A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13

by Robert Kerr

Till five in the afternoon it was calm, but afterwards we steered before the wind N.W. as the land lay till ten at night, and then brought-to, having had all along fourteen and fifteen fathom. At five in the morning we made sail; and at day-light the northermost point of the main bore N. 70 W. Soon after we saw more land, making like islands, and bearing N.W. by N. At nine, we were abreast of the point, at the distance of one mile, with fourteen fathom water. This point I found to lie directly under the tropic of Capricorn; and for that reason I called it Cape Capricorn: Its longitude is 208° 58' W. It is of a considerable height, looks white and barren, and may be known by some islands which lie to the N.W. of it, and some small rocks at the distance of about a league S.E. On the west side of the cape there appeared to be a lagoon, and on the two spits which formed the entrance we saw an incredible number of the large birds that resemble a pelican. The northermost land now in sight bore from Cape Capricorn N. 24 W. and appeared to be an island; but the main land trended W. by N. 1/2 N. which course we steered, having from fifteen to six fathom, and from six to nine, with a hard sandy bottom. At noon, on latitude, by observation, was 23° 24' S.; Cape Capricorn bore S. 60 E. distant two leagues; and a small island N. by E. two miles: In this situation we had nine fathom, being about four miles from the main, which, next the sea, is low and sandy, except the points which are high and rocky. The country inland is hilly, but by no means of a pleasing aspect. We continued to stand to the N.W., till four o'clock in the afternoon, when it fell calm; and we soon after anchored in twelve fathom, having the main land and islands in a manner all round us, and Cape Capricorn bearing S. 54 E. distant four leagues. In the night, we found the tide rise and fall near seven feet; and the flood to set to the westward, and the ebb to the eastward, which is just contrary to what we found when we were at anchor to the eastward of Bustard Bay.

At six in the morning we weighed, with a gentle breeze at south, and stood away to the N.W. between the outermost range of islands and the main, leaving several small islands between the main and the ship, which we passed at a very little distance; our soundings being irregular, from twelve to four fathom, I sent a boat a-head to sound. At noon, we were about three miles from the main, and about the same distance from the islands without us: Our latitude, by observation, was 23° 7' S. The main land here is high and mountainous; the islands which lie off it are also most of them high, and of a small circuit, having an appearance rather of barrenness than fertility. At this time we saw smoke in many places at a considerable distance inland, and therefore conjectured that there might be a lagoon, river, or inlet, running up the country, the rather as we had passed two places which had the appearance of being such; but our depth of water was too little to encourage me to venture where I should probably have less. We had not stood to the northward above an hour, before we suddenly fell into three fathom; upon which I anchored, and sent away the master to sound the channel which lay to the leeward of us, between the northermost island and the main: It appeared to be pretty broad, but I suspected that it was shallow, and so indeed it was found; for the master reported at his return that in many places he had only two fathom and a half, and where we lay at anchor we had only sixteen feet, which was not two feet more than the ship drew. While the master was sounding the channel, Mr Banks tried to fish from the cabin windows with hook and line: The water was too shallow for fish; but the ground was almost covered with crabs, which readily took the bait, and sometimes held it so fast in their claws, that they did not quit their hold till they were considerably above water. These crabs were of two sorts, and both of them such as we had not seen before: One of them was adorned with the finest blue that can be imagined, in every respect equal to the ultra-marine, with which all his claws and every joint was deeply tinged; the under part of him was white, and so exquisitely polished, that in colour and brightness it exactly resembled the white of old china: The other was also marked with the ultra-marine upon his joints and his toes, but somewhat more sparingly; and his back was marked with three brown spots, which had a singular appearance. The people who had been out with the boat to sound reported, that upon an island where we had observed two fires, they had seen several of the inhabitants, who called to them, and seemed very desirous that they should land. In the evening, the wind veered to E.N.E. which gave us an opportunity to stretch three or four miles back by the way we came; after which the wind shifted to the south, and obliged us again to anchor in six fathom.

At five in the morning, I sent away the master to search for a passage between the islands, while we got the ship under sail; and as soon as it was light, we followed the boat, which made a signal that a passage had been found. As soon as we had got again into deep water, we made sail to the northward, as the land lay, with soundings from nine fathom to fifteen, and some small islands still without us. At noon we were about two leagues distant from the main, and by observation, in latitude 22° 53' S. The northermost point of land in sight now bore N.N.W. distant ten miles. To this point I gave the name of Cape Manifold, from the number of high hills which appeared over it. It lies in latitude 22° 43' S. and distant about seventeen leagues from Cape Capricorn, in the direction of N. 26 W. Between these capes the shore forms a large bay, which I called Keppel Bay; and I also distinguished the islands by the name of Keppel's Islands. In this bay there is good anchorage; but what refreshments it may afford I know not; we caught no fish, though we were at anchor, but probably there is fresh water in several places, as both the islands and the main are inhabited. We saw smoke and fires upon the main, and upon the islands we saw people. At three in the afternoon we passed Cape Manifold, from which the land trends N.N.W. The land of the Cape is high, rising in hills directly from the sea, and may be known by three islands which lie off it, one of them near the shore, and the other two eight miles out at sea. One of these islands is low and flat, and the other high and round. At six o'clock in the evening we brought-to, when the northermost part of the main in sight bore N.W. and some islands which lie off it N. 31 W. Our soundings after twelve o'clock were from twenty to twenty-five fathom, and in the night from thirty to thirty-four.

At day-break we made sail, Cape Manifold bearing S. by E. distant eight leagues, and the islands which I had set the night before were distant four miles in the same direction. The farthest visible point of the main bore N. 67 W. at the distance of twenty-two miles; but we could see several islands to the northward of this direction. At nine o'clock in the forenoon we were abreast of the point which I called Cape Townshend. It lies in latitude 22° 15', longitude 209° 43'. The land is high and level, and rather naked than woody. Several islands lie to the northward of it, at the distance of four or five miles out at sea; three or four leagues to the S.E. the shore forms a bay, in the bottom of which there appeared to be an inlet or harbour. To the westward of the Cape the land trends S.W. 1/2 S. and there forms a very large bay which turns to the eastward, and probably communicates with the inlet, and makes the land of the Cape an island. As soon as we got round this cape, we hauled our wind to the westward, in order to get within the islands, which lie scattered in the bay in great numbers, and extend out to sea as far as the eye could reach, even from the mast-head: These islands vary both in height and circuit from each other, so that although they are very numerous, no two of them are alike. We had not stood long upon a wind before we came into shoal water, and were obliged to tack at once to avoid it. Having sent a boat a-head, I bore away W. by N. many small islands, rocks, and shoals lying between us and the main, and many of a larger extent without us; our soundings till near noon were from fourteen to seventeen fathom, when the boat made the signal for meeting with shoal water; upon this we hauled close upon a wind to the eastward, but suddenly fell into three-fathom and a quarter; we immediately dropped an anchor, which brought the ship up with all her sails standing. When the ship was brought up we had four fathom, with a coarse sandy bottom, and found a strong tide setting to the N.W. by W. 1/2 W. at the rate of near three miles an hour, by which we were so suddenly carried upon the shoal. Our latitude, by observation, was 22° 8' S. Cape Townshend bore E. 16 S. distant thirteen miles; and the westermost part of the main in sight W. 3/4 N. At this time a great number of islands lay all round us.

In the afternoon, having sounded round the ship, and found that there was water sufficient to carry her over the shoal, we weighed, and about three o'clock made sail and stood to the westward, as the land lay, having sent a boat a-head to sound. At six in the evening we anchored in ten fathom, with a sandy bottom, at about two miles distance from the main; the westermost part of which bore W.N.W. and a great number of islands, lying along way without us, were still in sight.

At five o'clock the next morning, I sent away the master with two boats to sound the entrance of an inlet which bore from us west, at about the distance of a league, into which I intended to go with the ship, that I might wait a few days till the moon should increase, and in the mean time examine the country. As soon as the ship could be got under sail, the boats made the signal for anchorage, upon which we stood in, and anchored in five fathoms water, about a league within the entrance of the inlet; which, as I observed a tide to flow and ebb considerably, I judged to be a river that ran up the country to a considerable distance. In this place I had thoughts of laying the ship ashore, and cleaning her bottom; I therefore landed with the master in search of a convenient place for that purpose, and was accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander. We found walking here exceedingly troublesome, for the ground was covered with a kind of grass, the seeds of which were very sharp and bearded backwards, so that whenever they stuck into our clothes, which indeed was at every step, they worked forwards by means of the beard, till they got at the flesh, and at the same time we were surrounded by a cloud of musquitos, which incessantly tormented us with their stings. We soon met with several places where the ship might conveniently be laid ashore, but to our great disappointment we could find no fresh water. We proceeded however up the country, where we found gum trees like those that we had seen before, and observed that here also the gum was in very small quantities. Upon the branches of these trees, and some others, we found ants nests made of clay, as big as a bushel, something like those described in Sir Hans Sloan's Natural History of Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 221, tab. 258, but not so smooth; the ants which inhabited these nests were small and their bodies white. But upon another species of the tree we found a small black ant, which perforated all the twigs, and having worked out the pith, occupied the pipe which had contained it, yet the parts in which these insects had thus formed a lodgment, and in which they swarmed in amazing numbers, bore leaves and flowers, and appeared to be in as flourishing a state as those that were sound. We found also an incredible number of butterflies, so that for the space of three or four acres the air was so crowded with them, that millions were to be seen in every direction, at the same time that every branch and twig was covered with others that were not upon the wing. We found here also a small fish of a singular kind; it was about the size of a minnow, and had two very strong breast fins; we found it in places that were quite dry, where we supposed it might have been left by the tide; but it did not seem to have become languid by the want of water, for upon our approach it leaped away, by the help of the breast fins, as nimbly as a frog; neither indeed did it seem to prefer water to land; for when we found it in the water, it frequently leaped out, and pursued its way upon dry ground; we also observed that when it was in places where small stones were standing above the surface of the water at a little distance from each other, it chose rather to leap from stone to stone, than to pass through the water; and we saw several of them pass entirely over puddles in this manner, till they came to dry ground, and then leap away.[78]

[Footnote 78: As the natural history department of the account of this country will be filled up when we come to another voyage, little or no attention is paid to it at present. Dr Hawkesworth's labours, it may have been already observed by the intelligent reader, are satisfactory to any one more than to a student of that science.--E.]

In the afternoon we renewed our search after fresh water, but without success, and therefore I determined to make my stay here but short; however, having observed from an eminence that the inlet penetrated a considerable way into the country, I determined to trace it in the morning.

At sun-rise I went ashore, and climbing a considerable hill, I took a view of the coast and the islands that lie off it, with their bearings, having an azimuth compass with me for that purpose, but I observed that the needle differed very considerably in its position, even to thirty degrees, in some places more, in others less; and once I found it differ from itself no less than two points in the distance of fourteen feet. I took up some of the loose stones that lay upon the ground, and applied them to the needle, but they produced no effect, and I therefore concluded that there was iron ore in the hills, of which I had remarked other indications both here and in the neighbouring parts. After I had made my observations upon the hill, I proceeded with Dr Solander up the inlet; I set out with the first of the flood, and long before high water I had advanced above eight leagues. Its breadth thus far was from two to five miles, upon a S.W. by S. direction; but here it opened every way, and formed a large lake, which to the N.W. communicated with the sea; and I not only saw the sea in this direction, but found the tide of flood coming strongly in from that point: I also observed an arm of this lake extending to the eastward, and it is not improbable that it may communicate with the sea in the bottom of the bay, which lies to the westward of Cape Townshend. On the south side of the lake is a ridge of high hills which I was very desirous to climb; but it being high-water, and the day far spent, I was afraid of being bewildered among the shoals in the night, especially as the weather was dark and rainy; and therefore I made the best of my way to the ship. In this excursion I saw only two people, and they were at a distance; they followed the boat along the shore a good way, but the tide running strongly in my favour, I could not prudently wait for them: I saw however several fires in one direction, and smoke in another, but they also were at a distance. While I was tracing the inlet with Dr Solander, Mr Banks was endeavouring to penetrate into the country, where several of the people who had leave to go ashore were also rambling about. Mr Banks and his party found their course obstructed by a swamp, covered with mangroves, which, however, they resolved to pass; the mud was almost knee deep, yet they resolutely went on, but before they got half way, they repented of their undertaking: The bottom was covered with branches of trees interwoven with each other, sometimes they kept their footing upon them, sometimes their feet slipt through, and sometimes they were so entangled among them, that they were forced to free themselves by groping in the mud and slime with their hands. In about an hour, however, they crossed it, and judged it might be about a quarter of a mile over. After a short walk they came up to a place where there had been four small fires, and near them some shells and bones of fish, that had been roasted: They found also heaps of grass laid together, where four or five people appeared to have slept. The second lieutenant, Mr Gore, who was at another place, saw a little water lying in the bottom of a gully, and near it the track of a large animal: Some bustards were also seen, but none shot, nor any other bird except a few of the beautiful loriquets which we had seen in Botany Bay. Mr Gore, and one of the midshipmen, who were in different places, said that they had heard the voices of Indians near them, but had seen none. The country in general appeared sandy and barren, and being destitute of fresh water, it cannot be supposed to have any settled inhabitants. The deep gullies, which were worn by torrents from the hills, prove that at certain seasons the rains here are very copious and heavy.

The inlet in which the ship lay I called Thirsty Sound, because it afforded us no fresh water. It lies in latitude 22° 10' S. and longitude 210° 18' W. and may be known by a group of small islands lying under the shore, from two to five leagues distant, in the direction of N.W. and by another group of islands that lie right before it, between three and four leagues out at sea. Over each of the points that form the entrance is a high round hill, which on the N.W. is a peninsula that at high water is surrounded by the sea; they are bold to both the shores, and the distance between them is about two miles. In this inlet is good anchorage in seven, six, five, and four fathom; and places very convenient for laying a ship down, where, at spring-tides, the water does not rise less than sixteen or eighteen feet. The tide flows at the full and change of the moon about 11 o'clock. I have already observed that here is no fresh water, nor could we procure refreshment of any other kind. We saw two turtles, but we were not able to take either of them; neither did we catch either fish or wild-fowl, except a few small land-birds: We saw indeed the same sorts of water-fowl as in Botany Bay, but they were so shy that we could not get a shot at them.