On board the BEAGLE, at her departure from Plymouth, were Lieutenants Grey and Lushington, on their way to explore the interior of Western Australia. These gentlemen parted company from the BEAGLE at the Cape of Good Hope, the sloop proceeding to the Swan River. In January, 1838, the BEAGLE left Swan River, and sailed north, where, on the 15th, they anchored in Roebuck Bay, and commenced a search for the much talked of channel supposed to exist by Captains King and Dampier—a channel that would connect Roebuck Bay with an opening behind Buccaneer's Archipelago, thus making Dampier's Land an island. As was anticipated by Stokes, this proved unsuccessful, but the stay there was terminated by an unfortunate but, luckily, not fatal accident, Lieutenant Usborne being accidentally shot.
"At the time this unlucky accident occurred, some twenty natives rushed from the concealment, whence they had been, doubtless, watching all the proceedings of the party, as though they, designed to bear a part in what probably seemed to them, as poor Usborne went down, an approaching fray; however, the sight of the two boats in the distance, which, upon deploying, they had full in view, deterred them from acting upon any hostile intentions, supposing such to have existed in their minds. The accident, however, and their sudden appearance could only serve additionally to flurry the little party, who had to convey their disabled officer to a place of safety, and Mr. Helpman, who may well be pardoned the want of his usual self-possession at such a moment, left behind a pair of loaded pistols. They would puzzle the savages greatly, of course, but I hope no ill consequences ensued; if they began pulling them about, or put them in the fire, the better to separate the wood and iron, two or three poor wretches might be killed or maimed for life, and their first recollections of the 'Quibra men,' as Miago calls us, would naturally be anything but favourable.
"Thus disastrously terminated our examination of Roebuck Bay, in which the cheering reports of former navigators had induced us to anticipate the discovery of some great water communication with the interior of this vast continent. A most thorough and careful search had clearly demonstrated that the hoped-for river must be sought elsewhere."
Touching here and there along the coast, and having occasional communication with the natives, which Stokes amusingly describes, they finally anchored in, and christened King's Sound after the narrow escape that King experienced there from the tidal race. The point had now been reached where they expected to carry on their most important operations, and the first question to settle was if they could rely on fresh water. The delightful verdure that clothed the country after the long ranges of sandhills, and shores covered with mangroves, also the fact of many natives living here, would on any other coast have been looked upon favourably, but upon the coasts, and in the heart of Australia nature seems to delight in contradiction.
Heavy rains provided them with an abundance of rain water, and they collected in the hollows of the rocks several boat loads, so preventing a more distant search.
"While waiting here a party was made up for the purpose of penetrating a little way into the interior. Everything wore a green and most delightful appearance, but the reader must bear in mind how vegetation had just been forced by heavy rains upon a light, heated soil, and also recollect that to one who has been pent up for some time on board ship a very barren prospect may seem delightful. The country was more open in character than I had before noticed it, and the numerous traces of native fires which we found in the course of the excursion seemed readily to account for this. Indeed, during dry seasons it not infrequently happens that an immense tract of land is desolated with fire, communicated either by the design or carelessness of the natives, to the dry herbage on the surface. The moment the flame has been kindled, it only waits for the first breath of air to spread it far and wide; then, on the wings of the wind, the fiery tempest streams over the hillsides and through the vast plains. Brushwood and herbage, the dry grass, the tall reed, the twining parasite, or the giant of the forest, charred and blackened, but still proudly erect-alike attest and bewail the conquering fire's onward march; and the bleak desert, silent, waste, and lifeless, which it leaves behind, seems for ever doomed to desolation. Vain fear! The rain descends once more upon the dry and thirsty soil, and, from that very hour which seemed the date of cureless ruin, Nature puts forth her wondrous power with increased effort, and again her green and flower-embroidered mantle decks the earth with a new beauty."
Leaving this anchorage, another was found in a bay on the mainland,
eleven miles N.W. from a remarkable headland, named by Captain King Point
Cunningham, and remained here a week, by which time the coast, as far as
Point Cunningham, was carefully examined.
"We named this Skeleton Point, from our finding here the remains of a native, placed in a semi-recumbent position under a wide-spreading gum-tree, enveloped, or, more properly, shrouded, in the bark of the papyrus. All the bones were closely packed together, the larger being placed outside, and the general mass, surmounted by the head, resting on its base; the fleshless, eyeless skull 'grinning horribly' over the right side. The removal of the skeleton was effected, and presented by Captain Grey to the Royal College of Surgeons, in whose museum it is now to be found."
From the summit of Point Cunningham a fine view of the opposite shore of the sound was obtained. It appeared very rugged and broken, and from the geological formation of the country, and no land to the south-cast or south, Captain Stokes' hopes were again raised of finding the long and anxiously expected river. A singular cliff on the south-east side of the point is called by King, "Carlisle Head." Rounding Point Cunningham, they anchored near a red cliffy head, called by Captain King "Foul Point." It was here King was compelled to leave the coast, and Foul Point marks the limit of his survey on the northern shore.
On the 23rd February they crossed the limit of King's Sound, and entered unknown waters. Here, at Disaster Bay, Stokes was sent in command of the whaleboat and yawl, to inspect the coast ahead, whilst the survey of the bay proceeded. On the 26th, Stokes discovered a new river, which he named the Fitzroy, after his former commander. Whilst exploring this river, Stokes and his companions, Helpmann and a sailor, had a most narrow escape. They had left the boat, and were making their way through the mangrove-fringed banks on foot to a certain point where they were to meet the boat again; but rising tide proved so strong that the boat could not reach them, and although Stokes and Helpman could swim, the sailor could not, and they would not desert him. There they had to stand with the tide creeping up their bodies, and watch the desperate efforts of the crew to contend against its force. Only when the water was high enough to allow the boat to creep along the shelter of the mangroves, and they were shoulder deep, were they rescued.