Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake Volume I Part 9

ANIMALS OF A CORAL REEF.

During our stay we were fortunate in having fine weather, light winds, and low tides, which enabled such as were inclined to look for sh.e.l.ls upon the reef to do so under the most favourable circ.u.mstances. This reef is of great extent, with all the varieties of coral, mud, and sand, and proved a most productive one. A sketch of the distribution of the princ.i.p.al of its productions may be of interest to some. Many kinds of fishes, Muraena, Diodon, Balistes, Serra.n.u.s, etc. are found in the pools among the coral blocks; the first of these, of bright colours variously striped and spotted, resemble water-snakes, and are exceedingly active, gliding through the interstices in the coral and hiding in its hollows--they bite savagely at a stick presented to them, and are by no means pleasant neighbours while wading about knee-deep and with bare arms turning over the coral which they frequent. On a former occasion I had been laid hold of by the thumb, and the wound was a long time in healing.

Crustacea are also numerous; blue and green Gonodactyli leap about with a sharp clicking noise--legions of Mycteris subverrucata traverse the dry sands at low-water--and in the shallow muddy pools, dull green Thalamitae and Lupeae swim off rapidly, and smooth Calappae seek refuge by burrowing under the surface.

Of mollusca, two species of olive (O. Erythrostoma and O. leucophoea) were found on the sandy margin of the islet--several Cerithia and Subulae (S. maculata and S. oculata) creep along the sand flats, and, with some fine Naticae, and a Pyramidella, may be found by tracing the marks of their long burrows. Several Strombi and Na.s.sa coronata inhabit the shallow sandy pools; the egg-sh.e.l.l and many Cypraeae occur under coral blocks, which, when over sand, often harbour different kinds of cones--of which the handsome C. textile is the commonest. A delicate white Lima (Lima fragilis) is abundant here, merrily swimming away in the pool under an upturned stone, and leaving its fringe-like tentacles adhering to the hand when seized. Lastly, it would be improper to omit mentioning the very fine oysters adhering to the roots of the mangroves. But these are only a small portion of the sh.e.l.lfish collected here. Among radiate animals, several Ophiurae and Ophiocomae and other Asteriadae, with two kinds of Echinus, are also plentiful under blocks of coral (Astraea and Maeandrina) in the pools; one of the last, remarkable for its very long, slender, black spines, has the power of giving an exceedingly painful puncture, if carelessly handled--for a few minutes the sensation is similar to that caused by the sting of a wasp; of the others, a fine Ophiura is remarkable for its great size and gra.s.s-green colour, and an Ophiocoma for the prodigious length of its arms.

HOPE ISLANDS.

July 19th.

Six days ago we anch.o.r.ed under the lee of the reef on which the Hope Islands are situated, but in a position which afforded little shelter.

While off Cape Tribulation, a remarkable hill in the background so strongly reminded us of the Peter Botte at Mauritius, that it was so named upon our chart--it is 3,311 feet in height, the Cape itself being 1,454 feet. For about six days lately the weather has been very boisterous, blowing hard from East-South-East with a considerable sea.

The weather having at length moderated, I yesterday and today visited the islands composing the group. A deep and clear channel of a mile in width separates these islands, the larger of which is surrounded completely, and the smaller partially, by an extensive reef. The former, or western one, is merely a long strip of heaped-up coral and sh.e.l.ls, with a little sand and some driftwood running parallel to the outer edge of the reef, in the direction of the prevailing wind. It is overrun with low bushes, and a few other plants, such as the large purple-flowered Bossioea, and Ipomoea maritima. A long bank of dead coral only a few feet above high-water mark, with an intervening ditch-like hollow, separates it from the sea to the eastward; while on the other side, towards the reef, it is margined with tall mangroves. Small and barren though this spot be, it is yet inhabited by lizards and a species of rat. Besides the usual waders on the reef, I found great numbers of doves and honeysuckers, and, among the mangroves, fell in with and procured specimens of a very rare kingfisher, Halcyon sordida. Among the mangroves a rare sh.e.l.l, a species of Quoyia, occurred.

The eastern and northern islet is nearly circular, half a mile in circ.u.mference--formed of coral and sh.e.l.l-sand, covered with bushes and small trees. The most conspicuous plant is the p.r.i.c.kly Guilandina bonduc, the long briar-like trailing and climbing shoots of which impede one while traversing the thickets. A pair of white-headed sea-eagles had established their aerie in a tree not more than twenty feet from the ground, and I could not resist the temptation of robbing them of their eggs.

THREE ISLES.

July 28th.

Anch.o.r.ed under the Three Isles, between Capes Bedford and Flattery. The princ.i.p.al one of the group, situated to leeward of an extensive reef, is margined towards the reef by beds of coral--conglomerate, and elsewhere by a sandy beach--it is half a mile in length, composed of coral sand, the highest part not more than twelve feet above high-water mark, with several groves of low trees, and is overrun with tall sedge-like gra.s.s; the second is composed of a strip of heaped-up fragments of coral, to windward covered with bushes, and to leeward separated from the reef by a belt of mangroves; the third is a mere clump of mangroves not deserving of further notice. The botany of an island of this cla.s.s, of which there are many on the North-east coast of Australia, may serve as a specimen, as the plants are few. Mimusops kaukii const.i.tuted the princ.i.p.al part of the arboreal vegetation, Clerodendrum inerme and Premna obtusifolia form low straggling thickets--scattered bushes of Suriana maritima and Pemphis acida fringe the sandy margin of the island, and behind these the beautiful Josephinia grandiflora, a large white-flowered Calyptranthus, Vitex ovata and a Tribulus creep along the sand, or spread out their proc.u.mbent branches.

Traces of natives, but not very recent, were met with in a dried-up well dug to a great depth, and several low, dome-shaped huts, and numerous fireplaces, around which remains of sh.e.l.lfish and turtles were profusely scattered. Many of the heads of these last animals were here and elsewhere seen stuck upon branches of trees, sometimes a dozen together.

July 31st.

I landed this morning with Mr. Obree, on one of the Two Isles off Cape Flattery, and we were picked up by the s.h.i.+p in pa.s.sing. It is well-wooded, chiefly with the Mimusops kaukii, trees of which are here often sixty feet high and 3 in diameter. Under the bark I found two new land-sh.e.l.ls (to be described in the Appendix) one of them a flattish Helix, in prodigious numbers--and this more than ever satisfied me that even the smallest islands and detached reefs of the north-east coast may have species peculiar to themselves, nor did I ever return from any one of the 37 upon which I landed without some acquisitions to the collection.

STAY AT LIZARD ISLAND.

We remained a fortnight at Lizard Island, at the usual anchorage, off a sandy beach on its north-western side. Lizard Island is conspicuous from a distance, on account of its peak*--the central part of a mountainous ridge running across the island, and dividing it into two portions, of which the eastern is hilly and the western low, and intersected by small ridges of slight elevation. The island is about 2 1/2 miles in greatest diameter; the rock is a coa.r.s.e grey granite, easily decomposable. A large gra.s.sy plain enters westward from the central ridge--a portion of this, half a mile from the beach, densely covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s and reeds and scattered over with Panda.n.u.s trees, is usually a marsh. At present it is dry, with a few pools of fresh water, connected below with a mangrove swamp opening upon the beach by a narrow creek. Formerly boats could ascend this a little way, but now the entrance dries across at low-water--nor could the fresh water conveniently be conducted to the beach by the hose and engine, as I had seen done in the Fly in the month of May. Fortunately, however, we found a small stream in a valley on the northern corner of the island, which supplied our wants.

(*Footnote. Captain Stanley's azimuth and alt.i.tude observations, taken at two stations at the base, the distance between having been measured by the micrometer, give its height as 1,161 feet; and Lieutenant Dayman's barometrical measurement makes it 1,151 feet, above the sea level.)

Although the dry barren nature of the soil--varying from coa.r.s.e quartzose sand (from the disintegrated granite) to reddish clay--is not favourable to the growth of luxuriant vegetation, still several interesting plants were added to the herbarium. Of these the finest is a new Cochlospermum, a low-spreading tree, nearly leafless at this time, but covered with cl.u.s.ters of very large and showy golden blossoms. A heath-like shrub (Chamaelaucium) common here, was remarkable for existing on the open plains as a weak prostrate plant, while in the scrub it formed a handsome bush 10 feet high, with a stem 6 inches in diameter.

Of quail, which in 1844 were very abundant, I saw not more than one or two--probably the burning of the gra.s.s during the breeding season had effected this partial clearance. Snakes appear to be numerous--two out of three which I examined were poisonous--the other was the diamond snake of New South Wales. A very fine land sh.e.l.l, Helix bipart.i.ta, was found in colonies at the roots of the trees and bushes. A large and handsome cowrie, Cypraea mauritiana, generally distributed among the islands of the Pacific, was here found for the first time in Australia.

EAGLE ISLAND.

August 1st.

I crossed over to Eagle Island with Mr. Brown, and spent a day and night there. This place was so named by Cook, who states in explanation of the name--"We found here the nest of some other bird, we know not what, of a most enormous size. It was built with sticks upon the ground, and was no less than 26 feet in circ.u.mference, and two feet eight inches high."* An American professor** conjectures the above nest to have possibly been that of the Dinornis, the gigantic New Zealand bird, known only by its fossil remains. A very slight knowledge, however, of ornithology, would be sufficient to confute the notion of any struthious bird constructing a nest of this kind, or of a wingless land bird of great size inhabiting an islet only a quarter of a mile in length. Both Mr. Gould and myself have seen nests of the same construction, the work of the large fis.h.i.+ng-eagle of Australia.

(*Footnote. Hawkesworth's Voyages volume 2 page 599.)

(**Footnote. In Silliman's Journal for July 1844.)

This island is low and sandy, with a few casuarinas, or she-oaks, a fringe of Suriana maritima, some Tournefortiae, and thickets of Clerodendrum inerme. Landrail and other birds were numerous. The reef, which is very extensive, did not dry throughout at low-water, but some sandbanks along its lee margin were exposed, and upon them I found the greatest a.s.semblage of pretty sh.e.l.ls that I ever met with at one place.

What would not many an amateur collector have given to spend an hour here? There were fine Terebrae in abundance, orange-spotted mitres, minutely-dotted cones, red-mouthed Strombi, glossy olives, and magnificent Naticae, all ploughing up the wet sand in every direction--yet, with two exceptions, they are to be seen in every collection in Europe.

FIND A HUMAN SKULL.

As usual we found plentiful remains of recent turtle feasts. One of the boat's crew, not over-stocked with brains, during his rambles picked up a human skull with portions of the flesh adhering. Accidentally learning this from the conversation of the men at our bivouac during supper, inquiry was made, when we found that he had foolishly thrown it into the sea, nor could it be found during a subsequent search. I was anxious to determine whether it was aboriginal or not. On the one hand, the natives of all parts of Australia usually evince the strongest desire to bury or conceal their own dead; on the other, there might have been some connection between the skull and the remains of a hut of European construction, portions of clothing, a pair of shoes, some tobacco, and fragments of a whaleboat seen here. But all is mere conjecture.

HOWICK ISLES.

August 14th.

After leaving Lizard Island, we pa.s.sed to the southward of Number 3 of the Howick Isles, and anch.o.r.ed off the North-West extremity of Number 1 in 6 1/2 fathoms, mud. This is the largest of a group of about ten islands, which agree in being low, and covered for the most part with mangroves. Number 1, however, is distinguished by having three bare hillocks at its south-eastern end, the central one of which forms a rather conspicuous peak. A party of natives was there seen watching our movements, but no communication with them was attempted. Opposite the s.h.i.+p we landed on a small sandy, bushy portion of the island, slightly elevated, fronted by the reef, and backed by mangroves. We found here the usual indications of occasional visits of the natives in a pit dug as a well, and numerous remains of turtle and fish about the fireplaces. A few quails, doves, and other common birds were met with.

On August 18th we removed to an anchorage under Number 6, the second largest of the group. With the exception of a sandy, gra.s.sy plain, half a mile in length, the whole of the island is densely covered with mangroves, and fringed with a reef of coral, chiefly dead. Great numbers of large turtle-sh.e.l.ls were scattered about, showing the periodical abundance of these animals. Another large vampire-bat, Pteropus funereus, differing from that of Fitzroy Island, was met with in great numbers among the mangroves--a very large a.s.semblage of these animals on the wing, seen from the s.h.i.+p while approaching the island, quite resembled a flock of rooks. Here, as elsewhere on the mangrove-clad islands, a large honeysucker (Ptilotis chrysotis) filled the air with its loud and almost incessant, but varied and pleasing notes--I mention it, because it is the only bird we ever met with on the north-east coast of Australia which produced anything like a song.

CAPE MELVILLE.

August 21st.

We ran to the North-East about twenty-eight miles, and anch.o.r.ed off Cape Melville, a remarkable granitic promontory; here the Great Barrier Reef closely approaches the coast, being distant only ten miles, and visible from the s.h.i.+p. A few miles to the south some pine-trees were seen on the ridges, as had previously been noticed by Cunningham, during King's Voyage. They appeared to be the same kind as that formerly alluded to at the Percy Isles, in which case this useful tree has a range on the north-east coast of 500 miles of lat.i.tude, being found as far south as Port Bowen.

Next day we s.h.i.+fted our berth to a more secure anchorage under the neighbouring Pipon Islets, where the Bramble joined us in the evening.

The schooner had been sent on in advance of the s.h.i.+p to the northward nearly a month before, in order to be at the head of Princess Charlotte's Bay during the first week in August, according to an arrangement made by Captain Stanley with Mr. Kennedy, but no signs of the overland expedition were met with during ten days spent at the rendezvous.*

(*Footnote. We afterwards learned that it was not until the middle of October (or two months afterwards) that Kennedy's party reached the lat.i.tude of Princess Charlotte Bay, at a considerable distance too, from the coast.)

While at this anchorage, the Bramble, being in want of water, filled up at a small stream, inside of Cape Melville, a.s.sisted by some of our boats and people. The party so employed was one day attacked by a number of natives, but, the usual precaution of having sentries posted and a guard of marines close at hand prevented the loss of life on our part.

PELICAN ISLAND.

August 28th.

After a run of 45 miles, we reached Pelican Island, the survey of the s.p.a.ce thus rapidly gone over being left to Lieutenant Yule and the Bramble. The island is rather more than a quarter of a mile in length, with a large reef to windward; it is low and sandy, covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, and a bushy yellow-flowered Sida. Great numbers of birds frequent this place; of these the pelicans (Peleca.n.u.s conspicillatus) are the most remarkable, but, incubation having ceased, they were so wary that it was not without some trouble that two were killed out of probably a hundred or more. A pair of sea-eagles had their nest here, placed on a low bush, an anomaly in the habits of the bird to be accounted for by the disappearance of the two clumps of trees, mentioned by King as formerly existing on the island, and the unwillingness of the birds to abandon the place. The sh.e.l.l collectors picked up nothing of consequence, but the sportsmen met with great success. On the 29th, about twenty brace of quail and as many landrail were shot, in addition to many oyster-catchers, plovers, G.o.dwits, and sandpipers. Shooting for the pot is engaged in with a degree of eagerness commensurate with its importance, now that our livestock has been exhausted, and we have little besides s.h.i.+p's provisions to live upon. Three turtles, averaging 250 pounds weight, were caught by a party sent for the purpose of searching for them, and it was supposed that one or two others which had come up to lay escaped detection from the darkness of the night.

CLAREMONT GROUP.

On August 31st, we removed to an anchorage under Number 5 of the Claremont group, and remained there during the following day. The island is about two-thirds of a mile in circ.u.mference, low and sandy, with a large reef extending to windward. The island is thinly covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s and straggling bushes, with one large thicket containing a few trees, of which the tallest is a solitary Mimusops. We found quail here in great plenty, and they afforded good sport to a First of September shooting party, provided with a setter. At length the poor quail had their quarters so thoroughly beaten up, that several, in attempting to escape from the island, were observed to fall into the water from sheer exhaustion. Nor did the birds receive all the benefit of the shot, for Captain Stanley, while observing with the theodolite, became unwittingly a target for a juvenile shooter; but, fortunately, no damage was done. Some turtles were seen at night, but they were too wary to be taken. I found several nests with eggs, by probing in all the likely places near their tracks with my ramrod; in pa.s.sing through an egg, the end of the rod becomes smeared with the contents, and comes up with a little sand adhering to it, directing one where to dig.

Number 6 of the Claremont group was next visited. This, which is only a quarter of a mile in length, is situated on the lee side of an extensive reef. It is quite low, being composed of heaped-up fragments of sh.e.l.ls and coral, overrun with a suffruticose Sida, and stunted bushes of Clerodendrum and Premna, with a glossy-leaved euphorbiaceous plant occasionally forming small thickets. Seafowl and waders were very numerous, but the breeding season was over. Landrail existed in such great numbers that upwards of fifty were shot.

I cannot see the propriety of considering the sandbank, marked Number 7, as a member of the Claremont group, as, at high-water, it is a mere strip of sand 200 yards in length, with a few plants of Salsola on the highest part.

NIGHT ISLAND.

On September 8th, we anch.o.r.ed to the westward of the north end of Night Island, a mile off sh.o.r.e, and remained there for the two succeeding days.

This island is two miles in length, and half a mile in breadth, surrounded by a narrow reef of dead coral and mud. With the exception of a very narrow portion fronted by a sandy beach, the place is densely covered with mangroves. A sandy portion, of about five acres in extent, is thickly covered with bushes and small trees, of which the most conspicuous is a Bombax or cotton-tree, 20 to 30 feet in height, with leafless horizontal branches bearing both flowers and fruit. Numbers of the Torres Strait Pigeon (Carpophaga luctuosa) crossed over from the mainland towards evening to roost; and at that time, and early in the morning, great havoc was usually made among them. Even this small spot produced a fine white, brown-banded Helix, not found elsewhere--it occurred on the branches of the cotton-trees.

SHERRARD ISLES.

Three days afterwards we ran to the northward ten miles, and anch.o.r.ed under the Sherrard Isles, where our stay was protracted until the 16th by blowing weather. These islets are two in number, a quarter of a mile apart, surrounded and connected by a reef. One is 120 yards in length, sandy, and thinly covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s and maritime plants, with a few bushes; the other is only 30 yards across, and is covered by a clump of small trees of Pemphis acida and Suriana maritima, appearing at a distance like mangroves.