From the 19th to the 22nd, the weather was frequently rainy, with thunder and lightning; and the wind blew strong in squalls, generally between the north and west, and made it unsafe to move the ship. During these days, the botanical gentlemen over-ran the two islands which form Malay Road; and I made a boat excursion to Astell's, and another to the north end of Cotton's Island, to sound and take bearings for the survey. In the latter excursion [TUESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 1803], three black children were perceived on the north-east beach; and on walking that way we saw two bark huts, and an elderly man was sitting under a tree, near them. He smiled on finding himself discovered, and went behind a bush, when a confused noise was heard of women and children making off into the wood; the man also retreated up the hill, and our friendly signs were ineffectual to stop him. In one of the huts was a net bag, containing some pieces of gum, bone, and a broken spike nail; and against a neighbouring bush were standing three spears, one of which had a number of barbs, and had been wrought with some ingenuity. This I took away; but the rest of the arms, with the utensils and furniture of the huts, consisting of the aforesaid net bag and a shell to drink out of, were left as we found them, with the addition of a hatchet and pocket handkerchief.
Cotton's, Pobassoo's, and Astell's Islands, to which our examinations were limited, are moderately high, woody land; they slope down nearly to the water on their west sides, but on the east, and more especially the south-east, they present steep cliffs; and the same conformation seemed to prevail in the other islands. The stone of the upper parts is grit or sandstone, of a close texture; but the lower part of the cliffs is argillaceous and stratified, splitting in layers of different thicknesses, from that of a shilling to two or three feet; and the strata dip to the westward, about 15°. On breaking some pieces out of the cliffs, I found them curiously marked with the representation of flowers and trees, owing, as I am told, to manganese or iron ore inserting itself partially into the fissures. The layers are of a reddish colour, resembling flat tiles, and might, I conceive, be used as such, almost without any preparation; there are enough of them to cover a whole town, and the sand stone at the top of the cliffs is equally well calculated for building the walls of the houses.
The upper surfaces of these islands are barren; but in the vallies, down which ran streams of water at this time, there is a tolerable soil. One of these vallies, at the south end of Cotton's Island, might be made a delightful situation to a college of monks, who could bear the heat of the climate, and were impenetrable to the stings of musketoes. Here grew the wild nutmeg, in abundance, the fig which bears its fruit on the stem, two species of palm, and a tree whose bark is in common use in the East for making ropes; besides a variety of others, whose tops were overspread with creeping vines, forming a shade to the stream underneath. But this apparently delightful retreat afforded any thing rather than coolness and tranquillity: the heat was suffocating, and the musketoes admitted not of a moment's repose.
Upon Pobassoo's Island, near the stream of water at the back of the beach, Mr. Good, the gardener, planted four of the cocoa nuts procured from the Malays; and also some remnants of potatoes which were found in the ship.
The latitude of Malay Road, from two not very satisfactory observations, was 11° 53¾' S.
Longitude by the survey from Caledon Bay 136° 27' E.
From observations made on shore in the artificial horizon, the time-keeper No. 520 was differing from its Caledon-Bay rate, 15.4" of longitude per day, to the east, but No. 543 only 9.8"; and when the longitude of this last is corrected by the proportion afterwards found necessary, it will agree with the survey to less than half a mile.
No observations were taken for the variation of the compass, but I judge it to have been about 1° east, when not affected by any local attraction. Near the north-east end of Cotton's Island, and at the south-west point, the variation was 2° more east than upon the south-east head; as if the south end of the island attracted the north point, and the north end the south point of the needle.
On the day of the new moon, a particular observation was made upon the tide in Malay Road; and it was high water at ten minutes past eight in the morning, or nearly eight hours and a quarter after the moon had passed the lower meridian; and the rise was ten feet two inches. There were two tides in the day; but from the swinging of the ship in the road, it appeared that the last of the ebb, as well as the whole of the flood, came from the N. E.; an irregularity which might be caused by the shallow passage between the two islands.
WEDNESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 1803