry, varying from a softish base, apparently 
feldspathic, with small transparent quartz crystals, 
to a hard siliceous base, with flesh-coloured crystals 
of feldspar. I climbed Mount Adolphus, which is 
nearly 500 feet high, but got only a partial view, 
owing to the thick stunted wood that clothes its 
sides and spreads over the flat plateau of it summit. 

August 14.—After passing the narrow and dan- 
gerous passage north of Wednesday Island, we hove 
to off Booby Island, a small rocky islet, about 
fifty feet high and a third of a mile in diame- 
ter. It forms the western limit of all the dangerous 
part of Torres Strait that lies in the ordinary track 
of vessels, and it is usual, accordingly, for ships 
passing through to call and leave a notification of 
the fact. For this purpose a small shed had been 
erected, under which was a box containing a blank 
book, with pens and ink, and a bag of beef and 
some biscuit, for any boat’s crew escaping from a 
wreck. We were rather amused by some of the 
notices and messages left in this book, especially 
by one or two from the fairer half of creation. One 
lady left her kind love to any other lady that might 
hereafter pass this way, and she would be most 
happy to see her at her father’s house, such a num- 
ber, such a street, Bow Road, London. Another 
lady begged her ind REMEMBRANCE to any other 
lady passing through. 


CHAPTER VI. 


CAPE YORK-——NATIVE TOMBS—EVANS BAY—HUT AND BUNDLE 
OF BONES—MEETING WITH NATIVES—THEIR CHARACTERS 
—ANOTHER PARTY OF A DIFFERENT TRIBE—-COMATULA 
—METHOD OF PRESERVING ECHINODERMATA—HABITS OF 
LINGULA-— POSSESSION ISLANDS—MEGAPODIUS MOUNDS— 
PORT LIHOU—THE N.W. MONSOON—ISLANDS OF TORRES 
STRAIT—GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE—TURTLE-BACKED ISLAND 
——-MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 


In the year 1844 we again ran from Sydney, 
along the North-east coast up to Raine’s Islet, and 
built a beacon onit.* During the latter part of the 
time occupied in building this, the Bramble was 
detached to make a complete survey of Endeavour 
Strait. Mr. Macgillivray (Lord Derby’s naturalist), 
Mr. Melville our artist, and myself, tired of remain- 
ing in inaction near Raine’s Islet, got permission to 
accompany her, and were kindly and_hospitably 
entertained by Lieut. Yule and his officers, for more 
than a month on board of her. 

August 20, 1844.—We landed on Cape York 
Island, a small rocky hill, not quite 300 feet high, 
steep and nearly conical, separated from the land 
by a narrow boat passage merely. On its northern 


* An account of this beacon will be found in the abstract of 
the voyage in the appendix. 


NATIVE TOMBS. 137 


side, about fifty feet from the sea, we found a native 
grave, on the brow of a small precipice. It con- 
sisted of a pile of skulls and bones, chiefly of turtle, 
but with a few that had belonged to a dugong. 
Most of the bones were very old, but some of those 
of the turtle were almost fresh, the shell still 
adhering to them. The pile was six feet long, four 
feet wide, and three feet high. It was surrounded by 
slabs of stone, and from the centre of it protruded 
a piece of bamboo about five feet long. Similar 


graves were found at one or two other points on 
this island, and one on a little bushy islet some 
miles to the eastward. ‘This one, however, was in 
a peculiarly picturesque and appropriate situation, 
a bleak and desolate spot, overhanging the sea, and 
well adapted for solemn and mournful reflections. 


138 CAPE YORK. 


Mr. Macgillivray afterwards examined the inside 
of the pile, and found human bones belonging to 
more than one individual, but no complete skeleton, 
nor even an entire skull. 

Immediately south of Cape York Island the land 
rises into a pretty-sharply-peaked hill, called Bremer 
Peak, which is 420 feet high. Immediately to the 
eastward of this is a shallow recess or bay, with a 
small rocky patch above water in the centre of it, 
about a mile from the shore. The bay is surrounded 
by a flat sandy beach, at the back of which is a belt 
of jungle composed of many kinds of broad-leaved 
trees, and one or two species of palm. Behind this 


EVANS’S BAY. 139 


is a small woodland, of the usual gum forest of the 
country, the trees scattered, and the ground covered 
with long grass. Some rocky hills, about 300 feet 
in height, rise a little distance from the shore, one 
ridge of which comes almost down to the beach, but 
other portions fall back, leaving pleasant grassy 
flats between them and the sea. Everywhere, at 
the back of the beach, excellent fresh water was 
procured by making a hole in the ground. This is 
especially the case at the eastern end of the beach, 
a quarter of a mile behind which are some fresh- 
water pools draining into a small mangrove swamp. 
This mangrove swamp continues all along the next 
small bay to the eastward, which is shoal and 
muddy. In the fresh-water pools were some fresh- 
water fish of full growth, proving their constant 
character. From the sandy beach, the water deepens 
out to sea very gradually, so that vessels are obliged 
to anchor about a mile from the shore; the sea, 
however, is always smooth, and there is no surf on 
the beach, except in the rare occurrence of a gale 
from the northward. We visited this bay, which 
received the name of Evans’s Bay from the master 
of the Fly, in the months of August, September, 
February, and June, during the years 1844 and 
1845, and were never without pleasant and refresh- 
ing showers, and a fine fresh sea breeze during the 
day, and frequently throughout the night. At our 
first visit the natives avoided us, though from lights 


being seen moving ashore during the night, they 
were evidently present. 


140 BUNDLE OF BONES. 


On February 14th, 1845, as we stood in for the 
anchorage in our return from Java, the wind being 
very light, the Midge was sent a-head, with orders 
to moor her little boat at the edge of the four 
fathom line of sounding as a buoy, to guide us to 
the anchorage. As we rounded Cape York Island, 
we saw a canoe with four natives alongside of this 
little boat, rifling her of her contents; and after 
setting up her anchor, they put two men into her 
and paddled both canoe and dinghy to the shore. 
As we were moving very slowly through the water, 
and they were at least a mile off, we had no chance 
of intercepting them but by a shot. One accord- 
ingly was fired from one of our long guns, which, 
falling in the water somewhat near them, caused 
the two natives to spring into the water out of our 
boat and make for their own, in which they got 
ashore and dispersed. A small hut then occupied 
the centre of the beach, made of a low tunnel- 
shaped frame of sticks, 15 feet long, 4 feet wide, 
and about 3 feet high in the middle, covered with 
sheets of bark. Inside were some bundles of 
bark, containing the bones of a human body, with 
the flesh still adhering to the extremities. These 
were at first only cursorily examined and left; and 
at our next visit to the shore all had been removed. 
The custom of carrying the body of deceased rela- 
tions till the flesh drops off and they become dry and 
clean, appears to prevail here also as well as in 
other parts of Australia. It 1s probable that, in 
this neighbourhood, the bones are subsequently 


INTERVIEW WITN NATIVES. 141 


deposited on the ground, and covered with a cairn 
of turtles and dugong’s bones or other material. 
For two days after the above occurrence, the 
watering party ashore saw no signs of natives, when 
suddenly one morning a party of sixteen or twenty 
were observed coming along the beach from the 
direction of Mount Bremer. As I happened to be 
present, I will describe the first interview, both as 
illustrating their manners, and as a guide for any 
one who, being a stranger to the people, may be 
placed in similar circumstances. The principal 
part of the watering party were gone aboard to 
breakfast, leaving only Lieut. Risk and Mr. Harvey, 
with two marines at the tent, and Lieut. Yule and 
myself, who had gone ashore to bathe. The 
natives advanced in a rapid and tumultuary manner, 
as if with hostile intentions, and we consequently 
each took a musket and went to meet them. 
Arrived within about 200 yards of us, they halted, 
and on our approaching nearer, made signs of dis- 
approbation, and retired to the edge of the jungle. 
I accordingly advanced alone, telling Risk and 
Yule, I would throw myself down on the ground, if 
I saw occasion, when they were to fire over me. 
On getting within about fifty yards of them, | laid 
down my musket and advanced with extended arms.* 


* On such an occasion as this, a pair of small pistols con- 
cealed about the person, while it does not diminish the confi- 
dence of the natives in his good intentions, adds materially to 
the confidence of the person who is making the experiment on 
their’s: 


142 CHARACTER OF NATIVES. 


Seeing several with spears, I halted, and signed 
that they should throw them away, which they 
immediately complied with, and on my coming up 
to them, four stepped forward and embraced me, 
laughing, dancing, and yelling. Yule and Harvey 
then gradually came up, and brought me my musket, 
and also some biscuit and presents for the natives, 
and we were immediately excellent friends. We 
then drew a mark on the sand, and signed to them 
that they were not to come within that towards the _ 
tent: this they immediately understood and com- 
plied with. 

They remained about us during our stay, but never 
gave us any trouble. While shooting alone at the 
back of the bay, I one day fell in with six or eight 
of them, who did not offer me the least molestation. 

The Prince George, a small cutter of eighty tons, 
then one of our tenders, watered here afterwards, and 
though the natives were superior to them in number 
they gave no trouble, but on the contrary, assisted 
in rolling off the water-casks, and in other ways. 

These people, however, were not the permanent 
inhabitants of the place, but belonged, I think, to the 
islands on the north side of Endeavour Strait. 
Mr. Millery, then clerk of the Fly, devoted himself 
particularly to collecting a vocabulary of the lan- 
guage of the people of Torres Strait, and collected 
about fifty of the words of this party. These people 
were sufficiently ugly, and in person, not very dif- 
ferent from the Australians. Their hair, however, 
was frizzly or ‘ tufted,” which the hair of the true 


ANOTHER PARTY. 143 


Australian never is. They wore wigs, which we 
never observed among the Australians, and were 
also but little scarred. 

In the beginning of June 1845, we found another 
party of natives in this bay, quietly occupying it as if 
they were at home. They were only five in number, 
and different in aspect and character from the 
former party. These five men had a more lanky build 
than the others, their hair was diffused and curly, 
and they precisely resembled the people of other 
parts of the continent. Out of fifteen words which | 
collected from them, eight or nine were different 
from the words got for the same objects from the 
former party. 

On the beach of Cape York, I found a few small 
shells of the genus oliva, being the first time I had 
met with that genus alive; and also an abundance 
of comatule. These latter animals, so interesting to 
the geologist, on account of their affinity to the en- 
crinite, were of three or four species. The largest 
were of a dark wine colour, almost black, and 
were sometimes so large as nearly to fill the in- 
side of a man’s hat. At low water they were found 
in great numbers on the shallow sandy flats in a few 
inches of water, and were then mostly in a con- 
tracted state, with their arms curved inwards like a 
ball. Their movement of the arms was sufficiently 
rapid and energetic, but they seemed to trust prin- 
cipally to the current of the water for their motion 
from place to place. 


144 HABITS OF LINGULA. 


J had much difficulty in drying and preserving 
those I had hitherto collected, as the slightest touch, 
or even their own struggles, were sufficient to detach 
their limbs soon after they were taken out of the 
water. I succeeded now by taking with me a 
bucket of fresh water and a number of pieces of 
cotton cloth, in one of which I immediately wrapped 
each specimen loosely on taking it up, and then 
plunged it in fresh water. On getting on board, 
after they had been soaked for two or three hours, 
they were taken out and suffered to drain till nearly 
dry, then re-soaked for a short time, and afterwards 
had poured over them a saturated solution of corro- 
sive sublimate im camphorated spirits of wine. 
They then easily dried, and remained pretty firm 
afterwards. A similar plan should be adopted with 
ophiura, euryalus, delicate asterias, and almost all 
the echinodermata. I procured also from a muddy 
bay, to the east of Evans’ Bay, a number of the 
genus lingula, alive. The shells lay buried in a 
close unctuous mud, two or three inches deep. They 
were always in a vertical position, with the beak 
downwards. ‘The fleshy or gelatinous pedicle which 
passed from between the beaks was five or six times 
as long as the shell, and passed down into the mud, 
ending in a thickened knob. These pedicles did 
not appear to be attached to anything. On pulling 
at the shell a slight resistance was felt, but not more 
than would be caused by the knob being drawn 
through the narrower hole in which the pedicle lies. 


GOOD SITE FOR A POST. 145 


I have been rather particular in describing the 
little bay east of Mount Bremer, because it seems 
to me very well adapted for the station of a small 
post which, ere long, must, I think, be established 
in this neighbourhood. To the advantages of 
abundant wood and water, safe anchorage, an 
agreeably undulated and sufficiently elevated surface, 
whether for healthy residence, or the establishment 
of signal posts and look-out stations, it adds that of 
having a strip of very fertile soil immediately behind 
the beach, now occupied by a jungle, but well 
adapted for a garden, and two or three grassy plains 
on one side of it, surrounded by steep little rocky 
hills, and admirably adapted for horse and cattle 
_paddocks. ‘To the west of Mount Bremer, between 
it and Endeavour Strait, there are also some small 
plains between the hills and the sea. These lie 
between Mount Bremer and Peaked Hill, which is 
540 feet high, and are five or six miles long, by one 
or two in breadth. ‘Tall green grass covered these 
plains in the month of June, the driest season of 
the year, and water was to be had in the gullies. 
There is, therefore, abundant means for the support 
of a small party, similar to that which has been for 
some years posted at Port Essington. I shall, 
however, return to this subject, and therefore dismiss 
it for the present. 

The Possession Islands, in the mouth of Endeavour 
Strait, and the larger islands to the northward, are 
all rocky and barren, with here and there small 

VOL. I. L 


14.6 POSSESSION ISLANDS. 


fertile and cultivatable spots. They are by no 
means deficient in beauty, being of varied and 
undulating surface, with lofty peaks and ridges, and 
sheltered valleys, but they seem to be mostly desti- 
tute of water, except in the rainy season; and their 
inhabitants are few and scattered. We had one or 
two interviews with them while surveying Endeavour 
Strait in the Bramble, and they were always peace- 
able and well disposed, and appeared to have com- 
municated with Europeans before. 

On one of the smallest of the Possession Islands 
Mr. Macgillivray shot a brace of those curious birds, 
the Megapodius tumulus of Gould, and we ex- 
amined one or two of their mounds. One of them 
we opened, and are thus able to corroborate the 
singular account given by Mr. Gilbert,* in Gould’s 
Birds of Australia. 

There were two large mounds just inside a narrow 
belt of mangroves, at the back of the beach. The 
largest was apparently an old one. Its figure was 
an irregular truncated cone on an oblong base, which 
measured 150 feet in circumference. ‘The slope of 
its sides measured from eighteen to twenty-four feet, 
its perpendicular height being ten or twelve feet. 
On the top was a slight hollow, and it rested on 


* | cannot mention the name of this gentleman without saying 
how much I, in common with all who knew him, regretted his 
unfortunate death. About this time (August, 1844) he set out 
with Dr. Leichardt from Sydney, and was killed by the natives 
on the borders of the Gulf of Carpentaria. 


MEGAPODIUS MOUNDS. 147 


rather uneven ground. It seemed to be composed 
of earth and fragments of coral, of which large quan- 
tities were lying on the beach on one side of it. Its 
lower portions spread over the roots of several old 
trees, which were now growing through it. Near 
the top of the hill, 200 or 300 yards from the beach, 
and 60 or 80 feet above it, was another mound, 
smaller, but apparently newer and more perfect. 
This was a pretty regular cone, on a circular base, 
the circumference of which was seventy-seven feet. 
It was about eight feet high, the slope of its side 
measuring about fourteen. The top was flattened, 
and about three feet in diameter. ‘This had like- 
wise begun to encroach on one or two neighbouring 
trees, of which it had buried the stem to the height 
of one or two feet. Externally, it seemed to be 
composed of loose earth and fragments of stone, 
mixed with pieces of stick. Many of the stones 


were as large as the first. We began digging into 


it about two-thirds of the way up on one side, but 
found the interior so firmly compacted together 
with sticks and stones and roots of trees, that it was 
no easy task, and after working for two or three 
hours, were obliged to get two men to assist us. 
With their help, we at last cleared off three or four 
feet of earth and got into the interior, where we 
dug down, and presently came upon a broken egg. 
This was an old ‘one, the yolk being partly con- 
solidated and rotten. We then turned up several 
spots full of fragments of egg-shells, and then 
L2 


148 EGGS IN THE MOUNDS. 


another half-egg, which contained several fragments 
of bones, the young one having died before it was 
quite hatched. We then took to our hands, and by 
groping into a soft spot, we succeeded in finding a 
perfect egg. This, however, was addled. This egg 
is very large for the size of the bird. Its length was 
31 inches, its width, in the centre, 24 inches; its 
circumference, lengthwise, was 84 inches, and across, 
62 inches. Its form was squarish, its colour white, 
covered with athin, brittle, cream-coloured epidermis. 
It was firmly bedded in the earth, which just around 
it was devoid of sticks or stones. We could per- 
ceive no additional temperature in the centre of the 
mound, the soil feeling cooler to the hand than that 
on the surface in the shade of the trees.* 

These megapodius mounds were very abundant in 
the islands about Endeavour Strait and round 
Cape York, as well as on the neighbouring main- 
land. They did not appear, however, to extend to 
the islands of the centre of Torres Strait, but they 
are abundant at Port Essington, and occur down 
the North-east coast as far, I believe, as Cape 
Hillsborough, in lat. 21°. 

During the survey of Endeavour Strait, we landed 
at what is called in the Admiralty Chart, Port 
Lihou, in search of water, which was said in the 
chart to occur there. Captain Lihou examined it 

* The reader who wishes for further information on the singular 
habits of these birds, is referred to the plate and description in 
one of the numbers of Gould’s splendid work on the birds of 
Australia. 


PORT LIHOU.. 149 


during the N.W. monsoon, when water is everywhere 
abundant, and with the wind to the N.W., it would 
be no doubt a sufficiently good anchorage. It is, 
however, but a shallow bight encumbered by rocks 
and shoals, with no shelter from the S.E. trade 
wind nearer than the main land opposite, and we 
failed to discover any water; though in the May 
of the following year, the Midge procured there 
sufficient for her wants. Near the beach, in the 
centre of the bight, we found a singular native 
tomb, apparently quite recent. 


Round a central mound of sand, there had been 
a broad ditch or hollow scooped out, and swept 
quite clean for several yards in width. The mound 
was of a quadrangular form, eight feet long, four 
feet wide, and three feet high. A stout post stood 


150 NATIVE TOMB. 


upright at each corner, and the sides were orna- 
mented by rows of the ribs of the dugong placed 
regularly along them. Between the two posts, 
near the sea, a long stick had been inserted, orna- 
mented with feathers and streamers of grass, and 
fastened to the post by other cross sticks similarly 
ornamented. On each post was either a large 
shell or the skull of a dugong, and on the grave 
were several other dugongs’ skulls, and shells of the 
nautilus pompilius. All these, as well as the posts, 
were smeared with red ochre. We were careful not 
to disturb or leave any other trace of our presence 
than our foot-prints in the sand around, which it 
would have given us too much trouble to erase. 

The whole of Endeavour Strait seemed perfectly 
safe for shipping, except in one or two places near 
the shore. The only coral reefs were a few small 
fringing reefs close to the islands, which are gene- 
rally bold and rocky. The tides are very strong, and 
the western entrance of the Strait is encumbered by 
very large sand-banks, through which, however, 
there is now a safe and direct passage surveyed, with 
never less than four fathoms water at the lowest 
spring tides. 

In February, 1845, we entered from the west- 
ward, and got very safe anchorage under Bramble 
Island, while the wind was blowing strongly from 
the westward. We lay there two days, during 
which [I accompanied Captain Blackwood and 
Lieut. Ince on a boat excursion up an unexplored 


WOLF’S BAY CHANNEL. 15] 


channel to the northward. It led out into ‘ Wolf 
Bay” of the Admiralty chart, and divided the land 
thereabouts into several small islands, the channels 
between which were often a mile in breadth, with 
four fathoms water. Shoal parts were seen here and 
there; but for small vessels there was abundance 
of the most sheltered and land-locked harbourage. 
Water also was abundant during the N.W. mon- 
soon; but in the dry season of the year would 
probably be deficient. We fell in with a large party 
of natives, whose canoes were the finest and largest 
we had yet seen, precisely resembling those we 
afterwards saw among the islands to the north-east. 
The natives were perfectly friendly; and during 
our absence, another party visited the ship with 
tortoise-shell and other things, which they offered 
in barter, and conducted themselves in the most 
peaceable manner. 

From February to June 1845, we were engaged 
in surveying the northern and eastern parts of Torres 
Strait. We had come from Java with the N.W. 
monsoon, which commenced there in November or 
December. In Torres Strait we found the weather 
variable. ‘The S.E. trade wind would sometimes 
blow for several days together, succeeded by a wind 
from the N.W. With both winds we had much fair 
weather, and both varied in strength from a light 
air to a stiff breeze. We had, however, two heavy 
breezes, amounting to gales, from the N.W., with 
very heavy rain, and thunder and lightning. They 


¥52 NORTH-WEST MONSOON. 


lasted in each case several days. The heaviest gale 
was in the beginning of March, and it was succeeded 
by fair weather, and light north-westerly winds, 
which on the 20th of that month* drew round to 
the east and south-east, from which quarter they 
continued to blow during the rest of our stay. 
The S.E. trade blows lightly at first, during the 
month of April, and increases in general strength 
till June, during which month and July it often 
blows very strongly, and then gradually fails again 
in September, into a gentle breeze. At what time 
the N.W. monsoon begins in Torres Strait is as yet 
unknown, but probably from the end of October to 
the middle of March, the weather is uncertain 
and the winds variable, shifting from S.E. to N.W. 
with much pleasant weather, but with occasional 
tempests from the latter quarter. 

A detailed account of all the small islands scat- 
tered through Torres Strait, would be too tedious ; 
I shall therefore sketch out merely their principal 
features, and then proceed to those which are the 
most interesting, namely, those in the neighbour- 
hood of Erroob or Darnley Island. 

If we take Endeavour Strait, Cape York, and 
Mount Adolphus, as a base, all the islands which 
stretch across the Strait to the northward of them 
have one common character. They are all steep 


* Captain King, in his voyage, had the last of the N.W. mon- 
saon on March 26th, between Cape Arnheim and Port Essington. 
—King’s Voyages, vol. I. p. 61. 


STRUCTURE OF ISLANDS. 156 


and rocky, and many of them as much as 500 or 
600 feet in height. The rocks of the mainland 
and the islands immediately adjacent, are all por- 
phyritic, like those described as composing Mount 
Adolphus. Porphyry, sienite,* and siliceous schists, 
or compact feldspar, compose all the other islands 
which I visited, or of which I was able to pro- 
cure specimens. ‘These islands are in fact merely 
the submarine prolongation of the great mountain 
chain of the eastern coast of Australia. ‘This 
chain runs from Van Diemen’s Land, through 
Bass’s Strait into the colony of New South Wales, 
which it traverses throughout, at a mean dis- 
tance of 70 or 80 miles from the sea. It extends 
along the whole of the North-east coast, where its 
loftiest and most massive portion is between Cape 
Upstart and Cape Melville. From that point its 
mean height gradually decreases to Cape York, 
where the hills are only 400 or 500 feet in height, 
and then sinking below the sea, its highest pinnacles 
only are seen, forming the islands of Torres Strait, 
from Cape York Island to Mount Cornwallis, on 
the coast of New Guinea. 

In this central north and south band of Torres 
Strait there are no independent coral reefs. The 
coral only occurs in small fringes round the islands. 
The bottom is either mud or fine sand, and there is 
a remarkable uniformity of depth, which scarcely 


* Cap Island has been erroneously supposed to be volcanic, 
it is a bare mass of sienite. 


154 SMALL VOLCANIC GROUP. 


varies from ten fathoms by more than a fathom or 
two over the whole distance from the coast of 
Australia to that of New Guinea. The north-west 
portion of this band of islands has not yet been 
examined; but north of Banks’s Islands and Mul- 
grave Islands there appears to be a large patch of 
true coral reefs in which the Hormuzeex and Ches- 
terfield got entangled in 1798. The eastern limit 
of this central band, however, is very well defined 
by a line running a little east of north from Mount 
Adolphus, and just east of Harvey’s Rock, Saddle 
Island, and Turtle-backed Island. To the east of 
this line there are no islands in which any such rock 
as porphyry or sienite occurs; but all are low coral 
islands, scarcely raised above the sea; and multi- 
tudes of true Independent coral reefs of great extent 
are scattered about with considerable apparent irre- 
gularity. Having traversed these for sixty miles 
towards the east, we again come to a few high and 
rocky islands, namely, the three Murray Islands 
and Erroob or Darnley Island. These, however, 
are volcanic islands, consisting principally of lava. 
Another low island to the north of these, called 
Bramble Key, or Caedha, has likewise a patch of 
volcanic rock in its centre, and another not far 
from it. 

Of the rocky islands occurring in the central 
north and south band of Torres Strait, some are 
inhabited and some not, or only occasionally so. 
All those permanently inhabited, and at a distance 


MOUNT ERNEST ISLAND. 155 


of thirty or more miles from the Australian coast, 
have cocoa-nuts upon them. Captain Blackwood 
landed upon Mount Ernest (807 feet high), and 
found a group of huts much superior to any we ever 
saw in Australia, a small grove of cocoa-nuts, and 
another of large bamboos. ‘The natives did not 
shew themselves till after he left the island; and 
though he spent a night on it, he did not suspect 
their presence at the time. In the huts were found 
parcels of human bones, ornamented with red ochre, 
a mask or hideous face made of wood and orna- 
mented with the feathers of some struthious bird, 
and one or two bundles of small wooden tubes, eight 
inches long and half an inch in diameter, the use of 
which we never could discover. The feathers, so 
abundantly used as ornaments on their canoes and 
other articles by all these islanders, were at first 
taken by us for emu feathers, as a matter of course, 
and supposed to be procured from the main land of 
Australia. I was afterwards, however, induced to 
doubt the correctness of that supposition; and on 
comparing them (in company with my friend Mr. 
George Bennett of Sydney,*) with the feathers of 
the emu, in the Sydney Museum of Natural His- 
tory, we found them to be totally distinct from any 
emu feathers. ‘They are probably, therefore, fea- 
thers of the cassowary or some similar bird, and are 
derived from New Guinea instead of Australia. 

On Turtle-backed Island we found a few small 


* Author of ‘* Wanderings in New South Wales.” 


156 SIGNS OF CULTIVATION. 


groves of cocoa-nut trees near a group of huts, with 
a little thicket of bamboo; and near the centre of 
the island, following a little path through a matted 
wood, rendered impervious by creepers, we came 
one day on the first symptoms of cultivation of the 
ground we had ever seen among the aborigines 
of this part of the world. ‘This was a little circular 
plot of ground, not more than four or five yards 
in diameter; but it had evidently been dug, though 
in arude manner, and in it were set several young 
plantain-trees, one or two other plants, and two 
trailing plants, somewhat like French beans in ap- 
pearance, which we afterwards found were a kind of 
yam. ‘The huts on this island had the appearance 
of a first attempt at a house, having side walls about 
two feet high, and a gable-shaped roof rising four 
feet from the ground. ‘They were about ten feet 
long and six feet wide, made principally of bam- 
boo, and thatched with grass and leaves. They 
stood in a picturesque little spot, backed by some 
huge blocks of sienite, on which some large shells 
were arranged. About fifty yards from them, under 
some widely-spreading, thick-leaved trees, with 
gnarled trunks and twisted boughs, were some great 
blocks of sienite, resting fantastically one upon the 
other, that, with the dark shade of the grove, put us 
in mind of the old traditions respecting the worship 
of the Druids. 

In all the wood that spread over the island, there 
did not appear to be a single gum-tree: the trees 


MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 157 


were widely branched, low and umbrageous, and 
matted with underwood and creepers. The whole 
aspect of the vegetation was totally different from 
that of Australia. 

While we were in this neighbourhood, about the 
end of February, great flocks of the bea-eater, which 
is common in Australia (merops ornatus), were 
continually passing to the northward. The white 
pigeons, also (Carpophaga luctuosa), were going in 
the same direction in numerous small flocks, and in 
March all the pigeons left in the islands were young 
ones. The bee-eaters go as far to the southward as 
Sydney during the summer of New South Wales, 
but we never saw the white pigeons much to the 
southward of Torres Strait. In September, 1844, 
they were coming thickly from the northward to 
Endeavour Strait, and they seem to return in 
March. What can be the reason of this migration ? 
In these latitudes it is evident that mere temperature 
cannot be the cause of it, although the variation 
of the seasons for different fruits or insects may. | 
had afterwards strong reasons for suspecting that 
even on the opposite sides of so small a space as 
Torres Strait, not more than 120 miles, the seasons 
are totally different: that the wet season prevails in 
New Guinea between March and October, which, on 
the north of Australia, is the driest part of the year ; 
while from October to March, when most rain falls 
in Australia, it is probable that the south coast of 
New Guinea has its driest weather. 


CHAPTER VIL. 


ISLAND OF OOMAGA—INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES—DAMOOD 
— INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES—THEIR HOUSES, GARDENS, 
WATER-HOLES — CURIOUS PIPE—MASSEED — INTERVIEW 
WITH NATIVES— OLD GARIA—HOUSES—CURIOUS CARVING 
OF BIRD AND FISH—DARNLEY ISLAND, OR ERROOB—ITS 
ASPECT— INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES — THEIR HOUSES, 
GARDENS, TORTOISE-SHELL MASKS, WIGS, BOWS AND 
ARROWS, DRUM, IMAGES, YAMS, TOBACCO, SUGAR-CANE 
—WALK OVER THE ISLAND-—ITS VOLCANIC ORIGIN— 
HEIGHT BY BAROMETRIC MEASUREMENT—NUMERALS USED 


BY THE PEOPLE. 


March 17, 1845. —We landed on a little island 
about four miles north of Masseed. This was a flat 
island, about a third of a mile long, with an exten- 


sive coral reef on its eastern side. Piercing through 


the little belt of dense scrub which intervened 
between the beach and the wood, we got among a 
grove of lofty forest trees, with spreading boughs 
and leafy branches, affording a most agreeable shade. 
This wood formed a striking contrast to the hot, 
dry, shadeless gum-tree forests of Australia. A 
great number of white pigeons had bred in these 
trees, and the young ones were still lingering about 


them, although all the old ones seemed to have dis-: 


appeared. I found also a species of helix, first ob- 


a en ae 


OOMAGA ISLAND. 159 


served at Turtle-backed Island, but which lay here 
in considerable quantities under the dead leaves and 
branches. 

Soon after we had landed, one of the boat’s crew 
came running to me to tell me the natives were 
coming to the island in canoes, and as this was the 
first. time we had met the islanders (except at 
Murray Island, in 1843), we assembled on the beach 
to receive them. Only one canoe came to us, in 
which were three men and three boys. ‘They ap- 
proached us, unarmed, with the utmost confidence, 
one man holding a cocoa-nut in one hand and a 
green bough in the other. They all shouted ‘ Poud, 
poud, poud Masseed !” meaning ‘ Peace! peace with 
Masseed!’ They were a well-made, fine-looking 
people, of a different type from the Australians, with 
muscular limbs and frizzled hair. ‘They had the 
oval epaulet-like mark on the shoulders, but no 
other scars. Their hair was dressed into long, 
narrow, pipe-like curls, smeared with red ochre and - 
grease, and they wore a band round the forehead. 
One old man, who informed us his name was Garia, 
had a black wig dressed like their hair, but his 
beard and whiskers were nearly all grey. They 
understood the words we had picked up at Cape 
York, and they knew three English words, ‘‘ water,” 
“knife” (pronounced ‘‘nipa”), and “ ship,” which 
they called ‘‘shippo:” these they had probably 
learnt from whalers. ‘They seemed fond of smoking. 
Their canoes resembled those we had seen in 


160 OLD GARIA SHAVED. 


Endeavour Strait, but larger and more orna- 
mented. 

They asked for ‘‘tooree” (iron), but on our say- 
ing we had none ashore, and pointing to the ship, 
they went off to her in their canoe ; one man remain- 
ing with us by himself, and going off in the whale- 
boat, shewing their perfect confidence in our good 
intentions. On board they made themselves quite 
at home. Old Garia requested to have his grey 
whiskers shaved off. They sat with us at dinner in 
the gun-room, eating biscuit, but would not touch 
pork, as they evidently seemed puzzled to make out 
what it could possibly be. Having no large land 
animals of their own, we were not quite sure they 
did not suspect it to be man’s flesh. They informed 
us the name of the small island near which we were 
was Oomaga, and gave us the names of the other 
islands in sight, which agreed in the main with those 
assigned to them by Mr. Lewis in the journal of his 
search for the survivors of the Charles EKaton.— 
(See Nautical Magazine for 1835). 

March 21.—We anchored near Dalrymple Island, 
which the natives call Damood.* A canoe, with four- 
teen men in it, pushed off from the island ; but as Capt. 
Blackwood, with Mr. Melville and myself, were going 
ashore in the first gig, we met them, and they went 
back with us. On exchanging shouts of “ poud! 
poud!” and waving green boughs, we immediately 


* The names of Tood and Damood, as given in Captain King’s 
chart of Mr. Lewis’s track, ought to be transposed. 


FORM OF THE HUTS. 161 


became good friends. It was high water, and we 
passed over the reef in our boat, and landed close 
toa large group of huts. Ten men waited to receive 
us here, two or three elderly women crawling off into 
the bush, where the younger women and children 
had previously hidden themselves. The men received 
us most cordially, though with much clamour and 
gesticulation; and the others having landed from 
the canoe, led us between the huts to a clear 
open space at the back of them, shaded by cocoa- 
nuts and other trees, and which seemed the place 
of public meeting of the village. 

The huts were by far the neatest and_ best 
erections of the kind we had yet seen. Each one 
occupied a quadrangular space, six to eight feet 
wide, and from ten to fifteen feet long. They had 
gable-shaped roofs, eight feet high in the centre, 
and sloping on each side nearly to the ground. 
The frame of the house was made of bamboo, and 
thickly covered or thatched with grass and palm- 
leaves ; the front and back walls were also made of 
small bamboo sticks, upright and fastened close 
together, the front wall having a small triangular 
opening for a door, over which hung loose strips of 
palm leaf. The door looked into a litile court- 
yard, of about ten feet square, in front of the house, 
strongly fenced with stout posts and stakes, inter- 
laced with palm leaves and young bamboos, and 
accessible only by a very narrow opening between 


two of the strongest posts. In this court-yard was 
VOL. I. M 


162 WELL-MADE MATS. 


the cooking fire. The different huts and fences were 
rather irregularly disposed, but placed closely to- 
gether, so as to leave only narrow winding passages 
between them. They occupied a space fifty or 
sixty yards long, by ten or fifteen broad. Behind 
them was the open place of meeting, on the other 
side of which, against an old tree, was a semicircular 
pile or wall of dugongs’ skulls about three feet high, 
many of which were quite fresh, but others rotting 
with age; in the middle of this was a conical heap 
of turtles’ skulls in a similar state. ‘There must 
altogether have been some hundreds of skulls of each 
kind of animal. 

When they had conducted us into this open 
space, several of them seated themselves on small 
well-made mats, like those used by the Malay 
nations ; and two or three went and brought a large 
roll of matting, at least 12 feet by 6, which they 
spread for us to sit down on. These really well- 
made fabrics greatly surprised us, after being 
accustomed to the non-manufacturing Austra- 
lians. They then brought us young cocoa-nuts, 
tortoise-shell, and ornaments, and a great barter 
commenced. ‘They gave us cocoa-nut water, without 
waiting to receive anything for it, but for the other 
things they would only accept tobacco and iron 
implements, paying no regard to our beads and 
gaudy handkerchiefs. ‘They brought us two small 
bananas or plantains, but we could not see the 
trees on which they grew. ‘They suffered Captain 


SS Se ee See eee eee 


ONE CURIOUS BUILDING. 163 


Blackwood and myself to stroll about the huts — 
unattended, while they bartered with the boat’s crew. 
We found in the court-yard of one hut, a ship’s 
cabin-door, painted green, and not very old; in 
another, a quaker gun, set upright in the ground, 
and the men said they saw pieces of ‘ Queen’s 
line” among them. They had used pieces of iron 
hoops, and a long iron spike, to open the cocoa- 
nuts, but these they might have procured from 
passing vessels. The door and the wooden gun, 
however, must have come from a wreck. 

At the south end of the huts we came to a building 
much superior to, and different from, any of the 
rest. It was like a Malay house unfinished, or 
one of their own smaller huts raised on posts to 
a height of six or seven feet. The point of the 
gable was at least fifteen feet from the ground, the 
roof being supported at each end by two stout posts, 
about a yard apart, having their tops ornamented 
by carved grotesque faces, painted red, white, and 
black, with much carving and painting below. 
The lower part, or ground-floor, of this building 
was open all round, except at one end, where a 
broad, rudely-constructed staircase led to a platform, 
from which went the entrance to the upper story : 
this was floored with stout sticks, and at this end 
covered with mats; this part was also partitioned 
off from the other by a bamboo screen. Under the 
roof hung old cocoa-nuts, green boughs, and other 
similar things, but nothing to give a decided clue 

M 2 


164 WALK ACROSS ISLAND. 


to the object of the building. Whether this was 
their temple, their place for depositing the dead, or 
a chief’s house, we could not make out. We, how- 
ever, saw no appearance of any chief, or of one man 
exercising authority among them, neither could we 
discover any traces of religious belief or observ- 
ance.* 

We now struck off for a walk across the island, 
one of the natives coming with us as a guide. 
Many narrow paths crossed in all directions, among 
shrubs and bushes, some of which resembled laurels 
and myrtles, in their leaves and modes of growth. 
Groves of lofty forest trees occurred here and there, 
with matted creepers and thick jungle. Several 
trailing briars, with thorns like the European 
bramble, were observed ; and, in short, the whole 
vegetation had a totally different aspect from that 
of Australia, and a much greater resemblance to 
that of Europe or Asia. Our native conducted 
us to some water- holes, which he seemed to think 
were the object of our search, frequently repeating 
“water, water,” which he pronounced very well. 
These water-holes were large irregular excavations 
in the sand, fully ten feet deep, and near the middle 
of the island. At the bottom of each excavation 


* This house resembled the smaller houses we afterwards saw 
in New Guinea, and it may have been erected merely in imitation 
of those the islanders have seen in that country. We afterwards 
saw, on Masseed, a solitary house like those of Darnley and 

Murray Islands. 


NATIVE PIPE. 165 


was a little hole containing a few inches of fresh 
water, carefully covered from the sun by sticks and 
lumps of wood. We passed several spots which 
seemed to have been partially cleared and under- 
gone some cultivation, in which were long kidney- 
bean-like plants climbing up sticks. We afterwards 
discovered these were “ ketai” plants, a kind of yam. 
Seeing some white pigeons, we explained to the 
native what we were going to do, and went after 
them, and he seemed greatly surprised and de- 
lighted at seeing them brought down on the wing. 
On returning to the huts we purchased all the cocoa- 
nuts they could spare to take on board. On giving 
aman a cigar he begged from me, he took up what 
I had previously imagined a musical instrument, 
which I now found however to be a pipe. This 


was a piece of bamboo, about two feet long, and 
two inches in diameter; it was partly open at one 
end, and had a small lateral hole, near the other 
extremity. Into'this lateral hole he fixed a hollow 
conical piece of wood for a bowl, making it air-tight 
by wrapping a leaf round it, and then sticking the 
cigar into it, and lighting it, he applied his mouth 
to the large orifice at the other end of the bamboo, 


166 VISIT MASSEED. 


and commenced sucking. No smoke coming out, 

I took the cigar from the bowl, and told him he had 

better put it into his mouth at once. I found, how- 

ever, I was quite wrong, so re-fixing the cigar, he 
recontinued sucking until he had filled the bamboo 

full of smoke, then removing the bowl, and keeping 

his hand loosely over the larger orifice, he sucked 
back the smoke from the small hole, and having 
taken a draught of smoke himself, and swallowed it, 

he passed the bamboo to his neighbours, who fol- 
lowed his example. 

This proceeding seemed to me not a little curious, 
but we had then no time to stay to examine farther, 
and taking an affectionate farewell of our native 
friends we returned to the ship. | 

March 22.—We were to-day again anchored 
near Oomaga, and Captain Blackwood, with Mr. 
Sullivan and myself, went in the cutter to visit 
Masseed, while a large canoe with seventeen people, 
among whom were several women, came from that 
island to the ship. 

We landed first of all on the south end of a Tittle 
island, called Cudal, where we met Garia, the old 
fellow who had been on board the other day with 
two boys his sons, and two women, and another 
man. ‘They received us very frankly: the women 
also came up to us after a little persuasion. The 
latter had their frizzled hair closely cropped all 
over, except a ridge about half an inch high, run- 
ning from one ear to the other, over the crown of 
the head. 


WOMEN OF MASSEED. 167 


We found Cudal a mere strip of sand, on the 
same reef as Masseed, and connected to it by a 
bank, dry at half tide. Garia was very eager for 
us to go to Masseed, and got into the cutter with 
his two sons, to pilot us over the reef, sending the 
women and other man to wade across. We found 
the reef so shoal, that as the tide was falling we 
could not venture so far upon it as to get the boat 
aground, so taking off our jackets, and holding them 
with our guns over our heads, we waded ashore. 
We found several women and children waiting for 
us at a group of huts, exactly resembling those 
of Damood, to which Garia pointed, and said, 
he had seen the ship go there. The women were 
no great beauties, being middle aged, with closely 
cropped hair, and breasts flat, skinny, and pendu- 
lous. ‘They were, however, decently clothed, with 
a sort of petticoat of leaves, reaching from the waist 
to the knee. They carried their younger children, like 
the Malays, astride across the hip, and seemed still 
to be suckling several, who appeared three or four 
years old. 

We then went for a walk along the south side of 
the island, old Garia accompanying us. About 
half a mile from the village, we came to a single 
hut, of a different shape from any we had yet 
seen. It was just like a great bee-hive, ten or 
twelve feet in diameter at the base, and the 
same in height, having a thick thatch of grass. 
A pole protruded from the summit, on which 
was a large shell (fusus), and a small hole or door 


168 CURIOUS ORNAMENT. 


at one side, partly covered by a board of wood. We 
thought at first, it might be the receptacle of the 
dead, but at Darnley and Murray Islands almost 
all the houses are of this form, so that this had 
either been erected in imitation of them, or by some 
people of those places when on a visit to Masseed. 
We found in the centre of the island two water- 
holes like those of Damood, to which Masseed had 
indeed a precise resemblance, except that it was 
rather larger. On going off, Mr. Sullivan bought 
from one of the houses, for some tobacco, a curious 
ornament. It consisted of two rudely carved figures 
of fish, about two feet long, connected together by 
cross pieces, about one foot long, over which frame 


; : °G we 


Ee! 


- 


ll LO 


S 


» 


LO WV 


ANCHOR AT ERROOB. 169 


was a large figure of a bird, with an immense toothed 
bill, the eyes and some other parts cut out of mother- 
of-pearl, neatly inlaid. It was altogether two and 
a half feet high, and by no means badly designed 
or executed. Where they could have seen the bird 
we could not conjecture, but it bore a very great 
resemblance to a horn-bill, and it was probably 
meant to represent.one of those birds, which very 
likely inhabit the neighbouring part of New Guinea. 

March 28, 1845.—We anchored to-day on the 
west side of Darnley Island, or Erroob as it is called 
by its inhabitants, and by which name I shall desig- 
nate it for the future. We came to, about half a 
mile from the shore, in eighteen fathoms water, 
opposite a small village called Keriam, with the 
peak of the island bearing east-south-east, but 
afterwards found a rather more commodious anchor- 
age in Treacherous Bay, a little further to the 
north-east, opposite another small plantation called 
Beeka. | 

Erroob was quite different in appearance from all 
the other islands we had seen, except Murray 
Island. It was lofty and broken, rising more than 
500 feet above the sea, but covered with vege- 
tation, and exhibiting none of the bare rocky mounds 
characteristic of the granite islands about Mount 
Ernest. We afterwards found that, together with 
the group of the Murray Islands, it had a distinctive 
geological structure, being of volcanic origin, while 
the line of islands between Cape York and Mount 
Cornwallis are all granitic or old metamorphic 


170 INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. 


rocks, and those between that line and the volcanic 
islands of Erroob and Murray group are all flat 
coral islands. 

Captain Blackwood, Mr. Bell, and I landed in 
the afternoon at the small group of huts near us, 
which we afterwards found was called Keriam. A 
crowd of 50 or 60 people awaited us, waving green 
boughs, shouting “‘ poud, poud,” and inviting us 
ashore. As soon as we stept on to the rocks, we were 
surrounded by the natives, all shouting, shaking 
hands, offering ‘‘boonarr’’ (cocoa-nuts), ‘ kaisu” 
(tortoise-shell), and asking for ‘“‘sapara” (axes). 
As we were yet unacquainted with the meaning of 
these words, and all we had heard of the islanders 
was by no means in their favour, we kept pretty 
much on our guard at first; but seeing many women 
about, several of the elder of whom now came and 
shook, or rather scraped, hands with us, and the 
evidently friendly and delighted manner of the 
people, we soon dismissed all anxiety, though not 
all caution. Our principal object now was to get 
some yams or other vegetables for the ship’s company, 
but in this we did not succeed, as though single yams 
and cocoa-nuts were offered us they did not appear 
able to afford a sufficiently large quantity at once. 

The men were fine, active, well-made fellows, 
rather above the middle height, of a dark brown or 
chocolate colour. They had frequently almost hand- 
some faces, acquiline noses rather broad about the 
nostril, well-shaped heads, and many had a singu- 
larly Jewish-cast of features. The hair was frizzled, 


THEIR PHYSICAL CHARACTER. 171 


and dressed into long, pipe-like ringlets, smeared 
sometimes with red ochre, sometimes left of its 
natural black colour ; others had wigs, not to be dis- 
tinguished from the natural hair, till closely ex- 
amined. ‘The septum narium was bored, but there 
was seldom any thing worn in it. Most of their 
ears were pierced all round with small holes, in 
which pieces of grass were stuck, and in many the 
lobe was torn and hanging down to the shoulder. 
Their only scars were the faint oval marks on the 
shoulder. The hair of their bodies and limbs grew 
in small tufts, giving the skin a slightly woolly ap- 
pearance. ‘They were entirely naked, but frequently 
wore ornaments made of mother-of-pearl shells, 
either circular or crescent-shaped, hanging round 
their necks. Occasionally, also, we saw a part of a 
large shell, apparently a cassis, cut into a projecting 
shield shape, worn in front of the groin. ‘The women 
wore a petticoat round the waist, reaching nearly to 
the knees, formed of strips of leaves sown on to a 
girdle. ‘These formed a very efficient covering, as 
one or two were worn over each other. The grown- 
> was formed, 
we afterwards found, of the inside part of the large 
leaves of a bulbous-rooted plant, called by them 
‘‘ tevoaer,” of which each strip was an inch broad. 
The girl’s ‘* nessoor” was made of much narrower 
strips from the inside of the leaf of the plantain, 
which they call ** cabbow.’’* 


up woman’s petticoat, or ‘‘ nessoor,’ 


* One of each of these kinds of petticoat have been deposited 
in the British Museum. 


172 ASPECT OF KERIAM. 


The younger women were often gracefully formed, 
with pleasing expressions of countenance, though 
not what we should consider handsome features. 
The girls had their hair rather long, but the women 
had almost all their hair cut short, with a bushy 
ridge over the top, to which they, singularly enough, 
give the same name as to pieces of tortoise-shell, 
namely, “ kaisu.” Many of the elder women had 
their heads shaved quite smoothly, and we never 
saw a woman wearing a wig, or with the long ring- 
lets of the men. At our first landing, all the younger 
women and girls kept in the back-ground, or hid 
themselves in the bush. On strolling to the back 
of the huts, we found a small native path, along 
which we went a short distance, till we came to a 
rude fence in front of a plantain-ground, where the 
men objected to our going further, and we heard 
the voices of the women among the trees beyond. 

There were four huts at this spot, all bee-hive 
shaped, sixteen feet in diameter, and as much in 
height. They stood in small court-yards, partially 
surrounded by fences formed of poles of bamboo, 
stuck upright in the ground, close together, and 
connected by horizontal rails, to which they were 
tied by withes. Inside the huts were small plat- 
forms covered with mats, apparently bed places ; 
and over head were hung up bows and arrows, clubs, 
calabashes, rolls of matting, and bundles apparently 
containing bones, which they did not like our ex- 
amining. Outside the huts were one or two small 
open sheds, consisting merely of a raised flat roof, 


NATIVE CARVED FIGURE. 1738 


to sit under in the shade, and a grove of very fine 
cocoa-nut trees surrounded the houses. 

Near the path leading to the plantain-ground 
was an old stump of a tree, three feet high, that 
had been rudely fashioned at top into the figure of a 
human face. I thought at first it might be an idol, 
but they seemed to pay it no reverence, laughing 
when I| pointed towards it, pulling its nose and then 
pointing to their own, gave us their name for nose, 
“peet.” It was therefore probably merely made for 
amusement. After a walk along the beach, under 
some cliffs towards Treacherous Bay, we returned 
to our boat, and, having thus effected an introduc- 
tion to these people, went on board. ‘Iwo of the 
natives insisted on going off with us, and we took 
them in the boat accordingly. ‘Their names were 
Mammoos and Seewai; and we afterwards found 
they were two of the most influential men of the 
island. ‘Theyseemed quite confident ; but when they 
got alongside and saw the guns projecting over 
their heads, they were rather alarmed, and said 
very earnestly once or twice, ‘“poud Mammoos! 
poud Seewai!” After being on board some time, 
and having some presents given them, and promis- 
ing to bring off plenty of yams and plantains, they 
were sent ashore in the whale boat, which Seewai 
insisted on steering, and did it very well. 

March 29.—A large party of us landed this 
morning at Keriam, where a number of natives 
from all parts of the island were asembled. Groups 


174 WALK ALONG ISLAND. 


of women were sitting round small fires cooking the 
kind of yam called “ ketai,” and other roots; but 
they had few more than they were actually con- 
suming. An active barter immediately commenced 
with our boats’ crews, in which tortoise-shell, bows 
and arrows, and other curiosities, with some cocoa- 
nuts, were exchanged against knives, axes, and 
tobacco. Melville and I, with my attendant Johns, 
slipped out of the crowd and walked along Treach- 
erous Bay, where I wished to examine the rocks. 
When we had gone about half a mile, we heard a 
native hallooing after us, and he overtook us as we 
were climbing up some steep ascents at the east end 
of Treacherous Bay, by a native foot path. He 
was a fine handsome young fellow, who said his 
name was Duppa. On the top of the ridge, among 
some dense jungle, we found several small huts, of 
a rather different construction from those below, 
but they seemed uninhabited. Duppa here shouted 
aloud, and apparently received an answer inaudible 
to our ears. We then followed the path into a 
little valley, opening on the north-east corner of the 
island, and fronted by a large bed of mangroves, 
and on the opposite rise came upon a large plantain- 
ground. ‘This was about half an acre in extent, 
rudely fenced and imperfectly cleared. ‘The plan- 
tains seemed healthy, but there was little or no fruit 
on them. The ground here, as elsewhere, seemed 
rich, consisting of a dark brown unctuous loam, and 
would, [ think, be well adapted for coffee-plantations. 


METHOD OF CLIMBING TREES. 173 


From this point, we climbed up a small hill on our 
right, and found ourselves separated from the main 
hill of the island by a very pretty valley opening to 
the south, covered with long waving grass, and 
patches and skirts of woods and thickets. ‘The 
south side of the hill also was covered with grassy 
slopes. rom the little hill on which we stood, we 
saw the Murray Islands to the southward, with 
immense reefs stretching from Erroob in that direc- 
tion, and also large reefs running several miles to 
the north-east, and ending near a large sand bank, 
which Duppa called Mérad. 

Descending into the grassy valley, we found avery 
good native path running along it across the island 
from north to south, a distance here of about a mile. 
In the middle of Treacherous Bay, at a little bight 
called Beeka, we met on our return several natives 
near an old hut and a grove of cocoa-nuts. Weoffered 
them cigars to get us some young cocoa-nuts, and a 
boy literally walked up one of the trees, without any 
other assistance than his hands, to get us some. He 
kept his body very much bent, and his hands and 
feet almost close together, the one grasping, the 
other pressing the tree, which slanted a little, but 
not very greatly, from the perpendicular. On arriv- 
ing at Keriam we found Mr. Millery and Mr. 
Macgillivray, with his Port Essington boy, Neinmal, 
surrounded by the Erroobians, and on excellent 
terms with them, having amused them by imitations 
of Australian songs and dances. They appeared to 
take a great fancy to Neinmal, which he did not 


176 PICKING POCKETS. 


very cordially reciprocate, saying, he would not like 
to stay with them, for fear they should eat him. 
Macgillivray had had his pocket picked of his pow- 
der flask, and as it was better to put a stop to this 
kind of operations at once, we determined to have 
it restored. Taking our guns in our hands, we 
assembled together, with very grave faces, and pro- 
ducing my flask, we explained, by signs, that a simi- 
lar one had been stolen, and that it must be 
returned. None of them, at first, seemed to know 
what was the matter, but after some palaver, we 
observed a boy go to one of the huts, and imme- 
diately on his return he pretended suddenly to find 
the flask on the ground where we had been sitting, 
and brought it tous. This passing off, we sat down 
again, and renewed our friendly intercourse. See- 
ing me very hot, they brought me a cocoa-nut to 
drink, and then a group sitting down around me, 


commenced blowing in my face to cool me, a process 
with which I very shortly dispensed. On the 
dances being resumed, one of the men went and 
fetched a drum. ‘This was in shape like a very 
elongated hour-glass, made of a hollow piece of 


=~ 


CHASTITY OF WOMEN. 177 


wood, open at one end, with the skin of a lizard 
stretched tightly over the other. On being beaten 
by the hand it emitted a low resonant sound. 

The women were now become a little more fami- 
liar, standing or sitting round in groups; on our 
approaching one of which, however, the younger 
ones laughingly hustled over to the other side. The 
men seemed amused at their coquetry, and some of 
the younger fellows made a shew of offering one or 
two of them to us, using rather coarse gestures, at 
which there was a general laugh. It seemed all to 
be done however in jest, as | may mention here that 
no instance of a breach of chastity by any of the 
women of these people came to our knowledge dur- 
ing the whole of our intercourse with them; although, 
as may be easily believed, there was no want of 
solicitation on the part of our ship’s company, nor 
any want of means of inducement, since they look 
upon all iron implements as the most valuable of 
commodities. This reserve of the women seems cha- 
racteristic of the frizzled-haired races of these seas, 
as distinguished from the straight-haired Polyne- 
slans, as may be seen in the accounts of all voyages 
from the time of Cook downwards.* 

A fine straight-limbed and graceful young fellow, 
called Doodégab, had attached himself to me, and | 
proposed an exchange of names to him, a custom of 
which we had yet seen no traces, but which he in- 


* See especially his account of New Caledonia in his second 
voyage. 


VOL, I. N 


178 CHANGE NAMES WITH DOODEGAB. 


stantly seemed to comprehend, and for some time 
called me Doodégab, while he assumed my name, 
which he pronounced as if spelt Dookees. 

They all seemed to be everlastingly eating, now a 
plantain, then a ketai, then a cocoa-nut, with occa- 
sional ‘ plats” of small fish, or of roasted shell fish, 
principally trochus, and sometimes crabs, and other 
crustacea. 

As I had a curiosity to see where the path at the 
back of the huts went to, I strolled along it, but 
was presently stopped by a man who called me back, 
and detained me till two young girls came down the 
path with a large shell full of water. He then 
seemed no longer to have any great objection to my 
proceeding, and Doodegab coming up- accompanied 
me. The path led through a small plantation ground, 
and then by theside of a small dry water-course, 
for three or four hundred yards, till it came to a 
water-hole, in which there were several gallons of 
fresh water, of very middling quality. 

A boat now came ashore, 
with Mr. Bell, to try and 
get some vegetables which 
they had promised to have 
ready. He only succeeded, 
however, in getting a few 
branches of plantains for 
several axes. I purchased 
for a knife a curious tor- 
toise-shell mask, or face, 


MANUFACTURE OF BOWS. 179 


made to fit over the head, which was used they 
told me, in their dances. It was very fairly put toge- 
ther, with hair, beard and whiskers fastened on, 
projecting ears, and pieces of mother-of-pearl, with a 
black patch in the centre for the eyes.* A great 
number of bows and arrows having been bought, they 
were now busy in making new bows, but I did not see 
any new arrows, nor did we ever find on the island 
the reeds of which they are made. The bows are 
made of the upper part of a stout bamboo, partly 
split in half, flattened and bent over the fire. The 
string is a broad strip of the tough outer rind of a 
bamboo, and the fastenings are very ingeniously 
and firmly made. The bows are large, and very 
powerful, some being more than seven feet long, 
and in the centre more than three inches wide, 
and an inch thick. They shoot their light long 
arrows to great distances, but not, I think, with very 
accurate aim. Their arrows vary from three to five 
feet in length, the common ones being pointed only 
with hard wood, variously jagged and barbed. ‘The 
war arrows, however, are much larger and heavier, 
the hard wood part being very thick and square, and 
elaborately carved, with a sharp bone point and 
_ barb made and fitted like the spears of Australia. 
The shaft is always a light cane or reed, without 
feathers. In using the bow the men always wear 
on the left arm a stout armlet or gauntlet, reaching 

* This and all the other native implements and curiosities I 


collected, are now in the British Museum. 


wi 2 


1890 CANCEROUS DISEASE. 


from the hand to the elbow, made of woven grass, 
to defend the arm from the rebound of the string. 

Seewal, Mammoos, Kéouck, and Duppa went off 
to the ship with us. I shewed Duppa some plates 
of animals and shells. Most of the animals he called 
‘“‘omai,” or dogs; but to the deer he gave another 
name, as if acquainted with one. To the shells he 
gave a great variety of names, of which a list is 
given in the vocabulary. ‘They have a few dogs 
among them, not greatly differing from those of 
Australia, but apparently more thoroughly domesti- 
cated. Several of them were white. 

March 30.—This morning some canoes came off 
to us, in which were one or two women. One man 
had lost the whole of his nose from a cancerous or 
cutaneous disease, with which several of them were 
more or less affected. It usually shewed itself on 
the lips or face, or about the pit of the stomach, 
where it sometimes formed a complete circle of 
ulcers. Dr. Muirhead said it was a kind of lupus, 
or “noli me tangere.” Besides this disease, swollen 
legs and enlargement of the limbs, called, I believe, 
elephantiasis, were very common. ‘There were also 
several cases of enlargement, apparently from rup- 
ture. They brought several bunches of plantains, 
but as it appeared that each bunch belonged to a 
different person, and that each wanted an axe for 
his bunch, and we could not afford these terms, we 
let them take them ashore again. 

In the afternoon I went round with Lieut. Risk 


NATIVE FISHING WEIRS. Isl 


to the south side of the island, to look at a water- 
hole which had been seen there. Duppa accompa- 
nied us, and took us first to a small hole, with a 
little trickle of water, about half a mile south of 
Keriam. He then left us, and we proceeded. 

The south side of the island is by far the finest. 
It has beautiful grassy slopes, from the woody 
summit of the hill down to the belt of wood along 
the shore. ‘The coast is indented by sandy coves, 
separated by little rocky headlands, and in each 
cove is a small group of huts under the shade of a 
grove of cocoa-nut trees. Several very fine canoes 
were hauled up on these sand-beaches near each 
group of huts. Sandy flats, dry at low water, stretch 
out two or three hundred yards from the beach, 
covered with native weirs for catching fish. These 
are walls of loose stone, about three feet high, 
formed in curves and semicircles along the sand- 
flats, each having a radius of one or two hundred 
yards. ‘They are completely covered at high water, 
but when the tide falls, (its range being about ten 
feet,) many fish are left within these enclosed spaces, 
or, together with crabs and other sea creatures, 
caught in the interstices of the stones. Outside 
this belt of sand-flats is another of coral reef of irre- 
gular width. Towards the south-east both coral 
reefs and sand-flats stretch out for miles, with many 
narrow deep channels and holes between them. 
Here and there along the shore, both on the beach 
and out on the sand-flats, were erected tall bamboo 


182 VILLAGE OF MOGGOR. 


poles with long streamers of leaves attached to 
them, but what was their object we never could 
discover. I am inclined to believe they are mere 
boundary marks between the different fishing- 
erounds of each village or small group of huts. We 
landed about the centre of the south side of the 
island, at a place called Moggor, where was a very 
pleasant spot that we afterwards found belonged to 
our friend Seewai. Two or three good huts were 
enclosed by a large and lofty fence of bamboo poles 
very firmly fastened together ; behind which, in a lit- 
tle valley, was by far the best garden in the island, 
watered by a little running stream that formed a 
small pool behind the beach. The soil was very 
rich, deep and black, and the plantain-trees 
very luxuriant. Very fine groves of cocoa-nuts 
stretched along the shore, abundance of the ripe 
nuts lying on the ground apparently disregarded. 
Most of the people were absent, being attracted to 
Keriam by the presence of the ship. Two old 
women, an old man, and some children, however, 
were in a neighbouring hut, who received us very 
civilly. ‘There was abundance of good water* here to 
water our ships with, but it was in an inconvenient 
situation, as the casks would have to be rolled some 
distance over the sand-flats and reef, and then taken 
three miles to the anchorage. 

As we were going off to our boat again, a young 

* his water seemed to be permanent, as it was in the same 
state when we were here again at the latter end of May. 


LARGE GARDEN GROUND. 183 


man, named Dzoom, came down and asked for a 
passage round to Keriam. In going along he gave 
us names for each of the little villages we passed, 
of which the principal were in regular order the 
following: Moggor, Badéga, Maedha, ate Keriam ; 
the hill he called Pasaer. 

March 31.— I landed this morning at six o’clock 
with my attendant Johns, to go all over the island. 
We first of all went to the little rill of water near the 
N.W. point of the island, and went up into some 
good plantain-gardens behind it; beyond these were 
some spaces of bamboo, much cut; but behind these, 
again, we came to a dense, impenetrable thicket. 
We were then obliged to scramble down by a dry 
water-course to the beach, and then proceeded to 
Keriam, to try the path at the back of the huts. 
After some little opposition to our proceeding by 
this, | got two boys to come with us, and they then 
let us go. The path was very narrow, and it wound 
for about half a mile through the thickest woods, 
matted by impenetrable creepers and underwood, 
till it came out on the brow of a rising ground, 
where the wood had been partially cleared, and 
some very extensive ‘‘ ketai” (yam) plantations 
formed. Several acres of ground here were very 
tolerably fenced in and pretty fairly cleaned, the old 
stumps and branches of trees being left for the ketai 
plants to be trained upon. A grove of cocoa-nuts 
crested the summit of this hill, which was probably 
about 250 feet above the sea. This place was called 
‘¢ gedoop,” which is, I believe, their general word 


18th PLEASANT WALK. 


for garden or cultivated ground. A little beyond 
this we came out on the grassy slopes of the south 
side of the island, furrowed by little narrow valleys 
full of wood, stretching from the hill on our left to 
the sea-beach, with its belt of cocoa-nut trees on our 
right. As we had a very good foot-path through the 
long tangled grass, we had a most delightful walk, 
the fine fresh breeze of the S.E. trade wind mode- 
rating the heat of the sun. The grass was generally 
excellent: long, fine, green, and juicy; but here and 
there were patches of a broad-bladed and ranker 
grass, more like the alang alang of Java. When we 
had arrived at the back of the cove of Moggor, our 
two boys refused to go any farther, and wanted us to 
come down and have cocoa-nuts; and as we per- 
sisted in proceeding, they left us. 

Crossing a small gully with a deep water-course, 
now dry, we came on another grassy slope ; but 
here the path turned for the beach, as a great belt 
of woods came sweeping down from the hill. In 
walking along the beach, we came on several huts 
we had not yet visited, but which were now shut 
up, their inhabitants being probably at Keriam. 
Near one of these huts was a stump of wood that 
had been rudely carved into the human shape, re- 
presenting a woman. Just before it, on the ground, 
were several old large murex-shells, and behind it 
was arranged a series of split cocoa-nut shells, in a 
semicircular form.* Whether they attached any 


* This figure was 5 ft. 6 in. high. It had holes at the sides of 
the head, apparently for ears to be fixed into, and others at the 


ANOTHER CARVED IMAGE. tea 


religious or superstitious notions to it, or it was 
merely the amusement of their leisure hours, I 
had no means 
of judging; but 
as they are fond 
of ornamenting 


fl LIT 
\ | ae 
NK 


(4) 


all their imple- 
ments with 
carving, and | 
never saw any 
traces of reli- 
gious feeling 
among them, I 
am inclined to 
believe the lat- 
ter would be 
the most proba- 
» blesupposition. 
~ A little be- 


yond this we 


: 
M, 


mM 
A ~ 
vay fl 
Ai Gor ters 
pee 


ée 
fe 


i 


WG = 

wey ai came to a cove 
so full of mangroves, as to be almost impassable ; so, 
finding grassy slopes behind it, we struck up on to 
them; and seeing a pretty clear space leading to the 
top of the hill, climbed up it. After some toilsome 


scrambling through a thicket, in which we got in- 


shoulders for the arms. The border round the legs represents 
the nessoor, or petticoat. The eyes were pieces of mother-of- 
pearl, with spots of black gum on them. It had all been painted 
red. 


186 CIRCUIT OF THE ISLAND. 


volved, we reached the summit, which on the south 
side was bare, but surrounded with lofty trees all 
round the northern half, which shut out the view in 
that direction. ‘There was a slight hollow on the 
summit, surrounded by a ridge of higher ground, 
but I could not say that it had been a crater ; 
neither was the hill regularly conical, but rather a 
broken ridge, higher in the centre than elsewhere. 
The rock was a heavy, dark, rather crystalline lava, 
or trap, slightly cellular occasionally. On descend- 
ing, we found in the water-course in the bottom of 
the gully, leading out to the mangrove cove, some 
water-holes, containing very good water, with a little 
trickling stream from one to the other. Abundance 
of water to supply the island the whole year round 
might be preserved, either by digging holes or 
raising dams in these gullies, and thus storing the 
rains which fall durmg the N.W. monsoon. 7 
We were now in the little valley in which we had 
been with Duppa the other day, and had thus made 
the circuit of all but the extreme east end of the 
island. As we felt rather tired, we left that for 
another day, and returned by the path to Keriam, | 
Here we found many natives assembled, who imme- 
diately supplied us with cocoa-nut water, and seemed 
very much surprised when we told them we had 
been on the hill which they called ‘ Pasaer,” and 
they were evidently puzzled to know what we could 
possibly want up there. We saw in our walk to-day 
very few land birds, consisting only of three quails 


SUGAR CANE AND TOBACCO. 187 


anda blue and yellow bird, that flew like a parrot. 
Curlews, godwits, and plover were plentiful on some 
parts of the beach, and may sometimes be seen on 
the hills where the curlews occasionally perch on the 
trees, 

Some of the natives to-day were sucking pieces 
of a dark brown, rather coarse, sugar-cane, and we 
saw some of their tobacco, of a hight brown colour, 
twisted into a plait. I nowhere saw either of these 
plants growing, so that probably they keep their 
plantations in small secret spots in the woods. 
Whence could these people derive the habit and 
their very peculiar method of smoking? European 
vessels passing through the strait might have given 
them manufactured or dry tobacco, but they could 
not have given them the plant or taught them how 
to cultivate it. In smoking their own tobacco, they 
break off a piece from the plait into which the leaves 
are twisted, and wrap it in a green leaf to prevent 
its setting fire to the wooden bowl. A woman is 
then deputed to fill the bamboo with smoke, as 
before described, and on its being passed round, 
each person takes a long draught of smoke, which 
he swallows, apparently with considerable effort, and. 
stands motionless a few seconds, as if convulsed, 
with the tears in his eyes ; he then respires deeply, 
and seems to recover. ‘They call it ‘“eree oora”’ (to 
drink heat or fire), and, patting their stomachs, 
seem much comforted after it. 1 tried their tobacco, 
but found it intolerably hot and strong. They could 


188 HABIT OF SMOKING. 


not have learnt to smoke from any of the Malay na- 
tions, since those people, even if they ever reached 
thus far, rarely or never smoke tobacco, but only 
chew it with their betel. All the evidence seems to 
me to be against the notion of tobacco, or the custom 
of smoking it, being indigenous in the east, and in 
favour of its having been introduced by the Portu- 
guese, and Spaniards, and Dutch, after the discovery 
of America. Can the habit of smoking have spread 
from the Philippines through New Guinea into 
Torres Strait, or has the custom and the plant been 
introduced from the south-eastward, from New Ire- 
land, or New Caledonia, where, I believe, we must 
look for the paternal seats of the Torres Strait 
Islanders ? | 

I was dining to-day with Yule on board the 
Bramble. There were two young natives on board, 
to whom I pointed out a young pig that had just 
been killed, and which was hanging up forward. 
They at first called it ‘‘omai” (adog), but on my 
shaking my head, and saying “ lola, lola ’ (no, no), 
they called it “ burroom,” a word I afterwards heard 
applied to some boars’ tusks I saw among them, and 
which came from New Guinea. There were two 
sheep on board, with which they were much 
puzzled, but at last called them “ burroom ” too. 
On seeing some onions, they asked for some of them, 
and promised to set them in their gardens ashore. 

[have no doubt that they might be very easily 
taught to cultivate the ground to a much greater 


NAMES FOR SHELLS. 189 


extent than they now do, as also to keep sheep, 
pigs or poultry, as they seemed very fond of pets, 
~ and had one or two tamed pigeons and boobies among 
them. As it got dusk, the two young natives 
became so uneasy at being on board, that Yule sent 
them ashore again. 

April 1, 3.—I got old Mammoos on board to 
give me his names for all the shells I had collected 
in the neighbourhood, a list of which will be found 
in the vocabulary. He had almost as many names 
as there were genera, and for some species of one 
genus he had different names. These names of 
course only referred to the general form, as, for 
instance, murex, auricula, and cassis, having all 
wrinkled mouths, were called “ass ;” pyrula, fusus, 
triton being all longish shells, were ‘‘ mabaer;” a 
species of arca, corbis, and psammobia, having a 
general resemblance in form and wrinkles, were all 
‘“‘kaip.” Still there were many more distinct names 
for the different shells than we have in common 
English, where all bivalves are called either oysters, 
or cockles, or mussels, and all univalves, winkles, or 
limpets, or snail shells. 

Remarks on their language will be found in the 
appendix attached to the vocabulary; but I may 
mention here its great superiority in sound and dis- 
tinctness of enunciation to the jabber of the Austra- 
lian languages. They took also great pleasure in 
teaching us their names for things, another charac- 
teristic in which they differ from the Australians. 


190 GAY HEAD DRESS. 


I heard that a yellow, naked-tailed opossum, 
called ‘‘barreet,” had been seen ashore in a cage, 
and made many endeavours to see it, in order to pur- 
chase it. They always evaded my inquiries, how- 
ever, and assured me it had gone into the woods to 
eat; and, though I offered an axe and other things 
for it, and they promised to bring it, I could not get 
even a sight of it. 

We had found a good water-hole in the cove in 
Treacherous Bay, called Beeka, and by deepening it 
a little, got a very good supply for the ship. It was 
in a plantation belonging to Mammoos, and he in- 
sisted on being paid for it. This, however, was not 
a permanent supply, as on our return at the end of 
May, it was quite dry. 

Captain Blackwood and I measured the height of 
the hill barometrically, his barometer giving a height 
of 564 feet, mine of 556 feet above the sea. ‘The 
height deduced from the survey trigonometrically 
was 615 feet, but this was to the tops of the trees on 
the highest point, full 50 feet above the place where 
we observed. 

Duppa came down one day with a very gay head 
dress, which we only saw on this occasion. It was 
a fillet crossing over the head, from which proceeded 
a semicircle of large white feathers, vandyked at the 
edges, radiating round his head like a glory. He was 
a very good-looking fellow, and, with this ornament, 
seemed quite the D’Orsay of the island. He as- 
sembled several of the younger men and women, 


NEW GUINEA WOMAN. 191 


and took them on board. He left his wife 
ashore, however, who was pointed out to me at 
the watering-place. She was of a rather lighter 
colour than the rest, had a peculiar raised mark 
down each breast, and was said to come from 
Poorem, which, as far as I could make out, lay 
somewhere to the south-west. There were several 
other women, not natives of the island, but whether 
they had come voluntarily or had been brought as 
prisoners taken in war I could not learn. One was 
said to come from Dowdee, which we afterwards 
learnt was their name for the nearest part of the 
coast of New Guinea. She differed from the rest 
chiefly in colour, being of a light yellowish brown, 
in the orifice through the septum narium, which was 
very large and prominent, and in her scars or tattoo 
marks, having figures on her breasts, shoulders, 
and calves of the legs, the latter of which apparently 
represented crocodiles. The women of Erroob are 
not at all marked either by scars or by tattooing. 
On the afternoon of the 3rd, I walked by myself, 
and apparently unarmed, having only a pistol in my 
pocket, with a native man, named Warro, and a 
boy, called Goua, round the eastern end of the island 
to a village called Kaiderry, where I had not yet 
been. Here I found several people whom we had 
not seen, and who appeared quite delighted to see me. 
I sat with them some time amusing them, by shew- 
ing them my pocket telescope, compass, measuring 
tape, and dog-whistle, and other things with which 


192 FRIENDLINESS OF NATIVES. 


my shooting coat pockets were generally burthened. 
In return they got me several shells from the reef, 
but begged all my cigars as payment for them. 
When I got up to go away, just before sunset, and 
asked them to shew me the path leading across the 
island, they all pressed round me and begged me 
to stay, apparently by all the inducements they 
could think of. They said, ‘‘ lola shippo,” “lola 
shippo,” (“no ship, no ship”) ; and pointing to the 
huts, laid their heads on their hands, as if I should 
sleep there, offered me cocoa-nuts and plantains, 
and at last pointed to a tall young woman, named 


’ 


“¢ Keewai,” of whom I had taken some notice, as if 
to say she should be my companion if I would re- 
main with them. I laughed them off, however, and 
pointing to the sun setting, said, ‘‘shippo, shippo,” 
and moved on, not without some apprehension that 
all this seeming good will, might be the prelude to 
some act of violence, in order to obtain possession 
of the treasures I had exhibited. Nothing of the 
kind seemed intended, however, for in seeing me 
determined to go they yielded at once, and sent a 
young man with me to put me on my right track, 
through the thicket at the back of the huts, on to 
the path in the grassy valley. 

Just before reaching Beeka, I met Duppa and 
his party, returning home, apparently highly de- 
lighted with their visit on board the ship. All the 
girls were ornamented with bead necklaces and 
other presents, and were now quite friendly and 


TORTOISE-SHELL STATUE. 193 


familiar, running up at once instead of keeping in 
the back ground, as if at last assured of our good 
intentions. 

Mammoos would go on board with me, taking a 
large tortoise-shell figure of a boy, three feet high, 


and very curiously constructed, for which I had no 
room, but which he sold to Mr. Bell for an axe.* 


* Tt is now in the Museum of the United Service Institution. 
VOL. I. O 


194 NATIVE NUMERALS. 


He had not brought me the “ barreet,” but he pro- 
mised to do so in the morning, on my offering him 
one sapara (axe), one nipa (knife), one wallee 
(cloth), one tarpoor (bottle). It never came, how- 
ever, and they seemed strangely unwilling to part 
with it. 

Their numbers do not go beyond two, reckoning 
thus, 


One. 2" oo. Sea eta. 

Toco (oy ae hales, ‘Cor-nace,) 
Three se 2) a esd neta: 

Four. { 20s. 22°. Meesa-naes. 

Five . . . . . maesa-naesa-netat. 
Six . . . «© . naesa-naesa-naes. 


Beyond six they never think of counting, 
three twos being not only six, but any indefinite 
large number. Mammoos inquired one day 
of Lieut. Risk, the number of all our large vessels, 
or ‘‘ow shippo,’ and small ones, or ‘kabbi 
shippo,” as they called the boats. On Lieut. Risk 
enumerating them, he took little pieces of stick, 
and made a little bundle of four, for the Fly, Bram- 
ble, Prince George, and Midge, and of the requisite 
number of smaller pieces for the boats, amounting 
then, I believe, altogether to eleven. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


THE MURRAY ISLANDS—FRIENDLINESS OF THE PEOPLE— 
PURCHASE OF SKULLS—SEARCH AFTER A “ BARREET — 
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MURRAY ISLANDS, ERROOB 
AND CAEDHA—VOLCANIC ORIGIN—SECOND VISIT TO ERROOB 
—WAY OF USING THE BOW—DOODEGAB’S SISTERS—NEW 
GUINEA CALLED DOWDEE BY THE ERROOBIANS—NAMES OF 
PLACES IN DOWDEE—ANCHOR OFF BRISTOW ISLAND ON THE 
SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA—LOW MUDDY SHORE—CANOES 
—MOUTH OF A LARGE RIVER—A BODY OF FIVE HUNDRED 
NATIVES SEEN—TWO BOATS SENT AWAY—ANCHOR UNDER 
BRAMBLE KEY— RETURN TO NEW GUINEA COAST—SHIP’S 
CUTTER NEARLY SWAMPED—GALE OF WIND—ANXIETY FOR 


OUR BOATS—AIRD’S HILL. 


On April the 9th, while between Anchor Key 
and the north end of Portlocks Reefs we saw a palm 
(apparently a sago-palm), floating on the water. It 
was upright, with its branches standing above water, 
so that it was at first taken for a canoe under sail. 
It probably came from the rivers on the coast of 
New Guinea, from which we were at this time full 
sixty miles distant. 

April 11.—We anchored at ten this morning on 
the north-west side of the Murray Islands, about 
half a mile trom the shore. I was much struck 
with the stratified appearance of the rock and the 
highly inclined position of its beds. ‘The island is 


Qo 2 


196 THE MURRAY ISLANDS. 


lofty and broken, its highest point being 750 feet 
above the sea. This is a bare eminence, forming a 
narrow ridge, slightly concave towards the interior 
of the island, where is another and lower hill, of a 
conical form. From the outside of these the ground 
slopes steeply towards the sea, especially on the 
west and south sides. It is almost entirely covered 
with one thick grove of cocoa-nuts, spreading even 
over the tops of the lower hills in greater profusion 
than I ever saw elsewhere. Its size is rather greater 
than that of Erroob, its greater diameter being from 
three to four miles. Its native name is Maer. 

On the south-west side of it are two much smaller 
islands connected together by a sand bank and coral 
reef, but with a deep channel between them and 
Maer. ‘Their names are Dowar and Waier. 
Dowar is the largest, being 670 feet high, and very 
precipitous. Waier is probably not more than 300 
feet high, formed of a circle of nearly perpendicular 
cliffs. 

As soon as we had anchored, several canoes put 
off, but hesitated to come alongside till we shouted 
to them words of friendship and invitation, in 
the Erroob language, which is likewise theirs. 
At this they seemed highly delighted, and immedi- 
ately came on board in great numbers, bringing 
tortoise-shell, bows and arrows, ketai, and cocoa- 
nuts, to barter for knives and axes. 

On Melville shewing them the sketches he had 
made of several of the inhabitants of Erroob and 


LANDING AT MAER. 197 


Masseed, they burst out into shouts of delight, 
erying out the name of the persons, and thus attest- 
ing in the most striking way the accuracy of the 
likenesses. 

Old Duppa shortly came on board, the man who 
had behaved so kindly to Ireland and young 
D’Oyley, the survivors of the wrecked and murdered 
crew of the Charles Eaton.* He was the father of 
young Duppa of Erroob, and he brought off another 
younger son, whose name was Dzon, or Dzonna,{ but 
who was also called “‘ Kabbi Duppa,” or “ Little 
Duppa.” 

Old Duppa related to us a long history about 
Wak and Uass (the native designations of Ireland 
and D’Oyley) ; but all we could make out was, that 
when Dzon was so high (about four feet), Uass was 
a piccaninny, so high (about two feet). 

I accompanied Captain Blackwood ashore in the 
afternoon, attended by an intelligent native called 
Koiyop, who had attached himself to me. ‘The 
people ashore received us with a clamour of delight, 
men, women, and children; the two latter, however, 
keeping a little in the background at first. 

The whole shore here was lined with a continuous 
row of houses, each in ‘a small court-yard of from 
ten to twenty yards square. The houses were the 

* See the ‘‘account of Mr. Lewis’s cruise in the Isabella, in 
search of the survivors of the Charles Eaton,” in the Nautical 
Magazine for 1835. , 

+ This was the same sound as that which they used for our 
English name John, and may be intended for that. 


198 HOUSES AND SKULLS. 


same as those of Erroob, as were also all the habits, 
customs, and appearance of the people. ‘The 
population here, however, was greater, and the 
houses, perhaps, larger and more complete than at 
Erroob. They seemed very clean and neat inside, 
with raised platforms, covered with mats for bed- 
places; but as the only light came through the little 
low door, it was difficult to make out exactly what 
they contained. The tops of the houses, as also of 
the fences of the court-yard, were ornamented by 
large white shells, and occasionally a skull or two 
was suspended somewhere near the house, or placed 
on the stump of a tree and painted red. I did not 
observe any marks of violence on any of the skulls, 
and believe they are only those of their relations, 
though very likely the head of‘an enemy might also 
be preserved in the same way; the motive being in 
the first case affection or respect, in the second ex- 
ultation or revenge. ‘They did not appear, however, 
to attach any great value to these skulls, and freely 
parted with several of them for knives or tobacco. 
Here. and there between the fences of the huts were 
left narrow passages, giving access to the land at 
the back, where there were some small plantain- 
grounds, and groves of cocoa-nuts, immediately be- 
hind which rose the steep sides of the hill, forming 
occasionally small cliffs, and exposing the rocks, 
which I shall presently describe. 

They seemed quite pleased at our knowing a few 
words of their language, and as we walked along 


FONDNESS FOR BUFFOONERY. 199 


the beach the seniors frequently invited us to shady 
spots behind the houses, where they asked us to sit 
down, and then formed a ring round us, seemingly 
bent on having a regular gossip. The younger 
part of the community seemed more intent upon 
frolic and amusement, and were especially delighted 
at seeing our dog Fly (a Scotch colley, with all the 
intelligence of her race) fetch and carry sticks. 
They were at first a little afraid of her, and she did 
not greatly admire them. I did not observe that 
they seemed surprised at her barking, which yet I 
never heard their own dogs do. They seemed very 
fond of a little mischief, and frequently one or two 
would bring us sticks, and point to a group of girls, - 
making signs to throw the sticks over them, so that 
Fly might run among and frighten them. I have 
before remarked that the readiest way of making 
friends with these children of nature is by engaging 
in tricks of this sort, and amusing them by any kind 
of sport or buffoonery. In a very short time we 
were on the most familiar terms with them all, and 
the women and children crowded round us without 
fear. 

Koiyop accompanied us on board again, and at 
sunset we had some difficulty in persuading him and 
others to leave us and go ashore for the night. 

April 14.—-The canoes were off early this morn- 
ing, bringing some yams, plantains, and cocoa-nuts ; 
but they seemed more ready to part with their bows, 


200 PURCHASE KOIYOP’S WIG. 


arrows, and other implements than with their fruits 
and vegetables, of which they did not seem to have 
any great stock to spare. 

Koiyop being down in the gun-room, I persuaded 
him to sell me his wig, which he told me was made 
of the hair of young Duppa of Erroob. He wore 
his own black hair short under his wig, which he 
seemed rather reluctant to part with, asking for a 
looking-glass, ‘“‘ perper,” to see how he looked with- 
out it, and saying, ‘“ keimear naeg,” “men laugh,” 
as if he thought they would laugh at him without 
it.* For a good knife, however, he let me have 
it; but the next day I found him provided with 
another. 

At eleven o’clock I accompanied Captain Black- 
wood in the Midge to visit Dowar and Waier. 
After passing one or two sunken patches of coral, 
we beat up in a clear deep passage between Maer 
and Dowar. At this end Maer slopes very steeply 
down from the summit of the ridge into the sea 
without any beach. Dowar is likewise very steep,} 
but has a small sandy flat at its northern end, on 
which were some huts in a grove of cocoa-nut trees, 
and several people awaiting our approach. We 
continued our course, however, for Wailer, which is 


* This wig is now in the British Museum. 

+ They called the peak both of Maer and Dowar ‘‘ pasaer,” as 
they did that of Erroob, so that it is probably their general name 
for a hill. 


DOWAR AND WAITER. 201 


a circular island, bounded by steep cliffs, on the 
top of which was a line of broken crags, looking 
like a ruined wall surrounding a central hollow. 
On the north end of this also was a small sand-flat, 
from which a shoal bar stretched, dry at low water, 
and then connecting it with Dowar. On the sandy 
flat was one hut with a small plantation; and being 
obliged to anchor in consequence of squalls, and the 
tide setting against us, we pulled ashore in a little 
punt, and landed near it unarmed. Several people, 
chiefly women, crossed over from Dowar, and met 
us, and, with two or three old men and some boys, 
seemed delighted to see us. Near the hut on 
Waier was a small enclosure, surrounded by a 
bamboo railing, in which were some old cocoa-nut 
trees, and a great many young ones just sprouting. 
Shells were hung up all round the railing, and on 
an old stump in the centre was a skull, old and 
weather beaten, smeared with red streaks of paint, 
and with several red flowers arranged on some twigs 
before it. Festoons of ropes, ornamented with 
feathers, hung round it from the trees; and we 
thought, from the pains taken, some great value 
must be attached to it, yet they allowed us freely to 
handle and examine it, seeming rather amused at 
our curiosity, and eventually they even sold it to us 
for a stick of tobacco. 

Captain Blackwood and I scrambled along some 
distance under the cliffs, but could find no point 


202 BARE-TAILED OPOSSUM. 


where the interior of the island was accessible 
without considerable difficulty. 

The manners of these people were very frank and 
gentle, full of fun and cheerfulness. ‘They were 
great beggars for tobacco, as long as our stock 
lasted, but were soon satisfied when told it was all 
gone. On taking leave, they all pressed round to 
shake hands with us, and seemed to beg us to come 
again. In shaking hands they do not clasp as we 
do, but each gently scratches with the nails against 
the palm of the other’s hand. 

On returning on board at sunset I learnt that a 
very fine bare-tailed opossum or ‘“‘barreet” had 
been seen ashore on Maer in a cage, which they 
seemed to prize very highly, taking it out occasion- 
ally and petting it, and allowing it to climb about 
them. Melville had taken a sketch of it. 

April 15.—At daylight I went ashore in quest of 
the ‘‘barreet,” taking with me a basket-full of 
articles | thought irresistible, consisting of an old - 
sword furbished up, an axe, knives, bottles, varie- 
gated handkerchiefs, &c. Mr. Millery had left a 
note-book ashore, having let a man examine it, and 
forgotten to ask for it again. On inquiring for it 
this morning it was immediately brought to him, 
with a rude: caricature of himself in one page, with 
a hat on, and a pipe in his mouth, sketched by one 
of themselves. 

A shower of rain was falling as we landed, and 
they all immediately retired to the shelter of some 


CHASE AFTER A BARREET. 2038 


trees, shivering, and saying “zeru, zeru,” ‘cold, 
cold.” Koiyop joined me, and I inquired for the 
“barreet.” They said it was gone to Dowar, but 
not believing them, I went on along the beach to 
ask some others. At last I produced my sword 
and other commodities from the basket, which 
Johns was carrying with me, and offered them for 
it. They seemed greatly to covet these things, but 
they still persisted the ‘‘ barreet’’ was gone to 
Dowar. I perceived, however, each new comer was 
instructed by the others as he came up what story 
to tell me, so I went on. An old woman immedi- 
ately started up and run before me, and thinking 
she was going to get the animal out of sight, we 
gave chase. 

She beat us most shockingly in running along the 
deep sand of the beach, and turned a corner before 
we could overtake her. At length we came to the 
last house on the west side of the island, immedi- 
ately beyond which the rocks plunged almost per- 
pendicularly into the sea. This, I found, was old 
Duppa’s residence; he having three very good huts 
within one fence, and an excellent plantain ground 
at the back, Here, before my followers could in- 
struct them what to say, I was told the “ barreet ” 
was gone to Waier, to Miriam on the south side of 
the island, and three stories in one breath. ‘They 
begged to be allowed to see all the things I was will- 
ing to give for it, and I had them all spread out on 
the sand. It was evidently agreat temptation; anda 


204 FRIENDLY DISPOSITIONS. 


long discussion took place, which ended at last in 
their saying, they would bring the animal on board 
to-morrow morning, and let me have it for these 
things. 

Notwithstanding we were only two of us, appa- 
rently unarmed, as Johns only had a pistol in his 
pocket, they saw all the treasures restored to the 
basket without thinking of intercepting them; and 
after a friendly farewell to Duppa and his family, 
we returned to the boat. 

All the way along we were invited into the 
houses, and Koiyop insisted on our coming into 
his court-yard, where he gave us some cocoa-nut 
water. 

I went on board, intending to return after break- 
fast and examine the interior of the island, but 
found preparations made for weighing; and at ten 
o'clock we left the Murray Islands, and did not 
again return to them. 

I shall now give a brief account of the geological 
structure of these Murray Islands, and Erroob. 

The stratified rocks, of which they are composed, 
may be briefly described as a volcanic sandstone 
and conglomerate. The sandstones were made of 
small rounded grains of lava, and of volcanic sand 
and ashes, with some calcareous grains and strings 
of carbonate of lime. The conglomerates exhibited, 
in a light-brown earthy matrix, fragments and 
blocks of black trachytic lava, from the size of a pin’s 
head to that of a man’s, mingled with which were 


GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 205 


lumps of white limestone, often as large as the fist, 
heavy, hard, and crystalline. Strings of calca- 
reous spar were also disseminated through the 
mass. The pieces, both of lava and limestone, 
were irregular in shape as well as size; but some 
of the lumps of limestone, as well as those of lava, 
appeared partially rounded by attrition. ‘The pro- 
portions of the two materials varied in different beds, 
the limestone sometimes equalling the lava pebbles 
in quantity, sometimes the lumps of lava greatly 
predominating over all the other materials. From 
these rough conglomerates, the beds passed through 
every gradation into the finest possible tuff. They 
were all perfectly stratified, forming regular, hard, 
tough beds, one or two feet in thickness. Their 

colour varied from a dark yellowish brown, in the 
~ coarser parts, toa light stone or dove-colour in the 
more finely grained portions. 

In the island of Maer these beds have a regu- 
larly quaquaversal dip from the centre of the island 
to the sea, on the north, west, and south sides of it. 
On the south-west side they were inclined at an 
angle of full 60° from the top of the island to its 
base. The upper ends of these beds form a curvili- 
near ridge, concave towards the interior of the 
island, where is another hill, of a conical form, the 
composition of which I was not able to ascertain. 

Of the structure of Dowar I can only say that 
it is formed of beds of precisely the same appear- 
ance as those of Maer, that they are inclined at 


206 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 


great angles, and dip outwardly from the interior 
of the island, on its north and east side. 

Waier is likewise composed of the same beds, 
but containing more conglomerate than those which — 
Isaw on Maer, and for one half its circumference, 
has a regular quaquaversal dip from its centre, 
but not at a greater angle than 10° or 15°. 

In none of the Murray Islands did I see any 
traces of lava or igneous rock, except the fragments 
contained in the conglomerates; igneous rocks, 
however, may exist in mass in the interior of the 
islands, a fact which I greatly regretted that time 
did not allow me to ascertain. 

In Erroob, on the contrary, the whole island is a 
mass of igneous rock, from the summit to the sea- 
shore, with the exception of a small portion of its 
N.W. side. Here, in the cliffs of Treacherous Bay, 
the stratified sandstone and conglomerates make 
their appearance from under the igneous rocks, 
dipping towards the interior of the island, or S.E. 
at a slight angle, not more than 5° or 6°. The ig- 
neous rock is a heavy, dark-coloured hornblendic 
trap, generally conpact, but here and there slightly 
cellular, or having a few dispersed crystals. On 
the N.E. side of ‘Treacherous Bay, the cliffs shewed 
the igneous rock, resting on the sandstones, and it 
appeared to have flowed over them as lava. The 
sandstone was not apparently altered, but the igne- 
ous rock was much more cellular and cinder-like 
than usual for two or three feet above the sandstone, 


VOLCANIC ORIGIN. 207 


when it gradually recovered its compact, amorphous 
character. 

As previously mentioned, the summit of Erroob 
has a small hollow which might be taken for a nearly 
obliterated crater, but there is only the slight evi- 
dence of form in favour of such a supposition. 
Thirty miles north of Erroob, another patch of ig- 
neous rock shews itself in the centre of a small 
reef, called by us Bramble Key, but the native name 
of which is Caedha. ‘This is a mass of rock twenty 
or thirty feet high, and about twenty yards across, 
in the centre of a coral reef, which has a sand key 
on one end of it. Another small patch of the same 
rock is seen three-quarters of a mile distant, to the 
S.E. dry only at low water. This rock has a singu- 
lar appearance, being a dark red cellular lava, the 
cells of which are filled by a white earthy mineral 
in a pulverulent state. 

It appears, then, that just at the northern end of 
the Great Barrier reefs, volcanic vents have burst 
their way through them at three separate points, 
ground up the limestone rocks they met in their 
passage, and ejected a quantity of molten matter 
into and through them. But there is evidence of 
this having happened, not once only, but probably 
through a long interval of time. The sandstone 
and conglomerates, containing pebbles of lava and 
limestone, must have been formed horizontally be- 
neath the sea. This is evident from their laminated 
and stratified character, from the perfect sifting and 


208 VOLCANIC ORIGIN. 


sorting the materials have undergone, and from 
their being strewed in narrow lines and sheets over 
large spaces, with the same thickness in all its parts. 
It is evident that if the pebbles of lava of which 
some of the beds are composed, had been deposited 
on a slope of any thing like the angle they now 
have, either in air or under water, they must, many 
of them, have rolled down and accumulated at its 
foot, and the bed formed of them have been much 
thicker there than elsewhere. Since the deposition 
of these beds, therefore, they have been elevated 
above the sea from 300 to 700 feet, and im some 
places tilted up into an angle of 60°; and in the 
island of Erroob they have been covered up by a 
thickness of 400 or 500 feet of igneous rock, some- 
time after their deposition, and either previously or 
subsequently to their elevation above the sea. I did 
not succeed in finding any organic remains to give 
a relative date to the formation of these rocks, but . 
the pieces of limestone look exactly like the masses 
of limestone now forming in the coral reefs, just so 
much altered by heat as we might expect from the 
circumstances they would be. I believe that, geo- 
logically speaking, these volcanic islands are of re- 
cent origin. They are evidently an offset of that 
great belt of volcanic operations, part of which ranges 
at no great distance to the northward and eastward, 
along the north coast of New Guinea, into the Solo- 
mon Islands, New Hebrides, and New Zealand. 

On April 19th we again anchored at Erroob, on 


METHOD OF HOLDING THE BOW. Q09 


our way to the coast of New Guinea. As it rained 
heavily, I went into one of the larger huts, which 
had a fire in the middle. There were good bed 
places, covered with mats, raised about a foot 
and a half from the ground, and large bundles of 
mats, bows, arrows, axes, fishing-spears, pipes, and 
calabashes, hanging over head. As there was no 
opening, except the small door, the smoke oozed 
through the thatch, and it felt to me intolerably 
hot and close. 

In using the bew, they explained to us that they 
always held a particular end upwards, that which is 
uppermost, namely, in the living plant, but could 
give no reason for the custom. Beside the bow and 
arrow, their principal weapon is a club, called gaba- 
goob; this is a round, flat piece of stone, bevelled 
to an edge like a quoit, but with a small hole in the 
centre, into which a wooden handle is inserted. It 
thus becomes a most murderous weapon, but we 
only saw one or two of them. 

I inquired for the ‘‘ barreet’’ (which I found was 
a species of opossum, belonging to a subgenus called 
cuscus, peculiar to New Guinea), and was told 
Dzoom had one; and I sent him a message by a 
man called Jessé, to say I would give him a sword 
and an axe for it. I inquired for Doodegab, and 
was told he was on the other side the island; but 
two good-looking girls, called Derree and Atai, were 
pointed out as his sisters ; and they told me, since I 
had changed names with Doodegab, they were now 

VOL. I. P 


210 DOODEGAB’S SISTERS. 


my sisters, saying, “ Derree berbet* Dukees, Atai 
berbet Dukees.” As the rain had now ceased, they 
got up to accompany us back to the boat, and I 
taught them to walk arm-in-arm with me, at which 
they seemed much amused. Two others immediately 
came up and took Dr. Muirhead’s arms, which 
elicited a roar of laughter from the rest. They 
seemed to enjoy the joke, and proposed we should 
race one party against the other; but Dr. M. and 
I soon found that running over the deep sand and 
rough beach was to us no joke at all, although 
perfectly easy to our lightly clothed and active 
partners. 

On arriving at the boat, I proposed, in order to 
see what they would say, that they should go off to 
the ship, and be our “coskeer” (wives); but at 
this they drew back and seemed rather alarmed, 
saying,} “ Lola coskeer,—berbet,—coskeer lola!” 
On seeing it was merely a joke, however, they 
laughed, as a girl would in England at a similar 
proposal from a stranger, and took a friendly leave 
of us. 

A pril 21.—There were many natives down at the 
watering place to-day, as we told them we were going 
away and not coming back. I inquired about places 
to the northward : they seemed to have no acquaint- 
ance with any such names as Papua or Arafoora, 


* Berbet means sister certainly, and I believe brother also, 
from the way they use it. 
+ ** No wife, —sister,—wife not.” 


NEW GUINEA CALLED DOWDEE. 91] 


but frequently mentioned Dowdee, saying it was 
‘‘ow gaed ” (a large country); ‘‘ Erroob kabbi gaed” 
(holding their hands a few inches apart) ; “ Dowdee 
ow gaed ” (opening their arms to the full extent). 
They also said that in Dowdee there was ‘‘ barreet, 
barreet, barreet”’ (a plenty of barreets). In this 
Dowdee they gave me the following list of names of 
places apparently in the order of their occurrence : 
_Samarree, Dodee, Keewai, Eemaree, Parrem, Baeb, 
Keréged, Erro, Mowat, Saibar, Dowar (distinguish- 
ing it from the Murray Island Dowar by saying 
‘« Dowar Dowdee,”’ and pointing to the north, then 
pointing south, and saying ‘‘ Dowar nerroot,” 
another Dowar), Oigé, Katatai, Sowee, Kagga, 
Coer, Baigoo ; all these, they said, were in Dowdee, 
expressing it Samarree Dowdee, Keewai Dow- 
dee, &c. In order to try them, I went over the 
names, and inserted Merad, the neighbouring 
sand bank, amongst them, on which there was 
an immediate shout of ‘Lola! lola! Merad meik, 
Dowdee mazepkor,” or ‘‘ No, no! Merad is near— 
Dowdee far off.” I have, therefore, no doubt that 
they are acquainted with a very considerable extent 
of that part of the south coast of New Guinea which 
lies immediately north of them, and that their 
general name for the country is Dowdee. 

When the men went off to their dinner at noon, I 
was left ashore alone with the natives. They sat 
down in groups under the shade of the cocoa-nut 
trees, eating their roots and shell-fish. In order to 

p 2 


~ 


Q|2 BRISTOW ISLAND. 


try them, I walked deliberately from one group to 
the other; but none of them offered me anything, 
except Seewal, who held up to me half of a large 
ketai and a young cocoa-nut, so I sat down and 
lunched with him and his wife and daughter. ‘These 
yams, when cooked by native women in the ashes, 
were excellent. Old Seewai seemed by far the most 
honest and kind-hearted fellow among them, as also 
were the old lady, his wife, and Passalag, his 
daughter, among the women. They had been rather 
overlooked by us lately from their modesty and want 
of forwardness. ‘They never begged anything from 
us, which almost all the rest were continually doing. 
Old Mammoos especially seemed a regular schemer, 
having always an eye to his advantage, and to in- 
creasing his importance to us, and always taking good 
care to be paid one way or other for his services. 
He was perhaps the shrewdest and most intelligent 
among them, with the most force of character, though 
by no means of the most open or best disposition. 
On the 25th, we anchored off the edge of the 
great reef that stretches south from the coast of 
New Guinea to Warrior Island, the eastern outline 
of which had been surveyed by the Bramble. We 
here at length came in sight of the coast of New 
Guinea, and attempted in the afternoon to land upon 
Bristow Island. It was found, however, to be a 
mere bed of mangroves, growing on a mud flat, which 
was entirely afloat at high water, and even then so 
shoal around, as hardly to be accessible to a boat. 


CANOES FROM NEW GUINEA. 218 


On the 26th and 27th, we were beating to wind- 
ward, in order to weather the shoals and mud-flats 
that extended from the coast towards the east. ‘The 
land was everywhere low and flat, covered with 
trees, but seemed hereabouts to be fronted by a sand 
beach at some places. We could make out some- 
thing like houses occasionally at the edge of the 
woods, and saw fires on shore at night. 

Apri 28.—We anchored last night in five fa- 
thoms water, muddy bottom, and remained there 
some time this morning, waiting for the Prince 
George and the Midge to come up. The coast was 
quite flat, with a great line of cocoa-nuts and other 
palms running along the beach, which appeared to 
be sandy. Several large openings or gaps in the 
shore were remarked, up the widest of which no 
land could be seen from the mast-head. ‘The water 
was so shoal inshore of us, that we were compelled 
to keep at a distance of eight or ten miles from the 
land. Canoes were reported inshore, and three of 
them came out towards us. These canoes were 
rather small, and had an outrigger on one side only, 
differing in this respect from those of the islands of 
Torres Strait. One of the canoes had sixteen men 
in it, another six, and another four. ‘They ap- 
proached us very cautiously, and only one came 
within hail. We then tried them with Erroob words, 
such as ‘‘ poud ” (peace), ‘‘ boonarree ” (cocoa-nuts), 
‘‘ tooree”’ (iron), which they appeared to understand. 
They held up cocoa-nuts, and | believe mentioned 


214: NATIVES OF NEW GUINEA. 


Erroob. They resembled the people of Erroob a 
good deal, and I think had the same mark on the 
shoulder; but one or two of them had their heads 
shaved, which I never saw among men in the islands. 
One of our men being alongside in the Midge’s 
dingy, was sent to communicate with them. He got 
alongside the largest canoe, and gave them a hatchet, 
for which-he got a bow and arrow, some cocoa-nuts, — 
and a small turtle, but he began to behave rather 
roughly towards them, and they became alarmed, 
and paddled off. In approaching, they held up 
green boughs, and seemed, in most respects, to re- 
semble the Erroobians. They were all quite naked. 
On the south-west coast of New Guinea also, I be- 
lieve, the natives have ragged, torn ears, and pierced 
noses, like those of Erroob and Murray Islands. 
This afternoon, on getting under weigh to proceed 
to the northward, we came on to a great mud bank, 
with a depth of only three fathoms on it, ata dis- 
tance of six and even eight miles from the land. 
When immediately opposite the great opening seen 
this morning we found the water alongside the ship, 
during the ebb tide, very muddy, and on dipping 
some up and tasting it, it was found to be only 
slightly brackish, just enough to be unpleasant to 
drink. This was at a distance of ten miles from the 
shore, and confirmed us in our opinion of the open- 
ing being the mouth of a large river. 

April 29.—Captain Blackwood and Lieut. Ince 


went away in the first gig to examine this river, 


MOUTH OF A LARGE RIVER. 215 


but [did not feel well enough to accompany 
them. 

April 30.—The wind was very light to-day, and 
the tides ran so strongly in and out of the river that 
the ship was not able to stem them, and obliged 
twice to come to an anchor while sounding about the 
edge of the bank. 

May \.—The Captain returned with the first gig. 
They had gone first for the south point of the open- 
ing, carrying depths varying from one to three fa- 
_thoms, and landed in the evening near some deserted 
huts, at which they slept. These huts were raised 
on posts, with gable ends, like the houses of the 
Malays. Abundance of cocoa-nuts were growing 
near them. Next morning they stogd across the 
mouth of the river to its northern shore. It was 
about five miles wide, with a depth of nearly four 
fathoms for great part of the way, and the water so 
fresh as to be quite drinkable. They saw no in- 
habitants till they approached the north shore, 
when, just as they were going to land, a great body 
of people rushed out of the woods towards them. 
Captain Blackwood estimated the number of men as 
fully five hundred. Not wishing to shed blood un- 
necessarily, and not having force enough to overawe 
so large a body of men, Captain Blackwood decided 
on returning. As soon as he put the boat’s head 
round, and made sail for the open sea, they ran 
down to their canoes, and manned four of them, and 
gave chase, pursuing our boat with great eagerness 


216 SHOALNESS OF THE WATER. 


for several miles, and for some time with every ap- 
pearance of eventually overtaking her. They could 
count about forty men in each of these canoes. After 
a hard pull, they succeeded in shaking off their pur- 
suers, and got on board the Prince George in the 
middle of the night. 

May 2.—Running to thenorthward, in six fathoms, 
out of sight of land, with shoals immediately inside 
of us. Asit seemed quite impossible for the ship, 
or even for the Prince George, to get sufficiently near 
the coast to survey it, it was found necessary to send _ 
away the boats to trace its outline, while we ran 
along in the ship on the edge of the shoal bank. 
The Midge, accordingly, under Mr. Pym, and Mr. 
Harvey in the second gig, with whom Mr. Millery 
went as a volunteer, were sent on this service. ‘The 
Midge had six and the second gig five days’ provi- 
sions on board, and they were altogether twelve men 
and three officers well armed, and the Midge had a 
small boat-gun fitted on her forecastle. The Prince 
George was directed to keep as closely in as the depth 
of water would allow, in order to be within signal 
distance both of the boats and the Fly. The wea- 
ther was now very fine, so that no difficulty was an- 
ticipated in keeping up a communication. 

On May 3rd we were running to the northward 
and eastward in four fathoms muddy water, and 
sandy bottom, with no land in sight from the 
deck, but a line of trees visible from the mast- 
head. A little before noon the tide turned against 


COLOUR OF THE SEA. pd By 3 


us, and, as the wind was light, we anchored. 
About half an hour after the ebb tide began to 
run, we observed a strong ripple advancing towards 
us from the shore at a great rate, with a curved 
but well defined outline or edge. It was formed 
by a strong current of very muddy water, appa- 
rently river water, running out over the green 
water of the sea. On approaching the coast of 
New Guinea, the. sea quite loses the deep and 
transparent blue it preserves among the islands and 
coral reefs of the Great Barrier, and acquires a 
dirty green colour, like that of the sea in the English 
Channel. This river water, however, was of a 
brown mud colour. 

May 4.—The wind freshened a little to-day, and 
on standing to the northward, we came in sight of 
two low mangrove points, projecting from the coast, 
and apparently forming islands. Outside these we 
saw the boats under sail, and also the Prince George, 
all standing towards the north. ‘The water was as 
shoal as usual. 

May 5.—It began to blow more freshly, and in 
standing N.E. we got on to a bank of three fathoms, 
and were obliged to tack and beat to windward, in 
order to weather it. Squalls of wind and rain, with 
dirty weather, came up in the afternoon, and as 
these shoals were dead to leeward of us, it was 
thought prudent to beat up to gain something of an 
offing, and we anchored at night in seven fathoms, 
with a short, nasty sea breaking round us. 


218 VISIT BRAMBLE KEY. 


May 6.— Blowing fresh, with rather dirty weather, 
making it imprudent to run in for the shoal water, so 
we stood to the southward, and anchored at noon 
under Bramble Key, in order to get sights for 
the chronometers. I have already mentioned the 
voleanic rocks which jut up in the middle of this 
reef. The reef itself is almost entirely composed, 
as to its surface, of one coral, pocillopora ccerulza, 
of a greyish colour outside, but a-beautiful blue when 
broken open. It occurred in large, flat, stool-like 
masses, with indented edges, often as much as one 
or two yards in diameter. I never saw it elsewhere, 
except as small detached blocks of coral, m the hol- 
lows and holes of a reef. The sand-key on one side 
of the reef was precisely similar in appearance and 
structure to Raine’s Islet, except that it was much 
smaller. It equally abounded with “ spimach”’ and 
bird’s eggs, and any ship coming in from the Pacific 
in want of fresh provisions might get enough for some 
days’ consumption by stopping there, taking care to 
break all the eggs on the island as soon as they 
arrive, in order to have new-laid ones to carry away 
with them. 

It will be seen, on reference to the map, that 
Bramble Key is a solitary reef, much nearer ad- 
vanced than any other to the part of the New 
Guinea coast where all the mud and fresh water 
had been met with by us. I do not believe that 
it could have existed at all as an independent 
reef, but that it must be looked on merely as a 


CUTTER NEARLY SWAMPED. 219 


fringing reef round the central nucleus of volcanic 
rock.* 

May 7.-—After morning sights had been obtained 
for the chronometer, we weighed and stood to the 
northward. We passed suddenly from greenish 
blue water of about twenty fathoms depth, into a 
line of muddy water fifteen miles from the nearest 
point of land, soon after which we found ourselves 
in four fathoms mud, when we hauled out a little 
and anchored for the night. 

May 8.—Captain Blackwood, Lieut. Ince, and 
Mr. Macgillivray, went away in the ship’s cutter to 
examine the land, but as it was blowing fresh there 
was a very heavy rolling sea over these shoal mud- 
flats ; and when they had gone six or eight miles, 
asea broke into them and filled the cutter to the 
thwarts. They were obliged to throw their bow- 
gun and much gear and stores overboard, and with 
some difficulty baled the water out and reached the 
Prince George at night, as she was coming down to 
join us from the northward. She had had a view 
of one of the boats the day before, but lost sight 
of them again somewhere to the northward. 

May 9.—This was a very stormy morning ;— 
rain, wind, thunder and lightning, with a heavy 


* The coral reefs marked in the old charts, as running along 
the south coast of New Guinea, west of Bristow Island, make it 
improbable that any rivers open in that direction, and render it 
likely, that these fresh water openings of ours are the result of 
the drainage of a large part of the country. 


220 AIRD’S HILL. 


sea, made us rather anxious for the safety of our 
boats. As soon as it cleared off sufficiently to see 
around us, we stood to the northward, and in the 
afternoon saw a hill, named by Captain Black- 
wood Aird’s Hill, bearing from us about N.N.E., 
and the flat land between us and it apparently 
turning round and stretching to the eastward. We 
anchored a, little south of the latitude of 8°, with 
Aird’s Hill bearing about N. by E. from us, in a 
depth varying from about three to four fathoms, 
according to the state of the tide. 


CHAPTER IX. 


SEARCH AFTER THE MISSING BOATS—CRUISE IN THE FIRST 
GIG—ENTER A RIVER—INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES AT ITS 
MOUTH—PENETRATE FIFTEEN MILES INTO THE COUNTRY— 
MEET A LARGER TRIBE, AND SEE A LARGE NATIVE HOUSE— 
RETURN—SHOOT A ‘“ CUSCUS’—HEAVY ROLLERS ON THE 
SAND-BANKS OFF THE MOUTH OF THE OPENING——RETURN 
TO THE SHIP—NO NEWS OF THE BOATS—FARTHER SEARCH 
FOR THEM. 


May 10.—Havine got no news of our boats, and 
the coast making a remarkable bend here, so that 
we did not know which way they might have gone, 
it was determined that the ship should remain here 
at anchor, with her royals loose during the day-time, 
while the other boats and the Prince George went 
in search of the missing ones. Mr. Pollard was 
accordingly despatched in the cutter, with directions 
to go along the coast, in shore, to the southward, 
and the first gig was prepared for Captain Black- 
wood and myself, to cruise to the northward. 

May \11.—We left the ship at seven this morning, 
with a fresh breeze, a cloudy sky, and a heavy sea 
rolling in; the low land, both to the west and north 
of us made in broken lines and headlands of wood. 
We steered N. by E. for a bluff-looking point, the 
summit of which seemed to be 100 feet above the 
sea: nearly directly over it was Aird’s Hill. As 


999 LAND IN NEW GUINEA. 


we neared this point the sea became smoother, and 
after passing it, which we did about ten o’clock, we 
saw heavy breakers on the horizon to windward. 
We carried three fathoms water all the way round 
the point, but it is no doubt shoaler to windward, 
where the sea breaks. In approaching the point, 
we found that what we had at first taken for mode- 
rately high land, was in fact a wood of very lofty 
trees, growing on a dead flat scarcely above high 
water mark. These appeared to be a very tall, 
thin, straight species of mangrove. They grew 
perfectly upright, with slender pole-like stems, 
many of them full 100 feet in height, but, 
from their leaves, and the naked matted roots 
sprawling over the mud, they certainly appeared to 
be mangroves. Inside the point was a straight 
beach, running due north for about five miles, 
fronted by a low bank of black sand, on which we 
saw several natives running. At the end of this a 
deep bight opened to the N.W. and a creek ran up 
inside the sand bank, cutting it off from the jungle 
and wood of the main land. On the point of the 
sand bank, twelve or fourteen men stood at the 
edge of the water, armed with bows and arrows; 
while a small canoe, with six or eight people im it, 
probably women, was paddling across the creek to 
the jungle. After pausing to look about us, we 
pulled for the sand spit; and as soon as we were 
near enough for them to see our white faces, the 
natives retreated rapidly towards their canoe, which 


TERROR OF THE NATIVES. 923 


returned for them, and partly in her, partly swim- 
ming, they gained the woods. Here they halted 
while we landed on the sand spit, and four men 
paddled the canoe out of the creek, keeping close 
over to their side, and with every mark of trepida- 
tion in their countenances. One or two still re- 
mained on the other side, whom we endeavoured by 
every means in our power to entice over. We called 
to them in Erroobian words, which they did not seem 
to understand, and they shouted words back, which 
were equally incomprehensible to us. Captain Black- 
wood told one of our men to wade into the water, 
to see if one of them would meet him half-way. 
Arrived at the edge of the water, our man very 
naturally stripped off his shirt; but as soon as they 
saw that not only his face, but his whole body, was 
white, they seemed struck with horror, and after a 
ghastly stare, fled into the bush. 

We took advantage of this strip of sand to cook 
our dinners, while Captain Blackwood was endea- 
vouring to get the sun’s meridian altitude: for this, 
however, it turned out too cloudy. In the mean- 
time I succeeded in adding a teal and a thick- 
kneed plover to our stock of provisions, out of a 
flock of birds on the beach. 

On our departure we saw another canoe coming 
_ toward us from the westward, and seeing us go 
away without doing them any injury, six or eight of 
the first party likewise put off in their canoe, and 
came towards us. We succeeded in inducing them 


294 ASPECT OF THE NATIVES. 


to come within about ten yards of us, but no nearer, 
and they stood looking over each other’s shoulders, 
with staring faces, expressive not so much of 
astonishment as of downright horror ; as if we were 
something inexpressibly fearful and disgusting to 
behold. They were tall muscular fellows, with 
white nose ornaments, a round piece of shell hang- 
ing on their breast, and a shield-shaped piece over 
the groin, armlets, and a waist-belt of string adorned 
with shells or tassels; their hair was tied back 
behind the head, and they had a very wild and 
ferocious aspect. They did not very much resemble 
the Erroobians except in their ornaments, and they 
did not seem acquainted with our Erroobian words.* 
As we could not get them to communicate more 
closely with us we made sail on a wind to the north- 
east. Due east of us, about ten miles off, was 
another long strip of land, ending in a point, from 
which land stretched all round the northern half of 
the horizon, covered with tall trees, but broken by 
many broad bights or openings stretching into it in 
various directions. For one of these, about five 
miles distant, we were now steering, and carried 
four or five fathoms water for three or four miles, 
but it then became shoaler, and we soon came on 


* This part of the coast is full 120 miles north of Erroob, 
dead to leeward, in a bight, in which the sea must always be 
heavy. I think it probable the Erroobians would not venture so 
far down the coast in their canoes, and that their knowledge is 
confined to the parts adjacent to Bristow Island. 


ENTER A SHELTERED BIGHT. 225 


the edge of a large sand-bank and mud-flat, stretch- 
ing between us and the opening. On the windward 
point of this sand-spit were heavy breakers. As it 
would have been difficult to weather those before 
dark, we determined to bear away for the next 
opening, which was now about two miles to leeward 
or north-west of us. Into this we carried four 
fathoms water, and soon after entering found our- 
selves in a very snug bight, sheltered from the 
wind, and with smooth water. Here we anchored, 
in order to eat the dinner we had cooked at the 
sandy point. We took up a berth about 200 yards 
from the shore, in case of accidents, and directly 
after we came to, a native shewed himself at the 
point, armed with bow and arrows, and was shortly 
joined by another. ‘They stood looking at us for 
some time, till the first one raised his bow and let 
fly an arrow at us, which dropped just ahead of the 
boat. ‘‘Freathy,” said Captain Blackwood to the 
coxswain, “take my rifle; don’t hit that fellow, 
mind, but just fire a ball into that bunch of bush 
over his head.” They took no notice of the flash 
or smoke, but an instant afterwards bobbed their 
heads, as if they heard the ball ringing over them, 
and immediately bolted into the bush. ‘The water, 
although still four fathoms deep, and within view of 
the open sea, was only very slightly brackish, quite 
as pleasant to the taste as much of the water drank 
in the interior of Australia. 

After having dined. we proceeded up this bight, 


VOL. I. Q 


296 DENSE JUNGLES. 


keeping the east shore on board, and presently saw 
three arms going off from it, one north-west, 
another north, and another north-east, towards the 
latter of which we proceeded. On the land, in the 
north-west direction, we saw several native huts, 
low and small, and apparently mere temporary ac- 
commodations, as they were now evidently deserted. 
We landed for a short time on theshore near us, which 
was bare mud, partly dried, resting on stiff blue clay, 
and hardly above high water mark. The lofty man- 
groves, or whatever they were, grew all over it, with 
here and there clusters of palms of different kinds, 
and of many other tropical plants, one of which was 
something like an aloe or agave, with broad succu- 
lent pointed leaves rising from the root, and armed 
with sharp thorns along their edges. The roots of 
the mangroves and the denseness of the under- 
growth rendered the woods perfectly impermeable 
even to the sight for more than a few yards. ‘They 
were thick, dank jungles, based on mud and dripping 
with moisture. 

_Qur north-east arm presently again divided into 
two, one curving towards the north, and the other 
running straight and narrow towards the east. As 
it was now sunset, we chose the broadest part in 
which to spend the night, and anchored where the 
water, now quite fresh, was about a third of a mile 
broad, and nearly three fathoms deep. 

Immediately after sunset, immense flights of par- 
roquets passed over us, all flying to the west, at a 


FRESHWATER CHANNELS. 207 


great height above the tops of the trees. During 
the night we heard the howlings of wild dogs, and 
many strange noises in the jungle around us, a com- 
bination of croakings, quackings, and gruntings, 
proceeding, probably, from large birds and wild 
pigs. We of course kept a sentry on duty, but the 
night passed away without any accident or interrup- 
tion. 

May 12.—This morning broke dark and lower- 
ingly, with heavy rain, and though these deep woods 
and sluggish streams lay still and undisturbed, we 
could see the clouds drifting rapidly over head, 
shewing it was blowing strongly outside. As soon 
as we had breakfasted and the rain had cleared off 
a little, we proceeded along the channel leading to 
the east, expecting to gain the arm from the mouth 
of which we were repelled by the sand bank yester- 
day evening. Accordingly, in about half a mile, we 
came out on to a fine-looking deep stream, three- 
quarters of a mile wide, coming from the north. We 
immediately hoisted sail, and went up it, but had 
not gone half a mile before we came on some native 
huts on the bank at our left hand. Seeing nosigns 
of inhabitants or smoke of fires, we landed to ex- 
amine them. ‘There were five or six huts, two of 
which were small and only just finished, but one 
was much larger and older. ‘This house was quad- 
rangular, with a gable-shaped roof, its ground 
plan being about twenty feet long by twelve in width. 
It was raised on stout posts, full five feet from the 

Q 2 


298 NATIVE HUTS. 


ground, and the upper part was accessible by a 
notched post leaning against it at the back. The 
floor of this upper story consisted of stout poles laid 
crossways on the frame-work, and covered by the 
flattened rind apparently of some kind of palm, form- 
ing very fair planks, an inch thick, and the size of 
our flooring planks. ‘The back of the house, looking 
towards the woods, was quite open, the other three 
sides had walls composed of palm-leaves twisted 
through upright poles or rods. The roof was 
thatched also with palm-leaves,* very ingeniously 
woven or twisted through a frame-work of sticks ; 
it was quite water-tight. The ridge of the gable 
was about ten feet above the floor, and the side 
walls about four feet high. The end looking on the 
river had at one side a small recess, or doorway, with 
a rude little staircase leading to the ground. There 
were one or two fire-places made of a patch of clay, 
two or three inches thick, resting on the floor, over 
each of which was a frame of slender sticks, two feet 
high, as if to hang things over the fire. 

A partial clearing had been made round the huts, 
many large trees having been felled by repeated 
cuts that seemed almost too sharp and broad to be 
those of a stone axe. Several young cocoa-nuts and 
plantains were growing in this clearing, and it 
looked exactly like the commencement of a new set- 
tlement by some New Guinea squatters. Dry fire- 


* We afterwards found this was the sago-palm. 


SAGO-PALMS. 229 


wood was stored in the houses, from which we took 
the liberty to help ourselves, as the rain still con- 
tinued ; and I picked up the jaw of a cuscus, that of 
a pig, and some shells belonging to the genera auri- 
cula and cyrena. 

From the huts the river ran first north and then 
north-west for two or three miles, when it divided 
into two large branches. Of these we took one 
leading to the north-east, which made a great bend 
to the east, and then again divided, one part running 
east and south-east, and another due north, along 
which we proceeded. Here we caught a glimpse of 
Aird’s Hill over the intermediate woods, bearing 
north by east, distant apparently six or eight miles. 
All these branches of water were from a quarter to 
three-quarters of a mile in width, all perfectly fresh, 
generally twelve to fifteen feet deep, with banks of 
clay and mud, covered with dense jungle, in which, 
as we proceeded, the mangroves became fewer, the 
palms more abundant, especially that which we 
afterwards found was the sago-palm, and lofty forest 
trees began to shew their spreading heads in the 
interior of the woods. In addition to the many 
branching arms of water, little narrow winding 
creeks and canals struck off into the jungle here 
and there in every direction, full of soft mud at 
low tide, increasing the difficulty of traversing 
the jungle on foot, but affording admirable places 
of concealment for the narrow canoes of the na- 
tives. 


230 OBLIGED TO RETURN. 


The rain still continued so far, but about noon it 
oradually cleared off, and in the afternoon it became 
fine. We proceeded up these winding arms and 
branches of fresh water, always choosing that which 
seemed to run most nearly north, till about three or 
four o'clock in the afternoon, when we began to 
think of returning, as we were only victualled for 
three days, and had been a day and a half away ; 
Captain Blackwood, also, was anxious about the 
position of the ship and the missing boats. We were 
now in an expanse of water, from which several 
arms went in every direction, the two broadest run- 
ning, one north and the other south. The view 
northward was very tempting; the land seemed to 
rise a little higher in that direction, and we saw 
distant trees in the north-west, which must certainly 
have stood on more elevated ground. What seemed 
to be a main branch of the river, stretched with a 
width of full half a mile to the north, till it became 
lost to sight among the most magnificent woods ; and 
I stood regretting the necessity of leaving it unex- 
plored, when one of the men called our attention to 
something moving in the water. Looking more atten- 
tively, we saw, in a narrow channel, about half a 
mile off, two or three canoes paddling about, the 
people having evidently caught sight of us before 
we espied them. We immediately pulled towards 
them, and on entering the channel others seemed to 
emerge, as if by magic, out of the bushes at its side ; 
and a line of six or eight now crossed our path, 


INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. 25 | 


containing thirty or forty men, evidently determined 
to dispute our passage. When we came within 
about 150 yards of them, we lay on our oars. They 
were all shouting and gesticulating, flourishing their 
paddles and splashing up water into the air towards 
us, while we observed several adjusting their bows 
and casting loose their bundles of arrows. ‘There 
was then a regular war-cry, a measured beat against 
the sides of the canoes with their paddles, and the 
two ends of the line advanced towards us. Captain 
Blackwood accordingly ordered the muskets to be 
got out, giving orders, if it were necessary to fire, 
to aim at first principally at the canoes, so as to 
give them some notion what our weapons were ca- 
pable of, and, if possible, frighten them off without 
bloodshed. When within about sixty yards, two 
arrows were shot, as if to prove the distance, one of 
which flew over us, but the other dropped short. 
Captain Blackwood raised his rifle and put a bullet 
into a canoe very near the feet of two of the most for- 
ward, and they leant down and looked over, as if won- 
dering what it could possibly be, when, at the sound 
of several muskets and the whistling of the balls, they 
jumped overboard, and swam for the woods. The 
other canoes took to flight up the channel, two or 
three more balls being sent skimming along the 
water alongside of them, to shew they were still 
within our reach. None of the men were struck, but 
the deep and lofty woods on each side of us lent an 
echo to the rattling of the musketry, that produced 


232 EXTRAORDINARY HOUSE. 


a great effect, and must have considerably appalled 
them. As we were here within arrow-flight of the 
banks of this narrow channel, we followed the canoes 
for about a quarter of a mile into the main stream 
again, when we observed them landing on the op- 
posite bank, among a crowd of natives. These stood 
half concealed among the bushes, at the mouth of a 
small creek, and behind them was a most singular 
looking house, which immediately attracted our at- 
tention. When arrived within about a third of a 
mile of it, we examined it with our glasses, and were 
greatly surprised at its size and structure. It looked 
just like an immense barn, one gable of which pro- 
jected towards the river, but the roof stretched so 
far back as to leave the other end completely hidden 
in the woods. Under the projecting gable was a 
sort of stage or balcony, on which were several 
people, standing and gazing at us. 

This was evidently some height above the ground, 
as they were completely exposed to view over the 
tops of the bushes. ‘The roof was covered by a very 
thick heavy-looking thatch, along which smoke was 
oozing at various places. From the balcony, one or 
two arched door-ways led into the interior, through 
a wall apparently of bamboo, that was several feet 
back under the roof, which projected into a peak 
over the balcony. The end of the house that was 
visible was far larger than any barn I ever saw. 

The canoes were now re-manned, and pushed off 
towards us with about fifty men in them. While 


ASPECT OF THE NATIVES. 935 


we were reconnoitering these with our glasses, one 
of the men said he saw the people puffing smoke at 
us from the balcony, that they waved their arms, 
and a jet of smoke proceeded from them “like the 
puff of a pipe.” I did not succeed in seeing this 
action myself, but I have no doubt it was the same 
as that observed by Cook when he landed on this 
coast to the westward, and which has never yet been 
explained or accounted for. The men seemed each 
ornamented with a piece of round shell hanging on 
their breasts, and most had the shield-shaped piece 
of shell over the groin. They were generally of a 
dark brown or copper colour; but we observed 
one lad of a pale dirty yellow, the colour of a frog. 
The canoes were quite simple, having no outrigger 
on either side, but appearing to be a mere hollow 
tree. The paddles were about five feet long in the 
handle, with a diamond shaped blade, the men using 
them as they stood up. ‘They gradually advanced 
towards us, and one man seemed inclined to come up 
alone in a small canoe. We tried him with Erroob 
words, but he did not seem to understand them, 
and replied in words unintelligible to us. As we 
were now so far from the sea, with such a labyrinth 
of channels to trace back, it would evidently never 
do to proceed with so strong a body of enemies like- 
wise inthe rear. We determined then to return at 
once, and not attempt further communication with 
these people, as it would only lead probably to 
bloodshed, without any adequate reason. I should 


234 ANCHOR FOR THE NIGHT. 


have much liked to examine the house, but we 
were too few to overawe them without coming to 
positive hostilities ; so we took to our oars, and went 
rapidly down the river with a current in our favour, 
apparently due to the ebb tide. They followed us 
in their canoes for a little distance, and we passed 
another small hut, from which a man ran out with 
his bow and arrows, and gazed on us as we went 
by. Here they halted, and as it was now near sun- 
set, we proceeded with all haste in order to get a 
secure place at some distance in which to anchor for 
the night. Having proceeded about four miles, we 
reached the straight broad reach running nearly 
north and south, from which we got a glimpse of 
Aird’s Hill in the morning. About the middle of 
this we anchored. All night long we heard similar 
noises in the woods and jungles around us to those 
we had heard last night. 

May 13.—We determined to discover if possible 
what these sounds proceeded from, so just at dawn- 
ing pushed the boat into one of the small lateral 
canals leading into the jungle. We were soon 
obliged to lay in our oars, and either pole along or 
draw the boat on by grasping the over-hanging 
boughs, and found ourselves in a small muddy 
channel, environed by a great wood of very tall 
trees. In one of the dark recesses a cuscus was 
seen on a branch of a tree, but | strained my eyes 
in vain to discern it, till one of the men put some 
shot into his masket over the ball, and knocked it 


TRACKS OF PIGS. 93D 


into the water. It was dreadfully torn, and every 
bone broken, but I succeeded in skinning and pre- 
serving it, and the skin is now in the British 
Museum. ‘The ground was tolerably dry and firm, 
and Captain Blackwood proceeded a short distance 
into the wood, while I stood in the boat where there 
was more light, to try to get a shot at any bird or 
animal that might come across. Captain Blackwood 
found the footsteps of pigs everywhere very abun- 
dant, but he could not penetrate far, for the great 
prickly succulent plants and matted creepers. Many 
pigeons, parrots, and white cockatoos were flying 
about, but they all kept so high about the very tops 
of the trees that though I fired several times I did 
not bring any down. We then returned to the 
main stream, and pulling into the middle, let the 
boat drift slowly down with the stream, while we were 
eating our breakfast. We then pulled down some 
distance farther, looking for a spot to land, on which 
there should be a sufficiently clear space for the artiti- 
cial horizon to receive the sun’s rays at noon, in order 
that Captain Blackwood might determine the lati- 
tude. We at length found a part of the bank with 
a sufficient margin between the river and the wood 
for that purpose ; a patch of mud covered with green 
herbage about a yard across, and here accordingly 
we waited till noon. I occupied the time in skinning 
the cuscus, the flesh of which we had for dinner, 
and Captain Blackwood shot a very fine pigeon and 
another bird, both of which are now in the British 


236 LATITUDE AT NOON. 


Museum. We found ourselves in S. lat. 7° 357, 
and supposed the village we had seen to be five 
miles farther north, in a straight line. We were 
now about ten miles in a direct line from the low 
point for which we steered when leaving the ship, — 
so that we had penetrated about fifteen miles into 
the country. During the afternoon we pulled down 
to the first group of huts we had met, and then beat 
out to the mouth of the opening. The channel here 
was a mile ora mile and a half wide, the water 
slightly brackish. Several channels, equally wide, 
and seemingly equally deep, ran as far as we could 
see towards the east and north-east, cutting up the 
land into numerous islets, and apparently commu- 
nicating again with the sea towards the east. 

We anchored for the night with the open sea mn 
view, but sheltered by a long low island of jungle 
on our left, and on our right by the long sand-bank 
that had impeded our entrance into this channel as 
we approached it from the sea. 

May 14.—-A dark rainy morning. We pulled 
out to the southward, keeping pretty close to the 
shore on our left, where we had plenty of water. 
Just at the point of this shore we found an old hut 
or two, which we took possession of in order to cook 
our breakfast, as it rained heavily. 

About nine o’clock it cleared off a little, and we 
pulled out to the southward for about three miles, 
leaving the extremity of the shoal point about half 
a mile on our right hand, and having a long line of 


ROLLERS ON THE MUD FLATS. 237 


mangrove coast stretching away to the south-east on 
our left. 

We had a depth of about three fathoms, and hav- 
ing got out into the breeze we made sail close on a 
wind, hoping to fetch the ship, which was now about 
seventeen miles distant. We had not gone more 
than a mile or two, however, before breakers and 
shoal water were seen ahead, so we “doused” the 
sail, and pulled to windward, hoping to get round 
them. As we were now unsheltered by any land 
to windward, the sea was very heavy and rather 
confused, the whole swell of the ocean pouring 
right in upon these mud flats. Having pulled to 
windward of the chief mass of breakers we again 
set sail, and stood to the south-west, keeping the 
oars likewise going. In this way we continued pull- 
ing and sailing for several hours in a general depth 
of about three fathoms, making but slow way, and 
obliged to keep a watchful eye on the sea. Heavy 
breakers occasionally rose on all sides of us, often 
not breaking in the same place twice together, but 
just wherever a higher swell than usual happened 
to meet or be incorporated with another. A line of 
huge rollers occasionally swept past us, and once 
three great waves in quick succession. These were 
of great height and regularity, and as when the first 
approached us, we had good way on the boat, her 
head was quickly brought to it, and she rose over 
it in good style, and then fell in the succeeding 
hollow. Here was the point of danger, the height 


938 NO NEWS OF THE BOATS. 


of the next roller completely becalmed our sails, and 
had we not had the oars out to give the boat steer- 
age way, and keep her head in the right direction, 
the sea would probably have taken us broadside on 
and engulphed us.* As it was we again mounted 
on to the back of this huge billow, and rode over 
the third with similar success. I watched them as 
they travelled rapidly on after having passed us, 
and not half a mile to leeward the first suddenly 
curled over and broke, and being succeeded by the 
others, they raised a mad whirlpool of foam, in 
in which our chance would have been poor indeed 
had it happened near us. Luckily the weather was 
now fine, with a light breeze, or we could not have 
come out over these shoals. 

The sight of these seas increased our anxiety for 
our missing boats ; however, we now saw the royals 
of the Fly on the horizon, and hoped to meet them 
when we got on board. We at length deepened the 
water to four fathoms, when the sea got less heavy 
and more regular, and at two o’clock we reached 
the ship. No news of any of the absentees had been 
heard, and serious apprehensions were entertained 
on board for our own safety and that of the cutter, 
as the day after we left the ship, it blew nearly a gale 


* Captain Blackwood was now steering, and he will, perhaps, 
forgive my saying, that I always felt perfectly safe in a boat 
while the yoke-ropes were in his hands, whatever might be the 
character of the sea. In this particular instance, the least unskil- 
fulness or want of judgment would have lost all our lives. 


ANOTHER SEARCH. 939 


of wind, and the sea was so heavy as to break in 
over her forecastle as she lay at anchor. They had 
no boat on board but the dingy, and so many men 
away as hardly to have enough to work the ship if 
it had been necessary to weigh anchor. 

May 15.— We ran down to the southward, where 
we were joined by the Prince George, and shortly 
after Mr. Pollard came on board with the cutter. 
He had run down along the coast as close as he 
could without seeing any signs of the missing boats. 
As it was possible they might have hauled off the 
coast and missed us in some of the bad weather we 
had experienced, and then steered for Bramble 
Key or Erroob, the Prince George was despatched 
to those places to look for them. The cutter was 
re-victualled for six days, and sent again to search 
the coast in the bottom of the bight off which we 
were, while the Fly beat up to the north-east to ex- 
amine the coast in that direction. Mr. Macgillivray 
volunteered to go in the cutter with Mr. Pollard. 

May 16 to 19.—During these four days we had 
the most lovely weather, but the winds were so light 
that we only got about thirty-five miles to the wind- 
ward of our former anchorage. The edge of the 
bank was traced thus far, and the neighbouring sea 
outside sounded, but the land was too distant for us 
todo more than just trace its outline approximately. 
At our farthest eastern point the shoals seemed to 
have a tendency to close in with the land. Just be- 
fore sunrise in the morning, high land was seen 


240 DISTANT MOUNTAINS SEEN. 


upon two occasions: once dimly in the east, and 
once more distinctly bearing N.N.E. The latter 
consisted of two peaks, and a lower range stretching 
from them to the west. They subtended an angle 
with the horizon of more than 11’ of arc, which, if 
their distance was presumed to be 60 miles, would 
make them upwards of 4,000 feet high. From their 
relative clearness, however, as compared with Mount 
Aird, which was 30 miles from us, I should be 
inclined to suppose they were more distant than 60 
miles, and therefore higher than 4,000 feet. 

The air was now dry, cool, and pleasant, the 
thermometer in the shade not being higher than 
79°. 

On the 19th we ran back to our old anchorage 
in 8°, within sight of the land, and fell in with the 
Prince George. She had been to Bramble Key and 
Erroob, without learning anything of the boats. 
The cutter being also in sight, was recalled, and 
reported a similar result. 

As the cutter had not examined the whole of the 
bight, Lieut. Ince and Mr. Porcher were sent away 
in her again. 

Mr. Macgillivray told me that after running down 
along part of the coast, they had, on the 17th, gone 
into a large fresh-water channel, the water at half 
a mile from the sea not being even brackish, with 
several arms branching from it; and landed for a 
short time, near a large deserted house. On re- 
turning, they found ten large canoes occupying the 


SKIRMISH WITH NATIVES. Q4,] 


mouth of the channel, containing about 150 men, 
who divided into two bodies, and advanced to sur- 
round and attack them. As the cutter had to beat 
out of the channel, and might in so doing get 
aground on unknown shoals, they determined to act 
decisively, and if necessary bring the savages to 
action at once. They accordingly bore down towards 
them. The canoes advanced in regular order, the 
men shouting, splashing up the water with their 
paddles, beating the sides of the canoes, and 
handling their bows and arrows. When within 
distance, several arrows were discharged, which fell 
near the cutter, but struck no one. On this they fired 
upon them with ball, and several of the natives fell. 
The canoes then retreated in great confusion, leaving 
the passage open, of which the cutter took advantage 
to pursue her way. Mr. Macgillivray observed 
that on firing, several leapt overboard on the 
lee side of the canoes, and resting their arms on 
the gunwale, continued to discharge their arrows 
while in the water, with the canoe as a breast-work. 
The necessity for bloodshed was to be regretted, but 
exposed as our boats now were, singly, to such great 
odds of numbers, it was absolutely essential to teach 
the savages the great superiority of our weapons, 
and the danger of attacking us. 

May 20 and 21.— We remained at anchor waiting 
for the cutter; the Prince George being anchored in 
three fathoms, several miles nearer the shore. The 
20th was beautiful weather, but on the 21st it blew 

VOL. f. R 


24,9 A WILY DEVICE. 


a strong breeze, aud the sea was very heavy, great 
rollers traversing the flats to leeward, and breaking 
all round us in water three and four fathoms deep. 
We accordingly began to be very anxious about our 
cutter, and on the 22nd, the weather being more 
moderate, we stood in towards the Prince George, 
as far as the water would allow. Here we found 
the cutter, which had with great difficulty made her 
way out the preceding afternoon, through a tre- 
mendously heavy sea. None but an excellent boat 
could have lived in it, and she was much shaken 
and began to leak a good deal. 

The day after she left us (ae. on the 20th), she 
stood in to the mouth of a fresh-water arm, four or 
five miles wide, and while examining it, no fewer 
than sixteen large canoes, with at least a dozen 
men in each, suddenly emerged from different parts 
of the shore, among the mangroves, where no sign 
of them could previously be seen. 

They did not attack her, however, but seemed 
watching their opportunity in case she should get 
into difficulties. One very wily device they put in 
practice, which deserves notice. While the cutter 
was at anchor for dinner, one or two large logs 
of wood were perceived floating down, of which 
little notice was taken, till, when within about a 
quarter of a mile, Lieut. Ince, having a remark- 
ably keen sight, observed a little splash in the water 
at regular intervals alongside of one. The men 
insisted it was only a log of wood; but on firing 
a musket-ball near, up started several men in it, 


RETURN TO ERROOB. 943 


and paddled away. It was a canoe half sunk in 
the water, with the natives crouched down and 
propelling it by their hands over the side. 

We had now used every effort we could think of 
to discover our missing boats, without success. 
Neither the ship nor the Prince George could ap- 
proach the shore nearer than eight miles; our 
boats were reduced to the cutter and one gig, so 
that we could not send a sufficient force to thoroughly 
explore all the fresh-water arms and channels, 
swarming as they were with hostile inhabitants. 
Our provisions also were running short, so that we 
should be compelled very soon to leave the coast. 
We feared our boats had either been swamped in the 
heavy seas that roll over the mud-flats lying off the 
coast, or, running for shelter into one of the fresh- 
water inlets, had been surprised and cut off by the 
natives. The latter seemed the most probable 
supposition ; so, as a last chance, Captain Blackwood 
determined to go to Erroob, and endeavour to per- 
suade one or two of its inhabitants to return with 
us to New Guinea, in order that by their means we 
might perhaps procure a peaceful interview with 
some tribe of the New Guinea people, and thus at 
least learn what had been the fate of our shipmates. 
As soon, therefore, as we had got in our cutter, we 
beat to windward with the Prince George in com- 
pany this afternoon, and the next day sent her to 
procure eggs and spinach at Bramble Key, while we 
stood for Erroob, where we anchored in Treacherous 
Bay on the morning of the 24th. 


CHAPTER X. 


LANDING AT ERROOB—EXCITEMENT AMONG THE NATIVES— 
VISIT SEEWAI, AND BRING HIM ON BOARD—PROMISES 
TO ACCOMPANY US, BUT DISSUADED BY HIS FAMILY— 
DRYING A DEAD CHILD—SEEWAI AND MAMMOOS AT 
WAR—SKIRMISH AMONG THE NATIVES—SOME PLACES 
SAID TO BE ‘‘GALLA” (TABOOED !)—MAMMOOS PROMISES 
TO ACCOMPANY US, BUT BACKS OUT—APPARENT DREAD 
OF NEW GUINEA—WE RESOLVE TO RETURN AND LIGHTEN 
THE PRINCE GEORGE, IN ORDER TO TAKE HER INTO 


THE RIVERS. 


May 24.— Own anchoring, we observed a number 
of green boughs stuck upon the point to the west of 
us, and several poles newly erected on the beach 
at Beeka, the plantation there being all freshly 
fenced in with stout bamboo palings. A canoe 
came round from the east point, but approached 
us In a very guarded and cautious manner, and 
shortly retreated to a party of women, whom we 
saw ashore near the end of the pathway that leads 
across the island. Shortly after the canoe again 
approached us, and met our cutter that was going 
ashore with a party of officers, in a friendly manner, 
but were very earnest in persuading them not to 
land at Beeka, but to go to Keriam. When the 
natives came on board they were as friendly as 
usual, and began bartering their curiosities as 


VISIT SEEWAI. Q4.5 


before; but there was evidently something the 
matter ashore which we could not understand. 

I accompanied Captain Blackwood in the first 
gig to Keriam, outside which much new fencing 
had been raised. Several men ran down to receive 
us, of whom the principal were two called Burrooma 
and Keouck, who waded off to us and got into 
the boat. 

Mammoos was not visible; and as we wished 
first to apply to old Seewai, as the best natured and 
most honest of the islanders, we inquired for him. 
They said he was round on the other side of the 
island, at his own place of Moggor. Arrived there, 
he was not to be found at first, but we were 
received with the usual shouts of welcome by the 
rest, especially by the children ; and on walking 
into his plantation, we met him returning from the 
hill with a load of fire-wood on his shoulders. He 
was delighted to see us, embraced us most affection- 
ately, and immediately assented to our invitation to 
go on board the “‘ ow shippo,” and spend the evening. 
They seemed all very busy making new fences 
and building new huts. We saw the commence- 
ment of one of the latter. Eight or ten stout 
posts about five feet high, were driven into the 
ground at equal distances, forming a circle of fifteen 
feet diameter. Round these, at equal heights, were 
fastened three hoops of bamboo, both inside and 
outside the posts, but a space in the lower hoops was 
left between two of the posts, where the low door 


24,5 KEOUCK’S DEAD CHILD. 


would come. They afterwards fasten tall poles of 
bamboo upright to the hoops pretty closely all 
round, and bringing their ends together, tie them 
to a stout centre pole, which rises up from the 
interior and protrudes through the roof. Onto 
this frame work they weave and fasten a very thick 
thatch of grass, and palm-leaves split into thin 
strips, leaving only one small opening for the door, 
to enter which they must crouch on the hands and 
knees. ‘The houses, then, as mentioned before, 
look just like great beehives. 

Under some trees outside the fencing were sitting 
two old women, one of whom was Seewai’s wife, the 
other Keouck’s. ‘The latter had on her lap the 
body of a child, afew months old, and which seemed 
to have been dead some time. It was stretched out 
on a frame-work of sticks, and smeared over with a 
thick red pigment, which dressing she was now 
renewing. It was much shrunk, with the skin 
hanging in loose folds, but had no other appearance 
of decomposition. As soon as she had smeared it 
all over, she hung it up behind her in the shade of 
a bush, talking and laughing quite unconcernedly. 
Keouck said it was his “‘piccaninny.” The two 
women had their heads closely shaven* and smeared, 
as well as their faces, with a white pigment, but 
had no other signs of mourning about them. 


* It was principally for shaving and cutting their hair, I 
believe, that they so eagerly desired our bottles, as they always 
used bits of broken glass for that purpose. 


SEEWAI COMES ON BOARD. Q47 


Seewai had sent for some cocoa-nuts for us, and 
when they came, presented four to the Captain and 
two to me. He and Keouck then came on board 
with us, Seewai bringing his son, a boy about eight 
years old. 

On passing Keriam, both Seewai and Keouck 
begged to be allowed to squat down in the stern- 
sheets of the boat, so that they might not be seen; 
Seewal saying, ‘‘Keriam no good! Mammoos no 
good! sarreg, sarreg!” We, from this, concluded 
that Mammoos and Seewai had quarrelled, and that 
their respective partisans were at war with each 
other, and that this was the reason of the excite- 
ment we observed on the island, and probably of 
the new fences round the huts. 

We saw Mammoos and others waiting for us at 
Keriam, but at Seewai’s request kept out, and 
steered for the ship, shouting to them we would come 
and see them to-morrow. 

On getting on board we set to work to explain to 
Seewai that two of our boats were missing, and we 
feared either wrecked or got among the New Guinea 
people. By the aid of the vocabulary, and by 
Melville’s extempore sketches, we made them clearly 
understand this, and that Mr. Millery, who was a 
great favourite of their’s, and known by them as 
‘‘ Tam,” was one of those that were lost. We then 
explained to Seewai that we wanted him to go 
with us to talk to the people of Dowdee, that they 
might inform us where our people were. At this 


Q48 NATIVES SLEEP ON BOARD. 


Seewai shook his head, drew his finger across 
his throat, and said ‘ Dowdee no good! arress, 
arress!* sarreg!”’ On shewing him a large axe, 
however, and offering him this, and plenty of 
small ones, and assuring him that we would take 
care of him with our ‘“‘ow sarregs,” he at length 
professed to be willing to go. He must, however, 
first get a stock of ketai and boonarree (yams and 
cocoa-nuts), to which we assented. Soon after 
dark they said they were cold and wished to go to 
sleep, so we made them up a comfortable bed of 
sails in the steerage. Between nine and ten o'clock, 
catching sight of a native pipe hanging up in one of 
the cabins, nothing would do but they must have a 
smoke; so we took them on deck, and after swallow- 
ing a mouthful or two, and drinking copiously of 
water after it, they remained quiet till morning. 
May 25.—At daybreak this morning Seewai and 
Keouck became quite clamorous to go home, saying, 
“coskeer ee-ee, piccaninny ee-ee!” or ‘‘ their wives 
and children would be crying for them.’’ As our 
only light boat, the first gig, was ashore, where 
Captain Blackwood and Lieut. Shadwell had been 
all night making astronomical observations, we 
could not land them before seven o’clock, when I 
took them round in the first gig to Moggor. In 
passing Keriam, they observed the same precautions 


* « Arress” means war, or strife, or fighting. ‘* Sarreg” 
means either a bow, or to shoot with a bow. They also apply 


the same name to our guns and pistols. 


RELUCTANCE TO VISIT DOWDEE. 249 


as last night. On our arrival at Moggor, they ex- 
plained to their wives what we wanted them to do, 
but the old ladies were evidently strongly opposed 
to any such measures. I essayed all my eloquence, 
setting forth the short time their husbands would be 
away and the care we would take of them, and then 
enumerated all the wealth for which I could recollect 
Erroobian designations. Sapara, ow sapara, nipa, 
tarpoor, sucoob, wallee,* repeating each word several 
times to designate the quantity we would give them. 
I at last assured them that if Seewai did not go I 
should apply to Mammoos, and that he would go, 
and then become the possessor of all these riches. 
This last argument had an evident effect, and slack- 
ened the old ladies’ opposition a good deal. Both 
Seewai and Keouck then said they would go, and 
set off to wade to the boat, with several men and 
children bringing cocoa-nuts and yams. Before we 
reached the boat, however, Keouck stole away, and 
on getting to it Seewai’s little boy began to cry, and 
cling to him, and pull him away; and I could see 
his heart failed him very fast. His wife then began 
to shout very energetically to him from the shore. 
He pointed to her and then to his child, saying, 
‘“Coskeer ee-ee, piccaninny ee-ee! Seewai lola Dow- 
dee.” I endeavoured to laugh him out of his 
reluctance, and urged him to get into the boat, but 


* These words mean, axe, big axe, knife, glass bottle, tobacco, 
cloth or clothes ; the latter being gaudy cotton pocket-handker- 
chiefs. 


250 UNUSUAL HOSTILITY. 


in vain. In short, even if willing to go, he was 
evidently not his own master, and being a very 
worthy, good creature, he could not resist the en- 
treaties of his family; so at last we left him with 
them, and went to Keriam. Here I found only 
women and children, and on going up to the huts I 
perceived not only new outer fencing, but poles of 
bamboo slung from the trees between the huts, and 
strings passing from one to the other, dividing all 
the interior into small square spaces. On pointing 
to these they all cried, “ galla! galla!” an expres- 
sion I had not heard before. 

Mammoos, they said, was gone to get ketai(yams), 
which I did not believe, as that is usually a woman’s 
business. As we returned to the boat, a man passed 
by the village, fully armed with bows and arrows, 
and went hastily on to Beeka. On returning to the 
ship, we could see small parties of men and women 
posted at different parts of the edge of the bushes, 
between Beeka and the pathway, and eight or ten 
armed men stood on a bare ridge, as if expecting an 
enemy. 

Just before noon Captain Blackwood and Mr. 
Evans landed at Beeka, opposite the ship, to take a | 
meridian altitude, on perceiving which, the armed 
men ran down from the heights, and seemed rather 
inclined to be insolent. One of them drew an 
arrow across the back of Mr. Evans’s neck as he 
was observing with the artificial horizon, and an- 
other raised a drawn bow at one of our men. No 


WE REPROACH THE NATIVES. 251 


notice was taken of it, but when the boat was re- 
turning, and about 150 yards from the shore, five 
arrows were discharged at it, which fell all round it, 
but did no damage. Two muskets were fired at 
them, but they stepped behind the rocks, and 
escaped injury. 

In the afternoon Lieutenant Shadwell and Messrs. 
Macgillivray, Melville, and myself, went in the first 
gig to Keriam, to see Mammoos, both to inquire 
the reason of this conduct, and to ask him to go 
with us to Dowdee. On the point, as we approached, 
stood Mammoos and another, waving boughs and 
shouting, “ Poud! poud Keriam!” and on our 
answering, “ Poud! pouda!” they all came down 
as friendly as possible, both those who had shot at 
our boat and the others. We went up into the 
village, and, as well as we could, lectured Mammoos 
on the conduct of his followers. Dzoom and four 
others were pointed out by Freathy, the coxswain, 
as those who had shot the arrows; but they strenu- 
ously denied it. I insisted, however, that they had 
done so; and, with avery grave face, pointed to our 
guns, and told them if they ‘‘ sarreg’d” us we should 
‘‘sarreg”’ them. During this I observed one or two 
old women carefully removing bundles of war arrows 
into the bush behind the huts, ready, no doubt, for 
their friends if we should quarrel. They all began 
to look very serious ; however, we carried it with a 
high hand, and pretending to be very angry, shook 
our guns at them, till Mammoos cried, ‘‘ Poud! 


252 HOSTILE BOUNDARIES. 


poud! lola sarreg! lola sarreg!’’* I asked him then 
to come round with us in the boat to Moggor, as 
Shadwell had never seen the other side of the island. 
To this he rather reluctantly assented, two or three 
of his followers saying they would follow him armed, 
apparently to support him, if necessary, against 
Seewai’s party. To this we made no objection, and 
he got into the boat and went round with us. He 
begged us, however, to land at Badodga, about half a 
mile before we came to Moggor, as he could go no 
further with us, but would await our return there. 
Just beyond Badoéga a fence of boughs was set up 
from a small rocky point across the beach to high 
water mark, and a rope was stretched thence to a 
pole set up on the reef. Beyond this we came to a 
clear space of sand, on which there were no recent 
footmarks, and which seemed to be the borders of 
the hostile territories, as at the next point there was 
another fence, beyond which we saw Keouck con- 
cealed among the edge of the bushes. We called 
to him, but he put his fingers to his lips, and stole 
among the trees till he got round the next rocky 
point, when he came out to us. We concluded he 
had been acting as sentinel or spy on the Keriam’ 
party, though he yesterday was at that place, and 
joined us there on landing. We walked on for 
a mile or two; saw Seewai at Moggor just as he 
was returning from the hill with his wife, both 


* “Peace! peace! no shooting, no shooting !” 


CHARACTER OF MAMMOOS. 253 


loaded with yams and fire-wood, and then returned 
to the boat. There was still plenty of fresh water 
running down the rill in Seewai’s garden, though 
not so much as before, and Keouck’s dead baby was 
still hanging in the shade of a bush, apparently 
having had another dressing of red pigment. 
Keouck and one or two more came with us to the 
boat, taking no notice of Mammoos, who was wait- 
ing for us. He returned in the boat, but on pass- 
ing Keriam, insisted he must land and sleep there 
for the night, and that on the morrow (“ sana 
gegger,’’—another sun) the women would have got 
plenty of large ketai, and if we would come for 
him in the boat he would go with us to Dowdee. 
Though I had no faith in his promises, we agreed 
to this, and putting him ashore returned to the ship 
by sunset. Mammoos shewed us the marks of seve- 
ral arrow wounds to-day on different parts of his 
body, some of which, he said, he had received at 
Dowdee. One of them was in his cheek, and had 
evidently broken his lower jaw, which was a little 
out of placein front. He was apparently a shrewd 
and resolute old rascal, with a composed and obser- 
vant countenance, and a mingled expression of cun- 
ning and audacity. 

May 26.—As soon as the ship’s company 
had breakfasted, Captain Blackwood sent me in 
the first gig to Keriam, to try and get old Mam- 
moos on board, according to his promise. At nine 


254, PURCHASE OF YAMS. 


o clock,* we found it dead low water, and so shoal that 
we could not get in at the usual landing place at 
Keriam, but had to go about a hundred yards farther 
on. Here Mammoos at once came down and got into 
the boat, but begged we would stay a little and get 
some ketai, of which several parties of women came 
successively with bundles, and bartered it at a regular 
rate, under Mammoos’s inspection, the price being 
four roots for a wine bottle or a fig of tobacco. The 
roots were better than any we had previously got, 
many of them as large as two fists, and some much 
bigger but not of so good a quality. In this way 
we purchased a much larger quantity than we had 
ever got before at one time, and it appeared as if the 
yam season was just coming in. They brought also 
a few roots, which both looked and tasted like 
ginger, and which they called ‘“keraker.” Having 
nearly exhausted their stock, I was just calling to 
Mammoos, who stood in the bow of the boat, to 
come and sit down by me, and go off to the ship, 
when a boy, called Babouck, came running along 
the beach with some intelligence apparently of im- 
portance. On hearing it, Mammoos sprung out of 
the boat, and began pushing her off, pointing to the 
ship, and waving us to go, saying “‘sarreg! sarreg!’ 
Thinking we were going to be attacked, I seized 
my gun, and told the men to shove off. 


* Last night the water was equally low at five in the after- 
noon, so that the tides are very irregular in their times here. 


A NATIVE BATTLE. 255 


The natives had run back to Keriam, and were 
now coming out armed with bows and arrows, look- 
ing along the beach, in which direction [ now caught 
sight of a small party coming along at full speed 
from the south side of the island, or the direction of 
Moggor. Mammoos’s party advanced in an irre- 
gular straggling line, with the women carrying 
bundles of arrows on the flanks and in the rear. We 
pulled off a little way, to be out of arrow-shot, and 
then lay on our oars to see the result. ‘The small 
party coming up seemed to be the inhabitants of the 
next village, and joined Mammoos’s party, and we 
then saw another body of about thirty men coming 
round the point, and a canoe with about six more. 
These were evidently enemies, or Seewai’s party. 

They approached each other at full speed to 
within about thirty or forty yards, when they both 
halted, sheltering themselves behind rocks and large 
stones; and there was a pretty brisk interchange 
of arrows. The sharp twanging or smacking of 
the bows, the rattling of bundles of arrows, and the 
hurtling of arrows through the air, and their glanc- 
ing from the rocks, was heard above the shouts 
and cries of the combatants. The fierce gestures, 
quick and active movements, and the animated 
attitudes of the black and naked warriors, orna- 
mented as many of them were with glittering pearl 
shells, or red flowers and yellow leaves hanging from 
their hair, and the crouching of the women, known 
by their petticoats, on the rear or skirts of the 


Q56 MORE TALK THAN WORK. 


battle, with fresh stores of ammunition, formed for 
a short time an interesting and exciting spectacle. 
After a minute or two’s skirmishing, they all rushed 
together, hand to hand, and formed a confused mob. 
The shouting and noise was then redoubled, and 
there was a short clatter of long poles, sticks or 
canoe paddles, which we could see waving above 
their heads; and we thought some of them were 
using their arrows as spears or daggers. Still no 
execution seemed to be done, as we saw none of 
them down ; and in a very brief time the poles and 
paddles were all held erect, the women closed up, 
and the war of deeds seemed to end in one of 
words. At last we heard shouts of ‘‘ poud, poud,”’ 
beginning to predominate, and they began to sepa- 
rate, and some of them to sit down on the rocks. 
Supposing it was all over, but not wishing to inter- 
fere with them while this excitement lasted, we 
returned to the ship to report the matter. Through- 
out the affair, there appeared to us to be “ more 
talk than work,” though at first I thought it was 
going to be a “ very pretty fight.” 

About an hour after I got on board, a large 
canoe came from Keriam, containing both Mam- 
moos and Seewai, and many of their followers. As 
they came up, they shouted “poud! poud! poud 
Mammoos, poud Seewai!” and both parties seemed 
very glad it was over. Several of them were 
slightly scarred with arrow marks, some on the 
chest and neck ; and Mammoos had a pretty sharp 


MEN IN WOMEN’S PETTICOATS. O57 


cut on the elbow, that looked like the blow of a 
hatchet. This Dr. Muirhead dressed for him, 
and he did not seem to think much of it. From 
some of the other marks, several of them had evi- 
dently had a very narrow escape. It seemed as if 
they had seen the arrow coming, and avoided it by 
twisting the body as the Australians avoid spears. 
They brought for sale several of their war arrows 
that had been used and spoilt in the skirmish. 
These were much larger and finer than any we had 
before seen, being highly carved and ornamented, 
and having a small bone point and barb, like that on 
the Australian spear (page 112), but smaller. We 
found that several of the men had now petticoats 
like the women, worn either to deceive their 
enemies in the battle, or else put on to come on 
board ship with, for the purpose of concealing 
plunder. We actually detected one or two putting 
them to the latter use, and as this morning we lost 
both our carving knives out of the gun-room, we 
vehemently suspected master Duppa, whom we after- 
wards remembered to have seen prowling about 
below wearing a petticoat. 

Both Mammoos and Seewai now said they would 
go with us to Dowdee if we would stay till to- 
morrow, as the women were out collecting ketai in 
order to take with them as sea stock, and Captain 
Blackwood determined to give them another trial. 

We took advantage of the delay to enjoy a good 
walk over the island, and the cutter being got ready 

VOL. I. S 


958 MEANING OF ‘*GALLA.’’ 


to land a large party of us, Keouck and another 
begged a passage in it. When, however, they found 
it was going to land at Beeka, opposite the ship, they 
got into a dreadful fright; said that Beeka was ‘‘galla, 
galla;”’ and that Mammoos would kill or strike them, 
“‘ Mammoos aress;” and they would not be pacified 
till promised they should not be put ashore there, 
but taken back to the ship when we had landed. 
They mentioned Dzoom having shot at the Captain 
at Beeka the day before, joming it with the expres- 
sion, ‘‘ Beeka galla.”” This makes me think that 
‘“‘ oalla’” may have a signification similar to ‘ taboo” 


? 


among the Polynesians, and that Beeka was now 
tabooed, and that our landing there was an offence 
against their customs, for which the arrows were 
shot yesterday ; but that now they considered us as 
above the taboo, and at liberty to do as we pleased. 

They also said that the east point of the island, 
which they called Kaiderry, was ‘“ galla,” and if I 
understood them rightly, that there was still war 
between Kaiderry and Keriam. At all events, on 
walking across I found several huts between Kaiderry 
and Moggor shut up, and the paths through the 
mangrove cove to the west of Kaiderry crossed by 
stout lines and bamboos, tied from tree to tree, as 
if to give notice of there being no communication. 
They received us at Kaiderry with their usual 
friendly welcome, and two parties of our officers 
walked completely round the island. The latter of 
these (Dr. Muirhead and Mr. Walsh) having de- 


THREE PARTIES IN ERROOB. Q59 


layed in order to collect shells, got benighted, and 
arrived at Keriam some time after dark. The 
natives treated them kindly however, and Dzoom 
walked with them to Beeka, where they were obliged 
to come in order to make a signal for a boat by 
firing a pistol. 

The island of Erroob is about eight miles in 
circumference, or three miles long by two in width, 
and does not contain much above a hundred full- 
grown men. 

It is singular to find in such a narrow space, and 
small community, two or three separate parties, 
sometimes or often at war with each other, each 
occupying their own district, and guarding their 
frontiers from their neighbours. We could not 
make out that they had any regularly constituted 
chiefs, or anything like hereditary authority. 
Seewai and Mammoos were virtually the chiefs or 
heads, each of their own party, but their authority 
seemed rather that of force of character or intellect, 
or the result of circumstances, than that of law, 
compact, or custom. Who was the chief among 
the Kaiderry party we could not make out. 

On relating at Kaiderry this afternoon the skir- 
mish I had seen in the morning, one of the men 
said very quietly, ‘‘baes, baes!”’* which, on con- 
sulting the vocabulary afterwards, I had the satis- 


* The sound was exactly that of our English ‘‘ base!’ which, 
considering the meaning of the word, is a curious coincidence, 
but not the only one in the words that were collected. 


s 2 


260 THEY PROMISE TO GO WITH US. 


faction of finding meant “lies, lies!’’ However, as I 
had pocketed the affront at the time, I did not think 
it necessary to send him a message in the morning. 
May 27.—-As Captain Blackwood and I were 
going to Keriam this morning, to fetch Mammoos, 
we met him coming in his canoe. I wished, how- 
ever, to land, as Dzoom had promised to bring me 
the barreet this morning. I could not find either 
the barreet or Dzoom, but Mammoos and Doodegab 
promised solemnly to go with us to Dowdee, after 
we had exhibited to them a sword, a broad axe, 
tomahawks, and other things, and offered them as a 
reward. ‘They came on board with us, where we 
found many others, and several canoes, very busy 
bartering their vegetables and curiosities for the 
few knives and other things which still remained in 
the ship. As soon as we got on board, orders were 
given to weigh anchor. ‘The heaving round of the 
capstan seemed rather to astonish them, and I could 
see Doodegab beginning to look very anxious. At 
the rattling of the chain topsail sheets, when the 
topsails were sheeted home, most of them retreated 
to their canoes, and, in spite of all I could do to 
detain him, Doodegab got on the gangway ladder, 
and shortly disappeared into a canoe. One or two 
still remained on deck with bundles of ketai roots, 
and Mammoos pottered about with a composed 
countenance, endeavouring to get a purchaser for 
them, quietly assuring me he was going to remain 
with us, till, as the ship began to gather way, he 
bustled the natives overboard, then climbed on the 


BUT DECEIVE US AT LAST. 26] 


hammock nettings to speak to them, and after a last 
endeavour to sell a bunch of ketai, and get every 
thing he thought he possibly could of us, he stepped 
into the main chains, whence he very quietly dropped 
into the water, and got on board his canoe. It was 
now evident the old rogue never intended to go with 
us, and that all his assurances were merely intended 
to detain us, in order to get the greatest possible 
quantity of ‘‘ sapara” and “ nipa” for himself and 
his followers. 

They all seemed to regard Dowdee with con- 
siderable horror, and said the people of Dowdee 
would kill them; making signs, by biting their 
arms, as if they would also eat them afterwards. 

Captain Blackwood now resolved we should make 
one more effort by ourselves on the coast of New 
Guinea, to get news of our missing boats. For this 
purpose he determined to lighten the Prince George 
and trim her upon an even keel, and take her into 
an inlet in the bight that had not yet been examined, 
and search some of the houses, to see if any frag- 
ments of the boats, gear, clothes, or other matters 
could be found ; and endeavour, either by friendship 
or force, to communicate with some of the inhabi- 
tants, and try to get some information from them. 

On standing towards Bramble Key, of which | 
had now learnt the native name (Caedha), we met 
the Prince George with two casks of fresh eggs on 
board, and this day and the next she was prepared, 
as we ran down to the north, for her excursion over 
the mud flats. 


CHAPTER XI. 


TAKE THE PRINCE GEORGE INTO A RIVER IN LAT. 7° 50’— 
LARGE VILLAGES—SKIRMISH WITH THE NATIVES—LAND 
AND EXAMINE AN IMMENSE HOUSE-—BRING OFF SKULLS 
AND CURIOSITIES—SHOOT TWO PIGS—PROCEED UP RIVER, 
BUT STOPPED BY BAD WEATHER AND SHOAL WATER—SEE 
OTHER VILLAGES AND MANY NATIVES AND CANOES -- 
RETURN TO VESSEL—DAMP CHARACTER OF COUNTRY— 
DELTA OF LARGE RIVER—BEST PROBABLE METHOD OF 
PENETRATING THE INTERIOR OF NEW GUINEA. 


May 29.—W«s anchored at 10 a.m. in six fathoms, 
near our old anchorage, a little south of 8°, and at 
noon we sailed in the Prince George, taking also 
the ship’s cutter and her crew with us. Our party, in 
addition to the Prince George’s regular complement, 
consisted of Captain Blackwood, Mr. Walsh, Mr. 
Weeks, and myself, with two marines. We were 
all well armed, and the Prince George’s six-pounders 
were cleaned and got in order. Our course from 
the ship was north-west for about twenty miles, 
leaving the opening, where Captain Blackwood and 
I had previously been, some ten miles on our star- 
board hand. As the tide was rising we carried four 
fathoms, and three and a half, all the way, with a soft 
muddy bottom, and afew patches of hard sand. We 
steered for the mouth of a large inlet, three or four 
miles wide, and when the western head of this bore 


ENTER RIVER WITH PRINCE GEORGE. 268 


due west of us, we had a depth of two and a half 
fathoms. The land to the eastward of us curved 
gradually out along the coast, without any decided 
point or headland. It was all equally low and flat, 
and covered with jungle like that we had seen before. 

On a small beach, however, on our starboard hand 
a little to the eastward of us, we saw several natives 
and a house, and presently two or three small canoes 
were shoved out from the mangroves, and followed 
us. One had four men in, one of whom had some- 
thing red on his head, that we thought might be a 
red nightcap belonging to our missing boats, but 
which was probably a red flower. Although we 
were going up with a fresh breeze and a flood tide 
they neared us rapidly, pausing and shouting when 
they were about 300 yards off. The water was now 
slightly brackish, and fifteen feet deep. We shortly 
wound round a bend of the river and lost all view 
of the sea. About half-past five o’clock we passed 
a large native village on the east bank, and could 
see the roofs of four or five immensely long houses 
among the trees, with smoke oozing through the 
thatch, and a crowd of people at the water’s edge, 
from which a large canoe came out and followed us. 
We also saw several other canoes coming up on 
each side of the river. Just at sunset we anchored 
near the middle of the stream, which was full two 
miles wide, the depth of water being three and a 
quarter fathoms, or about twenty feet. The flood 
tide was still running up very rapidly, at the rate 


264, HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF NATIVES. 


of full three knots an hour, but of course we could 
not proceed in the dark. The canoes ran up 
beyond us on each side, and then meeting in the 
middle of the stream, pulled down towards us in a 
body, against the tide, which they easily stemmed. 

In the largest canoe we counted twenty- 
five men standing up and paddling, with others 
sitting down; in another there were ten men; in 
others, five, four, and one. They seemed to be 
holding a consultation, with much shouting from 
one to the other, but gradually drew near to us, 
evidently preparing to make an attack. 

As it would never do to have an unknown number 
of savages prowling round us all night, shooting 
probably at the watch on deck, and as we could 
not tell but some accident might happen to our 
little vessel up these rivers, making it necessary to 
return in the boats, or what other circumstances 
might occur, which would render it advantageous 
that these people should fully understand and dread 
the effect of our arms, Captain Blackwood deter- 
mined to take advantage of the first decided act of 
hostility on their part, to punish them severely and 
give them a lesson. He accordingly ordered the 
muskets to be loaded, called the hands on deck, 
and directed Grant, the coxswain of the cutter, to 
hold his boat in readiness, so that, if it became 
necessary to fire on the natives, he might push 
off and endeavour to seize one or two of them, to 
bring them prisoners on board. From them it was 


OBLIGED TO FIRE ON THEM. 265 


hoped we might acquire some sort of information, 
or open a communication in a more friendly manner 
with the rest. 

It was now rapidly getting dusk, and the canoes 
were advancing in a line, the men flourishing their 
paddles, encouraging each other, and handling and 
adjusting their bows and arrows. When they were 
within about 100 yards, Captain Blackwood and 
myself stood up on the taffrail and waved our hats, 
shouted ‘‘ poud, poud,”’ and told them in Erroob we 
were friends, and invited them to come to us. 
They ceased their cries and listened ; and I thought 
once I heard them say to each other, ‘ Errooba.” 


b) 


They seemed to understand “ toorree,” as they 
answered it with a general cry, but in words we 
could not understand. We held up hatchets to 
them, but nothing would induce them to depart 
from their hostile attitude; and when about sixty 
yards from us, two arrows were discharged, which 
passed over our heads. Captain Blackwood then 
gave the word to fire ; and there was a general dis- 
charge, several of the men loading again and firing 
without orders, and before it could be stopped I 
dare say thirty muskets had been fired.* ‘The 
large canoe then seemed quite empty, drifting up 
with the tide, and pursued by Grant in the cutter. 
As soon, however, as the firing ceased, several men 

* The men were just at this time becoming exasperated, with 


the loss of their messmates in the boats, and expressed great 
hatred against the blacks. 


266 RANGE OF THE TIDE. 


started up in it and began to paddle away, with 
such swiftness, that our cutter could not overtake 
them. The smaller canoes likewise kept a-head, 
and at the same time kept up a smart shower of 
arrows on the cutter, several of which fell into her 
or struck her masts, but luckily did not wound any 
of our men. It is probable, however, that ten 
or a dozen savages were struck, of whom several 
were no doubt killed. We could just discern in the 
fading daylight that the canoes made for the west 
bank of the river above us, in which direction 
we afterwards saw fires, and also flashes of light 
occasionally, like those of fire-arms, which seemed 
to be signals, as they were apparently answered by 
similar flashes, at the village down below us on the 
east side. 

At half-past eight o’clock the tide turned ; the 
water was then slightly brackish, and three and a 
half fathoms deep. At half-past two, in the middle 
watch, it was low water, and the depth was then 
two fathoms: the water perfectly drinkable. 

May 30.—It rained hard during the night, and 
this morning broke dark and rainy. As soon as 
we could see before us, we weighed anchor, and ran 
up with the last of the flood tide, the wind being 
very light and scarcely perceptible. We saw large 
canoes crossing the river, a mile a-head of us, and 
others pulling up each side. One canoe, with four 
men in it, pulled up boldly within a hundred yards 
of us, as if to reconnoitre. We could see smoke 


ABUNDANCE OF SAGO-PALMS. 207 


oozing through the roofs of all the large houses in 
the village to the south-east of us, shewing it to be 
very populous. Some of the canoes which went up 
along the banks of the river appeared to be laden 
with large cargoes of something covered over with 
matting, and propelled by three or four men only. 
It was often difficult to discern even a large canoe 
moving near the banks, so wide was the river, and 
so dark the shade of the woods under which they 
moved. We could now see no mangroves, but the 
woods consisted of lofty forest trees, mingled with 
many palms. The most abundant of these palms 
was instantly recognised as the sago-palm by Shad- 
rack, the steward of the Prince George, a native of 
the island of Kissa, who had formerly been servant 
to Mr. Earl at Port Essington. When near the 
bank, Captain Blackwood also recognised the bread- 
fruit tree, and there seemed a great variety of all 
kinds of tropical vegetation. 

At seven o'clock, having drifted up about a couple 
of miles, we found ourselves abreast of a very large 
village on the west bank, apparently that to which 
the canoes retreated last night. There were three 
or four long houses and several smaller ones. Many 
people were standing in the balconies of the houses, 
and running down to the edge of the water to gaze 
at us as we passed. About a mile farther on, we 
passed another village on the same side, with 
one large house and eleven smaller, and a little 
above this we met the ebb tide. What little wind 


268 DETAINED BY EBB TIDE. 


there was, being against us, we were now obliged 
to anchor for six hours. The canoe with four men 
still followed us up, and kept within about a hun- 
dred yards of us, shouting apparently in defiance. 
We held up hatchets to them, and invited them in 
every way we could think of to come alongside, 
instead of which they had now the impudence to 
shoot an arrow, which fell near us. ‘T’o shew them 
they were completely in our power if we pleased, we 
returned it by several shots fired along the water, 
pretty close to the canoe, on which they paddled off, 
and when about four hundred yards distant, another 
musket was fired with good elevation, and with our 
glasses we could see the ball splash in the water, 
rather beyond them, which no doubt surprised them 
a good deal, as we saw no more of them. 

It was now determined to occupy the six hours’ 
detention we must endure here till the next flood 
tide, by landing and examining the last village we 
had passed. We accordingly dropped down to it, 
and anchored opposite the large house, about 150 
yards from the bank. About a dozen men were in 
the balcony of the large house, armed with bows and 
arrows, which they frequently discharged at us, but 
of course ineffectually. There was a great howling 
jn the village, which we at first took for that of 
women and children, but afterwards discovered to 
be the native dogs.” 


* These we could see with our glasses, and they resembled, 
both in appearance and cry, the dingo or native dog of Australia. 


LANDING AT A VILLAGE. 269 


The village stood in an irregular, open space, the 
houses being about fifty yards from the water’s edge, 
and the thick woods about fifty yards behind them. 
This open ground was covered with heaped bushes 
of low trailing herbage, and large-leaved succulent 
plants concealing the lower parts of the houses a 
good deal. As we could not tell what number of 
people might be in the village, and the large house 
seemed capable of holding two or three hundred 
men with great facility, we fired a round shot over 
it from one of the six-pounders. On this the men 
disappeared from the balcony, but shewed themselves 
again as we were landing. We took both the cutter 
and Prince Georges gig, being altogether about 
a dozen of us, well armed; but the rain was pouring 
so incessantly as to make it difficult to keep our 
fire-arms in asufficiently dry state to be useful. The 
banks of the river were composed of black mud, and 
were now about three feet out of water, very soft 
and rotten, and our only means of landing was by 
the slippery stem of a fallen tree, a little below the 
last house. Having with some difficulty all got 
ashore, we proceeded in single file along a muddy 
little path, leading in front of the houses. A ditch» 
full of water, crossed our path, containing several 
good sized canoes, shewing us the way in which 
they kept them hidden and ready for immediate use, 


Several of them were white, or white patched with brown ; but 
others were of a reddish brown all over, with sharp snout, bushy 
tail, rather small body, and erect ears, precisely like the dingo. 


270 SHOOT A BLACK PIG. 


as even at low water it would have been easy to have 
launched these smooth, round-bottomed things over 
the mud. Leaping across the ditch, we found the 
smaller houses apparently quite empty and deserted. 
The Prince George now fired two more of her six- 
pounders, to clear the long house if necessary, and 
Captain Blackwood ordered Grant, with five hands, 
to enter it at the back, while we took it in front. 
Captain Blackwood was then running on again along 
the muddy path, when up jumped a fine black pig, 
and began to trot off for the woods; up at the same 
time went the Captain’s gun, and, as piggy did not 
fall, up went mine, and he was saluted by a dropping 
fire all down the line. He did not give us time to 
consider whether: he was a wild pig or a tame one, 
Just as we had discharged our guns (at the very 
moment, too, when we might have most wanted 
them), down came the rain again with all the fury 
of a tropical shower, and we were obliged to run 
into and under the nearest houses, in order to load 
them with any chance of their going off afterwards. 
As soon as it ceased a little, we rushed out and 
made for the large house. I confess, as J came in 
front of it, and followed Captain Blackwood up some 
slippery poles that gave access to the front stage or 
balcony, I fully expected a flight of arrows whistling 
about us from the half-open doorways; and, had 
they been inclined to do so, the savages might have 
made a very pretty stand of it here, and fighting 
under cover, have at least wounded every one of us 


EXAMINE A GREAT HOUSE. Q71 


before we could have got at them. On darting 
into the house, however, we found it quite empty, 
and were soon met by our men, who had gone round 
to the back of it, and been equally unopposed. We 
had now leisure to look about us, and were struck 
with astonishment at this most remarkable structure. 

The house, or whatever it might be called, was 
raised from the muddy ground about six feet, resting 
on a number of posts placed irregularly underneath 
it, most of which seemed to be stumps of trees, cut 
off at that height and left standing. The floor 
raised upon these seemed to consist of poles fastened 
across a framework, on which were laid loose planks, 
made apparently of the outer rind of the sago-palm, 
split open and flattened and dried. ‘This floor was 
perfectly level and smooth, and felt firm and stable 
to the foot. It was about thirty feet in width, and 
upwards of three hundred feet long. Mr. Walsh 
and I both stepped it from end to end, and I made 
it 109 and he 110 paces long; both our paces were 
long ones, and I know my own to be upwards of 
three feet. The roof was formed of an arched 
frame-work of bamboo, covered with an excellent 
thatch of the leaves of the sago-palm. It was 
sixteen or eighteen feet high in the centre, from 
which it sloped down on either hand to the floor. 
It was perfectly water-proof, as, though it was 
still raining hard, not a drop came through. The 
end walls were upright, made of bamboo poles, 
close together, and at each end were three door- 


Q72 DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE. 


ways, having the form of a gothic arch, the centre 
being the largest. The inside of the house looked 
just like a great tunnel. Down each side was 
a row of cabins: each of these was of a square 
form, projecting about ten feet, having walls of 
bamboo reaching from the floor to the roof, and 
accessible at the side by a small door very neatly 
made of split bamboo. Inside these cabins we 
found low frames, covered with mats, apparently 
bed places, and over head were shelves and pegs on 
which were bows and arrows, baskets, stone axes, 
drums, and other matters. In each cabin was a 
fire-place (a patch of clay), over which was a small 
frame of sticks, as before mentioned, about two feet 
high, three feet long, and a foot wide, as if for 
hanging something to cook or dry over the fire. A 
stock of dry fire-wood was also observed in each 
cabin on a shelf over head. One or two of these 
fire-places were also scattered about in different 
parts of the sides of the house. Between each two 
cabins was a small doorway, about three feet high, 
closed by a neatly made door or shutter of split 
bamboo, from which a little ladder gave access to 
the ground outside the house. At each end of the 
house was the stage or balcony mentioned before, 
being merely the open ends of the floor outside the 
end walls, on which the cross poles were bare or not 
covered with planks. The roof, however, projected 
over these stages, both at the sides, and much more 
overhead, protruding forward at the gable, some- 


273 


GUINEA HOUSE. 


NEW 


"ef Sofa t Fe; 7 . 
"oe 


«0° 


I. 


VOL. 


Q74: ORNAMENTED SKULL. 


thing like the poke of a lady’s bonnet, but more 
pointed. Inside, all the centre of the house, for about 
a third of its width, was kept quite clear, forming a 
noble covered promenade. It was rather dark, as the 
only light proceeded from the doors at the end, and 
the little side doors between the cabins. Near the 
centre, on one side, was a pole, reaching from the 
floor to the roof, on which was a kind of frame-work 
covered with skulls; of these Dr. Whipple brought 
away four, two of which he gave Captain Blackwood, 
who has presented them to the College of Surgeons. 
They were very curiously ornamented with a wooden 
projection inserted for the nose, black protruding 
lumps of gum, like short horns, in the sockets of the 
eyes, at the end of which were broad red seeds, and 
the mouth and lower jaw was smeared over with 
black gum, in which were stuck seeds, both red and 
white. On the base of the skull was fastened a 
handle of twisted cane, by which it was suspended 
upon the frame, but what was the form or nature of 
this frame there was too little light, and much too 
little time, to determine. We heard muskets fired 
outside, and shouting, and went to see what was the 
matter, but found it was only another pig shot, and 
one of the crew, an Irishman, with a rich brogue, 
in excessive glee in consequence. At the edge of 
the wood, behind the small houses, we found the 
first pig lying dead, with five balls through him, 
and directed both to be taken to the boats. One or 
two paths led into the woods here, rudely covered 
with sticks and planks and branches of trees, evi- 


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LITTLE CULTIVATION. Q75 


dently to prevent passengers from sinking in the 
mud. The smaller houses were partly examined, 
but they did not differ in structure from the one 
described in page 228, although several of them 
were a good deal larger. ‘The tails of some 
birds of paradise and the skull of a crocodile 
were seen, but I did not hear of them till we had 
got on board again, or should certainly have brought 
them off. We nowhere saw any sign or fragment 
of European articles or workmanship, nor iron of 
any sort or kind. There was little or no cultiva- 
tion near the houses. Ripe cocoa-nuts were hang- 
ing on some rails, apparently to dry, and in one spot 
the earth had been dug and heaped up into a cir- 
cular mound, with a trench round it, and on this 
some young plants had been set, but what they were 
we could not tell. There were only one or two 
plantain or banana trees, but a dense thicket of sago- 
palms grew all round in the forest. 

After a much more hasty and cursory examination 
than I could have wished to give to this very in- 
teresting place, we returned to the boats with our 
spoils.* Of these the most precious part in our eyes 

* When we came to re-embark, on trying the muskets, hardly 
one of them would go off. All our clothes were of course satu- 
rated with wet, and the rain running down the stock and barrel 
of the muskets and fowling-pieces, accumulated about the base 
of the nipple, and was drawn by capillary attraction up inside 
the percussion cap, and had wetted the powder in the tube of 
the nipple. For all boat work and rough work, where the 


musket is wanted always ready, but cannot be solely attended to, 


Tt 2 


276 PIG STEALING. 


just at that moment were the two pigs, over which 
there was quite a jubilee of rejoicing when we got 
on board the Prince George. It was not indeed 
until they were all gone that the reflection occurred 
to me that we had in fact stolen them; but I could 
not for the life of me feel the proper degree of con- 
trition for so heinous an act, and I very much fear 
should have utterly forgotten its enormity had we 
had an opportunity of stealing any more. The fact 
was we had been some time confined to salt provi- 
sions, and had now been several weeks on rather 
‘short allowance even of that. Our biscuit was made 
by contract at Sourabaya, and was full of weevils and 
their maggots. In short, a little fresh meat was a 
great temptation to all hands, and I will so far en- 
deavour to make amends to the inhabitants of Pig- 
ville, as we christened this place, as to acknowledge 
that their pork was excellent. The pigs were of a 
small, well-shaped black breed, like the Chinese ; 
one was a young hog, very skilfully treated, the 
other a sow with young. 

Our other spoils consisted of curiosities, some of 
which that fell to my share are now in the British 
Museum. 

The bow is much inferior to that of Erroob in 


a contrivance to prevent this is much required. No sort of lock 
cover can be used, as a man may be speared or shot with half-a- 
dozen arrows before he could cast it off. Tropical rain comes in 
such a deluge that it is difficult to load without getting the car- 
tridge wet through, and impossible to attend to that, and cover 
the jock at the same time. 


_ NATIVE IMPLEMENTS. are 


strength; it is made not of bamboo, but of black 
close-grained wood ; the string, however, is bamboo, 
like that of Erroob. All the arrows we saw were 
also slenderer than those of Erroob. We got the 
frame of a drum, similar to, but smaller than that of 
Erroob, a long flat wooden sword, of very heavy 
black wood, and some stone hatchets. ‘These were 
similar to those of the South Sea Islanders—some 
made of jade, others apparently of a more earthy 
rock, a kind of flinty slate. The stones were bound 
round with splinters and inserted in handles of wood. 
We also got two instruments tied together, and 
which we always observed slung at the backs of the 
natives, the use of which we could not make out. 
These were a cane loop, with a toggle or handle, and 
a bamboo scoop, with a handle bound round with 


twine, in which small beads (or seeds) were inserted. 
I afterwards saw some of these among the natives 
at Erroob, who said they came from Dowdee. 
They called the first “ sungei,” and the second 
‘‘koiyor ;” and said the first was for twisting round 
people’s necks, and the second for cutting their 
heads off—which merely showed they did not know 
what their real use was, as they are not at all 


278 RETURN OF THE NATIVES. 


adapted for those purposes. I can only conjecture 
that the scoop is for extracting the pith of the sago- 
palm, and the loop is probably used for holding the 
junk of palm while the scoop is pushed into it. 

Everything we saw ashore—the large sheltered 
houses raised above the ground, the dry firewood 
stored in them, the sticks and bushes on the path- 
ways, &c., denotes the climate to be a very wet one, 
and in all our excursions into New Guinea, we found 
almost continual rain. 

As soon as we had got on board the Prince George, 
we saw about a dozen natives in the large house 
again, walking about apparently to see what damage 
we had done. I am afraid they must have thought 
us a shocking set cf buccaneering savages. ‘They 
seemed to be pointing with great surprise to our 
foot-marks, wondering no doubt what had become 
of our toes, and at the extraordinary shaped feet 
they must have concluded we had from the im- 
pressions of our shoes. ‘There were two or three 
women among them, one of whom had an infant. 
Two of these went into one of the smaller houses, 
which were open in front,* and seemed to occupy 
it as their home, looking about to see if their 

* Forrest, in his voyage to New Guinea in the last century, 
when he visited Doree, in the north-west corner of the island, 
gives a slight account of two sorts of houses, similar to those 
we had now seen on the south-east side. He says, the long 
large houses are inhabited by the married people and the 
unmarried women ; and that the young men and bachelors only 


live in the smaller square houses. From what I saw to-day, this 
does not seem to be the case here. 


ASPECT OF THE PEOPLE. 279 


chattels were safe, and afterwards sitting down 
quietly as if at home. With our glasses, we now 
had a pretty fair view of the people. Both men 
and women appeared rather tall than otherwise ; 
some of the former were robust, but all the latter 
of a thin lanky figure. ‘They were both per- 
fectly naked, and their colour of a dirty brown. 
Their heads seemed small, and very low and square 
about the forehead ; the hair was commonly short, 
close, and frizzled, but some of the men had it in 
long pipe-like curls. Their faces had a general 
resemblance to those of the islanders; but they 
seemed more ugly, and had a more fierce and 
savage looking expression of countenance. We 
could discern no marks or scars, either on the 
shoulders or any other part of their bodies. After 
looking over the village, the men assembled in the 
balcony of the large house watching us, and now 
and then shooting an arrow at us; but finding they 
fell short, soon desisted. 

At dead low water we had two fathoms here 
alongside ; and as soon as the flood tide made we 
weighed and proceeded, finding then two and a half 
in the centre of the river. As soon as we left, a 
canoe with two men stood off from the village and 
went across the river. About a couple of miles 
above Pigville the arm we were in entered another, 
which ran N.N.W. and S.S.E., and was about two 
miles in width. At the junction we found a bar of 
soft mud, with a depth of water of only about nine 
feet. The Prince George still drew eleven feet ; 


280 PROCEED UP THE RIVER. 


so that we stuck fast till the tide rose, and a little 
fresh breeze coming in from the sea dragged us 
through it. We went up this new arm to the 
N.N.W., but it was now sunset, and we were conse- 
quently obliged to anchor. The tide was then 
running with such force that the cutter, which was 
about 200 yards a-head of us when we anchored, 
was quite unable to stem it, when she attempted to 
return to us, and was obliged to anchor where she 
was, and the men to remain in the wet without their 
suppers till nearly nine o’clock, when the tide 
slackened sufhiciently for them to pull down to us. 
It then ran quite as strongly the other way during 
the ebb. The water here was quite fresh with both 
tides. 

The rain still continued to pour down, notwith- 
standing which, about seven o’clock, we saw a bright 
light in the north-west, like the reflection of some 
great conflagration. No flame was visible, nor 
could any be seen from the mast-head, and the fire 
was evidently some miles off. After continuing 
for about half an hour, it gradually died away. 
It was evident that it could not be a fire in the 
woods in their present wet condition, but whether 
it was a signal fire or an accidental conflagration of 
one of their large houses we could not guess. 

May 31.—Heavy rain all night and this morning, 
and Captain Blackwood determined on not proceed- 
ing any further up these rivers, on account of the 
badness of the weather and the shoalness of the 
water for our deep little craft, but to return to sea 


SEND THE NATIVES A HATCHET. 281 


by the new channel we had got into. At nine 
o'clock, accordingly, when the ebb tide made, we 
weighed and went down with it. This channel 
shortly branched into two of about equal width, one 
running south, the other south-west. In the latter 
we saw two very large villages about a mile apart, 
each containing four or five of these great houses, 
and a crowd of two or three hundred people. A 
canoe was suddenly observed abreast of us, under 
the bank, with twelve men in it, and we saw another 
with both men and women coming from the direction 
of Pigville. When the twelve-man canoe had re- 
connoitred us, she pulled in for the bank, and landed 
two boys, apparently that they should be out of 
harm’s way, and then gave chase to us. A small 
fleet of canoes were also putting off from the two 
villages. As the first canoe neared us, we threw 
over some bottles to them, but they did not pay any 
attention to them. We again tried them with 
Erroob words, and, I think, they understood 
“‘toorree” (iron), and answered to us, “ nipa’” (a 
knife). We held up hatchets, and again said 
’ when they, I believe, repeated ‘ nipa,” 
and seemed to apply the word to the hatchet, as if 
it were a foreign word they had heard, but did not 
know the exact meaning of. They certainly never 
used the word “ sapara,” which is the Erroobian 
word for hatchet. As we could not induce them to 
come alongside, we fastened a hatchet to a breaker, 
and set it adrift. They pulled for it, but seemed 
cautious of approaching it, and when they did, they 


‘* toorree,’ 


282 ANOTHER POPULOUS VILLAGE. 


poked it, and turned it over and over with their 
paddles, as if they feared some hidden danger. At 
last they espied the hatchet, which they took off, 
but let the breaker go, although bound with iron 
hoops. ‘They passed the hatchet from one to the 
other, and examined it, and at last seemed clearly 
to comprehend its use, as they set up a shout, and 
waved it aloft in the air to the other canoes coming 
up. Its possession, however, instead of inducing 
them to commence a peaceful trade, seemed only to 
excite them instantly to attack people having such 
valuable articles. They paddled towards us in- 
stantly, cast loose their arrows, adjusted their bows, 
and very shortly began to shoot at us. Captain 
Blackwood then fired his rifle into the end of the 
canoe, which seemed to alarm them a little, and 
they hung back for the rest. 

Meanwhile we were going rapidly down with the 
ebb tide, along the channel leading to the south. 
As soon as we opened the mouth of this channel 
we met a breeze from the sea, obliging us to beat. 
We found from two to three fathoms water, which 
was deepest near the bank: as we proceeded, how- 
ever, it got shoaler, and at the mouth of the 
channel we got into eleven feet, the same water we 
drew, and as the tide was falling, we were obliged 
to return and anchor where it was deeper. We sent 
the cutter on to try for a deeper channel outside. 

Just within the extreme point of the west bank, 
near which we lay, was a large village, concealed 
among the trees, having one or two great houses, 


SWIFTNESS OF THEIR CANOES. 283 


and a crowd of men, women, and children about it, 
wading out over the mud-flats under the bank, 
waving to us, and inviting us to come ashore. Ona 
shoal of mud or sand beyond the point were twenty 
or thirty men wading about, apparently catching 
either fish or molluscous animals, and beyond them, 
out at sea, we now saw three large canoes, full of 
men, who, as soon as they perceived us, came 
towards us at full speed. ‘The cutter returned to 
us under sail, before a fresh breeze, and with all 
her oars out; notwithstanding which, these canoes, 
by the help of their paddles alone, stemmed the 
force of the adverse tide, and gained so rapidly on 
our boat that they would have cut her off had she 
had another mile or two to go. The canoes were 
simply large hollow trees, without any outriggers or 
other external support ; they were round-bottomed, 
the ends rising gently from the water, but not 
closed, and at the bow of each sat a man, with his 
back to the sea, apparently for the purpose of 
keeping the water out. Each of these canoes had 
full forty men in it,as we counted in one fifteen 
paddling on each side, and there were others 
standing idle. The paddlers stood pretty close 
together, at regular intervals, and kept excellent 
time in their stroke, having a long paddle with a 
diamond-shaped blade. There was no one steering, 
but as the paddlers stand and look forward, they 
can of course steer themselves. Along the outside 
of the canoes we could see a carved line running in 
curves, apparently as an ornament. ‘They first 


284 NATIVES RECONNOITRE US. 


pulled into the village, and seemed to be landing 
their cargo, apparently fish, and taking in an 
armament of bows and arrows and other weapons, 
changing also part of their crews, probably fisher- 
men for warriors. ‘There was much shouting and 
hurrying to and fro among them; and as every 
thing portended a hostile movement, and there were 
fully 200 fighting men among them, and as many 
more within a mile or two, Captain Blackwood 
ordered the six-pounders to be loaded with round 
and grape, and all hands on deck with loaded 
arms, and crouched behind the low bulwarks 
of the Prince George, the cutter being ready 
under her lee to act as occasion might require. 
As soon as the first canoe was ready, they pulled up 
inshore, with about thirty men in it, and then shoy- 
ing off into the stream, they drifted down upon us 
with the tide, passing within about fifty yards, 
shouting, pointing to the shore, and laughing and 
using words we did not understand. I thought 
once, however, they used the word Dowar, one of 
the places named to us by the Erroobians as existing 
in New Guinea. Several in each canoe held their 
bows and arrows ready in their hands, while 
the rest steered, with their weapons lying at 
their feet. All of them had the cane loop and 
bamboo scoop hanging over the shoulder, and were 
ornamented with shield-shaped pieces of shell over 
the groin, and round ones on the breast, and with 
bracelets and armlets. Several of them had large 
red flowers stuck in the hair, and one had two large 


NO MARKS ON THEIR SKINS. 285 


tufts of feathers, like those of the emu or cassowary, 
on each side of hishead. When the tide had drifted 
them past us, they pulled into the village. Four 
canoes repeated this manceuvre, to each of which we 
exhibited axes, and used all the terms and gestures 
of peace we could think of, but could not induce 
them to come closer to us, and they answered us by 
laughter, and invitations to go ashore, which we 
were equally disinclined to accept. Their tones and 
gestures were frequently those of derision ; and once 
as I was talking very earnestly to one canoe, one of 
its crew presented his bow at me, and drew the 
arrow to the head, and on my stooping and picking 
up my gun, he burst into a laugh, as if mocking me 
for shrinking. Still, as they committed no overt 
act of hostility, of course we did not, and after they 
had apparently satisfied their curiosity by a near 
view of us, they all went ashore, and seemed to turn 
their attention to collecting shell-fish or other 
animals from the mud at low water. 

We could distinctly perceive to-day that none of 
them had any scars or marks on the skin, but 
several were smeared or painted with black or yel- 
low ochre. Some had a close crop of hair, others 
rather long curls, like the Erroobians. We saw 
several women ashore, mostly middle-aged, with 
the breasts flat, pendulous and dug-like, and these 
seemed perfectly naked. One or two younger ones, 
however, appeared to have a kind of belt round the 
loins, and something like a leaf, about as broad as 
the hand, drawn between the legs. 


286 RETURN BY PIGVILLE. 


There was a grove of cocoa-nuts round the village, 
and much sago-palm and other trees, among which 
was the bread-fruit: although so near the sea, 
there were but few mangroves. 

As the water outside this branch seemed too 
shoal for us, it was decided we should return by the 
way we came in; accordingly, at half-past three, 
when the flood tide made, we weighed, and went 
rapidly up with it and a favourable breeze. We 
got pretty close to a canoe with six men, under the 
western bank, whom we induced to pick up some 
bottles we threw to them, and at length to come 
near enough to us to take a hatchet from the gig 
that was towing astern, and which Dr. Whipple 
went to give them in exchange for a cocoa-nut. 
During this they seemed, however, in great trepida- 
tion, and their faces assumed a most amusing ex- 
pression (or caricature rather) of great horror and 
disgust at finding themselves so close to such hideous 
white people. 

When we opened the south-west channel, we saw 
eleven more canoes coming off to us from the two 
villages in that direction, of all sizes, from those 
holding one man to those that had twenty or more, 
and a crowd of people launching others. We did 
not stop for them, however, but made the most of 
our fair wind and tide during the fading light. 

Arrived at the entrance of the Pigville channel, 
we got aground on a steep bank of eight feet only, 
but towed off with the rising tide, and anchored in 
the centre of the stream. At ten at night the tide 


ANOTHER LARGE VILLAGE. 287 


turned ; and the ebb being now favourable for us, 
we passed the bar at the top of high water, and beat 
down below Pigville, when we anchored. 

June 1.—It was still raining, with a constant 
drizzle and heavy showers at intervals. We weighed 
at nine o’clock with the first of the ebb, and beat 
down, making boards right across the river from 
bank to bank, and finding everywhere a depth of 
full three fathoms at high water. We tacked close 
in to the village next below Pigville, where we 
counted four immense houses and several smaller 
ones. ‘There were many people, both at the edge 
of the water and in front of the houses, mostly 
armed, but they ran out with shouts rather of 
welcome than defiance, holding up branches of 
trees and shell ornaments, inviting us ashore. 
Having learnt our power, I have no doubt we could 
have now commenced a friendly intercourse with 
these people, could we have stayed a day with 
them. The weather was too wet, however, and 
the jungle too thick and close to venture our- 
selves ashore, when our arms, if wanted, might 
be useless; and as, from a careful survey with our 
glasses, no sign of our boats, or of any European 
articles, could be seen, it was decided we should 
make all possible use of the present favourable tide 
to quit the river, and return to our ship. We 
accordingly beat down out of the channel on to 
the mud-flats outside. Here we found a fresh sea- 
breeze springing up, which, with our weather tide, 
enabled us to work rapidly to windward, making 


288 CHARACTER OF THE CLIMATE. 


boards of about four miles in length, and every 
where finding a perfectly level bottom of about two 
fathoms depth for about eight miles from the mouth 
of the inlet. The depth then gradually increased 
to three fathoms and a half at dead low water, when 
the flood-tide setting against us, we anchored at three 
in the afternoon. We were now in sight of the ship, 
about eight miles to windward. The weather was 
clear and fine, though a bank of dark clouds still 
hovered over the land. 

At nine at night we weighed again, with the ebb 
tide, and anchored near the ship at two in the 
morning. 

June 2.—We had but just come out in time. 
There was now a strong breeze blowing from the 
S.E., with a very heavy sea rolling in upon us, that 
made it a matter of some difficulty to get on board 
the ship. The mud-flats to leeward must now have 
been covered with breaking water and rollers, that 
would have compelled us to remain in the rivers 
till the breeze subsided and the sea went down; 
and it blew hard for the next ten days after this. 

They had had cloudy weather with light winds 
on board the ship during our absence, but not a 
drop of rain; while we had been in a perpetual 
torrent in the rivers and among the woods, not 
more than thirty miles distant from them. This 
fact, with others, makes me believe that the climate 
of New Guinea, or the north side of Torres Strait, 
is totally different from that of Australia on the 
south; that New Guinea has not only a much 


DELTA OF A LARGE RIVER. 289 


moister climate altogether, but that the character of 
the seasons is reversed; the S.E. monsoon being 
a wet season and the N.W. a dry one. 

‘We had now examined, more or less closely, 
about 140 miles of the coast of New Guinea, being 
just that part also which was most dangerously 
situated, most exposed to the prevailing winds, and 
to the swell of the open sea. From the large opening 
or river mouth in S. lat. 8° 45’, E. long. 143° 35’, to 
the farthest point examined in the boats in lat. 
7° 40', and long. 144° 30’, and for an unknown 
distance beyond that point, the coast had every where 
the same features. It was low, flat, muddy, covered 
with jungle and impenetrable forests, and intersected 
in every direction by a multitude of fresh-water arms 
and channels, uniting one with the other, and form- 
ing a complete net-work of fresh-water canals of all 
sizes and depths, from a mere muddy ditch to a 
width of five miles, and a depth of twenty to 
thirty feet. This coast was fronted by immense 
mud-banks, stretching from ten to twenty miles 
out to sea, having at low water a general depth of 
about twelve feet, and a few deeper places, and some 
sand-banks much shoaler or quite dry. These 
mud flats gradually deepened towards their outer 
edge to three and four fathoms, and then more 
rapidly to six, ten, fifteen, and twenty fathoms. 

Now this is precisely the formation of the delta 
of a great river, and the only difficulty in the present 
case is the supposing a river large enough to produce 

VOL, I. U 


290 ALL THE RIVERS NAVIGABLE. 


such a delta to exist on an island like New 
Guinea. 

From what we know of the rest of the island, 
however, the existence of such a river becomes 
highly probable. A range of high mountainous 
land runs along all the north coast from Dampier’s 
Strait to Geelvink Bay. High land also comes 
out upon the south-west coast about Triton Bay, 
where the Dutch once formed a settlement near the 
157th meridian. The hollow between these two 
ranges would run towards the south-east, in which 
direction of course their drainage would be deflected. 
We have already seen reason to believe that the 
country is a wet one; and the moisture, which 
does not fall as rain from the south-east trade-wind 
as it passes over the flat land, is no doubt caught 
and precipitated in abundance on the south-east 
sides of the mountains, and is thus sent down on to 
the flat, in the shape of rivers. Whether these ever 
join into one stream, or whether a number of them 
all run for the south-east coast, and thus unite only 
in forming the delta of which we traversed the outer 
edge, is, of course, left open to conjecture. If they 
ever unite in one stream, it will probably be found 
to be a very noble one for the size of the island, 
winding perhaps through rich flats of tropical 
forests. Whatever be the characters of the interior 
waters, however, they must afford access for small 
craft into the very heart of the country. Unlike the 
rivers of Australia, the estuaries of which are always 


BEST ROUTE INTO THE INTERIOR. 291 


salt, and the rivers mostly trickling shallow streams, 
running over rocks or sands, the rivers of New 
Guinea are so full, and abounding with fresh water, 
as to influence the sea for miles outside their mouths, 
and expel the salt-water even from the flattest 
and most sluggish part of their course. Any craft, 
then, that can get across the mud-flats off their 
mouths, need never fear the being unable to find 
water enough for many miles above them. No 
doubt some channels will be much more shoal than 
others, but a small light steamer, drawing about six 
feet of water, might probably penetrate for a couple 
of hundred miles, or into the very heart of the 
country. We had no means of judging which would 
be the best channel to take, except that the large 
southern arm (in lat. 8° 45’), which Captain Black- 
wood first visited, seemed both the largest, and to 
have the deepest water at its mouth. I know of no 
part of the world, the exploration of which is so 
flattering to the imagination, so likely to be fruitful 
in interesting results, whether to the naturalist, the 
ethnologist, or the geographer, and altogether so 
well calculated to gratify the enlightened curiosity 
of an adventurous explorer, as the interior of New 
Guinea. New Guinea! the very mention of being 
taken into the interior of New Guinea sounds like 
being allowed to visit some of the enchanted regions 
of the “ Arabian Nights,” so dim an atmosphere of 
obscurity rests at present on the wonders it probably 
conceals. 


Gq 
tS) 


CHAPTER XII. 


LAST VISIT TO ERROOB--SEEWAI GIVES US NEWS OF OUR 
MISSING BOATS—RETURN TO CAPE YORK FOR WATER— 
FIND INTELLIGENCE OF OUR MISSING BOATS AT THE POST- 
OFFICE AT BOOBY ISLAND—THEY HAVE GONE TO PORT 
ESSINGTON — TWO WRECKS HAPPENED RECENTLY, OF 
WHICH THE CREWS AND PASSENGERS ARE LIKEWISE GONE 
TO PORT ESSINGTON—NOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A 
POST IN TORRES STRAIT. 


June 3.— Arrer a rapid beating passage against 
a fresh breeze and heavy sea, we anchored at half- 
past three, p.m., in Treacherous Bay, Erroob, in 
order to “get sights” for the chronometer, and 
measure the meridian distance between it and Cape 
York. <A party of us landed and went to Keriam, 
where we were met by Keouck and one or two 
more, who begged us to walk on to Maedha, where 
they said the rest were assembled. There were one 
or two strangers also, who were said to come from 
Tood Island. Keouck eagerly inquired about our 
adventures in Dowdee, and seemed greatly delighted 
when I told him we had been obliged to shoot some 
of the people. Arrived at Maedha, we found ten 
or twelve large canoes drawn up on the beach, and 
a large party of men and women from Tood and 
Damood, and other islands to the westward, on a 
visit to EKrroob. There were several new temporary 
huts and sheds built, under which they were sitting 


SEEWALI REPORTS OUR BOATS. 295 


in groups. The Erroobians sprang forward to 
receive us with shouts of delight; and two of my 
fair friends, Moggoora and Boodha, instantly ran 
to take me by the arms, a proceeding that greatly 
astonished some of the strangers when we walked 
up tothem. An old Tood lady I thought would never 
cease her exclamations of wai! wai! wah! wah! 
wah! at what I have no doubt appeared to her such 
a very extraordinary method of walking together. 
Seewai came up to me so ornamented with streaks 
of red paint, that I did not recognise him, at which 
he was half affronted. He soon engrossed my 
attention however, by telling me as well as he could, 
that our two boats were not in Dowdee, but had 
been seen passing the islands of Damood and Tood 
and going to the southward. He brought a Tood 
man, who said his name was Neipa, and who con- 
firmed this account, saying, the boats had passed in 
a friendly manner by his island.* I tried to learn 
from them how long it was since they had been 
seen, but could find in our vocabulary no words 
answering to ‘“‘how long,” or “how many ;” and 
after ringing the changes on days ‘“ gegger, ” sleeps 
** hoota,” moon ‘‘ maber,” I failed in making them 
understand. I was satisfied, however, from the 
* Seewai's words were “ Kabbi shippo naes, lola Dowdee,— 
Tam kabbi shippo—kabbi shippo nerroot,—Damood, Tood.’’ 
Literally, “little ship two, not Dowdee.—Tam (Millery’s) little 
ship,—little ship another, Damood, Tood,” waving his hand to 


the southward. The Tood man anxiously added, ‘‘ Kabbi shippa 
poud Tood,” ‘little ships peace Tood.” 


294 KERIAM NoW ‘“‘GALLA.” 


earnestness of Seewai that the information was 
correct, and so it afterwards proved. I now saw 
their ‘‘ barreet,” or bare-tailed opossum. It seemed 
to be the same species I had got in New Guinea, 
but larger and in better condition. It was kept in 
a large cage made of split bamboo, and seemed quite 
tame, but I could not induce them to part with it. 
In the introduction to Flinders’s Voyage, one of 
these animals is mentioned as found in the year 
1798 in a cage on one of the islands to the west- 
ward; so that it seems an old and common prac- 
tice among the islanders so to keep them. Whether 
they have any especial reason for it, beyond their 
general fondness for pet creatures, I could not 
learn. 

The next morning I landed at daylight at Keriam, 
and met Sapgob and some strangers. The houses 
here were now all closed, and the largest, in addition 
to boards across the door way, had a trellis work of 
bamboo over it, and outside there stood a tall board, 
cut into the profile of a man, like a sentry, standing 
before the door. ‘They called this figure maddoop, 
which in Lewis’s vocabulary is the word given for 
mad or drunk. They said Keriam was now “ galla ;”’ 
and to my farther questions about this “galla,”’ Sap- 
gob answered, ‘“‘ coskeer backiam, keimear menna,” 
“ wives go, men remain ;’’ as if the place were now 
tabooed and not to be approached by the women. 

At ten a.m. the observations being taken, we 
sailed from Erroob for the last time. The south- 


AUSTRALIANS OF CAPE YORK. 2905 


east trade was blowing very strongly, and we ran 
rapidly round Attagor, and up between Damood and 
Tood. We anchored at night under Dove Island, 
and the next day ran to Evans’ Bay, Cape York, 
to get some more water. 

June 6 to 8.—We remained these three days 
at Evans’ Bay completing our water, where we 
found a party of five Australians. These men were 
very quiet and friendly, but contrasted most un- 
favourably for themselves with our friends the 
Erroobians. It was now indeed for the first time 
that I became fully aware of the great difference be- 
tween the two races, which is both a “physical and 
mental one. These five men had the spare thin- 
legged, lanky build of all the Australian people. 
Their colour was of a more sooty black than 
the islanders, who are of a reddish or yellowish 
brown. ‘The hair of these Australians, however, 
was like that of the European race, equally dif- 
fused, rather fine, and either straight, or com- 
monly waving in broad open curls. Among the 
islanders the hair invariably grows in tufts or 
pencils. On the limbs and body these tufts are 
a little separated from each other, the skin around 
them being devoid of hair, but on the head the 
tufts appear to grow close together, and are only 
apparent by each twisting itself into a lock, which, 
when long, becomes a narrow pipe-like ringlet. 
When short, the hair of the head looks frizzled, 
but is not so woolly as that of the negro. The hair 


996 CHARACTER OF NATIVES. 


of the head, however, is not so decisive a charac- . 
teristic as that of the body, because its aspect often 
depends on the fashion of wearing and dressing it. 
In any observations, therefore, upon these people 
the short hair of the chest and limbs should be 
remarked rather than that of the head. If the 
people belong to the genuine frizzled-haired or 
Papuan race, the skin will have a slightly woolly 
aspect. These Australians at Cape York were 
much more strongly scarred than is usual with the 
islanders, several had the mark on the shoulder, 
but instead of a mere mark it stood out in high | 
relief, and they had other strong scars on the breast, 
back, and abdomen. 

In their intellectual qualities and dispositions 
they were still farther removed from the islanders, 
and much below those of Murray and Darnley 
Islands. Houseless and homeless, without gardens, 
or any kind of cultivation, destitute of the cocoa-nut, 
the bamboo, the plantain, and the yam, as of almost 
all useful vegetables, they pass their lives either 
in the search for food, or in listless indolence. 
Instead of associating with us on something like 
terms of equality, bartering with us, teaching us 
their words, and learning some of ours, laughing, 
joking, and engaging in sports, like our Erroobian 
friends, these Australians sat listlessly looking 
on, standing where we told them, fetching any- 
thing or doing anything we ordered them, with 
great docility indeed, but with complete want of 


/ 
CONTRAST WITH ISLANDERS. 207 


interest and curiosity. In our endeavours to get 
words from them they merely repeated our sounds or 
imitated our gestures. When they spoke it was 
difficult to catch the sound, so different was their 
speech from the clear open enunciation of the 
Erroobians. With the latter we often eat, as they 
were perfectly clean; but these Australians, on 
our shooting a kite or two, instantly seized them, 
plucked off some of the feathers, and then warming 
the body a little at the fire, tore it open and eat it 
up, entrails and all. These Australians at Cape 
York precisely resembled those of the rest of the 
continent, as I have myself seen them, and as they 
have been described by other voyagers. The Torres 
Strait Islanders, on the contrary, evidently belong 
to the great Papuan race, which extends from Timor 
and the adjacent islands through New Guinea, New 
Ireland, and New Caledonia, to the Feejee Islands. 

It is singular enough, that in Torres Strait, 
the line of demarcation should be almost equally 
strong and precise between two kinds of vegetation, 
and two groups of the lower order of animals, as 
between two varieties of the human race. ‘The dull 
and sombre vegetation of Australia spreads all over 
Cape York and the immediately adjacent islands. 
Wide forests of large, but ragged-stemmed gum- 
trees, with their almost leafless and quite shadeless 
branches, constitute the characteristic of this vegeta- 
tion. Here and there are gullies, with jungles of 
more umbrageous foliage, and some palms, but the 


298 BOUNDARY OF ORGANIC REGIONS. 


mass of the woods are arid, hot, and dusty, the 
leaves not only small, but dry and brittle, and the 
marks of frequent fires every where apparent in cal- 
cined rocks and blackened stems and fallen trunks. 
On the islands of the northern side of Torres 
Strait, not a gum-tree is to be seen, the woods 
are close, lofty, and afford the deepest and most 
refreshing shade, often matted into impenetrable 
thickets, by creepers and undergrowth, but adorned 
with varied foliage, with the cocoa-nut, the plan- 
tain, the bamboo, and other plants, not only beau- 
tiful, but useful to man. On the New Guinea 
coast the vegetation is of the rankest and most 
luxuriant character, even for the tropics. One vast 
dank jungle spreads over its muddy shores, abound- 
ing in immense forest trees, whose trunks are hidden 
by groves of sago-palms, and myriads of other heat 
and moisture-loving plants. 

In the animal kingdom I was struck with the dif- 
ference in the general aspect and character of the 
shells and echinodermata collected about Cape York 
and those got near Erroob. The corals and coral 
reefs were, of course, much the same, as were the 
tridacna, hippopus, and other reef-burrowing or 
coral-inhabiting animals. But of those that live on 
rocks or sand-flats, we have at Cape York only dark 
coloured turbo, trochus, turritella, strombus, &c., 
while at Erroob we got bright-coloured olivas, mitres, 
and others. Instead of the dull cerithium, we got 
the splendid terebra maculata and allied forms. 


DIFFERENCE OF CLIMATE. 299 


Even in the same genera, as among the cones and 
cowries, the species found about Erroob were differ- 
ent from, and generally more brilliant in form and 
colour, than those on the Australian coast. Nay, 
even in the same species, as in the common Cyprea 
tigris, the specimens were more rich and handsome 
from the former place than those found about Sir C. 
Hardy’s Island for instance. In individual speci- 
mens this difference might not, perhaps, be so 
observable, but if a group of the most common spe- 
cies of the two localities, whether of plants or ani- 
mals, were taken, it became instantly apparent. It 
was evident that in crossing Torres Strait we were 
passing from the Australian centre of life, so to 
speak, into that of the Indian Archipelago, or more 
strictly, perhaps, of the Moluccas.* 

In the vegetable kingdom a reason for the 
difference might be sought in the variation of 
the climate. From the abundance of fresh water, 
and from the habits and manners of the people 
—such as firewood being stored in the houses, 
sticks laid across the paths to keep the passen- 
ger from the mud, as well as from our personal 
experience while there—the south-east coast of 
New Guinea has evidently a very moist cli- 
mate. It is probable, I think, that during the 
whole §8.E. monsoon, or from the middle of March 


* T use the term Moluccas here as the common one; but it is 
highly probable, I think, that the peculiar species of animals and 
plants inhabiting the Molucca Group have New Guinea for their 
head-quarters . 


300 VEGETATION AFFECTS CLIMATE. 


to the end of October, the weather is rainy, and that 
during the N.W. monsoon, which brings rain to the 
north coast of Australia, the south coast of New 
Guinea may have its dry season. Australia, on the 
contrary, has a remarkably dry climate, and though 
there are frequent showers during the S.E. monsoon 
on the margin of the north-east coast and about 
Cape York, where the trade wind first strikes upon 
the land, it is probable that in the interior (as it is 
certain that on the north coast about Port Essing- 
ton) no rain falls during the greater part of the 
year, and heavy showers only during the remainder. 
Not only, however, is this variation of climate not 
sufficient to account for the utter difference in the 
vegetation of the two countries, Australia and 
New Guinea; but I much question whether the 
difference in the climate be not in great part 
the result of that in the vegetation. The thick 
dank woods and jungles of New Guinea completely 
protect the soil from the sun, the broad close 
leaves shelter even the stems of the trees, and all 
tend to produce a coolness favourable to the precipi- 
tation of moisture from the damp trade wind. The 
open and scattered woodlands of Australia, on the 
contrary, offer no shelter to the ground from the rays 
of the sun. The small, thinly-disseminated leaves 
of these evergreen trees, instead of giving shade, be- 
come themselves as hot and parched as the rocks 
and sands beneath them. ‘The ragged strips of dry 
and resinous bark hanging from the trunks of all the 
trees, are like tinder, ever ready to catch fire with a 


ARIDITY OF AUSTRALIA. 801 


spark, and the grass among the trees commonly re- 
sembles hay. Everything absorbs the heat freely, 
and radiates it into the surrounding atmosphere. 
Instead of being cooled then, and precipitating its 
superabundant moisture, the sea air, on entering an 
Australian wood, has its temperature raised, and 
becomes capable of licking up any drop of humidity 
it may find still lingering there. For this reason, a 
current of air is seldom perceptible in an Australian 
forest, which always feels hot, dry and oppressive. 
The immediate neighbourhood of Cape York indeed 
seemed one of the comparatively favoured spots, 
where frequent showers during the whole year per- 
mitted the existence of permanent fresh water pools 
and green grass during even the driest season. 

Whether or not the differences in the vegetation 
and the climate of the neighbouring parts of the two 
countries can be in any way dependent on each 
other, it is evident that no alteration of temperature 
or other conditions can have place in the sea, suffi- 
cient to account for the change that takes place in 
its inhabitants. It will be seen, however, in the 
next chapter, that one of the corollaries deducible 
from a speculation regarding the origin of the coral 
reefs, is the probability of the assemblage in Torres 
Strait of two groups of marine animals arriving from 
opposite directions. 

June. 2, 1845.—The Prince George had been 
despatched to Booby Island for intelligence, and we 
this morning weighed and followed her, bidding a 


302 NEWS FROM BOOBY ISLAND. 


final adieu to Cape York and Torres Strait. On 
nearing Booby Island, we saw the appointed signal 
for good: news flying, and found that our boats, 
having missed us on the coast of New Guinea, after 
a vain attempt to reach Caedha, or Bramble Key, 
had run for this little islet. We had left provisions 
here in the early part of the year for any ship- 
wrecked people that might come in their boats. 
Availing themselves of these, and procuring a fresh 
supply of water near Port Lihou, in Endeavour 
Strait, our people had left the second gig on Booby 
Island, and gone on in the Midge to Port Essing- 
ton. We also found intelligence that two large 
vessels had been wrecked—one the Hyderabad, in 
the Cumberland Passage, near Murray Island, 
another the Coringa Packet, on some outside reefs to 
the northward, about S. lat. 17°, and E. long. 150°. 
The crews and passengers of these, consisting alto- 
gether of seventy or eighty people, had also visited 
Booby Island, and gone on to Port Essington, 
partly in their boats and partly in a small schooner 
that happened to pass by. Among the passengers 
by the Hyderabad were some ladies from Van Die- 
men’s Land, on their way to India, whose acquaint- 
ance we had had the pleasure of making when in 
Hobarton. 

The mention of these circumstances leads me na- 
turally to enter on a subject which I believe an 
important one, namely, the propriety of establishing 
a post in Torres Strait, somewhat similar to that 


COMMERCE THROUGH TORRES STRAIT. 803 


which has been formed at Port Essington. The 
reader, perhaps, will hardly be able fully to perceive 
the bearings of the case until he has read the two 
following chapters ; but I will here briefly give my 
reasons for proposing such an establishment. Any 
one who casts his eye over the chart attached 
to this work will perceive that all vessels passing 
through Torres Strait will be compelled to come 
within sight of Cape York. Most vessels come up 
along shore from the southward, and go either 
through Endeavour Strait or the Wednesday Island 
Passage, when they must, of course, pass within a 
mile or two of the Cape. Even, however, if they 
enter Torres Strait by Bligh’s Entrance, between 
Anchor Key and Bramble Key, the wide-spread 
mass of reefs that stretch off the south coast of New 
Guinea will compel them to keep to the southward, 
either to Wednesday Island or the entrance of En- 
- deavour Strait. Since the survey of these latter 
straits they have been shewn to be by far the best 
exit from Torres Strait to the westward, and the 
only one to be recommended to large vessels. If, 
therefore, a post were established either at Cape 
York, or near the entrance of Endeavour Strait, a 
communication might be had with all shipping 
passing through, without causing them any deten- 
tion, or deflecting them from their route a single 
yard. Now, as the entire trade of the South Paci- 
fic, with the whole of the Indian Ocean, must pass 
through Torres Strait, as the shortest and most 


304 DANGERS OF THE ROUTE. 


practicable* route, this facility of communication 
alone would be an immense advantage to that great 
and increasing commerce. 

However complete and accurate may be the sur- 
veys of Torres Strait and the Coral Sea (that lying 
off the north-east coast of Australia), it must always 
remain a dangerous navigation. Slight accidents, 
such as hazy weather, mistakes in the reckoning, 
unknown errors in the chronometer or sextant, or 
want of completeness or soundness in the rigging 
or finding of the vessel (to say nothing of careless- 
ness and incapacity in the navigator), will always 
cause a pretty high average of wrecks in the vessels 
passing through Torres Strait. In the greatest 


* To persons unacquainted with this region of the world, it 
may not seem obvious why almost the only route from the South 
Pacific to the Indian Ocean is through Torres Strait. The 
reason is simply this, that the S.E. trade-wind blows directly 
for the Strait almost all the year round, within the tropics, and 
during the summer, or from November to March, S.E. is the 
prevailing wind over a large part of the extra-tropical sea. Along 
the south coast of Australia the winds are almost as constantly 
from the westward, most frequently S.W. In order to pass then 
from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean by that route, contrary winds 
will have to be contended against, and hardly one passage would 
be effected without a heavy S8.W. gale before Cape Leewin was 
fairly weathered. If, again, the voyager determined to go round 
north of New Guinea he would have to take a circuitous route, 
little known, where charts and sailing directions would alike fail 
him, and have to thread his way through a multitude of dangers 
equally great, if not more so, as being less known, with those- 
which will obstruct him in Torres Strait. 


DISTANCE OF REFUGE. 8305 


number of these cases, if not in all, the vessel will 
merely be stuck upon a coral reef, with ample time 
to save the lives of the crew and passengers in the 
boats. ‘These circumstances are of annual occur- 
rence. At the present time the nearest points of 
refuge for these boats are Port Essington, 600 miles 
beyond Cape York, or Coupang in Timor, 500 or 
600 miles still further to the westward. ‘The land 
about Port Essington is so low and difficult to make 
out, that it may easily be missed or passed in the 
night, and when once passed cannot be regained 
against the wind, in a crowded and perhaps crazy 
boat. Many poor fellows, after undergoing great 
hardship, have thus been compelled to throw them- 
selves on the hospitality of the small Dutch settle- 
ment at Coupang. Now a post at Cape York, or 
the neighbourhood, would not only render these 
long and perilous passages needless for a crew thus 
situated, but in many cases it would be able to send 
assistance to the wreck, if the boats could not con- 
tain all on board, or would be able to save some of 
the more valuable part of the cargo or ship’s stores. 
Neither would the wrecked crews or passengers 
suffer much detention, as in a few days they might 
be forwarded by a passing vessel to some port in the 
East Indies, such as Singapore, for instance. 

To these two great advantages, facility of inter- 
communication and speedy and effectual aid in case 
of shipwreck, many minor ones might be added, 
such as the supplying of stores, provisions, gear 

VOL. I. x 


306 MILITARY VALUE OF A POST. 


or tackling, and above all, of water to the vessels 
passing by. 

In a military point of view such a post would be 
most valuable, and its importance is daily increasing 
with the augmentation of the commerce passing by 
this route. Ifa war were suddenly to break out, a 
small vessel belonging to an enemy would, by occu- 
pying the sea near Cape York, command the whole 
of our commerce between the South Pacific and the 
Indian Oceans. By stationing a look-out post on 
Mount Adolphus, she might be advertised by signals 
of the approach of all vessels, and of their number 
and character, and by making herself thoroughly 
acquainted with the neighbouring reefs and shoals, 
might easily pick out tortuous and dangerous chan- 
nels, which would afford her refuge and means of 
escape from a force superior in strength to herself. 
The existence of a military post in Torres Strait 
would deter a small vessel from occupying this 
station, as defences might easily be thrown up for 
its protection against any force she could land to 
attack it; while, for a large vessel, the object would 
hardly be of sufficient importance, and it would be 
more difficult for her to reach the ground without 
being observed and followed by one of our own. 

As far as regards the comfort. and well-being of 
the party inhabiting the place, I can only say, that 
in climate and pleasantness of aspect, the neighbour- 
hood of Cape York is vastly superior to Port Essing- 
ton. The soil of both is equally barren, but the 


NATURAL CAPABILITIES. 307 


constant fresh breeze at Cape York and the frequent 
showers produce a greenness and freshness in the 
grass and vegetation even in June, when at Port 
Essington every green thing is turned to brown. If 
the post were stationed in Evans’ Bay, high dry 
rocky places might be selected for the houses, easily 
defensible, and exposed to the full draught of the 
sea-breeze, and overlooking a strip of rich garden 
ground between them and the sea; close on one side 
are several hundred acres of good grass land, lead- 
ing to some fresh water pools, and environed by 
some steep rocky hills, about 300 feet in height, 
which are covered by an almost impenetrable 
thicket, forming a natural fence. On this grass 
land the cattle and horses for immediate use would 
be kept. On the other side is Bremer Peak, 500 
feet in height, where the signal-post would be 
within sight to give notice of the approach of vessels. 
A beautiful sandy beach, two miles long would be 
in front of the garden, on which it would be per- 
fectly safe to bathe at all times of the tide without 
fear of sharks or alligators. In addition to these 
means of health and support, might be mentioned 
the frequent and comparatively rapid communica- 
tion with the rest of the world, and the excitement 
of passing intercourse with strangers, so cheering to 
the spirits of a small and isolated party. Even the 
varied scenery of the hills and islands around would 
not be without its beneficial effect on the health and 
minds of the residents ; as I believe, on the contrary, 
x 2 


308 NO HARBOUR WANTED. 


the dreary monotony of Port Essington has had its 
evil influence on those stationed there. As far as 
my own personal feeling goes, if I were condemned 
to either, I would rather live at Cape York for five 
years than at Port Essington for two. 

One objection might be raised by a person unac- 
quainted with the place, which is, that there is no 
harbour there. In the sense of a small space of sea 
having anchorage, and almost surrounded by conti- 
nuous land, this is perfectly true, but the fact is, 
such a harbour is not needed. ‘The sea is perfectly 
smooth. No ground swell ever penetrates into 
Torres Strait, at all, so defended is it by the coral 
reefs. During the season, when vessels are passing, 
the wind is always S.E., from which the land about 
Cape York shelters the anchorage. During the 
N.W. monsoon, anchorage may be found at the 
entrance of Endeavour Strait, perfectly sheltered 
from all N.W. winds. The post might be situated 
thereabouts if water skould be found, and sufficient 
grass land and garden ground. 

There. is another set of arguments on which I 
have not touched, because they would be based on 
what as yet has no existence, steam communication 
between India and New South Wales. When this 
is brought into operation, it appears to me that 
Cape York must necessarily be one of the coal sta- 
tions. It is by far the most convenient place I 
know for such a purpose in these seas, as | have no 
doubt a wooden pier could be run out from a rocky 


VALUE FOR A COAL DEPOT. 809 


point on the eastward of Evans’ Bay, with water of 
sufficient depth for the vessel to lie alongside. It 
appears important likewise to diminish the distance 
as much as possible, between the last coaling-place 
and Port Jackson. The distance from Cape York 
to Port Jackson is 1700 miles; but, from the in- 
tricate nature of the navigation south of Cape York, 
the steamer would be delayed for a longer time than 
is proportionate to the mere length of the track. 
She would have to anchor for one night, even if she 
took the outside passage, while, if she took the in- 
side route, which is generally most favourable for 
steam navigation, she would probably have to remain 
at anchor every night for the three first nights after 
leaving Cape York. She would likewise require to 
proceed slowly during great part of the day, and 
whenever the sun came ahead of her, would have to 
stop till it had passed, and the glare on the water 
had faded, so that the passages between the reefs 
should be seen. 

I have put these arguments in their plainest and 
most unpretending light ; each observation is a per- 
fectly practicable one, and applicable to the present 
state of things. 

I will not conceal from the reader, however, that 
I should augur for a settlement at Cape York a 
future destiny of a higher and more important cha- 
racter than would result from any of those considera- 
tions | have mentioned as reasons for its present 
existence. The time must ultimately come, when 


310 ULTIMATE IMPORTANCE. 


that great chain of islands, stretching from the east 
end of New Guinea to New Caledonia, shall be brought 
within the region of civilization and commerce ; 
when the veil that rests upon New Guinea itself 
shall be raised, and when the Moluccas shall be 
freed from the trammels in which they have hitherto 
been bound. ‘Torres Strait will then be the chan- 
nel of the commerce between these regions, as well 
as between the more remote and mighty ones which 
lie beyond them. It will resemble the Straits of 
Malacca in this respect, and another Singapore may 
be expected to rise on its borders, just where the 
converging streams of commerce are compressed into 
the narrowest and closest channel. ‘This must be 
somewhere about Cape York, or the entrance of 
Endeavour Strait. It is here, indeed, if any where, 
that the true analogy is to be sought for, between 
Singapore and any point of Australia ; the narrow 
strait, where, from physical necessity, the wide 
spread commerce of neighbouring seas must inevita- 
bly converge ; the pass, through which one of the 
great highways of the world must necessarily run.* 


* The present necessity for a port in Torres Strait is so ob- 
vious, as to have struck every one acquainted with it. See Mr: 
M‘Kenzie on steam from Singapore to Sidney, in the Nautical 
Magazine for February, 1847. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


EXTENT OF THE BARRIER REEFS—-THE INNER AND OUTER 
ROUTES—GENERAL FEATURES OF AN “‘ INDIVIDUAL CORAL 
REEF’ —MODES IN WHICH THESE REEFS ARE GROUPED— 
THE REEFS OF THE GREAT BARRIER DIVIDED INTO THREE 
KINDS:—FIRST, LINEAR OR BARRIER REEFS; SECOND, 
DETACHED REEFS; THIRD, INNER REEFS—FORM AND 
EXTENT OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEFS—LIKENESS TO A 
SUBMARINE FORTIFICATION — NORMAL FORM OF THE 
GREAT REEF-MASS—VARIATIONS FROM THAT FORM—THE 
CORAL CONGLOMERATE AND PUMICE PEBBLES OF THE 
NORTH-EAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA—STRUCTURE OF RAINE’S 
ISLET—SINGULAR MASS OF POINTS ABOVE HIGH-WATER 
MARK—ALL PROVE STATIONARY CONDITION OF NORTH- 
EAST COAST FOR LONG PERIOD OF TIME—MR. DARWIN’S 
THEORY APPLIED TO THE GREAT BARRIER— EXPLANATION 
THROUGH IT OF BOTH THE GENERAL FORM, THE NORMAL 
CONDITION, AND THE OCCASIONAL EXCEPTIONS AND 
VARIATIONS. 


I sHALL, in this chapter, give a general sketch of 
the structure of the Great Barrier reef, as far as it 
was known at the close of our survey in the year 
1845. It may be said to commence with Breaksea 
Spit, in S. lat. 24° 30’, E. long. 155° 20’, and extend 
to Bristow Island, on the coast of New Guinea, in 
S. lat. 9° 15’, and E. long. 143° 20... This would 
give, in a straight line, a distance of about 1100 
geographical miles, or about 1260 statute miles. It 


312 INNER ROUTE. 


stretches along the coast at a mean distance of about 
30 miles from the land ; its outer edge being some- 
times not more than 10 or 15, at others, more 
than 100 miles distant from it. The whole of the 
sea which les outside the Barrier, between New 
Caledonia and Torres Strait, is likewise encum- 
bered with detached reefs of greater or less magni- 
tude. From this large development of coral reefs 
this sea was called by Flinders the Coral Sea, a name 
which it well deserves. 1 have already said that 
the whole commerce, from the eastern colonies of 
Australia, and the southern Pacific, to the coasts of 
India and the Indian archipelago, is almost com- 
pelled to traverse this sea, and to pass through 
Torres Strait. Now, in order to traverse the Coral 
Sea and Torres Strait with any degree of safety, 
there are two tracks, which are commonly known 
by the names of the Inner and Outer Routes. In 
taking the inner passage vessels enter the Barrier 
reef at its southern extremity, and run up. to the 
northward along shore, between the reefs and the 
land. This route was surveyed by Captain King : 
although often narrow and intricate, it is safe, 
because there is good anchorage the whole of the 
way, and the reefs themselves are a perfect shelter 
from the violence of the sea. The outer route has 
never yet been regularly surveyed, but is known 
roughly from its having been traversed by whalers 
and merchant vessels. Commencing in the parallel 
of 25° S. lat., it runs due north between the meri- 


OUTER ROUTE. 813 


dians of 156° and 157° E. long., till it attains the 
lat. of 20° S. From this point it runs to the N.W. 
till it reaches 15° S. lat. and 150° or 152° E. long., 
and then W.N.W. to the lat. 12° in about 144° 
E. long. Along this route there is a clear track, 
from 60 to 100 miles in width, that is free from 
reefs.* But outside of it, on either hand, detached 
reefs are known to be numerous, and there probably 
exist many which are unknown. In this outer route 
the sea is of great and almost unfathomable depth as 
far as is known; there is consequently no anchorage, 
and whatever the circumstances, a ship must keep 
under sail till she come up to the edge of the Great 
Barrier, and pass through one of its openings into 
the comparatively shallow and sheltered water inside 
of it. One of the principal objects of our expedition, 
was to survey the northern part of the Barrier reef, 
so as to lay down the best openings, and to erect 
some mark or beacon by which one at least of them 
could be distinguished from the others. By means 
of this beacon, any vessel pursuing the outer route, 
that from bad weather or other causes was out in 
her reckoning, would have a chance of learning her 
true position, and which way she ought to proceed. 
As we never saw any of the outside reefs, | shall not 
attempt to describe them, but confine myself to an 
account of the Great Barrier. 


* Mr. Evans, master of H. M.S, Fly, was kind enongh to 
give me this information, from a number of documents collected 
and compiled by himself. 


314 FORM OF A CORAL REEF. 


Although I have before had occasion to describe 
some of the coral reefs as individual things, yet it 
may facilitate the understanding them if I reca- 
pitulate their most remarkable and striking pecu- 
liarities. The size and form of an ‘individual coral 
reef” is perfectly indeterminate; it may be cir- 
cular, oval, or linear; its surface may vary from a 
mere point to an area of many square miles. Those, 
however, which occupy the extreme edge of a mass 
of reefs,* or rise on one side from great depths, 
having on the other comparatively shallow water, 
have generally a linear form, being three, five or 
ten miles long, and varying in breadth from one or 
two hundred yards to perhaps a mile. ‘This seems 
more especially to be the case when their direction 
runs across that of the prevailing wind. ‘The 
individual coral reefs which rise from an equal 
depth all round, whether that depth be great or 
small, are more commonly of an oval, circular, or 
irregular shape, but these are usually much larger 
when exposed to the wind and surf than in more 
sheltered situations. 

To get an idea of the nature and structure of an 
individual coral reef, let the reader fancy to himself 
a great submarine mound of rock, composed of the 
fragments and detritus of corals and shells, com- 

* There is a term wanted to express the distinction between 
an individual reef, unbroken by any deep water-channel, and a 
group of such reefs. For the latter I am almost tempted to use 


the word ‘‘reefery;” for the former I have, in this passage, used 
the expression, “ individual coral reef.”’ 


FORM OF INDIVIDUAL REEF. 315 


pacted together into a soft spongy sort of stone. 
The greater part of the surface of this mound is 
quite flat and near the level of low water. At its 
edges it is commonly a little rounded off, or slopes 
gradually down to a depth of two, three, or four 
fathoms, and then pitches suddenly down with a 
very rapid slope into deep water, 20 or 200 fathoms, 
as the case may be. ‘The surface of this reef, when 
exposed, looks like a great flat of sandstone with a 
few loose slabs lying about, or here and there an 
accumulation of dead broken coral branches, or a 
bank of dazzling white sand. It is, however, 
chequered with holes and hollows more or less deep, 
in which small living corals are growing; or has, 
perhaps, a large portion that is always covered by 
two or three feet of water at the lowest tides, and here 
are fields of corals, either clumps of branching madre- 
pores, or round stools and blocks of mzeandrina and 
astreea, both dead and living. Proceeding from this 
central flat towards the edge, living corals become 
more and more abundant. As we get towards the 
windward side, we of course encounter the surf of the 
breakers long before we can reach the extreme 
verge of the reef, and among these breakers we see 
immense blocks, often two or three yards (and some- 
times much more) in diameter, lying loose upon 
the reef. ‘These are sometimes within reach by a 
little wading ; and though in some instances they 
are found to consist of several kinds of corals matted 
together, they are more often found to be large in- 


3160 STRUCTURE OF AN INDIVIDUAL REEF. 


dividual masses of species, which are either not 
found elsewhere, and consequently never seen 
alive,* or which greatly surpass their brethren on 
other parts of the reef in size and importance. If 
we approach the lee edge of the reef, either by 
wading or in a boat, we find it covered with living 
corals, commonly meeandrina, astrea, and madre- 
pore, in about equal abundance, all glowing with 
rich colours, bristling with branches, or studded 
with great knobs and blocks. When the edge of 
the reef is very steep, it has sometimes overhanging 
ledges, and is generally indented by narrow winding 
channels and deep holes, leading into dark hollows 
and cavities where nothing can be seen. When the 
slope is more gentle, the great groups of living 
corals and intervening spaces of white sand can be 
still discerned through the clear water to a depth 
of forty or fifty feet, beyond which the water recovers 
its usual deep blue. A coral reef, therefore, is a 
mass of brute matter, living only at its outer surface, 
and chiefly on its lateral slopes. It is believed that 
coral animals cannot live at a great depth; that 
twenty, or at the most thirty fathoms is their ex- 
treme limit of growth. ‘This is apparently proved, 
or nearly so, with respect to all known species of 

* I have seen a block of mzeandrina, of irregular shape, 
twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, the furrows of which, though 
much worn and nearly obliterated, were wider than my three 
fingers; also very large blocks and crags of a porites, twenty 


feet long and ten feet high, but all one connected mass, without 
any breaks in its growth. 3 


THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 317 


coral that form reefs, all those found in the hollows 
or on the sheltered slopes of reefs, where alone they 
can be examined. Whether it be universally true, 
for all polyps depositing large masses of calcareous 
matter, will perhaps admit of a doubt. 

These individual coral reefs are grouped together 
in various ways, forming ‘‘ atolls,” ‘‘ barriers,” and 
“fringing reefs,” as described by Mr. Darwin. The 
Great Barrier Reef of Australia- is itself com- 
posed of each of these different kmds of groups, 
which I shall class as lst—‘‘ The linear reefs,” form- 
ing the outer edge, or actual Barrier. @nd—‘‘ De- 
tached reefs,” lying outside that Barrier. 3rd.— 
“Inner reefs,” or those which lie between the 
Barrier and the shore. The Ist, or linear reefs, are 
generally long and narrow, running along a line 
more or less parallel with the shore, and divided 
from each other by narrow passages. They vary from 
200 yards to a mile in width, and from half a mile 
to ten or fifteen miles in length. They have com- 
monly unfathomable, or at least unfathomed, water 
on the outside, and a depth of from ten to twenty 
fathoms on the inside of them. The 2nd or ‘‘ De- 
tached reefs,”’ are not common near the Barrier, 
and occur only in one neighbourhood. ‘They rise 
from deep water all round, have more or less of a 
circular form with lagoons inside them, and are 
regular “atolls” on a small scale. The 3rd or 
‘* Inner reefs,’ are very numerous. They are scat- 
tered over the space between the Barrier and the 


318 BREAKSEA SPIT. 


land, sometimes occupying the greater part of the 
intermediate space, sometimes leaving a compara- 
tively clear channel on one or both sides of them ; 
that is between themselves and the Barrier, and 
between themselves and the land. They have no 
peculiarity of form, are perhaps most commonly 
steep-sided, but not unfrequently have a gradual 
slope. 

We will now commence at Sandy Cape, and trace 
the reefs to the northward, into Torres Strait. 
From the pitch of that Cape a narrow sandy shoal 
runs out to the northward, which appears to become 
partially covered with coral as it proceeds. It is 
about twenty miles long, and was called by Cook 
Breaksea Spit. From Sandy Cape, a bank of 
soundings is found, running along the east side of 
Breaksea Spit, and continuing from it to the north- 
west. This bank of soundings has from ten to 
twenty fathoms’ depth upon it, but it slopes towards 
its outer edge down to thirty fathoms, and then sud- 
denly pitches down into deep water. The edge of 
this bank runs from a little outside Breaksea Spit, 
first ina N.W. direction to lat. 23° 30’, and then 
in a N.N.W. direction to 23°12’. It appears to 
consist entirely of sand, which, immediately north 
of the end of Breaksea Spit, was wholly siliceous, 
hardly a particle dissolving in muriatic acid. Thirty 
miles N.W. from the point of Breaksea Spit is Lady 
Elhot’s Island, a regular coral reef, with an islet 
on the lee side of it. The edge of the bank of 


THE CAPRICORN GROUP. 319 


soundings runs about three miles outside this reef 
and island. ‘Twenty miles N.W. of Lady Elliot’s 
Island is the First Bunkers Island, which is about 
five miles within the edge of the bank. From this 
a chain of islands and reefs runs to the northward, 
parallel to the edge of the bank; singly at first, but 
in a double or triple row as we proceed. This group 
of reefs and islets is called the Capricorn Group, 
and extends from 23° 55’ to 23° 10. It consists of 
twenty large reefs, ten of which have each a small 
islet upon them. All the islets, except One Tree 
Island, are near the leeward edge of the reef. The 
islets are of an oval or circular form, and their 
longest diameters often run in the same direction 
with the longest diameter of the reefs. This is most 
usually nearly east and west ; the reefs, as also the 
islands, being often, but not invariably, longer in that 
direction than from north to south, in the proportion 
of five to two. ‘The islands are composed of a base 
of coral conglomerate, partially covered with loose 
sand. ‘The reefs have sometimes a shallow lagoon 
in the centre; the islands, also, often consist of a 
ring-formed bank of sand, with a flat hollow in the 
centre. There is never more than one islet on each 
reef, and that is wholly on one side of the lagoon, 
and very small, compared with the reef. From the 
main land to the easternmost islands, the depth 
increases from ten to twenty and thirty fathoms, the 
most usual depth being twenty fathoms. Outside 
the islands the bank gradually deepens for about 


320 WIDE CLEAR SPACE. 


five miles, when it is forty fathoms and upwards, 
and then suddenly to two hundred fathoms, with 
which sometimes no bottom could be reached within 
a quarter of a mile of the edge of the bank. The 
soundings on the bank were mostly sand, with frag- 
ments of shells and corals; but instead of being 
wholly siliceous, as near Breaksea Spit, it was 
found, near the Capricorn Group, that the smallest 
grains were calcareous, everything brought up from 
the bottom being soluble in muriatic acid. 

North of the parallel of 23° 10’, there is an open 
space of sea, in which no reefs occur, about fifty miles 
wide from north to south; and the bank of soundings, 
mstead of having a steep, well defined edge, slopes 
out very gradually far to the eastward. The flat, 
of about twenty fathoms, extends out as usual from 
the main land for about thirty or forty miles, and then 
gradually deepens, till seventy, eighty, ninety, and a 
hundred fathoms are successively attained, twenty 
or thirty miles eastward of the boundary of the line 
of soundings, as it exists to the southward. The 
character of the bottom likewise changes from a 
coarse coral sand to the finest possible mud, of a 
light olive green colour, in which the lead often 
wholly buried itself on reaching the bottom. This, 
when dried, was also entirely calcareous, and wholly 
soluble in muriatic acid. 

In lat. 22° 25° and long. 152° 40’ commences a 
very strong body of reefs, the boundaries of which 
run towards the north and north-west respectively, 


SWAIN’S REEFS. 321 


till they attain a width of about ninety miles. These 
are called Swain’s* Reefs. The outside or eastern 
edge of them was traced to lat. 21°, where, from 
running due north and south, it seems to trend more 
to the north-west. The bank of soundings is still 
continued outside these reefs, as far as 21°53’, in 
which latitude a line of soundings was run off them 
out to seaward, the depths being 34, 54, 65, 76, 
and 83 fathoms, which latter cast was obtained at a 
distance of fifteen miles to the eastward of the reefs. 
For fifty miles further north, soundings in 40 and 
50 fathoms were obtained two or three miles out- 
side the reef; but then the depths became much 
greater, and the bank of soundings seems not to 
extend outside the reefs at all. In lat. 21° 5’ no 
bottom was found with 80 fathoms inside a small 
projecting reef, and outside it no bottom with 50, 
120, and 200: the latter cast was made five miles 
from the reefs. 

At this point our examination of the southern 
part of the Great Barrier terminated, and so far it 
can hardly be said that any true barrier exists. 
There is merely a bank of soundings running to a 
greater or less distance off shore, with large masses 
of coral reef settled upon it, and within its outer 
boundary—almost equally large clear spaces inter- 
vening between the different groups of reefs. In 


* Because first traversed by Mr. Swain, in the brig Eliza, 
1798. 
VOL. I. Y 


322 PART SURVEYED BY FLINDERS. 


Swain’s Reefs, the individual reefs on the outer edge 
of the group are scarcely to be distinguished in form 
from those inside them, although they may have a 
little more linear shape, and their greatest length 
run more invariably along the line of the boundary 
of the group. It is only at their northern extremity 
that they assume one of the characteristics of a true 
barrier, that of rising like a wall from a deep and 
almost fathomless sea. 

The inside, or south-west boundary, of the group 
called Swain’s Reefs, was traced to lat. 21° 50’; it 
left a space of fifty or sixty miles wide between it 
and the land, clear of reefs, and with a depth of 
30 to 50 fathoms. From a little beyond this point, 
or north of 22°, the reefs were examined along 
their inner boundary by Captain Flinders, as far as 
lat. 18° 80’. He endeavoured, in vain, to find a 
passage through them out to sea in the intermediate 
space ; and in all probability they are a wide and 
strong body of reefs, and their outer edge may pro- 
bably run from that of Swain’s Reefs through Lieut. 
Vine’s Horse-shoe Shoal, to lat. 19°, or thereabouts. 
In lat. 18° 50’, Captain Flinders found a large gap 
in the Barrier, through which he passed out to sea. 
It was at least twelve miles wide, but a bank of 
soundings ran along it, on the edge of which he 
got bottom in 58 fathoms. From this gap, as 
far as lat. 16° 40' (a space of about 120 miles), the 
form and condition of the Barrier is unknown; 
north of the latter point, however, it has now been 


PART SOUTH OF LIZARD ISLAND. 323 


regularly surveyed by H.M.S. Fly and Bramble as 
far as the coast of New Guinea. 

From 16° 40° to 16° 10, the reefs seem much 
broken, with but little regular barrier. The linear 
extension of the reefs stretches nearly east and west, 
and the bottom is very irregular. At one point 
soundings were got outside the reefs for a distance 
of four miles, within which space there were casts 
obtained of 27, 43, and 165 fathoms, the latter in 
blue mud, immediately beyond which was no bottom, 
with 321 fathoms. 

From 16° 10’ to the parallel of Lizard Island, the 
Barrier is formed by a narrow chain of reefs running 
due north and south, at a distance of about thirty 
miles from the land. The openings or breaks in 
the Barrier are many, but small, rarely so much as 
a mile wide, while the reefs are from one to six, or 
even fifteen miles long, and about a quarter of a mile 
broad. Outside this part of the Barrier no sound- 
ings were obtained, though trials with 75 and 150 
fathoms were made at one or two miles’ distance. 
Immediately inside is an almost clear channel, of 
about five miles wide, running north and south 
parallel to the Barrier, inside of which again there 
are numerous inner reefs, running nearly close up to 
the land, and making the inshore navigation very 
intricate. The usual depth in the channels among 
these inner reefs, and between them and the Barrier, 


is 12 to 25 fathoms. 
¥yiZ 


324 LIZARD ISLAND TO CAPE MELVILLE. 


From the neighbourhood of Lizard Island,* the 
Barrier curves round to the N.W. by W., in 
which direction it runs till it approaches the pro- 
jecting point of Cape Melville within twelve miles, 
when it trends round to the northward again. In the 
space about Cape Melville, the inner reefs are more 
than commonly numerous and strong, for as the 
outer Barrier here runs almost parallel to the direc- 
tion of the trade wind, instead of across it, the sea 
inside is less sheltered, and the surf on the edges of 
the inner reefs becomes heavier than usual. This 
circumstance, I believe, is always favourable to the 
extension and increase in number of coral reefs. 
The inner reefs in this part are generally quite 
‘““ steep to,” having 10 fathoms close alongside their 
edge, the channels between them varying from 
12 to 25 fathoms. 

Outside the Barrier the depth could rarely be 
ascertained. It often required from 30 to 80 
fathoms of line to strike bottom from a boat imme- 
diately outside the surf of the breakers. On one 
line, however, bearing N. by E., from Howick’s 
Group of Islands, in long. 145° 5’, lat. 14° 15, 
bottom was got with 57 fathoms at two miles, 
and 68 fathoms at four miles outside the reefs. 


* See the chart attached to this work, which is a pretty accu- 
rate and careful reduction from our surveys, with the coast line 
and some other reefs added from the old charts by Captains 
Cook, Flinders, King, &c. 


NORTH OF CAPE MELVILLE. 325 


This seemed only to be a narrow ridge, or bank, 
and at a point bearing N. by E. from Cape Mel- 
ville, just outside a small opening, and close in to 
the breakers, it required 135 fathoms to touch the 
bottom. 

From the neighbourhood of Cape Melville the 
line of the outer Barrier runs first N.N.W. 
and then N. by W. for 120 miles, or to the lat. 
of 12° 20’, preserving a distance of about thirty 
miles from the main land. Throughout this space 
the Barrier is formed by an exceedingly narrow 
chain of reefs, many of which are not more than 
200 or 300 yards wide, while they are from two to 
twelve miles long. ‘The passages between them are 
generally small, but two have a width ofnearly three 
miles, one in lat. 13° 27’ south, and another in 
13° 03". 

Inside this Barrier is a clear channel between it 
and the inner reefs, from seven to twelve miles 
wide. The depth of this channel is everywhere 
about 15 or 20 fathoms, the bottom being almost 
entirely covered with broken plates of a small dis- 
coidal coral,* and of corallines belonging to the 
genus halimeda and others. Among the inner reefs 
the bottom is coarse coral sand, but inside them, in 
an irregular, narrow, and shoal channel between 


* T suffer this to stand as it is in the text, because it gives the 
best popular description of these substances. I am informed, 
however, by Professor Forbes, that these coral-like plates are pro- 
bably of vegetable origin—disks of acetabularia. 


326 NEAR WRECK BAY. 


them and the shore, the bottom is fine greenish 
calcareous mud. 

Outside the linear or boundary reefs, throughout 
this space, no bottom was ever reached, although 120 
fathoms of line have been let go within a quarter of 
a mile, and 285 within less than a mile of them. They 
are very steep also on their inside edge, where a boat 
has been aground on them forward, has had a depth of 
two fathoms abaft, and a boat’s length astern there 
has been from 10 to 20 fathoms. 

About three miles outside the-Barrier are two 
small detached reefs, one in lat. 12° 36’, the other 
in 12° 25’. They are each about a mile long and 
half a mile broad, and no bottom was reached any- 
where around them with 120 fathoms. 

Between the latitudes of 12° 20’ and 11° 20’ there 
is a singular departure from the usual form and 
character of the linear reefs. Instead of run- 
ning in a straight or gently curving line, they 
are sharply deflected into convolutions, form- 
ing deep bays and projecting points, with large 
detached reefs outside. From 12°21’ the Barrier 
runs off north-east for about ten miles, and forms 
a projecting point, on which are some large black 
blocks, uncovered even at high water. Beyond 
this point is a large open space clear of reefs, but 
by tracing the inner edge of this projecting point a 
line of soundings was found running south-west for 
about five miles, and then gradually curving round 
to the north. Near the edge of this bank are seve- 


NEAR WRECK BAY. 327 


ral small patches of reef, which gradually become 
stronger and more connected as it trends to the north, 
and reassuming the barrier character, run nearly 
north for nine or ten miles. These are then 
suddenly deflected to the south-east, and run out in 
that direction for eight or nine miles, forming the 
northern boundary of the bight in the reefs, now 
known by the name of Wreck Bay. The mouth of 
this bay is six miles wide from north to south, ex- 
panding inside to twelve or thirteen; its length 
from east to west is about eight miles. The depth 
of water in this bight is very great, no bottom hav- 
ing been reached, except close to the reefs, and 285 
fathoms, or 1,710 feet, having failed to strike bottom 
on its southern side, within three miles of a small 
reef, and four miles inside the reefs forming the 
entrance to the bay. 

On the northern side of this deep-water bay is a 
curious projecting buttress of reefs, the northern 
boundary of the bay, after running out nine miles to 
the south-east, being sharply deflected to the north, 
and then to the north-west, so that we have a 
narrow loop of reefs enclosing a space of water 
from ten to twenty fathoms deep, ten miles 
long, and only two broad. After running round 
this loop the reefs run first N.N.W., and then 
N.N.E., to lat. 11° 45’. Here they are again 
broken through, and we have only a bank of sound- 
ings twenty or thirty fathoms deep, with small de- 
tached patches of reef on it, running north for eleven 


328 THE DETACHED REEFS. 


miles, or as far as 11° 34’... From this point con- 
nected reefs run out about E. by N. for ten miles, 
forming the northern side of Raine’s Islet open- 
ing, then curving N.N.W. they are again broken 
in a few miles by Pandora’s Entrance, after which 
they recover their usual linear form. 

Returning now to the neighbourhood of Wreck 
Bay, we have Yule’s detached reef, three or four 
miles north of the projecting loop before described. 
This is about three miles in diameter, and is 
very steep all round. It rises from an unknown 
depth, greater than 100 fathoms, and seems to 
have a deep lagoon in the centre, into which there 
was no entrance. Six miles N.N.E. of this com- 
mences a large detached reef of irregular outline, 
twelve miles long from north to south, bounded on 
three sides by an almost continuous mass of reef, 
but open on its western or leeward side, where is 
an irregular-shaped bank of soundings, with patches 
of reef upon it. Inside the lagoon of this detached 
reef there is a depth of 20 to 30 fathoms, but out- 
side the reef the depth is very much greater, and 
generally unknown. There is a passage five miles 
wide between this detached reef and the line of the 
Barrier, in which bottom was reached in two places, 
once with 105 and once with 135 fathoms, fine sand 
being brought up on the lead. In other places 
ineffectual soundings were tried with 130 and 150 
fathoms of line. 

The northern side of this Great Detached reef 


RAINE’S ISLET OPENING. 329 


forms the southern boundary of Raine’s Islet opening, 
which is about nine miles wide from north to south, 
having that Islet and its reef in its centre. The 
reef of Raine’s Islet is a small detached one, about 
two miles long, from W.N.W. to E.S.E., and about 
a mile broad in the transverse direction. It is very 
steep (sloping in one place at an angle of 55°), and 
has deep water all round. About one mile north of 
Raine’s Islet, bottom was reached with 160 fathoms, 
and with 180 about two and a half miles north-east 
of it. On the southern side of it no bottom was 
reached till close up to the breakers of the Great 
Detached reef, when soundings of 175 and 200 
fathoms were made, bringing up fine coral sand. 
From the northern side of Pandora’s Entrance, in 
11° 20’, the outer line of the Barrier runs in a 
slightly curved line, nearly due north, as far as 
Anchor Key, in lat. 9° 25’. For forty miles north of 
Pandora’s Entrance, the linear reefs are very long 
and closely connected, with very few gaps, and 
those remarkably small. Beyond this, however, or 
N. of lat. 10° 40’, they begin to change that cha- 
racter, and from that point to Flinders’ Entrance, 
in lat. 9° 40’, consist of numerous small spots and 
patches, very close together, so close as to afford no 
good entrance for shipping, but still not actually 
connected into one solid ridge, but forming clusters 
of submarine pinnacles or towers, as it were, 
with a depth of about 15 or 20 fathoms between 
them. They still preserve the form of a barrier, 


330 PANDORA’S ENTRANCE TO ANCHOR KEY. 


however, running along a narrow band in a linear 
direction, with unfathomed water outside of them 
(160 fathoms and no bottom), and a compara- 
tively clear space inside, having a depth of 15 
or 20 fathoms. As through this space the line 
of reefs runs N. and N. by E., while the coast of 
Australia trends to N.N.W., their distance from the 
land is gradually increased, till, in lat. 11° 40’, 
in the parallel of Cape York, it amounts to 
eighty or ninety miles. The whole of the inter- 
mediate space has not yet been examined. There 
appears, however, to be a strong body of inner reefs 
lying a little distance off shore, between which and 
the Barrier the sea is comparatively clear, but with 
many small sunken patches of coral interspersed 
about, and places where the bottom is irregular. 
The general depth varies from 12 to 20 fathoms, 
the bottom being coarse coral sand, with many 
foraminifera and small detached corals and coral- 
lines, gradually passing, as we approach the land, 
into finer sand and detritus, and from that into the 
finest possible mud, wholly calcareous, and lying 
close in shore. 

At Anchor Key, in lat. 9° 20’, long. 144° 12’, 
the outer Barrier terminates, no coral reef having 
been found to the north of it, up to the coast of 
New Guinea, except a small patch called Bramble 
Key, and that is not an independent coral reef, but 
a fringe round a reef of other rocks. 

At this northern end of the Barrier we again 


WARRIOR ISLAND REEF. 331 


find soundings outside of it. The water gradually 
deepens from the 20 fathoms inside the reefs, to 
40, 50, and 60 fathoms out at sea, which depths 
we found every where between this northern end of 
the Barrier and Portlock Reefs, and from the latter 
as far south as the parallel of Flinders’ Entrance. 
Inside the Barrier here, between Murray and 
Darnley Islands, the reefs are very large and nume- 
rous. A few smaller reefs also exist some miles 
north of Darnley Island, but with those exceptions, 
from Anchor Key to the westward, a clear sea is 
found, till we reach avery broad and persistent reef, 
which stretches off from Bristow Island and the coast 
of New Guinea, as far south as Warrior Island, a 
distance of thirty-five miles. This looks as if it were 
the northern end of the Great Barrier thrown sixty 
miles to the westward of its true position. A line 
of large reefs runs from it to the S. by W., towards 
the reefs which lie immediately east of Mount 
Adolphus Island, in a line parallel to the direction 
of the outer Barrier ; but south of Warrior Island, 
these reefs are broken through by several broad 
clear spaces. To the westward of this last band of 
reefs there is a shoal sea, with a remarkable uni- 
formity of bottom, occupying all the central parts of 
Torres Strait from north to south, between Cape 
York and Turtle-back Island. The depth is from 
nine to eleven fathoms, the bottom sand and mud. 
As far as examined by us there are no coral 
islands, nor coral reefs in this central band, except 


332 CENTRAL BAND OF TORRES STRAIT. 


narrow fringing reefs round the islands composed of 
other materials. These are porphyries, granites, 
and quartz rocks, and are an extension of the rocks 
of the east coast of Australia across towards New 
Guinea. None of these rocks are found in Murray 
or Darnley, or any other islands to the eastward of 
the line of reefs now referred to. This band, then, 
running north from Cape York, across Torres Strait 
towards New Guinea, forms a division between the 
Great Barrier reef and any coral reefs which may 
hereafter be found to the west or north-west of 
Torres Strait. As far as our examination extended, 
none such are to be found (except the very narrow 
fringing reefs round the islands), but there are many 
reefs laid down to the northward and westward in the 
old charts, which have been cursorily seen by passing 
navigators, and may be independent coral reefs. 
The Great Barrier reefs are thus found to form 
a long submarine buttress, or curtain, along the 
north-eastern coast of Australia, rising in general 
precipitously from a very great depth, but resting 
towards the north on the shoaler ground of Torres 
Strait, and towards the south on the bank stretch- 
ing off from Sandy Cape. If it were to be laid dry, 
this great Barrier would be found to have a con- 
siderable resemblance to a gigantic and irregular 
fortification, a steep glacis crowned with a broken 
parapet wall, and carried from one rising ground to 
another. ‘The tower-like bastions, of projecting and 
detached reefs, would increase this resemblance. 


NORMAL FORM OF THE BARRIER. S33 


From an examination of our charts, it would 
appear that the normal condition of this long mass 
of reefs is, that the outer barrier should be narrow, 
rising precipitously from a great depth, and running 
more or less nearly in a straight line, and that inside 
this outer barrier there should be a clear space about 
20 fathoms deep and several miles wide, between which 
space and the land should be another body of reefs. 

Diagram to represent an imaginary section of the Great Barrier reef. 


The proportions are enormously distorted, the perpendicular scale being 
fifteen or twenty times greater than the horizontal one. 


MMU. 


a Sea outside the barrier, generally unfathomable. 
b. The actual barrier. 


¢. Clear channel inside the barrier, generally about 15 or 20 fathoms deep. 
d. The inner reefs. 


e. Shoal channel between the inner reefs and the shore. 


F. The great buttress“of calcareous rock, formed of coral and the detritus of corals and 
shells. 


G. The main land, formed of granites and other similar*rocks. 

The most remarkable deviations from this con- 
dition are in the spaces between Cape Melville 
and Lizard Island, and at the back of Wreck 
Bay and Raine’s Islet. Now in each of these 
cases there are islands of granite or other rocks 
advanced from the main land, and thus causing 
an original irregularity in the depth of water, as it 
would be independent of the coral reef. This is 


33 4 DEVIATIONS FROM NORMAL FORM. 


very remarkable in the space between 12° 20’ and 
11° 30’, where we have Cape Grenville, Cockburn 
Islands, and Sir C. Hardy’s Islands, projecting 
towards Raine’s Islet opening, and Fair Cape and 
Cape Weymouth, with Forbes Island and Quoin 
Island, projecting towards Wreck Bay. Near Sir 
Charles Hardy’s Islands there is also a remarkable 
narrow channel of deep water, between them and 
the large Cockburn reef, in which there is a depth 
of thirty fathoms, while on each side of it is either 
a reef nearly dry at low water, or a depth not 
exceeding ten fathoms. ‘This channel is about 
twenty miles long, rarely more than two miles broad, 
and it runs in the same direction as the islands lie 
off Cape Grenville, or about E.N.E., and points in 
a straight line for Raine’s Islet opening. 

The law which is found generally to prevail in 
coral reefs, in all parts of the world, that the widest 
openings or greatest breaks are on the leeward side, 
or in the portions most sheltered from surf, is exem- 
plified in the Great Detached reef, and in Raine’s 
Islet and Black Rock entrances, which are each 
protected by reefs projecting out to windward of 
them. 

The protection which coral reefs afford to coast 
lines is also observable in the state of the bottom, 
which, close in shore of the main land, consists of 
the finest mud, while the coarse sand is accumulated 
just inside and near to the outer reefs, where the 
heavy surf is alone found, and in the breaks of 


CORAL CONGLOMERATE. 335 


which are found rapid currents, neither of which 
affect the land. Before entering on any discussion, 
as to the origin of the Barrier reef, I wish to refer 
to the masses of coral conglomerate forming strips 
of flat land along shore behind the present beaches, 
and to the presence of pumice pebbles sometimes in 
that conglomerate, but more usually scattered over 
its surface loose upon the ground. I will also make 
some observations on the structure and present con- 
dition of Raine’s Islet. 

The coral conglomerate has been already de- 
scribed, especially that at Cape Upstart, and in the 
Capricorn Group of islands. Flats composed of it, 
half a mile in width, are frequent along the shore of 
the north-east coast of Australia. It must either 
have been formed under water, in which case its 
existence as dry land proves elevation of the whole 
coast, or it must have been produced by the piling 
action of the surf heaping up successive accumula- 
tions of calcareous sand, which has been subse- 
quently compacted into rock. In the latter case, 
it never could have reached a higher level than it 
now has (a few feet above high water mark), and its 
formation by this action must have required an im- 
mense period of time, during the whole of which no 
depression can have taken place. Upon all these flat 
spaces formed of this conglomerate, as well as upon 
all other flat land along the eastern and north-eastern 
coast of Australia, which is not more than ten feet 
above high water mark, there is found an abun- 


336 PUMICE PEBBLES. 


dance of pumice pebbles. I have myself observed 
these at Wollongong, fifty miles south of Port Jack- 
son, and at Wallis Islands, in Endeavour Strait, 
and many intermediate points. They have been 
noticed by the Rev. W. B. Clarke and the Rev. N. 
P. Wilton at several places in New South Wales. 
They are usually quite rounded, and about the size 
of walnuts, and at the two extreme points at which 
I saw them I could perceive no difference in their 
appearance or condition. They occur, then, under 
precisely similar circumstances, along the eastern 
coast of Australia for 2,000 miles. ‘They are never 
or very rarely seen on the present beach,* or recently 
washed up, nor are they found now floating at sea. 
By whatever cause they were cast upon the land, 
their present position proves that the whole coast 
where they are found has been equally stationary, 
or equally affected by movements of elevation or de- 
pression since they were so cast. I cannot conceive 
any cause, such as a sudden wave in the sea, that 
can have cast them to a greater height above its 
general level than that at which they are now found. 
Near Wollongong, and in other parts of New South 
Wales, there are clear proofs (in raised beaches, 
&c.) of elevation of the land having taken place in 
comparatively recent time, whether previously to, 


* In the few cases where they have been found lying on the 
present beach, there were circumstances sufficient to show that 
they had not been recently washed wp but down, out of the sands, 
or off the flats behind the beach. 


COAST BEEN LONG STATIONARY. 337 


or during, or since the coming of the pumice 
pebbles, I cannot say. That the advent of these 
pebbles is not a very recent event, is proved by facts 
I observed on the north-east coast. I have picked 
up pumice pebbles, for instance, on sand and mud- 
flats more than a mile from the sea. If those 
pebbles were hove up by breakers, there must have 
been a mile of additional ground added to the flat 
since the time when they were so hove. If they 
were thrown on the land by a sudden wave of great 
magnitude, this evidence for lapse of time would 
fail, but that they were not so thrown is, [ think, 
made clear, partly by their equal distribution over 
the flats, but more especially by their frequently 
occurring in considerable quantities, embedded in 
the coral conglomerates of which many of the flats 
are composed. ‘They are also found embedded in 
the coral rock of Raine’s Islet. Whatever age, 
therefore, may be given to the coral conglomerates 
must be extended to the pebbles. Altogether, the 
evidence derived from the existence of the coral con- 
glomerates, and the presence of pumice pebbles, to 
a height of eight or ten feet above the highest 
possible tides, proves to my mind that for a very 
long period the whole eastern coast of Australia has 
either been quite stationary, or has been affected by 
slight movements of elevation. It is clear, I think, 
at all events, that no recent depression has taken 
place throughout the district where either or both 
of these phenomena occur. 
VOL. I. Z 


338 RAINE’'S ISLET. 


Raine’s Islet has already been described at page 
126, and in the beginning of this chapter, page 329. 
I recur to it now for the purpose of shewing that it 
must have existed at very near its present level for 
a long period of time. The accompanying diagrams 
are a plan and section of the island, from a rough 
survey of my own. 


PLAN OF RAINE’S ISLET AND REEF AT LOW WATER. 


The part horizontally shaded is covered by water, which in the pools on 
the reef is very shallow, but outside the reef is so deep as not to have been 
fathomed, except at one spot, on the N.W. edge of the reef. 

At this spot the Prince George was lying with a kedge anchor on the 
edge of the reef, dry at low water, her scope of hawser or cable was then 
20 fathoms long, under her bows she had a depth of 21 fathoms, and under 
her stern of 35. Her own length was 50 feet, or about 9 fathoms. This 
gives the angle of the outer slope of the reef from 450 to 55°, 


SCALE OF YARDS. 


_———$——————— 


B. The beacon. G. The gardens. W. The wells. F. The flagtaff. 
HH. The huts. T. The tents. O. The observatory. 


METHOD OF FORMATION. 339 


SKETCH SECTION OF THE WESTERN END OF RAINE’S ISLET. 


a. Vegetable soil. b. Little cliff at edge of stone, 

ce. Loose coral sand. d. Edge of reef. j 

e. These two lines represent high and low water level, the rise and fall being about 
10 feet. 


The method of the formation of this island seems 
to have been the following :—A pile of sand was 
gradually accumulated near the west or lee side of 
the reef by thesweeping and piling action of the wind 
andsea. This, when ithad been permanently heaped 
above high water mark, became partially consoli- 
dated into stone near its upper portion, by the action 
of the rain water, which, dissolving some part of the 
carbonate of lime, re-deposited it again as it sank 
through the loose sand, and formed the little con- 
cretionary grains which bind the mass together. 
The lower part of the sand heap, that below high 
water mark, has been less affected by this action, 
probably because it was saturated by sea water. 
Some cause* then stopped the accumulation of sand, 
and the sea at high water washed away part of that 
already formed, and eat into this soft stone, wearing 
it into a little cliff about four or five feet high. 
This little cliff or step is found all round the island 
at the edge of the stone, except at some parts of the 
eastern end. After that, sand was again accumu- 
lated, forming the broad margin of loose drift sand 
now surrounding the island, and protecting the stone 
from any farther waste by the breakers. No part 


* Perhaps this cause may have been a slight depression. 


z.¢2 


340 ISLAND LONG STATIONARY. 


of the island rises more than about twenty-five feet 
above low water mark, and the rise and fall of tide 
is about ten or twelve feet. 

The proof that this stone had not been formed 
under water and subsequently elevated is, that it 
contained fossil turtles’ eggs in considerable abun- 
dance. These animals always come upon dry ground, 
and scratch holes in the sand in which to lay 
their eggs, and these eggs being so deposited, and 
having, from some reason, not been hatched, 
had subsequently been consolidated with the sur- 
rounding sand into stone. ‘That the island has been 
nearly in its present state for a long period of time 
is shewn, I think, by the existence of a thickness of 
nearly two feet of black vegetable mould in its 
centre, the result of the decomposition of the few 
vegetables that cover its surface, mingled with the 
dung of the innumerable birds that inhabit it. 

On a reef, forming part of the Great Barrier, 
about twelve miles south-west of Raine’s Islet, I ob- 
served a very remarkable, and, as far as I know, 
unique fact, which seems to favour the idea of the 
reef having been slightly elevated in that locality. 
The mass of reef alluded to is two or three miles 
long, and from a quarter to half a mile in width. 
Near its southern extremity, and about fifty yards 
from its inner edge, there is a range of large coral 
blocks permanently above water. Immediately to 
the south of them is a gap or channel of deep water, 
about a quarter of a mile wide, to the south of which 


RAISED CORAL BLOCKs. 341 


another reef sets on. These blocks are full two 
hundred yards from the outer edge of the reef, and 
protected by it from heavy breakers, and it is only 
at high water that the last curl of surf reaches 
them through the gap to the southward. No 
conceivable storm could lift them into their present 
condition, with the reef around having its pre- 
sent extension. They not only rested on the reef, 
but appeared to pass downwards into it as if forming 
part of its mass. ‘They were composed wholly of a 
species of porites, very solid and massive, with com- 
paratively small cells. They seemed to be in the 
position of growth with the cells all pointing up- 
wards. The blocks were often as much as 20 or 
25 feet in length, and rose from the reef to a height 
of 10 or 12 feet ; they were very rugged, and 
apparently much worn, the cells being apparent at 
the surface in the more sheltered hollows only of the 
masses. They ran along a line parallel to the inner 
edge of the reef for three or four hundred yards. 
High water mark was very apparent on them, form- 
ing a horizontal line, below which they were much 
smoother than above it. They ended upwards 
in sharp points and crags, much honeycombed 
and excessively rugged. From high water mark to 
some of their summits was about eight feet, and a 
sufficiently large mass of them was visible at high 
water, to shew like a line of large black rocks, at a 
distance of two miles. I examined them attentively, 
and walked about them at low water, and could form 


342 MR. DARWIN'S HYPOTHESIS. 


no other conjecture respecting them than that they 
had been produced under water, and raised above 
it by the elevation of the mass on which they re- 
posed. ‘They looked exactly like the remnants of 
a much larger mass that had been gradually eaten 
away and destroyed by the action of the sea and 
weather. 

Now all the facts which I have just now been de- 
tailing go to shew that the north-east coast of Aus- 
tralia has either been slightly elevated, or that it 
has at least not suffered any depression during a long 
period of time. ‘Those who are familiar with Mr. 
Darwin’s hypothesis respecting coral reefs will see 
the drift of this remark. 

This hypothesis rests upon the assumption that 
coral-reef-forming polyps do not live at a greater 
depth than twenty or thirty fathoms, and that, con- 
sequently, icoral reefs rising abruptly from unfathom- 
able depths must necessarily have been produced 
by the depression of the bottom of the sea. That 
wherever we find such coral reefs, the bed of the 
sea must have once been within twenty or thirty 
fathoms of the surface, that corals then grew upon it, 
and that as the bottom was slowly depressed, the 
corals built upwards, so as always to keep the upper 
portion of the reef within the required depth. 

1 must refer the reader to Mr. Darwin’s volume 
on coral reefs for details on this subject, where he 
will find a mass of materials accumulated and ar- 
ranged with almost unexampled industry, and rea- 


APPLICATION TO THE GREAT BARRIER. 343 


soned on with equal clearness and sagacity.* I 
will confine myself solely to its application to the 
Great Barrier reef of the north-east coast of Aus- 
tralia. I tried hard to find any substantial objec- 


* In the New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Vol. 34, for 
the year 1543, there is an objection brought forward against this 
hypothesis of much apparent weight. The objection is, if coral 
reefs have really the enormous thickness that the hypothesis 
would assign to them, why do we not find them among our older 
formations, where we have the old sea bottoms raised into the 
air? My answer to this objection would be, that in none of the 
older formations, nor, as far as I am aware, in any well-known 
tertiary formation, do we find reef-forming-corals. We have 
abundance of fossil corals that would grow upon reefs, in their 
more sheltered portions and inner slopes, or that would live in 
the hollows of other rocks, or form small fringing reefs, where 
there was no very heavy surf. But we have no fossil corals at all 
comparable in size, strength, or weight, with the huge mzan- 
drinze, the massive porites, and ponderous mounds of astrzea that 
compose the great sea-walls of our present ‘atolls’ and large 
barrier reefs. These gigantic corals are never seen on the inner 
slopes, or more accessible portions of the reefs, but only in the 
blocks that lie near its outer edge, where they have been rolled 
up by heavy gales from its seaward slope. They seem to belong 
only to the existing order of things, and not to have lived during 
any of the secondary or early tertiary periods. The present is, 
so to speak, the coral reef age of the globe. 

The existence of these great corals, however, furnishes to my 
mind the only objection to Mr. Darwin’s hypothesis which is at 
all a plausible one. May not these, and perhaps other species or 
genera still more gigantic, live and flourish at greater depths 
than the corals commonly found about the surface or inner slopes 
and sheltered portions of coral reefs? If there should be such 
corals, and if they formed masses with nearly perpendicular sides 


344 ARGUMENTS FOR ELEVATION. 


tion to this hypothesis, and must confess | failed to 
do so. The reader is in possession of all the direct 
observations I could collect in favour of either the 
elevation or the stationary position of the district. 
Admitting the full force of these, and supposing 
them sufficient to prove that the north-east coast 
and its barrier reefs have been stationary for a long 
period of time (say two or three thousand years), or 
have even been elevated a little in particular locali- 
ties, this is no valid objection to the hypothesis ; 
because, previously to this time, depression might 
have been taking place throughout a far more 
extensive period. The elevation above the sea of 
the southern portion of Australia, during or since 
the tertiary times (an elevation that has certainly 
taken place to an amount of more than 500 feet at 
least), is no argument against the contemporaneous 
or subsequent depression of the north-east coast. 
Not only did I fail to find any weighty objection 
up to a certain height, which afterwards became covered by the 
known species, the only method of disecovermg them would be 
by impressions on the arming of a broad deep-sea lead, either on 
the weather edge of a coral reef, or by a lucky cast in some spot 
not yet covered by the known species. To get deep soundings, 
however, so near the weather edge of a coral reef is a very hazard- 
ous proceeding, and only practicable in certain favourable locali- 
ties. After all, the existence of such species of corals is a mere 
gratuitous supposition, not admissible into our reasonings, and I 
suppose their occurrence at great depths would be rendered 
highly improbable on account of the conditions of light, tem- 
perature, and pressure under which they must necessarily be 


placed. 


EXPLANATION OF PHENOMENA. 345 


to this hypothesis, but it seemed to me clearly to 
explain the reason of both the general form of the 
Great Barrier and its particular departure from 
that form. 

In the first place, speaking generally, the outline 
of the Great Barrier reef is parallel to the outline 
of the north-east coast. The one follows the other 
in all its curves and flexures with quite sufficient 
conformability to shew that the two are connected. 
This is perceptible even in the small chart attached 
to this work, but still more remarkably so when 
the large Admiralty charts are examined. It is 
evident that the circumstances that modified the 
outline of the coast, likewise determined the general 
outline of the reefs. This is nothing else than to 
say, that the outline of the reefs depends upon the 
depth of the water. Just as in a large and accurate 
chart of any line of coast we should find the boun- 
dary of any certain line of soundings, such as 
twenty, fifty, or one hundred fathoms, conforming 
generally to the outline of the coast, following its 
larger flexures and more important features; so we 
find the outline of the Barrier reefs conforming to 
the north-east coast of Australia. Granting that 
the mean slope of the rocks, forming the original 
sea bottom of this coast, was tolerably regular and 
conformable to the slope of the land, it is evident 
that if we took away the coral reefs and raised the 
land to any given height, as, for instance, 100 
fathoms, we should not greatly alter the outline of 


34.6 HYPOTHESIS EXPLAINS PHENOMENA. 


the coast, but only shift its situation. It would be 
thrown so much further forward, or towards the 
east. Now suppose the coast cleared of coral reef, 
and raised so much that it emerged from the sea 
just within the line of the present Barrier reef. 
Then let the reef commence in the shallow water 
along that shore, and a very slow and gradual de- 
pression take place, giving time for the polyps to 
build up so as to keep near the surface of the water. 
The result of this action would be the present Bar- 
rier with its steep outer slope, and its gradual exten- 
sion over the sinking rocks that were once dry land 
within it. Portions that were once hills on the 
dry land would now be islands between the Barrier ° 
and the main, such as Sir C. Hardy’s Island and 
those about it. Islands that once existed in front 
of the main land would now be altogether sub- 
merged, and their places only marked by detached 
reefs outside the Barrier, such as those north and 
south of Wreck Bay. According to the old rule of 
high land and deep water going together, (in other 
words, the slope of the ground below water being 
only a continuation of that above,) we should have 
the Barrier much closer to the present land in its 
more abrupt and lofty portions than in those which 
were lower and less highly inclined. We see accord- 
ingly the reefs approach the present land about Cape 
Melville, where the land is steep and lofty, and 
recede from it as we go further north in proportion 
as the land becomes flatter and more gentle in 


TRUE THEORY OF CORAL REEFS. S47 


its inclination. Deep holes and ravines, full, per- 
haps, of fresh water, may have existed on the old 
land, so that when the surface of these lakes and 
hollows first sank to the surface of the sea, and 
admitted its waters, the bottom may have been too 
deep for the coral animals to live on. This would 
explain such a phenomenon as the deep narrow 
channel just north of Sir C. Hardy’s Islands, with 
reefs running along each side of it. In short, every 
modification in the form and structure of the reefs 
is explicable by this hypothesis, and many difficulties 
solved, which admit of no other explanation. 

It may seem uncalled for in me thus to thrust 
forward my opinion of Mr. Darwin’s work; but 
after seeing much of the Great Barrier reefs, and 
reflecting much upon them, and trying if it were 
possible by any means to evade the conclusions to 
which Mr. Darwin has come, I cannot help adding 
that his hypothesis is perfectly satisfactory to my 
mind, and rises beyond a mere hypothesis into the 
true theory of coral reefs. 


If the fact of depression of the north-east coast during the 
formation of the great coral reefs be held as proved, it follows 
that, during the early part of the period of their formation,Torres 
Strait, and the shoal seas on each side of it, were dry land, and 
Australia connected to New Guinea. This would explain, per- 
haps, the fact of the marsupial type of animals being common to 
both, though the genera and species are different. It would ex- 
plain also the difference in the assemblage of shells, etc. on the 


348 CONSEQUENT SPECULATION. 


northern and southern uiien GE Torres Strait mentioned before, 
page 229, as each group would spread into the newly-formed sea, 
from the nearest adjacent shores, the Molucca group coming from | 
the north, and the Australian from the south. 

The existing vegetation of the two countries would seem to have 
originated, or at least to have spread over their opposite shores 
since their separation. 

The speculations hinted at here were, I ought to say, suggested 
to me by the perusal of Professor Forbes’s most original paper 
on the Distribution of the British Fauna and Flora, in the Me- 
moirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


FIRST VISIT TO PORT ESSINGTON IN AUGUST, 1813—GENERAL 
ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND SETTLEMENT—GEOLOGICAL 
STRUCTURE, STERILITY, UNHEALTHINESS—NATIVE TRIBES 
—SECOND VISIT IN SEPTEMBER, 1844—THIRD VISIT IN 
JANUARY, 1845—ARRIVAL OF A NEW PARTY—PRAHUS 
COLLECTING TREPANG—METHOD OF FISHING FOR, AND 

CAPABILITIES OF PORT ESSING- 


OF PREPARING TREPANG 
TON—TOTALLY UNFIT FOR AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS— 
NO ADVANTAGES FOR COMMERCE—INCONVENIENTLY SITU- 
ATED AS A HARBOUR OF REFUGE—FOURTH VISIT IN JUNE, 
1845—cONTRAST BETWEEN THE VEGETATION OF PORT 
ESSINGTON AND CAPE YORK—DEATHS AMONG THE NEW 
PARTY -POLITICAL REASONS FOR RETAINING PORT ESSING- 
TON. 


August 19, 1843.—ArT eight o’clock this morning 
we first made the land about Port Essington. The 
shore appeared very low, the first thing that came 
in sight being a level line of trees. We next made 
out asmall round tower, which had been commenced 
on Point Smith, and entering between this and 
Vashon Head, we floated gradually up the port 
with very light winds. The atmosphere felt very 
hot and close, after the fresh breeze we had been 
accustomed to in Torres Strait, and on the north- 
east coast. ‘The sides of the harbour were formed 
by several low rocky headlands, or small ranges of 


350 ASPECT OF SETTLEMENT. 


cliffs, about twenty or thirty feet high, generally of 
ared or white colour. Between the headlands were 
shallow coves backed by mangrove swamps, and the 
level country round seemed completely covered by 
alow but dark looking wood of small gum-trees. 
After floating up this inlet for about sixteen or 
seventeen miles, we anchored a mile from the settle- 
ment; shoal muddy bays running still several miles 
farther to the south, backed by mangroves and gum 
forest. The aspect of the place was anything but 
cheerful or inviting even to us, who had been so 
long at sea. Ona piece of land, about forty or fifty 
feet above the sea, on the west side of the harbour, 
the trees seemed partially cleared away, and we 
could see through those that remained a few white 
buildings, while a small square wooden blockhouse 
with a flag-staff stood on a projecting cliff. A little 
a-head of us lay the Royalist brig of war refitting, 
which gave some animation to the scene, and off a 
small half ruinous wooden pier were one or two 
boats at anchor, with an old looking shed on the 
beach. Weremained here six days at this visit, 
and stopped for about an equal length of time on 
three subsequent occasions, during which, I believe, 
we saw all that was to be seen of the place. 

The party, in 1843, consisted of Captain M‘Arthur, . 
Lieut. Timson, Dr. Whipple assistant-surgeon, 
Mr. J. M‘Arthur acting store-keeper, and thirty- 
seven men. The number of men was originally 
greater, but several had died, and all had been 


9 IEG 7 


t/ 


ral : 
ae 


“NOLOINISS 4 LWOd IWVAOS VRIOLIIA 


: x < Fae 
> Je tye SO co 
Ny 


THE GARDENS. 351 


more or less affected with intermittent or remittent 
fever and ague; they now looked very sickly and 
debilitated, and many were still in hospital, or had 
only just come out of it. The buildings consisted 
of a wooden cottage of three or four rooms for the 
commandant, a wooden hospital tolerably spacious 
and airy, two wooden buildings of two stories,—-the 
upper for mess-room and officers’ quarters, and the 
lower used as store-rooms, and a square, surrounded 
by small huts built of reeds and thatch for the 
men. Several of the men had small gardens round 
their huts, containing a banana, or cocoa-nut tree, 
and a few vegetables ; and at a little distance from 
the settlement were two gardens, containing from 
one to two acres each. One of these was behind 
the sea beach to the southward, the other at the 
head of a shoal muddy cove just west of the settle. 
ment, containing some moist soil behind the man- 
groves. In these gardens were young cocoa-nut 
trees, not yet arrived at sufficient maturity for 
bearing ; banana trees, some of the fruit of which 
was of very good flavour ; pine apples, which seemed 
to do well, and some plots for growing yams and 
sweet potatoes. In the moistest parts of one of the 
gardens were specimens of the bread-fruit, the 
coffee-tree, some rice, and other tropical plants, all 
of which seemed to thrive in that spot. The soil 
generally, however, in and around the settlement 
seemed of the poorest and most sterile description ; 
indeed, it could diardly be said that anything ex- 


352 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 


isted worthy the name of “soil.’”’ The subjacent rock 
is a softish sandstone, sometimes red, sometimes 
white, sometimes quite friable and powdery, at others 
harder and tougher. It contains many irregular 
concretionary nodules and masses of a kind of iron- 
stone, which sometimes occur in such abundance 
as to almost obliterate the sandstone, and form 
a heap of irregular concretionary lumps, with little’ 
appearance of bedding or lamination. These masses 
of ironstone, when found in the cliffs, generally form 
small headlands, the sandstone having been worn 
away on each side. The sandstone itself is regularly 
stratified, and lies apparently in a perfectly horizon- 
tal position. The surface of the ground around the 
settlement, except in the swamps and lowest hol- 
lows, is composed wholly of the detritus of these 
rocks, without any apparent mixture of vegetable 
soil. It consists of a sand full of small ironstone 
nodules. In the untouched parts of the adjacent 
bush, the sand was compact and the ground strewed 
with these small nodules, which, in appearance, re- 
sembled pebbles. Scarcely a blade of grass, and 
little or no under-growth of any kind, was to be 
seen over large tracts. The forest, or ‘‘ bush,” ge- 
nerally looked like a badly-kept gravel-walk, on 
which small gum-trees were growing. Here and 
there was a little straggling grass, now all brown 
and burnt up; but, literally, within half a mile of 
the settlement, I do not think enough green stuff of 
any kind could at this time be found to keep a cow, 


SCANTY SUPPLY OF PROVISIONS. 358 


a horse, or a sheep. At one or two miles distant, 
however, were some lagoons, still partly covered 
with water from the last rainy season, on which grew 
arank grass, which, though by no means of inviting 
or nourishing appearance, sufficed to feed the few 
oxen, buffaloes, and Timor ponies belonging to the 
place. Added to these, two or three goats, a few 
fowls and pigs, completed the list of their present 
live stock. A buffalo was killed every day during 
our stay, and we got a small supply of yams and 
sweet potatoes for the ship’s company; but when 
there is no vessel in the harbour, a buffalo a day 
would be more than they could consume, and as the 
~ meat would not keep till the next, it is not thought 
advisable to slaughter them. As the gardens, also, 
are not equal to a constant supply of vegetables, 
they live during the greater part of the year pretty 
much as they would on board ship, on salt provisions, 
biscuit and rum, varied by an occasional kangaroo 
or a dish of fish. In the latter the harbour abounds, 
but there are commonly too many men sick to enable 
the remainder to form a party large enough to haul 
the seine. 

Captain M‘Arthur informed me, that for the first 
four years the party was healthy, but that last rainy 
season had been remarkably heavy and protracted, 
to which he attributed their present sickness. This 
rainy season commenced in October 1842, and lasted 
till April 1843, instead of, as usual, beginning late 
in November and ending early in March. 

VOL. I. 2a 


354 CHARACTER OF NATIVES. 


The natives here are the same in aspect, habits, 
and character, as those of the rest of Australia. I 
endeavoured to learn something respecting their 
division into ranks or classes, as described by Mr. 
Wilson, in his Voyage round the World; but, 
although it appears they have the terms of ‘‘ man- 
drowillie,” &c., which he mentions, I could not get 
much information about them. One thing is certain, 
that any distinction of rank must be purely nominal, 
as no such thing is apparent in their ordinary com- 
munications with Europeans, and the condition and 
employments of all are precisely the same. There 
are several tribes in Cobourg’s Peninsula, three of 
which are seated on Port Essington, as their natural - 
possessions ; one occupying the head of the har- 
bour, and one each side of it. The languages of 
these tribes differ one from the other, but are all 
kindred dialects, each tribe, when speaking their 
own, being intelligible to the other. Ever since the 
formation of the present establishment at Port Es- 
sington, the whole of the natives have conducted 
themselves peaceably, and submitted in all things, 
to the dominion of the white man. They occa- 
sionally have pilfered rice and other things from 
the stores, but have never offered any resistance, far- 
ther than struggles to escape, when apprehended for 
such an act. One white man, walking into an en- 
campment of natives, and seizing a black fellow as 
a thief, has never even had a spear raised against 
him. Captain M‘Arthur, on one occasion, ordered 


EXCURSION DOWN THE HARBOUR. 355 


one of them to be imprisoned for two days, for some 
petty theft. Confinement, however, had such an 
effect on him, that he was obliged to let him out 
before the time expired, or it was thought he would 
have died or gone mad. 

A party of us made a boat excursion of two days 
down the harbour. We landed first near Cayman 
Creek, but found the country there so dry and burnt 
up that no living thing was to be seen. We observed 
on the sand of the beach, however, the impression of 
an ‘‘alligator,”* about ten feet long, with every 
scale distinctly marked, which had been basking in 
the sun. Inacalm, several of these animals may 
be seen at once, floating on the water, they ap- 
pear to be almost entirely confined to the sea, and 
are said to visit the lagoons and fresh-water pools 
solely for the purpose of breeding. 

We then visited some lagoons lower down, where 
we got some tolerable sport among the wild fowl 
that night and next morning. We then crossed 
to the other side of the harbour. Here, about 
Knocker’s Bay, the whole country was a bare sandy 
or stony plain, covered with gum-trees, except a 
hollow, through which ran a drain of fresh water. 

We returned from this excursion with anything 
but a favourable impression of the fertility of the 
soil in the neighbourhood of the harbour. We were 


* These animals are, I believe, really crocodiles, and, as Mr. 
J. E, Gray informs me, of the same species as the common cro- 
eodile of the Ganges. 


hae ae. 


856 SECOND VISIT TO PORT ESSINGTON. 


informed that better spots existed farther back in 
the country, but these were principally described as 
lagoons covered with water in the rainy season. 
The general character of the land of Cobourg’s 
Peninsula was acknowleged to be much the same as 
that we had seen, and beyond the peninsula nothing 
was known of the country, no one having yet crossed. 
the isthmus on to the main land. From Captain 
King’s description of the adjacent shores they seem 
to be as barren as the rest of the north coast of 
Australia is described to be, by all who have visited 
it from the time of Flinders to the present. 

In September, 1844, we touched at Port Es- 
sington, and left there our party of convict 
masons under the charge of Lieut. (now Commander) 
Ince, while we went to Java to refit. “Mr. Macgil- 
livray alsoremained there. They stayed during the 
rainy season, or till the following February, and 
during that time were healthy. Messrs. Ince and 
‘Macgillivray expressed themselves as much pleased 
with their sojourn of four months at Victoria, as 
they found good sport among the wild fowl in the 
neighbouring lagoons. Their stay also was enlivened 
by the arrival of the new party of fifty marines to 
relieve those previously stationed there. ‘The old 
party returned home, with diminished numbers and 
broken health, under the command of Lieut.'Timson, 
and with Dr. Sibbald, our former assistant-surgeon, 
who had exchanged with Dr. Whipple. 

Our third visit to Port Essington was at the 


SOMBRE AND MELANCHOLY ASPECT. 357 


latter end of January, 1845, on our return from . 
Sourabaya, in the island of Java. 

We anchored inside the heads of the bay on the 
night of January 27th, having been close in with 
the shore all the afternoon, and had thus a good 
opportunity of comparing the aspect of the country 
with that of the islands we had left so recently. It 
gained nothing, however, by this circumstance. <A 
low, level strip of land, without a single prominent 
feature, covered with a thick but short and stunted- 
looking wood of brown-leaved trees, —it seemed ten 
times more sombre, dismal, and monotonous than 
we had previously thought it. It had always ap- 
peared sufficiently uninviting, even when we had 
been accustomed to the dark woods and barren 
shores of Australia; but now, when we had so 
recently left countries abounding in beauty and 
fertility, it looked really melancholy. 

On landing at the settlement next day we found it in 
a much better condition than we had previously seen 
it; a scanty, but green grass somewhat hiding the 
brown ground. The huts and houses also had been 
freshly white-washed. The new party, consisting of 
fifty men, had arrived in November, under Lieute- 
nants Lambrick and Wright, and Assistant-Surgeon 
Tilson. Captain M‘Arthur still remained as Com- 
mandant. Lieut. Lambrick, having little idea of the 
nature of the place he was coming to, had brought 
his lady with him, fancying that it might be a 
small settlement or colony, rather than a mere 


358 PART OF THE TREPANG FLEET. 


solitary post. Even in Hobarton, where they had 
touched on coming out, he could get no information 
as to the extent of the place, and the most erroneous 
ideas seemed to have been held of it. 

From Messrs. Ince and Macgillivray we learnt 
that the rainy season had been moderate, one or 
sometimes two squalls of wind and rain every day, 
with thunder and lightning, but no long continued 
rains. They had, however, a short time before our 
arrival, had a gale of wind from the S.S.E., almost 
amounting to a hurricane, blowing down trees, and 
lasting with great fury for four or five hours. 

There were two Bugis prahus, from Macassar, 
at anchor in the harbour, being part of the trepang 
fleet; small, poor, dirty-looking things, like the 
common fishing prahus of the archipelago. One 
had arrived in ten, the other in fifteen days from 
Macassar. ‘Their crews were like the vessels, 
ragged and very poor-looking, evidently belong- 
ing to the very lowest of the people; so that I 
should think the voyage can hardly be a very 
profitable one, or a higher class of people, and 
better vessels, would be engaged in it. They spoke 
Malay in a different dialect from that used at Sour- 
abaya, and though very civil and quiet, were dull, 
and rather stupid-looking men. On Jan. 30th 
another prahu arrived, and reported that four others 
had been lost outside, having foundered in a gale 
of wind, and all hands lost, except the crew of 
one that they had been able to save. ‘This prahu 


FISHING FOR TREPANG. 359 


also brought back a native of Port Essington, who 
had gone away with them last year to Macassar. 
This we were told was not an uncommon occurrence, 
as the natives of Port Essington are very fond of 
going abroad to see the world, and the Malays, 
having a great dread of them in general, are glad 
to humour them. The prahus anchored off Garden 
Bay, just above the settlement, and then proceeded 
to collect and cure the trepang. During the day all 
the “ sampans,”’ or canoes, belonging to the prahus, 
disperse into the bays and coves of the harbour, 
and collect the trepang (holothurie), either by 
picking them up at low water, or by diving for 
them at various depths, up to two and three fathoms. 
The kind most commonly got is one about six or 
eight inches long, in its contracted state, of a grey 
colour, dark above and whitish beneath. 

At sunset they come in with their cargoes, and 
landing them on the beach, another set of men pro- 
ceed to cure them. For this purpose they erect, a 
little behind the beach, a shed, made of bamboo and 
“attop” mats, about sixteen feet long and eight feet 
wide; this is covered by a gable-shaped roof of attop 
mats, the eaves of which are about five feet from the 
ground, at which height a stage or platform of split 
bamboo is spread from one end of the shed to the 
other. The ground inside the shed is excavated to the 
depth of two or three feet, so that the flame of the fire 
lighted in it may not catch this bamboo platform nor 
the sides of the shed. Outside the shed they have a 


360 MODE OF CURING TREPANG. 


row of shallow iron pans, so arranged on a kind of 
open platform of large loose stones, that a brisk fire 
may be kept up under each pan from one end of the 
row to the other. These things being ready, and 
the trepang landed, they cut open each animal 
longitudinally, clean out the inside, and plunge it 
into boiling water for a short time. Having thus 
prepared it, they boil the whole in the iron pans in 
salt water, together with pieces of red mangrove 
bark. ‘Two men are kept constantly at work, at- 
tending to eight or ten pans, stirring up the trepang 
with wooden ladles, adding fresh water, and feeding 
the fire. It is boiled in this way the whole night, 
or from eight to ten hours, and then removed to the 
shed. Here it is spread out ina single layer on 
the platform of split bamboo, and the fires being 
lighted below, it is then dried and smoked till ready 
to be packed away. Each piece is then much 
shrivelled and shrunk up, and has acquired a dirty, 
reddish hue. The whole shed is kept carefully 
covered in during the process, the only entrance 
being by a small door at one corner, and each end 
of the gable is protected by a hanging mat. These 
mats, as I have called them, for want of a better 
term, are those commonly used by the Malay races 
for roofing sheds, covering cargo boats, &c.; they 
are, in fact, slender hurdles, covered on one side 
with a thatch of dry palm-leaves in strips, the ends 
of the leaves overhanging the sides and bottom of 
the hurdle, so that by placing them in rows, side by 


CAPABILITIES OF THE COUNTRY. 361 


side, with the bottoms of the upper ones resting on 
the tops of the lower ones, any sloping surface or 
frame-work is immediately provided with a water- 
tight roof. 

The weather, while we were in Port Essington at 
this time, was mostly fine, but very hot: in the 
shadiest part of the hospital, which is the coolest 
and best ventilated building in the place, the ther- 
mometer was often as high as 96° at eight o’clock in 
the morning, and sometimes above 100° at noon; after 
that a heavy thunder shower would commonly occur, 
producing a sensible relief. Captain M‘Arthur in. 
formed me that this season there had been less rain 
than was usual at this time of the year. There was 
some talk of throwing open Port Essington as a 
colony, and selling land to any body willing to pur- 
chase at the common Australian rate, namely, an 
upset price of £1 per acre. I am at a loss to con- 
ceive what any one could do with land here, if he 
even had the whole peninsula given him. Sheep, if 
they lived at all, would soon have their woolly coats 
converted into hair. There is but little food and no 
market for cattle. Rice might probably be raised 
in small quantities on the borders of the lagoons ; 
but to raise either rice, sugar, coffee, cotton, or 
any other valuable tropical produce, for export, 
requires both large tracts of rich soil and an abun- 
dant population ; two things which do not now 
exist at Port Essington, nor, I will take upon 
myself to assert, ever can be formed there. A few 


362 USELESS FOR COMMERCE. 


Malays or Chinese might be induced to emi- 
grate, and would support themselves in detached 
spots, no doubt; and the introduction of as many 
such labourers as could be supported would bea 
great assistance and comfort to the few Europeans 
condemned to be stationed there. Without a few 
such labourers, indeed, to cultivate their gardens for 
them, and supply that quantity of vegetables and 
fruit which they have not, by their own exertions, 
been able to bring into existence, it seems to me a 
piece of downright cruelty, to compel or induce 
even a military party to remain there. Asa place 
for the production of any kind of export, then, Port 
Kissington is, in my opinion, utterly useless ; nor do 
I see how it can become a place of any commerce. 
What could induce, for instance, any European or 
Australian merchant to send a cargo of goods to Port 
Essington? or, if a store of goods were there, what 
could induce any one to come there to buy them? 
If a vessel were to come up from Sydney to sell a 
cargo of goods among the Moluccas, or neigh- 
bouring islands, why should she turn aside and 
stop at Port Essington? All the neighbouring 
islands are either in the power of the Dutch, or 
independent. Now, the best plan for a vessel 
wishing to trade with the independent islands, 
obviously, is to go to them at once; while she has 
just as good an opportunity to smuggle her goods 
directly into the Dutch islands, if that be her 
object, as the natives would have if they were te 


PORT DIFFICULT TO ENTER. 363 


come and fetch them from Port Essington. All 
the prahus that come from Macassar to the north 
coast of Australia sail under the Dutch flag, and 
under Dutch inspection. They sail by the Dutch 
license, and on returning, have to pass through the 
Dutch custom-house, are no doubt rigorously 
searched, and would have to pay heavy duties for 
every article of English or foreign manufacture. 
The most that the residents of Port Essington have 
ever been able to purchase from the prahus that 
come there, is a bag or two of rice and half a dozen 
or a dozen fowls. As for their crews buying any 
English goods, if they were to be procured at Port 
Essington, the appearance of the men at once be- 
tokens their utter poverty. With a great desert on 
one side, and islands peopled principally by savages 
on the other, I can see no advantages in the situa- 
tion of Port Essington. Its harbour is certainly an 
excellent one when it is entered ; but for astranger, 
it is both difficult to find and dangerous to approach. 
There are shoals to the eastward of it, which render 
it almost necessary for a vessel to keep out some miles 
to seaward. ‘The land is so low, that it cannot then 
be seen, and the navigator has to depend solely on 
his reckoning for knowing when he has arrived in 
the meridian of the harbour, and must haul his wind 
to the southward. When he comes within sight of 
land, it is difficult to make out the mouth of the 
harbour for want of any natural land-mark of im- 
portance ; while, if he make a mistake of a mile or 


364 BAD AS HARBOUR OF REFUGE. 


two, the Orontes Reef lies right off the mouth of the 
harbour to pick him up. 

To visit the settlement of Victoria, which is six- 
teen or seventeen miles up the harbour, would 
generally ensure any passing vessel a total detention 
of at least two days; that is to say, she must lose 
two days from the time she first turned aside from 
the ordinary track before the trade wind, till she 
regained that track. To induce a vessel to look in 
there, then, she must have some specific object of 
importance. 

The sole remaining advantage of Port Essington 
is, as a harbour of refuge for wrecked crews; but 
even for that purpose it isvery inconveniently placed, 
being 600 miles away from the extreme limits of 
the sea, where wrecks are most likely to occur, 
namely, the Coral Sea and the eastern side of Torres 
Strait. I do not know the reasons which led to 
the establishment of a military post at Port Essing- 
ton, but conclude they were political ones, con- 
nected with our territorial rights. 

On June 12, 1845, we called at Port Essington, 
for the fourth and last time. We had left Cape 
York three days before, and although the character 
of the vegetation at the two places was precisely 
the same, we were much struck with the difference 
in its condition. At Cape York the grass and the 
trees were still as greenas in the preceding I’ebruary, 
or the middle of the rainy season. At Port Essing- 
ton, on the contrary, save a few palms and pandanus 


UNHEALTHINESS OF PLACE. 365 


trees, hardly a green thing was to be seen, all other 
leaves and grass being of a dull brown. ‘The new 
party, although they had only been there six months, 
had every one been affected by fever, had become 
sallow and emaciated in their appearance, and of 
their original number of fifty, four were already 
dead. Although this was the coolest part of their 
year, it was still the hottest and most oppressive 
place we had visited since we left it. 

I rode towards the head of the harbour, and to 
the “‘ Pig lagoon.” Notwithstanding that the grass 
in a few low swampy places was as tall as my head, 
it was all dry and brown, and looked more like ripe 
corn than grass. ‘The swampy ground of the ‘ Pig 
lagoon” seemed to me of a very indifferent character, 
a sandy clay, with a very ‘sour’ soil, that would 
require, I should think, much management before 
it became fertile, even for rice. 

I have been more particular in the details of this 
account of Port Essington, because I have seen in print 
such very opposite descriptions of it. I visited it, at 
first, with preconceived notions greatly in its favour, 
was rather disappointed in its first aspect, but con- 
cluded we saw it under peculiarly unfavourable cir- 
cumstances. Three subsequent visits, however, at 
different periods of the year, including the most 
favourable one, compelled me, with some reluctance, 
to lay aside all the preconceived notions | had formed 
of its importance and value as a British settlement. 
I believe it to be utterly worthless as a colony, or as 


366 ITS POLITICAL VALUE. 


an agricultural or commercial possession, and con- 
ceive the only argument for our continuing to hold 
it must be a political one. It forms the northern 
link between our colonies on the eastern and western 
coasts of Australia, assures us the possession of the 
north and north-west coasts, and as it were, closes 
the ring-fence with which we have now girt the 


fifth quarter of the globe. 


CHAPTER XV. 


_ COUPANG, TIMOR—ASPECT OF COUNTRY, AND OF THE TOWN— 
MONEY TRANSACTIONS—REFRESHMENTS—THE CHURCH, 
SCHOOL, AND SCHOOLMASTER --CHINESE— MALAY RAJAHS 
—APPEARANCE OF THE PEOPLE-—PIRATES—ABORIGINES 
—CHURCH SERVICE IN MALAY~EXCURSION UP THE VAL- 
LEY—VIEW OF THE INTERIOR—GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE 
— RAISED CORAL REEF. 


September 2, 1843.—We found ourselves this 
morning at anchor within about half a mile of the 
town of Coupang, in the island of Timor, which 
appeared more considerable than I had expected. 
The bay runs some ten or fifteen miles further to 
the N.E., in which direction lofty mountains shewed 
themselves at a great distance in the interior of the 
island; many of them having sharp peaks and 
jagged serrated outlines, with lower ranges between 
them and the sea of a smoother and more level form, 
but preserving a height of several hundred feet, 
pretty close down to the coast. At the back of the 
town of Coupang successive ridges of land gradually 
rose to the height of about 500 feet. ‘They were 
partially covered with wood, while in the low lands, 
behind the beach, were large groves of cocoa-nut 


308 COUPANG IN TIMOR. 


trees. The sand of the beach was broken here and 
there by small headlands, ending in little precipices 
of dark rock. On one of these cliffs is the fort of 
Concordia, a mere wall surrounding some stone 
buildings, and apparently in a very dilapidated con- 
dition. Its strength could never be great, as it is 
commanded by higher land immediately behind it. 
Just under the fort, on the eastern side is a brook, 
the mouth of which admits small boats at low water, 
and at high tide is sufficient to float up small 
prahus, and other native craft, for about one hun- 
dred yards. Last of this, again, is the town. This 
consists of two principal streets, running parallel to 
the beach for about a quarter of a mile, with two 
small irregular streets crossing them. ‘The houses 
near the sea are mostly small, and inhabited princi- 
pally by Chinese, consisting of small shops and store- 
houses, of which latter two or three belong to Euro- 
peans, either Dutch or Frenchmen. JBehind the 
town is an open space of grass, shaded by fine tama- 
rind-trees, on one side of which is the house of the 
Resident, and on the other is the brook, in which 
the inhabitants are always bathing or washing 
clothes. One or two roads run up the valley, lead- 
ing to two or three tolerable houses belonging to 
Europeans, and to many huts or cottages of Malays, 
forming generally small clusters. The little valley 
behind the town was very pleasant, being watered 
not only by the brook but by many small rills con- 
ducted from it higher up, and carried either in 


FRESH PROVISIONS. 369 


wooden troughs or stone channels to the gardens and 
houses of the inhabitants. Groves of cocoa-nuts, 
bamboos, and bananas, stately tamarinds, and other 
tropical trees and plants, lent their shade and 
beauty to the scene, which, with the white walls and 
red-tiled roofs of the houses, and the many natives 
in strange dresses, formed so great a contrast to 
what we had been accustomed to for many months 
on the coast of Australia, as to be highly agreeable. 
This beauty and fertility, however, were pretty much 
confined to the valley, as on the top of the higher 
land on each side of it the soil seemed rather bare 
and sterile for some distance. 

One of our first inquiries was for fresh provisions, 
fruits, vegetables, and sea-stock ; but here we found 
an unexpected difficulty in procuring cash for our 
bills. After much trouble, a young Frenchman 
undertook to cash us a Government bill for 382. 
in copper. It appears that they reckon here in 
rupees, of which there are two kinds, the silver and 
the copper, the latter being only an imaginary coin. 
The silver rupee contains 120 doits, the copper 
rupee is 100 doits, but as silver is scarce, and indeed 
not to be got except at a great premium, we were to 
take all copper. The current coin is the doit, a 
little copper coin, the value of which was reckoned 
to be one-sixth of a penny sterling, the silver rupee 
of 120 doits being valued at 1s. 8d. English. An 
English shilling, however, would only go for half a 
rupee, but a Spanish or Mexican dollar for 23 

VOL. I. 2B 


370 STATE OF THE CURRENCY. 


rupees. We had agreed with the sons of a Dutch 
merchant, of the name of Tielman, to supply us with 
what we wanted, if we could procure the coin, and, 
having got it, it took eight or ten persons to carry 
our 38/. worth of copper to his house. ‘The doits 
were made up in bags of matting of various sizes, 
corresponding to different sums of 25, 50, or 100 
rupees, each of which bags was both weighed and 
counted before it was taken. We got plenty of fowls 
at 6 rupees, or 10s. per dozen ; pigs at 16s. each; a 
few goat-like sheep, some yams, greens, indifferent 
oranges, and good shadocks, bananas, and cocoa- 
nuts. We paid, however, for these much more than 
the regular market prices, or than we could have got 
them for, had we had the requisite cash, and could 
have spoken Malay, and gone into the market and 
neighbouring villages to bargain with the natives. 
Pretty good buffalo beef and fresh vegetables were 
procured for the ship’s company. The small traders 
of the town seemed to have an excellent turn for 
roguery and imposition, as the prices of things were 
often raised two or three times successively, and in 
one instance doubled after the bargain was con- 
cluded. Having settled this important affair, we 
strolled round the environs of the town; and among 
other places, went into the church, a pretty spacious 
brick edifice. Here we found a schoolmaster, who 
spoke English, and who was teaching two classes of 
children, the one European, chiefly Dutch, the other 
Malay. Most of the children of European extrac- 


CHURCH AND SCHOOL. 371 


tion had apparently some tinge of native blood, and 
were generally pale and sallow looking. The Malay 
children were clean, neat, and many of them good- 
looking and intelligent. ‘The schoolmaster produced 
a few Malay hymn-books, and seating himself at a 
small pedal organ, he made them sing some hymns 
and psalms. The hymn-books had an appearance 
of considerable antiquity, and the musical notation 
under the words was of that ancient kind that in 
England one only sees in old manuscript music in 
cathedrals, the long notes or ‘‘breves,’’ being of a 
square form. The children sang very fairly, and 
seemed very docile and attentive. The Dutch clergy- 
man here has taken much trouble with the Malay 
inhabitants, many of whom are Christians. He had 
resided here ten years, and had just received an 
order from the King of Holland for his services. 
At this end of their East Indian possessions, indeed, 
the Dutch have been much more attentive to the 
native population than in their more important do. 
minions of Java and its neighbourhood. Several of 
the islands off the eastern end of Timor are entirely 
Christian, and remained so even when there were 
no Dutch missionaries left among them.* 

In walking about the town I had an opportunity 
of seeing, for the first time, something of the man- 
ners of the Chinese. They all wear their national 
dress, and are generally a plump, laughing, good- 


* See the “‘ Voyage of the Dourgain the Molucca Archipelago, 
by Mr. Kolf,” translated by Mr. Earl. 
q Be 


372 MALAY RAJAHS. 


humoured people. On our stopping at one shop 
door, to see two stout old gentlemen eating rice with 
chop-sticks, they invited us in with much urbanity, 
and went on with their meal, appearing much 
amused at our curiosity. On a rising ground, at 
the back of the town, were a number of Chinese 
tombs, under the shade of some large tamarind- 
trees, cut in the side of the hill, having a flat 
smooth space surrounded by a low wall, in a horse- 
shoe form, with a Chinese inscription in the centre, 
precisely as described by travellers in China. 

The Dutch houses were of the form generally 
adopted by that nation in the east, the principal 
room being a lofty hall occupying all the centre of 
the house, floored with large diamond-shaped red 
tiles. While sitting in the hall of Mr. Tielman, 
two Malay Rajahs, or petty chiefs of the district, 
came in, and I was much interested in seeing their 
polite and ceremonious manners. [ach was fol- 
lowed by two or three attendants, one of whom bore 
a large gold-headed cane, on which the arms of the 
Dutch Government were engraved, being his staff 
of office, as recognised by the authorities. They 
were dressed in flowered chintz of gay patterns, and 
on meeting, saluted each other and Mr. Tielman 
with much grace and good breeding, offering each 
other chairs with a wave of the hand quite in the 
stvle of European gentlemen of the old school. 
When seated, the attendants with the canes sta- 
tioned themselves each behind his master’s chair, 


COSTUME OF THE PEOPLE. 373 


while the others squatted down on the floor to be 
within call if wanted. I certainly was not prepared 
to meet, among the natives of such an out-of-the- 
way corner of the world, with manners, evidently 
habitual, so completely in accordance with what we 
should consider the usages of good society, and 
regretted my ignorance of the Malay language pre- 
vented my entering into conversation with these 
native gentlemen. 

In walking about the environs we saw many of 
the inhabitants coming in with baskets of fruit, ve- 
getables, eggs, and poultry. ‘They generally carried 
two baskets slung over the shoulder on a flat yoke 
of bamboo, which resembled in form an unstrung 
bow. ‘The men were scantily dressed, either in a 
tight wrapper round the loins, or at most with the 
sarong or petticoat from the waist to the knees, but 
nearly all carried a kriss stuck into the back of the 
dress. ‘The women were all decently clothed from 
the neck to the ancles in a loose gown and petticoat. 
Many of the men were athletic, with stout limbs, 
but generally under the middle size. ‘he women 
were by no means handsome, their faces being 
greatly disfigured by the use of the seri or beetel, 
and their mouths were smeared all round with a dirty 
red colour. 

Their houses were made chiefly of bamboo, 
thatched with palm-leaves, and consisted of one or 
two apartments, the floors being not commonly 
raised above the ground: each was surrounded 


374: PIRATES IN NEIGHBOURHOOD. 


by a small court-yard or garden, in which grew 
plantain and cocoa-nut trees. The inhabitants were 
now said to be suffering greatly from small-pox, and 
also from fever and ague, this being the unhealthy 
season of the year in Timor. 

On going on board in the evening, we found a 
small schooner had come in under Danish colours, 
that had been trading among the neighbouring 
islands. Her master said she had been nearly 
taken on the north side of the island by six or seven 
prahus that had pulled off to her during a calm, 
and that she escaped only bya lucky breeze springing 
up. It was reported, also, that two months ago an 
English whaler had been taken on the north coast, 
within thirty miles of Coupang. She had sent a 
boat ashore with a party to get wood, where they 
were cut off by the natives; a squadron of prahus 
then put off for the ship, on seeing which, the 
master abandoned his vessel, and went off in his 
boats to two other whalers that were in sight in the 
offing. His ship was boarded by the prahus, plun- 
dered, and burnt before the other vessels could 
come up to her assistance. ‘The Malays, and other 
maritime inhabitants, that are settled on the coasts 
of these islands, are just in that state of quasi civi- 
lization in which piracy is most rife. Like the 
Greeks of old, before the time of Herodotus, or the 
Northmen among the European nations some hun- 
dreds of years ago, piracy is considered honourable 
among them, rather than otherwise. If a Malay 


DUTCH AND PORTUGUESE. 375 


chief, or petty Rajah, ruins himself by gambling or 
dissipation, he immediately collects a band of dis- 
orderly people, always ready to follow him, and 
issues forth in his praha to better his fortune. 
Each Rajah, too, being practically, if not nominally, 
independent, and under the control of no laws, 
can at any time go to war with his neighbours, 
or with strangers who come into his neighbourhood, 
and it is considered a brave action, and one worthy 
of the fame of his ancestors, to carry an European 
or other large vessel. He has, therefore, often the 
incitements of both honour and profit to induce 
him to commit what we consider a felony. The 
north coast of Timor, as of many of the neighbour- 
ing islands, is inhabited partly by Malays, who have 
dispossessed the aboriginal inhabitants, and driven 
them into the imterior. The sovereignty of the 
island is claimed by the Dutch and Portuguese, the 
former arrogating the S.W. half of the island, and 
the latter the N.E. Their power is confined, how- 
ever, almost entirely to the immediate neighbour- 
hood of their two principal posts, of which Coupang 
belongs to the Dutch, and Dielli to the Portuguese. 
The force kept by the Dutch at Coupang consists 
of fifty soldiers, of whom ten only were Europeans, 
under one or two European officers. That at Dielli 
is still more insignificant, there being not more than 
one or two Europeans in the place, and scarcely any 
troops at all. Neither nation keeps any naval force 
in the island, so that the natives of the coast are 


376 ABORIGINES OF TIMOR. 


quite unrestrained when out of sight of the two 
principal posts. The south side of the island being 
exposed to the trade wind, which blows from the 
S.E. eight months in the year, and being destitute 
of harbours, is occupied, I believe, solely by the 
original Timorese, who likewise possess all the 
interior of the island. These Timorese are said to 
be a. totally different race to the Malays, to have 
frizzled hair, and to be allied to the Papuans. 
Their language is quite different from any of the 
Malay tongues.* Their customs are said to be 
analogous to the Papuan, especially that of esteem- 
ing the possession of the head of an enemy a great 
honour, it being nothing to have killed an enemy in 
battle unless his head is taken; while, to lose the 
head, is considered the greatest disgrace. Flores is 
said to be the western limit of the frizzled-haired 
race, all to the west of that being inhabited by races 
with long straight hair. The frizzled-haired people 
are said to be of a much more ferocious natural 
disposition, and to be generally much ruder and 
more uncivilized than the others. The Timorese 
are said in the interior to inhabit houses consisting 
of a mere roof of palm-leaves on four rude posts, 
and to cultivate but little ground, living pretty 
much in a state of nature. ‘They collect sandal- 
wood and bees-wax, however, which they bring to 
the coast, and barter, preferring gold and silver 


* See “ Notices of Indian Archipelago and adjacent Countries. 
A collection of papers, &c., by J. H. Moor. 4to. Singapore.” 


SALARY OF RESIDENT. 377 


coin to other commodities, which they are said to 
make into ornaments. 

Gold mines were reported to exist in the interior, 
but nothing was certainly known about it. The 
island abounds in several kinds of deer, but I heard 
of no other animals. Among birds, pigeons and 
quails were spoken of as most numerous, the former 
especially, having many varieties. I could not help 
thinking that if we had had possession of this fine 
island for upwards of 200 years, it would have been 
both more known and in a higher condition than it 
is at present. ‘They had now been seven months 
without any communication with Batavia or Java. 
I was informed that the Resident had 1000 rupees 
a month as salary, of which he got one-third in 
silver and the rest in copper. At the rate which 
they charged us for rupees this would make 1000/. 
per annum; but we afterwards learnt that the 
rupee, instead of 20d., was not at present worth 
more than 154d. sterling, which would make his 
salary about 780/. per annum.* Coupang is now 
a free port, and is accordingly much used by 
whalers and other vessels as a place for procuring 
refreshments. Excellent water can be procured 
on the beach where it is brought in a pipe from 
above the town. 

September 3.—To-day being Sunday, a party of 
us went to church out of curiosity to hear the 


* In Java, in 1844, the pound sterling was worth 15-40 
rupees silver. 


578 CHURCH SERVICE IN MALAY. 


service in Malay. The congregation was rather 
thin, owing, it was said, to the prevailing sickness 
among the native population. The clergyman 
preached with great apparent fluency and distinct- 
ness, and the people were very attentive. At the 
conclusion two men went round with black velvet 
bags, at the end of long black sticks, to collect con- 
tributions. We afterwards walked about a mile 
above the town, up the valley of the brook, where I 
saw enough of the geology to excite my curiosity to 
know more. I accordingly gave up an excursion 
with Lieut. Ince to the head of the bay, and devoted 
the next day to the examination of the immediate 
environs of Coupang. 

September 4.—I was ashore before daylight, and 
engaging a sharp little Malay boy to carry my bag, I 
proceeded up the valley. ‘This expands to about a 
quarter of a mile in width, above the town, where 
it is laid out in small paddy fields and little planta- 
tions carefully irrigated, intersected by narrow roads 
arched over with trees. In about a mile it is con- 
tracted into a mere ravine, with rocky, precipitous 
sides. After working for some hours here, I climbed 
by a narrow path up the western side of the ravine, 
and came out onto a commanding ridge, from which 
I got a view of some miles into the interior. Here 
stood a two-storied house, in a European style of 
building, belonging to a native Rajah. The shutters 
were all closed, and I did not see any body but two 
men at work under an adjoining shed, who, after 


VIEW OF THE INTERIOR. 379 


questioning my little guide, allowed us to repose 
under a fine tamarind-tree, while we eat some re- 
freshments we had brought with us. A little Chinese 
youth had also joined us here, and though neither 
could speak more than one or two words of English, 
and I none of Malay, | was much amused by their 
sharpness and apparent intelligence. From the spot 
where we sat, we looked down into one or two val- 
leys, and over one or two intermediate rocky ridges, 
with higher land on either side of us. The view 
was very beautiful, as the country seemed to im- 
prove in richness as it receded from the sea, and 
not only the valleys, but the rocky heights were 
covered with magnificent woods of lofty umbrageous 
trees, of all shades of green, out of which, here and 
there, rose a stately areca-palm, lifting its feathery 
top high into the clear sunshine. I could not help 
contrasting the general character and aspect of the 
vegetation with that of Australia. The difference 
between the latitude of this place and Port Essing- 
ton is not more than forty miles. The actual dis- 
tance between the island of Timor and the coast of 
Australia is not greater than two hundred and fifty 
miles, yet the difference in the appearance of all the 
features and vegetation of the two countries was 
as great as one would expect between countries 
lying under different zones of the earth. From the 
southern shores of Van Diemen’s Land, in lat. 43°, 
to Cape York and the Cobourg Peninsula, within 
11° of the line, the gum-tree (Eucalyptus of different 


380 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 


species) gives to the woods of Australia the same 
dull olive-brown and monotonous tint over the whole 
bar. In some of the valleys near Hobarton, in- 
deed, and in Port Arthur, among groves of tree- 
ferns, which abound there under gum-trees of im- 
mense size, there is a greater resemblance to rich 
tropical vegetation than can be found at Port Es- 
sington, in their stunted woods of Eucalyptus, sprin- 
kled only with a few small fan-palms, cabbage-palm, 
or pandanus trees. Here in Timor, on the contrary, 
not a gum-tree was to be seen, and even in the driest 
and most barren parts, on the summits of the rocky 
high land near the coast, some tokens of the tropics 
might be observed. It would have been difficult to 
get altogether out of sight of some noble palm, or 
eroup of cocoa-nuts, or bananas. 

While admiring the beautiful view from where 
we sat, I managed to ask my little Malay if he had 
ever been in that direction, up the country, to which 
he replied in the negative. ‘I should go,” I said, 
‘“‘if I staid here long enough ;” on which he started 
up before me, his black eyes glistening, and with a 
very significant “‘ Ah!”’ drew his finger across his 
throat. It appears, therefore, that the Malay popu- 
lation attach the idea of danger to penetrating the 
interior of the country, even a few miles. I do not 
- think, however, that to a European, properly at- 
tended and speaking the language, there would be 
any thing to fear beyond the climate. Lieut. Ince, 
who went in a boat to the head of Coupang Bay 


IMPERFECT CHARTS OF COAST. 381 


to-day, met with Timorese, whom his Malay atten- 
dant could not understand, but they were very civil. 
Mr. Sluyter, the Resident, also told Captain Black- 
wood that the people generally were perfectly quiet. 
Indeed, they cannot be a very warlike race, or the 
slight force the Dutch keep here would not be suf- 
ficient to guard their possessions. 

On my return to the town this morning, I found 
the Bramble had come in. She separated from 
us after leaving Port Essington, and had taken 
a different route from ours, coming round the 
north side of the island. She had had only light 
winds all the way, and in coming down along the 
coast, found the charts very defective, not only 
in longitude, but also in latitude. Lieut. Yule in- 
formed me that her true position at noon once 
or twice placed the Bramble on the top of one of the 
mountains of the interior, as laid down in the chart. 
It appears, therefore, that the island is narrower 
than it is made on our charts, as the south. coast 
does not seem to be so much in error, but even that 
is uncertain. 

A Sydney whaler likewise came in. She had left 
Coupang a fortnight ago, and now returned to land 
one of her crew, a New Zealander, who was ill of 
the small-pox. ‘There is a small hospital in the 
fort, where he would be received on payment of a 
certain sum. She did not anchor, but two of her 
men deserted from the boat, and got concealed 
somewhere in the town. There is a fine of one hun- 


382 CORAL LIMESTONE. 


dred rupees on the master of a vessel for leaving any 
of his crew behind ashore; he had accordingly ap- 
plied to the Dutch authorities, and the police were 
now after these men, for which the expense would 
be ten rupees a man when they were caught. 

Our short stay at Coupang did not allow of any 
very extended examination, more especially as in 
these ardent climates it is impossible to work out of 
doors in the heat of the day. From daylight, till 
ten or eleven o’clock, and about an hour before 
sunset, is all that can with safety be devoted to 
exercise in the sun. I was enabled, however, to 
procure the following facts in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of Coupang. ‘The little rocky headlands 
on the coast, and the smail cliffs bounding the valley 
on both sides above the town, expose beds of 
recent limestone. ‘This limestone is full of corals 
and shells, apparently all of recent species, and is in 
fact nothing more or less than a raised coral reef, 
although belonging probably to the class called fring- 
ing reefs by Mr. Darwin, and not having any very 
great thickness. Indeed, about half a mile above 
the town, there is an exposure of subjacent rock of 
a totally different character, on which this coral 
limestone rests, having there a thickness certainly 
not greater than 200 feet. In general, however, it 
appears to form the whole surface of the country ; 
rises behind Coupang to a height of full 600 feet 
above the sea, spreading over all the adjacent high 
lands, and giving a rather smooth and level outline 


~ 


RAISED CORAL REEF. 383 


to them. Judging from this smooth outline also, it 
appears to stretch a long way into the interior of 
the country, over all the lower ridges, rising to 
a height, perhaps of one or two thousand feet above 
the sea at least, as ranges or table lands of that 
height are seen in the north-east strongly contrasted 
in their outline, with the broken and rugged hills that 
in the heart of the country rise probably seven or eight 
thousand feet above the sea. Notwithstanding this 
smoothness of outline, when viewed from a distance, 
{ have no doubt that even the lower ranges are rug- 
ged enough when they come to be traversed, being 
broken by abrupt valleys and ravines; although the 
higher ground preserves a mean, regular and gentle 
slope from the interior towards the sea. This lime- 
stone near Coupang is dark externally, frequently 
very hard, but white and softer when broken open. 
Its surface, both that of the beds and the face of its 
clifis, is rugged and full of holes, having a honey- 
combed appearance, and with its embedded corals, 
and shells, it put me exactly in mind of some of 
the higher portions of a coral reef, where it is per- 
manently or commonly above the reach of the water. 
The beds are thick, often six feet, but irregular, 
and appear always ina horizontal position, or nearly 
so. The most common corals are meeandrina, 
astreea, and porites; the masses not large. ‘They 
are frequently more or less crystalline when broken 
open, but not more so than old blocks of coral 
lying loose on the beach above existing fringing 


384 RECENT SHELLS. 


coral reefs. The species struck me as quite the 
same I had recently seen on the coral reefs about 
Torres Strait. Along with the corals were em- 
bedded species of shells, the most common of which 
were arca, and strombus, and others, precisely as 
they may be seen adhering to and embedded in 
blocks of coral and coral rock on existing reefs. In 
one cliff, about half a mile from the sea, and 150 
feet above it, 1 found a tridacna (common chama 
gigas of Flinders, &c.) embedded in the rock. It was 
two feet in length, with both valves perfect and 
closed, and it was evidently in the position in which 
it lived and died, precisely as living and dead shells 
of that genus may now be observed in great abun- 
dance embedded in the surface of the reefs of Torres 
Strait. The mass of the rock where no shells or 
corals were visible, was evidently made up of grains 
of those materials more or less minute, compacted 
together, precisely as the mass of a coral reef, still 
below water, is made up of the triturated debris of 
those matters. Indeed, I could arrive at no other 
conclusion, than that this was a raised coral reef, 
which spread over all the country around Coupang. 
If I am right in my conjecture, derived from the 
outline of the country of this south-west end of 
Timor, the central hills were formerly the only 
part of the island above water, and were surrounded 
by a fringing coral reef. As these were gradually 
elevated, and the neighbouring sea consequently 
became shoaler, this fringing reef was extended on 


SUBJACENT ROCKS. 385 


all sides, and portions of it were successively brought 
above the sea till the island attained its present 
condition. Slight shocks of earthquake were said 
to be felt even now occasionally. 

Following up the valley, at a point about half a 
mile above the town, its sides recede a little, forming 
a small basin-shaped expansion ; and on the western 
side, a small lateral valley comes down, bringing a 
rill of water into the main brook. At this point, 
some beds of red and grey shale make their appear- 
ance, containing some thin bands of a smooth com- 
pact limestone,—hard, brittle, laminated, and very 
different in aspect from the coral rock which still 
caps the banks of the valley farther back from the 
river. These rocks appeared only here and there, 
in small holes and breaks of the ground, and I 
could not find any section large enough to shew 
their dip or strike; they appeared, however, to lie 
nearly horizontally. They were of considerable 
thickness, as on a sloping ground, the summit of 
which was about 400 feet above the sea, they 
occupied the lower half of the slope down to the 
river. There was also a considerable mass of 
trap-rock, resembling the toadstone of Derby- 
shire in its general aspect, exhibited on both 
sides of the river, but not with sufficient clearness 
to enable me accurately to make out its relations to 
the surrounding rocks. On the west side it oc- 
curred at the mouth of the small lateral valley, 
and I could trace it nearly up to the base of the 

VOL. I. 2C 


386 CRINOIDAL MARBLE. 


coral limestone. ‘The red shale was here all on one 
side of it, none being seen lower down the river ; 
while on the east side the trap appeared in the 
bank, apparently between the shale and the coral 
rock, overlying the former and capped by the lat- 
ter. It certainly did not appear in any way to affect 
or be connected with the coral rock, nor could I 
any where trace its actual junction with the other 
formation. ‘The immediate banks of the river were 
obscured, not only by the thickness of the vegetation, 
but by huge masses of laminar and cellular traver- 
tine, frequently as light as pumice-stone, and looking 
like petrified froth: this was evidently deposited 
partly by the river itself and partly from springs and 
small water-courses, which probably derived their 
carbonate of lime from the coral-limestone above. 
I could not discover any organic remains in the 
general mass of the shale or its embedded bands of 
compact laminated limestone, but at one spot on the 
east side of the river, just opposite the mouth of the 
small lateral valley which comes down on the west 
side, | found, to my great surprise, a block of eri- 
noidal marble, precisely resembling that of Derby- 
shire in every particular. ‘This block was lying 
partly embedded in the soil near a footpath, not far 
from a hole that had been dug in the red shale. It was 
a rudely cuboidal mass, about two feet every way. Its 
lower part passed by insensible gradation into a fine- 
grained laminated limestone, precisely resembling the 
beds which were interstratified with the red shale; 


STRUCTURE OF COUNTRY. 387 


but its upper part was one crystalline mass of stems 
of encrinites, some small, some of half an inch in 
diameter, broken and disjointed. I searched in vain 
for any head of an encrinite, but the stems are pre- 
cisely like those of the mountain limestone. I did 
not succeed in finding the bed from which this 
block was detached, nor any similar bed, the bank 
having a gentle slope, and being much covered with 
debris from above ; but from the aspect of its lower 
laminated portion, I have no doubt it belonged to 
the red shale formation. About a quarter of a mile 
farther up the brook, the valley contracts into a 
narrow ravine with precipitous sides, but here the 
only rocks exposed were cliffs of coral-limestone, 
with a large talus of debris at their foot. In this 
debris were many recent shells, among which | 
found one terebratula. 

I must confess the facts stated above are sufficiently 
slender to prevent any decided inferences being 
drawn, and it was a source of great regret to me 
that time and opportunity did not allow of extending 
my observations; but I have little doubt that this 
red shale and limestone, with associated trap rocks, 
belongs to an old secondary formation, the substra- 
tum of the country, and it is possible its age is not 
greatly remote from that of the carboniferous forma- 
tion of Western Europe. The trap rock may possibly 
be the cause of its appearance at this spot, but it 
would probably be found again at the surface in the 
neighbouring valleys or ravines, or wherever the 

2c 2 


388 AGE OF FORMATION. 


superincumbent layer of coral-limestone has been 
eaten through or denuded. As to the age of this 
coral-limestone, it is certainly of the newest tertiary 
period, even if it does not belong, by its fossils, to 
the recent era.* 


* Since my return to England I have seen the large Dutch 
work, containing part of the report of the scientific commission 
sent to examine their East Indian dominions some years ago. 
In this is a geological map of the south-west end of Timor, in 
which the rocks around Coupang are called “ Jura Kalk.” If 
this term is applied lithologically to the tertiary rocks, it is to a 
certain extent applicable, as they have often a concretionary and 
oolitic structure, just as the stone in the limestone of Raine’s 
Islet has. If, however, ‘ Jura Kalk” is meant to have a chro- 
nological meaning, it is either incorrectly applied, or the forma- 
tion is incorrectly extended in the map to the neighbourhood of 
Coupang. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


ASPECT OF THE SOUTH-EAST END OF SANDALWOOD ISLAND— 
ALASS STRAIT—CHARACTER OF THE SHORES OF SUMBAWA 
AND LOMBOCK—LOMBOCK PEAK——APPROACH TO THE STRAIT 
OF MADURA-——ASPECT OF MADURA AND JAVA—SOURABAYA, 
ITS EXTENT AND GENERAL ASPECT —MONETARY AFFAIRS~— 
ANECDOTES OF THE PEOPLE—EXCURSION TO GRISSEK— 
HIRE A HOUSE—KINDNESS OF THE RESIDENT—PREPARA- 
TION FOR A TOUR—VARIED POPULATION OF THE TOWN. 


On October 3, 1844, we left Port Essington, on 
our way to Java to refit. We had very light winds 
for several days ; on the 9th passed through Rottee 
Straits, and next day saw the island of Savu 
some miles to the southward. On October 11, 
lights were seen ahead early in the morning, and at 
daybreak we saw Sandalwood Island, or Jeendana, 
before us, and passed round its south-eastern extre- 
mity at a distance of four or five miles. The land 
here was lofty, rugged, and bare looking. Ranges 
of hills rose immediately from the sea to a height of 
about 2,000 feet ; they were serrated at top, and their 
sides furrowed by gullies and ravines, reminding us 
somewhat of the south coast of Madeira. ‘Towards the 
N.E. the land sank lower, and became more level. 
A small but steep and lofty island appeared ahead 


390 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE, 


or west of us, about five miles from the shore, oppo- 
site which the coast curved in a little, and one or 
two narrow but fertile-looking valleys came down 
from among the hills, and opened out upon the sea. 
Cocoa-nuts and other palm-trees were visible on the 
lower grounds, or crowning some of the small crags 
and promontories, and the scenery of these valleys 
seemed very beautiful. A prahu came out from 
the shore behind the island, and proceeded on a 
wind towards the east-ward. 

Although the hills were so rugged and broken, 
the rocks of which they were composed ap- 
peared to be regularly stratified, and to lie in a 
nearly horizontal position. All the beds exposed 
were of a white colour, and seemed thick and homo- 
geneous. ‘They were plainly visible in the face of 
the precipices, both at the base and at the summit 
of the hills, and must form a very thick mass, not 
less indeed than 2,000 feet.* As we proceeded 
alongshore a mass of hills of a much greater eleva- 
tion became dimly visible through the clouds to- 
wards the N.W., in the interior of the island. In 
the afternoon, after passing the lofty little island, 
the base of which was fringed here and there with 
cocoa-nuts, we found another flat sandy island be- 
yond it, covered with low bushes, and surrounded 
by a reef, apparently of coral, with a ring of breakers. 

* Beds of a similar appearance I afterwards saw in the island 


of Madura, and found them to be a white limestone, composed 
chiefly of coral detritus. 


PADDEWAY BAY, SANDALWOOD ISLAND. 391 


A little beyond this the coast trended rapidly away 
to the N.W. beyond our vision, its outline being 
very different from that laid down in the chart. So 
little, indeed, does the island appear to have been 
surveyed, that not only its form but its size varies 
in different charts, to the extent of one-half. Hors- 
burgh making it nearly as large again as it is in 
Flinders’s general chart of Australia, published by 
the Admiralty. 

We saw smoke rising from several parts of the 
land, as if the woods were being burnt for clearing 
and cultivation. From the little we saw, it ap- 
pears to be a very fine island. It is, however, 
almost totally unknown, and its inhabitants have 
the character of ferocity given them by their neigh- 
bours, though, probably, in a great measure unde- 
servedly. 

In the following year, Mr. Evans was told by the 
master of an American whaler, whom we met in 
Alass Strait, that having been shipwrecked, and 
found his way to Coupang, in Timor, he was taken 
to Batavia by a Dutch brig. That on their way 
they lay, together with a schooner, for nearly a month 
in Paddeway Bay, on the north side of Sandalwood 
Island. He said that it was rather difficult to make 
out the entrance of the bay from the outside, but 
that when entered it was found to be a perfectly 
land-locked harbour, five miles in diameter, with ten 
fathoms nearly all over it, and no hidden danger ; 
that the inhabitants were very friendly and civil, 


392 ALASS STRAIT. 


and all kinds of refreshments were in abundance; 
that they traded freely for muskets and cloth, and 
that the vessels took away 180 excellent small horses 
or ponies. This happened in 1842. 

Having left Sandalwood Island, we had light 
winds for the two following days, but about noon of 
the 14th, we entered the Strait of Alass. As we 
approached it we could see the high land of 
Sumbawa on our right, almost entirely enveloped 
in clouds, while on our left was the lower and nearly 
level land of Lombock. The south-east end of the 
latter island is bounded by small perpendicular cliffs, 
behind which the land is gently undulating, rising 
into ridges of about four or five hundred feet above 
the sea. The cliffs are white at the base, capped 
by a stratum of brownish rock ; in the white part, 
the stratification was not perceptible, but its upper 
surface was level and horizontal, and the brown 
rock upon it was regularly and horizontally strati- 
fied in thin beds. It looked just like gravel or 
crag resting upon chalk. The opposite coast of 
Sumbawa rose in steep and broken precipices to a 
height of at least 2,000 feet ; still loftier hills in the 
interior, peering dimly out here and there through 
the clouds that lowered about them. Narrow and 
abrupt ravines traversed these rugged-looking hills; 
but even here all the rocks appeared to be regularly 
stratified, and the sides of the ravines shewed a con- 
tinuous and conformable thickness of beds from top 
to bottom, inclined generally at no great angle, 


SHORE OF SUMBAWA. 893 


although here and there, over small spaces, broken, 
contorted, or dipping rapidly in different directions. 
The materials of these beds were generally dark 
grey, but there were some beds of a lighter colour, 
sometimes nearly white, and they all had a great 
regularity and persistency, as if of aqueous origin. 
Even if composed of volcanic materials, they must, I 
think, have been deposited beneath the sea. 

A very strong current ran through this. strait 
towards the north, sweeping us with great rapidity, 
adding at least four knots an hour to our speed. 
The Sumbawa shore had the same character 
throughout—lofty and broken, furrowed by dark 
ravines, with strange crags and rocky precipices, 
and though covered here and there with woods, 
especially at the foot of the hills, we could make out 
no sign of cultivation or human residence. There 
is, however, a town called Alass on that side, about 
the centre of the strait, at which, it is said, passing 
vessels can procure abundance of refreshments at a 
very reasonable rate. 

On the Lombock side, a dark-looking beach, with 
a few black crags, succeeded to the white cliffs ; 
but a thick and rich-looking vegetation clothed the 
rising ground behind it and concealed the houses 
from our sight. We saw a prahu or two at anchor, off 
the spot where the town of Bali Labdadjee is marked 
in the chart; but passed too rapidly and at too 
great a distance to discern much of the character of 
the country. The ground still continued rather low 


394 PEAK OF LOMBOCK. 


and gently undulating, till we approached the 
northern end of the strait, when it gradually rose, 
and with a regular bold curve swelled upwards on 
all sides into a noble pile of mountain, the shoulders 
of which were completely hidden by a dense curtain 
of cloud. Immediately behind the beach was a line 
of feathery cocoa-nuts, over which green-topped 
knolls began to appear rising out of thick woods ; 
and the broad slope beyond was chequered with dark 
forests and large green open spaces like cultivated 
fields. At a height of some four thousand feet, this 
beautiful slope disappeared in the clouds that 
stretched out from it over our heads in broad level 
sheets, with a perfectly smooth surface beneath, but 
undulating above, so as here to be thick and heavy, 
there light and thin, or altogether broken through. 
From these holes in the clouds, spots of sunlight 
fell here and there upon the slope, varying frequently 
in form and position, and every variety of shadow 
was cast upon the ground, as the clouds above 
slowly shifted their places and wheeled around the 
mountain. This scene was so very beautiful, that I 
could hardly think of anything else ; but when we 
got fairly out of the strait to the northward, I 
looked out for the famous volcano of ‘Tomboro, about 
sixty miles to the eastward, but it was too hazy in 
that direction to allow it to be visible. This was 
about five o’clock in the afternoon ; and as the sun 
sank towards the horizon, the clouds about Lombock 
Peak likewise descended, and we had shortly the 


LEE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. 395 


satisfaction to see its summit, the delicate blue 
outline of which now appeared high above them, soar- 
ing as it were in the upperair. It was about twenty 
miles from us, in a straight line, and rose more than 
11,000 feet above the sea. As the sun sank, if 
became more distinct, and the clouds settled down 
more and more, hiding themselves in the valleys and 
ravines, and allowing the crests of the lower but 
nearer ridges to emerge. We were now on the 
northern side of the mountain, where it rises ab- 
ruptly from the sea; and here ridge after ridge 
successively appeared, rough with crags, and broken 
by narrow gullies, and separated apparently from 
each other by deep valleys of some width, in which 
we saw the tops of the clouds still boiling and rolling 
about. On the nearest ridges, we could make out 
rows of noble trees, looking like pines.* As we came 
out of the strait, we had a fine southerly fresh breeze, 
before which we were running at ten knots an hour ; 
but on hauling up to the north-west, we passed 
suddenly into a broad tract of smooth water, that 
stretched out for some miles under the lee of the 
mountain; and soon after entering this, we lay 
with hardly a breath of wind. Three large 
prahus were in sight at sunset; and soon after 
dark we floated past them. ‘They were steering to 
the eastward, being probably bound to Bima, in 
Sumbawa. 


* These were probably Casuarina, such as we afterwards saw 
on the mountains of Java. 


396 LAND AND SEA BREEZES. 


October 15,—At sunrise, this morning, Lombock. 
Peak and the high lands about it were still plainly 
visible, while in the S.W. was an almost equally 
fine mountain in the island of Bali, called Bali 
Peak,* which, according to the Dutch, is likewise 
over 11,000 feet in height. As the sun got up, 
however, both these fine mountains became invisible 
in the hot haze. 

October 16.—At daylight we were off Cape 
Sedano, a place famous for pirates and tigers, over 
which was a fine mass of hills, 4,600 feet high. 
All the way from Alass Strait to Sourabaya, 1t was 
commonly calm at midday and midnight, with land 
or sea-breezes morning and evening. This afternoon 
we sounded in 55 fathoms, and brought up some 
fine green mud, with black specks, all of which 
effervesced strongly with acids, appearing wholly 
calcareous. 

October 17.—It was again quite calm this morn- 
ing, and we found ourselves floating off Pulo Gilling 
Antang, with several boats and prahus of curious 
rig and construction, either rowing, or trimming their 
mat sails to slight puffs of air. Some of them ap- 
peared to be fishing, others crossing between Java 
and Madura. We saw two square-rigged vessels at 
anchor off Sumenap, on the eastern end of Madara, 
which place appeared low in comparison with the 
mountainous land of Java. It had, however, a range 


* The native name is Carang Assam. 


PULO GILLI RAJAH. 397 


of hills in the interior, rising to a height of about 
1,000 or 1,500 feet. These had a very peculiar 
outline, seldom peaked, but excessively rugged- 
looking, with square blocks and jagged precipices 
in all directions. These hills were bare and brown, 
except the precipices, which were as white as 
chalk : and the country had rather a barren ap- 
pearance, except near the coast, where a rich belt 
of tropical vegetation seemed to encircle the island. 
On the Java side we could dimly see through the 
haze the outline of mountains, varying from four to 
ten or twelve thousand feet in height. At noon we 
anchored, having drifted near to a small island off 
the Madura shore, called Pulo Gilla Rajah, and 
when the ship’s company had had their dinner, 
Captain Blackwood and I landed on it. We passed 
over a small fringing coral reef to a sandy beach, 
on which great numbers of canoes were lying. Be. 
hind the beach was a row of cocoa-nut trees, under 
which we could see some cottages. A lot of half- 
naked children were gazing at us from behind the 
trees, who, as we approached them, ran away laugh- 
ing, and we followed them along a footpath which 
led us to a cottage built of bamboo. Here some 
men and women received us very civilly, and we 
made them understand by signs that we wanted to 
buy some fowls and cocoa-nuts. A small path ran 
along the island about a hundred yards behind the 
beach, through a succession of plots of ground, 
divided from each other by lines of stones or low 


398 ASPECT OF THE PEOPLE. 


walls. Each plot appeared carefully cultivated, and 
had a bamboo house in the centre. From the path 
the ground rose gently towards the interior for 
about eighty yards, when it was capped by a little 
escarpment, above which was a flat of cultivated 
ground and another group of houses. ‘This plateau 
was about sixty feet above the sea, but towards the 
east the island rose higher. Not a block of stone 
could be seen but coral and coral rock. The 
fences were formed of blocks of old meandrina and 
astreea; whether brought from the present coral reef 
or out of the ground, I could not learn; but in the 
escarpment were many large masses of coral, ap- 
parently in situ, and the rock beside them was 
evidently a coral conglomerate formed beneath 
the sea; and I should think all the corals were of 
existing species, and recently elevated, geologically 
speaking. 

The people were short and stout, but not ill-look- 
ing, and many of the children, especially the boys, 
were really handsome, with dark eyes and roguish 
countenances, apparently full of fun. The people 
seemed very industrious and comfortable. The 
women, decently dressed, were pounding rice under 
the shade of the trees. ‘The men wore only wrap- 
pers round their waists, and seemed not so well em- 
ployed as the women, though some were building a 
prahu, and they were all, probably, fishermen. We 
had some difficulty in bargaining with them, as we 
none of us, as yet, spoke Malay, and there seemed 


CALL AT PASSAROUAN,. 399 


to be no head man among them. Each brought one 
or two fowls or a bunch of cocoa-nuts, for which he 
wanted a piece of money, and as they had no change, 
and did not seem inclined to combine their stock 
and share the proceeds, we found it rather a 
dear market. Had we brought a few red handker- 
chiefs ashore, or similar articles, they would have 
been more valued than all our dollars. As a light 
breeze sprang up soon after we landed, we did not 
remain long, but went offand got under weigh. 
October 18.—The light breeze had gradually 
floated us up off a place on the Java shore, called 
Jati in the chart, and at daylight we found ourselves 
surrounded by a multitude of fishing-boats and 
prahus in all directions. The shore was flat near 
the sea, and so thickly vegetated with groves of 
cocoa-nuts and other trees, that we could see no 
habitations, except a row of bamboo huts here and 
there, built on piles, and projecting over the water. 
About eight o’clock we perceived through the haze 
two ships at anchor, and steered down for them. 
They were off a place called Passarouan, where 
pilots are taken on board for the strait of Madura, 
or Keribi, as they were formerly called. We sent a 
boat on board one of the vessels, when a Dutchman, 
who spoke English, informed us there was no pilot 
there then, but we should find one on board one of 
two vessels that we now saw coming down out of the 
strait toward us. We could see over the trees the 
red tiled roof of some building, with a flagstaff and 


4.00 ENTER STRAIT OF MADURA. 


a pigeon-house-shaped place, probably a look-out or 
signal station, but had no idea that Passarouan was 
so considerable a place as we afterwards found it. 
Lofty mountains rose at the back of it, the finest of - 
which is Arjuno, a conical mass, 11,900 feet in 
height. We now stood to the north for the mouth 
of the strait, out of which we saw a large Dutch 
man-of-war steamer proceeding to the eastward, 
probably in search of pirates. We received a pilot 
from one of the vessels, which were coming down 
from Sourabaya to Passarouan to complete their 
lading. He was a young half caste, but spoke Eng- 
lish pretty well. Under his direction, we steered 
N. by E. till within three miles of the Madura shore, 
when, as it got dark, and we were in only 17 feet 
water, we anchored for the night. ‘The pilot said 
there were some “stones’’ farther on, for avoiding 
which he could not see the marks except by day- 
light. 

October 19.—We weighed at daylight, but were 
shortly obliged to anchor again till the tide rose, as 
we stuck in the soft mud. We then floated quietly 
up, but did not reach the roads till noon. The 
Madura shore continued to shew the same charac- 
ters as before, a belt of the richest tropical vegeta- 
tion, with small white cliffs and perpendicular rocks 
appearing over it here and there. The Java shore 
was excessively flat, and bordered by extensive man- 
grove swamps. As we approached the anchorage, 
we saw rows of fishing-stakes, projecting often half- 


ANCHOR IN THE ROADS. 401 


way across the strait, with many boats and prahus, 
and a considerable number of square-rigged vessels 
at anchor, among which were an old sloop-of-war, 
two steamers, and a schooner or two, belonging to 
the Dutch navy. As soon as we had anchored, 
several naval officers came on board of us, some of 
whom spoke English, and all were remarkably polite 
and attentive. We could still see nothing of the 
town of Sourabaya, except a tower or two, and here 
and there the roof of a house and a flagstaff over the 
trees, in front of which were extensive mud-flats, 
dry at low water. A kind of pier projected from 
these into the anchorage, to which we were directed 
to proceed when we wished to land. About two 
o'clock, Captain Blackwood, Mr. Bell, and myself, 
went away in the first gig, but on coming to the 
pier-head, found it enclosed a canal, and the tide 
being out, we grounded on ashoal. We immediately 
called one of the native boats, of which there were 
many about, and transferred ourselves to it. These 
boats are flat-bottomed, with a broad seat and 
awning for passengers, propelled by two men, or 
boys, with paddles in the bows, and steered by 
another in the stern. As soon as we entered the 
canal, the two boys landed on the right hand pier, 
and fastening a tow-rope to the head of a short mast, 
or stanchion, proceeded to track us up. This canal 
is the mouth of the Kediri river, or at least one of 
its principal branches, called the Kali mas, or 
Golden Channel. It is carried out by means of two 
VOL. I. 2D 


4.02 LAND AT SOURABAYA. 


piers formed of piles and earth, and partly faced 
with stone for about’ a mile and a quarter, to the 
verge of the deep water in the strait. It is about 
40 yards wide, and 2 or 3 feet deep, at low water, 
when it is fresh, with a strong current. At high 
water the current is barely checked, and it is then 
6 or 8 feet deep. It was crowded with boats, large 
and small, laden with rice and other commodities, 
and a Chinese junk, and two or three schooners lay 
on one side of it under repair. About half way up 
there is a house and a flag-staff on the right hand 
side as you approach the town, which is a kind of 
post for the custom-house and police officers. This 
place is called the “ boom,” as there probably was 
a boom formerly across the river. We were directed 
to land here to enter our vessel’s name, and our 
own, in a register, and to be made acquainted with 
the port regulations. ‘They were pretty civil to us, 
though apparently not used to the presence of foreign 
men-of-war, and began to talk about opium, which 
is a prohibited cargo. As soon, however, as they 
knew who we were, they never gave us any more 
trouble, though all country boats have to wait till 
entered and examined by a custom-house officer 
before they can proceed. 

On approaching the town we passed a large new 
stone fort or citadel on the left hand side. ‘There 
were still many men at work throwing up banks of 
earth around it. Immediately above this the road 
on each side of the canal became much wider, and 


ASPECT OF THE TOWN. 4.03 


was sheltered by a row of trees, behind which were 
houses, some of them of a good size and appearance, 
and inhabited by Europeans, others smaller, be- 
longing to natives, or half-castes. We shortly after- 
wards came to some steps, where the roads diverged 
on each side from the river, and where we were 
told to land on the right hand side. Here was a 
large building called the Waterhuis, where the 
water of the river is filtered on a large scale, 
and supplied to shipping by a floating tank, at a 
reasonable rate. Turning up a narrow street, 
we passed the hotel without knowing it, and pro- 
ceeded between some white walls, enclosing the 
naval arsenal and other public buildings, with an 
occasional row of trees on each hand. We then 
reached a kind of square, in which was a church, 
and inquired our way to Mr. Fraser’s, who, we 
understood, was the principal English merchant. 
We here came again on the river, over which was a 
large wooden bridge, leading to the Chinese quarter. 
Above the bridge, shaded by a fine row of tamarind- 
trees, were a number of large houses and stores, 
where the principal merchants had their offices. 
As it was now nearly four o’clock, we found Mr. 
Fraser had gone out to his country-house, to which 
Captain Blackwood proceeded, while Mr. Bell 
and I returned to the hotel. Here we found a very 
fair table d’hdte, where were several Dutch officers, 
and other young men, and one or two ladies. After 
dinner we procured a carriage, a kind of old caléche, 
drawn by two ponies, and drove round the town, 
2nde2 


4.04 ASPECT OF THE POPULATION. 


but it got dark too soon to see much, The town 
seemed very extensive, and its suburbs still more so. 
We drove up one road and down another for several 
miles, under avenues of trees, with native villages or 
kampongs on each side of us, interrupted here and 
there by the country-houses and grounds of Euro- 
peans. Many of these latter seemed pretty spacious, 
and all were thrown open, and lighted up with many 
lamps. In front of these houses were parties of 
ladies and gentlemen sitting in verandahs and por- 
ticos, taking tea or wine, smoking or playing 
cards, and chatting. We met one or two carriages 
of ladies, seemingly in full dress, without bonnets 
or any head-dress, driving about in the cool of the 
evening. We crossed the river, which now seemed 
rapid and winding, and had several wooden bridges 
over it, and after driving down some dark roads, 
overshadowed by trees, in which brilliant fire-flies 
were flitting about, entered the town again by the 
Chinese quarter. Here we found grotesque-looking 
houses, lit up with large paper lanterns, of gaudy 
colours, with Chinese inscriptions or monsters upon 
them, and long rows of Chinese characters up and 
down the door-posts, or over the windows. Large 
arched gateways seemed to lead into some of the 
streets, probably particular quarters. Crowds of 
people swarmed along the streets, and strange cries 
and a babel of languages resounded in our ears, 
and every variety of eastern dress flitted about us, 
from the half-naked coolie to the well-clothed 
Chinese, in a loose white jacket like a dressing- 


THE PUBLIC BOATS. 4.05 


gown; the Arab merchant, in his flowing robes, or 
the Javanese gentleman, or gentleman’s servant, in 
smart jacket and trowsers, sash, and sarong or 
petticoat, a curious penthouse-like hat or shade, 
and a strange-handled kriss stuck in his girdle. It 
was a novel and exciting scene, but, used as we had 
been lately to quiet and seclusion, rather bewilder- 
ing, and we were glad about eight o’clock to retreat 
to the hotel, and thence to take boat and get on 
board the ship. In going down the canal we were 
stopped at the boom to say who we were, and to 
pay two fanams, or about 23d. ‘This was said 
to be a regulation adopted for the security of pas- 
sengers, as in former times men going on board ship 
at night had been taken by native boatmen into the 
strait, and never heard of again. Now each of 
these boats is numbered and licensed, and the head 
man of each known. Both the boat and head man 
of it (owner or hirer, as the case may be) are called 
“tambangan,” but which took the name from the 
other I cannot tell. The two fanams- are exacted 
from each boat going outwards after 6 p.m. The 
three following days I employed in rambling about 
the town and neighbourhood. ‘The country around 
is flat and marshy, and intersected by large ditches 
or drains. It is cultivated with rice, Indian corn, 
and sugar-cane. ‘The roads are good—raised gene- 
rally about four or five feet above the level of the 
fields, and lined with rows of trees, that sometimes 
arch completely overhead. There were several 


406 THE CURRENCY. 


English residents, with some of whom we gradually 
became acquainted. We had much trouble and 
annoyance in pecuniary matters, from the disordered 
and peculiar state of the currency. This was _ 
silver, paper, and copper. The smallest coin is the 
doit or duit, one hundred of which are called a 
copper rupee, and one hundred and twenty a silver 
rupee. ‘The bank of Java had notes in circulation 
of five, ten, twenty-five, &c. rupees. There were 
notes of the smaller denomination, both in silver 
and copper rupees ;* but the larger notes, those for 
twenty-five or fifty rupees, or more, were I believe 
always silver. The silver comage was guilders, 
half guilders, and quarters, as also three-guilder-: 
pieces. Spanish dollars also would pass. Origin- 
ally, I believe, the silver guilder was worth a silver 
rupee, or 120 doits; and the bank note for 25 
silver rupees was worth 25 guilders, which indeed 
are always called rupees in Java. At so greata 
discount, however, was now the bank paper, or 
rather, at so high a premium was silver specie, that 
it was rarely or never seen ; and the highest exchange 
we could get in silver coin for a 25 silver rupee note 
was 192 rupees, and sometimes not so much. ‘The 
consequence was, there were now three kinds of 
rupees,—copper rupees, silver-paper rupees, and 


* T have since been informed, that the copper paper-money 
(recipissen) was not issued by the bank of Java, but by the 
Government. It has, I believe, since been called in, and a new 
issue made on a better footing. 


RATES OF EXCHANGE. 407 


silver-specie rupees. In dealing with Chinese 
or natives, copper rupees were commonly understood 
to be used ; with European merchants or shopkeep- 
ers, silver paper in most cases, but sometimes after 
the bargain was concluded, it was insisted that silver 
specie was understood. As no one would ever 
change a note in silver, and as if you took it in cop- 
per, you were obliged to get a coolie to carry it, 
all business was carried on by bills or orders; and 
we were recommended to establish a credit with 
some merchant, and send orders to him to pay for 
any articles we might happen to purchase. ‘The 
present rates of exchange were as follows :— 

Doits. 

100 = 1 copper rupee. 

120 = 1 silver-paper rupee. 

160 = 1 silver-specie rupee. 

400 = 1 Spanish dollar. 

1740 = 1 pound sterling. 

From this it resulted, that one English shilling 
was worth 87 doits, and that in one pound sterling, 
there were 10% specie rupees, 143 silver-paper 
rupees, and 172 copper rupees ; that 74 doits were 
worth 1d. sterling, and therefore one copper rupee 
equalled rather more than 1332d., a silver-paper 
rupee rather more than 164d., and a silver-specie 
rupee rather more than 22d. In reckoning with 
natives, the copper rupee was also divisible into ten 
nominal coins called fanams, each worth 10 doits, 
or rather more than 12d. 

The cause of the depreciation of bank paper in 
regard to silver coin, or the high rate of silver, both 


408 THE BANK OF JAVA. 


as regards the paper and copper currency, was 
said to be in great measure the act of the Govern- 
ment. This was said, in the one case, to derive a 
much greater profit from the copper coinage than from 
that ofsilver, by keeping the real worth of a copper 
doit below its nominal value. In the other case, 
that of the bank paper, I was informed, that on the 
institution of the bank of Java, the Government caused 
all its officers to take shares in it, by making each 
one give in his securities on entering office in those 
bank-shares ; and that, on the bank becoming em- 
barrassed, it had made its notes a legal tender, in 
order that the shares might not be depreciated. At 
all events, anact of Government passed, exonerating 
the bank from all lability to cash its notes, and 
disabling any one from demanding from the bank 
payment in silver for the notes he held. How the 
bank became embarrassed, I did not learn; but, 
independent of general commercial arrangements, it 
seemed to have suffered losses by peculation, as one 
of its managers of the branch in Sourabaya, wasat the 
present time in gaol in consequence of defalcations 
to a large amount. ‘This person had built a hand- 
some mansion on one side of the town. This house 
was now occupied by a society called Concordia,—a 
kind of club with billiard tables, magazines, and 
reading room, and a department for eating and 
drinking. Of this we were invited to be honorary 
members. There was also a book club among the 
English residents, where we got a sight of several 
new publications and periodicals. 


STYLE OF THE HOUSES. 4.09 


Mr. Fraser was kind enough to give us a general 
invitation to his house in the country. This was 
about two and a half miles from town, near the river. 
Like most of the country houses, it was long and 
low, consisting of one storey only. It had one 
principal room, in the centre of the house, opening 
both before and behind, by two large doorways, into 
spacious verandahs or porticos, as large as the 
room itself, and supported by pillars. Each of the 
wings was occupied by three good bed-rooms. It 
stood in an enclosure of about an acre, with lawn, 
coach-house, stable, and servants’ houses and offices. 
Such are most of the Dutch houses, varying chiefly 
in size, with the same general arrangement. ‘The 
floors are tiles covered with cane matting, in the 
principal room. As soon as it gets dusk, the cen- 
tral saloon is lighted up with many lamps, the 
doors and windows still remaining open, and every 
now and then a carriage drives up, some acquaint- 
ance drops in for an hour or two, joins the dinner 
table if he have not dined, or smokes his cigar if 
he have, and drives away again. The English dine 
usually at six or seven, but the Dutch much earlier. 
This circumstance, and some other differences in 
their habits or manners, seems to keep their society 
pretty distinct. They do not often mingle, except 
on public or stated occasions. Without any 
open expression of dislike, there does not seem 
any great cordiality between the two nations, or 
rather between those who are resident, for we, as 


410 MR. M‘CLELLAND. 


strangers, were always treated in the most friendly 
manner. : 

The first time I dined with Mr. Fraser I met Mr. 
Jeekel the assistant-resident, the naval command- 
ant, who, with the rank of post captain, is invaria- 
bly styled Colonel, according to the continental mode 
of taking the army as the standard of rank, and Mr. 
M‘Clelland, a Scotchman. The latter gentleman 
has a history not a little singular, and as he has 
already appeared in print, I may be excused for 
mentioning it. He is the individual mentioned in 
Washington Irving’s Astoria, who, on the return of 
the party overland, left the rest of his comrades and 
pushed on ahead by himself across the Rocky 
Mountains. After leaving North America, he went 
to China, and then came to Java, where, by indus- 
try, prudence, and energy, he has gradually accu- 
mulated an ample fortune. He now owns a large 
ship-yard in Sourabaya, and a foundry near Passa- 
rouan, at which town he generally resides. Several 
anecdotes were related illustrative of the Javanese 
character. They were described, generally, as an - 
excellent race of people, patient, good tempered, and 
very handy and ingenious. A man who is one day 
a carpenter, will turn blacksmith the next ; or from 
a cultivator of the ground, will become a sailor. 
They are fond also of change, and the Colonel told 
us a story of a servant of his, who, after living with 
him for several years as a coachman, begged one 
day to be allowed to go on board ship and be a 


POUNDING OF RICE. 411 


sailor. Surprised at this, his master asked him 
what was his reason, whether he had any complaint 
to make, or was in any way dissatisfied? ‘‘ No,” he 
said, “ he had nothing to complain of, but he was 
tired of seeing the Colonel’s face every day.” 

As we sat after dinner I heard a continued sound 
of resonant thumping, like the beating of tomtoms 
at a distance, and at length inquired what it could 
be, when I found it was merely the everlasting 
beating of rice in the rice-troughs, in order to sepa- 
rate the grain from the husk, at all the native 
houses in the neighbourhood. The thumping seemed 
to assume a regular measure, and I understood that 
it was capable of being turned to account, as a 
means of transmitting intelligence. There is a 
peculiar measure which is universally known as a 
signal of alarm, and in times of commotion, if once 
set a going, would be taken up in every direction, 
and spread over the whole country with the greatest 
possible rapidity. 

As I understood we should only remain in Soura- 
baya a few days, I wished to go across to Madura, 
but found that I could not be permitted even to land 
on the Madura shore, although our vessel lay within 
a mile and a half of it. In order to be allowed to 
land there, it was necessary first to get an invita- 
tion from the Sultan of Bankalang, and then to get 
permission from the Resident of Sourabaya to accept 
it. As, however, I heard of some caves in lime- 
stone, at a place called Grissek, about eight miles 


412 VISIT TO GRISSEK. 


along the Java shore, towards the north-west, I de- 
termined to visit them, especially as they were said 
to be inhabited by the swallow that makes the edible 
nest. 

On the morning of the 23rd I went in a tamban- 
gan down to Grissek. It was at first calm, and the 
tide against us, obliging us to pull up in the shoal 
water across large mud flats. Lines of upright 
posts traversed these in several directions, with 
cross pieces from one to the other. ‘The posts were 
bamboos, which, from their motion, seemed only to 
be moored with a weight at the bottom. They were 
in some way connected with the fishery, but how 
they were used, unless it was to dry the nets on, 
or merely as boundary marks, I could not make 
out. | 

As we neared Grissek, a very shoal bay, bordered 
with mangroves, seemed to run in on the Java side, 
and mangrove flats also appeared at the end of 
Madura; but at Grissek itself commenced a small 
range of hills, some three or four hundred feet in 
height. Near the town the shore began to be bor- 
dered by houses, of which one, seemingly a large 
and handsome one, belonged to a Chinese mer- 
chant. It was eleven o’clock before we reached the 
pier at Grissek, where I landed, and walking into 
the town, inquired for the assistant-resident, M. 
Kurchinnus, to whom Mr. Fraser had given me a 
letter. To my regret, however, I found he had gone 
to Sourabaya, and I now was puzzled how to pro- 


VISIT TO GRISSEK. 413 


ceed. I managed, however, to recollect the words 
*‘ orang Ingries” (Englishman), which being put in 
a tone of inquiry, was answered in the affirmative, 
and I was immediately conducted to a house belong- 
ing to Mr. Dean, an Englishman. He also was 
away, but a young Dutchman in his employ spoke 
English, and having understood what I wanted, sent 
for a carriage and horses for me, and directed the 
driver to take me to the caverns and bring me back 
again. 

Grissek seemed rather a pretty town, the prin- 
cipal street lined with two rows of very fine tamarind- 
trees and very fair houses. A number of brigs 
and schooners, and prahus and small country 
vessels, lay off the pier, near which was a building- 
yard belonging to Mr. Dean. My carriage was 
like those of Sourabaya, with four small horses or 
ponies, driven in hand by a Javanese, with another 
man hanging on behind, whose office it was to run 
forward occasionally and flog the leaders. Sami, 
also, my tambangan, perched himself behind the 
carriage, and I could hear him explaining to the 
other’s inquiries, that I was an English colonel, be- 
longing to the “ kapal prang,” or war ship. We 
drove through a back part of the town, principally 
occupied by native houses, made of bamboo, and 
then got upon the great mail road, which runs from 
Sourabaya to Batavia, or even from Banyu Wangy, 
at one end of the island, to Anjer at the other, a 
distance by the road of between seven and eight 


414 BIRD S-NEST CAVERNS. 


hundred miles.* This road was a very good one: 
broad, straight, level, and well made. It ran across 
a flat between the low hills and the sea. Just out of 
the town I passed a native party, consisting of a 
man on horseback in a gay dress, his face, neck, 
and hands smeared over with a yellow paste: one 
attendant held a large painted and gilt umbrella 
over him, while two preceded with a blue banner, 
and several followed in handsome dresses and orna- 
mented krisses. I believe he was a bridegroom of 
rank, going in procession to his bride. About three 
miles from Grissek we turned up a cross road to 
the left, and ascended a low hill, where the ground 
became rocky ; and in another mile or so stopped 
under a large shed or alcove, that stretched across 
the road. Here I was requested to alight, and a 
man coming from a neighbouring kampong con- 
ducted me to the caverns. ‘The rock of these small 
hills was in many places bare, and its weathered 
aspect looked exactly like coral rock, and like many 
parts of a coral reef when left dry. It was rough, 
dark-brown, and much honey-combed, externally. 
I could not, however, find so much as a single piece 
of coral any where, nor could I trace any organic 
structure in any part of the rock. On the top of 
the first low hill I found a large, square, open shed 


* The extreme length of the island of Java, in a straight line, 
is 660 statute miles; its greatest breadth 130; its least 38, 
where we crossed it; and its mean breadth between 80 and 90 
miles. 


GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE, 415 


or alcove, with a brick floor and stone steps, and 
wooden pillars and roof. T'rom this there was a 
fine view of the neighbourhood. It appeared that 
the mass of hills I was upon was a continuation of 
one of the ranges of Madura, having the same 
height and general appearance. It is separated 
from that island by the strait, and seems formerly 
to have been itself an island, since it is every 
where surrounded by flat marshy land, and many 
mangrove swamps. 

The hills are about three hundred and fifty feet 
high, have an escarpment towards the north, and 
the beds at the limestone caverns dip slightly south- 
west. I found these caverns were artificial, being, 
in fact, merely galleries formed by following along 
the dip several beds of a white, soft, but gritty lime- 
stone, which is found to make excellent drip-stones, 
and has also been used for building. Some of the beds 
had a concretionary structure; others were made of 
grains compacted together: both these resembled 
beds which we had found on Raine’s Islet. It ap- 
pears to harden in the air, as, although many of the 
beds were quite soft and friable in the roof and 
sides of the caverns, parts of the same lying loose, as 
well as fragments outside, and most of the weathered 
surfaces were-hard, although very much corroded. 
In some places there were cherty pieces quite smooth 
and compact. Although I did not see any organic 
remains of any kind, | have not the least doubt that 
this limestone is the result of the detrition of corals, 


416 COMFORTABLE ASPECT OF COUNTRY. 


nor that it is of some tertiary, and, I believe, modern 
tertiary era. 

Several of the swallows were flying in and out of 
the caverns, but I did not see any of the nests at 
this visit. There were many bats also in the caverns. 
Saltpetre is made from the soil which is dug out of 
the floor of these recesses, the result, probably, of 
the droppings of the bats and birds. After looking 
over the caverns, I returned to Grissek. 

I was much struck, not only with the goodness of 
the roads, but with the neat and clean appearance 
of the houses and fences, and the apparently com- 
fortable condition of the people. At some parts of 
the road, where the central carriage-way was bor- 
dered by green grassy spaces, with trees arching 
over-head, neat fences and detached cottages, I could 
have fancied I was in England, had it not been for 
the tropical forms of the trees, the brown skins of 
the people, and their peculiar dresses. On my return 
to Grissek, I lunched on the celebrated fruit the 
durian ; and although I had to overcome some re- 
pugnance at its scent, I really liked the fruit. Its 
flavour, however, is very peculiar, something like 
rich custard and boiled onions mixed together. 

Having a fair wind and tide, we sailed back to 
the ship with great rapidity. The sail was a huge 
triangular mat spread between two bamboos, the 
apex of the triangle downwards. As the whole 
weight of the sail hangs over to leeward, the tam- 
bangan heels very much when on a wind, and for 


SEND PRINCE GEORGE TO SINGAPORE. 417 


two or three miles one of the boys was obliged to 
convert himself into an out-rigger to prevent its 
capsizing. This he did by throwing a rope over 
the short stanchion serving for a mast, and standing 
on the gunwale and holding the ends of the rope, 
he leant straight out to windward over the water. 
On reaching the ship, I found, to my surprise as 
wellas gratification, that we were to stay atSourabaya 
instead of going on to Singapore. Captain Black- 
wood was moved to this determination, I believe, 
by the superior advantages to be obtained in the 
ship-yard of Mr. M‘Clelland for the repairs that 
we required, compared with anything obtainable at 
Singapore. The Prince George was to go on to 
Singapore, both to take up the wrecked people we 
had brought from Torres Strait,* and to get our 
mails and dispatches and join us again here. As 
the hotel was full at present, four or five of us de- 
termined to get a small house on shore during our 
stay. We found much difficulty in this; and were 
at last obliged to put up with one in a narrow back 
street. It stood, however, in a small court-yard, 
surrounded by high walls, and had sufficient con- 
veniences for such a temporary residence as we 
required. ‘There was a long sitting-room, four bed- 
rooms, a cook-house, and servants’ house, bath-room, 
and a long out-house, where I could get ashore, 
arrange, examine and re-pack all my specimens, 


* These were the crew of the Lady Gray wrecked on the Alert 
reefs, who came to us in Torres Strait in their boats. 


VOL. I. QE 


418 THE RESIDENT OF SOURABAYA. 


which to me was a great recommendation. We 
paid for this house, partly furnished, fifty rupees 
silver a month, or about £3. 10s. On the first 
Sunday evening, we went to pay our respects to the 
Resident. It is the universal custom among the 
Dutch in the East, for the Resident or other prin- 
cipal authority to be, as we say, “at home” ona 
Sunday evening. There is no regular entertain- 
ment; but card-parties are formed, or parties for 
conversation, and wine and refreshments handed 
about. ‘The present Resident of Sourabaya, Mr. 
Pietermatz, received us with great kindness; and 
during the whole of our stay in Java, did everything 
in his power to render it interesting and agreeable 
to us. Captain Blackwood wished to see something 
of the interior, and as I was equally desirous of 
doing so, we set about making arrangements for it. 
This we found a matter of some difficulty, as the 
interior is usually shut up against foreigners. Mr. 
Pietermatz at once gave us permission to go any- 
where we pleased within his own residency; but 
beyond that his power did not extend. We had, 
therefore, to chalk out a route by the advice of 
some friends, and then to send applications to the 
different Residents for leave to pass through their 
districts, and to receive answers before we could set 
out on our journey. This required about ten days’ 
delay. 

The customs’ regulations are rather strict ; and in 
order to land my baggage, and especially my gun, I 


COSTUME OF THE NATIVES. 419 


found it necessary to get a pass from the Resident, 
and to engage that I would take it off again when 
I left. In this case, as in every other, we expe- 
rienced the greatest courtesy and civility, not only 
from the Resident, but from all the officers of the 
Government. 

I was never weary of wandering about the town, 
and watching the various population, reckoned at 
60,000, and their manners and customs. The lower 
order of Javanese are a stout broad race of people, 
seldom above the middle height. The men, when 
employed in labour, have frequently nothing but a 
tight cloth round the loins, but at other times wear 
the sarong, which is a long piece of coloured cotton 
that wraps round the waist and hangs down to the 
knee; to this they sometimes added a jacket, either 
of cloth or. cotton. The women generally wear 
clothes of a dark blue colour, more or less resembling 
a gown and petticoat, but often have the neck and 
shoulders naked, and the sarong or gown wrapped 
tight under the arm-pits and across the bosom. 
Both sexes wear their hair long, and turn it up 
with a large comb, so that at first we were often 
‘puzzled to know the men from the women at a little 
distance. Men, women, and children, may be seen 
all day long dabbling in the river, the children 
quite naked, and young boys are often seen walk- 
ing about the town in a perfect state of nudity. 
The women seldom wear anything on the head; but 
the men have often a conical hat, of a kind of wicker- 


4.20 CHINESE AND BUGIS. 


work, of split bamboo. The higher ranks commonly 
wear a handkerchief wrapped round the head, in 
a peculiar fashion; and a Javanese gentleman in 
public usually wears asmart green or purple velvet 
or cloth jacket, with gold buttons, a shirt with gold 
studs, loose trowsers, and sometimes boots, and a 
sarong and sash, in the latter of which is always 
carried a large kriss, ornamented with gold and 
diamonds. The women of the higher classes gene- 
rally live in a retired manner; but among the 
lower orders, they are under no restraint or seclu- 
sion, and seem indeed to be the principal frequenters 
of the markets. There were always fully as many 
women as men to be seen abroad. 

The Chinese are the same plump, clean, good- 
tempered looking people as elsewhere, and reside at 
Sourabaya in very considerable numbers. They in- 
habit a quarter of their own, where they are in some 
way under the control of .a head man, called the 
‘“* Capitan China.”” The Bugis from Celebes come 
in considerable numbers to trade at Sourabaya, and 
may often be known by their wild eyes, and more 
bold and determined look than the Javanese. 
They are also under a Bugis captain, who is to a 
certain extent answerable for their good conduct. 
One of the most outré sights, as it appeared to me 
at first, was to see Chinese or Arabs in their na- 
tional dress driving about in European carriages or 
gigs. I could hardly refrain from laughing the first 
time [ met a corpulent Chinese gentleman, in a 


PEDLARS AND COOLIES. 421 


white dressing-gown-looking affair, smooth head, 
and long pigtail, weighing down one side of a small 
pony gig, and driven by a smart Javanese boy, in 
his native dress, and a round japanned thing on his 
head, like a china punchbowl. ‘This japanned 
punchbowl-shaped hat, by the by, seems to be almost 
peculiar to the coachmen. 

The lower class of Chinese frequently act as ped- 
lars. With two wicker-cases slung on a bamboo 
yoke, they are always to be seen traversing the town, 
selling drapery or cutlery, or else fruit or eatables. 
Towards evening many of these pedlars, both 
Javanese and Chinese, carry edibles, with a stove 
to keep them hot, and every here and there may be 
seen a group squatted round one of these portable 
kitchens, eating their suppers. Multitudes of coolies — 
or porters are always to be got, principally Madu- 
rese, ready to carry anything, or go anywhere. You 
may get a little boy, with two small baskets sus- 
pended from a small bamboo, who will follow you to 
market, or go shopping with you, or two great stout 
fellows, who can carry heavy weights between them 
slung on a strong bamboo pole resting on their 
shoulders. In all the places of business you have 
but to shout ‘ coolie,” and you are immediately sur- 
rounded by a host of all descriptions, quarrelling 
for your custom. Here and there, under the shade 
of a tamarind-tree, may be seen seated one or two 
men, generally Chinese, with piles of copper money 
before them on mats, or little heaps of silver coin, 


4,22 WASHERMEN, BOATMEN, TROOPS. 


and these are your only money-changers, if you wish 
to yet a note cashed. During the day all the Eu- 
ropean warehouses are thronged with these and 
people of other nations; and pale-faced clerks may 
be seen driving about in hackney carriages to the 
custom-house or other places of commercial resort. 
The river meanwhile is crowded with life. Besides 
the bathers, there may be seen groups of men and 
women washing clothes. This they perform by dip- 
ping them in the muddy water, and then banging 
them with their whole force against a wooden bench, 
one end of which is scored with grooves at right 
angles to each other, to produce a greater impres- 
sion. Soap is seldom used, and it is singular how 
clean and white linen becomes under this process 
and with this dirty water, although, as may be ima- 
gined, its texture suffers severely. Meanwhile, 
boats of all sizes are constantly passing up and 
down, from simple canoes made of a hollow tree, to 
the gaily painted and curtained tambangan, or the 
great prahu or cargo boat, laden to the water’s edge 
with cargoes of rice, corn, sugar, or coffee, covered 
in with a penthouse of mats, and propelled by men 
with long poles, who have a ledge to walk on outside 
the gunwales. Mingled with the various groups 
ashore, were the troops in their light blue and yel- 
low uniform. ‘These are a miscellaneous assem- 
blage of many races: Javanese, Madurese, and 
Bugis, with genuine Negroes from the west coast of 
Africa, and Europeans, who are often Dutch con- 


NOISY POPULATION. 423 


victs, or men who, to escape punishment in Holland, 
have volunteered for the service in Java. Their 
officers are either Europeans or half-castes. They 
have about 2,000 infantry, besides artillery and 
cavalry, in Sourabaya. 

Nor is this mixed population by any means a 
silent one: the songs and cries of the boatmen on 

the river are mingled with the cries of the pedlars 
; ashore, each of whom proclaims his wares aloud, as 
did formerly the street traders of London, while a 
perfect Babel of tongues and languages may be 
heard in the various conversations going on 
around. 


END OF VOL. I. 


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LIBRARY OF 


AUSTRALIAN TRAVELS, &c. 


PUBLISHED BY T. AND W. BOONE, 
29, NEW BOND STREET. 


In 2 vols. 8vo. with Maps and numerous Plates, 


JOURNALS OF EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY 
INTO 
CENTRAL AUSTRALIA, 
AND 
OVERLAND FROM ADELAIDE TO KING GEORGE’S SOUND 
IN THE YEARS 1840-1; 
Sent by the Colonists of South Australia, 
WITH THE SANCTION AND SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT: 
INCLUDING 
An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines, and the state 


of their relations with Europeans. 


BY EDWARD JOHN EYRE, 


RESIDENT MAGISTRATE, MURRAY RIVER, 


*,* The Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society was awarded 
to Mr. Eyre for the discovery of Lake Torrens, and explorations of far greater 
extent in Australia than any other traveller, a large portion never having been 
previously traversed by cwilized man. 


*« His narrative of what he did and overcame, is more like the stirring stories of 
Park and Bruce than the tame and bookish diffuseness of modern travellers. 
Nothing short of a perusal of the volumes can enable our readers to appreciate this 
book.” —Spectator. 

““ We might easily extract much more from Mr. Eyre’s volumes of interest to the 
reader, but our limits circumscribe us. We therefore bid farewell to them, with the 
recommendation to the public, not to overlook a work which, though it records 


the failure of a great enterprize, is yet full of matter, which proclaims it of value.” 


Atlas. 
‘‘Mr. Eyre writes with the plain unaffected earnestness of the best of the old 


travellers.” —Examiner. 

“* An intensely interesting book.”— Tablet. 

“We must now close these interesting volumes, not, however, without expressing 
our high approval both of the matter they contain, and of the manner of their com- 
pilation. We rise from the perusal of them with a feeling similar to that which 
follows the enjoyment of a pleasant work of fiction.”—C7itic. 


A 


We 
3 1853 


O 


HANAN 
000968771