Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia — Vol. 1 / Performed between the years 1818 and 1822

by Philip Parker King

And the next day shifted our berth to an anchorage close to the shore on the north side of the entrance, for the purpose of wooding, where the trees were so convenient and close at hand that we completed our stock before dark.

During the evening, whilst we were occupied at the wooding-place, a party of natives were observed running towards us along the beach on the south side without the port, apparently returning from a hunting excursion, for the woods on the south side of the bay had been on fire for the last two days. As they approached they retired behind the beach among the trees, and, upon their reaching the opposite side of the entrance, crept upon their hands and knees behind the bushes, where they remained, as they thought, concealed until the evening. A little before dark they were observed to creep out and range themselves upon the beach, as if meditating upon their plans for the night, but by this time it was so dark that we could not see what they afterwards did; in order to deter them from approaching us, a musket was fired over their heads, and if this had the desired effect, it was a happy circumstance for them, for an immense shark was caught in the middle of the night, which, from the extraordinary capacity of its mouth and maw, could have swallowed one of them with the greatest ease. On opening the animal, we fully expected to discover the limbs of some of the natives, who we assured ourselves had crossed over to our side the water; but we only found a crab that had been so recently swallowed that some of our people made no hesitation in eating it for their supper. The night passed without our being disturbed by or hearing anything of the natives.

May 27.

But, at daylight, on looking at the place where they had been concealed during the last evening, a canoe, which had been observed hauled up among the bushes, was missing, and we concluded that they were close to us; this proved to be the case, for no sooner had we cleared the point, than the natives sallied forth from the thicket, and, running up to their middles in the water to within thirty yards of the vessel, set up a loud shout which startled us not a little; for, busied as we were in securing the anchor and making sail, our attention at the moment was otherwise directed; and the first intimation that we had of their vicinity was from the noise they made, which was accompanied by violent gestures and pressing invitations for our return; but we continued on our way, and disregarded all their solicitations. They were evidently very much disappointed, since they expected to get some axes from us, for they made the same signs as the Luxmore Head natives had done by repeatedly imitating the action of chopping. On the south shore there were some women and children under the protection of two natives, whose voices were also loudly raised for our recall. The natives on our side were unarmed, but two bundles of spears were detected, propped up against a tree, close at hand. After some time they waded back to the shore, and slowly walked towards our wooding-place, where they, of course, found a chisel that had purposely been left for them upon the stump of a tree which had been felled by our wooding-party.

As soon as we crossed the bar we anchored, in order to obtain some lunar distances to fix the longitude of the port, as well as to bring up and complete the chart of this part of the coast. During the day, the natives remained at our wooding-place, and set the bushes on fire, the smoke of which enveloped the horizon and the neighbouring coast.

The names of Port Hurd and Mount Hurd were given to the harbour and the round-backed hill, after the late Captain Thomas Hurd of the Royal Navy, the Hydrographer of the Admiralty; the outer bay was called Gordon Bay.

May 28.

We left Gordon Bay the next morning, and passed round its low South-West extremity, which proved to be Captain Baudin's Cape Helvetius. From this point the coast trends to the southward to Cape Fourcroy. In this interval the shore is formed by cliffs of a very dark red colour, and, half way between, is a projecting sandhill of remarkable appearance.

May 29 and 30.

During this and the following day we made very little progress. On the 30th at daylight we had a southerly wind; by eight o'clock we saw the land in patches to the northward, and some low islands bearing east. The land to the north was a part of the south side of Melville Island. The wind being fresh from the eastward we attempted to beat to windward, with the intention of anchoring near the islands, but the bottom was too rocky to admit of it. We then endeavoured to pass between them and Melville Island, but the ground was also so rocky and irregular that we desisted; and after an unsuccessful attempt to reach the southern pass, we steered off to the westward. This group was called Vernon's Islands. They are situated in mid-channel of the Strait that separates Melville Island from the main, which was named in honour of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence. The group consists of four low islands; they are each surrounded by a belt of mangroves, and are probably connected by reefs to the south shore.