Chapter VIII (1)

Departure from Sir Edward Pellew's Group. Coast from thence westward. Cape Maria found to be an island. Limmen's Bight. Coast northward to Cape Barrow: landing on it. Circumnavigation of Groote Eylandt. Specimens of native art at Chasm Island. Anchorage in North-west Bay, Groote Eylandt; with remarks and nautical observations. Blue-mud Bay. Skirmish with the natives. Cape Shield. Mount Grindall. Coast to Caledon Bay. Occurrences in that bay, with remarks on the country and inhabitants. Astronomical and nautical observations.

[NORTH COAST. GULPH OF CARPENTARIA.]

MONDAY 27 DECEMBER 1802

(Atlas, Plate XIV.)

At daylight of Dec. 27, we got under way from Pellew's Group; and passing between the small isles near Cape Pellew, stretched off to sea with a fresh breeze at W. N. W. At noon the cape bore S. 26° W. four leagues, and towards evening we weathered it, having 10 fathoms water at the distance of five miles; the soundings afterwards diminished gradually to 4½ fathoms, at two miles from West Island, where the anchor was dropped on a muddy bottom, for the night. Next morning [TUESDAY 28 DECEMBER 1802], the wind being still at north-west, we again stretched out to sea; and at noon, when the latitude was 15° 24', Cape Pellew bore S. 60° E. four leagues. We were then standing south-westward; and at three o'clock, West Isle bore from S. 74° E. to about South, the last extreme being hidden by an islet and rock distant two-and-half miles. The main coast was in sight to the south and westward, and we stood for it until six; the ship was then tacked to the north-east, in 3 fathoms, the shore being three miles off, and extending from behind West Island to N. 36° W. It was low, mostly sandy, and covered with wood behind the beaches; and except that some places on the shore were rocky, it altogether resembled the more eastern parts of the gulph. At dusk, the anchor was let go in 6 fathoms, mud and shells.

WEDNESDAY 29 DECEMBER 1802

A small reef was seen in the morning, two miles to the north-east of the ship, and about seven from the coast. We passed half a mile to windward of it with 3½ fathoms, and stretched off to sea until noon, with the usual north-western wind; the latitude was then 15° 7', longitude 135° 40', and we tacked towards the land, which was not in sight from the mast head. At six in the evening it was distant two leagues, and the extremes bore S. 26° E. to 74° W., the first being the same part which had been set at N. 36° W., the evening before. At seven, we tacked from the shore in 3½ fathoms, and on the water deepening to 4, anchored on coarse sandy ground. In working along the shore next day [THURSDAY 30 DECEMBER 1802], we met with a shoal of sand and rocks., as far as three leagues off the land; the outer part, upon which we had less than 2½ fathoms at noon, lying in 15° 13' south and 136° 16' east. After getting clear of this danger, we stretched off until dusk; and then anchored in 9 fathoms, grey sand, some back hills being visible in the S. W. by W., but no part of the low shore.

FRIDAY 31 DECEMBER 1802

We had the wind at W. by S. in the morning, and stood off until noon, nine or ten leagues from the coast; two small lumps of land were then seen, bearing S. 53° and 58° W., and at the mast head they were perceived to join, and apparently to form an island. On the wind veering to the south and eastward we steered for it, and before sunset got to an anchor in a small bay on its south side, in 4 fathoms; the extremes of the island bearing N. 81° E. one mile and a half, to S. 83° W. three miles. The main land was visible three or four leagues to the southward, and a projecting part of the back hills, which at first made like a head land, bore S. 3° W.

A similar error to that at the Capes Van Diemen and Vanderlin has been made here in the Dutch chart, this island being represented as a projection of the main land, and called Cape Maria. To the west of it is marked a large bay or bight, called Limmen's Bogt, where the coast turns north-eastward to a projecting cape without name, which has a shoal, forty miles in length, running out from it; and between this shoal and Cape Maria, is laid down a small island. In these particulars, the old chart was found to be correct as to the general matter of fact, but erroneous in the forms and positions.

SATURDAY 1 JANUARY 1803

Fires were seen at night, upon the island; and early in the morning I landed with the botanical gentlemen, to examine the productions and take bearings. My attention was attracted by something like a native's hut, which proved to be an ant hill composed of red earth, about eight feet high, and formed like a haycock; the inhabitants were the same feeble race of insect as before seen at the Prince of Wales' Islands, and the least pressure was sufficient to crush them. From the highest hill on the south side of the island, I set the furthest visible extremity of the main land to the eastward, near which is a low islet, at S. 21° 50' E.; from thence it extended past the projecting part of the hills to N. 80° W., where it was lost in Limmen's Bight; but re-appearing 16° further north, it was distinguishable to N. 33° W.

The length of the island is about seven miles, N. E. and S. W., by a variable breadth from one to four miles; and its northern extremity, to which I continue the name of _Cape Maria_, lies in 14° 50' south, and 135° 53½' east. A slaty rock seemed to form its basis; the surface is hilly, well covered with wood, and grass grows up from amongst the loose stones; and notwithstanding its barren soil, the appearance from the ship was green and pleasant. That men were upon the island was shown by the fires, and it was corroborated by the fresh prints of feet upon the sand; but they eluded our search, and we did not find either canoes or habitations.

On returning to the ship at nine o'clock, we stretched southward for the main coast, with the wind at west. When within five or six miles, the water shoaled to 3½ fathoms; and the ship being found to drift to leeward with the tide, a stream anchor was dropped. There seemed to be two tides here in the day, setting nearly east and west, but the rise and fall were so imperceptible by the lead, that it could not be known which was the flood.

The west wind died away at noon, and being succeeded by a sea breeze from the north-eastward, we steered for Limmen's Bight so long as it lasted; and then anchored in 4 fathoms, blue mud, with the island of Cape Maria bearing S. 56° to 86° E., ten or twelve miles. The main land was eight or nine miles off, and visible all round the Bight and as far as N. 6° W.; it was low and woody, and an extensive shelving flat seemed to render it inaccessible to a ship.

At seven in the evening, the land wind came off in a strong squall, with thunder, lightning, and rain; afterwards the weather cleared; and at day light [SUNDAY 2 JANUARY 1803] we followed the line of the coast to the northward. I wished to get as near to it as possible; but the water shoaling to 2½ fathoms when six or seven miles off, we ran out east, till it deepened to 4, and then steered north-eastward, parallel to the line of the shoal. A low rock came in sight to seaward, which I took to be the small island laid down to the north-east of Cape Maria, but it lies nearly north from it. At nine o'clock, when the main land was distant seven miles and the depth 6 fathoms,

The low rock, distant 4 miles, bore S. 65½° E. Station hill near C. Maria, dist. 6 leagues, S. 7½ E. A sloping part of the main, higher than the rest, N. 50 W. Extreme from the mast head, North.

Our latitude at noon was 14° 26' 29", and longitude 135° 54½'; the main coast was seven miles off, and seen from the mast head as far as N. N. E. Three miles to the N. 80° E. there were two dry sands, and shoal water extended from them to the north and southward, further than could be distinguished. We had already no more than 3 fathoms; but a sea breeze having set in at E. by S., unfavourably for going without side of the sands, we kept on close to the wind, hoping to find a passage within them. The depth varied between 8 and 4 fathoms, till past five o'clock, when it diminished to 2½, the main coast being distant five or six miles, and the sands out of sight astern; we then tacked, and stretched E. S. E. into 4 fathoms, and anchored at dusk on a bottom of gravel. An observation of the moon gave the latitude here 14° 19'; and the variation from an amplitude, with the head E. by S., was 0° 43' east, or corrected to the meridian upon the principle often before mentioned, 2° 44' east for the true variation.

There is no doubt that the dry banks seen at noon, were meant to be represented in the Dutch chart by the great shoal to the north-east of Cape Maria; but their direction from the cape is there too far eastward; neither do they join to the main land, nor lie out from it more than one-quarter of the distance marked: several turtle were seen in the vicinity of the banks. The main coast in the northern part of Limmen's Bight is not altogether so low as at the head; but the shoal water extends equally far out, and even the southern head of the gulph is not more inaccessible to ships.

We had strong squalls of wind in the night, with rain, thunder, and lightning, and were obliged to drop a second anchor; the wind, however, remained in the north-east, and at daylight [MONDAY 3 JANUARY 1803] we stood for the edge of the shoal. At seven, tacked ship in 3 fathoms; and a breeze coming off the land soon afterward, we steered along the shore until noon, with a good depth of water. Several pieces of distant land, which seemed to be islands of greater elevation than usual, were then seen, from N. by E. to E. S. E.; the main coast was about five miles off, and the furthest part bore north from the mast head. Our latitude at this time was 14° 5', and longitude 136° 6' east.

In the afternoon, the soundings became irregular between 4 and 7 fathoms, and the whale boat was sent ahead; but a fresh wind setting in at N. E., the boat was called back, and in being veered astern, got filled with water, broke adrift, and the two men were thrown out. Another boat was lowered down to save them and I ran the ship to leeward and came to an anchor. The whale boat was picked up, as also one of the men; but the other, William Murray, captain of the fore top, being unable to swim, was unfortunately lost.

The weather remained squally, and wind unsettled during the night. In the morning [TUESDAY 4 JANUARY 1803] our course was continued to the northward, leaving extensive land, which I supposed to be the _Groote Eylandt_ of the old charts, six or eight leagues on the starbord hand. Before commencing the investigation of that island, I wished to trace the main coast further on, and if possible, give the botanists an opportunity of examining its productions; for it was upon the main that they usually made the most interesting discoveries, and only once, since entering the Gulph of Carpentaria, had we been able to land there. At seven o'clock we edged in for the coast; and on coming into 3½ fathoms, dropped the anchor on a bottom of blue mud, within a mile of the shore. No part of Groote Eylandt was in sight; but an island of considerable extent and elevation, not noticed in the old chart, lay six or seven miles to the E. N. E.; and I have called it BICKERTON'S ISLAND, in compliment to admiral Sir Richard Bickerton. Between it and the main coast is an open space, from four to six or seven miles wide, through which, to all appearance from this side, a ship might safely pass.

Whilst the botanical gentlemen landed abreast of the ship, I took the whale boat to a woody islet, five miles off, close to Bickerton's Island, the soundings across the opening in going to it, being from 3 to 7 fathoms. A meridian observation to the north and south, placed the islet in latitude 13° 48' 30", and the points of the opening to the northward bore N. 18° E. and N. 2½° W.; this last was the furthest visible part of the main land; and proving afterwards to be a projecting cape, I named it _Cape Barrow_, after John Barrow. Esq., author of the interesting travels at the Cape of Good Hope. The islet is about half a mile long, and though many bushes and some trees grew upon it, is little more than a bed of sand. There were holes in the beach, made by turtle; and besides other proofs of the islet being sometimes visited by the Indians, I found four human skulls lying at the back of the shore.

From the woody islet I crossed over to the main land near the ship, and took another set of bearings for the survey. Upon the shore were pieces of bamboo, and other traces of the same foreign people of whom mention has frequently been made; and three small huts were found, so entirely covered with grass that no opening was left; but they were empty, and nothing was buried underneath. On the borders of a small fresh lake the botanists reaped a harvest of new plants, without molestation; indeed no natives were seen any where; but several skeletons were found, standing upright in the hollow stumps of trees; and the skulls and bones being smeared or painted, partly red and partly white, made a very strange appearance. Some kangaroos were perceived at a distance; and judging by their foot-marks on the sand, they were rather numerous. The country near the sea side is stony and barren; further back, it rises gently to a small elevation, and seemed to be moderately well covered with grass and wood.

WEDNESDAY 5 JANUARY 1803

In the morning of the 5th we got under way, and steered eastward for Groote Eylandt, which I now intended to circumnavigate. In passing the south side of Bickerton's Island, we observed in it a deep bight or bay which would afford shelter in the north-west monsoon., if there be depth sufficient for a ship; and the hills at the back being high and woody, there was a probability of its receiving a stream of fresh water. The country round the entrance of the bight, had the appearance of being sandy and sterile.

Between the nearest parts of Groote and Bickerton's Islands is a space of eight miles, which seemed to offer a perfectly safe passage, with soundings, if I may judge from what we had in crossing the south side, between 13 and 17 fathoms; nor can the rather high and woody isle, which lies almost exactly in the middle of the opening, be considered as presenting any obstacle. This isle, from its local position, would seem to be the central one of three laid down in the Dutch chart between Groote Eylandt and the main; but the latitude corresponds with the southernmost. I call it _Connexion Island_; because my survey round Groote Eylandt was connected by its means, and made in a great measure independent of the time keepers. The centre of Connexion Island, from observations at noon to the north and south, lies in 13° 50½' south; and the longitude, deduced at three o'clock when the extremes bore N. 20° W. to 11° E. four miles, would be 136° 27' from the best time keeper; but from the survey and lunar observations, 136° 24½' east should be more correct.

Our distance from the west side of Groote Eylandt at four o'clock, was not quite three miles, and we then bore away southward along the shore, in 8 to 6 fathoms water. This depth diminished gradually to 4 fathoms, and suddenly from that to 2½; on which we steered off into 7, and then resumed our southern course. Soon after sunset,

Bickerton's island, south point, bore N. 53° W. Connexion I., the west extreme., N. 11 W. Groote Eylandt, north-west extreme, N. 16 E. Groote Eylandt, central hill., N. 87 E. Groote Eylandt, a low projection, dist. 4 or 5 miles, S. 42 E.

In half an hour, the anchor was dropped in 11 fathoms, muddy bottom.

At the north-west end of Groote Eylandt is a bluff head, the termination that way of a range of woody hills from the interior, of which the highest is what was set under the name of Central Hill. On the west side of the island these hills do not come close to the water side, but leave a space of increasing breadth to the southward, where the land is low, sandy, and sterile; and even the hills, though mostly covered with wood, had little of fertility in their appearance: the shore is partly rock, and in part sandy beach.

THURSDAY 6 JANUARY 1803

We had the wind light and variable in the morning, and proceeded to the southward very slowly. The shore trended S. S. E., for some time; and then turning westward to the south-west cape, it formed a bight in the low land three or four miles back, in which there seemed to be much shoal water. There is a sandy hill upon the south-west cape, and a rock lies close to it; and at three or four miles off the soundings were exceedingly irregular, jumping from 7 to 5, and 4 to 11 fathoms, on a rocky bottom. This irregularity, and the meeting of two tides, one from the north and another from the east, caused great ripplings in the water; and with the light winds, retarded our progress round the cape. The extreme south-west point lies in latitude 14° 15' south, and from six sets of lunar distances with stars east and west, the longitude would be 136° 17' east; but according to the survey, 136° 25' is the better situation. An amplitude at sunset gave the variation 1° 9', with the ship's head S. E., or corrected to the meridian, 2° 36' east. We anchored at dusk in 13 fathoms, muddy bottom, five or six miles to the south of the cape.

[NORTH COAST. GROOTE EYLANDT.]

SATURDAY 8 JANUARY 1803

On the 7th and 8th, the winds hung between S. E. and N. N. E.; and the direction of the south side of Groote Eylandt being nearly east, it took us those two days and part of a third, to make the examination, though the extent be little more than twelve leagues. The land here is more sandy than on the west side, and the trees upon the hills are more thinly scattered and present a less agreeable foliage. No islands are laid down near the south side in the Dutch chart; but I counted eight scattered along it, of which the easternmost and largest is more than two miles long; and besides these, there are several rocks. The positions of these rocks and islets, with our courses and soundings amongst them, will be best seen in the chart.

SUNDAY 9 JANUARY 1803

In the afternoon of the 9th, we passed round the south-east rocky point of Groote Eylandt, which lies in 14° 17' south, and 137° 2½' east. The shore then trended northward, to a small cluster of rocks and islets three miles distant; and two miles further was another islet, behind which we anchored in 12 fathoms, coarse sand, in a sandy bight of the great island; but the bight being exposed to south-east winds, and containing much foul ground, the anchorage was far from being good.

MONDAY 10 JANUARY 1803

In the morning, we steered out on the north side of the islet, between it and a low point two miles off, with a boat ahead; our soundings being 9, 6, 4, 2½, 5, 8, and soon afterward 23 fathoms. The low point, which has several rocks near it, lies seven or eight miles northward from the south-east extremity of Groote Eylandt; from thence the shore trends westward about four leagues, and forms a large bight, mostly bounded by a sandy beach; but in the middle of it is a point with many rocks. On the west side of the bight, two or three miles back, are the same woody hills which seem to occupy all the middle of the island; and on this side they terminate to the north-east in a bluff. The depth of water at noon was 19 fathoms, and our situation and principal bearings were as under.

Latitude, observed to the north and south, 14° 5' 31" Longitude by time keeper and survey, 137 3 Groote Eylandt, low eastern point, dist. 4 miles, S. 1 W. Groote Eylandt, woody hills, the north-east bluff, N. 64 W. Groote Eylandt, furthest visible extreme, N. 6 W.

We were then steering across the bight before a south-east wind; but the depth of water becoming less, and the wind more dead on the shore, we hauled up N. by E. for the furthest land in sight. At three o'clock, a small opening was seen under the north-east bluff, but our distance of three leagues was too great to distinguish it accurately. Towards evening, when three miles from the shore, the sounding jumped from 9 to 4 fathoms, and we tacked to the south-east; and the night promising to be fine, anchored at dusk in 19 fathoms, mud and sand, with the north-east point of Groote Eylandt bearing N. 33° W., about seven miles (Atlas, Plate XV.); further out lay two small islands, and a hill upon the outermost was set at N. 10° W. The latitude of this anchorage was ascertained, from altitudes of two stars and the moon, to be 13° 53 1/3' south; and an amplitude with the ship's head N. E. by N., gave variation 2° 57', or 4° 4' east, corrected to the meridian.

TUESDAY 11 JANUARY 1803

We had the wind at N. W. in the morning, and steered close to it on the larbord tack, until noon; when the hill on the outer north-east island, bore S. 89½° W., nine or ten miles. The latitude of the hill is 13° 38¼', and from six sets of distances of stars east and west of the moon, its longitude would be 136° 36'; but from the survey and more numerous observations, it is 137° 0½' east.* After a calm the sea breeze came in, and our course was directed for the north-east point of Groote Eylandt; at sunset we approached a rocky islet three or four miles from the point, and anchored under it in 6½ fathoms, sandy ground, with the point bearing S. 5° E., and the furthest visible part, very low and sandy, S. 63° W. five or six miles. On the other side, the north-east islands extended from N. 32° E. to 39° W., with many small rocks scattered along them; the nearest of which, a split rock, was distant a short mile.

[* The apparent error of 24½' in the first longitude, is greater than should exist in the mean result of six sets of distances. There is an interval of three days in the observations of the moon at Greenwich with which these distances were compared; and it seems probable that a great part of the error might arise from that cause.]

WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 1803

In the morning we steered close to a N. N. W. wind, for the low sandy point, where the shore was found to trend southward; and five or six miles to the west there was other land, moderately high and in some places cliffy, which took nearly a parallel direction; and the bight between them ran so far up towards the north-east bluff of the woody hills, that a junction with the small opening seen on the outside appeared to be probable. A shelving spit extended out from the low point, and on opening the bight our soundings decreased from 6 to 2½ fathoms, which made it necessary to tack; and the wind being adverse to passing within the north-east islands, if indeed there be water enough for a ship, which seemed doubtful, we steered out by the way we had come in.

Having little wind, the isles were not passed till late in the evening, and from the same cause not much progress was made to the westward next day [THURSDAY 13 JANUARY 1803]; but the land was better distinguished than before, and many straggling rocks and two islets were seen to lie off the north end of Groote Eylandt. In the morning of the 14th [FRIDAY 14 JANUARY 1803] we weathered all these, and on the wind dying away, anchored in 11½ fathoms, blue mud; the outer _North-point Islet_, which lies in 13° 37' south and 136° 45' east, then bore E. 3° S. five miles, and the furthest extreme of a higher cliffy island, S. 38° W. three miles.

I went in a boat to this last island with the botanical gentlemen, intending to take bearings from the uppermost cliffs; but the many deep chasms by which the upper parts are intersected, made it impossible to reach the top in the short time we had to spare, and a few bearings from the eastern low point were all that could be obtained. This was called _Chasm Island_; it lies one mile and a half from a low point of Groote Eylandt, where the shore trends southward and seemed to form a bay, into which I proposed to conduct the ship.

We found upon Chasm Island a fruit which proved to be a new species of _eugenia_, of the size of an apple, whose acidity of taste was agreeable; there were also many large bushes covered with nutmegs, similar to those seen at Cape Vanderlin; and in some of the chasms the ground was covered with this fruit, without our being able, for some time, to know whence it came. Several trees shot up in these chasms, thirty or forty feet high, and on considering them attentively, these were found to be the trees whence the nutmegs had fallen; thus what was a spreading bush above, became, from the necessity of air and light, a tall, slender tree, and showed the admirable power in nature to accommodate itself to local circumstances. The fruit was small, and not of an agreeable flavour; nor is it probable that it can at all come in competition with the nutmeg of the Molucca Islands: it is the _Myristica insipida_ of Brown's _Prodrom. Nov. Holl._ p. 400.

In the steep sides of the chasms were deep holes or caverns, undermining the cliffs; upon the walls of which I found rude drawings, made with charcoal and something like red paint upon the white ground of the rock. These drawings represented porpoises, turtle, kangaroos, and a human hand; and Mr. Westall, who went afterwards to see them, found the representation of a kangaroo, with a file of thirty-two persons following after it. The third person of the band was twice the height of the others, and held in his hand something resembling the _whaddie_, or wooden sword of the natives of Port Jackson; and was probably intended to represent a chief. They could not, as with us, indicate superiority by clothing or ornament, since they wear none of any kind; and therefore, with the addition of a weapon, similar to the ancients, they seem to have made superiority of person the principal emblem of superior power, of which, indeed, power is usually a consequence in the very early stages of society.

A sea breeze had sprung up from the eastward, and the ship was under way when we returned on board at three in the afternoon. At five we hauled round Chasm Island with 12 fathoms water, which diminished gradually as we proceeded up the bay, to 4½, where the anchor was dropped on a muddy bottom; the south-west end of Chasm Island then bore N. 16° E., three or four miles, and the cliffy end of a smaller isle on the west side of the entrance, N. 29° W. two miles and a half; and except between these two bearings, we were sheltered from all winds. The situation of this bay in Groote Eylandt, led me to give it the name of _North-west Bay_. It is formed on the east and south by that island; and on the west by a separate piece of land, five or six miles long, which, in honour of the noble possessor of Burley Park, in the county of Rutland, I named _Winchilsea Island_; and a small isle of greater elevation, lying a short mile to the east of the ship, was called _Finch's Island_.

SATURDAY 15 JANUARY 1803

Early next morning the botanists landed on Groote Eylandt, and I went to Finch's Island with the second lieutenant, to take bearings and astronomical observations. From the western head, I saw that the bay extended six or eight miles above the ship, to the southward, and that the southern outlet, beyond Winchilsea Island, was about one mile wide; but the whole seemed to be too shallow for any thing larger than boats. Amongst the bearings taken from this station, those most essential to the survey were,

Groote Eylandt, the woody north-west bluff, S. 56° 46' W. A distant wedge-shaped rock, the N. E. bluff, N. 59 55 W. Chasm I., the steep west end, N. 3 51 E.

And from another station, half a mile to the E. S. E., I set Groote Eylandt, the central hill, at S. 14° 27' E.

This bearing and that of the north-west bluff, formed connecting links in the chain of longitude round the island.

SUNDAY 16 JANUARY 1803

Next day the botanists landed upon Winchilsea Island, and further astronomical observations were taken upon that of Finch; where also a part of the ship's company went to divert themselves, and to wash their linen; and in the evening, we prepared to quit North-west Bay.

A close-grained sand stone, nearly resembling that of Pellew's Group, seems to form the basis of Groote and the neighbouring islands; we found also coral, ironstone, and quartz. In many places, quartz in almost a crystallised state was sprinkled in grains through the sand stone, and in others, the sand stone itself was partly vitrified. Wherever we landed, the surface was so entirely composed of stone and sand, that the idea of any kind of cultivation could in no wise be assimilated with it; the hills at a little distance from the water side were, however, well covered with wood, and it is not improbable, that there may be vallies in the central parts of Groote Eylandt possessing some degree of fertility. The central hill, which is six or eight hundred feet in elevation, appeared to be not so much as three leagues from the head of North-west Bay, and I was desirous to have made an excursion to the top, to see the interior of the island; but the state of the ship being such as to press us forward with all practicable haste, it was not attempted; nor did I stop to examine particularly the head of the bay, since it appeared to be shallow, and of little interest to navigation.

The wood on Groote Eylandt was mostly composed of different species of _eucalyptus_; the trees were small, and might do for fire wood and very common purposes, but did not seem calculated for any superior use. Chasm Island was the sole place where the nutmeg was found, though in general, the gleanings of the botanists were tolerably fortunate. None of the native inhabitants were seen, nor any kangaroos or other quadrupeds; and birds seemed to be scarce. Small quantities of water, deposited in holes of the rocks by the late rains, were useful to the seamen for washing their clothes; but we did not find any from which a ship could be supplied, nor were there any beaches convenient for hauling the seine.

The _latitude_ of Finch's Island, from a meridian observation to the north and south, is 14° 43' 31" S.

_Longitude_ from six sets of distances of the sun east of the moon, taken by myself, 136° 38' 47", and from twelve sets by lieutenant Flinders (see Table V. of Appendix No. I), 136° 23' 38"; but there being no observations of the moon at Greenwich within two or three days, the longitude from survey and the position of Caledon Bay afterwards fixed, is preferred, and is 136° 36' 53" E.

_Dip_ of the south end of the needle, 39° 22'.

_Variation_ of the theodolite, 3° 6' east.

The variations of the surveying compass, from amplitudes taken near different parts of Groote Eylandt during the circumnavigation, were these:--

Near the main, opp. the S.W. Pt., head E. by S., 0° 43', cor. 2° 44' E. Near the south-west point, S. E., 1 9 , cor. 2 36 Off the east side, N. E. by N., 2 57 , cor. 4 4 Near the north-east isles., N. W. by W., 3 33 , cor. 1 58 Off the north end, S. W. by W., 5 51 , cor. 4 14

Whether the small variation near the north-east isles arose from any peculiar attraction, or from some oversight in taking the amplitude, I cannot determine; if from the latter, it would appear that the variation is a degree and a half less on the south-west, than on the east and north sides of Groote Eylandt.

Scarcely any run of _tide_ was perceptible in North-west Bay, nor did the rise appear to exceed four or five feet at any part of the island, though it runs with some strength off the projecting points. The irregularity in different places was such, that the time of high water could not be ascertained; but I think there is only one full tide in the day, and that the flood comes from the northward.

MONDAY 17 JANUARY 1803

Early on the 17th we worked out of the bay, and stretched off to sea with a W. N. W. wind; at noon the latitude was 13° 27' 10", and the furthest extreme of Chasm Island bore S. 26° W. After a calm in the afternoon, the sea breeze came in, and we steered south-westward till nine o'clock; when a bower anchor was let go in 14 fathoms, two or three miles from the north end of Winchilsea Island. In the morning [TUESDAY 18 JANUARY 1803] we lay up south-west, on the starbord tack, and weathered the island, leaving a rock one mile and a half on the other side. I wished, by a good bearing of Connexion Island, to join the survey completely round Groote Eylandt; and at nine o'clock it was set at S. 27½° to 47° W., two leagues. The wind then came ahead, and we tacked towards two small isles, where the anchor was dropped at ten, one mile and a half from their south side, in 16 fathoms, sand and shells. Our latitude here was 13° 43' 42" south, and the east side of Connexion Island bore S. 9½° W. six or seven miles; the difference of longitude from our situation on the 5th at three p.m., was hence ascertained to be it 1' 55" east, not differing 5" from what was given by No. 543, but No. 520 showed 6½' too much; the differences of longitude by the former time keeper alone have therefore been used round Groote Eylandt.

I went immediately, with the botanical gentlemen, to the northern and largest of the two sandy isles; and after observing the latitude 13° 42' 17" on the south-west point, ascended the highest hillock, which, from the clump of trees upon it, was called _Pandanus Hill_. Some of the trees being cut down, I had a tolerably extensive view of points and islands before passed; and saw more to the north-westward, behind Wedge Rock, all of which the Dutch chart represents as parts of the main land. One of these I have called _Burney's Island_, in compliment to captain James Burney of the navy, and another _Nicol's Island_, after His Majesty's bookseller, the publisher of this work. Beyond these was a more extensive land, which also proved to be an island; and its form having some resemblance to the whaddie or woodah, or wooden sword used by the natives of Port Jackson, it was named _Isle Woodah_. A low sandy island, lying four or five miles N. by. E. from my station, seems to be the northernmost of the three isles laid down between Groote Eylandt and the main; but it is placed, as are also the neighbouring lands, half a degree too far north: Connexion Island, taking it to be the southernmost of the three, is well fixed in latitude.

Amongst the many bearings taken at the top of Pandanus Hill, those which follow were the most important to the survey.

North-point Islet, outer extreme N. 73° 15' E. Chasm Island, N. 74° 15' to N. 78 25 E. Groote Eylandt, central hill, S. 44 30 E. Groote Eylandt, north-west extreme, S. 9 0 E. The ship distant 1¾ miles, S. 7 45 E. Connexion Island, S. 8 0 to S. 22 30 W. Bickerton's Island, S. 43 40 to N. 75 45 W. Isle Woodah, N. 60 30 to N. 38 15 W. Wedge Rock, steep north-east end, N. 30 45 W. Nicol's I., steep east end, N. 26 5 W.

There was very little wood upon the two sandy isles, nor did they furnish any thing new to the botanists; but they were partly covered with long grass amongst which harboured several bustards, and I called them _Bustard Isles_. The basis of the largest is nearly the same mixture of sand-stone and quartz, as at North-west Bay; broken coral and sand formed the beaches; and some fresh turtle tracks being there perceived, and the appearance of the weather being unfavourable, it induced me to remain at anchor all night; but only one turtle was procured.

WEDNESDAY 19 JANUARY 1803

In the morning we had a north-east wind, and after passing round a shoal which runs one or two miles from the south-west end of the Bustard Isles, hauled up to weather Bickerton's Island; but owing to a tide setting to leeward it was not accomplished before two in the afternoon. Soon after three we got to anchor one mile from the south side of Burney's Island, in 4½ fathoms, mud and shells; and I went on shore with the botanists.

This island is moderately high, rocky, and barren, yet thickly covered with the _eucalyptus_ and _casuarina_. From the highest rock on the south-east side, I took bearings of the objects in sight; and amongst them set

Wedge Rock, the north extreme, at N. 83° 50' E. Chasm Island, north extreme, S. 79 55 E. Pandanus Hill, the last station, S. 53 5 E.

I afterwards got through the wood, intending to set the objects lying to the north and westward; but no clear place could be found for placing the theodolite. A small bay was observed on the north-west side of the island, which might be convenient for boats; and from the steep declivity of the land round it, there seemed a probability that fresh water might be procured at this season. The stone of this island is the same as that of the Bustard Isles; and the Indians had visited both. A set of azimuths, observed at the same station whence the bearings were taken, gave variation 2° 50' east; but on board the ship, with the head N. E. by E., Mr. Flinders observed 0° 23' east, with three compasses, which would be 2° 0' corrected; whence it should seem, that the stone of the island had some attraction on the south end of the needle.

[NORTH COAST. BLUE-MUD BAY.]

THURSDAY 20 JANUARY 1803

In the morning, we steered S. W. to take up the survey of the main coast at Cape Barrow, between which and Isle Woodah was an opening where no land was visible; but meeting with shoal water, and the wind being light, a stream anchor was dropped until the boat had time to sound. On her return, we steered for the north side of the opening, with a depth which increased from 4 fathoms to 17 off the south end of Woodah. A higher island, two or three miles long, then showed itself to the N. N. W.; and on the water shoaling to 3½ fathoms, the anchor was dropped at four in the afternoon, one mile and a half from its south side, on a bottom of blue mud. The main land was in sight to the westward, forming a large bay with Isle Woodah, and Bickerton's Island covered the entrance, so that the ship was in complete shelter.

On landing with the botanical gentlemen, I ascended a hummock at the east end of the island, where alone the view was not impeded by wood. Many of my former fixed points were visible from thence, and the main land was traced round to the northward, to a hill named _Mount Grindall_, near which was another round hill upon an island; and behind them the main extended eastward, nearly as far as over the middle of Isle Woodah. Amongst the numerous bearings taken from this eastern hummock, the following six were most essential to the survey.

Chasm Island, the centre, S. 67° 46' E. Wedge Rock, steep north-east end, S. 59 47 E. Cape Barrow, the eastern extreme, S. 6 50 W. Mount Grindall, N. 13 16 W. Round-hill Island, the top, N. 8 5 W. Extreme of the main, over Woodah, N. 55 20 E.

FRIDAY 21 JANUARY 1803

A party of men was sent to cut wood on the following morning, and another to haul the seine; the botanists also landed, and I went to observe the latitude and take bearings from the west end of the island; every person was armed, for marks of feet had been perceived, so newly imprinted on the sand, that we expected to meet with Indians. After accomplishing my objects, I walked with a small party round the north-west end of the island; and then returned over the high land, through a most fatiguing brush wood, towards the wooders and the boat. On clearing the wood, four or five Indians were seen on a hill, half a mile to the left, and some of the wooding party advancing towards them. The sight of us seemed to give the natives an apprehension of being surrounded, for they immediately ran; but our proceeding quietly down to the boat, which I did in the hope that our people might bring on an interview, appeared to satisfy them. The scientific gentlemen accompanied me on board to dinner; and I learned from Mr. Westall, that whilst he was taking a sketch at the east end of the island, a canoe, with six men in it, came over from Woodah. He took little notice of them until, finding they saw him and landed not far off, he thought it prudent to retreat with his servant to the wooding party. The natives followed pretty smartly after him; and when they appeared on the brow of the hill, Mr. Whitewood, the master's mate, and some of his wooders went to meet them in a friendly manner. This was at the time that the appearance of my party caused them to run; but when we left the shore they had stopped, and our people were walking gently up the hill.

The natives had spears, but from the smallness of their number, and our men being armed, I did not apprehend any danger; we had, however, scarcely reached the ship, when the report of muskets was heard; and the people were making signals and carrying some one down to the boat, as if wounded or killed. I immediately despatched two armed boats to their assistance, under the direction of the master; with orders, if he met with the natives, to be friendly and give them presents, and by no means to pursue them into the wood. I suspected, indeed, that our people must have been the aggressors; but told the master, if the Indians had made a wanton attack, to bring off their canoe by way of punishment; intending myself to take such steps on the following day, as might be found expedient.

At five o'clock Mr. Whitewood was brought on board, with four spear wounds in his body. It appeared that the natives, in waiting to receive our men, kept their spears ready, as ours had their muskets. Mr. Whitewood, who was foremost, put out his hand to receive a spear which he supposed was offered; but the Indian, thinking perhaps that an attempt was made to take his arms, ran the spear into the breast of his supposed enemy. The officer snapped his firelock, but it missed, and he retreated to his men; and the Indians, encouraged by this, threw several spears after him, three of which took effect. Our people attempted to fire, and after some time two muskets went off, and the Indians fled; but not without taking away a hat which had been dropped. Thomas Morgan, a marine, having been some time exposed bare-headed to the sun, was struck with a _coup-de-soleil_; he was brought on board with Mr. Whitewood, and died in a state of frenzy, the same night.

So soon as the master had learned what had happened, he went round in the whale boat to the east end of the island, to secure the canoe; and forgetting the orders I had given him, sent Mr. Lacy with the wooders overland, to intercept the natives on that side. Their searches were for some time fruitless; but in the dusk of the evening three Indians were seen by the wooders, and before they could be intercepted had pushed off in the canoe. A sharp fire was commenced after them; and before they got out of reach, one fell and the others leaped out and dived away. A seaman who gave himself the credit of having shot the native, swam off to the canoe, and found him lying dead at the bottom, with a straw hat on his head which he recognised to be his own. Whilst displaying this in triumph, he upset the ticklish vessel, and the body sunk; but the canoe was towed to the shore, and the master returned with it at nine o'clock.

I was much concerned at what had happened, and greatly displeased with the master for having acted so contrary to my orders; but the mischief being unfortunately done, a boat was sent in the morning [SATURDAY 22 JANUARY 1803] to search for the dead body, the painter being desirous of it to make a drawing, and the naturalist and surgeon for anatomical purposes. The corpse was found lying at the water's edge, not lengthwise, as a body washed up, but with the head on shore and the feet touching the surf. The arms were crossed under the head, with the face downward, in the posture of a man who was just able to crawl out of the water and die; and I very much apprehend this to have been one of the two natives who had leaped out of the canoe, and were thought to have escaped. He was of the middle size, rather slender, had a prominent chest, small legs, and similar features to the inhabitants of other parts of this country; and he appeared to have been circumcised! A musket ball had passed through the shoulder blade, from behind; and penetrating upwards, had lodged in the neck.

The canoe was of bark, but not of one piece, as at Port Jackson; it consisted of two pieces, sewed together lengthwise, with the seam on one side; the two ends were also sewed up, and made tight with gum. Along each gunwale was lashed a small pole; and these were spanned together in five places, with creeping vine, to preserve the shape, and to strengthen the canoe. Its length was thirteen and a half, and the breadth two and a half feet; and it seemed capable of carrying six people, being larger than those generally used at Port Jackson.

It does not accord with the usually timid character of the natives of Terra Australis, to suppose the Indians came over from Isle Woodah for the purpose of making an attack; yet the circumstance of their being without women or children--their following so briskly after Mr. Westall--and advancing armed to the wooders, all imply that they rather sought than avoided a quarrel. I can account for this unusual conduct only by supposing, that they might have had differences with, and entertained no respectful opinion of the Asiatic visitors, of whom we had found so many traces, some almost in sight of this place.

The body of Thomas Morgan who died so unfortunately, was this day committed to the deep with the usual ceremony; and the island was named after him, _Morgan's Island_. The basis stone is partly argillaceous, and in part sand stone, with a mixture in some places of iron ore, but more frequently of quartz. A little soil is formed upon the slopes of the hills and in the vallies; and there, more especially at the east end of the island, it is covered with small trees and coarse grass, which the late rains had caused to look fresh and green; there were also some temporary drains of fresh water.

The _latitude_ of the hummock at the east end of Morgan's Island, is 13° 27½', and _longitude_ from the survey, 136° 9½'. Azimuths observed at the anchorage, with three compasses and the ship's head in the magnetic meridian, gave 2° 23' east _variation_, which corresponded very well with the bearings. The _tides_ here are very inconsiderable, and there appeared to be only one flood and one ebb in the day; high water took place about midnight, when the moon was a little past the lower meridian; but whether it will always be so far behind the moon, may admit of a doubt.

A view of the main land to the westward, from Cape Barrow to Mount Grindall, had been obtained from the higher parts of Morgan's Island; but a probability still remaining that some river might fall into the bay, I proposed to coast round it with the ship. On a breeze springing up at E. S. E, early in the afternoon, we steered round the west end of the island, and hauled to the northward; but meeting almost immediately with shoal water, the course was altered for the south-west, and afterwards for the south part of the bay; and finding no where more than 3 fathoms, we tacked to the N. E. at dusk, and came to an anchor. The bottom here, and in most other parts of the bay, is a blue mud of so fine a quality, that I judge it might be useful in the manufactory of earthern ware; and I thence named this, _Blue-mud Bay_.

It was evident from the uniform shallowness of the water, that Blue-mud Bay did not receive any stream of consequence, either in its south or western part; and to the north, it seemed not to be accessible from this side. The main land rises very gradually from the water side into the country; and the wood upon it made a greater show of fertility than on any borders of the Gulph of Carpentaria we had before seen.

SUNDAY 23 JANUARY 1803

We got under way again at daylight; but the wind coming to blow strong from the eastward, with rain, thunder, and lightning, were not able to pass round the south end of Isle Woodah and get out of the bay, until the morning of the 25th [TUESDAY 25 JANUARY 1803]. Our soundings in working out diminished to 2½ fathoms, near the opening between Bickerton's Island and Cape Barrow; and it is probable that no ship passage exists there, although I had previously found as much as 7 fathoms in the southern part of the opening.

[NORTH COAST. GULPH OF CARPENTARIA.]