A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 35

FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 1803

(Atlas, Plate XV.)

On 28th at two in the morning, Cape Wilberforce being seen directly ahead, we hove to in 18 fathoms till daylight; the south-east extreme of the cape then bore S. 54 W, and the largest of Bromby's Isles was two miles distant to the northward. After making some short tacks, we pa.s.sed through between the two outer isles, with soundings from 6 to 11 fathoms; and at ten o'clock, when clear of the pa.s.sage, the bearings of the nearest lands were as under:

Bromby's I., the largest, cliffy S. E. end, S. 34 W.

Bromby's I., outermost, highest part, dist. 1 m., S. 50 E.

Truant Isle, centre, N. 37 E.

Two islets, dist. 5 miles, centres, N. 24 and 32 W.

Wigram's Island, extremes, N. 55 to S. 87 W.

The longitude of our situation according to the positions laid down in the Investigator, would be 136 41' 10", and the time keeper now gave 136 42' 12". It was princ.i.p.ally for the sake of comparing the two longitudes, that I made the land near Cape Wilberforce.

[NORTH COAST. WESSEL'S ISLANDS.]

We steered northward for the two islets, and at noon, when the lat.i.tude from an observation to the south was 11 43', but from bearings 11 42', they were distant three quarters of a mile to the W. by S.; these islets had been set from the south-east head of Cotton's Island at N. 42 35' to 45 5' E., and that head was now seen bearing S. 45 W. At one o'clock the Wessel's Islands came in sight, and I hauled more up, wis.h.i.+ng to ascertain their extent to the northward; but the wind being at E. N. E, we could not pa.s.s to windward before dark, and therefore steered for an opening between the two outer islands. There were strong ripplings and whirlpools of tide at the entrance of the opening, with very variable soundings between 5 and 16 fathoms; and finding we could not get through in time, the sun being then near the horizon, an anchor was dropped near a small beach on the north side, in 4 fathoms, out of the set of the tides.

SAt.u.r.dAY 29 OCTOBER 1803

Next morning I landed on the northern island, to take bearings and search for water, and the boat's crew had axes to cut some fire wood. Four or five Indians made their appearance, but as we advanced they retired; and I therefore left them to themselves, having usually found that to bring on an interview with the Australians, it was best to seem careless about it. A Malay prow had been thrown on the beach, and whilst the boat's crew was busied in cutting up the wreck for fuel, the Indians approached gradually, and a friendly intercourse took place; but as no water could be found, and time was more precious than the company of these people, they were presented with our axes after the work was done, and we got under way soon after ten o'clock.

This island appears to be the outermost of the chain called Wessel's Islands, which extend thirteen leagues in a north-east direction from the main land near Point Dale. It seemed to be eight or nine miles in length, by about five in breadth; the southern part is sandy and sterile, but some trees are produced; and I saw kangaroos of a small kind, too lean to be worth the pursuit their shyness required. The natives are of the same colour and appearance as in other parts of Terra Australis, and go equally naked; their presence here showed the south end of the island to be not wholly dest.i.tute of fresh water; but in the limited search we had time to make, none could be found, though traces of torrents denoted the falling of heavy rains in some part of the year. The island to the south-west, which is of somewhat greater extent, though less in elevation, had much the same appearance.

A distance of two miles between the islands seems to present a fair opening; but there is a reef of low rocks on the west side, and the ripplings and whirlpools caused by the meeting of the tides take away the command of a vessel in light winds; so that, although I went through safely in the c.u.mberland, the pa.s.sage can be recommended to a _s.h.i.+p_ only in a case of necessity. The lat.i.tude of our anchorage under the northern island, from a supplement of the moon's meridian alt.i.tude, was 11 24 2/3' south; and the longitude by time keeper, from alt.i.tudes of the star _Altair_, 136 28' east, but it is placed in 1' less, conformably to the positions fixed in the Investigator. A head land seen in lat.i.tude 11 18', was probably the northern extremity of this island, and of the whole chain; at least nothing beyond it could be perceived.

[NORTH COAST. TOWARDS TIMOR.]

In steering out of the channel we were carried near the western rocks by the tide; but the water was deep, and a breeze soon took the schooner out of its influence. At noon our observed lat.i.tude was 11 21', the northern island bore N. 67 to S. 48 E, and the furthest part of the southern land S. 5 W.; the wind was light at north-east, and until midnight we steered north-west to get off the coast; our course was then more westward towards Timor, where I proposed to stop for a supply of water and provisions. (Atlas, Plate I.)

NOVEMBER 1803

A moderate trade wind, coming generally from S. E. in the first part, and E. N. E. in the latter part of the day, carried us to the longitude of the northern Cape Van Diemen; beyond that, the winds were light and variable, and frequently at south-west, which alarmed me lest the unfavourable monsoon should set in before we could get far enough to be out of its influence. Nov. 6 at noon [SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 1803], our lat.i.tude was 9 28' south, longitude 127 12' east (Atlas, Plate XVI), and I was surprised to see already the high land of Timor extending from N. W. to W. N. W.; the first was probably the north-east extremity of the island, and distant about twenty-three leagues, but the high land in the latter bearing could scarcely be nearer than thirty-five leagues.

This distance, with ten feet elevation of the eye on the schooner's deck, would give the height to be more than 9000 feet, had it been seen in the horizon, but it was perceptibly above, and this land is therefore probably not much inferior to the peak of Teneriffe. I did not measure its alt.i.tude above the horizon with a s.e.xtant, or the elevation might have been more nearly ascertained.

The westward current had hitherto not exceeded half a mile an hour; but the next day it was one mile, and on the day following [TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER 1803] one and a quarter to the W. S. W. We had then regained the trade wind, and our situation at noon was 10 3' south and 125 15'

east; the northern part of Timor was obscured by haze, the nearest land visible bore N. 75 W. about eight leagues, and the southern extreme W.

5 S. On the 9th [WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 1803], the round hill upon Rottee came in sight, and bore S. 78 W. at noon, when our lat.i.tude was 10 32'

south and longitude 124 0' east. We carried all sail to gain Samow Strait before dark; but it was eight o'clock when we hauled round the low south-west point of Timor, in soundings from 6 to 14 fathoms, within a quarter of a mile of the reef. There were lights on both sh.o.r.es, which were useful in directing our course up the strait; but having unfavourable winds, the northern outlet was not quite reached at noon next day [THURSDAY 10 NOVEMBER 1803]; and it was near five in the evening before we anch.o.r.ed abreast of Fort Concordia. This was the thirtieth day of our departure from Wreck Reef, and two days might be deducted from them for the deviations and stoppages made for surveying; the indifferent sailing of the schooner was also against making a quick pa.s.sage, for with all the sail we could set, so much as six knots was not marked on the log board; yet notwithstanding these hindrances, and the much greater of my six-weeks voyage in the boat to Port Jackson and twelve days stay at Wreck Reef, the Bridgewater had arrived at Batavia only four days before we anch.o.r.ed in Coepang Bay. Had not the unfortunate accident happened to the Porpoise, I have little doubt that we could, with the superior sailing of that s.h.i.+p, have reached the longitude of Java Head on the fortieth, perhaps on the thirty-fifth day of our departure from Port Jackson.

[AT TIMOR. COEPANG BAY.]

Mynheer Geisler, the former governor of Coepang, died a month before our arrival, and Mr. Viertzen at this time commanded. He supplied us with almost every thing our situation required, and endeavoured to make my time pa.s.s as pleasantly as was in his power, furnis.h.i.+ng me with a house near the fort to which I took the time keeper and instruments to ascertain a new rate and error; but my anxious desire to reach England, and the apprehension of being met by the north-west monsoon before pa.s.sing Java, induced me to leave him as soon as we could be ready to sail, which was on the fourth day. The schooner had continued to be very leaky whenever the wind caused her to lie over on the side, and one of the pumps had nearly become useless; I should have risked staying two or three days longer, had Coepang furnished the means of fresh boring and fitting the pumps, or if pitch could have been procured to pay the seams in the upper works after they were caulked; but no a.s.sistance in this way could be obtained; we however got a leak stopped in the bow, and the vessel was afterwards tight so long as she remained at anchor.

Mr. Viertzen informed me that captain Baudin had arrived at Coepang near a month after I had left it in the Investigator, and had sailed early in June for the Gulph of Carpentaria; and I afterwards learned, that being delayed by calms and opposed by south-east winds, he had not reached Cape Arnhem when his people and himself began to be sickly; and fearing that the north-west monsoon might return before his examination was finished, and keep him in the Gulph beyond the extent of his provisions, he abandoned the voyage and steered for Mauritius in his way to Europe.

The situation of Fort Concordia is considered to be 10 9' south and 123' 35' 46" east, according to the observations made in the Investigator (see Ch. IX). I took alt.i.tudes with a s.e.xtant and artificial horizon on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th, for the rate of the time keeper, which, with its error from mean Greenwich time at noon there on the last day of observation, was found to be as under:

Earnshaw's No. 520, slow 0h 32' 59.91" and losing 36.74" per day.

From the first observation on the 11th p.m., the longitude given with the rate from Wreck Reef, was 123 48' 34", or 12' 48" too far east; but on using a rate equally accelerated from that found at Wreck Reef to this at Coepang, the time keeper will differ only 0' 40" to the east, which is the presumable amount of its irregularities between Oct. 6 at noon and Nov. 11 p.m., or in 36.2 days. The longitudes of my track from Wreck Reef to Timor have been corrected agreeably to the accelerated rate, with the further allowance of a part of the supplemental error 0' 40", proportionate to the time of each observation; but in Torres' Strait, the situations are fixed from a medium of the longitudes so obtained and of those of the Investigator with the corrections specified in Ch. VI., preceding; the difference between them no where exceeding 1' of longitude.

[FROM TIMOR. TOWARDS MAURITIUS.]

MONDAY 14 NOVEMBER 1803

On the evening of the 14th we sailed from Coepang, and having pa.s.sed round the north end of Pulo Samow, steered south-westward with a fair breeze; but the wind being light, and afterwards veering to S. S. W., our progress was slow. At sunset on the 16th [WEDNESDAY 16 NOVEMBER 1803], the island Savu was seen to the N. W. by N., and next morning [THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER 1803] at six o'clock, the following bearings were taken.

Savu., the highest part, N. 39 E.

Benjoar, a round hill on it, N. 22 E.

A rocky islet, distant 3 leagues, N. 48 W.

At noon, the rocky islet bore N. 63 E., and its position was ascertained to be 10 49' south and 122 49' east. A small low island is laid down by admiral D'Entrecasteaux, about three leagues to the north-west of this position, and had been previously seen by captain Cook in 1770; it seems possible that these may be one and the same island, for the situation in D'Entrecasteaux's chart is marked _doubtful_; but they are both laid down in Plate XVI., and such additions made to what little could be distinguished of Savu and Benjoar, as D'Entrecasteaux, Cook, Bligh. and Dalrymple could furnish.

It was my intention on quitting Timor, if the leaky condition of the schooner and the north-west monsoon did not oppose it, to pa.s.s southward of all the Sunda Islands and direct for the Cape of Good Hope; but if impeded, to run through some one of the eastern straits, get into the north-east monsoon, and make for Batavia, or any port where the vessel could be repaired. The veering of the wind to the westward of south, accompanied by a swell and the occasional appearance of lightning in the north-western quarter, made me apprehensive of being forced to this latter plan; and we prepared a boarding netting to defend us against the Malay pirates, with which the straits between Java and Timor were said to be infested; the wind however came back to the eastward, although the south-west swell continued, and we had frequent rain with sometimes thunder and lightning.

FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER 1803

On the 25th, our lat.i.tude was 12 48' and longitude 103 6', which was past the meridian of Java Head, and beyond the ordinary limits of the north-west monsoon. The schooner was leaky, more so than before, and the pumps were getting worse; but hoping to reach the Cape of Good Hope, I had wholly given up the idea of Batavia as lying too far out of the track; Mauritius besides was in the way, should the vessel become incapable of doubling the Cape without repairs.

Our course by compa.s.s was W. by S. for three days, and afterwards W. S.

W., with fresh south-eastern breezes and cloudy weather; but in the upper regions of the atmosphere the wind was unsettled, showers of rain were frequent, and it appeared that we were only just in time to save our pa.s.sage. On the 4th of December, in 19 2' south and 83 50' east, we had a good deal of following sea from the eastward, whilst the ground swell came from the south-west; and the jumble caused by these different movements in the water made the vessel labour exceedingly. I varied the course a point on either side, to keep the wind in the easiest direction; but during this and the following day the leaks augmented so much, that the starbord pump, which was alone effective, was obliged to be worked almost continually, day and night; and had the wind been on the starbord side, it is doubtful whether the schooner could have been kept above water.

This state of things made it necessary to take into serious consideration the propriety of attempting the pa.s.sage round the Cape of Good Hope, without first having the vessel caulked and the pumps fresh bored and fitted. Should a western wind meet the current setting round the Cape, and it was to be expected, there would be much more sea running than we had yet encountered; and with a fresh wind on the starbord side, which might probably occur, the remaining pump would not touch the water until the hold was half full; there was moreover cause to fear, that it also would soon become ineffective from constant use. After turning these circ.u.mstances over in my mind for a day or two, and considering what else might be urged both for and against the measure, I determined to put in at Mauritius; and on the 6th in the evening [TUESDAY 6 DECEMBER 1803], altered the course half a point for that island, to the satisfaction of the people.

[AT MAURITIUS. BAYE DU CAP.]

In the orders from governor King, the ports to be touched at on the way to England were left to my own choice; but when Mauritius had been mentioned amongst others in conversation, the governor had objected to it, both on account of the hurricanes in that neighbourhood, and from not wis.h.i.+ng to encourage a communication between a French colony and a settlement composed as is that of Port Jackson. It was these considerations which had made me hesitate to take the step, though the necessity for it was pressing; and as, in the case of accident happening to the schooner, I might be called to answer before a court martial for going in opposition to the wish of a superior officer, it seemed proper to state in my journal all the reasons which had any influence on my decision. This journal is not in my possession; but notes of the statement were made whilst the recollection of it was strong, and the following was the substance and not far from the words.

1. The necessity of caulking the schooner and refitting the pumps before attempting to double the Cape, were stated nearly as above; to which was added a hope of obtaining a pa.s.sage in a s.h.i.+p where my defaced charts and journals, which remained untouched from the time of the s.h.i.+pwreck, might be put into a state to be laid before the Admiralty on arriving in England. In the case of meeting with such a pa.s.sage, I intended to let the c.u.mberland for freight back to Port Jackson, or to sell her, agreeably to the authority given me in governor King's orders.

2. Considering the proximity of Mauritius to the western coasts of Terra Australis, which remained to be examined, I was desirous to see in what state it had been left by the revolution, and to gain a practical knowledge of the port and periodical winds; with a view to its being used in the future part of my voyage as a place of refitting and refreshment, for which Port Jackson was at an inconvenient distance. It was also desirable to know how far Mauritius, and its dependencies in Madagascar which I knew to abound in cattle, could be useful to Port Jackson in supplying it with breeding stock; an object concerning which the governor had expressed anxiety for information from any place on the east side of the Cape of Good Hope.

3. The two letters from governor King to general Magallon, governor of Mauritius, instead of being forwarded from the Cape might be delivered in person.

4. I was a stranger to what had pa.s.sed in Europe for nearly twelve months, and there was consequently a possibility that war might again have broken out; my pa.s.sport from the French government would be good at Mauritius, but in going to the Cape, it was uncertain what attention the Dutch governor might pay to the orders of the first consul of France; and as promoters and encouragers of science, the character of the nation was not so high as to give me great expectation on that head. Mauritius was therefore much more certain than the Cape, since the necessary succour would be there obtained even in case of war; whereas at the Cape there might be a risk of losing my charts and journals and of being made a prisoner.

These reasons for stopping at Mauritius as we pa.s.sed by it, in addition to the necessity arising from the state of the schooner, were written in my rough journal for reference, without any idea of their being criticised, or even seen by any other than myself; and I have been particular in detailing them, on account of the unexpected occurrences with which they became connected.

FRIDAY 9 DECEMBER 1803

On the evening of the 9th, a s.h.i.+p was seen to the northward, and we sought to speak her for information; but night coming on the sight of her was lost, and we resumed our western course. I had no chart of Mauritius, nor other description than what is contained in the third edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica; this informed me that Port Louis was on the north-west side of the island, but not of the route usually taken to reach it; and the prevailing wind being south-east, it seemed to be a matter of indifference; I therefore steered to make the middle of the island, intending to go by the north or south sides as the wind might happen to favour most. On the 15th [THURSDAY 15 DECEMBER 1803] before daylight, the land was seen, and the wind being E. by S. we hauled to the northward. When the day broke the island was seven or eight miles off, and bore from S. 42 to N. 51 W.; but there was a distant round lump, whether connected with it did not appear, which bore N. by W.; and finding the schooner could not clear it, from the sea running high and current setting to leeward, we veered round and steered southward along the edge of a reef which extends four or five miles from this part of the island. Soon after eight o'clock we pa.s.sed three flat rocks within the reef, lying, as I now suppose, at the entrance of Port Bourbon; the extremes of the island then bore N. 1 to S. 69 W., and a steep point N.

39 W. five or six miles.

In steering westward along the sh.o.r.e, looking out for boats or vessels to gain information, a flag was seen upon one of the hills; our colours were then hoisted, and afterwards a French jack at the fore-top-mast head, as a signal for a pilot. At noon, the observed lat.i.tude was 20 34' south, and the extremes of the island bore N. 54 E. to 61 W. There was a small town bearing N. by E. two or three miles, from whence a schooner had come out, and being ahead we made sail to speak her; but she hauled in towards the sh.o.r.e until we had pa.s.sed, and then stood after us. On our heaving to, the schooner again steered for a place where some vessels were seen at anchor, and I began to take her movements as an intimation that we should go in there for a pilot; accordingly we followed her through a narrow pa.s.s in the reefs, and anch.o.r.ed in 2 fathoms, in a small reef harbour which I afterwards understood was called the _Baye du Cap_.