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 / 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.

by John MacGillivray

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.

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 and toughness--on breaking off a piece, they appear to be honeycombed inside, the numerous galleries being then displayed. The ants themselves are of a pale brown colour, a quarter of an inch in length. In sailing along the coast, these anthills may be distinctly seen from the distance of two or three miles.

The rock in the immediate neighbourhood of Cape York is a porphyry with soft felspathic base, containing numerous moderately-sized crystals of amber-coloured quartz, and a few larger ones of flesh-coloured felspar. It often appears in large tabular masses split horizontally and vertically into blocks of all sizes. At times when the vertical fissures predominate and run chiefly in one direction, the porphyry assumes a slaty character, and large thin masses may be detached.

One of the most interesting features in the botany of Cape York, is the occurrence of a palm, not hitherto mentioned as Australian. It is the Caryota urens (found also in India and the Indian archipelago) one of the noblest of the family, combining the foliage of the tree-fern with a trunk a foot in diameter, and sixty in height. It is found in the dense brushes along with three other palms, Seaforthia, Corypha, and Calamus. Another very striking tree, not found elsewhere by us, is the fine Wormia alata, abundant on the margin of the brushes, where it is very conspicuous from its large yellow blossoms, handsome dark-green foliage, and ragged, papery bark of a red colour.

One day I explored some caves in the sandstone cliffs at Port Albany in quest of bats, and was fortunate enough to get quite a new Rhinolophus or horseshoe bat. In one of the caves, which only admitted of entry on the hands and knees, these bats were so numerous, and in such large clusters, that I secured no less than eleven at one time, by using both hands. Small kangaroos appeared to be plentiful enough, but we were not so fortunate as to shoot one. The natives one day brought down to us a live opossum, quite tame, and very gentle; this turned out to be new, and has since been described by Mr. Gould under the name of Pseudocheirus nudicaudatus.

In the brushes the sportsman may find the megapodius, brush-turkey, and white pigeon, and in the forest flocks of white cockatoos, and various parrots and parakeets, besides thrushes, orioles, leatherheads, etc., but I shall not now enter upon the ornithology of the district. A very large lizard (Monitor gouldii) is common at Cape York--it climbs trees with great agility, and is very swift, scampering over the dead leaves in the scrubs, with nearly as much noise as a kangaroo. Snakes, although apparently not very plentiful, yet require to be carefully looked for in order to be avoided; one day I killed single individuals of two kinds--one a slender, very active green whip-snake, four feet in length--the other, the brown snake of New South Wales, where its bite is considered fatal. Fish are plentiful at Cape York; they may be caught with the hook and line from the rocks, or at a little distance off, and the sandy beach of Evans Bay is well-adapted for hauling the seine upon. A curious freshwater fish (Megalops setipinnis) is found in the lagoon here, and even in the wells dug by the Fly, there were some full-grown individuals; it much resembles the herring, in shape, colour and size. The shells may be very briefly dismissed. The principal landshell is a very large variety of Helix bipartita, here attaining its greatest size. The most striking shell of the sandflats is a handsome olive (O. ispidula) remarkable for its extraordinary variations in colour, size, and even form.

ABUNDANCE OF FRESH WATER.

In viewing Cape York as the probable site of a future settlement or military post, an important feature to be noticed is the comparative abundance of fresh water at the very close of the dry season. In Evans Bay it may always be procured by digging behind the beach, especially at the foot of some low wooded hillocks, towards its western end. Native wells were met with in most of the smaller bays, and the size of the dried-up watercourses indicates that during the wet season, a considerable body is carried off by them from the flats and temporary lagoons.

Were one inclined, from interested motives, to extol the natural capabilities of the immediate neighbourhood of Cape York, it would be very easy to speculate upon, and at once presume its peculiar fitness for the growth of tropical produce. Thus, any swampy land might at once be pronounced peculiarly adapted for paddy fields, and the remainder as admirably suited to the growth of cotton, coffee, indigo, etc. With the exception of a piece of rich soil, several acres in extent, on the eastern margin of a watercourse, leading from the small lagoon behind Evans Bay, and which would be a good site for a large garden, I did not see much ground that was fit for cultivation. Very fine rich patches occur here and there in the brushes removed from the coast, but in the belts of brush along the beaches the soil, despite the accumulation of vegetable matter, is essentially poor and sandy. It may be added that the value of the garden land above alluded to, is much enhanced by its proximity to a constant supply of water, to be procured by digging in the bed of the lagoon. Nearly all the grass is of a coarse sedge-like description, mixed, however, in places with grasses of a finer kind. Towards the end of the dry season, the grass, when not burnt off by the natives, presents a most uninviting, withered appearance, being so dry as almost to crumble into dust if rubbed between the palms of the hand.

PORT ALBANY AS A DEPOT FOR STEAMERS.

As one of the more immediate beneficial results of our survey of the Inner Passage, would be to facilitate its use by steamers, should arrangements at present contemplated for the continuance of the overland communication by Great Britain and India, from Singapore to the Australian colonies, by way of Torres Strait, ever be carried into effect, so it was of importance to find some place in the neighbourhood of Cape York, convenient as a coaling station during either monsoon. An eligible spot for this purpose was found in Port Albany, the name given by Lieutenant Yule, who surveyed it in 1846, to the narrow channel separating Albany Island from the mainland. Here a small sandy bay with a sufficient depth of water close inshore, was, after a minute examination by Captain Stanley, considered to be well adapted to the running out of a jetty, alongside of which the largest steamer could lie in perfect safety. This little bay has anchorage close inshore for three or four vessels only, as a little further out they would be in the stream of tide which runs with great strength, especially in the neighbourhood of the various points; however, it is completely sheltered from any wind which may be experienced on this part of the coast.

On several occasions I landed on Albany Island, and walked over the place. It is three miles in length, and one in greatest breadth, its outline irregular from the number of bays and small rocky headlands. On its western side the bays are small, and the shores generally steep and rocky, with sandy intervals, the banks being covered with brush of the usual Australian intertropical character. The rock here is either a stratum of ironstone in irregular masses and nodules cemented together by a ferruginous base, or a very coarse sandstone, almost a quartzose conglomerate, forming cliffs, occasionally thirty feet or more in height. The latter stone is suitable for rough building purposes, such as the construction of a pier, but is much acted on by the weather. On the northern and eastern sides the bays are large and generally sandy, with the land sloping down towards them from the low undulating hills, which compose the rest of the island. These hills are either sandy or covered with ironstone gravel* over red clay. They are thinly covered with a sprinkling of Grevillea, Boronia, and Leucopogon bushes, with occasional tufts of the coarsest grass. There must always be, however, sufficient pasturage for such cattle and sheep as a small party in charge of a coaling depot would require. There is also sufficient water in the island for their support, and by digging wells, no doubt the quantity would be greatly increased. In addition there are several small spots where the soil is suitable for gardening purposes, thus ensuring a supply of vegetables during the greater part, perhaps the whole of the year.

(*Footnote. A sample of this ironstone picked up from the surface has furnished materials for the following remarks, for which I am indebted to the politeness of Warrington W. Smyth, Esquire, of the Museum of Practical Geology.

On examining the specimens which you presented to our Museum, I see that they consist for the most part of the red or anhydrous peroxide of iron--similar in chemical character to the celebrated haematite ore of Ulverstone and Whitehaven. It is, however, less rich in iron than would be inferred from its outward appearance, since the pebbles on being broken, exhibit interiorly a loose and cellular structure, where grains of quartz and plates of mica are interspersed with the ore, and of course reduce its specific gravity and value.

Such an ore, if occurring in great quantity, and at no great distance from abundant fuel and from a supply of limestone for flux, may prove to be very valuable; but I should fear that your suggestion of employing the coral and shells of the coast, for the last-mentioned purpose, might impair the quality of an iron thus produced, for the phosphoric acid present in them would give one of the constituents most troublesome to the iron-master, who wishes to produce a strong and tough iron.)

SAIL FROM CAPE YORK.

On November 2nd we sailed from Cape York on our way to Port Essington and Sydney, but owing to the prevalence of light airs, chiefly from the eastward, and calms, we did not reach Booby Island until the 4th, having passed out of Torres Strait by the Prince of Wales Channel. The Bramble was left to perform some work in Endeavour Strait* and elsewhere along the Inner Passage, and after its completion to make the best of her way to Sydney down the eastern coast of Australia against the trade-wind, before successfully accomplished by only two other vessels besides herself. Of course a considerable degree of interest has been excited by this intended procedure, as the two vessels start under pretty equal circumstances to reach the same place by two very different routes, of the merits of one of which comparatively little is known.

(*Footnote. Since the survey of Endeavour Strait in 1844 by Lieutenant Yule in the Bramble (then attached to the Fly under Captain F.P. Blackwood) several sunken rocks have been discovered, thereby lessening the value of the passage through the Strait, as others, yet undetected, to be found only by sweeping for them, may be presumed to exist. Captain Stanley was strongly of opinion that the Prince of Wales Channel was far preferable, especially for large ships, to Endeavour Strait.)

ARRIVE AT PORT ESSINGTON.

November 9th.

Since leaving Booby Island, the weather has been fine with light easterly winds, the westerly monsoon in these seas not usually setting in until the month of December. We first made the land in the neighbourhood of Cape Croker, and soon afterwards saw the beacon on Point Smith. Entering Port Essington we ran up the harbour, and anchored off the settlement of Victoria early in the afternoon.

On landing and walking over the place after an absence of more than three years, I might naturally have looked for some signs of improvement in the appearance of the settlement and condition of the unfortunate residents, had I not been aware of the non-progressive nature of the system which had long been established there. I saw no such indications of prosperity except in the flourishing and improved appearance of the coconut-trees now in full bearing, as if nature boldly asserted her rights in opposition to the dormant or even retrograde condition of everything else in the place.

CONDITION OF THE SETTLEMENT. ITS UNHEALTHINESS.

We found the settlement in a ruinous condition. Even the hospital, the best building in the place, had the roof in such a state that when rain came on some of the patients' beds had to be shifted, and the surgeon found it necessary to protect his own bed by a tent-like canopy. With few exceptions, everyone was dissatisfied, and anxiously looked forward to the happy time when the party should be relieved, or the settlement finally abandoned. The unhealthiness* of the place, so often denied, had now shown itself in an unequivocal manner; everyone had suffered from repeated attacks of intermittent fever, and another fever of a more deadly character had occasionally made its appearance, and, operating upon previously debilitated constitutions, frequently proved fatal.

(*Footnote. As illustration of this point, I would direct attention to the following tabular view of the Detachment of Marines at Port Essington, from the time of the arrival of the SECOND party to their final departure, embracing a period of five years. I have not been able to procure any authentic statement of the mortality among the FIRST party.)

November 19th, 1844:
Found there: 1 officer, 0 men.
Arrived by Cadet: 3 officers, 52 men.

1847:
Arrived by Freak: 2 officers, 6 men.

Total: 6 officers, 58 men.

Died: 1 officer, 12 men.
Were invalided: 1 officer, 13 men.

November 30th, 1849:
Were taken away by Meander: 4 officers, 33 men.

Total: 6 officers, 58 men.

I may remark that, although it would obviously be unjust to suppose that all the cases of death and invaliding are to be attributed to the effects of the climate, yet the loss of the services of twenty-seven men out of fifty-eight in five years by these means, clearly proves the unhealthiness of the place. Another may be added to the list, for Captain Macarthur was shortly afterwards invalided in Sydney, a victim to the climate of Port Essington.)

There can, I think, be little doubt that much of the unhealthiness of the garrison depended upon local influences. The situation of Victoria, at the distance of sixteen miles from the open sea on the shores of an almost land-locked harbour, was unfavourable for salubrity, although in other respects judiciously chosen. Occasionally for days together the seabreeze has not reached as far up as the settlement, and the heat has been almost stifling; usually however the seabreeze set in during the forenoon, and after blowing for some hours was succeeded by a calm, often interrupted by a gentle land-wind. Within 400 yards of the hospital a great extent of mud overgrown with mangroves, dry at low-water, must have exercised a prejudicial influence; at times while crossing this swamp, the putrid exhalations have induced a feeling almost amounting to nausea. And if anything more than another shows the comparative unhealthiness of the site of the settlement, it is the fact, that invalids sent to Point Smith (at the entrance of the harbour) or Coral Bay--both of which places are within the full influence of the seabreeze--speedily recovered, although relapses on their return to Victoria were not infrequent.

CONDITION OF THE GARRISON.

Even in the important article of food--setting aside other secondary stores--the Port Essington garrison have almost always been badly supplied. I have seen them obliged to use bread which was not fit for human food--the refuse of the stock on hand at the close of the war in China, and yet there was none better to be got. In short, I believe, as I stated some years ago in a Colonial paper, that there is probably no vessel in Her Majesty's navy, no matter where serving, the men of which are not better supplied with all the necessaries and comforts of life than are the residents at Port Essington. All these have volunteered for the place, but their preconceived ideas formed in England almost always on reaching the place gave way to feelings of regret at the step they had taken; I well remember the excitement in the settlement, and the feelings of joy everywhere expressed, when in October 1845, the first party learned that their relief had arrived.

HISTORY OF PREVIOUS SETTLEMENTS.

I shall now proceed to make some remarks upon Port Essington, ere the subject becomes a matter of history, as I fervently hope the abandonment of the place will render it ere many years have gone by;* but before doing so I may premise a brief account of the former British settlements on the north coast of Australia.**

(*Footnote. Port Essington was finally abandoned on November 30th, 1849, when the garrison and stores were removed to Sydney by H.M.S. Meander, Captain the Honourable H. Keppel. I may mention that most of the remarks in this chapter relative to Port Essington appear as they were originally written in my journal soon after leaving the place in the Rattlesnake; they are mostly a combination of the observations made during three visits, at intervals of various lengths, including a residence in 1844, of upwards of four months. I am also anxious to place on record a somewhat connected but brief account of the Aborigines, as I have seen many injudicious remarks and erroneous statements regarding them, and as it is only at Port Essington, for the whole extent of coastline between Swan River and Cape York, that we were able to have sufficient intercourse with them to arrive at even a moderate degree of acquaintance with their manners, customs, and language.)

(**Footnote. See Voyage round the World by T.B. Wilson, M.D.)

The British Government having determined to form an establishment on the northern coast of Australia, Captain J.J. Gordon Bremer, with H.M.S. Tamar, sailed from Sydney in August 1824, in company with two store ships and a party of military and convicts, the latter chiefly mechanics. On September 20th, they arrived at Port Essington, when formal possession was taken of the whole of the coast between the 129th and 135th meridians of east longitude.

MELVILLE ISLAND SETTLEMENT.

A sufficiency of fresh water not being found at this place it was determined to proceed to Melville Island, where they arrived on the 30th, and commenced forming the settlement of Fort Dundas in Apsley Strait. This settlement, however, after an existence of four years, was abandoned on March 31st, 1829, in consequence of the continued unfavourable accounts transmitted to the Home Government. Hostilities with the natives had early commenced, and several lives were lost on either side.

RAFFLES BAY SETTLEMENT.

Meanwhile in anticipation of the abandonment of Melville Island, it had been resolved to found a second settlement upon the north coast of Australia. For this purpose, H.M.S. Success, Captain Stirling, with a convoy of three vessels conveying troops, convicts, stores, and provisions, sailed from Sydney, and arrived at Raffles Bay on June 17th, 1827. Next day the new settlement of Fort Wellington was formed. A grand error was made in the very beginning, for the site was chosen behind a mudbank, dry at low tides, in order to secure proximity to a lagoon of fresh water, which after all disappeared towards the close of the dry season. At first the natives committed many depredations, chiefly during the night. About a month after the founding of the settlement, it was thought necessary to order the sentries to fire upon the natives whenever they approached, and on one occasion they were greeted with a discharge of grape-shot. At length one of the soldiers was speared, and in reprisal a party was sent out, which, coming unexpectedly upon a camp of natives, killed and wounded several, including a woman and two children. When the Bugis paid their annual visit to the coast several prahus remained to fish for trepang under the protection of the settlement. Of the healthiness of the place the medical officer states: "There is no endemic disease here. The climate of the place surpasses every other as far as I know, which is equally as near the equator; and were it not for the great height of atmospheric temperature, I should consider this one of the best in the world." However, two years after the foundation of the settlement, when hostilities with the natives had ceased, and a friendly intercourse had been established--when the Bugis had already taken advantage of the protection of Europeans to carry on the trepang fishery in the bay--when the reported unhealthiness of the climate had never exhibited itself--in short when the settlement had been brought into a flourishing state, orders were suddenly received for its entire abandonment, which were carried into effect on August 29th, 1829.

SETTLEMENT OF VICTORIA.

Eight years afterwards, Government resolved for the fourth time to establish a settlement on the north coast of Australia, with the double view of affording shelter to the crews of vessels wrecked in Torres Strait, and of endeavouring to throw open to British enterprise the neighbouring islands of the Indian Archipelago. For this purpose, H.M.S. Alligator, under the command of Captain J.J. Gordon Bremer, and H.M.S. Britomart (Lieutenant Owen Stanley) were sent out, and left Sydney for Port Essington in September 1837. Another vessel with stores accompanied the Alligator, and both arrived at Port Essington on October 27th of the same year. Soon afterwards, upon a site for the settlement being chosen, the necessary operations were commenced, and by the end of May in the following year, the preliminary arrangements having been completed, the Alligator left, and Captain John Macarthur, R.M., with a subaltern, assistant-surgeon, storekeeper, and a linguist, together with a detachment of forty marines, remained in charge of the new settlement. The Britomart remained behind for several years as a tender to this naval station, or military post--for either term is equally applicable, and was afterwards succeeded in her charge by H.M.S. Royalist. In October 1845 the remains of the original party which had been there for seven years (including also a small detachment sent down from China) were relieved by a draft from England of two subalterns, an assistant-surgeon, and fifty-two rank and file of the Royal Marines, Captain Macarthur still remaining as commandant.

PORT ESSINGTON A MILITARY POST.

The Port Essington experiment I am afraid is to be regarded as a complete failure. Yet it could not well have been otherwise. It was never more than a mere military post, and the smallness of the party, almost always further lessened by sickness, was such that, even if judiciously managed, little more could be expected than that they should be employed merely in rendering their own condition more comfortable. And now after the settlement has been established for eleven years, they are not even able to keep themselves in fresh vegetables, much less efficiently to supply any of Her Majesty's vessels which may happen to call there.

ADVANTAGES OF PORT ESSINGTON.

In order to develop the resources of a colony, always provided it possesses any such, surely something more is required than the mere presence of a party of soldiers, but it appears throughout, that Government were opposed to giving encouragement to the permanent settlement at Port Essington, of any of her Majesty's subjects. It is well perhaps that such has been the case, as I can conceive few positions more distressing than that which a settler would soon find himself placed in were he tempted by erroneous and highly coloured reports of the productiveness of the place--and such are not wanting--to come there with the vain hopes of being able to raise tropical productions* for export, even with the assistance of Chinese or Malay labourers. Wool, the staple commodity of Australia, would not grow there, and the country is not adapted for the support of cattle to any great extent.

(*Footnote. I need not here enlarge upon the unfitness of Port Essington for agricultural pursuits--even that point has long ago been given up. The quantity of land which might be made productive is exceedingly small, and although cotton, sugarcane, and other tropical productions thrive well in one of the two gardens, there is no field for their growth upon a remunerative scale.)

Yet the little settlement at Port Essington has not been altogether useless. The knowledge of the existence of such a military post, within a few days' sail of the islands in question, together with the visits of Commander Stanley in the Britomart, had completely prevented a repetition of the outrages formerly committed upon European trading vessels at the various islands of the group extending between Timor and New Guinea. The crews and passengers of various vessels wrecked in Torres Strait had frequently found in Port Essington a place of shelter, after six hundred miles and more of boat navigation, combined with the difficulty of determining the entrance, owing to the lowness of the land thereabouts, which might easily be passed in the night, or even during the day, if distant more than ten or twelve miles. I have myself been a witness to the providential relief and extreme hospitality afforded there to such unfortunates. Still, as a harbour of refuge, it is obvious that Cape York is the most suitable place, situated as it is within a short distance of the spot where disasters by shipwreck in Torres Strait and its approaches have been most frequent.

Port Essington has sometimes been alluded to as being admirably adapted for a depot from which European goods can be introduced among the neighbouring islands of the Indian Archipelago, but on this subject I would perfectly coincide with Mr. Jukes, who states: "Now, the best plan for a vessel wishing to trade with the independent islands, obviously, is to go to them at once; while she has just as good an opportunity to smuggle her goods into the Dutch islands, if that be her object, as the natives would have if they were to come and fetch them from Port Essington."

NATIVES OF THE COBOURG PENINSULA. THEIR ORNAMENTS AND WEAPONS.

The natives of the Cobourg Peninsula are divided into four tribes, named respectively the Bijenelumbo, Limbakarajia, Limbapyu, and Terrutong. The first of these occupies the head of the harbour (including the ground on which the settlement is built) and the country as far back as the isthmus--the second, both sides of the port lower down--the third, the north-west portion of the peninsula--and the last have possession of Croker's Island, and the adjacent coasts of the mainland. From the constant intercourse which takes place between these tribes, their affinity of language, and similarity in physical character, manners, and customs, they may be spoken of as one.

The Aborigines of Port Essington scarcely differ from those of the other parts of Australia--I mean, there is no striking peculiarity. The septum of the nose is invariably perforated, and the right central incisor--rarely the left, is knocked out during childhood. Both sexes are more or less ornamented with large raised cicatrices on the shoulders and across the chest, abdomen, and buttocks, and outside of the thighs. No clothing is at any time worn by these people, and their ornaments are few in number. These last consist chiefly of wristlets of the fibres of a plant--and armlets of the same, wound round with cordage, are in nearly universal use. Necklaces of fragments of reed strung on a thread, or of cordage passing under the arms and crossed over the back, and girdles of finely twisted human hair, are occasionally worn by both sexes and the men sometimes add a tassel of the hair of the possum or flying squirrel, suspended in front. A piece of stick or bone thrust into the perforation in the nose completes the costume. Like the other Australians, the Port Essington blacks are fond of painting themselves with red, yellow, white, and black, in different styles, considered appropriate to dancing, fighting, mourning, etc.

These people construct no huts except during the rainy season, when they put up a rude and temporary structure of bark. Their utensils are few in number, consisting merely of fine baskets of the stems of a rush-like plant, and others of the base of the leaf of the Seaforthia palm, the latter principally used for containing water. Formerly bark canoes were in general use, but they are now completely superseded by others, hollowed out of the trunk of a tree, which they procure ready-made from the Malays, in exchange for tortoise-shell, and in return for assistance in collecting trepang.

The aboriginal weapons are clubs and spears--of the latter the variety is very great, there being at least fourteen distinct kinds. Their clubs are three in number, made of the tough heavy wood called wallaru, a kind of gumtree, the ironbark of New South Wales; one is cylindrical, four feet long, tapering at each extremity; the other two, of similar length, are compressed, with sharp edges--one narrow, the other about four inches in greatest width, and resembling a cricket-bat in shape. These weapons on account of their great weight are used only at close quarters, and are never thrown like the waddy of New South Wales. The spears of the Port Essington natives may be divided into two classes--first, those thrown with the hand alone, and second, those propelled by the additional powerful leverage afforded by the throwing-stick. The hand-spears are made entirely of wood, generally the wallaroo, in one or two pieces, plain at the point or variously toothed and barbed; a small light spear of the latter description is sometimes thrown with a short cylindrical stick ornamented at one end with a large bunch of twisted human hair. The spears of the second class are shafted with reed. The smallest, which is no bigger than an arrow, is propelled by a large flat and supple throwing-stick to a great distance, but not with much precision. Of the larger ones (from eight to twelve feet in length) the two most remarkable are headed with a pointed, sharp-edged, flatly-triangular piece of quartz or fine-grained basalt, procured from the mountains beyond the isthmus. These large reed-shafted spears are thrown with a stiff flat throwing-stick a yard long, and with pretty certain effect within sixty paces.

ARTICLES OF FOOD.

The food of the aborigines consists chiefly of fish and shellfish, to which as subsidiary articles may be added lizards, snakes, possums, various birds, and an occasional kangaroo, turtle, dugong, or porpoise. Several roots (one of which is a true yam) together with various fruits in their seasons--especially a cashew-nut or Anacardium, also the base of the undeveloped central leaves of the cabbage-palm, are much prized. The digging up of roots and collecting of shellfish are duties which devolve upon the females.

Before the arrival of Europeans, in cases of remarkable disease or accident, certain old men known by the name of bilbo (by which cognomen the medical officers of the settlement have also been distinguished) were applied to for advice. I know of no popular remedies, however, with the exception of tight ligatures near a wound, bruise or sore, the object of which is to prevent the malady from passing into the body. In like manner for a headache, a fillet is bound tightly across the forehead. These people, like most other savages, recover in a most surprising manner from wounds and other injuries which would probably prove fatal to a European. The chief complaint to which they are subject is a mild form of ophthalmia, with which I once saw three-fourths of the natives about the settlement affected in one or both eyes; they themselves attributed this affection to the lurgala, or cashew-nut, then in season, the acrid oil in the husk of which had reached their eyes.

BURIAL CEREMONIES.

On the death of any one of the natives, the relatives give utterance to their grief in loud cries, sobs, and shrieks, continued to exhaustion. Some cut their bodies and tear their hair, and the women paint their faces with broad white bands. The body is watched by night, and the appearance of the first falling-star is hailed with loud shouts and waving of fire-brands, to drive off the yumburbar, an evil spirit which is the cause of all deaths and other calamities, and feeds on the entrails of the newly dead. When decomposition has gone on sufficiently far, the bones are carefully removed, painted red, wrapped up in bark, and carried about with the tribe for some time; after which they are finally deposited, either in a hollow tree or a shallow grave, over which a low mound of earth and stones is raised, occasionally ornamented with posts at the corners. I was unable to find out what circumstances determine the mode of burial in each case; neither differences of sex, age, or class are sufficient, as several natives whom I questioned told me which of the two kinds of burial his or her body would receive, without being able to assign any reason. Their reverence for the dead is probably not very great, as even a relative of the deceased will sell the skull or skeleton for a small consideration, on condition of the matter being kept a secret.

SUPERSTITIONS.

Like other Australians they carefully refrain from mentioning the name of anyone who is dead, and like them, believe in the transmigration of souls--after death they become Malays (the first strangers they had come in contact with) in precisely the same way as in New South Wales, etc. "When black fellow die, he jump up white-fellow."

In addition to the yumburbar above-mentioned, there is another supernatural being, which has a corporeal existence. It appears in the shape of a man, and loves to grapple with stragglers in the dark, and carry them off. So much is the arlak an object of dread, that a native will not willingly go alone in the dark, even a very short distance from his fire, without carrying a light. Some have assured me that they had seen this arlak, and one man showed me wounds said to have been inflicted by its teeth, and I have no doubt of his having firmly believed that they were produced in this manner.

AND INSTITUTIONS.

Although in each tribe there are three distinct classes, possibly ranks, or perhaps something analogous to the division in other countries into castes, yet there does not appear to be anything approaching to chieftainship. There are a few elderly men, however, in each tribe, who, having acquired a reputation for sagacity and energy, exercise a certain degree of authority over the younger members, and generally manage important matters in their own way. Yet very few of these principal men are of the highest class, the manjerojelle--the middle is termed manjerawule--and the lowest manbulget, but I could not succeed in making out what privileges, if any, are enjoyed by the superior classes. The members of all three appeared to be upon a perfect equality.

Polygamy, although one of their institutions, is little practised, as few men have more than one wife at a time. The betrothal of a female takes place in infancy, and often even before birth. A few half-caste children have been born, but they do not appear to thrive, although this does not imply any want of attention on the part of the mothers.

These natives are fond of social enjoyment. Their evenings are passed away round the fires, with songs generally of a low, plaintive, and not unpleasing character, time being kept by beating one bone or stick upon another. They have besides what may be called a musical instrument--the ibero--a piece of bamboo, three feet in length, which, by blowing into it, is made to produce an interrupted, drumming, monotonous noise. In their dances I observed nothing peculiar.

LAWS OF PUNISHMENT AND REVENGE.

In illustration of their laws relative to punishments, and to show their identity with those of other Australian tribes, I may mention a circumstance which came under my own knowledge. One night about ten o'clock, hearing an uproar at a native encampment near the hospital, I ran out and found that a young man, named Munjerrijo, having excited the jealousy of another, of the name of Yungun, on account of some improper conduct towards the wife of the latter, had been severely wounded, his arm being broken with a club, and his head laid open with an iron-headed fishing spear. As the punishment was considered too severe for the offence, it was finally determined, that, upon Munjerrijo's recovery, the two natives who had wounded him should offer their heads to him to be struck with a club, the usual way, it would appear, of settling such matters.

Like the other Australian tribes, those of Port Essington are frequently at feud with their neighbours, and quarrels sometimes last for years, or, if settled, are apt to break out afresh. In these cases the lex talionis is the only recognised one. I may give an example.

ACCOUNT OF NEINMAL, AN ABORIGINAL OF PORT ESSINGTON.

A Monobar native (inhabitant of the country to the westward of the isthmus) was shot by a marine in the execution of his duty, for attempting to escape while in custody, charged with robbery. When his tribe heard of it, as they could not lay their hands upon a white man, they enticed into their territory a Bijenelumbo man, called Neinmal, who was a friend of the whites, having lived with them for years, and on that account he was selected as a victim and killed. When the news of Neinmal's death reached the settlement, some other Bijenelumbo people took revenge by killing a Monobar native within a few hundred yards of the houses. Thus the matter rests at present, but more deaths will probably follow before the feud is ended. Both these murders were committed under circumstances of the utmost atrocity, the victims being surprised asleep unconscious of danger and perfectly defenceless, then aroused to find themselves treacherously attacked by numbers, who, after spearing them in many places, fearfully mangled the bodies with clubs.

In some of the settled districts of Australia missionaries have been established for many years back, still it must be confessed that the results of their labours are far from being encouraging. Indeed no less an authority than Mr. Eyre, writing in 1848, unhesitatingly states as follows: "Nor is it in my recollection," says he, "that throughout the whole length and breadth of New Holland, a single real and permanent convert to Christianity has yet been made amongst them."* From what I myself have seen or heard, in the colony of New South Wales, I have reason to believe the missionary efforts there, while proving a complete failure so far as regards the Christianising of the blacks, have yet been productive of much good in rendering them less dangerous and more useful to their white neighbours, without however permanently reclaiming more than a few from their former wandering and savage mode of life, and enabling them and their families to live contentedly on the produce of their own labour. I am not one of those who consider that the Australian is not susceptible of anything like such permanent improvement as may be termed civilisation, although it appears to have been sufficiently proved that his intellectual capacity is of a very low order.

(*Footnote. Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia etc. by E.J. Eyre volume 2 page 420.)

Many of the Port Essington natives have shown a remarkable degree of intelligence, far above the average Europeans, uneducated, and living in remote districts--among others I may mention the name of Neinmal (the same alluded to in the preceding paragraph) of whose character I had good opportunities of judging, for he lived with me for ten months. During my stay at Port Essington, he became much attached to me, and latterly accompanied me in all my wanderings in the bush, while investigating the natural history of the district, following up the researches of my late and much lamented friend Gilbert.* One day, while detained by rainy weather at my camp, I was busy in skinning a fish--Neinmal watched me attentively for some time and then withdrew, but returned in half an hour afterwards, with the skin of another fish in his hand prepared by himself, and so well done too, that it was added to the collection. I could give many other instances of his sagacity, his docility, and even his acute perception of character--latterly, he seemed even to read my very thoughts. He accompanied me in the Fly to Torres Strait and New Guinea, and on our return to Port Essington begged so hard to continue with me that I could not refuse him. He went with us to Singapore, Java, and Sydney, and from his great good humour became a favourite with all on board, picking up the English language with facility, and readily conforming himself to our habits, and the discipline of the ship. He was very cleanly in his personal habits, and paid much attention to his dress, which was always kept neat and tidy. I was often much amused and surprised by the oddity and justness of his remarks upon the many strange sights which a voyage of this kind brought before him. The Nemesis steamer under weigh puzzled him at first--he then thought it was "all same big cart, only got him shingles** on wheels!" He always expressed great contempt for the dullness of comprehension of his countrymen, "big fools they," he used often to say, "blackfellow no good." Even Malays, Chinamen, and the natives of India, he counted as nothing in his increasing admiration of Europeans, until he saw some sepoys, when he altered his opinion a little, and thought that he too, if only big enough, would like to be a soldier. The poor fellow suffered much from cold during the passage round Cape Leeuwin and was ill when landed at Sydney, but soon recovered. Although his thoughts were always centred in his native home, and a girl to whom he was much attached, he yet volunteered to accompany me to England, when the Fly was about to sail, but as I had then no immediate prospect of returning to Australia, I could not undertake the responsibility of having to provide for him for the future. I was glad then when Lieutenant Yule, who was about to revisit Port Essington, generously offered to take him there--while in the Bramble he made himself useful in assisting the steward, and, under the tuition of Dr. MacClatchie, made some proficiency in acquiring the rudiments of reading and writing. At Port Essington, the older members of his family evinced much jealousy on account of the attention shown him, and his determination to remain with Mr. Tilston, the assistant-surgeon, then in charge, and endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose. While upon a visit to his tribe he met his death in the manner already recorded. His natural courage and presence of mind did not desert him even at the last extremity, when he was roused from sleep to find himself surrounded by a host of savages thirsting for his blood. They told him to rise, but he merely raised himself upon his elbow, and said: "If you want to kill me do so where I am, I won't get up--give me a spear and club, and I'll fight you all one by one!" He had scarcely spoken when a man named Alerk speared him from behind, spear after spear followed, and as he lay writhing on the ground his savage murderers literally dashed him to pieces with their clubs. The account of the manner in which Neinmal met his death was given me by a very intelligent native who had it from an eyewitness, and I have every reason to believe it true, corroborated as it was by the testimony of others.

(*Footnote. See Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia etc. by Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt page 309 for an account of his death.)

(**Footnote. Wooden tiles generally used for covering the roofs of houses in Australia.)

FATHER ANJELLO AND HIS LABOURS.

Even Port Essington was destined to become the scene of missionary labours. A party of three persons, sent out by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one an Italian Roman Catholic priest, the others lay brothers of his order, embarked at Sydney, some time in 1847. The vessel conveying them unfortunately struck on a reef near the Northumberland Isles during the night, and Father Anjello was the only one of his party saved, and reached Port Essington in a most destitute condition. Nothing daunted, however, he commenced his labours among the blacks, by first acquiring the native language,* in which he ultimately became so proficient as to understand it thoroughly. A hut was built for him at a place called Black Rock, near the entrance of the harbour, at the distance of 14 miles from the settlement. Here he collected together as many of the children of the Limbakarajia tribe as he could induce to remain in the neighbourhood. He endeavoured to instruct them in the elements of his religion, and taught them to repeat prayers in Latin, and follow him in some of the ceremonious observances of the Roman Catholic Church. Like other children this amused them, and so long as they were well fed and supplied with tobacco, everything went on as he could desire. Meanwhile he was supported chiefly by the contributions of the officers of the garrison, themselves not well able to spare much. While leading this lonely life he seems gradually to have given way to gloomy despondency. I recollect one passage in his diary (which I once saw for an hour) where he expresses himself thus: "Another year has gone by, and with it all signs of the promised vessel. Oh! God, even hope seems to have deserted me." At length a vessel from Sydney arrived, bringing a large supply of stores of every kind for the mission, but it was too late, for Father Anjello and his sorrows were alike resting in the tomb. One day news came that he was ill; a boat was sent immediately for him, and found him dying. He was removed to the settlement and next day he breathed his last--another, but not the last victim to the climate. His death-bed was described to me as having been a fearful scene. He exhibited the greatest horror of death, and in his last extremity blasphemously denied that there was a God!

(*Footnote. I regret that the arrangements for this work will not admit of my publishing in the Appendix a Port Essington vocabulary, consisting of about 650 words, in four dialects, formed in 1844, and corrected and improved in 1848; the manuscripts will be deposited in the library of the British Museum.)

In concluding the subject of the Aborigines, I may add that at present the natives of Port Essington have little to thank the white man for. The advantage of being provided with regular food and other comforts enjoyed by such as are in service are merely temporary, and, like the means of gratifying two new habits--the use of tobacco and spirits--to which they have become passionately addicted, will cease when the settlement is abandoned. The last importation of the whites was syphilis, and by it they will probably be remembered for years to come.

STATION AT CORAL BAY.

During our stay at Port Essington, I made an excursion in the decked boat of the settlement (which Captain Macarthur kindly allowed me the use of) to Coral Bay, a station for invalids very pleasantly situated on the western side of the harbour, twelve miles from Victoria. We found there my old friend Mr. Tilston,* the assistant-surgeon, with some convalescents under his charge. This is a much cooler and pleasanter locality than the neighbourhood of the settlement, still the heat was at times very great. I had here pointed out to me a kind of tea-tree, or Melaleuca, which had a short time before been recognised by a Malay as that producing the valuable cajeput oil, and on trial, the oil procured from the leaves by distillation, was found to be scarcely inferior in pungency to that of the Melaleuca cajeputi of the Moluccas. Here, too, we saw some of the playhouses of the greater bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) and had the pleasure of witnessing the male bird playing his strange antics as he flew up to the spot and alighted with a dead shell in his mouth, laid it down, ran through the bower, returned, picked up the shell, and rearranged the heap among which it was placed, flew off again and soon returned with another--and so on.

SAIL FROM PORT ESSINGTON.

On November 16th we got underweigh at daylight, but the wind died away in the afternoon, and we anchored halfway down the harbour. Next day we got out to sea on our voyage to Sydney. We were all glad to leave Port Essington--it was like escaping from an oven. During our stay the sky was generally overcast, with heavy cumuli, and distant lightning at night, but no rain fell, and the heat was excessive. These were indications of the approaching change of the monsoon--the rainy season, with a wind more or less westerly, usually commencing in December and continuing until March.

December 3rd.

Latitude 11 degrees 2 minutes South longitude 123 degrees 11 minutes East. Today we may be said to have cleared the land after a dead beat to the westward, between the Sahul Bank and the islands of Timor and Rottee. It took us eleven days to make good less than 300 miles. The land was in sight during the greater portion of this time, and we had a good view of the noble mountain-range of Timor, also of Rottee and the Strait of Semao, which last we entered with the intention of passing through, but the wind headed us and we had to pass to the southward of Rottee. For a few days after leaving Port Essington we experienced very light and variable winds, which gradually settled into south-westerly, with occasional gloomy blowing weather and frequent squalls at night.

RETURN TO SYDNEY.

At length on January 24th, 1849, a long and monotonous passage of sixty-eight days brought us to Sydney, from which we had been absent for nine months.