Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. — Volume 1

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Title: Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. — Volume 1

Author: John MacGillivray

Release date: May 1, 2004 [eBook #12433]
Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12433

Credits: Produced by Sue Asscher

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE, COMMANDED BY THE LATE CAPTAIN OWEN STANLEY, R.N., F.R.S. ETC. DURING THE YEARS 1846-1850. — VOLUME 1 ***

NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE

H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE,

COMMANDED BY THE LATE

CAPTAIN OWEN STANLEY, R.N., F.R.S. ETC.

DURING THE YEARS 1846-1850.

INCLUDING DISCOVERIES AND SURVEYS IN

NEW GUINEA, THE LOUISIADE ARCHIPELAGO,

ETC.

TO WHICH IS ADDED THE ACCOUNT OF

MR. E.B. KENNEDY'S EXPEDITION

FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAPE YORK PENINSULA.

BY JOHN MACGILLIVRAY, F.R.G.S.

NATURALIST TO THE EXPEDITION.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE

SANCTION OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUME 1.

1852.

MRS. STANLEY,

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED

AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF HER SON,

UNDER WHOSE DIRECTION THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS

OF THE

VOYAGE OF THE RATTLESNAKE

WERE SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPLISHED.

PREFACE.

It was originally intended that an account of the Surveying Voyage of
H.M.S. Rattlesnake should have been undertaken conjointly by the late
Captain Owen Stanley and myself, in which case the narrative would have
been constructed from the materials afforded by the journals of both, and
the necessary remarks upon hydrographical subjects would have been
furnished by that officer, whose lamented death in March, 1850, prevented
this arrangement from being carried out. Not having had access to Captain
Stanley's private journals, I considered myself fortunate, when the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty--in addition to sanctioning the
publication of my account of the Voyage in question--directed that every
facility should be afforded me in consulting the manuscript charts and
other hydrographical results at their disposal, and to Rear-Admiral Sir
F. Beaufort, C.B., Commander C.B. Yule, R.N., and Lieutenant J. Dayman,
R.N., I beg to express my thanks for the liberal manner in which they
carried out their Lordships' intentions.

To the other gentlemen who have contributed Appendices to this
work--George Busk, Esquire F.R.S., Dr. R.G. Latham, Professor Edward
Forbes, F.R.S., and Adam White, Esquire, F.L.S.--I have also to offer my
best thanks. It also affords me great pleasure to record my obligations
to T. Huxley, Esquire R.N., F.R.S., late Assistant-Surgeon of the
Rattlesnake, for the handsome manner in which he allowed me to select
from his collection of drawings those which now appear as illustrations;
and I may express the hope, which in common with many others I entertain,
that the whole of his researches in marine zoology may speedily be laid
before the scientific world. My own collections in Natural History have
been submitted to the examination of various eminent naturalists. Many of
the novelties have already been described, and the remainder will appear
from time to time.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1.

CHAPTER 1.1.

Objects of the Voyage.
Admiralty Instructions.
Hydrographer's Instructions.
Sail from Plymouth.
Arrive at Madeira.
Funchal.
Visit to Curral.
Try for Deep Sea Soundings.
Crossing the Line.
Arrive at Rio de Janeiro.
City of Rio and Neighbourhood.
Dredging in Botafogo Bay.
Slavery.
Religious Processions.
Brazilian Character.
Cross the South Atlantic.
Temperature of the Sea.
Oceanic Birds.
Pelagic Animals.
Arrive at Simon's Bay.
Survey the Bay.
Caffre War.
Observations on the Waves.
Arrive at Mauritius.
Port Louis.
Visit to Pamplemousses.
La Pouce Mountain.
Try for Deep Sea Soundings.
Arrive at Hobart Town.

CHAPTER 1.2.

Arrive at Sydney.
Bramble is attached to the Expedition.
Survey Entrance of Port Jackson and Twofold Bay.
Sail upon our First Northern Cruise.
Arrive at Moreton Bay.
Proceedings there.
Natives at Moreton Island.
Arrive at Port Curtis.
Settlement of North Australia.
Excursions made in Neighbourhood.
Natural Productions.
Call at the Percy Isles.
Port Molle and Cape Upstart.
Unable to find Fresh Water.
Return to Sydney.
Recent Occurrences there.
Sail for Bass Strait.
Visit Port Phillip and Port Dalrymple.
Inspect the Lighthouses of the Strait.

CHAPTER 1.3.

Sail on our Second Northern Cruise.
Entrance to the Inner Passage.
Arrive at Rockingham Bay.
Land Mr. Kennedy's Expedition.
Commence the Survey at Dunk Island.
Communication with Natives.
Barnard Isles.
Botanical Sketch.
Examine a New River.
Frankland Isles.
Find the Cocoanut Palm.
Fitzroy Island.
The Will-o-the-Wisp and her Story.
Trinity Bay.
Animals of a Coral Reef.
Stay at Lizard Island.
Howick, Pelican, and Claremont Isles.
Bird Isles.
Meet party of Natives in Distress.
Cairncross Island.
Arrive at Cape York.

CHAPTER 1.4.

Water the Ship.
Vessel with Supplies arrives.
Natives at Cape York.
Description of the Country and its Productions.
Port Albany considered as a Depot for Steamers.
Sail from Cape York and arrive at Port Essington.
Condition of the Place.
History of the Settlement.
Would be useless as a Colony.
Aborigines.
Leave Port Essington.
Arrive at Sydney.

CHAPTER 1.5.

Fate of Kennedy's Expedition.
Sail on our Third Northern Cruise.
Excursion on Moreton Island.
History of Discoveries on the South-East Coast of New Guinea and the
Louisiade Archipelago, from 1606 to 1846.
Find the Shores of the Louisiade protected by a Barrier Reef.
Beautiful appearances of Rossel Island.
Pass through an opening in the Reef, and enter Coral Haven.
Interview with Natives on Pig Island.
Find them treacherously disposed.
Their mode of Fishing on the Reefs.
Establish a system of Barter alongside the Ship.
Description of the Louisiade Canoes, and mode of management.
Find a Watering Place on South-East Island.
Its Scenery and Productions.
Suspicious conduct of the Natives.
Their Ornaments, etc. described.

CHAPTER 1.6.

Leave Coral Haven.
Brierly Island.
Communication with the Natives.
Description of their Huts.
Bartering for Yams and Cocoa-nuts.
Suspicious conduct of the Natives.
They attack the Surveying Boats.
Calvados Group.
Further communication with the Inhabitants.
Stay at Duchateau Islands.
Their Productions.
Proceedings there.
Duperre Islands.
Unable to find Anchorage.
Pass out to Sea, and proceed to the Westward.
Western termination of the Louisiade Archipelago.
Reach the Coast of New Guinea.

CHAPTER 1.7.

Brumer Islands.
Catamarans and Canoes.
Friendly relations with the Natives of New Guinea.
Are well received at their Village.
Tatooing and Dress of the Women.
The Huts described.
Large Canoe from the Mainland.
Tassai ladies return our visit.
The Natives described.
Their Weapons, Ornaments, Food, etc.
Cul de Sac de l'Orangerie, and Communication with the Natives.
Redscar Bay and its Inhabitants.
Leave the Coast of New Guinea.
Arrive at Cape York.

CHAPTER 1.8.

Rescue a white Woman from Captivity among the Natives.
Her History.
Bramble and boats complete the Survey of Torres Strait.
Wini and the Mulgrave Islanders.
Intercourse with the Cape York Natives.
Nearly quarrel with them at a night dance.
Witness a Native fight.
Discover some fine country.
Incidents of our stay.
Many new Birds found.
Remarks on the Climate, etc. of Cape York.

APPENDIX.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA, MADE DURING THE VOYAGE OF
H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE, DECEMBER 1846 TO JULY 1847, BY LIEUTENANT J. DAYMAN,
R.N.

ABSTRACTS OF MERIDIAN DISTANCES MEASURED DURING THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S.
RATTLESNAKE, 1847 TO 1850, BY CAPTAIN OWEN STANLEY, R.N., F.R.S., AND
LIEUTENANT C.B. YULE, R.N.

OBSERVATIONS OF THE MEAN MAGNETIC INCLINATION, MADE ON SHORE IN THE
VOYAGE OF H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE, BY LIEUTENANT J. DAYMAN, R.N.

ACCOUNT OF THE POLYZOA AND SERTULARIAN ZOOPHYTES, COLLECTED IN THE VOYAGE
OF H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE, BY GEORGE BUSK, ESQUIRE F.R.S.

LIST OF PLATES. VOLUME 1.

CANOE AND NATIVES OF NEW GUINEA.

CUTTING THROUGH THE SCRUB AT ROCKINGHAM BAY.
T. Huxley, delt. Hullmandel & Walton, Lithographers.
T. & W. Boone, Publishers, London. 1852.

LIME CALABASH AND SPATULA.

INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES OF REDSCAR BAY, LOUISIADE ARCHIPELAGO.
T. Huxley, Esquire del.

STONE-HEADED AXE AND FISHHOOK.

PLAN OF PIRON ISLAND CANOE.

LARGE CANOE OF THE LOUISIADE.

VIEW IN WATERING CREEK, SOUTH-EAST ISLAND, LOUISIADE ARCHIPELAGO.
T. Huxley, delt. Hullmandel & Walton, Lithographers.
T. & W. Boone, Publishers, London. 1852.

BRACELET MADE OF A HUMAN JAW.

HUT ON BRIERLY ISLAND, LOUISIADE ARCHIPELAGO.
T. Huxley, delt. Hullmandel & Walton, Lithographers.
T. & W. Boone, Publishers, London. 1852.

END VIEW OF HUT ON BRIERLY ISLAND.

INTERIOR OF HUT ON BRIERLY ISLAND.

CATAMARAN AND NATIVES OF BRUMER ISLAND.

DRUM, BAILER, AND COOKING POT.

VILLAGE OF TASSAI, NEW GUINEA.
Hullmandel & Walton, Lithographers.
T. & W. Boone, Publishers, London. 1852.

SHIELD, SPEARS, BASKET, AND COMB.

PANDEAN PIPES.

WOODEN PILLOW.

NEW GUINEA CANOE IN A SQUALL.

NATIVES OF REDSCAR BAY.

PLAYHOUSE OF BOWER BIRD OF CAPE YORK.

NEW ZOOPHYTES.
C. Busk, delt. W. Wing, lith.
T. & W. Boone, Publishers, London. 1852.
Hullmandel & Walton, Lithographers.

...

VOYAGE OF H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE.

CHAPTER 1.1.

H.M.S. Rattlesnake, one of the old class of 28-gun ships, was
commissioned at Portsmouth on September 24th, 1846, by the late Captain
Owen Stanley, with a complement of 180 officers and men. The nature and
objects of the intended voyage will best be conveyed to the reader
through the medium of the following instructions from the Admiralty, for
the use of which I am indebted to Lieutenant C.B. Yule, who succeeded to
the command of the Rattlesnake, upon the death of our late lamented
Captain, at Sydney, in March 1850, after the successful accomplishment of
the principal objects of the expedition.

BY THE COMMISSIONERS FOR EXECUTING THE OFFICE OF LORD HIGH ADMIRAL OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, ETC.

Whereas, it being the usual practice of vessels returning from the
Australian Colonies, or from the South Sea, to proceed to India through
Torres Strait; and most of those vessels preferring the chance of finding
a convenient opening in the Barrier Reefs to the labour of frequent
anchorage in the Inshore Passage, it was thought fit to send out an
expedition under Captain Francis Blackwood, to determine which was the
best opening that those reefs would afford, and to make such a survey
thereof as would ensure the safety of all vessels which should continue
to adopt that mode of reaching the Strait:

And whereas, although that specific object was successfully achieved by
the survey of Raine Island Passage, and by the erection of a durable
beacon there to render it the more accessible, yet it appears that much
is still to be done in those seas in order to make the approach to the
Strait more secure and certain, as well as to afford the choice of
another entrance farther to the northward in case of vessels overshooting
the latitude of Raine Island by stress of wind, or current:

We have, therefore, thought proper to appoint you to the command of the
Rattlesnake, for the purpose of carrying out these objects; and you are
here by required and directed, when that ship is in every respect ready
for sea, to proceed in her to Madeira for the verification of your
chronometers--from thence to Simon's Bay at the Cape of Good Hope, for a
supply of water, and to land the 50,000 pounds you have been ordered to
convey to that colony; then to make the best of your way to the
Mauritius, to land the treasure (15,000 pounds) entrusted to your charge
for that island; and having so done, to proceed to King George Sound for
the purpose of carrying its exact meridian distance to Sydney, where you
will lose no time in preparing for the execution of the important service
entrusted to you.

The several objects of that service have been drawn up under our
direction by our Hydrographer; but notwithstanding the order in which
they are placed, we leave to your own discretion the several periods of
their performance, and likewise the times of your return to Sydney to
revictual and refit--being satisfied that your zeal in pushing forward
the survey will never outstrip your attention to the health and comfort
of your crew.

You will take the Bramble and her tender, the Castlereagh, under your
orders, and employ them in those places which require vessels of a
lighter draft of water than the Rattlesnake. They are to be attached as
tenders to the Rattlesnake, and to be manned from that ship; and such of
the present crew of the Bramble as may have served five years
continuously, and volunteer to remain on the surveying service in
Australia, are to be entered in the Rattlesnake under the provisions of
the Act of Parliament. The books of the Bramble are to be closed, and she
is to be considered as no longer in commission; and you are here by
authorised, after being joined by her and by the Castlereagh, to enter
ten supernumerary seaman for wages and victuals in the Rattlesnake
(making her total complement 190) to enable you effectively to man the
said two tenders.

In stretching off from the Barrier Reefs to the eastward, in order to
explore the safety of the sea intervening between them and Louisiade and
New Guinea, you will have occasion to approach those shores, in which
case you must be constantly on your guard against the treacherous
disposition of their inhabitants, all barter for refreshments should be
conducted under the eye of an officer, and every pains be taken to avoid
giving any just cause of offence to their prejudices, especially with
respect to their women.

A naturalist having been permitted to accompany you, every reasonable
facility is to be given him in making and preserving his collections.

In the event of this country being involved in hostilities during your
absence, you will take care never to be surprised; but you are to refrain
from any act of aggression towards the vessels or settlements of any
nation with which we may be at war, as expeditions employed in behalf of
discovery and science have always been considered by all civilised
communities as acting under a general safeguard.

You will consider yourself under the command of Rear-Admiral Inglefield,
the Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's ships and vessels on the East
India station, while you are within the limits of that station; and we
have signified to him our desire that he should not divert you from the
survey, nor interfere with your proceedings, except under the pressure of
strong necessity; and that upon all fit occasions he should order you to
be supplied with the stores and provisions of which you may stand in
need; and all officers senior to yourself, with whom you may fall in, are
hereby directed to give you any assistance which may be requisite.

Notwithstanding the 16th article of the 4th section of the 6th chapter of
the Admiralty Instructions, you are, besides your reports to your
Commander-in-Chief, to send brief accounts to our Secretary of your
proceedings, state, and condition: and you will make known to him, in due
time, the nature and quantity of any supplies of which you may be
absolutely in want, and which may have to be forwarded to you from
England.

With our Hydrographer you are by every opportunity in your power to keep
up a constant correspondence; you are to report to him in full detail all
your proceedings; and you are to transmit to him, whenever possible,
tracings of all charts and plans that you may have completed, accompanied
by sailing directions, and with notices of any facts or discoveries which
may be of interest to navigation.

Having completed the service herein set forth, you are to return in the
Rattlesnake, along with the Bramble, to Spithead, when you will receive
directions for your further proceedings. If the Bramble should, however,
by that time be in an unfit state to undertake the voyage to Europe, it
may perhaps be prudent to dispose of her, under the sanction of the
Commander-in-Chief.

In the event of any unfortunate accident befalling yourself, the officer
on whom the command may in consequence devolve, is hereby required and
directed to carry out, as far as in him lies, the foregoing orders and
instructions.

Given under our hands, this 1st December 1846.

Signed:

CHARLES ADAM.

JNO. D. DUNDAS.

To OWEN STANLEY, Esquire,

Captain of her Majesty's Surveying Vessel Rattlesnake, at Plymouth,

By command of their Lordships,

Signed: H.G. WARD.

...

HYDROGRAPHER'S INSTRUCTIONS.

In connection with the preceding general instructions to Captain Stanley,
it will be necessary to give a portion of those more explicit directions
furnished by the Hydrographer, Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort.

EXTRACTS FROM HYDROGRAPHIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR CAPTAIN STANLEY.

On your arrival at Sydney you should take the earliest opportunity of
communicating with Lieutenant Yule, in order to learn how much has been
executed, by the Bramble and her tender, of the orders which he received
from Captain Blackwood, and you will no doubt avail yourself of his long
experience in those seas in digesting your plan of future operations.

A letter from the Colonial Office having recently apprised their
Lordships that it is the intention of her Majesty's Government to form a
new settlement at Hervey Bay, and having requested that it may be duly
examined with that view, your first undertaking, after leaving Sydney,
should be to repair to that place, and to make an efficient survey of the
whole bay, extending it down through the channel into Wide Bay, and
marking the best anchorages, the most convenient landing-places, and the
several parts where water may be found. And as it appears that Colonel
Barney, R.E. is engaged in the same inquiry, it will be prudent to act in
concert with him, and to give him a copy of such parts of it as may suit
his purposes.

In your way to this district, and indeed on every part of the shores of
Australia, you should lose no fair opportunity of verifying the
positions--of multiplying the soundings--and of improving the smaller
details of the coast as laid down by Captain P.P. King in his excellent
Survey, but which he had not time or means to effect with the same
accuracy that will be in your power. By carrying on this system of
correction and improvement in our present charts from Hervey Bay along
the narrow navigation which is generally known by the name of the Inshore
Passage, between the coast and the Barrier Reefs, a very great benefit
will be conferred on those masters of vessels who would be the more
readily inclined to adopt that channel, if certain parts of it were so
clearly delineated, and the soundings so spread on either side of the
tracks, that they could sometimes continue under sail during the night.
However necessary it was, and is, to contribute as much as possible to
the safety of those vessels who choose the outer voyage by the Barrier
Reefs, it is not the less our duty to facilitate the navigation of the
Inshore Passage to all vessels who prefer its tranquillity and security
to the risk of the former; and your labours for the accomplishment of
this object will prove to be of peculiar importance when steam
communication between Singapore and Sydney shall be established.

In the general and searching examination of those parts of the Coral Sea
which are likely to be traversed by ships steering for Torres Strait, you
will be obliged to regulate your movements by the periodic changes of the
weather and monsoons--probably beginning to windward, and dropping gently
to leeward by close and well-arranged traverses, and by spreading out
your three vessels to a convenient distance apart. This great expanse of
sea, which may be said to stretch from Lord Howe's Island to New
Caledonia and to the Louisiade, would no doubt require many years work in
order to accomplish that object; but, by dividing it into definite zones
or squares, and by fully sifting those which you may undertake, a certain
quantity of distinct knowledge will be gained. Navigators in crossing
those zones will then be sure of their safety, and future surveyors will
know exactly on what parts to expend their labours.

In carefully exploring the northernmost, and apparently the safest
entrance from the Pacific, which may be called Bligh's Channel, you will
connect the islands with a survey of the coast of New Guinea, as well as
with the edge of the Warrior Reef, and as there are throughout moderate
soundings, you will probably be able to draw up such clear directions as
will enable the mariner to use it in moderate weather by night, and to
beat through it at all times. Characteristic views of the coast and hills
of New Guinea, as well as of each island, both from the eastward and
westward, will greatly assist him by the immediate certainty of his
landfall, and will also materially add to your means of giving proper
marks and bearings for avoiding the dangers.

In Torres Strait you will find much to do--not only has a new rock been
discovered in the middle of the Endeavour Channel, but the water in its
western opening is only four and a half fathoms, and there seems no
reason for not believing that Prince of Wales Channel is safer, easier,
and more direct. But before we can decide upon that point, an accurate
survey must be made of it, throughout its length and breadth, including
the adjacent islands, and showing their anchorages and watering-places,
as well as the nature of the soil, and the kind of timber they produce,
along with a full investigation of the tides.

The connection of that Strait with Bligh's Farewell should also be
examined, for many circumstances may render it highly necessary that the
Admiralty should be made aware of what means there are to pass from one
ocean to the other, without being observed from Cape York.

On this latter Cape Government have for some time contemplated a station,
and it will therefore be very desirable to fix upon a convenient but
secure anchorage in its neighbourhood. Our latest surveys do not show
much promise of finding such a port; but, perhaps, inside the reefs
beyond Peak Point, or more likely between Albany Island and the main, a
snug place may be discovered for that purpose.

In tracing out the approach to Bligh's Farewell, you will be led to
examine the southern face of New Guinea as far as Cape Valsche; but after
verifying the position of this point, it will be prudent to quit the
shores of that island, and not to meddle with any part of it over which
the Dutch claim jurisdiction.

When you have arrived at this distant point, the south-east monsoon will
probably render it necessary to repair to Port Essington for such
supplies as may by previous arrangement have been sent there for you from
Sydney; or perhaps unforeseen events might render it more expedient to
proceed for refreshments to some of the islands in the Arafura Sea, or it
is possible to one of the Dutch settlements in Java. And in either of
these two latter cases you should make a complete survey of the island to
which you have proceeded, or you should select any one of the eastern
passages from Bally to Floris most convenient to the object you have in
view, and then lay it down with precision. Of the many well-known
passages between the innumerable islands of that great Archipelago, there
is not one which has ever been charted with plausible accuracy; and it
cannot be too strongly impressed on your mind that hydrography is better
served by one accurate chart than by ten approximate sketches.

The several objects of this highly interesting expedition having thus
been briefly enumerated, I have only to remind you that their Lordships
do not prescribe to you the order in which they are to be executed,
leaving it to your own prudence, and to your experience in those
climates, so to arrange them that each part of your survey shall be
complete in itself, and that each step in your progress shall be
conducive to its successor.

Signed: F. BEAUFORT,

HYDROGRAPHER.

...

SAIL FROM PLYMOUTH.

The Rattlesnake left Spithead on December 3rd, and on the 11th took her
final departure from Plymouth, which place we had called at to complete
her fittings, swing the ship a second time to ascertain the amount of
local attraction, and receive some specie for the Cape of Good Hope and
the Mauritius. Being favoured by strong northerly winds, we reached
Madeira on December 18th, after a quick, but most uncomfortable passage;
during the greater part of which the main and lower decks were partially
flooded, owing to the inefficiency of the scuppers, and the leaky state
of nearly every port and scuttle in the ship.

ARRIVE AT MADEIRA.

December 20th.

The scenery of Madeira has been so often described by voyagers, who, from
Cook downwards, have made it the first stage in their circumnavigation of
the globe, as to render superfluous more than a few passing allusions.
When near enough to distinguish the minor features of the island, the
terraced slopes of the mountainsides converted into vineyards and gardens
studded with the huts of the peasantry, presented a pleasing aspect to
visitors, whom a week's sailing had brought from the snow-clad shores of
England. Here and there a whitewashed chapel or picturesque villa lent a
charm to the scenery by contrasting strongly with the patches of green
upon the slopes, the deep blue of the ocean, and the delicate white of
the ever-changing clouds of mist which rolled incessantly along, while
the rugged summit of the island, and the deep ravines radiating towards
the coast-range of precipitous cliffs, gave an air of wildness to the
scene.

FUNCHAL.

The town of Funchal, said to contain about 25,000 inhabitants, is
situated upon the slope of an amphitheatre of hills, behind the only
anchorage of the island. The finest view is obtained from the balcony of
a church dedicated to Nossa Senhora de Monte, situated at a considerable
elevation above the town. Here one looks down upon the numerous quintas
and cottages of the suburbs embosomed in gardens and vineyards, the
orange groves and clumps of chestnut trees, the snow-white houses of
Funchal with its churches and public buildings, the citadel frowning over
the town, the calm waters of the bay with the vessels at anchor gently
heaving to and fro on the long westerly swell, the Ilheo rock and
batteries, the bold headlands, and the dim outline of the distant
Desertas. Some of the streets are pleasantly shaded by rows of
plane-trees (Platanus occidentalis). Several deep ravines passing through
the town are carefully walled in, to prevent damage being done by the
torrents which occasionally sweep down the mountain, carrying everything
before them. From the steepness of the narrow roads and streets, wheeled
vehicles can scarcely be used, and sledges drawn by small bullocks supply
their place, while the wine, the chief article of export, is conveyed
into the town in goat-skins carried on the shoulder.

VISIT TO CURRAL.

December 23rd.

Few strangers remain long in Madeira without paying a visit to the
Curral, and a large party of us left the ship for that purpose this
morning. At first the road led through a series of narrow lanes
frequently separated from the fields and vineyards on either side by
hedges of roses, honeysuckle, jasmine and fuchsias; now and then passing
under successions of trellis-work covered by the vines when in full
vigour, and then forming long shady vistas. For several miles we wound
our way along the hillsides, down deep ravines, and up steep rocky
slopes. In spite of the ruggedness of the path, our horses progressed
with wonderful alacrity, although occasionally impeded by the additional
weight of the attendant burroqueros holding on by the tail, and laughing
at our efforts to dislodge them. On reaching the shoulder of one of the
hills, we found the ravines and valleys below us filled with dense mist.
Here, at an elevation of 2500 feet, a species of spruce-like pine
appeared to thrive well. The path, which at times is not more than three
feet wide, now winds along the sides of the mountain with many sharp
turnings; heading numerous ravines, the frightful nature of which was
partially concealed by the obscurity of the mist.

We halted at the Pass of the Curral, to which Captain Stanley's
barometrical observations* assign an elevation of 2700 feet above the
sea. Shortly afterwards the mist gradually dissolved, unveiling the
magnificent scenery below and around. The Curral gives one the idea of a
vast crater** of irregular form, surrounded by a rugged wall (upwards of
a thousand feet in height) of grey weather-beaten rock cut down into wild
precipices, intersected by ravines and slopes of debris mixed up with
masses of crumbling rock, and towering upwards into fantastic peaks. A
winding path leads to the bottom--a small fertile valley watered by a
streamlet which leaves it by a deep gorge on the left, and forms a
picturesque waterfall on its way to the sea. The scattered rustic huts
and snow-white chapel of the Curral complete the picture of this peaceful
and secluded spot, buried in the very heart of the mountains.

(*Footnote. The height of the Pico dos Bodes, determined in the usual way
by the mountain barometer, was found by Lieutenant Dayman to be 3677
feet; his observations on the magnetic dip and intensity (for which see
the Appendix) are interesting, as showing a great amount of local
attraction at the summit.)

(**Footnote. There is reason to suppose the Curral to have been the
principal, although not the only centre of that submarine volcanic
action, during the continuance of which Madeira first emerged from the
sea, an event, which the evidence afforded by the limestone fossils of
St. Vincente (on the north side of the island) associates with the
tertiary epoch. See Paper by Dr. J. Macaulay in Edinburgh New
Philosophical Journal for October 1840.)

Although it is now the middle of winter, today's excursion afforded many
subjects of interest to a naturalist. Some beautiful ferns, of which even
the commonest one (Adiantum capillus-veneris) would have been much prized
by an English botanist as a very rare British species, occurred on the
dripping rocks by the roadside, and many wild plants were in flower on
the lower grounds. Even butterflies of three kinds, two of which (Colias
edusa and Cynthia cardui) are also found in Britain, occurred, although
in small numbers, and at the Pass of the Curral coleoptera of the genera
Pimelea and Scarites, were met with under stones along with minute
landshells, Bulimus lubricus, Clausilia deltostoma, and a Pupa.

LEAVE MADEIRA.

After a stay of eight days, we left Madeira for Rio de Janeiro, and on
January 2nd picked up the south-east trade wind, and passed through the
Cape de Verde Islands to the southward between Mayo and St. Jago. Two
days afterwards, in latitude 9 degrees 30 minutes North, and longitude 22
degrees 40 minutes West, a slight momentary shock, supposed to be the
effect of an earthquake, was felt throughout the ship.

TRY FOR DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS.

On the 11th an attempt was made to strike deep-sea soundings, but failed
from the drawing of a splice used to connect two portions of the
spun-yarn employed. On the following day the attempt was repeated by
Captain Stanley, unsuccessfully, however, no bottom having been obtained
at a depth of 2400 fathoms. Still a record of the experiment may be
considered interesting. At three P.M., when nearly becalmed in latitude 1
degree North, and longitude 22 degrees 30 minutes West (a few hours
previous to meeting the south-east trade) the second cutter was lowered
with 2600 fathoms of line (six yarn spun-yarn) in her, coiled in casks,
and a weight consisting of twelve 32 pounds shot--in all, 384 pounds,
secured in a net bag of spun yarn. The jolly-boat was in attendance to
tow the cutter as fast to whirlwind as she drifted, so as to keep the
line during the time it was running out as nearly up and down as
possible. The following table shows when each 100 fathoms passed over the
stern, the whole 2400 fathoms of line having taken 38 minutes and 40
seconds to run out:

COLUMN 1: FATHOM MARK.
COLUMN 2: TIME OF PASSING (IN MINUTES AND SECONDS).

100 : 1 0.
200 : 2 5.
300 : 2 30.
400 : 3 35.
500 : 5 0.
600 : 6 15.
700 : 7 35.
800 : 9 0.
900 : 10 35.
1000 : 12 40.
1100 : 13 30.
1200 : 15 10.
1300 : 17 5.
1400 : 19 0.
1500 : 20 50.
1600 : 22 30.
1700 : 24 25.
1800 : 26 30.
1900 : 29 10.
2000 : 31 0.
2100 : 32 55.
2200 : 35 0.
2300 : 36 55.
2400 : 38 40.

CROSSING THE LINE.

The forenoon of January 13th was employed in the performance of the usual
ceremonies on crossing the line, a custom now happily falling into
desuetude--I allude to it merely for the purpose of mentioning its
unfortunate consequences in the present instance; for, although the whole
proceeding was conducted with the greatest good humour, we had soon
afterwards to lament the occurrence of a fatal case of pleurisy, besides
another scarcely less severe, believed by the medical officers to have
been induced by forcible and continued submersion in what is technically
called the pond, one part of the performance which novices are obliged to
submit to during these marine Saturnalia.

The most interesting occurrence in natural history during the passage, in
addition to the usual accompaniments of flying fish, dolphins, physaliae
and velellae, was our finding, in the neighbourhood of the equator,
considerable numbers of a rare British bird, Thalassidroma leachii, a
species of storm-petrel, not before known to extend its range to the
tropics; it was distributed between the tropic of Cancer and latitude 5
degrees South.

As we approached the South American coast, the rates of several of our
seventeen chronometers (fifteen Government and two private ones) were
found to have strangely altered, thus reducing the value of our meridian
distance between Madeira and Rio; this effect was ascribed to the firing
of shotted guns when exercising at general quarters, a practice which in
consequence was not afterwards repeated.

RIO DE JANEIRO.

January 23rd.

I shall not soon forget my first view of the shores of the new world. The
morning was beautifully fine, and with a light breeze scarcely sufficient
to cause a ripple on the water, we were slipping past the high and
remarkable promontory of Cape Frio, which at first appeared like an
island. A long beach of glittering sand stretched away to the westward,
and was lost in the distance; behind this a strip of undulating country,
clad here and there in the richest green, was backed by a range of
distant wooded hills, on which many clumps of palms could be
distinguished. Few harbours in the world present a more imposing entrance
than that of Rio de Janeiro. Several islands lie off the opening, and on
either side the coast range terminates in broken hills and ridges of
granite, one of which, Pao d'Acucar, the Sugarloaf of the English, rises
at once from near the water's edge to the height of 900 feet, as an
apparently inaccessible peak, and forms the well-known landmark for the
entrance.

Passing the narrows (where the width is a mile and a quarter) strongly
guarded by fortifications, of which Fort Santa Cruz, an extensive work,
with several tiers of guns occupying a rocky point, is the principal, the
harbour widens out with beautiful sandy bays on either side, and rocky
headlands covered with luxuriant vegetation. Here the view of the city of
Rio de Janeiro is magnificent. The glare of the red-tiled buildings,
whitewashed or painted yellow, is relieved by the varied beauty of the
suburbs and gardens, and the numerous wooded eminences crowned by
churches and other conspicuous public edifices. Beyond the city the
harbour again widens out to form an immense basin, studded with green
islands, extending backwards some seventeen or eighteen miles further
towards the foot of the Organ Mountains, remarkable for their pinnacled
summits, the highest of which attains an elevation of 7800 feet above the
sea.

The harbour presented a busy scene from our anchorage. The water was
alive with small craft of every description, from the large
felucca-rigged boat down to the fishing canoe simply constructed of a
hollowed-out log, and steamers crowded with passengers plied between the
city and the opposite shore. The seabreeze died away, and was succeeded
by a sultry calm; after a short interval, the grateful land wind, laden
with sweet odours, advanced as a dark line slowly stealing along the
surface of the water, and the deep boom of the evening gun echoing from
hill to hill may be said appropriately to have closed the scene.

CITY OF RIO AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Landing at the Largo do Paco, or palace square, my first favourable
impressions of the city of Rio de Janeiro were somewhat lessened by the
stench arising from offal on the beach, and the vicinity of the market,
under the conjoined influence of a perfect calm and a temperature of 90
degrees in the shade. The palace, now used by the emperor only on court
days, has two sides of the large irregular square in which it is
situated, occupied by shops and other private buildings. Close by is the
market, which the stranger, especially if a naturalist, will do well to
visit. The variety of fruits and vegetables is great, that of fish
scarcely less so. On the muddy shore in the background, the fishing
canoes are drawn up on their arrival to discharge their cargoes, chiefly
at this time consisting of a kind of sprat and an anchovy with a broad
lateral silvery band. Baskets of land crabs covered with black slimy mud,
of handsome Lupeae, and the large well-flavoured prawns, called
Cameroons, are scattered about, and even small sharks (Zygaenae, etc.)
and cuttlefish are exposed for sale.

The streets, which, with few exceptions, are very narrow, are paved with
large rough stones--they have usually a gutter in the centre, and
occasionally a narrow pavement on each side. For building purposes,
unhewn granite is chiefly used, the walls being afterwards smoothed over
with a layer of plaster, whitewashed, and margined with yellow or blue.
The two principal streets are the Rua Direita, the widest in the city,
and the principal scene of commercial transactions, and the narrow Rua do
Ouvidor, filled with shops, many of which equal in the richness and
variety of their goods the most splendid establishments of European
capitals. Of these the most tempting, and the most dangerous to enter
with a well-filled purse, is the famous feather-flower manufactory of
Mme. Finot, where the gorgeous plumage of humming birds and others of the
feathered tribe is fabricated into wreaths and bouquets of all kinds.
Although the absence of sewerage is everywhere apparent, the town is well
supplied with water from numerous large fountains, filled by pipes from
an aqueduct five or six miles in length, communicating with the Corcovado
mountain. One is struck with the comparative absence of wheeled vehicles
in the streets of Rio. Now and then a clumsy caleche is driven past by a
negro postillion, in blue livery and jackboots, riding a second horse
yoked outside the shafts, and omnibuses drawn by four or six mules, are
not infrequently met with, and seem to be much patronised.

Many of the walks in the neighbourhood of the city are exceedingly
beautiful; one of the pleasantest leads along the line of the aqueduct.
Here the botanist fresh from Europe, will find subjects of interest at
every step, and the entomologist may revel to his heart's content among
gaudily coloured Heliconiae, Hesperiae, and Erycinae, or watch the larger
butterflies of the restricted genus Papilio, slowly winging their lazy
flight among the trees just beyond the reach of his insect net. A common
butterfly here (Peridromia amphinome) has the singular habit of
frequenting the trunks and limbs of the trees where it rests with
expanded wings, and generally manages adroitly to shift its position, and
escape when swept at with the net. Some large dark Cicadae are common
among the branches, and the air often resounds with their harsh grating
cries, especially towards evening. On the trunks of various trees along
the path, especially a thorny-stemmed Bombax, the pretty Bulimus
papyraceus is common, with an occasional B. auris-leporis, but I never
during my walks was so fortunate as to find any of the more magnificent
of the Brazilian landshells--for example, B. ovalis, a noble species,
four or five inches in length, of which I have bought live specimens in
the market.

Some of the lanes, in which, on one occasion I lost my way, about dusk,
would have reminded me of those of the south of England on a fine
autumnal eve, were it not for the scattered palms and papaw trees in the
hedgerows, and the hedges themselves occasionally consisting of the
coffee plant, concealing clumps of banana and sugar-cane. The Cicadae
were singing their evening hymn from the branches overhead, and in due
time the fireflies came out in all their glory.

DREDGING IN BOTAFOGO BAY.

I had looked forward with eager anticipation to the result of the first
dredging of the Voyage. None of the ship's boats could be spared, so I
hired one pulled by four negro slaves, who, although strong active
fellows, had great objections to straining their backs at the oar, when
the dredge was down. No sieve having been supplied, we were obliged to
sift the contents of the dredge through our hands--a tedious and
superficial mode of examination. Still some fine specimens of a curious
flat sea-urchin (Encope marginata) and a few shells, encouraged us to
persevere. Two days after, Mr. Huxley and myself set to work in Botafogo
Bay, provided with a wire-gauze meat cover, and a curious machine for
cleaning rice; these answered capitally as substitutes for sieves, and
enabled us by a thorough examination of the contents of the dredge, to
detect about forty-five species of mollusca and radiata, some of which
were new to science. Among these acquisitions I may mention a new species
of Amphioxus, a genus of small fishes exhibiting more anomalies than any
other known to ichthyologists, and the lowest organisation found in the
class; it somewhat resembles the sand-eels of Britain in habits, like
them moving with extraordinary rapidity through the sand. By dint of
bribery and ridicule, we had at length managed to get our boatmen to work
tolerably well; and when we were alike well roasted by the sun and
repeatedly drenched, besides being tired out and hungry, they had become
quite submissive, and exchanged their grumbling for merriment. A more
lovely spot can scarcely be found, than the secluded bay of Botafogo with
its pretty village, and the noble Corcovado mountain immediately behind,
and we paid it other visits.

SLAVERY.

One of the principal characteristics of Rio is slavery. Slaves here
perform the work of beasts of burden; and in the business parts of the
city the attention of a stranger is sure to be arrested by gangs of them
heavily laden, proceeding at a jog-trot, timing their steps to a
monotonous song and the noise of a tin rattle filled with stones, carried
by their leader. What their domestic condition and treatment may be, I
know not, but, among the slaves one sees out of doors, the frequency of
iron collars round the neck, and even masks of tin, concealing the lower
part of the face, and secured behind with a padlock, would seem to
indicate extreme brutality in those capable of resorting to such means of
punishment. Yet these, I was told, were rare exceptions, the Brazilians
not being worse task-masters than the people of other slave-holding
countries--and such may be the case.

RELIGIOUS PROCESSIONS.

Whatever he may think of the true state of religious feeling, it soon
becomes obvious to a stranger that great care is taken to celebrate the
numerous festivals of the Church with all possible pomp and splendour.
One day I happened to encounter a procession in honour of St. Januarius,
the patron saint of Rio. The number of ecclesiastics taking a part
amounted to several hundreds, and a body of military brought up the rear.
The streets and windows were crowded with people in their holiday
costume, bands of music were playing, bells were ringing, flowers were
scattered about and showered down from the houses. The profusion of
tinsel and embroidery was very great, and the balconies and windows in
the line of procession were hung with rich brocade in all the colours of
the rainbow.

BRAZILIAN CHARACTER.

A short stay, such as ours, afforded very limited opportunities of
judging of the national character; and my impressions on this point were,
probably, often erroneous. The Brazilians and English did not then
reciprocate very cordially, on account of the existing state of
international relations. Of late years great advances appear to have been
made upon the mother-country, judging from the increasing liberality of
their institutions, the establishment of commercial relations abroad, the
freedom of discussion and influence of the press, the attention paid to
public education (especially of the middle classes) the support granted
to literature and science, and the declining influence of the priesthood
in secular matters. The national character, however, can scarcely be
considered as fully formed; the Brazilians have been too recently
emancipated from the thraldom of a modified despotism to have made, as
yet, any very great progress in developing the elements of national
prosperity and greatness which the vast empire of Brazil so abundantly
possesses, and the foul blot of slavery, with its debasing influence,
still remains untouched.

CROSS THE SOUTH ATLANTIC.

On February 2nd we sailed from Rio for the Cape of Good Hope. The morning
being calm, we were towed out by the boats of the squadron until a light
air, the precursor of the seabreeze, set in. While hove-to outside the
entrance, a haul of the dredge brought up the rare Terebratula rosea, and
a small shell of a new genus, allied to Rissoa. The remainder of the day
and part of the succeeding one were spent in a fruitless search for a
shoal said to exist in the neighbourhood, to which Captain Stanley's
attention had been drawn by Captain Broughton, of H.M.S. Curacao.

At one P.M. of each day, when the weather was favourable, the ship was
hove-to for the purpose of obtaining observations on the temperature of
the water at considerable depths, under the superintendence of Lieutenant
Dayman. As these were continued during our outward voyage as far as Van
Diemen's Land, and the number of observations amounted to 69, the results
will more clearly be understood if exhibited in a tabular form, for which
the reader is referred to the Appendix. "Two of the Sixe's thermometers
were attached, one at the bottom of the line of 370 fathoms, the other
150 fathoms higher up. The depth recorded is that given by Massey's
patent sounding machine. As the same quantity of line was always used,
the difference of depth of each day should be trifling, varying only in
proportion to the ship's drift; yet on several occasions the depth
recorded by the machine gives as much as 100 fathoms short of the
quantity of line let out."*

(*Footnote. Lieutenant Dayman, R.N.)

BOAT CAPSIZED.

While engaged in sounding, a process which usually occupied
three-quarters of an hour, a boat was always at my service when birds
were about the ship, and the state of the sea admitted of going after
them--by this means many species of petrels were obtained for the
collection. On one of these occasions, owing to a mistake in lowering the
stern boat before the ship had quite lost her way through the water, one
of the falls could not be unhooked in time; consequently the boat was
dragged over on her broadside, and finally capsized with eight people in
her. Some reached one of the life-buoys, which was instantly let go, the
others managed to roll the boat over and right her, full of water. All
were eventually picked up by the leeward quarter-boat; the weather one,
from the shortness of the davits, would not clear the ship's side, but
turned over on her bilge, dipping in the water, and was rendered
ineffective when most wanted. This defect in the davits was afterwards
remedied by the substitution of other and longer ones, which had formerly
belonged to H.M. steam vessel Thunderbolt, wrecked at Algoa Bay a short
time previously.

OCEANIC BIRDS.

Among many interesting birds* procured in the above-mentioned manner, I
may allude to Puffinus cinereus, a European species of shearwater, which
was found to be generally distributed across the South Atlantic between
the meridians of 28 degrees West and 1 1/2 degrees East; on two
successive days, while in the neighbourhood of Tristan da Cunha, myriads
of these birds passed the ship to the westward, apparently coming from
that island. A few days afterwards, while 480 miles from the nearest
land, we caught a beautiful tern (Sterna melanorhyncha) hitherto
considered to be peculiar to Australia.

(*Footnote. For the occurrence of Procellariadae during our outward
voyage, with a view to determine the geographical distribution of the
species met with by me, see Contributions to Ornithology by Sir W.
Jardine, Bart. page 94.)

PELAGIC ANIMALS.

On several occasions the towing net* produced a rich harvest, especially
one day when almost becalmed in latitude 34 degrees 40 minutes South and
longitude 4 degrees West. The surface of the water was absolutely teeming
with marine animals. Of these a small Physalia and a Velella (V.
emarginata ?) were the most plentiful. The latter curious animal,
consists of a flat oval expansion, an inch and a half in length,
furnished below with numerous cirrhi and a proboscidiform mouth, and
above with an obliquely vertical crest, the whole of a rich blue colour
with white lines and dots, the soft parts conceal a transparent
cartilaginous framework. The crest acts as a tiny sail (hence the name)
and communicates to the animal a slow rotatory movement while drifting
before the wind. Two kinds of Janthinae (J. globosa and J. exigua)
molluscs with a fragile, snail-like shell, and a vesicular float, were
drifting about, and, together with a very active, silvery-blue Idotea,
half an inch long, prayed upon the Velellae. At another time, among many
other pelagic crustacea, we obtained three kinds of Erichthus, a genus
remarkable for the glassy transparency of its species, also Hyalaea
inflexa and H. tridentata, curious pteropodous molluscs which swim near
the surface.

(*Footnote. Not having seen a description of this useful instrument, I
may mention that the kind used by Mr. Huxley and myself, consisted of a
bag of bunting (used for flags) two feet deep, the mouth of which is sewn
round a wooden hoop fourteen inches in diameter; three pieces of cord, a
foot and a half long, are secured to the hoop at equal intervals and have
their ends tied together. When in use the net is towed astern, clear of
the ship's wake, by a stout cord secured to one of the quarter-boats or
held in the hand. The scope of line required is regulated by the speed of
the vessel at the time, and the amount of strain caused by the partially
submerged net.)

ARRIVE AT SIMON'S BAY.

On March 8th, we anchored in Simon's Bay; our passage from Rio de
Janeiro, contrary to expectation, had thus occupied upwards of five
weeks, owing to the prevalence of light easterly winds (from north-east
to south-east) instead of the westerly breezes to be looked for to the
southward of latitude 35 degrees South. We were fortunate, however, in
having fine weather during the greater part of that time.

The period of our stay at the Cape of Good Hope was devoted to the
construction of a chart of Simon's Bay and its neighbourhood, which has
since been incorporated with the previous survey of Captain Sir Edward
Belcher in H.M.S. Samarang, and published without acknowledgment. The
requisite shore observations were made by Captain Stanley and Mr. Obree,
while Lieutenants Dayman and Simpson conducted the sounding. Our
detention was lengthened by a succession of south-east gales, and the
state of the weather throughout was such that during the period of
twenty-one days the sounding boats were able to work on six only--the
other fine days were devoted to swinging the ships for magnetical
purposes. It was also intended to survey the Whittle shoal in False Bay,
but when we sailed, the weather was so thick and unsettled, that Captain
Stanley was reluctantly obliged to give it up.

SIMON'S TOWN.

Simon's Town is a small straggling place of scarcely any importance,
except in connection with the naval establishment kept up here--dockyard,
hospital, etc.--this being the headquarters of the Cape station. It is
distant from Cape Town twenty-three miles. The neighbourhood is
singularly dreary and barren, with comparatively little level ground, and
scarcely any susceptible of cultivation. I have often been struck with
the great general similarity between the barren and sandy tracts of this
district, and many parts of New South Wales, where sandstone is the
prevailing rock. In both countries there are the same low scrubby bushes,
at the Cape consisting of Heaths and Proteae, and in Australia of
Epacridae and Banksiae--the last the honeysuckles of the Colonists. Even
the beautiful sunbirds of the Cape, frequenting especially the flowers of
the Proteae, are represented by such of the Australian honeysuckers as
resort to the Banksiae.

CAFFRE WAR.

We found the Cape Colony suffering from the long continuance of the
Caffre war. As a natural consequence, the price of everything had risen,
and there was little specie left in Cape Town. All the troops had been
sent to the frontier; a party of bluejackets from the flagship at one
time performed garrison duty at Cape Town; the emergency was so great
that even some detachments of troops on their way back to England after
long service in India, having put in at the Cape for refreshments, were
detained and sent to Algoa Bay. We were all heartily tired of Simon's Bay
long before leaving it; not the less so from having this all engrossing
Caffre war dinned into our ears from morning to night as an excuse for
high prices, and sometimes for extortions, which I had before supposed to
be peculiar to new colonies.

On April 10th we left Simon's Bay for Mauritius. Our passage of
twenty-four days presented little remarkable. We experienced every
gradation between a calm and a heavy north-east gale; during the
continuance of one of the latter, we passed near the Slot Van Capel bank
of the old charts, the existence of which it was of importance to verify;
* but the heavy confused sea, such as one would expect to find on a bank
during a gale, rendered it dangerous to heave-to to try for soundings.

(*Footnote. I have since learned that H.M.S. Meander, Captain the
Honourable H. Keppel, struck soundings on this bank, but have not been
able to procure the particulars.)

OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAVES.

During this passage some important observations were made by Captain
Stanley and Lieutenant Dayman to determine the height, length, and
velocity of the waves. The results will be apparent from the following
tabular view.*

COLUMN 1: DATE 1847.
COLUMN 2: NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS.
COLUMN 3: FORCE OF WIND NUMBER.
COLUMN 4: SPEED OF SHIP IN KNOTS.
COLUMN 5: HEIGHT OF WAVE IN FEET.
COLUMN 6: LENGTH OF WAVE IN FATHOMS.
COLUMN 7: SPEED OF WAVE IN MILES.
COLUMN 8: REMARKS.

April 21 : - : 5 : 7.2 : 22 : 55 : 27.0 : Ship before the wind with a
heavy following sea.

April 23 : 8 : 5 : 6 : 20 : 43 : 24.5 : Ship before the wind with a heavy
following sea.

April 24 : 6 : 4 : 6 : 20 : 50 : 24 : Ship before the wind with a heavy
following sea.

April 25 : 9 : 4 : 5 : - : 37 : 22.1 : Ship before the wind with a heavy
following sea.

April 26 : - : 4 : 6 : - : 33 : 22.1 : Ship before the wind with a heavy
following sea.

May 2 : 6 : 4 and 5 : 7 : 22 : 57 : 26.2 : Sea irregular, observations
not very good.

May 3 : 7 : 5 : 7 and 8 : 17 : 35 : 22.0 : Wind and sea on port quarter.

(*Footnote. The height was determined by watching when the crest of the
wave was on a level with the observer's eye (the height above the trough
of the sea being known) either while standing on the poop or in the
mizzen rigging; this must be reduced to one half to obtain the absolute
height of the wave above the mean level of the sea. The length and
velocity were found by noting the time taken by the wave to traverse the
measured distance (100 yards) between the ship and the spar towing
astern. In column 3, the number 4 denotes a moderate breeze, and 5 a
fresh breeze.)

Oceanic birds were plentiful in our wake, and gradually dropped off as we
approached the tropic. On May 2 the vicinity of land was denoted by the
appearance of four tropic birds (Phaeton aethereus) and a tern; and next
evening, shortly before sunset, we sighted the Island of Mauritius, the
Bamboo Mountain at Grand Port being the first part seen. We rapidly
closed in with the land, and during the night were near enough to see the
surf on the coral reefs fringing the shore, it assuming the appearance,
in the bright moonshine, of a sandy beach of glittering whiteness.

Captain Stanley remarks, that "The reef on the east side of the island
projects further than is laid down on the Admiralty chart, and as from
the prevalence of the south-east trade a current is constantly setting to
the westward, vessels approaching this part of the island should be very
cautious, even with a leading wind, not to get too close in with the land
until the passage between Gunner's and Round Island is well under the
lee. At night, also, the distance from the land, when off the north-east
end of the island, is very deceiving, as the plains of Pamplemousses are
very low. The Rattlesnake, in passing at night between the Gunner's Quoin
and Flat Island, experienced a strong set of nearly three miles an hour
to the westward, which at times is said to be much stronger, and partakes
in some measure of the nature of the tide."

ARRIVE AT MAURITIUS.

May 4th.

When I came upon deck I found that we had rounded the north end of the
island, and were beating up for Port Louis. It was a delightful morning,
with bright sunshine, smooth water, a gentle trade wind, and an unclouded
sky. The view was very beautiful, and quite equalled my expectations,
based, though they were, upon the glowing descriptions of La Pierre. The
extremes of the island are low, but the centre is occupied by the
partially wooded crest-like ridge, rugged and pinnacled, connecting La
Pouce with the famous Peter Botte. Viewed in a mass, the country looked
burnt up, of a dull yellowish red hue--the higher hills were dark green,
and the lower grounds partially so. To the left was the fertile plain of
Pamplemousses, even now, in the beginning of winter, one mass of green of
various degrees of intensity. As we approached we began to make out more
distinctly the sugar plantations, the groves of coconut trees and
casuarinas, the features of the town, and the dense mass of shipping in
the harbour. We hove to off the Bell Buoy (denoting the outer anchorage)
for the steamer which towed us to our berth abreast of Cooper's Island.

PORT LOUIS.

The harbour of Port Louis is of singular formation. It is entered by a
narrow passage or break in the coral reef surrounding the island, leading
into a large basin, the central portion only of which has sufficient
water for shipping. The bottom is mud, which, they say, is fast
accumulating, especially in a small bight called the Trou Fanfaron, where
a few years ago a line-of-battle ship could float, but which has now
scarcely water enough for a large corvette. The reefs about the entrance
are nearly dry at low-water, at which time one may wade to their outer
margin, as is daily practised by hundreds of fishermen.

Passing through the closely packed lines of shipping, and landing as a
stranger at Port Louis, perhaps the first thing to engage attention is
the strange mixture of nations--representatives, he might at first be
inclined to imagine, of half the countries of the earth. He stares at a
Coolie from Madras with a breech-cloth and soldier's jacket, or a
stately, bearded Moor, striking a bargain with a Parsee merchant; a
Chinaman, with two bundles slung on a bamboo, hurries past, jostling a
group of young Creole exquisites smoking their cheroots at a corner, and
talking of last night's Norma, or the programme of the evening's
performance at the Hippodrome in the Champ de Mars; his eye next catches
a couple of sailors reeling out of a grog-shop, to the amusement of a
group of laughing negresses in white muslin dresses of the latest
Parisian fashion, contrasting strongly with a modestly attired Cingalese
woman, and an Indian ayah with her young charge. Amidst all this the
French language prevails; everything more or less pertains of the French
character, and an Englishman can scarcely believe that he is in one of
the colonies of his own country.

VISIT TO PAMPLEMOUSSES.

May 16th.

Few passing visitors, like ourselves, leave the Isle of France without
performing a pilgrimage to Pamplemousses, a pretty village seven miles
distant, near which are the (so-called) tombs of Paul and Virginia, and
the Botanic Gardens. For this purpose--as we sail the day after tomorrow,
I started at daylight. The road, even at this early hour, was crowded
with people--Coolies, Chinamen, Negroes, and others, bringing in their
produce to market, while every now and then a carriage passed by filled
with well-dressed Creoles enjoying the coolness of the morning air, or
bent upon making a holiday of it, for the day was Sunday. I breakfasted
in one of the numerous cabarets by the roadside, dignified with the name
of Hotel de ----, etc. Numerous small streams crossed the road, and the
country, so far as seen, exhibited a refreshing greenness and richness of
vegetation.

Les Tombeaux are situated in a garden surrounded by trees, and a grove of
coffee plants, behind the residence of a gentleman who must be heartily
sick of being so constantly disturbed by strangers. They exhibit nothing
more remarkable than two dilapidated monumental urns on opposite sides of
the garden, shaded by a clump of bamboos and casuarinas, the latter
usually mistaken for cypresses. In the coffee plantation close by, I was
delighted to find great numbers of a large and handsome land shell,
Achatina mauritiana--it burrows in the earth during dry weather, but some
rain which had fallen during the night brought it out in abundance.

BOTANICAL GARDENS.

The Botanical Gardens are close to the church. Among the plants are some
magnificent sago palms, almost rivalling those I had seen in New Guinea,
during the voyage of the Fly,* and many clove and nutmeg trees, the
cultivation of which in the island it had been the intention of
Government to introduce. Here are some very fine shady walks with ponds
of water and rivulets, but although these cool retreats are admirably
adapted for solitary rambles and the holding of merry picnic parties, I
found with regret that the title of botanical had misled me.

On my return I was not surprised to see in an island colonised by the
French--so little outward respect paid to the Sabbath. Many people were
at work in the fields, and washerwomen in the streams--a party of
Chinamen were employed roofing a house, and blacksmiths hammered away
within gun-shot of the church, while many of the shops and all the
taverns were open in the villages.

(*Footnote. Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of H.M.S. Fly in Torres
Strait, New Guinea, and other Islands of the Asiatic Archipelago by J.
Beete Jukes.)

LA POUCE MOUNTAIN.

On a former occasion I had made an excursion to the summit of La Pouce, a
remarkable knob-like peak on the sharp crateriform ridge behind Port
Louis. Following a path, leading from the town directly to Wilhelm's
Plains, one crosses a small stream and skirts the steep face of the hill
over rough ground covered with burnt up grass, and straggling bushes. To
this succeeds a region of evergreens (among which the wild mango is the
prevailing tree) where a species of monkey introduced many years ago into
the island has taken up its abode. I saw none, however, but occasionally
heard their chattering as they hurried along among the bushes. Where the
path crosses the ridge, it widens out into a succession of rounded
eminences, with the summit of La Pouce rising suddenly from its centre in
a thumb-like form. Its base is watered by a small gushing rill, and the
vegetation now is very luxuriant from the continual supply of moisture.
The most striking plants are the tree-ferns (Cyathea excelsa and C.
bourbonica) some of which attain a height of from fifteen to twenty feet.
From the eastern margin of the ridge the view is very fine; a sloping
precipice, several hundred feet in height, covered with stunted bushes,
overlooks Wilhelm's Plains, nearly all under cultivation and studded with
sugar plantations. The soil, when newly turned up, appeared of a dull red
colour. Numbers of tropic birds were flying along the face of the cliff
where they probably breed. Eight species of land shells were picked up
here, either creeping up the grass or under stones and logs; they were of
the genera Caracolla, Helix, and Pupa.

A narrow path, difficult to find among the long grass, leads to the
summit of the mountain, 2600 feet above the level of the sea. The view
from the top embraces the greater part of this fine island. The coral
reef fringing the shores is well seen--the pale green of the shoal water
is separated from the deep blue of the ocean by a line of snow-white
surf.

THE CEMETERY.

For entomological purposes I frequently visited the Cemetery, numbers of
insects being attracted by its flowers and trees. The road leading to it,
one of the principal evening drives, is shaded by rows of magnificent
casuarinas, from Madagascar. Some five or six widely-separated religious
creeds may each here be seen practising their peculiar modes of
interment--Chinese, Mahomedan, Hindoo, and Christian; and among the last
it was a novelty to me to observe, for the first time, the pleasing
custom of decking the graves with fresh flowers, often renewed weekly for
years, disposed in jars of various kinds, from the richly ornamented vase
down to the humblest piece of crockery. All the low land hereabouts has
been borrowed from the sea; it is a mixture of sand and fragments of
coral; and the land-crabs have established a colony in one part of the
cemetery, and run riot among the graves.

Although well aware of the productiveness of this fine island in marine
objects, I was yet unprepared for the sight of upwards of one hundred
species of fish, which I frequently witnessed of a morning in the market
at Port Louis; but this to me was diminished by the regret that the most
skilful taxidermist would signally fail, either to retain upon the
prepared skin, or to reproduce, the bright colours for which so many of
them are remarkable. Dredging in the harbour was perfectly unsuccessful;
outside the margin of the coral reefs which fringe the entrance to Port
Louis one finds a zone of loose blocks of living Maeandrinae, Astraeae,
and other massive corals, where dredging is impracticable; to this
succeeds a belt of dead shells and small fragments of coral; and the
remainder of the channel is tenacious mud, in which I found nothing of
interest.

LEAVE MAURITIUS.

After a pleasant stay of twelve days, we left Mauritius, on May 17th, as
soon as the last set of sights for rating the chronometers had been
obtained, and in due time rounded the north end of the island to a light
wind off the land. In the first watch a distant light was conjectured,
with some degree of probability, to proceed from the well-known active
volcano of the Island of Bourbon.

During our stay at Port Louis, Captain Stanley had complied with a
requisition from the Commissariat to take some specie to Hobart Town,
consequently his previous intention of proceeding to Sydney, by way of
King George Sound, was abandoned.

On May 24th (our noon position being in latitude 28 degrees 1 minute
South, and longitude 67 degrees 30 minutes East) we tacked to the
South-West, having found the impracticability of making a straight course
for Cape Leeuwin without first getting well to the southward, and in due
time we reached the latitudes where westerly winds prevail, and were
enabled to proceed onward on our course.

TRY FOR DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS.

On June 14th, when in latitude 40 degrees 45 minutes South, and longitude
123 degrees 23 minutes East, the occurrence of a calm during the
forenoon, although accompanied by a considerable swell, induced Captain
Stanley to make a third attempt to obtain deep-sea soundings. He had been
much interested in the success of experiments of this kind, in which the
grand desideratum has always been to produce POSITIVE PROOF OF HAVING
REACHED BOTTOM by bringing up a portion of its substance, hitherto
unattempted on account of the great length of time required for the
experiment, and the disproportionate strength of the line to the enormous
weight employed, should any sudden jerk ensue from the heave of the sea.
Captain Stanley had at length succeeded in contriving a very ingenious
apparatus by which, upon striking soundings, the eight 32 pounds shot
employed would be immediately detached, leaving no greater weight to be
hauled up than the iron framework to which the shot was slung, and a
small bell-lead with the usual arming of tallow, to which portions of the
bottom would adhere. The line was similar to that employed on January
12th, as then carefully coiled away in casks, each of which held from 800
to 1000 fathoms, and ran out remarkably well, without any tendency to
kink or get foul; but, unfortunately, after 3500 fathoms (or forty yards
less than four statute miles) had gone out, the line parted, from some
flaw, it is supposed, as a piece of the same bore a far heavier weight
when tested subsequently on board. The whole weight employed was equal to
280 pounds; and the time taken by the line to run out was 1 hour, 59
minutes, and 56 seconds.

COLUMN 1: FATHOM MARK.
COLUMN 2: TIME OF PASSING (IN HOURS MINUTES AND SECONDS).

100 : 0 0 42.
200 : 0 1 49.
300 : 0 3 3.
400 : 0 4 23.
500 : 0 5 57.
600 : 0 7 39.
700 : 0 9 30.
800 : 0 11 22.
900 : 0 13 20.
1000 : 0 15 19.
1100 : 0 17 35.
1200 : 0 19 44.
1300 : 0 21 38.
1400 : 0 24 15.
1500 : 0 26 47.
1600 : 0 29 32.
1700 : 0 32 17.
1800 : 0 35 2.
1900 : 0 38 11.
2000 : 0 41 5.
2100 : 0 44 3.
2200 : 0 47 38.
2300 : 0 50 47.
2400 : 0 53 57.
2500 : 0 57 6.
2600 : 1 0 51.
2700 : 1 6 15.
2800 : 1 12 25.
2900 : 1 20 27.
3000 : 1 26 34.
3100 : 1 32 45.
3200 : 1 39 49.
3300 : 1 45 37.
3400 : 1 52 47.
3500 : 1 59 56.

ARRIVE AT HOBART TOWN.

On June 24th we entered Storm Bay, and next day arrived at Hobart Town.
None of our Australian colonies--I had previously seen them all--reminded
me of the mother country so much as Tasmania. The clearings on the shores
of the Derwent looked very pretty, and almost English, particularly the
spire of a small church peeping out from among the trees.

CHAPTER 1.2.

We left Hobart Town for Sydney on July 8th. On the night of the 15th, saw
the fine revolving light on the South Head of Port Jackson, and next
morning anchored at Farm Cove. Our stay in Sydney was protracted to a
period of nearly three months. During this time, in consequence of
previous arrangements, the schooners Bramble, Lieutenant C.B. Yule, and
Castlereagh, Lieutenant D. Aird, were paid off. Both these vessels had
been left in December, 1845, by Captain F.P. Blackwood, of H.M.S. Fly, to
continue the survey of New Guinea (as will afterwards be more
particularly alluded to) and had long been awaiting our arrival. The
Castlereagh, originally purchased in Sydney, being reported to be quite
unfit for surveying purposes, was sold to her former owner; and the
Bramble was recommissioned as tender to the Rattlesnake, and continued
under the command of Lieutenant Yule. Ten additional men were entered on
board, increasing our complement to 190 officers and men, of whom 36 were
placed on board the schooner. After a thorough refit, both vessels were
at length quite ready for sea.

SURVEY ENTRANCE OF PORT JACKSON.

Meanwhile a minute survey was made by Lieutenants Dayman and Simpson of
the inner entrance to Port Jackson, where a reef, called the Sow and Pigs
(distinguished by a beacon and a light vessel) in the middle of the
passage, leaves only a narrow available channel on either side. The exact
boundaries of them, with the depth of water, were to be determined,
especially to ascertain whether a line-of-battle ship, with her full
armament, could pass into the harbour. The shoalest part of the west
channel was found to have 21 feet, and of the east 24 feet at low-water
(the rise and fall of tide being from 5 to 8 feet); consequently, at
high-water there would be room for a three-decker to enter.* This work
was in connection with a proposed dry dock** on Cockatoo Island, above
Sydney, towards the expenses of which the Imperial Government were
willing to contribute, provided it were made of such a size as to be
available for large steamers and line-of-battle ships.

(*Footnote. It was found by comparison with Lieutenant Roe's survey, made
25 years before, that the inner edge of the shoal had extended
considerably to the southward.)

(**Footnote. This has for several years been under construction; its
importance will appear more evident, when it is considered that a large
vessel in the Australian colonies requiring repairs, which cannot be
effected by the process of heaving down, will find no suitable place
nearer than Bombay.)

In compliance with a requisition from Sir Charles Fitzroy, the Governor
of New South Wales, Captain Stanley, in the Bramble, paid a visit to
Twofold Bay, 200 miles to the southward of Sydney, a place of rising
importance as a harbour, also in connection with whaling establishments,
and the extensive adjoining pastoral district of Maneroo. The bay was
resurveyed, with a view to test the comparative merits of the two
townships there--one founded by government, the other by private
enterprise. After all, I believe, the advantages afforded by each of the
rival establishments are so equally divided, that the question still
remains an open one.

SAIL UPON FIRST NORTHERN CRUISE.

October 11th.

After a protracted stay in Sydney of very nearly three months, we were at
length enabled to start upon our first cruise to the northward, the
object of which was to make a survey of Port Curtis and part of the
Inshore Passage leading up to Torres Strait. The Rattlesnake and tender
got under weigh soon after daybreak and ran out of Port Jackson to the
northward with a fine South-east wind. In the evening the Bramble parted
company, her present destination being Port Stephens, for the purpose of
running a meridian distance, and ours Moreton Bay.

One day, while off Cape Byron, an interesting addition to zoology was
made in a small floating shellfish, which has since proved to constitute
a new genus,* throwing light, I am informed, upon many fossil univalves
in the older formations; and a rare bird of the noddy kind (Anous
leucocapillus) perched on the rigging towards evening, and was added to
the collection; for even the beauty and innocence of a tired wanderer
like it was insufficient to save it from the scalpel.

(*Footnote. This mollusc, allied to Litiopa, Professor E. Forbes has done
me the honour to publish in the Appendix as Macgillivrayia pelagica.)

ARRIVE AT MORETON BAY.

On October 18th we anchored in Yule's Roads, Moreton Bay in 12 fathoms,
sand, about a mile off shore, and remained there for sixteen days. During
our stay, some additions were made to render more complete the former
survey of this important sheet of water. Buoys were laid down to mark the
intricate channels of the north entrance, now preferred for its greater
safety to the south entrance, although lengthening by about 50 miles the
passage to or from Sydney. The wreck of a steamer, and loss of most of
those on board, had not long before caused a great sensation, and
forcibly attracted attention to the dangers of the southern entrance.

Moreton Bay is an expanse of water 45 miles in length, and 20 in greatest
width, enclosed between the mainland and Stradbroke and Moreton Islands.
It is open to the northward, but sheltered on the eastward by the two
islands forming that side, which run nearly north and south. The Brisbane
river enters the bay about the middle of its western side, and, having
been the means of opening up an immense extent of the finest pastoral
country, it has conferred a considerable degree of importance upon the
place as a harbour, although beset with numerous shoals and narrow
winding passages, through which the tides run with great force. The
entrance to the river has a depth of only 10 or 11 feet at high-water,
consequently, is available for small vessels only; the best anchorage for
larger ones is five miles distant. The banks are constantly shifting, and
the channel is intricate. When to this is added that the
settlement--consisting of the townships of North and South Brisbane, and
Kangaroo Point, is situated 14 miles from the river mouth--it was not
surprising that a proposal had been made to establish a trading port
elsewhere in the bay, so that the wool and other produce of the district,
might be shipped direct for England.

PROCEEDINGS THERE.

For this purpose, Cleveland Point (at the south-east side of the bay) had
been suggested, and the Colonial Government requested Captain Stanley's
opinion on the subject: which is as follows. "This," says he, "is the
worst possible place I ever saw for such a purpose; from the proposed
site of the town, a low rocky point only a few feet above the level of
high-water, projects for more than a mile in the sea; and from both sides
of this, mudflats, that become dry at low-water, extend for a very
considerable distance. The anchorage off this point must be of necessity
in the stream of tide, which, when it sets against even a moderate
breeze, causes a heavy sea. And as the point affords no shelter whatever
for boats, it will be absolutely necessary to build a breakwater, at
least as far out as three fathoms at low-water."

MORETON ISLAND.

Moreton Island, under the lee of which the Rattlesnake was at anchor, is
19 miles in length, and 4 1/2 in greatest breadth. It consists for the
most part of series of sandhills, one of which, Mount Tempest, is said to
be 910 feet in height; on the north-west portion a large tract of low
ground, mostly swampy, with several lagoons and small streams. The soil
is poor, and the grass usually coarse and sedge-like. All the timber is
small, and consists of the usual Eucalypti, Banksiae, etc. with abundance
of the cypress-pine (Callitris arenaria) a wood much prized for
ornamental work. The appearance along the shores of the Pandanus or
screw-pine, which now attains its southern limits, introduces a kind of
intertropical appearance to the vegetation. Among the other plants are
three, which merit notice from their efficacy in binding down the drift
sand with their long trailing stems, an office performed in Britain by
the bent grass (Arundo arenaria) here represented by another grass,
Ischaemum rottboellioide: the others are a handsome pink-flowered
convolvulus (Ipomoea maritima) one stem of which measured 15 yards in
length, and Hibbertia volubilis, a plant with large yellow blossoms.

PORPOISES AT MORETON BAY.

Among the marine animals of Moreton Bay are two cetacea of great
interest. The first of these is the Australian dugong (Halicore
australis), which is the object of a regular fishery (on a small scale
however) on account of its valuable oil. It frequents the Brisbane river
and the mudflats of the harbour, and is harpooned by the natives, who
know it under the name of Yung-un. The other is an undescribed porpoise,
a specimen of which, however, I did not procure, as the natives believed
the most direful consequences would ensue from the destruction of one;
and I considered the advantages resulting to science from the addition of
a new species of Phocoena, would not have justified me in outraging their
strongly expressed superstitious feelings on the subject. We observed
that whenever a drove of these porpoises came close inshore, a party of
natives followed them along the beach, and when a shoal of fish,
endeavouring to avoid their natural enemies, approached within reach, the
blacks rushed out into the water with loud cries, and, keeping their bag
nets close together, so as to form a semicircle, scooped out as many fish
as came within reach.

Our seining parties from the ship were usually very successful, but only
at one particular time of tide, or during the young flood. Sharks are
numerous close to the beach, but are generally small and harmless; one of
the natives however had lost his foot at the ankle joint, from the bite
of one.

NATIVES.

There were then no white residents upon Moreton Island, but we found a
party of about twenty natives encamped near the watering place. Some of
the men were rather good specimens of the race, but the reverse was the
case with the females; although the latter on the first day of our
meeting them evinced a desire to cover their persons, they afterwards
went about as naked as the men--but the female children wore a small
fringe in front. The married women had lost the last joint of the little
finger of the right hand--one had three half-caste children. The huts of
these natives are of simple construction, yet comfortable enough, and
perfectly waterproof--a framework of sticks in a dome-like form is
covered with bark of the tea-tree (Melaleuca) and branches of trees.

While procuring materials for a vocabulary, I found that even this small
party contained individuals of two tribes, speaking different dialects.
It was curious to observe that although these natives had had much
intercourse with Europeans, a party of them who came on board, could not
be persuaded to go below; and one strong fellow (One-eye, as he called
himself) actually trembled with fear when I laid hold of him by the arm,
to lead him down to the main-deck.

November 4th.

Sailed from Moreton Bay for Port Curtis in company with the Bramble. The
wind being at north, we had to beat out through the narrow channel
leading between the banks of the north entrance, probably never before
attempted by a square-rigged vessel.

ARRIVE AT PORT CURTIS.

On November 7th, we rounded Breaksea Spit, and passed Lady Elliot's
Island--low, of coral formation, and one of the great breeding places of
the seabirds of this portion of the coast. Next day we anchored five
miles off the south entrance of Port Curtis, and sent in two boats to
sound. On their return with a favourable report, the ship was got
underweigh, and ran in under the headsails to round Gatcombe Head, by the
channel laid down in Flinders' chart; but, while following a boat ahead
in charge of the master, the signal to anchor immediately was made, and
we brought up as required, being then about the middle of the north
channel.

We remained here until the boats had sounded the remainder of the
approach to the port sufficiently to enable Captain Stanley to move the
vessel without risk to a safe anchorage inside, at a spot convenient for
landing at all times to obtain the requisite observations for determining
an astronomical position, and sufficiently central as a starting point
for boat operations. This was effected on the 10th of November, when we
anchored in 5 fathoms, mud, at three cables lengths distance from the
shore.

COLONY OF NORTH AUSTRALIA.

In January, 1847, the recently proposed colony of North Australia was
established by a party from Sydney, under Lieutenant-Colonel Barney,
R.E., with a suitable staff of public functionaries. The colonists
encountered more than usual difficulties and hardships even at the
commencement. The transport conveying the first portion of the party,
consisting of eighty-eight persons, struck on the shoal off Gatcombe
Head, and required to be hove down, a fit spot for which purpose was
fortunately found in a narrow but deep mangrove creek further up the
harbour, at a place indicated upon the Rattlesnake's chart. The party
were at first encamped upon the south end of Facing Island, but
afterwards removed to the mainland, upon a site for the new township of
Gladstone having been chosen there. The settlement, however, was
abandoned, after a short-lived existence of five months, in obedience to
orders received from home, consequent upon a change in the plans of
Government regarding the disposal of convicts, for North Australia had
been originally intended to be a penal settlement, or one for the
reception of exiles. The expenses incurred by this experiment amounted to
upwards of 15,000 pounds.

PORT CURTIS.

The survey of the harbour and its approaches occupied a period of three
weeks. Although this work had ceased to be one of immediate importance,
yet it will eventually be of considerable benefit to the colony of New
South Wales, as the gradual extension of the squatting stations to the
northward from the Wide Bay district must, ere long, call Port Curtis
into requisition as a harbour, and thus enable the settlers to obviate
the necessity of a long and expensive land carriage to Wide Bay, the
nearest place resorted to by the small coasting vessels, communicating
with Brisbane and Sydney.

In illustration of this important subject, I cannot do better than quote
portions of a despatch from Colonel Barney to Sir Charles Fitzroy, dated
Sydney, 20th July, 1847, published in a return ordered by the House of
Commons:

The extent of land fit for agriculture, within a few miles of the coast,
far exceeds the expectations I had formed on my first visit. Timber for
dwelling-houses and for shipbuilding is abundant, and of the best
description, and within five miles of South Shore Head (the best site for
a settlement) there is to be found pipeclay, brick-earth, ironstone,
freestone, granite, trap, slate, indications of coal; and independent of
a great supply of shells for lime on the immediate site, there is at the
head of one of the navigable salt creeks a fine freshwater stream running
over a bed of limestone; a second creek, in which the Lord Auckland of
600 tons, is hove down, also navigable for ten or twelve miles,
terminates in extensive waterholes; indeed within the port there are four
inlets or creeks, navigable from ten to fifteen miles for vessels drawing
eight or nine feet of water, each terminating in fresh water.

The position and extent of Port Curtis, which I take to be the third
harbour in importance in these seas, inferior only to Port Jackson and
Hobart Town, must shortly lead to an establishment on its shore, offering
security to numerous whaling vessels, which are now compelled to proceed
to Sydney for repairs and supplies; it must also become an important
depot for supplying steamers on passage to India with coal, which I have
reason to believe will be found in abundance within a few miles of the
coast. I have no doubt also that this port will become celebrated for
shipbuilding, possessing, as it does, timber of the highest quality for
such purposes, and favourable positions for building, as well as for the
construction of docks.

The country is capable of affording all the tropical, as well as a
considerable portion of European produce, and will be found highly
favourable for the breeding of stock; indeed, I believe I am correct in
stating that numerous parties, with stock to a very large amount, are now
within a short distance of Port Curtis, taking up stations, not only with
a view to the supply of the projected settlement, but also to the
shipment of wool, tallow, etc. direct to England.

...

PASSAGE OF THE ASP.

A few days after our arrival at Port Curtis, the Asp, as our decked boat
had been named, joined us, having made an important addition to the
surveys of this portion of the coast. On his passage up from Brisbane,
Lieutenant Dayman, under the unexpected circumstances of finding that the
Rattlesnake had sailed, instead of coasting along the eastern side of
Great Sandy Island, thus involving the necessity of rounding Breaksea
Spit, determined upon trying the passage between that island and the
mainland leading into Hervey Bay; this he fortunately succeeded in
accomplishing, although under difficulties which his sketch (since
published by the Admiralty) will lessen to those who may require to use
the same previously little known channel.

Port Curtis, comprising a space of about ten miles in length, is enclosed
between Facing Island on the east, or to seaward, Curtis Island on the
north, and the shores of the mainland on the western side, leaving to the
southward a wide entrance partially blocked up by shoals. Besides the
narrow channel described by Flinders as leading between the south end of
Facing Island and the large bank of shoal water extending about six miles
to the south-east, a second, and much safer one, the least width of which
is upwards of a mile, was discovered between the large bank and others of
less extent towards the mainland.

FACING ISLAND.

We landed almost daily upon Facing Island, which was traversed in every
direction, but nowhere could we find a practicable watering place for the
ship; in fact, during our excursions, it was found necessary to carry a
supply of water with us, not being able to depend upon obtaining any on
shore. The island is 8 1/2 miles long and 2 3/4 in greatest width; it is
generally low, the most elevated part, Signal Hill, situated at its south
end, measuring only 275 feet in height. Its aspect is various; the
shores, as well as those of the adjacent mainland, are often muddy, and
covered with mangroves, fringing creeks, and occupying swamps more or
less extensive, while the remainder of the country is either covered with
the usual monotonous gum-trees, or, as over a large portion of the sea
face, covered with coarse sedgy grass and small bushes, on sandy ground,
which rises into a series of low sandhills extending along the coast.
During winter there must be much water, judging from several nearly dried
up lagoons and swamps, and some empty watercourses.

EXCURSION ON THE ISLAND.

In company with Mr. Huxley, I made an excursion of two days' duration,
with the double view of seeing the country and adding to my collection.
We started heavily laden with provisions, water, arms and ammunition,
besides boxes, botanical paper and boards, and other collecting gear; and
although taking it very easily, the fatigue of walking in a sultry day,
with the thermometer at 90 degrees in the shade, afforded a sample of
what we had afterwards so often to experience during our rambles in
tropical Australia. Towards the northern end of the island we found
several creeks and lagoons of salt and brackish water, occasionally
communicating with the sea, probably under the conjoined influences of
spring tides and a strong easterly wind. Towards evening, finding among
the contents of our game-bags several ducks, of two species--Anas
superciliosa, the black duck of the colonists, the richest and best
flavoured of all the Australian waterfowl, and A. punctata, or teal, we
had them cooked bush fashion, for supper. The night being fine, we
enjoyed our bivouac upon the top of a sandhill, near the sea, by the side
of a dead Pandanus, which served as firewood--although it was judged
expedient to keep watch by turns, and go the rounds occasionally,
especially after the setting of the moon and before daybreak. We saw no
recent signs of natives, however, during our absence from the ship; but
former experience upon this coast had taught me how necessary it is to be
ever on one's guard, even in apparently uninhabited places; and such
watchfulness soon becomes habitual, and at length ceases to be irksome.
Next day we returned to the ship, more than ever convinced of the
comparative uselessness of the country which we had gone over for
agricultural or even pastoral purposes, except on a very small scale. On
our way back we met with two horses, both in good condition, which had
been left by Colonel Barney's party.

GLADSTONE SETTLEMENT.

On another occasion Mr. Huxley and myself landed at the site of the
settlement of Gladstone, and were picked up in the evening by Captain
Stanley in one of the surveying boats, on his return to the ship. It is
difficult to conceive a more dreary spot, and yet I saw no more eligible
place for a settlement on the shores of the harbour. A few piles of
bricks, the sites of the tents, some posts, indicating the remains of a
provisional Government-house, wheel-ruts in the hardened clay, the stumps
of felled trees, together with a goodly store of empty bottles strewed
about everywhere, remained as characteristics of the first stage of
Australian colonisation. Within 200 yards of the township we came upon a
great expanse of several hundred acres of bare mud, glistening with
crystals of salt, bordered on one side by a deep muddy creek, and
separated from the shore by thickets of mangroves. The country for
several miles around is barren in the extreme, consisting for the most
part of undulating, stony, forest land. I have heard, however, that there
is much good pastoral country at the back. We found no fresh water during
our walk; of two wells which had been dug by the settlers, through stiff
clay, one was dry, and the other contained a puddle of brackish water,
not fit to drink. We met with few birds, but saw many tracks of emus and
kangaroos.

NATIVES SEEN AT A DISTANCE.

During our stay at Port Curtis, we had no intercourse whatever with the
natives, although anxious to establish friendly communication. With the
aid of the spyglass, we could occasionally make out a few, chiefly women,
collecting shellfish on the mudflats of the mainland, and their fires
were daily seen in every direction. The employment of firearms against
them on several occasions by the crew of the Lord Auckland (under,
apparently, justifiable circumstances however) which left the harbour,
after repairing her damages, only a few months before our arrival, had
probably taught the natives to look with distrust upon white men; and
they cautiously avoided our parties.

On Facing Island, our sportsmen found little inland to recompense them
for their trouble, except blue mountain parrots and quail; but along the
shore, curlews, oystercatchers, and godwits, were plentiful. One day I
killed a bustard (Otis australasiana) weighing 22 1/2 pounds; the
goodness of its flesh was duly appreciated by my messmates. Several small
flocks of this noblest of the Australian gamebirds were seen; but, from
their frequenting the open country, and being very wary, it is only by
stratagem or accident that they can be approached within gunshot. No land
snakes were seen, but sea snakes seem to be frequent in the harbour.

SHARKS AND SHELLS.

Sharks of enormous size appeared to be common; one day we caught two, and
while the first taken was hanging under the ship's stern, others made
repeated attacks upon it, raising their heads partially out of the water,
and tearing off long strips of the flesh before the creature was dead.
Another swam off apparently as active as ever, although a musket ball had
been fired through its head. On several occasions a party was sent to
haul the seine upon a neighbouring mudflat covered at high-water, and
generally made good captures, especially of mullet and bream
(Chrysophrys); in addition, many other more curious fishes were caught,
and several rare and new crustacea--Squilla, Lupea thalamita, and a new
genus allied to Gonoplax, which will be found described in the Appendix.
Of landshells, only two kinds, a Helix and a Succinea, were found upon
Facing Island. Of marine species, 41 were added to the collection; the
most important in a non-zoological point of view is a kind of rock oyster
of delicious flavour and large size.

LEAVE PORT CURTIS FOR THE NORTHWARD.

November 29th.

Sailed from Port Curtis for the northward, in company with the Asp, the
Bramble being sent to Moreton Bay in order to communicate the results of
the survey to the Colonial Government, and rejoin us at Cape Upstart. For
the next two days light northerly winds prevailed, after which we had the
wind from about East-South-East.

PERCY ISLES.

December 3rd.

The Asp having made a signal for assistance, and it being ascertained
that she had lost her dinghy and bumpkin by a sea which struck her while
crossing a tide-race, it was judged necessary to run for the nearest
place where the damage could be repaired. We consequently anchored under
Number 2 of the Percy Isles, to leeward of its south-west point, in 10
fathoms, mud, between it and the Pine Islets of the chart.

Here it blew so hard from East-South-East that a second anchor was let
go; the yards were pointed to the wind, and the top-gallant masts sent on
deck. A party which attempted to land were forced to return, nor was it
thought expedient to repeat the attempt on the following day. We remained
at this anchorage until the 7th, and found the gale to subside into the
south-east trade.

This is the largest of the Percy Isles, being about twelve or fourteen
miles in circumference. In structure, it may be said to consist of a
series of hills running in ridges, many of them covered with gumtree
scrub; and all with long grass growing in tufts, concealing the loose
stones, and rendering walking very laborious. On the western side of the
island, about a mile from the anchorage, the sea communicates, by a
narrow entrance, with a large basin partially blocked up with mangroves,
among which a creek filled at high-water, runs up for a mile. At the head
of this hollow a deeply worn dried up watercourse indicated the
periodical abundance of fresh water; and by tracing it up about a mile
further, I found many large pools among the rocks containing a sufficient
supply for the ship, but unavailable to us in consequence of the
difficulty in getting at it. Signs of natives were frequently met with,
but none were recent. From the quantities of turtle-bones about the
fireplaces, it is evident that these animals occasionally resort to a
small sandy beach near the entrance of the basin above alluded to.

The botany of the island afforded at this unfavourable season not more
than five or six species of plants in flower, some of which I had met
with elsewhere. A species of pine, Araucaria cunninghami, is found here
in small quantities, but more plentifully on the adjacent Pine Islets,
where it appears to constitute the only arboreal vegetation. A few
cabbage palms, Corypha australis, are the only other trees worth
mentioning. Among the birds observed, black and white cockatoos, swamp
pheasants, and crows were the most numerous. A fine banded snail, Helix
incei, was the only landshell met with. A Littorina and a Nerita occur
abundantly on the trunks and stems of the mangroves, and the creek
swarmed with stingrays (Trygon) and numbers of a dull green swimming
crab.

BUSH FIRE.

During our stay, the bush was thoughtlessly set on fire by some of our
people, and continued burning for several days, until nearly the whole
island had been passed over; the long dry grass and dead trees blazing
very fiercely under the influence of a high wind. At night the sight of
the burning scrub was very fine when viewed from a distance, but I did
not forget that I had one day been much closer to it than was
pleasant--in fact, it was only by first soaking my clothes in a pool
among the rocks, emptying the contents of my powder-flask to prevent the
risk of being blown up, and then making a desperate rush through a belt
of burning scrub, that I succeeded in reaching a place of safety.

Singularly enough, the Asp's dinghy was picked up uninjured on one of the
sandy beaches of this island, and on December 7th we left the anchorage
with a strong south-easterly wind, and anchored for the night under one
of Sir James Smith's group. On the following day we ran through part of
Whitsunday Passage, so named by Cook, and anchored in Port Molle, in
seven and a half fathoms, a quarter of a mile off shore. The best
anchorage here appears to be in the second bay as you round the end of
the island, forming the south-east side of the harbour; it may be known
by a sandy beach at the head.

During our stay of two days, search was made for water in every likely
spot, but none could be found. In the dried up beds of three shallow
lagoons (one of which I had seen half filled four years before) we found
native wells, one dug to the depth of six feet, but the water had
disappeared.

PORT MOLLE.

Port Molle, besides being a well sheltered harbour from all prevailing
winds, has a much more pleasing aspect than almost any place I have seen
on the north-east coast of Australia. To ourselves the change was
agreeable; instead of the monotonous gumtrees and mangroves of Port
Curtis and the scantily wooded stony hills of the Percy Isles, we had
here many varieties of woodland vegetation, including some large patches
of dense brush or jungle, in which one might observe every shade of green
from the sombre hue of the pine, to the pale green of the cabbage-palm.

Some rare birds were procured in the brushes--two of them appear here to
attain their southern limits of distribution upon the north-east coast of
Australia; they are the Australian sunbird (Cinnyris australis) reminding
one of the humming birds from its rich metallic colouring, and the
Megapodius tumulus, a rasorial bird, the size of a fowl, which constructs
great mounds of earth, leaves, sticks, stones, and coral, in which the
eggs are deposited at a depth of several feet from the surface, and left
there to be hatched by the heat of the fermenting mass of vegetable
matter. In addition to these, our sportsmen were successful in procuring
numbers of the pheasant-tailed pigeon, and the brush-turkey (Talegalla
lathami) the latter much esteemed, from the goodness of its flesh. Many
plants and insects as well as several landshells, new to science, which
will elsewhere be alluded to, were added to the collection. Doubtless
fish are also plentiful here, but we were prevented from hauling the
seine by the remains of a wreck in the centre of a flat of muddy sand at
the head of the bay where we were anchored; the vessel, I have since
heard, had come in contact with a coral reef, and been run on shore here,
in order to save a portion of her stores.

CAPE UPSTART. FIND NO WATER.

December 10th.

In company with the Asp we ran up to the northward to Cape Upstart, a
distance of about ninety miles, and anchored in five fathoms off the
sandy beach inside the point. Two boats were immediately sent to search
for water, but we found the pools where the Fly had watered, in 1844,
completely empty; and it was not until the deep rocky bed of the torrent
had been traced upwards of a mile higher up on the following morning,
that fresh water was met with; but at too great a distance from the
shore, to be available for our purposes. Judging from the almost total
want of water at all the places hitherto visited on this coast since
entering the tropics that there was little probability of our finding it
at Goold Island, Captain Stanley determined to proceed no further, but
return at once to Sydney, by way of Moreton Bay, and letters were left
for Lieutenant Yule signifying this intention.

RETURN TO SYDNEY.

December 15th.

Three days ago we sailed for Cape Upstart on our return to the southward,
working down the coast against a strong tradewind, the Asp keeping in
shore to survey the neighbourhood of the coastline, imperfectly and
erroneously laid down upon the Admiralty chart. We had calms and light
winds with thick rainy weather in the morning. While in Whitsunday
Passage, a small bark canoe with two natives came off to within a quarter
of a mile of the ship, shouting loudly and making gestures to attract
attention, but we did not stop; in fact, every moment now was precious,
as we were upon reduced allowance of water. Soon after noon we anchored
in Port Molle, and next day the Asp was stripped and hoisted inboard.

December 21st.

Since we left Port Molle, the winds have been variable from the northward
and eastward, with calms, and the weather quite unsettled with occasional
rain. While nearly becalmed, several opportunities were afforded for
dredging from the ship, and many new and curious marine animals were
procured.

KEPPEL'S ISLE.

Today we had the wind from East-South-East, gradually freshening to a
moderate gale with the sea getting up, and in the evening it was judged
expedient to bear up and run for an anchorage under the largest Keppel's
Isle, where we brought up in five and a half fathoms, sand. A line of
breaking water a quarter of a mile to leeward, was afterwards found to be
caused by a dangerous reef not indicated upon the chart, where, instead,
an anchorage was marked, a circumstance which might have led to serious
results, had we run in during the night.

Keppel's Isle is from ten to twelve miles in circumference--it is distant
from the mainland six miles. That portion of it seen from our anchorage
presented rather a pleasant appearance; some fine verdant grassy-looking
places were, however, found on closer inspection to be poor stony or
sandy ground, thinly covered with tufts of coarse grass. Behind a long
sandy beach abreast of the ship, an extensive hollow apparently running
back for two or three miles, flanked by low wooded hills, was found to be
a mangrove swamp traversed by several branches of a saltwater creek, by
which the flood-tide gains admittance. Here I found numbers of a singular
fish of the genus Chironectes leaping with great activity over the mud
among the arched roots of the mangroves, among which small crabs (Ocypoda
and Macrophthalmus) were making for their burrows in all directions.
Fresh water appeared scarce--I came upon one small well, and beside it a
large shell for the purpose of drinking from. I followed the recent
tracks of two natives, but they concealed themselves among the mangroves,
with their usual caution, although armed with spears, as I could see by
the marks left during their hurried flight, and they knew that I was
alone. A small group of women and children were afterwards met with by a
shooting party from the ship, but they ran off affrighted, leaving behind
their baskets, which were filled with a small blue gregarious crab,
common upon the sandy beaches.

After leaving our anchorage under Keppel's Island, we continued working
to the southward against a strong South-East wind. On the 24th while
standing in for the land, about 11 P.M., the ship was suddenly found to
be within a cable's length of the rocks off the North-East end of Facing
Island, on which we were fortunate in not having to spend our Christmas.
Next day a water-snake (Hypotrophis jukesii) four feet two inches long
was caught when we were several miles off the land; it had accidentally
been hooked by the tail by someone fishing for albacore, several of which
fine fish were taken hereabouts. We rounded Breaksea Spit on December
29th, and two days afterwards arrived at Moreton Bay, were we found the
Bramble.

During our stay at Yule's Roads, we had much gloomy blowing weather, with
drizzly rain, and a heavy gale from North-East to North-North-East.

ARRIVE AT SYDNEY.

After replenishing our nearly exhausted stock of water, we sailed for
Sydney, which we reached on January 14th, 1848. During this passage we
were much aided by the strong current, and had usually the wind between
South-East and East-South-East, with occasional calms.

RECENT OCCURRENCES IN SYDNEY.

February 2nd, 1848.

During our absence from Sydney, and since our arrival, some events of
great importance to the colony had occurred. Public attention had been
strongly directed towards the question of Steam Communication with India
and England, the facilitating of which was one of the principal objects
of the Voyage of the Rattlesnake.* Meetings to discuss the practicability
of forming railroads** had also been held. Dr. Leichhardt, the
well-known, indefatigable traveller, had started with a party to attempt
to traverse the Continent of Australia, and reach Swan River--and Mr.
Kennedy had returned from tracing the Victoria River of Sir Thomas
Mitchell, which he found to become lost in the stony desert of Sturt,
instead of disemboguing into the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria, as some
had conjectured.

(*Footnote. This project, I regret to add, has not yet been carried into
effect, nor does there appear to be any reasonable prospect of its speedy
accomplishment.)

(**Footnote. I have lately heard that the first Australian railroad has
actually been commenced at Sydney.)

FOUNDATION OF THE COLONY.

During our stay the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the colony was
celebrated, and a large proportion of the 50,000 inhabitants of Sydney
and the neighbourhood joined in the festivities and amusements
commemorating so glorious a day in the annals of their adopted country.
When witnessing the gaieties of the regatta, I could not help reflecting
on the simple narrative of the first founder of what may hereafter become
a great empire, a mighty monument of the genius of the Anglo-Saxon race.
"The spot chosen for our encampment," says Colonel Collins, "was at the
head of the cove near the run of fresh water which stole silently along
through a very thick wood, the stillness of which had then, for the first
time since the creation, been interrupted by the rude sound of the
labourer's axe, and the downfall of its ancient inhabitants; a stillness
and tranquillity which from that day were to give place to the voice of
labour, the confusion of camps, and the busy hum of its new possessors."*

(Footnote. Collins' New South Wales 2nd edition page 10.)

Finding that there was yet some time to spare before the arrival of the
usual period for leaving Sydney to pass through Torres Strait, Captain
Stanley resolved upon acting in accordance with the expressed wishes of
the Colonial Government, that he should make an inspection of the various
lighthouses in Bass Strait, and for that purpose sailed from Sydney on
February 2nd, with the Rattlesnake and Bramble. The Asp and one of the
galleys accompanied us as far as Botany Bay, which they were to be
employed in surveying during our absence, under the orders of Lieutenant
Simpson.

BASS STRAIT.

On February 8th, we passed between Kent's and Hogan's groups (in Bass
Strait); the lighthouse on the former of these, perched upon a hill 829
feet high, is admirably situated, and although the night was rather hazy,
the light (revolving) shone out with great brilliance, and was afterwards
seen from the Bramble's deck, when thirty-seven miles distant. We caught,
in the narrows of the Strait, numbers of baracoudas, a very bold and
ravenous fish, and withal a good-eating one, measuring from two to three
feet in length; they bite eagerly at a hook towing astern, baited with a
piece of red or white rag, and are taken in greatest numbers when several
miles distant from the land, and the vessel is going from four to eight
knots through the water.

Two days afterwards, the weather being extremely favourable for the
purpose, I got several hauls with the dredge in forty-five fathoms, sandy
bottom, and, in addition to many curious crustacea and shellfish, a
number of very fine zoophytes, almost all of them new to science, were in
such abundance as quickly to fill the net.

February 11th.

While standing off and on the land during a fog, a partial clearing up
showed the entrance to Port Phillip, with its lighthouse,* and after
passing through between the heads, with the usual strong tide ripple, we
reached the anchorage at Hobson's Bay after dark.

(*Footnote. Of this Captain Stanley remarks: "In consequence of being
placed so far within the heads, the light is visible to seaward only
between the bearings of South 1/2 West and South-west 1/2 West. A better
position would be on Lonsdale Point, when the light would be seen by
vessels coming from the eastward as soon as they rounded Cape Schank. It
would also serve as a leading mark for navigating the southern channel,
but the tower would require to be of considerable height to show the
light over Shortland's Bluff to vessels inside the harbour.")

I found no alteration in William's Town, since a former visit made two
years ago. The place appeared to be completely at a standstill, as a
small straggling village of 200 inhabitants, chiefly dependent upon the
shipping for support.

ARRIVE AT PORT PHILLIP. MELBOURNE.

Far different was it with Melbourne, the capital of the district. On our
way in a steamer up the Yarra-Yarra, several large and recently
constructed boiling-down establishments in full work indicated the
extensive operation of the tallow-manufacturing process. The town (or
city as it may, I believe, be termed) appeared to have wonderfully
increased of late, and a quiet business-like air prevailed. Everywhere we
met bullock-teams and drays recently arrived with wool, or on their
return to the sheep stations with supplies, but there were few loungers
like ourselves in the streets, nearly everyone seeming to have his time
fully occupied.

It appeared to be the general and loudly expressed opinion, so far as we
could judge, that the separation of the Port Phillip district from New
South Wales, and its formation into an independent colony, would
materially advance the interests and conduce to the prosperity of the
former; and that the large surplus revenue which is annually transmitted
to Sydney ought to be spent among the people who have raised it.*

(*Footnote. These and other claims of the colonists have, I need scarcely
add, been fully admitted by the recent separation from New South Wales of
the Port Phillip district, now the colony of Victoria.)

GEELONG.

One day some of us made up a party to visit Geelong, the town in this
district of next importance to Melbourne, from which it is distant, by
water, fifty-five miles. The western shores of Port Phillip, along which
we passed, are low, thinly wooded, and bear a very monotonous aspect.
Vast numbers of a large sea-jelly (Rhizostoma mosaica) gave the water
quite a milky appearance. I was surprised to find the town, only a few
years old, to be one already containing about 3000 inhabitants. It is
built on a range of low gravelly banks facing the harbour, from which it
extends backwards in a straggling manner towards the river Barwon, which,
at the distance of a mile and a half, was then 100 yards wide, deep, and
without current. The town of Geelong derives its consequence from being a
convenient outlet for the wool and other produce of the southern
districts of Port Phillip--perhaps the best sheep country in Australia.
Four or five vessels were then loading for England. Unfortunately, Corio
Harbour, on the shores of which the town is built, is blocked up by a
bar, and vessels of moderate size are obliged to remain in Geelong Bay,
about five miles off, while discharging or receiving cargo.

PORT DALRYMPLE.

Five days after clearing the Heads of Port Phillip, we had crossed Bass
Strait,* and anchored in Port Dalrymple, on the northern coast of Van
Diemen's Land, and remained there sufficiently long to obtain rates for
the chronometers, and connect it by meridian distance with William's
Town, and Sydney.** The two lighthouses of Banks' Strait only now
remained unvisited, that on the Kent Group, and another on Cape Otway,
having been left to Lieutenant Yule.

(*Footnote. For every information required by navigators passing through
Bass Strait, I would refer to Discoveries in Australia, with an account
of the Coasts and Rivers explored and surveyed during the Voyage of
H.M.S. Beagle, in the years 1837 to 1843 by J. Lort Stokes, Commander,
R.N., and to the Admiralty chart by Captain Stokes. On this subject I
find a manuscript note by Captain Stanley: "Stokes has mentioned in his
chart that there is little or no tide in Bass Strait. Such may be the
case, but I have invariably found a very strong current, depending both
as to force and direction upon the prevailing winds. On one occasion,
during a westerly gale, it set to the eastward with a velocity of at
least three knots per hour. I mention this circumstance, as from Captain
Stokes' remarks, strangers might be led to suppose there were no currents
in the Strait, and neglect to take the usual precautions.")

(**Footnote. It is unnecessary to give separately the various meridian
distances obtained by the Rattlesnake and Bramble, as these will be
found, with the various circumstances affecting their value, in the
Appendix.)

GOOSE ISLAND.

March 3rd.

With the help of a strong westerly wind we reached Goose Island at 5
P.M., and a party from the ship landed immediately after anchoring. The
island is one and a half miles in length, by one in greatest breadth. The
rock is a coarse sienite, forming detached bare masses and ridges, but
none of considerable height. In the hollows the soil appears rich, dark,
and pulverulent, with much admixture of unformed bird-guano. The scanty
vegetation is apparently limited to a grass growing in tussocks, and a
few maritime plants. The ground resembles a rabbit warren, being
everywhere undermined by the burrows of the mutton-bird, a dark
shearwater (Puffinus brevicaudus) the size of a pigeon. A person in
walking across the island can scarcely avoid frequently stumbling among
these burrows, from the earth giving way under his feet, and I was told
by one of the residents that snakes are very numerous in these holes,
living upon the mutton-birds; I myself trod upon one which, fortunately,
was too sluggish to escape before I had time to shoot it, and ascertain
it to be the well-known black snake of the Australian colonists
(Acanthophis tortor) a very poisonous species. Among the seafowl, a large
gull (Larus pacificus) was exceedingly plentiful, together with a smaller
one (Xema jamesonii) and a few penguins (Spheniscus minor.) A fine flock
of wild geese (Cereopsis novae hollandiae) was seen, but they were too
wary to allow of close approach. About dusk clouds of mutton-birds came
in from the sea, and we amused ourselves with chasing them over the
ground among their burrows, and as many specimens as I required were
speedily provided by knocking them down with a stick. As usual with the
Petrel family they bite severely if incautiously handled, and disgorge a
quantity of offensive oily matter, the smell of which pervades the whole
island, a which the clothes I then wore retained for a long time
afterwards.

The party in charge of the lighthouse have numbers of goats, pigs, and
sheep, and also raise a few potatoes and other vegetables; still their
life is a hard one--more so comparatively, than that of the keepers of
the Eddystone or Bell Rock lights at home, as they communicate with Van
Diemen's Land only twice a year, and are often in want of fuel, which
they have to send for to a neighbouring island.

SWAN ISLAND.

March 4th.

Aided by the remains of a strong westerly wind, with which we at one time
logged ten and a half knots--a great feat for the old Rattlesnake,
jury-rigged as she was for surveying service, we passed through part of
Banks' Strait, and anchored off Swan Island at 9 A.M. The rock is a
fine-grained basalt, exposed only on the shore, the remainder of the
island being a series of sandhills covered with low shrubs and luxuriant
grass growing in tufts. Having left Captain Stanley's party on their way
to the lighthouse, I found on the western side of the island a long sandy
beach strewed with marine rejectamenta, among which were many new species
of zoophytes; the number and variety of sponges was very great, but
nearly all had suffered so much from exposure to the sun and weather, as
to be useless as specimens. Returning to the ship before noon, we
immediately got underweigh for Sydney.

RETURN TO SYDNEY.

March 9th.

Yesterday morning we picked up a strong South-South-East wind, which
brought us off Botany Bay by 8 A.M., but the weather being thick with
rain, and the land doubtful, being seen only in occasional glimpses, it
was judged prudent to haul off, standing in again during a clearing. At
length the lighthouse was distinguished, when we bore up, and in little
more than an hour reached our former anchorage in Farm Cove.

CHAPTER 1.3.

Sail on our Second Northern Cruise.
Entrance to the Inner Passage.
Arrive at Rockingham Bay.
Land Mr. Kennedy's Expedition.
Commence the Survey at Dunk Island.
Communication with Natives.
Barnard Isles.
Botanical Sketch.
Examine a New River.
Frankland Isles.
Find the Coconut Palm.
Fitzroy Island.
The Will-o-the-Wisp and her Story.
Trinity Bay.
Animals of a Coral Reef.
Stay at Lizard Island.
Howick, Pelican, and Claremont Isles.
Bird Isles.
Meet party of Natives in Distress.
Cairncross Island.
Arrive at Cape York.

SAIL ON SECOND NORTHERN CRUISE.

April 29th.

The season for passing through Torres Strait from the southward having
arrived, we left Port Jackson on a ten-months cruise, in order to
complete the survey of the Inner Passage, or the clear channel between
the north-east coast of Australia and the inner edge of the outer reefs,
which again are bounded to seaward by the Great Barrier Reef, stretching
from north to south, for a distance of upwards of 1000 miles.

In the evening we were joined by the Tam O'Shanter, a barque having on
board a colonial overland expedition under Mr. Kennedy, which we are to
accompany to Rockingham Bay, 1200 miles north from Sydney, where we are
to assist in the disembarkation and starting of the party.

For the first nine days we averaged only thirty miles a day, owing to a
long continuance of calms and light winds with a strong adverse current,
which on one occasion set us to East-South-East fifty-three miles in
twenty-four hours. At length, on May 8th we picked up a strong southerly
breeze, accompanied by a northerly set. On May 12th we rounded Breaksea
Spit, and Captain Stanley finding his original intention of passing
inside of Lady Elliot's Island impracticable, or at least involving
unnecessary delay, determined to bear up North-West by West keeping
outside of the Bunker and Capricorn Groups, and try the channel
previously passed through by Captain F.P. Blackwood in H.M.S. Fly.
Captain Stanley's remarks on this subject are so important, that I give
them verbatim:

ENTRANCE TO THE INNER PASSAGE.

"After reaching Lady Elliot's Island, we steered a course direct for the
High Peak of the Northumberland Islands, so as to pass between Bunker's
Group and Swain's Reef, which affords a far better entrance into the
Inner Passage, than the old route round Breaksea Spit inside the Bunker
Group; when the course requires to be changed, and the channel is much
narrower. We sounded every half hour without finding bottom, with from 80
to 120 fathoms, till we came to the soundings laid down by the Fly, which
we found to agree almost exactly with ours.

"Our soundings were obtained by using Massey's patent lead, with which we
found we could reach the bottom at twenty-six fathoms, when the ship was
going 9.2 knots an hour; and with such a guide any error in the reckoning
would be detected, even by night, as the Bunker Group gives warning by
the soundings. For a steamer going to Sydney by the Inner Route, this
channel would be invaluable as far as the Pine Peak of the Percy Isles.
One direct course will lead out to sea clear of all the reefs, a distance
of more than 200 miles, during which period there would be ample time to
ascertain by observations of the sun, whether any current had been
experienced sufficient to place the ship in danger, and, as the channel
between Swain's Reef and the Bunker Group appears to be clear, there is a
drift of thirty miles on each side the course from the High Peak."

May 15th.

After having at daylight sighted the land about Port Bowen and Cape
Townshend, we passed the Northumberland and Percy Isles to the westward,
the water being very smooth with light airs from South to
East-North-East. A very offensive smell which has been experienced in the
after part of the ship for a week back, was today traced to some
preserved meats prepared in Sydney; 1036 pounds of these being found
quite putrid were condemned.*

(*Footnote. It is but justice to state here that the English invention of
preserving meat in air-tight canisters had only recently been attempted
in Sydney; and it was then to be regarded merely as an experiment to try
whether a new and important article of colonial export could not be
produced. Since then, further experience in the process has enabled the
introducers of the plan to succeed so perfectly, that afterwards, the
colonial preserved meats supplied to the Rattlesnake, including some
which had been kept for eighteen months, were always preferred by us to
those prepared in England. The meat itself, I allude to beef and mutton,
was of better quality, and the cost much less.)

CAPE UPSTART.

May 19th.

At length, after several days of light and contrary winds, the wind came
round to South-East and assumed the appearance of the trade, which we had
at last picked up. We ran round the north-east end of the Cumberland
Islands, passed Cape Gloucester, and in the evening anchored under Cape
Upstart in our former berth.

During a solitary ramble next day, chiefly in order to search for a kind
of rock wallaby, or small kangaroo, peculiar to this place, and which I
failed on this occasion (as during two previous visits) to procure, I
walked as far as the place where the Fly had watered some years
previously. The large rocky basin which we had found dry in December
last, when the whole plan of our first northern cruise had to be altered,
in consequence of this unexpected result, was now nearly full. The aspect
of the country had been considerably changed by the late abundant fall of
rain, and the vegetation everywhere looked quite green. No signs of
natives were seen--their visits to the immediate vicinity of the Cape
appear to be made only at rare intervals; and the just chastisement
bestowed upon them some years ago, in consequence of a wanton attack made
upon a seining party will, probably, for some time to come, render them
cautious of coming in contact with white men. While wading about among
the tall grass, the long sharp awns of the prevailing kind, an
Anthistiria, were more annoying than can be described, having forced
their way in hundreds through my thin clothing, causing an annoying and
painful irritation; to which, the bites of clouds of mosquitoes in a
mangrove swamp which I had entered in chase of some bowerbirds, added a
finishing touch, as if to test the powers of human endurance. Having
expended my stock of dust shot, I tried fine sand--which I had somewhere
read of as a substitute, but, although used under the most favourable
conditions, the experiment proved a complete failure. Sights for rating
the chronometers to get which was the only object in coming here, having
been obtained, we left for Goold Island in the afternoon.

GOOLD ISLAND.

May 21st.

Passing outside of the Palm Islands, and rounding Cape Sandwich, we
entered Rockingham Bay, and anchored on the North-West side of Goold
Island, where we found the Tam O'Shanter. This island is about seven
miles in circumference, gradually rising towards the centre, to form a
peak 1376 feet in height. The shores are rocky, with occasional sandy
beaches, and the island is well wooded up to its summit; Eucalypti
(gumtrees) frequently of great size, being the predominant trees. The
grass was very luxuriant and even difficult to wade through, indicating
an abundance of water, of which several small streams were seen. One of
these streamlets close to the anchorage is well adapted for watering a
ship at, as boats can approach within a few yards; and the supply can
never, I have good reason to believe, entirely cease.

NATIVES AND THEIR CANOES.

The natives, a small party of whom were here, have had frequent
intercourse with Europeans, and indeed the sight alongside the ship of
eight canoes, four of which carried two unarmed men, and the others one
each, would of itself, to most people, have been a convincing proof of a
friendly disposition. That such apparent desire to be on friendly terms
might often mislead strangers, is not to be wondered at. Yet these same
people, a few years ago, made a sudden and most wanton attack upon a
seining party belonging to H.M.S. Fly, and shortly after we left them,
they attempted to cut off a small vessel which had called there for
water.

Their canoes are very simply constructed of a single sheet of bark of the
gumtree brought together at the ends, and secured by stitching. The
sitter squats down with his legs doubled under him, and uses a small
square piece of bark in each hand, as paddles, with one of which he also
bales the water out by dexterously scooping it up from behind him.

On May 23rd, a convenient spot for landing the overland expedition having
been found on the shores of Rockingham Bay, we shifted our berth in the
afternoon a few miles further to leeward, and anchored under the
westernmost of the Family Islands, in order to be near the place of
disembarkation.

LAND MR. KENNEDY'S PARTY.

On the two following days everything belonging to Mr. Kennedy's party
(with the exception of one horse drowned while swimming it ashore) was
safely landed, and his first camp was formed on some open forest land
behind the beach, at a small freshwater creek.

The object of Mr. Kennedy's expedition, was to explore the country to the
eastward of the dividing range running along the North-East coast of
Australia at a variable distance from the shore, and terminating at Cape
York, where a vessel with supplies was to meet the party in October,
after which they were to start on their return to Sydney; proceeding at
first down the western side of the peninsula to the Gulf of Carpentaria,
and then shape such a course as was best calculated to bring them to the
settled districts of New South Wales.

Of the disastrous results of this unfortunate expedition, I need not here
speak; I shall afterwards have to allude to the melancholy death of its
gallant leader, within a day's journey almost of the goal which he was
struggling with desperate energy to reach--the nearest place where
assistance could be procured for the few remaining survivors of his
party, of whom, eventually, only three were saved. I last saw poor
Kennedy on the evening before he broke up his camp; he was then in high
spirits and confident of success.

THEY COMMENCE THEIR JOURNEY.

The party, of thirteen men and twenty-eight horses (with carts, a flock
of sheep for food, etc.) appeared to be furnished with every requisite
for their intended journey, and the arrangements and appointments seemed
to me to be perfect. Nor did I, despite the forebodings of others, argue
anything but a successful result to an undertaking, the blame of failure
of which was AFTERWARDS attempted to be thrown upon those who had planned
it.

The small granite island (one of the Family Group) off which we were
anchored, afforded little of interest to us. Fresh water was found in
small quantities, not available, however, for the use of vessels. The
most curious production of the island is an undescribed plant of the
singular family Balanophoraceae, not before known as Australian, which
was found here in abundance in the gloomy brushes, parasitic upon the
roots of the tallest trees. We also met with here--in probably its
southern limit upon the coast--a species of rattan (Calamus australis)
with long prickly shoots, well illustrated in the annexed drawing by Mr.
Huxley, representing the process of cutting through the scrub, during an
excursion made with Mr. Kennedy, for the purpose of searching for a way
out from the low swampy district of Rockingham Bay.

COMMENCE THE SURVEY.

May 26th.

During the forenoon, the ship was moved over to an anchorage under the
lee (North-West side) of Dunk Island, where we remained for ten days. The
survey of the coastline and Inner Passage to the northward was here
commenced, and afterwards continued up to Torres Strait, by an unbroken
series of triangulation; it included a space varying in width from 5 to
15 miles, extending through 7 1/2 degrees of latitude and 4 1/2 of
longitude, with a coastline of upwards of 600 miles.

MODE OF CONDUCTING IT.

The programme of the survey may be briefly given as follows: at the
principal stations--chiefly islands off the coast--the various
observations for determining astronomical positions and theodolite
angles, were made by Captain Stanley and Mr. W.H. Obree, and the ship
remained there at anchor for several days. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Dayman,
in the Asp, laid down the coastline and neighbourhood as far as the next
station twenty or thirty miles in advance. Lieutenant Simpson with the
pinnace continued the soundings several miles further out, both working
in conjunction, and often assisted by another boat in charge of Mr.
Heath, while the outside soundings devolved upon Lieutenant Yule in the
tender. The Rattlesnake in shifting from place to place, aided by boats
in company, sounded the centre of the channel, usually following one of
the lines run by Captain P.P. King, and marked upon his charts. The
available boats permanently attached to the ship, were employed under
various officers in the neighbourhood of the different anchorages,
cutting up the ground, and filling up any gaps which might otherwise have
been left in the new charts.

The summit of a very small rocky island, near the anchorage, named by
Captain Stanley, Mound Islet, formed the first station. Dunk Island,
eight or nine miles in circumference, is well wooded--it has two
conspicuous peaks, one of which (the North-West one) is 857 feet in
height. Our excursions were confined to the vicinity of the watering
place and the bay in which it is situated. The shores are rocky on one
side and sandy on the other, where a low point runs out to the westward.
At their junction, and under a sloping hill with large patches of brush,
a small stream of fresh water, running out over the beach, furnished a
supply for the ship, although the boats could approach the place closely
only at high-water.

Among the most interesting objects of natural history, are two birds, one
a new and handsome fly-catcher, Monarcha leucotis, the other a swallow,
which Mr. Gould informs me is also an Indian species. Great numbers of
butterflies frequent the neighbourhood of the watering place--one of
these (Papilio urvillianus) is of great size and splendour, with dark
purple wings, broadly margined with ultramarine, but from its habit of
flying high among the trees I did not succeed in catching one. An
enormous spider, beautifully variegated with black and gold, is plentiful
in the woods, watching for its prey in the centre of a large net
stretched horizontally between the trees.

The seine was frequently hauled upon the beach with great success--one
evening, through its means, in addition to plenty of fish, no less than
five kinds of star-fishes, and twelve of crustacea, several of which are
quite new, were brought on shore.

Among the plants of the island the most important is a wild species of
plantain or banana, afterwards found to range along the North-East coast
and its islands as far as Cape York. Here I saw for the first time a
species of Sciadophyllum, one of the most singular trees of the eastern
coastline of tropical Australia; a slender stem, about thirty feet in
height, gives off a few branches with immense digitate dark and glossy
leaves and long spike-like racemes of small scarlet flowers, a great
resort for insects and insect-feeding birds.

COMMUNICATION WITH NATIVES STOPPED.

Soon after the ship had come to an anchor, some natives came off in their
canoes and paid us a visit, bringing with them a quantity of shellfish
(Sanguinolaria rugosa) which they eagerly exchanged for biscuit. For a
few days afterwards we occasionally met them on the beach, but at length
they disappeared altogether, in consequence of having been fired at with
shot by one of two of the young gentlemen of the Bramble, on a shooting
excursion, whom they wished to prevent from approaching too closely a
small village, where they had their wives and children. Immediate steps
were taken, in consequence, to prevent the recurrence of such collisions,
when thoughtless curiosity on one side is apt to be promptly resented on
the other, if numerically superior in force. I saw nothing in the
appearance of these natives to distinguish them from those of Goold
Island, and the canoes are the same. The men had large prominent
cicatrices on the shoulders, and across the breast and belly, the septum
of the nose was perforated, and none of the teeth had been removed. I saw
no weapons, and some rude armlets were their only ornaments.

THE BARNARD ISLES.

On June 6th we ran to the northward 15 1/2 miles, and anchored at noon
under Number 3 of the Barnard Isles, a group consisting of six high rocky
wooded isles, the two southernmost of which are separated from the rest
by an interval of four miles. I landed upon the two largest (1 and 3 of
the charts) on the first only once. I there found nothing of much
interest, except some very thick beds of conglomerate superimposed upon a
compact basaltic-looking rock. Number 3, on the other hand, consists of
mica slate, much contorted, and altered from its usual appearance, and
containing lead ore (galena) with several veins of quartz, one of which,
about two feet in thickness, traverses the island from side to side.

BOTANY OF THE BARNARD ISLES.

The islands of the North-East coast of Australia hitherto and
subsequently visited during the survey, afford all the gradations between
the simplest form of a sandbank upon a coral reef scantily covered with
grass, a few creeping plants and stunted bushes on one hand--and on the
other a high, rocky, well-wooded island with an undulating succession of
hills and valleys. In those of the latter class, to a certain extent only
in the islands of Rockingham Bay, but in a very striking degree in those
to the northward, there is so great a similarity in the vegetation, that
an illustration of the botany may be taken from one of the Barnard Isles,
Number 3--exhibiting what may be termed an Indo-Australian Flora.

The upper margin of the coral beach is overrun with Ipomoea maritima, a
large purple-flowered Bossiaea, and some other leguminous plants, of
which the handsomest is Canvallia baueriana, a runner with large
rose-coloured flowers. To these succeeds a row of bushes of Scaevola
koenigii, and Tournefortia argentea, with an occasional Guettarda
speciosa, or Morinda citrifolia, backed by thickets of Paritium
tiliaceum, and other shrubs supporting large Convolvulaceae, vine-like
species of Cissus; Guilandina bonduc, a prickly Caesalpinia, Deeringia
coelosioides, and a variety of other climbers. Penetrating this shrubby
border, one finds himself in what in New South Wales would be called a
brush or scrub, and in India a jungle, extending over the greater part of
the island. Overhead are trees of moderate size, whose general character
is constituted by a nearly straight stem, seldom branching except near
the top, and furnished with glossy dark-green leaves. Interspersed with
them there are many which attain an enormous size, as in the case of a
Hernanda, a Castanospermum, two fabaceous trees, and others of which
neither flowers nor fruit were observed. Two palms, Seaforthia elegans,
and Livistona inermis, also occur here. By far the most remarkable
vegetable productions are the larger kinds of climbers. The principal of
these, with a leafless and almost branchless cable-like stem, sometimes
two or three hundred yards in length, rises over the summits of the
tallest trees, and connects one with another in its powerful folds,
occasionally descending to the ground. Another climber, Lestibudesia
arborescens, rises by its slender stems to the tops of the trees, hiding
them in its cascade-like masses and graceful festoons of exuberant
foliage. Besides several other exogenous woody climbers, of which a very
remarkable one is a Bauhinia, with a compressed stem spirally twisted
round its axis--the most interesting is Calamus australis, rising in a
clump, then arching along the ground and from tree to tree in a similar
manner to Flagellaria indica, here also abundant. Among the other plants
of these brushes, are the curious Dracontium polyphyllum, with large
simple and pinnatifid leaves, creeping like ivy up the trunks and lower
branches of the trees--parasitical Loranthaceae, with long dependent
tufts of rush-like leaves--enormous masses of Acrosticum alcicorne and A.
grande, with an occasional Hoya carnosa, Dendrobium, or other epiphyte.
When the soil is rich Caladium macrorhizon grows gregariously in shady
places, and Hellenia coerulea on their margins--and among stones and
sometimes on trees, tufts of Grammitis australis spread out their large
and handsome undivided fronds.

VICTORIA RIFLE-BIRD.

Two species of rat occur here--one is the large bandicoot of India, Mus
giganteus, doubtless introduced by some wrecked vessel, the other is the
pretty little Mus indicus, found on all the islands of the north-east
coast and Torres Strait. Among the birds, we found numbers of the
Megapodius, always a welcome addition to our bill of fare; but our
greatest prize was a new and splendid rifle-bird, which Mr. Gould has
since described from my specimens and named Ptiloris victoriae, as a mark
of respect and gratitude for the patronage bestowed upon his great work
on the Birds of Australia, in the forthcoming supplement to which it will
be figured along with some other novelties of the Voyage of the
Rattlesnake.

Before taking leave of the natural history of the Barnard Group, I must
not omit a pretty butterfly inhabiting the densest parts of the brush; it
is the Hamadryas zoilus of the Voyage of the Astrolabe, erroneously
supposed in that work to be a native of New Zealand.

EXAMINE A NEW RIVER.

One day I crossed over to the mainland in a boat sent for the purpose of
examining a small river seen there to open upon a long sandy beach. We
found a depth of four feet on the bar at low-water, so had no difficulty
in entering--at a quarter of a mile from the mouth the water was quite
fresh. We ascended about two miles and a half, when it became necessary
to return on account of the shoalness of the stream, the boat* having
grounded repeatedly. A party of about twenty natives made their
appearance as soon as we entered the river, and after making ineffectual
and repeated attempts to induce us to land, two or three of their number
followed us along the bank, while the others made a straight course so as
to cut off the windings and meet us at our turning place. The current
here ran one and a half knots, but the quantity of water was trifling and
the channel throughout very narrow, at times sweeping under the bank, so
as not to allow room for the oars. At first the river was fringed with
mangroves, afterwards with dense brush. The natives followed us down
until we anchored for dinner in one of the reaches, when they all left on
hearing the report of my gun while shooting on shore. They were painted
with red and white, two of them being smeared all over with the former
colour, mixed up with some greasy substance. They seemed peaceably
disposed, as we saw no arms among them, and they approached close enough
to take biscuit from our hands.

(*Footnote. Our first cutter, very serviceable on such occasions from her
light draught; with fourteen men, arms, provisions, and stove for
cooking, etc. she drew only a foot of water.)

NATIVE VILLAGE.

Near the mouth we again landed for half an hour, and found a cluster of
three or four dome-shaped huts, large and roomy, of neat construction,
covered with sheets of melaleuca bark, and having one, sometimes two
entrances. Some fishing nets, similar to those used at Moreton Bay, were
seen. The men retired into the bush when we landed, nor would they come
out to me when I advanced alone towards them, in order to look at the
huts. We anchored for the night under Number 1 of the Barnard Isles.
Megapodii were here very plentiful, and about daylight very noisy,
running about in all directions, repeating their loud call of
chro-co--chro-co. Some of the bushes presented a fine show of the scarlet
flowers of Disemma coccinea, a kind of passion-flower, before only found
at Endeavour River by Sir Joseph Banks, during Cook's first voyage. In
the morning we returned to the ship.

On June 12th, while passing a small opening in the land, a little to the
northward of Double Point, the Asp was observed on shore with a signal
for assistance, which was immediately sent, when she was got off without
damage. At this place, as Lieutenant Simpson informed me, a boomerang was
obtained from the natives; we had not before observed this singular
weapon upon the north-east coast, and its use is quite unknown on the
north coast from Cape York to Port Essington. This one too was painted
green, a colour which I never heard of elsewhere among the Australians,
whose pigments are black, white, yellow, and red.

Near this place, while tacking close in shore, a native dog was seen by
Lieutenant Simpson, in chase of a small kangaroo, which, on being close
pressed, plunged into the water and swam out to sea, when it was picked
up by the boat, leaving its pursuer standing on a rock gazing wistfully
at its intended prey, until a musket ball, which went very near its mark,
sent it off at a trot. The kangaroo lived on board for a few days, and
proved to constitute quite a new kind, closely allied to Halmaturus
thetidis.

FRANKLAND ISLES.

We anchored in the evening off the northern extreme of Frankland Isle,
Number 4 about three quarters of a mile off shore. At night a party was
sent on shore to look for turtles, but, after remaining there for three
hours, having walked several times round the island, they returned
without having seen the slightest trace of these animals.

The Frankland Group consists of four islands, two of which are very
small, and each of the other two (1 and 4) about a mile in length. To
these may or may not be added another high and much larger detached
island situated about five miles to the North-West, about midway between
the remainder of the group and the mainland. Number 4 is formed of two
wooded rocky eminences at its extremes, connected by level ground,
consisting of dead coral and sand, thickly covered with trees at one
part, and scattered bushes at another. The low woody portion of this
island is strewed with flat blocks of the same kind of recent coral
conglomerate that occurs in situ on the beach, also with quantities of
pumice twelve feet above high-water mark of spring tides. There is little
underwood, the trees overhead forming a shady grove. Herbaceous plants
are few in number--of the others I shall only mention a wild nutmeg,
Myristica cimicifera, not, however, of any commercial importance.

SHELL-COLLECTING.

The Torres Strait rat was exceedingly plentiful here, in hollow trees and
logs, also about the roots of the pandanus trees and under blocks of
coral. Our dogs caught many, as they do not show so much agility as is
usual in the genus. The principal bird is the megapodius--a gecko, and
another small lizard are abundant--of landshells we found a new Scarabus
and a small brown Helix, in great abundance under blocks of coral, and on
the trunks and branches of trees, a pretty Cyclostoma (C. vitreum)
formerly found by the French in New Caledonia, also a new and pretty
Helix, remarkable for its angular sinuated mouth and conical spire--this
last has been named H. macgillivrayi by Professor E. Forbes. The reef
furnished many radiata and crustacea, and as usual the shell
collectors--consisting of about one-half the ship's company, reaped a
rich harvest of cowries, cones, and spider shells, amounting to several
hundredweight. One day I was much amused when, on hailing one of our men
whom I observed perched up among the top branches of a tree, and asking
whether it was a nest that he had found, the answer returned was: "Oh no,
Sir, its these geotrochuses that I am after."

THE COCONUT PALM.

The southernmost island of the group differs from Number 4 in being
higher and more rocky. Many of the trees here were very large, straight,
and branching only near the top. It appeared to me that they would be
highly useful as timber, and so regretted being unable to procure
specimens, on account of their great height. With the exception of a low
sandy portion, overgrown with shrubs and small trees, the remainder of
the island is quite free from underwood. Two small clumps of
coconut-trees, loaded with fruit, were found on the eastern side of the
island, within reach of the spray, in a place where they might have
originated from a floating nut or two thrown upon the beach. This is the
only instance in which I have seen this useful plant growing wild in any
part of Australia, or the islands strictly belonging to it. We succeeded
in shooting down a number, and I know no more grateful beverage than the
milk of a young coconut, especially under the influence of tropical
noonday heat, on an island where there was not a drop of fresh water to
be found. As usual the megapodius was plentiful, and one of our party
killed six in a few hours. I also shot a fine large crested pigeon, of a
species hitherto considered peculiar to the settled parts of New South
Wales, and to which the singularly inappropriate specific name of
antarcticus is applied; it thus ranges 380 miles within the tropics.

FITZROY ISLAND.

June 20th.

After anchoring for a short time to form a station, we finally came to
under Fitzroy Island, half a mile from the shore. This island is about
five miles in circumference, high and well-wooded, with two peaks, one of
which is 861 feet in height. The rock, when exposed, is granitic. The
small bay on the western side of the island, where the ship lay, has a
steep beach of fragments of dead coral, through which oozes the water of
two streamlets, at one of which the ship completed her stock with great
facility. Following upwards one of the two branches of the principal
stream through a narrow gully, one reaches a small basin-like valley,
filled with dense brush, through which it is difficult to pass, on
account of the unusual quantity of the prickly Calamus palm. Several
trees of the pomegranate (Punica granatum) were met with bearing fruit;
as this plant is found wild in India, and here occurred in the centre of
a thick brush not likely to have been visited by Europeans, it is
probably indigenous. A kind of yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) was found here,
and proved good eating. In consequence of this, a party from the ship was
sent to dig for more, but, having mistaken the plant, they expended all
their time and trouble in rooting up a convolvulus, with small, inedible,
and probably cathartic tubers.

FIND A NEW VAMPIRE BAT.

A new species of large fruit-eating bat, or flying-fox (Pteropus
conspicillatus) making the third Australian member of the genus, was
discovered here. On the wooded slope of a hill I one day fell in with
this bat in prodigious numbers, presenting the appearance, while flying
along in the bright sunshine, so unusual in a nocturnal animal, of a
large flock of rooks. On close approach a strong musky odour became
apparent, and a loud incessant chattering was heard. Many of the branches
were bending under their loads of bats, some in a state of inactivity,
suspended by their hind claws, others scrambling along among the boughs,
and taking to wing when disturbed. In a very short time I procured as
many specimens as I wished, three or four at a shot, for they hung in
clusters--but, unless killed outright, they remained suspended for some
time--when wounded they are to be handled with difficulty, as they bite
severely, and on such occasions their cry reminds one of the squalling of
a child. The flesh of these large bats is reported excellent; it is a
favourite food with the natives, and more than once furnished a welcome
meal to Leichhardt and his little party, during their adventurous journey
to Port Essington.

One day we were surprised to see a small vessel approaching the anchorage
from the southward. She proved to be a cutter of twenty-five tons, called
the Will-o-the-Wisp, fitted out by a merchant in Sydney, and sent in a
somewhat mysterious way (so as to ensure secrecy) to search for
sandalwood upon the north-east coast of Australia. If found in sufficient
quantity, a party was to be left to cut it, while the vessel returned to
Moreton Bay with the news, and communicated with the owner, who was to
send a larger vessel to pick it up and convey it at once to the China
market.* An inferior kind of sandalwood, the produce of Exocarpus
latifolia (but which afterwards turned out to be useless) was met with in
several localities--as the Percy Isles, Repulse Bay, Cape Upstart, Palm
Islands, etc. At this last place they had much friendly intercourse with
the natives, who were liberally treated with presents.

(*Footnote. In 1847 nearly 1000 tons of this wood, procured chiefly from
New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, etc. were exported from Sydney to China,
where it is burnt with other incense in the temples. The sandalwood trade
in these islands gives employment to about six small vessels, belonging
to Sydney. In China it realises about 30 pounds per ton.)

AFFRAY WITH NATIVES.

It is supposed that the sight of so many valuable articles had excited
the cupidity of these savages, for, one morning, at half-past three
o'clock, a party came off in large canoes with outriggers, and boarded
the cutter when all hands were below. Their first act was to throw into
the cabin and down the fore hatchway some lighted bark, and when the
master and one of the crew rushed on deck in a state of confusion, they
were instantly knocked on the head with boomerangs and rendered
insensible. At this crisis, had it not been for the successful courage of
the mate, who cleared the deck with a sword, and allowed the remainder of
the crew to come up to his assistance, the natives would probably have
obtained possession of the vessel; as it was the survivors retired in
confusion, which was further increased by the discharge among them of a
swivel gun, mounted on a pivot amidships.

At Goold Island, where the Will-o-the-Wisp next went in search of water,
they had another affray with the natives, of whom several were shot, but
whether justifiably, or from revengeful motives, is known to themselves
only. Knowing that the Rattlesnake was upon the coast they proceeded in
search of her to obtain surgical and other assistance, and, meeting two
of the surveying boats, they were directed to Fitzroy Island.

Some parts of this account appeared so extraordinary, and others so
improbable, that Captain Stanley felt it his duty to report it to the
Colonial Government, along with the depositions of the men. Some days
afterwards, the master, whose skull had been fractured, being pronounced
to be in as fair a way to recovery as was possible under the
circumstances the Will-o-the-Wisp sailed for Moreton Bay, which we
afterwards learned she reached in safety.

EXAMINE TRINITY BAY.

June 26th.

A party left before daylight in the pinnace and first galley, to examine
an opening in Trinity Bay, marked upon King's chart. We found it to
present the appearance of a wide creek running through low mangrove
swamps, and with the eye could trace its windings for the distance of two
or three miles. In all probability this is the embouchure of a
considerable freshwater stream, but the shallowness of the head of the
bay and the usual bar off the mouth of the supposed river, determined
Captain Stanley to return to the ship, as the time which would otherwise
have been spent in exploring a useless creek might be devoted to some
better purpose.

CROCODILES.

June 29th.

Left Fitzroy Island for an anchorage under Cape Grafton, where we
remained for the three following days. While running down to the
anchorage we entered a large patch of discoloured water, with a perfectly
defined margin, yet the lead showed no difference in the depth or nature
of the bottom. It would also appear that since Captain King's survey the
water has been shoaling hereabouts. On a small island inshore, the skull
of a crocodile was found upon the beach, and this reminds me that several
of these animals were seen in one of the rivers of Rockingham Bay. The
Australian alligator, as it is usually called, is a true crocodile,
identical, according to Mr. Gray, with the common Indian species.

ISLET IN TRINITY BAY.

July 3rd.

Ran to the north-west fifteen miles, and, after having anchored midway to
form a surveying station, brought up finally under a small unnamed islet
in Trinity Bay. This island, viewed from our anchorage on its north-west
side, presents the appearance of a ridge connecting two rounded
eminences, with a sharp sea-face exposing the stratification of the rock.
This is a micaceous rock, assuming at one place the appearance of mica
slate, and at another being a conglomerate, with frequent veins of
quartz. The strata, which are often flexuous, or slightly contorted, have
a westerly dip of 60 degrees, and the strike is North-North-West and
South-South-East. On the windward side there is a long gradual slope,
covered with tall coarse grass, among which many quail were found. The
shore is fringed with the usual maritime trees and bushes, and an
extensive mangrove bed runs out upon the reef in one place. This reef is
of great extent, stretching out to windward upwards of a mile, as far as
a small rocky isle like a haycock.

LOW ISLES.

On July 7th we anchored to leeward of the Low Isles, in the northern part
of Trinity Bay, in eight fathoms, mud, half a mile from the shore, and
remained there for the four succeeding days. This small group may be said
to consist of three islets. One is low, sandy, and well wooded, about 300
yards in diameter, and is situated at the north-west extremity of a
horse-shoe reef, with its concavity to leeward; the other two may be
looked upon as merely groves of mangroves on the reef, the roots of which
are washed at high-water, except in a few places, where narrow ridges of
dead coral have afforded footing for the growth of a samphire-looking
plant (Salicornia indica). The sandy islet presents no remarkable
feature. The remains of burnt turtle bones indicate the occasional visits
of natives from the mainland. A solitary megapodius was shot, but the
only other land-birds are a little yellow Zosterops, and the larger
ground-dove (Geopelia humeralis).

ANIMALS OF A CORAL REEF.

During our stay we were fortunate in having fine weather, light winds,
and low tides, which enabled such as were inclined to look for shells
upon the reef to do so under the most favourable circumstances. This reef
is of great extent, with all the varieties of coral, mud, and sand, and
proved a most productive one. A sketch of the distribution of the
principal of its productions may be of interest to some. Many kinds of
fishes, Muraena, Diodon, Balistes, Serranus, etc. are found in the pools
among the coral blocks; the first of these, of bright colours variously
striped and spotted, resemble water-snakes, and are exceedingly active,
gliding through the interstices in the coral and hiding in its
hollows--they bite savagely at a stick presented to them, and are by no
means pleasant neighbours while wading about knee-deep and with bare arms
turning over the coral which they frequent. On a former occasion I had
been laid hold of by the thumb, and the wound was a long time in healing.
Crustacea are also numerous; blue and green Gonodactyli leap about with a
sharp clicking noise--legions of Mycteris subverrucata traverse the dry
sands at low-water--and in the shallow muddy pools, dull green Thalamitae
and Lupeae swim off rapidly, and smooth Calappae seek refuge by burrowing
under the surface.

Of mollusca, two species of olive (O. Erythrostoma and O. leucophoea)
were found on the sandy margin of the islet--several Cerithia and Subulae
(S. maculata and S. oculata) creep along the sand flats, and, with some
fine Naticae, and a Pyramidella, may be found by tracing the marks of
their long burrows. Several Strombi and Nassa coronata inhabit the
shallow sandy pools; the egg-shell and many Cypraeae occur under coral
blocks, which, when over sand, often harbour different kinds of cones--of
which the handsome C. textile is the commonest. A delicate white Lima
(Lima fragilis) is abundant here, merrily swimming away in the pool under
an upturned stone, and leaving its fringe-like tentacles adhering to the
hand when seized. Lastly, it would be improper to omit mentioning the
very fine oysters adhering to the roots of the mangroves. But these are
only a small portion of the shellfish collected here. Among radiate
animals, several Ophiurae and Ophiocomae and other Asteriadae, with two
kinds of Echinus, are also plentiful under blocks of coral (Astraea and
Maeandrina) in the pools; one of the last, remarkable for its very long,
slender, black spines, has the power of giving an exceedingly painful
puncture, if carelessly handled--for a few minutes the sensation is
similar to that caused by the sting of a wasp; of the others, a fine
Ophiura is remarkable for its great size and grass-green colour, and an
Ophiocoma for the prodigious length of its arms.

HOPE ISLANDS.

July 19th.

Six days ago we anchored under the lee of the reef on which the Hope
Islands are situated, but in a position which afforded little shelter.
While off Cape Tribulation, a remarkable hill in the background so
strongly reminded us of the Peter Botte at Mauritius, that it was so
named upon our chart--it is 3,311 feet in height, the Cape itself being
1,454 feet. For about six days lately the weather has been very
boisterous, blowing hard from East-South-East with a considerable sea.

The weather having at length moderated, I yesterday and today visited the
islands composing the group. A deep and clear channel of a mile in width
separates these islands, the larger of which is surrounded completely,
and the smaller partially, by an extensive reef. The former, or western
one, is merely a long strip of heaped-up coral and shells, with a little
sand and some driftwood running parallel to the outer edge of the reef,
in the direction of the prevailing wind. It is overrun with low bushes,
and a few other plants, such as the large purple-flowered Bossioea, and
Ipomoea maritima. A long bank of dead coral only a few feet above
high-water mark, with an intervening ditch-like hollow, separates it from
the sea to the eastward; while on the other side, towards the reef, it is
margined with tall mangroves. Small and barren though this spot be, it is
yet inhabited by lizards and a species of rat. Besides the usual waders
on the reef, I found great numbers of doves and honeysuckers, and, among
the mangroves, fell in with and procured specimens of a very rare
kingfisher, Halcyon sordida. Among the mangroves a rare shell, a species
of Quoyia, occurred.

The eastern and northern islet is nearly circular, half a mile in
circumference--formed of coral and shell-sand, covered with bushes and
small trees. The most conspicuous plant is the prickly Guilandina bonduc,
the long briar-like trailing and climbing shoots of which impede one
while traversing the thickets. A pair of white-headed sea-eagles had
established their aerie in a tree not more than twenty feet from the
ground, and I could not resist the temptation of robbing them of their
eggs.

THREE ISLES.

July 28th.

Anchored under the Three Isles, between Capes Bedford and Flattery. The
principal one of the group, situated to leeward of an extensive reef, is
margined towards the reef by beds of coral--conglomerate, and elsewhere
by a sandy beach--it is half a mile in length, composed of coral sand,
the highest part not more than twelve feet above high-water mark, with
several groves of low trees, and is overrun with tall sedge-like grass;
the second is composed of a strip of heaped-up fragments of coral, to
windward covered with bushes, and to leeward separated from the reef by a
belt of mangroves; the third is a mere clump of mangroves not deserving
of further notice. The botany of an island of this class, of which there
are many on the North-east coast of Australia, may serve as a specimen,
as the plants are few. Mimusops kaukii constituted the principal part of
the arboreal vegetation, Clerodendrum inerme and Premna obtusifolia form
low straggling thickets--scattered bushes of Suriana maritima and Pemphis
acida fringe the sandy margin of the island, and behind these the
beautiful Josephinia grandiflora, a large white-flowered Calyptranthus,
Vitex ovata and a Tribulus creep along the sand, or spread out their
procumbent branches.

Traces of natives, but not very recent, were met with in a dried-up well
dug to a great depth, and several low, dome-shaped huts, and numerous
fireplaces, around which remains of shellfish and turtles were profusely
scattered. Many of the heads of these last animals were here and
elsewhere seen stuck upon branches of trees, sometimes a dozen together.

July 31st.

I landed this morning with Mr. Obree, on one of the Two Isles off Cape
Flattery, and we were picked up by the ship in passing. It is
well-wooded, chiefly with the Mimusops kaukii, trees of which are here
often sixty feet high and 3 in diameter. Under the bark I found two new
land-shells (to be described in the Appendix) one of them a flattish
Helix, in prodigious numbers--and this more than ever satisfied me that
even the smallest islands and detached reefs of the north-east coast may
have species peculiar to themselves, nor did I ever return from any one
of the 37 upon which I landed without some acquisitions to the
collection.

STAY AT LIZARD ISLAND.

We remained a fortnight at Lizard Island, at the usual anchorage, off a
sandy beach on its north-western side. Lizard Island is conspicuous from
a distance, on account of its peak*--the central part of a mountainous
ridge running across the island, and dividing it into two portions, of
which the eastern is hilly and the western low, and intersected by small
ridges of slight elevation. The island is about 2 1/2 miles in greatest
diameter; the rock is a coarse grey granite, easily decomposable. A large
grassy plain enters westward from the central ridge--a portion of this,
half a mile from the beach, densely covered with coarse grass and reeds
and scattered over with Pandanus trees, is usually a marsh. At present it
is dry, with a few pools of fresh water, connected below with a mangrove
swamp opening upon the beach by a narrow creek. Formerly boats could
ascend this a little way, but now the entrance dries across at
low-water--nor could the fresh water conveniently be conducted to the
beach by the hose and engine, as I had seen done in the Fly in the month
of May. Fortunately, however, we found a small stream in a valley on the
northern corner of the island, which supplied our wants.

(*Footnote. Captain Stanley's azimuth and altitude observations, taken at
two stations at the base, the distance between having been measured by
the micrometer, give its height as 1,161 feet; and Lieutenant Dayman's
barometrical measurement makes it 1,151 feet, above the sea level.)

Although the dry barren nature of the soil--varying from coarse quartzose
sand (from the disintegrated granite) to reddish clay--is not favourable
to the growth of luxuriant vegetation, still several interesting plants
were added to the herbarium. Of these the finest is a new Cochlospermum,
a low-spreading tree, nearly leafless at this time, but covered with
clusters of very large and showy golden blossoms. A heath-like shrub
(Chamaelaucium) common here, was remarkable for existing on the open
plains as a weak prostrate plant, while in the scrub it formed a handsome
bush 10 feet high, with a stem 6 inches in diameter.

Of quail, which in 1844 were very abundant, I saw not more than one or
two--probably the burning of the grass during the breeding season had
effected this partial clearance. Snakes appear to be numerous--two out of
three which I examined were poisonous--the other was the diamond snake of
New South Wales. A very fine land shell, Helix bipartita, was found in
colonies at the roots of the trees and bushes. A large and handsome
cowrie, Cypraea mauritiana, generally distributed among the islands of
the Pacific, was here found for the first time in Australia.

EAGLE ISLAND.

August 1st.

I crossed over to Eagle Island with Mr. Brown, and spent a day and night
there. This place was so named by Cook, who states in explanation of the
name--"We found here the nest of some other bird, we know not what, of a
most enormous size. It was built with sticks upon the ground, and was no
less than 26 feet in circumference, and two feet eight inches high."* An
American professor** conjectures the above nest to have possibly been
that of the Dinornis, the gigantic New Zealand bird, known only by its
fossil remains. A very slight knowledge, however, of ornithology, would
be sufficient to confute the notion of any struthious bird constructing a
nest of this kind, or of a wingless land bird of great size inhabiting an
islet only a quarter of a mile in length. Both Mr. Gould and myself have
seen nests of the same construction, the work of the large fishing-eagle
of Australia.

(*Footnote. Hawkesworth's Voyages volume 2 page 599.)

(**Footnote. In Silliman's Journal for July 1844.)

This island is low and sandy, with a few casuarinas, or she-oaks, a
fringe of Suriana maritima, some Tournefortiae, and thickets of
Clerodendrum inerme. Landrail and other birds were numerous. The reef,
which is very extensive, did not dry throughout at low-water, but some
sandbanks along its lee margin were exposed, and upon them I found the
greatest assemblage of pretty shells that I ever met with at one place.
What would not many an amateur collector have given to spend an hour
here? There were fine Terebrae in abundance, orange-spotted mitres,
minutely-dotted cones, red-mouthed Strombi, glossy olives, and
magnificent Naticae, all ploughing up the wet sand in every
direction--yet, with two exceptions, they are to be seen in every
collection in Europe.

FIND A HUMAN SKULL.

As usual we found plentiful remains of recent turtle feasts. One of the
boat's crew, not over-stocked with brains, during his rambles picked up a
human skull with portions of the flesh adhering. Accidentally learning
this from the conversation of the men at our bivouac during supper,
inquiry was made, when we found that he had foolishly thrown it into the
sea, nor could it be found during a subsequent search. I was anxious to
determine whether it was aboriginal or not. On the one hand, the natives
of all parts of Australia usually evince the strongest desire to bury or
conceal their own dead; on the other, there might have been some
connection between the skull and the remains of a hut of European
construction, portions of clothing, a pair of shoes, some tobacco, and
fragments of a whaleboat seen here. But all is mere conjecture.

HOWICK ISLES.

August 14th.

After leaving Lizard Island, we passed to the southward of Number 3 of
the Howick Isles, and anchored off the North-West extremity of Number 1
in 6 1/2 fathoms, mud. This is the largest of a group of about ten
islands, which agree in being low, and covered for the most part with
mangroves. Number 1, however, is distinguished by having three bare
hillocks at its south-eastern end, the central one of which forms a
rather conspicuous peak. A party of natives was there seen watching our
movements, but no communication with them was attempted. Opposite the
ship we landed on a small sandy, bushy portion of the island, slightly
elevated, fronted by the reef, and backed by mangroves. We found here the
usual indications of occasional visits of the natives in a pit dug as a
well, and numerous remains of turtle and fish about the fireplaces. A few
quails, doves, and other common birds were met with.

On August 18th we removed to an anchorage under Number 6, the second
largest of the group. With the exception of a sandy, grassy plain, half a
mile in length, the whole of the island is densely covered with
mangroves, and fringed with a reef of coral, chiefly dead. Great numbers
of large turtle-shells were scattered about, showing the periodical
abundance of these animals. Another large vampire-bat, Pteropus funereus,
differing from that of Fitzroy Island, was met with in great numbers
among the mangroves--a very large assemblage of these animals on the
wing, seen from the ship while approaching the island, quite resembled a
flock of rooks. Here, as elsewhere on the mangrove-clad islands, a large
honeysucker (Ptilotis chrysotis) filled the air with its loud and almost
incessant, but varied and pleasing notes--I mention it, because it is the
only bird we ever met with on the north-east coast of Australia which
produced anything like a song.

CAPE MELVILLE.

August 21st.

We ran to the North-East about twenty-eight miles, and anchored off Cape
Melville, a remarkable granitic promontory; here the Great Barrier Reef
closely approaches the coast, being distant only ten miles, and visible
from the ship. A few miles to the south some pine-trees were seen on the
ridges, as had previously been noticed by Cunningham, during King's
Voyage. They appeared to be the same kind as that formerly alluded to at
the Percy Isles, in which case this useful tree has a range on the
north-east coast of 500 miles of latitude, being found as far south as
Port Bowen.

Next day we shifted our berth to a more secure anchorage under the
neighbouring Pipon Islets, where the Bramble joined us in the evening.
The schooner had been sent on in advance of the ship to the northward
nearly a month before, in order to be at the head of Princess Charlotte's
Bay during the first week in August, according to an arrangement made by
Captain Stanley with Mr. Kennedy, but no signs of the overland expedition
were met with during ten days spent at the rendezvous.*

(*Footnote. We afterwards learned that it was not until the middle of
October (or two months afterwards) that Kennedy's party reached the
latitude of Princess Charlotte Bay, at a considerable distance too, from
the coast.)

While at this anchorage, the Bramble, being in want of water, filled up
at a small stream, inside of Cape Melville, assisted by some of our boats
and people. The party so employed was one day attacked by a number of
natives, but, the usual precaution of having sentries posted and a guard
of marines close at hand prevented the loss of life on our part.

PELICAN ISLAND.

August 28th.

After a run of 45 miles, we reached Pelican Island, the survey of the
space thus rapidly gone over being left to Lieutenant Yule and the
Bramble. The island is rather more than a quarter of a mile in length,
with a large reef to windward; it is low and sandy, covered with coarse
grass, and a bushy yellow-flowered Sida. Great numbers of birds frequent
this place; of these the pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus) are the most
remarkable, but, incubation having ceased, they were so wary that it was
not without some trouble that two were killed out of probably a hundred
or more. A pair of sea-eagles had their nest here, placed on a low bush,
an anomaly in the habits of the bird to be accounted for by the
disappearance of the two clumps of trees, mentioned by King as formerly
existing on the island, and the unwillingness of the birds to abandon the
place. The shell collectors picked up nothing of consequence, but the
sportsmen met with great success. On the 29th, about twenty brace of
quail and as many landrail were shot, in addition to many
oyster-catchers, plovers, godwits, and sandpipers. Shooting for the pot
is engaged in with a degree of eagerness commensurate with its
importance, now that our livestock has been exhausted, and we have little
besides ship's provisions to live upon. Three turtles, averaging 250
pounds weight, were caught by a party sent for the purpose of searching
for them, and it was supposed that one or two others which had come up to
lay escaped detection from the darkness of the night.

CLAREMONT GROUP.

On August 31st, we removed to an anchorage under Number 5 of the
Claremont group, and remained there during the following day. The island
is about two-thirds of a mile in circumference, low and sandy, with a
large reef extending to windward. The island is thinly covered with
coarse grass and straggling bushes, with one large thicket containing a
few trees, of which the tallest is a solitary Mimusops. We found quail
here in great plenty, and they afforded good sport to a First of
September shooting party, provided with a setter. At length the poor
quail had their quarters so thoroughly beaten up, that several, in
attempting to escape from the island, were observed to fall into the
water from sheer exhaustion. Nor did the birds receive all the benefit of
the shot, for Captain Stanley, while observing with the theodolite,
became unwittingly a target for a juvenile shooter; but, fortunately, no
damage was done. Some turtles were seen at night, but they were too wary
to be taken. I found several nests with eggs, by probing in all the
likely places near their tracks with my ramrod; in passing through an
egg, the end of the rod becomes smeared with the contents, and comes up
with a little sand adhering to it, directing one where to dig.

Number 6 of the Claremont group was next visited. This, which is only a
quarter of a mile in length, is situated on the lee side of an extensive
reef. It is quite low, being composed of heaped-up fragments of shells
and coral, overrun with a suffruticose Sida, and stunted bushes of
Clerodendrum and Premna, with a glossy-leaved euphorbiaceous plant
occasionally forming small thickets. Seafowl and waders were very
numerous, but the breeding season was over. Landrail existed in such
great numbers that upwards of fifty were shot.

I cannot see the propriety of considering the sandbank, marked Number 7,
as a member of the Claremont group, as, at high-water, it is a mere strip
of sand 200 yards in length, with a few plants of Salsola on the highest
part.

NIGHT ISLAND.

On September 8th, we anchored to the westward of the north end of Night
Island, a mile off shore, and remained there for the two succeeding days.
This island is two miles in length, and half a mile in breadth,
surrounded by a narrow reef of dead coral and mud. With the exception of
a very narrow portion fronted by a sandy beach, the place is densely
covered with mangroves. A sandy portion, of about five acres in extent,
is thickly covered with bushes and small trees, of which the most
conspicuous is a Bombax or cotton-tree, 20 to 30 feet in height, with
leafless horizontal branches bearing both flowers and fruit. Numbers of
the Torres Strait Pigeon (Carpophaga luctuosa) crossed over from the
mainland towards evening to roost; and at that time, and early in the
morning, great havoc was usually made among them. Even this small spot
produced a fine white, brown-banded Helix, not found elsewhere--it
occurred on the branches of the cotton-trees.

SHERRARD ISLES.

Three days afterwards we ran to the northward ten miles, and anchored
under the Sherrard Isles, where our stay was protracted until the 16th by
blowing weather. These islets are two in number, a quarter of a mile
apart, surrounded and connected by a reef. One is 120 yards in length,
sandy, and thinly covered with coarse grass and maritime plants, with a
few bushes; the other is only 30 yards across, and is covered by a clump
of small trees of Pemphis acida and Suriana maritima, appearing at a
distance like mangroves.

A small low wooded islet off Cape Direction, where I landed for a few
hours, was found to be composed entirely of dead coral with thickets of
mangrove and other bushes, and presented no feature worthy of further
notice. We were detained at an anchorage near Cape Weymouth for seven
days by the haziness of the weather, which obscured distant points
essential to the connexion of the survey.

PIPER ISLETS.

After having anchored once for the night under the lee of reef e of
King's chart--one of the most extensive we had hitherto seen, being
fourteen miles in length--on September 26th, the ship anchored under the
largest of the Piper Islets.

This group consists of four low bushy and wooded islets, situated on two
reefs separated by a deep channel. The larger of the two on the
south-eastern reef, off which the ship lay, is about half a mile in
circumference. The trees are chiefly a kind of Erythrina, conspicuous
from its light-coloured trunk and leafless branches; one of the most
abundant plants is a Capparis, with long drooping branches, occasionally
assisted by a Cissus and a Melotria, in forming small shady harbours. In
the evening, vast numbers of white pigeons came over from the mainland to
roost, and of course, all the fowling-pieces were put in requisition.
Some deep pits dug in the centre of the island were perfectly dry, and
are probably so during the latter half of the dry season, or after the
month of July. On this island we observed the remains of a small
establishment for curing trepang--a large seaslug found on the reefs and
in shoal water, constituting a valuable article of commerce in the China
market, where in a dried state it fetches, according to quality, from 5
to 200 pounds a ton. This establishment had been put up by the crew of a
small vessel from Sydney, and several such have at various times made
voyages along this coast and in Torres Strait, collecting trepang and
tortoiseshell, the latter procured from the natives by barter.

YOUNG ISLAND.

September 28th.

On our way to the northward today, we passed Young Island, of King, which
had been previously examined in one of our boats, and found to be merely
a reef covered at high-water. Twenty-nine years before it was an embryo
islet with two small trees upon it. And as the subject of the rate of
increase of a coral reef, and of the formation of an island upon it, is a
subject of interest and of great practical importance, I give below in a
note* two records of the former appearance of Young Island.

(*Footnote. "...Passed at about three-quarters of a mile to the northward
of a small rocky shoal, on which were two small trees. This particular is
recorded as it may be interesting at some future time, to watch the
progress of this islet, which is now in an infant state; it was named on
the occasion Young Island." Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical
and Western Coasts of Australia, performed between the years 1818 and
1822, by Captain P.P. King, R.N., volume 1 page 226. Its appearance in
1839 is described as "an elevated reef, with one small mangrove growing
on the highest part." Stokes' Voyage of the Beagle volume 1 page 57.)

September 29th.

Passing inside of Haggerstone Island, we rounded Sir Everard Home's group
and anchored under Sunday Island, where the Bramble joined us after a
month's absence. This is a small, high, rocky island, of flesh-coloured
compact felspar. On one side is a large patch of brush with some
mangroves and a coral reef.

BIRD ISLES.

A few days afterwards we ran down to the Bird Isles, and anchored. They
are three low, wooded islets, one detached from the other two, which are
situated on the margin of a circular reef.

NATIVES IN DISTRESS.

On the north-west island we saw a small party of natives from the
mainland, consisting of two men and a boy, in great distress from want of
water, until Lieutenant Yule kindly supplied their wants. They had been
wind-bound here for several days, the weather for some time previously
having been too boisterous to admit of attempting to reach the shore,
although only a few miles distant, in their split and patched-up canoe.
This was of small size, the hollowed-out trunk of a tree, with a double
outrigger, and altogether a poor imitation of that used by the islanders
of Torres Strait; the paddles were of rude workmanship, shaped like a
long-handled cricket-bat. Their spears and throwing sticks were of the
same kind as those in use at Cape York, to be afterwards described. These
people were wretched specimens of their race, lean and lanky, and one was
suffering from ophthalmia, looking quite a miserable object; they had
come here in search of turtle--as I understood. Each of the men had lost
a front tooth, and one had the oval cicatrix on the right shoulder,
characteristic of the northern natives, an imitation of that of the
islanders. They showed little curiosity, and trembled with fear, as if
suspicious of our intentions. I made a fruitless attempt to pick up some
scraps of their language; they understood the word powd or peace of
Torres Strait.

On this island the principal trees are the leafless Erythrina, with waxy,
pink flowers. Great numbers of pigeons resorted here to roost. I found
here a large colony of that rare and beautiful tern, Sterna melanauchen,
and mixed up with them a few individuals of the still rarer Sterna
gracilis.

CAIRNCROSS ISLAND.

We anchored under Cairncross Island, on the afternoon of September 3rd,
and remained during the following day. The island is about a quarter of a
mile in length, low and sandy, covered in the centre with tall trees, and
on the outskirts with smaller ones and bushes. These large trees (Pisonia
grandis) form very conspicuous objects from their great dimensions, their
smooth, light bark, and leafless, dead appearance. Some are from eighty
to one hundred feet in height, with a circumference at the base of twenty
feet. The wood, however, is too soft to be useful as timber. Nowhere had
we seen the Torres Strait pigeon in such prodigious numbers as here,
crossing over in small flocks to roost, and returning in the morning; yet
many remained all day feeding on the red, plum-like fruit of Mimusops
kaukii. In the first evening not less than one hundred and fifty-nine
pigeons were brought off after an hour's work by seven shooters, and next
day a still greater number were procured. Being large and well flavoured
birds, they formed no inconsiderable addition to our bill of fare, and
appeared on the table at every meal, subjected to every possible variety
of cooking. Some megapodii also were shot, and many eggs of a fine tern,
Onychoprion panaya, were picked up.

CHAPTER 1.4.

At length, on October 7th, we reached Cape York, and anchored in the
northern entrance to Port Albany. At daylight next morning two parties
were sent in various directions in search of water. I found no traces of
natives in Evans Bay, but at another place, while digging in the bed of a
watercourse, we were joined by a small party of them, one of whom turned
out to be an old acquaintance. They seemed to be quite at home in our
company, asking for pipes, tobacco, and biscuit, with which I was
fortunately able to supply them. Indeed, a day or two before, some of
them had communicated with the Asp in a most confident and friendly
manner. Had water been found near the best anchorage in Port Albany, it
was Captain Stanley's intention to have taken the ship there, but, as it
appeared from the various reports, that Evans Bay was preferable at this
time for watering, both as affording the largest supply, and the greatest
facilities for obtaining it, the ship was accordingly removed to an
anchorage off the south part of the bay, and moored, being in the
strength of the tide running round Robumo Island.

Shortly after our arrival at Cape York, the two sets of old wells, dug by
the Fly, were cleared out, and we completed water to seventy-five tons.
These wells are situated immediately behind the sandy beach--they are
merely pits into which the fresh water, with which the ground had become
saturated during the rainy season, oozes through the sand, having
undergone a kind of filtration. At times a little surf gets up on the
shore, but never, during our stay of three weeks, was it sufficient to
interrupt the watering.

COMPLETION OF THE SURVEY.

While the ship remained at Cape York, the Bramble, Asp, pinnace, and our
second cutter, were engaged, under their respective officers, in the
survey of Endeavour Strait and the Prince of Wales Channel, which they
finished before we left, thus completing the survey of the Inner Route
between Dunk and Booby Islands. Previous to leaving for that purpose, the
pinnace had been sent to Booby Island, for letters in the post office
there, and some of us had the good fortune to receive communications from
our friends in Sydney, which had been left by vessels passing through.
Most passing vessels heave-to off the island for an hour, the dangers of
Torres Strait having been passed, and record their names, etc. in the
logbook kept there, and by it we found, that with one exception, all this
season had taken the Outer Passage, and most of them had entered at
Raine's Islet, guided by the beacon erected there in 1844, by Captain
F.P. Blackwood, of H.M.S. Fly, thus demonstrating the superior merits of
this passage over the other openings in the Barrier Reef, and the
accuracy of the Fly's survey.

On October 21st, the long and anxiously looked-for vessel from Sydney
arrived, bringing our supplies, and the letters and news of the last five
months. We had for a short time been completely out of bread, peas, and
lime juice, and two cases of scurvy had appeared among the crew.

KENNEDY'S EXPEDITION.

It had been arranged that Mr. Kennedy with his expedition should, if
possible, be at Cape York in the beginning of October to communicate with
us, and receive such supplies and assistance as might be required; but
the month passed away without bringing any signs of his being in the
neighbourhood. During our progress along the coast a good lookout had
been kept for his preconcerted signal--three fires in a line, the central
one largest--and bushfires which on two occasions at night assumed
somewhat of that appearance had been answered, as agreed on, by rockets
sent up at 8 P.M., none of which however were returned. A schooner from
Sydney arrived on the 27th with two additions to his party, including a
surgeon, also supplies, consisting chiefly of sheep, with instructions
from the Colonial Government to await at Port Albany the arrival of the
expedition. The livestock were landed by our boats on Albany Island,
where a sheep pen was constructed, and a well dug, but the water was too
brackish for use. A sufficient supply however had previously been found
in a small cave not far off, where the schooner's boat could easily reach
it.

I shall now proceed to give an account of the neighbourhood of Cape York,
derived from the present and previous visits, as a place which must
eventually become of considerable importance--and first of the
aborigines:

NATIVES AT CAPE YORK.

On the day of our arrival at Cape York, a large party of natives crossed
over in five canoes under sail from Mount Adolphus Island, and
subsequently their numbers increased until at one time no less than 150
men, women, and children, were assembled at Evans Bay. But their stay was
short, probably on account of the difficulty of procuring food for so
large an assemblage, and the greater part dispersed along the coast to
the southward. While collecting materials for a vocabulary,* I found that
several dialects were spoken, but I failed then to connect them with
particular tribes or even find out which, if any, were the resident ones.
Among these were two or three of the Papuan race, from some of the
islands of Torres Strait. It appeared to me that a constant friendly
intercourse exists between the natives of the southern portion of Torres
Strait and those of the mainland about Cape York, which last, from its
central position, is much frequented during their occasional, perhaps
periodical migrations. This free communication between the races would
account for the existence in the vocabulary I then procured at Cape York
of a considerable number of words (at least 31 out of 248) identical with
those given by Jukes in his vocabularies of Darnley Island and Masseed,
especially the latter.

(*Footnote. In illustration of the difficulty of framing so apparently
simple a document as a vocabulary, and particularly to show how one must
not fall into the too common mistake of putting down as certain every
word he gets from a savage, however clearly he may suppose he is
understood, I may mention that on going over the different parts of the
human body, to get their names by pointing to them, I got at different
times and from different individuals--for the shin-bone, words which in
the course of time I found to mean respectively, the leg, the shin-bone,
the skin, and bone in general.)

The physical characteristics of these Australians seen at Cape York
differ in no respect from those of the same race which I have seen
elsewhere. The absence of one or more of the upper incisors was not
observed here, nor had circumcision or any similar rite been practised,
as is the case in some parts of the continent. Among these undoubted
Australians were, as already mentioned, two or three Papuans. They
differed in appearance from the others in having the skin of a much
lighter colour--yellowish brown instead of nearly black--the hair on the
body woolly and growing in scattered tufts, and that of the head also
woolly and twisted into long strands like those of a mop. On the right
shoulder, and occasionally the left also, they had a large complicated,
oval scar, only slightly prominent, and very neatly made.

The custom of smoking, so general throughout Torres Strait, has been
introduced at Cape York. Those most addicted to it were the Papuans
above-mentioned, but many of the Australians joined them, and were
equally clamorous for tobacco. Still it was singular to notice that
although choka (tobacco) was in great demand, biscuit, which they had
corrupted to bishikar, was much more prized. Their mode of smoking having
elsewhere* been described, I need not allude to it further than that the
pipe, which is a piece of bamboo as thick as the arm and two or three
feet long, is first filled with tobacco-smoke, and then handed round the
company seated on the ground in a ring--each takes a long inhalation, and
passes the pipe to his neighbour, slowly allowing the smoke to exhale. On
several occasions at Cape York I have seen a native so affected by a
single inhalation, as to be rendered nearly senseless, with the
perspiration bursting out at every pore, and require a draught of water
to restore him; and, although myself a smoker, yet on the only occasion
when I tried this mode of using tobacco, the sensations of nausea and
faintness were produced.

(*Footnote. Jukes' Voyage of the Fly Volume 1 page 165.)

These people appeared to repose the most perfect confidence in us--they
repeatedly visited the ship in their own canoes or the watering-boats,
and were always well treated; nor did any circumstance occur during our
intimacy to give either party cause of complaint. We saw few weapons
among them. The islanders had their bows and arrows, and the others their
spears and throwing-sticks. As the weather was fine, at least as regarded
the absence of rain, no huts of any kind were constructed; at night the
natives slept round their fires without any covering. During our stay the
food of the natives consisted chiefly of two kinds of fruit, the first (a
Wallrothia) like a large yellow plum, mealy and insipid; the second, the
produce of a kind of mangrove (Candelia) the vegetating sprouts of which
are prepared for food by a process between baking and steaming. At
low-water the women usually dispersed in search of shellfish on the
mudflats and among the mangroves, and the men occasionally went out to
fish, either with the spear, or the hook and line.

THE COUNTRY. ITS PRODUCTIONS.

The country in the immediate vicinity of Evans and Cape York Bays
consists of low wooded hills alternating with small valleys and plains of
greater extent. The coastline, when not consisting of rocky headlands, is
either a sandy beach, or is fringed with mangroves. Behind this, where
the country is flat, there is usually a narrow belt of dense brush or
jungle. In the valleys, one finds what in the colony of New South Wales
would be termed open forest land, characterised by scattered eucalypti
and other trees, and a scanty covering of coarse sedge-like grass growing
in tufts on a red clayey soil, covered with nodules of ironstone and
coarse quartzose sand. As characteristics of this poor soil, the first
objects to attract the attention are the enormous pinnacled anthills of
red clay and sand, often with supporting buttresses. These singular
structures, which are sometimes twelve feet in height, are of great
strength a

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