Chapter 1 (2)

As soon as he perceived himself clear of the boat he paddled away, and in a short time reached the shore and joined his terrified companions; who, upon his approaching them, ordered him to stand at a distance until he had thrown away his red cap, the bag, and the axe, and had answered several questions which they were apparently putting to him. All this time they had their spears poised and pointed towards him, and stood huddled together in the greatest alarm; the women were kept away, but their curiosity was so much excited that, although they were more terrified than the men, they were seen peeping over the bushes and rocks which concealed them, and attentively watching what was going on. Our friend stood in the position of, and as motionless as, a soldier at drill, and answered all their interrogatories and inquiries without making the least movement. He was soon allowed to approach nearer, and then the whole party cautiously advanced, with their spears still poised, and surrounded him. His body was then carefully examined; and upon the women and children being allowed to approach, they seated themselves in a ring and placed him in the middle, when he told his story, which occupied about half an hour. Upon its being finished, they all got up, and, after shouting and hallooing to us, they went to the opposite side of the island, leaving our presents upon the beach, after having carefully examined them.

Before sunset Mr. Roe and Mr. Cunningham pulled towards the island in the jolly-boat: on its approach the natives came down and appeared anxious for the crew to land; but the shore was too rocky to admit of doing so with security, and after making the natives a few presents, to obtain which they waded up to their arms in the water, the party returned. The natives were much amused with Boongaree's appearance, and frequently addressed him, but his answering them in a strange language surprised them very much; on his taking off his shirt they shouted loudly, and were delighted; but on the return of the boat on board without our party's landing, they were evidently much disappointed.

Our late captive was noticed in the background, but did not approach the boat: he was, for an Australian, a well made man, and was at least six feet in height. His hair was long and curly, and in it was stuck a short sharp-pointed stick; he wore his beard long, no teeth were wanting in his jaws, and there was no appearance of the septum narium having been pierced: at every three inches between the upper part of the chest and navel his body was scarified in horizontal stripes, the cicatrice of which was at least an inch in diameter, and protruded half an inch from the body. He could not have been more than twenty-two or three years of age; and as for the other characteristics of spare limbs, long arms and large head, he was a perfect facsimile of the inhabitants of the eastern coast.

During the night their fires were seen on the island, and some were also noticed on the mainland to the southward.

February 27.

Early the next morning the natives came down to the beach, and called out loudly to us; but the glare of the sun, rising immediately over them, prevented our distinguishing their movements. After this they disappeared, and when we visited the island in the afternoon, we found that they had left it: their shouting to us in the morning was therefore to inform us of their departure, and was probably intended to convey to us their farewell.

Upon landing at the island, we directed our steps to their huts, which were of most miserable construction, being nothing more than a bush stuck in the ground, and forming only a very indifferent shade. Here we found the presents, which had been given to our late captive, deposited carefully on the ground; but the bag, instead of having been opened at the mouth, was torn asunder near the seam at the bottom; a fishing line that had been given to him was also left behind, which surprised us the more because the native had one of his own making attached to his log, and therefore must have known its use.

It appears that the only vehicle by which these savages transport their families and chattels across the water is a log of wood; that which we had brought alongside with our captive friend was made of the stem of a mangrove tree; but as it was not long enough for the purpose, two or three short logs were neatly and even curiously joined together end to end, and so formed one piece that was sufficient to carry and buoyant enough to support the weight of two people. The end is rudely ornamented, and is attached to the extremity by the same contrivance as the joints of the main stem, only that the two are not brought close together. The joint is contrived by driving three pegs into the end of the log, and by bending them, they are made to enter opposite holes in the part that is to be joined on; and as the pegs cross and bend against each other, they form a sort of elastic connexion, which strongly retains the two together. When it is used, they sit astride and move it along by paddling with their hands, keeping their feet upon the end of the log, by which they probably guide its course. Such are the shifts to which the absence of larger timber has reduced these simple savages: they show that man is naturally a navigating animal; and this floating log, which may be called a marine-velocipede, is, I should suppose, the extreme case of the poverty of savage boat-building all round the world.

The island is composed of a rocky basis, covered by a thin layer of sandy soil. On the summit of the bluff east end of the island was observed one of those immense nests that were seen at King George the Third's Sound, the base of which measured seven feet in diameter. Whilst examining the nest, some natives were descried on an adjoining island, and as our principal object was to communicate with these people, we immediately re-embarked and sailed towards it. On approaching the island, we overtook two natives on their logs, who, on perceiving that we were pulling towards them, became frightened, and made violent gestures as if imploring us to go away. Four or five unarmed natives were standing on the shore of the island, and watched our proceedings; and, upon our sheering off and pulling away from the natives upon the logs towards a sandy beach, the party on the shore walked a few steps towards it also, and invited us by signs to go ashore. Upon the boat's touching the beach, I landed, and taking Boongaree with me divested of his clothes, walked towards the natives, who were standing together, a little in the rear of one, who was probably their chief. The whole party were trembling with fear, and appeared quite palsied as we approached and took the chief by the hand. A little coaxing, and the investiture of a red cap upon the chief's head, gradually repossessed them of their senses, and we were soon gabbling each in our own language, and therefore mutually unintelligible.

In a short time I obtained permission, which was asked for and granted by signs, for the rest of our party to approach. The chief who had been attired as above-mentioned was thought by Mr. Cunningham to be one of those who waded into the water to receive the presents from him the preceding evening: he was very inquisitive about our clothes, and expressed the greatest astonishment at everything he noticed about us. He ridiculed our repugnance to partake of a piece of the raw gut of a turtle which he offered to us, and to expose our folly, ate a piece, which he appeared to think a dainty, although it was quite fetid from putrefaction. Our attempts to collect a vocabulary of their language were quite unsuccessful. An axe, some chisels, and other tools were given to them, but they expressed no pleasure in receiving the presents, or astonishment at their effect. On our making signs for water, they all simultaneously pointed to an island bearing North-East from the one on which we were.

We now prepared to embark, and walked towards the boat accompanied by these friendly savages, hand in hand; but as they drew nigh, a water-spaniel belonging to me leapt out of the boat and began to bark, which alarmed them so much that some of them ran off, and kept aloof until we began to play with and caress the dog; and when they recovered their fright, they were highly amused with his swimming after some pieces of wood that were thrown into the water.

Boongaree was of course the object of their greatest attention: the fashion in which his body was scarred was the subject of particular remark; and when he pointed at the sea, to show them whence he came, they set up a shout of admiration and surprise.

We now took leave of these friendly Indians, and went through the ceremony of shaking each other by the hand, a mode of taking leave they appeared perfectly to understand. No women made their appearance, but there was every reason to believe that they were close at hand, for several natives were seen from the cutter concealed close to us, armed with spears ready to repel any attack we might have made, and to defend the women and children of their tribe.

The boat was then steered towards the island to which the natives had directed us; but as we pulled along its shore in search of a landing-place, a party of twenty or thirty Indians were observed descending the rocky hills towards the beach, with an evident intention of preventing our going ashore; and upon our pulling into a small bight, where there was some appearance of a stream of water, they threatened us with spears and stones; at the same time loudly vociferating and pointing to us to retire. Much unintelligible parley now ensued, during which we endeavoured to convince them that we only wanted fresh water, and had no intention of molesting them; but although they appeared perfectly to understand our meaning, they were determined upon resisting our attempt to land. A stone thrown at us by one of the foremost, who stood half up to his middle in the water, was an earnest of their hostile intentions if we persisted, and they were on the point of assaulting us with a shower of spears, when we pulled out and returned on board, leaving the Indians masters of the field. There was no mischievous feeling in their conduct towards us, for we were in their power, and had they been inclined, they might have speared the whole of our party before a musket could have been fired by us. Their object seemed to be merely to get rid of us, and in this they completely and very fairly succeeded, for our party was not numerous enough to force a landing without resorting to means which would have entirely destroyed the friendly intercourse we had just held with the last tribe, and for which we were perhaps solely indebted to the opportune capture that we made upon our arrival.

In consequence of the communication that we had with these natives, the group between Lewis Island and the main was called The Intercourse Islands.

February 28.

Early the next morning, we left the anchorage, and took up a fresh station off the North-East end of the island from which we were repulsed. On our passing the north side of it, we saw no marks of fresh water; if there be any, it must be from rain-water collected and preserved in the holes of the rock. As we passed the east point, two natives were observed crossing over to the main upon their logs, and this was the last we saw of them.

Hence the strait takes a northerly direction, and was named Mermaid's Strait, after our little vessel which had thus first sailed through it. Mr. Roe, in the afternoon, examined an opening in the land to the eastward of our anchorage; but found it to be overrun with mangroves, and entirely destitute of fresh water.

1818. March 1.

The next day we steered through the strait. Three openings were observed on the eastern side, which appeared to be straits separating as many islands; the northernmost was called Gidley Island. To the north of Lewis Island is Malus Island, the north east end of which is formed by a high bluff point, named Courtenay Head; whose summit, from its elevation and position, appeared to offer so good an opportunity of obtaining a bird's-eye view of a great part of the Archipelago, that the cutter was anchored in a bay under its west side; and as soon as the vessel was secured, we landed and climbed the Head, and were repaid for the trouble by a very extensive view, and a useful set of bearings of the islands and rocks in its vicinity.

Malus Island is of the same formation as Enderby Island, and is clothed with the same kinds of plants. The ravines are deep, and the sides of the hills are covered with the same stone, of which a pile was erected on the summit of the head to mark the spot where the circumferentor was placed. Some turtle tracks were seen upon the beach; and when we returned to the vessel Mr. Bedwell landed to watch for their coming on shore, but none appeared, and since we found no eggs, it is probable that the young had already taken to the water.

March 2.

The next morning we sailed, and attempted to steer round the western side of Malus Island; but were prevented from passing between it and Rosemary Island by the shoalness of the water. There is, however, every reason to believe that in mid-channel the water is deep enough for any purpose; but as our persisting would have answered no end, we steered across Mermaid's Strait, and by sunset were abreast of Cape Bruguieres, so named by Captain Baudin, round which the land trended to East by South, forming the south side of a shoal strait, separating Gidley Island from Captain Baudin's Legendre Island: the latter is a narrow, long, rocky island, lying East-South-East and West-North-West, and is of a lower character than the islands to the southward of it. We anchored under the North-West end of this island.

March 3.

But the ground was so uneven and rocky that we considered ourselves fortunate in recovering the anchor the next morning without breaking it; for during the night the anchor dragged and hooked a rock; on weighing it, however, the rock proved to be rotten and broke away. The strait between Legendre and Gidley Islands is full of shoals, which at daylight being dry, were covered with immense flights of pelicans and other water-fowl.

During the day and following night we were becalmed off the north side of Legendre Island.

March 4.

The next day we passed round its South-East end, and, at sunset, anchored in a deep bay. Off the South-East end of Legendre Island the sea is very full of reefs and dry rocks, but between Hauy and Delambre Islands there is a safe channel of nine and ten fathoms deep.

The bay in which we had anchored was called, at Mr. Roe's request, Nickol's Bay; it is open only to the North-East, and affords safe shelter, with good holding-ground. At the bottom of the bay, on both sides of a projecting point of land, on which three round-backed hills were conspicuous, the coast falls back, and forms two bights, the western of which is backed by very low land, lined with mangroves; and may probably contain a small rivulet: the other is smaller, but the land behind it is higher than in the western bay, which of the two appears to be of the most importance; but as the tide did not flow at a greater rate than a quarter of a knot, very little was attached to any opening that may exist there.

At this anchorage we experienced another squall, similar to that off Cape Preston, but not so severe; the sand was blown over us from the shore, although we were at least two miles distant from it.

March 5.

The next morning we steered to the eastward, along the land, and soon after noon passed round Captain Baudin's Bezout Island; a projecting point within it was named in compliment to my friend Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esquire; behind which a range of hills extends to the South-South-East for five or six leagues, and then trends to the eastward, toward a group of islands named by the French Forestier's Archipelago, the principal of which is Depuch Island. Near this we anchored in five fathoms sandy ground. Our course from Cape Lambert was parallel with the beach, and although we were not more than from three to five miles from it, yet it was so low that it could not be seen from the deck; and even from the masthead it was but very indistinctly traced; nor indeed is it quite certain that what we did see was really the shore of the mainland.

March 6.

The vessel rode out the night rather uneasily on account of the wind blowing a fresh breeze from the South-East, which freshened up when the sun rose with such strength from the same direction that we were prevented from landing upon Depuch Island. We passed the group at one mile off; it consists of six islands, all of which, with the exception of Depuch Island, are small and of a low sandy character. Hence the coast trended to the North-East by East, but it was soon lost to view, for the wind would not permit our making better than a North-East course. Before noon we passed within a quarter of a mile of a part of the Geographe's Bank, which was nearly dry; it lies twenty-two miles North-East from Depuch Island.

Upon comparing my chart with Captain Dampier's description of the Rosemary Islands, there appears to be little doubt but that M. De Freycinet is justified in his conjectures, that the islands, called by them Romarin and Malus, are those seen by that navigator. My conclusion results from his description of the place he landed at, for he says:

"We were now on the inner side of the island, on whose outside is the bluff point: we rode a league from the land, and I presently went on shore, and carried shovels to dig for water, but found none. There grew here two or three sorts of shrubs, one just like rosemary, and, therefore, I call this Rosemary Island. It grew here in great plenty, but had no smell...In the sea, we saw some green turtle, a pretty many sharks, and abundance of water-snakes, of several sorts and sizes. The stones were all of a rusty colour and ponderous."*

(*Footnote. Dampier Octavo 1729 volume 3 page 90.)

The rosemary plants were found by us on Enderby Island, and bore a strong resemblance to the figure of one given by Dampier, which he thus describes: Conyza Novae Hollandiae angustis rorismarini foliis: this plant, found at Enderby Island, may naturally be supposed to grow upon the other islands, since they are all similar in character. Enderby Island he certainly did not visit, but I take Malus Island to be that on which he landed, and the bluff, which he describes as the east end of the island, is no other than our Courtenay Head, for it is the only land of that character hereabouts, and is visible from the deck of a large ship, at the distance of seven leagues. In the bearing that Dampier saw it, namely, South-East, our Rosemary Island would appear to be joined to Malus Island, and hence his opinion that it was "an island five or six leagues in length, and one in breadth."

In one of his draughts (Number 9), he gives a view of the head, bearing East-South-East, six leagues; and this bearing and distance, applied to our Courtenay Head, will cross the latitude of 20 degrees 21 minutes, which is that noted in the draught; and in the next draught (Number 10), when the head bears South-East by South, two black rocks are inserted, bearing South-East by East, and a point of land East: the black rocks readily answer to the two flat rocks of my chart, and the land about Gidley Island will bear East. No light can be thrown upon the subject from his drawings of the headlands, since they are too minute to be compared with nature.

That the Montebello Islands are not the Rosemary Islands is evident, from their being low, having no bluff head, and from their not being visible so far as Dampier saw those he described. No other land can answer as to latitude but Rosemary, Malus, Legendre, or Gidley Islands; but, on the two latter, there is no decided bluff, and when bearing South-East by South, no land could be seen bearing East. The rocks of Malus Island, on which we landed, are "of a rusty colour, and ponderous,"* and the bluff, as I have before remarked, very conspicuously forms the east end of the island.

(*Footnote. Vide Appendix C.)

Dampier remarks that Rosemary Island is two hundred and thirty-two miles east of the meridian of Shark's Bay; this, applied to the longitude of that place, will make it in 117 degrees 12 minutes, which is only 35 minutes east of my Courtenay Head.

This group was named by the French Dampier's Archipelago, and as there is ample proof of its being the place which that navigator visited, the name has been admitted by us; but we have also extended it to the islands forming the east side of Mermaid's strait, which are laid down by the French as a part of the mainland.