A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume I Part 43

JUNE 1802

On the 4th of June, the s.h.i.+p was dressed with colours, a royal salute fired, and I went with the princ.i.p.al officers of the Investigator to pay my respects to His Excellency the governor and captain-general, in honour of HIS MAJESTY'S birth day. On this occasion, a splendid dinner was given to the colony; and the number of ladies and civil, military, and naval officers was not less than forty, who met to celebrate the birth of their beloved sovereign in this distant part of the earth.

On the 6th, the Speedy, south-whaler, sailed for England. By Mr. Quested, the commander, I transmitted to the Admiralty an account of my proceedings upon the south coast of Terra Australis; but the charts being unfinished, were obliged to be deferred to a future opportunity. To the Astronomer Royal I sent Arnold's time keepers, No. 82 and 176, which had stopped; together with a statement of the princ.i.p.al astronomical observations. .h.i.therto made, and an account of Earnshaw's two time keepers, No. 543 and 520, which continued to perform well.

Captain Baudin arrived in Le Geographe on the 20th, and a boat was sent from the Investigator to a.s.sist in towing the s.h.i.+p up to the cove. It was grievous to see the miserable condition to which both officers and crew were reduced by scurvy; there being not more out of one hundred and seventy, according to the commander's account, than twelve men capable of doing their duty. The sick were received into the colonial hospital; and both French s.h.i.+ps furnished with everything in the power of the colony to supply. Before their arrival, the necessity of augmenting the number of cattle in the country had prevented the governor from allowing us any fresh meat; but some oxen belonging to government were now killed for the distressed strangers; and by returning an equal quant.i.ty of salt meat, which was exceedingly scarce at this time, I obtained a quarter of beef for my people. The distress of the French navigators had indeed been great; but every means were used by the governor and the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of the colony, to make them forget both their sufferings and the war which existed between the two nations.*

[* These liberal proceedings, which do so much honour to governor King and the colonists, are handsomely acknowledged by M. Peron in his account of the French voyage.]

JULY 1802

His Excellency, Governor King, had done me the honour to visit the Investigator, and to accept of a dinner on board; on which occasion he had been received with the marks of respect due to his rank of captain-general; and shortly afterward, the Captains Baudin and Hamelin, with Monsieur Peron and some other French officers, as also Colonel Paterson, the lieutenant-governor, did me the same favour; when they were received under a salute of eleven guns. The intelligence of peace, which had just been received, contributed to enliven the party, and rendered our meeting more particularly agreeable. I showed to Captain Baudin one of my charts of the south coast, containing the part first explored by him, and distinctly marked as his discovery. He made no objection to the justice of the limits therein pointed out; but found his portion to be smaller than he had supposed, not having before been aware of the extent of the discoveries previously made by Captain Grant. After examining the chart, he said, apparently as a reason for not producing any of his own, that his charts were not constructed on board the s.h.i.+p; but that he transmitted to Paris all his bearings and observations, with a regular series of views of the land, and from them the charts were to be made at a future time. This mode appeared to me extraordinary, and not to be worthy of imitation; conceiving that a rough chart, at least, should be made whilst the land is in sight, when any error in bearing or observation can be corrected; a plan which was adopted in the commencement, and followed throughout the course of my voyage.

Amongst our employments was that of fitting up a green house on the quarter deck, and sawing plank to make boxes for the reception of such plants as might be found by the naturalist, and thought worthy of being transported to His Majesty's botanic garden at Kew. This green house had been received at Sheerness, and stowed away in pieces; but I saw that when filled with boxes of earth, the upper works of the s.h.i.+p, naturally very weak, would be incapable of supporting the weight; and that in bad weather, we should be obliged to throw it over board for the safety of the s.h.i.+p. I therefore proposed its reduction to two-thirds of the size; and Mr. Brown being of opinion it would then contain all the plants likely to be collected in any one absence from Port Jackson, it was reduced accordingly; and the feet lowered down close to the deck. This arrangement required an alteration in the tiller, and a short one, with two arms, was fitted to the after part of the rudder head; with which expedient, and leading the main braces forward, the green house was not likely to cause much inconvenience to the working of the s.h.i.+p. The plants already collected on the South Coast had been landed on our arrival, in good order; and deposited in the governor's garden until such time as, the objects of the voyage being completed, we should be ready to sail for England.

The s.h.i.+p had never made more than three inches of water in an hour, after leaving the Cape of Good Hope; so that much caulking was not required, either within or out board. What was found necessary, was finished by the middle of July, at the same time with the barricading of the quarter deck; and the masts being then new rigged, and holds nearly completed with water and provisions, the sails were bent and the s.h.i.+p was painted.

On the 21st, the last bag of bread and turn of water were received, the new whale boat was brought off, and we dropped down the harbour; being then ready for going to sea next morning.

In consequence of the directions given by His Majesty's princ.i.p.al Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Lady Nelson, a brig of sixty tons, commanded by Acting-Lieutenant John Murray, was placed under my orders, as a tender to the Investigator. This vessel was fitted with three sliding keels; and built after the plan of that ingenious officer commissioner (now vice-admiral) Schanck. When the sliding keels were up, the Lady Nelson drew no more than six feet water; and was therefore peculiarly adapted for going up rivers, or other shallow places which it might be dangerous, or impossible for the s.h.i.+p to enter. Mr Murray's crew was mostly composed of convicts; and having no officer in whom he could place entire confidence, I lent to him Mr Denis Lacy, one of my young gentlemen acquainted with the management of a time keeper, to act as his chief mate.

The price of fresh meat at Port Jackson was so exorbitant, that it was impossible to think of purchasing it on the public account. I obtained one quarter of beef for the s.h.i.+p's company, in exchange for salt meat, and the governor furnished us with some baskets of vegetables from his garden; and in lieu of the daily pound of biscuit, each man received a pound and a quarter of soft bread, without any expense to government. But with these exceptions, I was obliged to leave the refreshment of the people to their own individual exertions; a.s.sisting them with the payment due for savings of bread since leaving the Cape of Good Hope, and the different artificers with the money earned by their extra services in refitting the s.h.i.+p. Fish are usually plentiful at Port Jackson in the summer, but not in the winter time; and our duties were too numerous and indispensable to admit of sending people away with the seine, when there was little prospect of success; a few were, however, occasionally bought alongside, from boats which fished along the coast.

In purchasing a sea stock for the cabin, I paid 3 a head for sheep, weighing from thirty to forty pounds when dressed. Pigs were bought at 9d. per pound, weighed alive, geese at 10s. each, and fowls at 3s.; and Indian corn for the stock cost 5s. a bushel.

To complete the s.h.i.+p's provisions, I entered into a contract for 30,000 pounds of biscuit, 8000 pounds of flour, and 156 bushels of kiln-dried wheat; but in the meantime, the s.h.i.+p Coromandel brought out the greater part of the twelvemonths' provisions, for which I had applied on sailing from Spithead; and the contractor was prevailed upon to annul that part of the agreement relating to flour and wheat. The biscuit cost 33s. per hundred pounds; and considering that the colony was at short allowance, and that the French s.h.i.+ps were to be supplied, it was a favourable price.

From two American vessels which arrived, I purchased 1483 gallons of rum at 6s. 6d. per gallon; which, with what remained of our former stock was a proportion for twelve months. In other respects our provisions were completed from the quant.i.ty sent out from England; and the remaining part was lodged in the public stores, in charge of the commissary, until our return.

In addition to the melancholy loss of eight officers and men, at the entrance of Spencer's Gulf, and the previous deficiency of four in the complement, I found it necessary to discharge the man who had been bitten by a seal at Kangaroo Island, as also a marine, who was invalided; so that fourteen men were required to complete my small s.h.i.+p's company. Mr John Aken, chief mate of the s.h.i.+p Hercules, was engaged to fill the situation of master, and five men, mostly seamen, were entered, but finding it impossible to fill up the complement with free people, I applied to the governor for his permission to enter such convicts as should present themselves, and could bring respectable recommendations.

This request, as every other I had occasion to make to His Excellency, was complied with; and when the requisite number was selected, he gave me an official doc.u.ment, containing clauses relative to these men, well calculated to ensure their good conduct. As this doc.u.ment may be thought curious by many readers, it is here inserted; premising, that the men therein mentioned, with the exception of two, were convicts for life.

By His Excellency Philip Gidley King, Esq., captain-general and governor in chief, in and over His Majesty's territory of New South Wales and its dependencies, etc., etc., etc.

"Whereas Captain Matthew Flinders, commander of His Majesty's s.h.i.+p Investigator, has requested permission to receive on board that s.h.i.+p the undermentioned convicts as seamen, to make up the number he is deficient.

I do hereby grant Thomas Toney, Thomas Martin, Joseph Marlow, Thomas s.h.i.+rley, Joseph Tuzo, Richard Stephenson, Thomas Smith, Francis Smith, and Charles Brown permission to s.h.i.+p themselves on board His Majesty's s.h.i.+p Investigator, and on the return of that s.h.i.+p to this port, according to Captain Flinders' recommendation of them, severally and individually, they will receive conditional emanc.i.p.ations or absolute pardons, as that officer may request.

"And in the interim I do, by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, grant a provisional-conditional emanc.i.p.ation to the said Thomas Toney, etc.; for the purpose of their being enabled to serve on board His Majesty's said s.h.i.+p Investigator, whilst in the neighbourhood of this territory; which conditional emanc.i.p.ation will be of no effect, in case any of those named herein do individually conduct themselves so ill, as to put it out of captain Flinders' power to recommend them for a conditional or absolute pardon on his return to this port.

"Given under my hand and seal at government house Sydney, in New South Wales, this 15th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1802. (Signed) Philip Gidley King, (L. S.)"

Several of these men were seamen, and all were able and healthy; so that I considered them a great acquisition to our strength. With respect to themselves, the situation to which they were admitted was most desirable; since they had thereby a prospect of returning to their country, and that society from which they had been banished; and judging from the number of candidates for the vacancies, such was the light in which a reception on board the Investigator was considered in the colony. When the master was entered, one of the men, being over the complement, was sent to the Lady Nelson, with a reserve of the privilege above granted.

I had before experienced much advantage from the presence of a native of Port Jackson, in bringing about a friendly intercourse with the inhabitants of other parts of the coast; and on representing this to the governor, he authorised me to receive two on board. _Bongaree_, the worthy and brave fellow who had sailed with me in the Norfolk, now volunteered again; the other was Nanbaree, a good-natured lad, of whom Colonel Collins has made mention in his _Account of New South Wales_.

My instructions directed me to consult with Governor King upon the best means of proceeding in the execution of the voyage; they also pointed out my return to the south coast, as the first step after refitting the s.h.i.+p at Port Jackson; but His Excellency was of opinion, as well as myself, that it would be unsafe to do this in the middle of the winter season; and that to remain six months in port waiting for the fine weather would be a sad waste of time; I had, besides, left very little of importance to be examined upon the south coast, a circ.u.mstance which the instructions had not contemplated. Upon all these considerations, it was decided to proceed to the northward--examine Torres' Strait and the east side of the Gulf of Carpentaria before the north-west monsoon should set in--proceed as I might be able during its continuance--and afterwards explore the north and north-west coasts; returning to Port Jackson when, and by such route as might be found most advisable, and conducive to the general purposes of the voyage.

It was probable that the north-west monsoon would not set in before the beginning of November; I therefore intended to examine such parts of the east coast of New South Wales in my way to the northward, as had been pa.s.sed by Captain Cook in the night, and were not seen in my expedition with the Norfolk sloop in 1799. The openings of Keppel and Shoal-water Bays, and the still larger of Broad Sound, I was also anxious to explore; in the hope of finding a river falling into some one of them, capable of admitting the Lady Nelson into the interior of the country. These desirable objects I expected to accomplish before the approach of the monsoon would call me into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The French s.h.i.+ps were in no forwardness for sailing; and it was understood that Captain Baudin intended sending back Le Naturaliste to France, by the way of Ba.s.s' Strait, so soon as the season should be favourable. He had purchased a small vessel of between thirty and forty tons at Sydney, to serve him as a tender; and he told me that we should probably meet in the Gulf of Carpentaria in December or January. I understood that he meant to return to the south coast, and after completing its examination, to proceed northward, and enter the Gulf with the north-west monsoon; but it appeared to me very probable, that the western winds on the south coast would detain him too long to admit of reaching the Gulf of Carpentaria at the time specified, or at any time before the south-east monsoon would set in against him.

Before leaving Sydney Cove, I placed in the hands of governor King two copies of my chart of the south coast of Terra Australis, in six sheets; with three other sheets of particular parts, on a large scale. One copy I requested him to send with my letters to the secretary of the Admiralty, by the first good opportunity that offered; the other was to remain in his hands until my return, or until he should hear of the loss of the Investigator, when it was also to be sent to the Admiralty.

During our stay of twelve weeks at Port Jackson, there were not many days favourable to our pursuits at the observatory, the weather being dull and rainy for the greater part of the time; by watching all opportunities however, a sufficient number of observations were obtained to show the rates of the time keepers, and to answer the purposes of geography and navigation.

The _Lat.i.tude_ of Cattle Point, from thirty meridian alt.i.tudes in an artificial horizon, of which fourteen were taken by Mr. Crosley and seven by me in 1795, and nine by lieutenant Flinders at this time, is 33 51'

45.6" S.

_Longitude_ from forty-four sets of distances of the sun and moon, of which the individual results are given in Table VI of the Appendix to this volume, 151 11' 49" E.*

[* In 1795 and 1796 I took sixty sets of distances upon Cattle Point, an equal number on each side, which gave the longitude 151 17' 12"; but these observations not having been calculated with great nicety, nor corrected for the errors of the lunar and solar tables, the result is not considered to be of equal authority with that given above. The present admiral D'ESPINOSA, when an officer in the voyage of Malaspina, observed an eclipse of the sun at Port Jackson, and occultations of the first and second satellites of Jupiter, from which he deduces the longitude of the town of Sydney to be 151 12' 45" east of Greenwich; not differing more than a minute of longitude from the above forty-four sets of corrected lunar observations.]

This position of Cattle Point, being reduced to the entrance of Port Jackson, will be for the Flag staff on the south head, lat.i.tude 33 51'

south, longitude 151 16 east.

Ramsden's universal theodolite was set up at the observatory, and intended to be used as a transit instrument; but from the unfavourable state of the weather and my numerous occupations, it was not adjusted to the meridian; and the rates of the time keepers were therefore deduced from equal alt.i.tudes, taken with a s.e.xtant and artificial horizon in the usual way. Their errors from mean Greenwich time, at noon there July 18, and the mean rates of going in the last fifteen days, which were selected as the best, were as under:

Earnshaw's No. 543, slow Oh 16' 39.72" and losing 8.63" per day.

Earnshaw's No. 520, slow 1 18 53.00 and losing 19.52 per day.

The longitude of Cattle Point, given by the time keepers with the Kangaroo-Island rates on May 10th, the first day of observation after our arrival, was by

No. 543 151 31' 21" east No. 520 151 26 49 east.

The mean is 17' 16" more than deduced from the lunar observations; and when rates are used equally accelerating from those at Kangaroo Island, to what were found on first arriving at Port Jackson, the longitude by the time keepers would still be 14' 57.4" to the east; so that they appear to have gone less regularly during this pa.s.sage than before. In fixing the longitudes of places between the two stations, the time keepers with their accelerated rates have been used; and the error of 14'

57.4" has been corrected by quant.i.ties proportionate to the times of observation, between April 6 at Kangaroo Island, and May 9 at Port Jackson.

The mean _dip_ of the south end of the needle at Cattle Point was 62 52'

Variation of the compa.s.s, observed by lieutenant Flinders on Garden Island in the following year, 8 51' east.

No remarks were made at this time upon the _tide_; but it is known to be high water in Port Jackson about _eight hours and a quarter_ after the moon's pa.s.sage over and under the meridian; and the usual rise to be between four and six or seven feet. When high water takes place between three or four in the afternoon and one or two in the morning, it rises from six to eighteen inches higher than the preceding flood; and the following ebb descends a few inches lower than that which preceded the high tide.

The range of the thermometer on board the s.h.i.+p, was from 51 to 69; and nearly the same on sh.o.r.e. The mercury in the barometer stood from 29.60 to 30.36 inches; but it was remarkable that it stood lowest in the fine weather, when the wind came from the westward off the land, and was highest in the rainy, squally weather, with the wind from the sea.

According to the information communicated by colonel W. Paterson, F. R.

S., commander of the troops at Port Jackson, this relation between the mercury and the weather was general here in the winter season, when the eastern winds bring rain with them; and I had frequent occasion to remark upon the South Coast, that sea winds raised the mercury in the barometer, whilst those from the land, even with fine weather, caused it to descend.

CHAPTER XI

Of the winds and currents on the south coast of Terra Australis, and in Ba.s.s' Strait.

Usual progress of the gales.

Proper seasons for sailing eastward, and for going westward: best places of shelter in each case, with some instructions for the Strait.

[SOUTH COAST. WINDS AND CURRENTS]

Before entering upon the second part of the voyage, it seems proper to give an account of the winds and currents which prevailed upon the South Coast; and to add thereto such other general information as may be useful in rendering the navigation more safe and expeditious, both along the coast and through Ba.s.s' Strait.

The rate and direction of the currents here described, are deduced from the daily positions of the s.h.i.+p by astronomical observation, compared with those given by a log kept in the common way, but with somewhat more than common attention. In the observations, however, there may be some errors, and a log cannot be depended upon nearer than to five miles in the distance, and half a point in the course for the twenty-four hours; and consequently this account of the currents must be taken as subject to the sum, or to the difference of the errors in the observations and log; though it is probable they may have been diminished by taking the medium of several days, which has always been done where it was possible.

Besides the difficulty there is in obtaining the exact rate and direction of a current, it is known that a continuance of the wind in any particular quarter may so far change its rate of moving, and even its direction, that at another time it may be found materially different in both. Of the probability of these changes the commander of a s.h.i.+p must form his own judgment, from the winds he may have previously experienced; and he will consider what is here said upon both winds and currents, as calculated and intended to give him a general notion, and no more, of what may usually be expected upon the South Coast.