They had no knowledge of any European settlement in this country; and on learning the name Port Jackson, the son of Pobassoo made a memorandum of it as thus, (foreign characters), writing from left to right. Until this time, that some nutmegs were shown to them, they did not know of their being produced here; nor had they ever met with cocoa nuts, bananas, or other edible fruits or vegetables; fish, and sometimes turtle, being all they procured. I inquired if they knew of any rivers or openings leading far inland, if they made charts of what they saw, or used any charts? To all which Pobassoo answered in the negative. There was a river at Timor, into which the ship could go; and he informed me of two turtle islands, one of them not far to the north-west of our situation in the road; the other would be seen from the mast head as we sailed along the shore.
I could find no other nautical instrument amongst them than a very small pocket compass, apparently of Dutch manufacture; by this their course is directed at sea, without the aid of any chart or astronomical observation. They carry a month's water, in joints of bamboo; and their food is rice, cocoa nuts, and dried fish, with a few fowls for the chiefs. The black gummotoo rope, of which we had found pieces at Sir Edward Pellew's Group, was in use on board the prows; and they said it was made from the same palm whence the sweet syrup, called gulah, is obtained.
My numberless questions were answered patiently, and with apparent sincerity; Pobassoo even stopped one day longer at my desire, than he had intended, for the north-west monsoon, he said, would not blow quite a month longer, and he was rather late. I rewarded his trouble and that of his companions with several presents, principally iron tools, which they seemed anxious to possess; and he begged of me an English jack, which he afterwards carried at the head of his squadron. He also expressed a desire for a letter, to show to any other ship he might meet; and I accordingly wrote him a note to captain Baudin, whom it seemed probable he might encounter in the Gulph, either going or returning.
So soon as the prows were gone, the botanical gentlemen and myself proceeded to make our examinations. The place where the ship was anchored, and which I call Malay Road, is formed by two islands: one to the S. W.. now named Pobassoo's Island, upon which was a stream of fresh water behind a beach; the other to the north, named Cotton's Island, after captain Cotton of the India directory. The opening between them is nearly half a mile wide; but the water being shallow, the road is well sheltered on the west side, and the opposite main coast lies not further off to the east than three miles; so that N. E. is the sole quarter whence much swell can come. I landed upon Cotton's Island; and ascending a high cliff at the south-east end, saw Mount Saunders and the northernmost Melville Isle over the land of Cape Wilberforce. Cotton's Island extends six or seven miles to the north. and beyond it, to the north-east, was another large island, which I called Wigram's, whose south-east part is also a high cliff. Further off were two small isles; and at a greater distance another, named Truant Island, from its lying away from the rest. Pobassoo's Island intercepted my view to the S. W.; but on moving back to a higher station, two other islands were seen over it, close to each other; to the furthest and largest I gave the name of Inglis, and to the nearer that of Bosanquet. In the west also, and not more than three miles distant, was an island of considerable size, which was distinguished by the name of Astell. The general trending of all these islands is nearly N. E. by E., parallel with the line of the main coast and of Bromby's Isles. In the Dutch chart, if they be marked at all, it is as main land, and without distinctive appellation; I have therefore applied names to each, mostly after gentlemen in the East-India directory; and in compliment to that respectable body of men, whose liberal attention to this voyage was useful to us and honourable to them, the whole cluster is named the ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS.
View of Malay Road, from Pobassoo's Island.
Amongst the bearings taken from the south-eastern cliff of Cotton's Island, the following were most essential to the survey.
Ship at anchor, distant 1¼ miles, S. 41° 50' W.
Mount Bonner, S. 21 12 E.
Mount Saunders, north end, S. 47 52 E.
Cape Wilberforce, N. W. cliff, N. 74 15 E.
Bromby's Isles, the largest, N. 66° 39' to 69 39 E.
Wigram's Island, N. 41 45 to 15 40 E.
Moved S. 52½° W. one-third mile.
Furthest part of the main land, S. 49 5 W.
Inglis' Island, N. E. cliff, S. 53 30 W.
Bosanquet's I., N. W. extreme S. 69 5 W.
The Dutch chart contains an island of great extent, lying off this part of the North Coast; it has no name in Thevenot, but in some authors bears that of Wessel's or Wezel's Eylandt, probably from the vessel which discovered Arnhem's Land in 1636; and from the south end of Cotton's Island distant land was seen to the N. W, which I judged to be a part of it; but no bearings could be taken at this time, from the heavy clouds and rain by which it was obscured.