MARION. 1772.
The first visitor to Van Diemen's Land, after Tasman, its discoverer, was captain MARION. He commanded the Mascarin and Marquis de Castries, from the Isle Mauritius; and one of the objects of his expedition, was the discovery of the supposed SOUTHERN CONTINENT. This voyage possesses a considerable degree of interest, and was published at Paris in 1783; but not being generally known in England, the parts which relate to Van Diemen's Land, are here given in abridgment.
March 3, 1772, M. Marion made the west side, in latitude 42° 56', half a degree south of Tasman's first land fall; and behind a point in 43° 15', he saw an opening leading to the northward, but of which no particular mention is made. Steering eastward, round all the rocks and islets lying off the south coast, he arrived, on the evening of the 4th, in Frederik Hendrik's Bay; and anchored in 22 fathoms, sandy bottom. The great sandy cove of the outer bay bore from thence, S. 25° W. one league and a half; the extreme of Maria's Island, N. E. by N.; and the northernmost part of the main land, N. 5° W. six leagues: (these bearings appear to be as taken by the compass). The latitude observed here, was 42° 50' south, and longitude 145° 20 east of Greenwich; the first being 10', and the longitude above 5° less, than given by Tasman.*
[* According to captain Cook, the longitude should be 148° 10'.]
The fires and smokes, seen by day and night, bespoke the country to be well inhabited; and, on anchoring, there were about thirty men assembled upon the shore. On the boats being sent next morning, the natives went to them without distrust; and, having piled together some pieces of wood, presented a lighted stick to the new comers, and seemed to ask them to set fire to the pile. Not knowing what this ceremony meant, they complied; and the act seemed neither to excite surprise, nor to cause any alteration in the conduct of the natives: they continued to remain about the French party, with their wives and children, as before.
These people were of the common stature, of a black colour, and were all naked, both men and women; and some of the latter had children fastened to their backs, with ropes made of rushes. All the men were armed with pointed sticks (spears), and with stones which appeared to have been sharpened in the manner of axe heads. They had, in general, small eyes, and the white duller than in Europeans; the mouth very wide, the teeth white, and flat noses. Their hair, which resembled the wool of the Caffres, was separated into shreds, and powdered with red ochre. They were generally slender, tolerably well made, kept their shoulders back, and upon their prominent chests, several had marks raised in the skin. Their language, appeared harsh; the words seeming to be drawn from the bottom of the throat.
The French tried to win them by little presents, but they rejected with disdain every thing that was offered; even iron, looking-glasses, handkerchiefs, and cloth. They were shown ducks and fowls, which had been carried from the ships; and it was endeavoured to make them understand, that such would be gladly purchased of them; but they took these animals, with which they seemed to be unacquainted, and threw them away in anger.
The party had been about an hour with the savages when captain Marion went on shore. One of the natives stepped forward, and offered him a firebrand to be applied to a small heap of wood; and the captain, supposing it was a ceremony necessary to prove that he came with friendly intentions, set fire to the heap without hesitation. This was no sooner done, than they retired precipitately to a small hill, and threw a shower of stones, by which captain Marion, and the commander of the Castries were both wounded. Some shots were then fired; and the French, returning to their boats, coasted along the beach to an open place in the middle of the bay, where there was no hill or eminence from whence they could be annoyed. The savages sent their women and children into the woods, and followed the boats along shore; and on their putting in to land, one of the natives set up a hideous cry, and immediately a shower of spears was discharged. A black servant was hurt in the leg; and a firing then commenced, by which several of the natives were wounded, and one killed. They fled to the woods, making a frightful howling, but carried off such of the wounded as were unable to follow. Fifteen men, armed with muskets, pursued them; and on entering amongst the trees, they found a dying savage. This man was a little more than five feet seven inches high; his breast was marked like those of the Mozambique Caffres, and his skin appeared as black; but on washing off the soot and dirt, his natural colour appeared to be reddish. The spears, which it was feared might have been poisoned, were proved not to be so by the facility with which the wound of the black servant was healed.
After the flight of the savages, captain Marion sent two officers with detachments, to search for water, and for trees proper to make a foremast and bowsprit for the Castries; but after traversing two leagues of country without meeting a single inhabitant, they returned unsuccessful in both pursuits; nor could any fresh water be found during the six days which the ships remained in Frederik Hendrik's Bay.
The land here is quite sandy, but covered with brush-wood, and with small trees which the savages had mostly stripped of the bark for cooking their shell fish. The greater part of the trees were burnt at the foot; but amongst them there was a kind of pine, less than ours, which was perfectly preserved; apparently from the natives finding them to be of use in some way or other.*