I took azimuths and some bearings in the morning, and we then proceeded northward through a small passage between the Centre and South-west Islands; there was 5 fathoms in the very narrow part, but no deep water within; and without side, it was also very shoal for two or three miles. Near the north-west point of Centre Island lies an islet and two rocks, and from the cliffy north end of the islet another set of bearings was taken; after which we steered eastward, sounding along the north side of Centre Island. It was noon when we reached the north-east point, and I observed the latitude 15° 39' 35" upon the south-east end of a rocky islet there, and took more bearings from the top; and in the afternoon, we reached the ship.
Very little has been said upon the islands or their productions, or upon the various traces of native inhabitants and of former visitors found in this, and in former boat excursions; the observations on these heads being intended for the general and conclusive remarks upon this group. These are now to be given; for the wooding and watering were completed on the day after my return [SUNDAY 26 DECEMBER 1802], and the ship was then ready to proceed in the examination of the Gulph.
In the old Dutch chart, Cape Vanderlin is represented to be a great projection from the main land, and the outer ends of North and West Islands to be smaller points of it. There are two indents or bights marked between the points, which may correspond to the openings between the islands; but I find difficulty in pointing out which are the four small isles laid down to the west of Cape Vanderlin; neither does the line of the coast, which is nearly W. S. W. in the old chart, correspond with that of the outer ends of the islands, and yet there is enough of similitude in the whole to show the identity. Whether any change have taken place in these shores, and made islands of what were parts of the main land a century and a half before--or whether the Dutch discoverer made a distant and cursory examination, and brought conjecture to aid him in the construction of a chart, as was too much the practice of that time--it is perhaps not now possible to ascertain; but I conceive that the great alteration produced in the geography of these parts by our survey, gives authority to apply a name which, without prejudice to the original one, should mark the nation by which the survey was made; and in compliment to a distinguished officer of the British navy, whose earnest endeavours to relieve me from oppression in a subsequent part of the voyage demand my gratitude I have called this cluster of islands SIR EDWARD PELLEW'S GROUP.
The space occupied by these islands is thirty-four miles east and west, by twenty-two miles of latitude; and the five principal islands are from seven to seventeen miles in length. The stone which seems to form the basis of the group is a hard, close-grained sand stone, with a small admixture of quartz, and in one or two instances it was slightly impregnated with iron; calcareous, or coral rock was sometimes found at the upper parts, but the hard sand stone was more common. Where the surface is not bare rock, it consists of sand, with a greater or less proportion of vegetable soil, but in no case did I see any near approach to fertility; yet all the larger islands, and more especially the western side of Vanderlin's, are tolerably well covered with trees and bushes, and in some low places there is grass.
As in most other parts of Terra Australis, the common trees here are various species of the eucalyptus, mostly different from, and smaller than those of the East and South Coasts. The cabbage palm, a new genus named by Mr. Brown Livistona inermis, is abundant; but the cabbage is too small to be an interesting article of food to a ship's company; of the young leaves, drawn into slips and dried, the seamen made handsome light hats, excellent for warm weather. The nutmeg was found principally on Vanderlin's Island, growing upon a large spreading bush; but the fruit being unripe, no accurate judgment could be formed of its quality. Amongst the variety of other plants discovered by the naturalist, were two shrubs belonging to the genus Santalum, of which the sandel wood, used as a perfume in the East, is also one; but this affinity to so valuable a tree being not known at the time, from the description of the genus being imperfect, no examination was made of it with that object in view.
All the larger islands seem to possess the kangaroo; for though none were seen, their foot marks were perceptible in most of the sandy places where I landed: the species seemed to be small. In the woods were hawks, pigeons of two kinds, and some bustards; and on the shore were seen a pretty kind of duck and the usual sea fowl. Turtle tracks were observed on most of the beaches, but more especially on the smaller islands, where remains of turtle feasts were generally found.
There were traces of Indians on all the islands, both large and small, but the latter are visited only at times; these people seemed to be equally desirous of avoiding communication with strangers, as those of Wellesley's Islands, for we saw them only once at a distance, from the ship. Two canoes found on the shore of North Island were formed of slips of bark, like planks, sewed together, the edge of one slip overlaying another, as in our clincher-built boats; their breadth was about two feet, but they were too much broken for the length to be known. I cannot be certain that these canoes were the fabrication of the natives, for there were some things near them which appertained, without doubt, to another people, and their construction was much superior to that on any part of Terra Australis hitherto discovered; but their substance of bark spoke in the affirmative. The same degree of doubt was attached to a small monument found on the same island. Under a shed of bark were set up two cylindrical pieces of stone, about eighteen inches long; which seemed to have been taken from the shore, where they had been made smooth from rolling in the surf, and formed into a shape something like a nine pin. Round each of them were drawn two black circles, one towards each end; and between them were four oval black patches, at equal distances round the stone, made apparently with charcoal. The spaces between the oval marks were covered with white down and feathers, stuck on with the yolk of a turtle's egg, as I judged by the gluten and by the shell lying near the place. Of the intention in setting up these stones under a shed, no person could form a reasonable conjecture; the first idea was, that it had some relation to the dead, and we dug underneath to satisfy our curiosity; but nothing was found. This simple monument is represented in the annexed plate, with two of the ducks near it: the land in the back ground is Vanderlin's Island.
Indications of some foreign people having visited this group were almost as numerous, and as widely extended as those left by the natives. Besides pieces of earthen jars and trees cut with axes, we found remnants of bamboo lattice work, palm leaves sewed with cotton thread into the form of such hats as are worn by the Chinese, and the remains of blue cotton trousers, of the fashion called moormans. A wooden anchor of one fluke, and three boats rudders of violet wood were also found; but what puzzled me most was a collection of stones piled together in a line, resembling a low wall, with short lines running perpendicularly at the back, dividing the space behind into compartments. In each of these were the remains of a charcoal fire, and all the wood near at hand, had been cut down. Mr. Brown saw on another island a similar construction, with not less than thirty-six partitions, over which was laid a rude piece of frame work; and the neighbouring mangroves, to the extent of an acre and a half, had been cut down. It was evident that these people were Asiatics, but of what particular nation, or what their business here, could not be ascertained; I suspected them, however, to be Chinese, and that the nutmegs might possibly be their object. From the traces amongst Wellesley's Islands, they had been conjectured to be shipwrecked people; but that opinion did not now appear to be correct.
The barometer stood here from 29.96 to 29.62 inches, being highest with the winds at north-east, and lowest with those from the southward; in the heavy squalls of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning from the north-west, the mercury stood at a medium elevation. On board the ship, the average standard of the thermometer was nearly 85°. On shore it was hotter, yet the musketoes were not very troublesome; but the common black flies, from their extraordinary numbers and their impudence, were scarcely less annoying than musketoes; they get into the mouth and nose, and settle upon the face or any other part of the body, with as much unconcern as they would alight on a gum tree; nor are they driven away easily. This was the case on shore, and on board the ship whilst lying at anchor, and for a day or two afterwards; but the society of man wrought a change in the manners even of these little animals. They soon became more cautious, went off when a hand was lifted up, and in three or four days after quitting the land, behaved themselves orderly, like other flies; and though still numerous on board, they gave little molestation. Dampier found these insects equally troublesome on the North-west Coast; for he says (Vol. I. p. 464), speaking of the natives, "Their eye-lids are always half closed, to keep the flies out of their eyes; they being so troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's face; and without the assistance of both hands to keep them off, they will creep into one's nostrils, and mouth too, if the lips are not shut very close."
Sir Edward Pellew's Group, as will be seen by a reference to the plan, affords numerous anchorages against both the south-east and north-west monsoon; but unless it should be within the two small isles near the south-west side of Vanderlin's Island, where the depth was not well ascertained, there is not a single harbour, the different bays and coves being too shallow to admit a ship. Wood for fuel is easy to be procured; and water may be had in December, and probably as late as April or May, but I think not afterwards. The most accessible watering place we could find, was at the back of the mangroves near our principal anchorage, within the east point of North Island, where, with some trouble, our casks were filled; and at a beach there, left dry at low water, the seine was hauled with some success. At Vanderlin's Island there are many beaches fit for the seine; and indeed it seemed superior to the other islands as well for this, as for every other purpose, when a ship can lie there; it is also the most frequented by the Indians, and may probably have fixed inhabitants.