On the return to the ship, a fresh expedition was immediately despatched, Captain Wickharn himself taking command, and they pulled up the Fitzroy a distance of twenty-two miles in a straight direction, and ninety miles following the bend of the river. Returning, Stokes had the satisfaction of seeing a monster alligator reposing on the mud-bank, where he had such a near escape from drowning.
After a lengthened survey of the sound, the BEAGLE returned to Port George the Fourth, where she arrived on the 7th of April, from whence they made a boat excursion to Collier Bay. Many natives were seen on the shore, evidently wanting to be friendly. On board the BEAGLE, the party had a native of Swan River—Miago. He turned out an excellent gun room waiter, and they hoped that in any communication with the natives he might prove useful. When off Point Swan, Stokes says:—
"They closely examined the heroic Miago, who submitted to be handled by these much-dreaded 'northern men' with a very rueful countenance, and afterwards construed the way in which one of them had gently stroked his beard, into an attempt to take him by the throat and strangle him—an injury and indignity which, when safe on board, he resented by repeated threats, uttered in a sort of wild chant, of spearing their thighs, back, loins, and, indeed, every individual portion of the frame.
"When Captain Wickharn and myself left the ship at Point Cunningham, in the hope of inducing the natives to return with us, Miago, hearing of the expected visit, immediately went below and dressed himself to the best possible advantage. No sooner did the boat come alongside, than he appeared at the gangway, inquiring, with the utmost possible dignity, 'Where blackfellas?' and was evidently deeply mortified that he had no opportunity of 'astonishing the natives.'"
On their return to the ship, from the examination of Collier Bay, they found the exploring party, under Grey and Lushington, had arrived on the coast at Hanover Bay, twelve miles away.
"From Lieutenant Grey's description of the tribes his party had encountered, he must have been among a people more advanced in civilization than any me had hitherto seen upon this coast. He found several curious figures, images, and drawings, generally in colours, upon the sides of caves in the sandstone rock, which, notwithstanding their rude style, yet evince a greater degree of advancement and intelligence than we have been able to find any traces of; at the same time, it must be remembered that no certain date absolutely connects these works with the present generation; the dryness of the natural walls upon which they are executed, and the absence of any atmospheric moisture may have, and may yet preserve them for an indefinite period, and their history, read aright, may testify-not the present condition of the Australian School of Design, but the perfection which it had formerly attained. Lieutenant Grey, too, like ourselves, had seen certain individuals, in company with the natives, much lighter in colour, and widely differing in figure and physiognomy from the savages by whom they were surrounded, and was inclined to believe that they are descended from Dutch sailors who, at different times suffering shipwreck upon the coast, have intermarried with its native inhabitants; but as no authentic records can be produced to prove that this portion of the coast was ever visited by Dutch navigators at all, I am still more disposed to believe that these lighter coloured people are Malays captured from the trepang fishers, or, perhaps, voluntarily associating with the Australians, as we know that the Australian not unfrequently abandons his country and his mode of life to visit the Indian Archipelago with them."
From Port George the Fourth the BEAGLE sailed for Swan River, where she arrived on the 25th of May. Her most important discovery during this cruise was King's Sound and the Fitzroy River. As they neared Miago's birthplace, Stokes says he questioned him upon the account he intended giving his friends of the scenes he had witnessed.
"I was quite astonished at the accuracy with which he remembered the various places we had visited during the voyage. He seemed to carry the ship's track in his memory with the most careful accuracy. His description of the ship's sailing and anchoring was most amusing. He used to say: 'Ship walk—walk—all night—hard walk—then, by-and-by, anchor tumble down.' His manner of describing, his interviews with the wicked 'northern men' was most graphic. His countenance and figure became at once instinct with animation and energy, and no doubt he was then influenced by feelings of baffled hatred and revenge, from having failed in his much-vaunted determination to carry off in triumph one of their gins. I would sometimes amuse myself by asking him how he was to excuse himself to his friends for having failed in the promised exploit, but the subject was evidently a very unpleasant one, and he was always anxious to escape it.
"We were considerably amused with the consequential air Miago assumed towards his countrymen on our arrival, which afforded us a not uninstructive instance of the prevalence of the ordinary infirmities of our common human nature, whether of pride or vanity, universally to be met with, both in the civilised man and the uncultivated savage. He declared that he would not land until they first came off to wait on him. Decorated with an old full-dress lieutenant's coat, white trousers, and a cap with a tall feather, he looked upon himself as a most exalted personage, and for the whole of the first day remained on board, impatiently, but in vain, prying into each boat that left the shore for the dusky forms of some of his quondam friends. His pride, however, could not long withstand the desire of display. Yielding to the impulse of vanity he, early the following morning, took his departure from the ship. Those who witnessed the meeting described it as cool on both sides, arising on the part of his friends from jealousy; they, perhaps, judging from his costume that he had abandoned his bush life."
The BEAGLE had arrived at Fremantle just in time to allow her company to share in the annual festivities with which the inhabitants celebrate the formation of the colony. It may give some idea of the neglected state of this then infant colony to mention that during the six months' absence of the BEAGLE, only one boat had arrived there, and that, H.M.S. PELORUS from the Indian station. Communication with the home country was sadly needed, apart from the wish for news. Necessary articles of home manufacture or importation were becoming unattainable.