About eight days after, Jackey-Jackey, having with wonderful ingenuity succeeded in escaping from his pursuers, contrived to reach Port Albany, and was received on board the vessel, which immediately proceeded to Shelburne Bay to endeavour to rescue the three men left there. The attempt to find the place was unsuccessful, and from the evidence furnished by clothes said by Jackey to belong to them, found in a canoe upon the beach, little doubt seemed to exist as to their fate. They then proceeded to Weymouth Bay, where they arrived just in time to save Mr. Carron, the botanical collector, and another man, the remaining six having perished. In the words of one of the survivors: "the men did not seem to suffer pain, but withered into perfect skeletons, and died from utter exhaustion."
Such was the fate of Kennedy's expedition, and in conclusion, to use the words of the Sydney Morning Herald, "it would appear that as far as earnestness of purpose, unshrinking endurance of pain and fatigue, and most disinterested self-sacrifice, go, the gallant leader of the party exhibited a model for his subordinates. But the great natural difficulties they had to encounter at the outset of the expedition so severely affected the resources of the adventurers, that they sunk under an accumulation of sufferings, which have rarely, if ever been equalled, in the most extreme perils of the wilderness."
SAIL ON OUR SECOND NORTHERN CRUISE.
Our stay in Sydney was protracted to the unusual period of three months and a half, affording ample time for refreshing the crews after their long and arduous labours, thoroughly refitting both vessels, and completing the charts. The object of our next cruise, which was expected to be of equal duration with the last, was to undertake the survey of a portion of the Louisiade Archipelago, and the south-east coast of New Guinea. For this purpose we sailed from Sydney on May 8th, deeply laden, with six months provisions on board, arrangements having also been made for receiving a further supply at Cape York in October following.
The Bramble joined us at Moreton Bay, where we did not arrive until May 17th, our passage having been protracted beyond the usual time by the prevalence during the early part of light northerly winds and a strong adverse current, which on one occasion set us fifty-one miles to the southward in twenty-four hours. We took up our former anchorage under Moreton Island, and remained there for nine days, occupied in completing our stock of water, and obtaining a rate for the chronometers--so as to ensure a good meridian distance between this and the Louisiade. Since our last visit, the pilot station had been shifted to this place from Amity Point, the northern entrance to Moreton Bay being now preferred to that formerly in use.
One night while returning from an excursion, I saw some fires behind the beach near Cumboyooro Point, and on walking up was glad to find an encampment of about thirty natives, collected there for the purpose of fishing, this being the spawning season of the mullet, which now frequent the coast in prodigious shoals. Finding among the party an old friend of mine, usually known by the name of Funny-eye, I obtained with some difficulty permission to sleep at his fire, and he gave me a roasted mullet for supper. The party at our bivouac, consisted of my host, his wife and two children, an old man and two wretched dogs. We lay down with our feet towards a large fire of driftwood, partially sheltered from the wind by a semicircular line of branches, stuck in the sand behind us; still, while one part of the body was nearly roasted, the rest shivered with cold. The woman appeared to be busy all night long in scaling and roasting fish, of which, before morning, she had a large pile ready cooked; neither did the men sleep much--for they awoke every hour or so, gorged themselves still further with mullet, took a copious draft of water, and wound up by lighting their pipes before lying down again.
At daylight everyone was up and stirring, and soon afterwards the men and boys went down to the beach to fish. The rollers coming in from seaward broke about one hundred yards from the shore, and in the advancing wave one might see thousands of large mullet keeping together in a shoal with numbers of porpoises playing about, making frequent rushes among the dense masses and scattering them in every direction. Such of the men as were furnished with the scoop-net waded out in line, and, waiting until the porpoises had driven the mullet close in shore, rushed among the shoal, and, closing round in a circle with the nets nearly touching, secured a number of fine fish, averaging two and a half pounds weight. This was repeated at intervals until enough had been procured. Meanwhile others, chiefly boys, were at work with their spears, darting them in every direction among the fish, and on the best possible terms with the porpoises, which were dashing about among their legs, as if fully aware that they would not be molested.
HISTORY OF PREVIOUS DISCOVERIES ON THE SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA.
On May 26th, we sailed from Moreton Bay--but, before entering into the details of this, the most interesting portion of the Voyage of the Rattlesnake, a brief but connected account of the progress of discovery on the south-east coast of New Guinea, and the Louisiade Archipelago, will enable the reader more clearly to perceive the necessity then existing for as complete a survey of these shores and the adjacent seas as would enable the voyager to approach them with safety. A glance at any of the published charts will show a vague outline of coast and islands and reefs, with numerous blanks--a compilation from various sources, some utterly unworthy of credit; and of the inhabitants and productions of these regions, nothing was known beyond that portion at least of them were peopled by a savage and warlike race.
LUIZ VAEZ DE TORRES.