A Voyage to Terra Australis/Volume 2/Book 3/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
1803
August.
Friday 26.
(Atlas,
Plate X.)On August 26, the largest cutter being ready for her expedition, was launched and named the Hope. The morning was fine, and wind light from the southward; and notwithstanding the day, which in the seaman's calendar is the most unfortunate of the whole week to commence a voyage, I embarked for Port Jackson with the commander of the Cato. We had a double set of rowers, making in all fourteen persons, with three weeks provisions and two half hogsheads of water; so that the Hope was loaded rather too deeply. At eight in the morning, we pushed off amidst the cheers and good wishes of those for whom we were going to seek relief; an ensign with the union downward, had hitherto been kept hoisted as a signal to captain Palmer of our distress; but in this moment of enthusiasm a seaman quitted the crowd, and having obtained permission, ran to the flag staff, hauled down the ensign, and rehoisted it with the union in the upper canton. This symbolical expression of contempt for the Bridgewater and of confidence in the success of our voyage, I did not see without lively emotions.
We made sail to the westward under the lee of the reef, and passed two openings in it of nearly a mile wide. The second league brought us abreast of a dry sand bank, smaller than that quitted; and at noon we came to a third, lying ten miles, west of Wreck-Reef Bank. Having then lost the breeze, we stopped to cook our dinner on shore; and in the mean time I shot as many noddies as would give all the boat's crew a meal. On quitting this third bank, which is near the western extremity of Wreck Reef, we crossed into the open sea; and a breeze springing up at south-east, made sail towards Sandy Cape. Many hump-backed whales were playing about the boat during the whole time we remained under the lee of the reef, but they did not follow us further.
Nothing but clear water was visible at sunset, nevertheless we ran cautiously in the dark, looking out for breakers; the night was fine, and we made good progress by means of the oars, at which the twelve men took watch and watch, as Mr. Park and myself did at the helm: it was for this purpose, and to guard against accidents, that I had taken so many men in the boat.
Saturday 27.At day break the wind was E.S.E., and no land in sight; the boat was going four knots, and at noon our latitude by log was 23° 6′ and the distance made from Wreck-Reef Bank, ninety miles. The wind freshened in the afternoon, and a cross sea rose which obliged us to reef the sails, and made the boat very wet. At four we close reefed and hauled to the wind, but this was not enough; the increased hollowness of the waves caused the boat to labour so much, that every plunge raised an apprehension that some of the planks would start from the timbers. Having no other resource, we emptied one of the two casks of water, threw over-board the stones of our fire place and wood for cooking, as also a bag of pease and whatever else could be best spared; the boat was then somewhat more easy; and before dark, the hollow swell had so far subsided that we kept two points from the wind, and again went along in tolerable tranquillity.
This hollow sea was probably caused by a weather tide setting out of some passage between the reefs to the north-westward; and the succeeding smooth water by the tide having turned to leeward, or otherwise from the boat having passed across the stream; it is at least certain, that the southern part of the Barrier Reefs, seen by captain Swain of the ship Eliza, was somewhere to the north-west of our situation at that time. To avoid all these reefs, and to counteract the effect of a north-western current, I kept a S.S.W. course all the following night.
Sunday 28.We had fine weather next morning, with a moderate breeze at north-east; and at noon, the distance run in the preceding twenty-four hours was ninety-one miles by the log, and the observed latitude 24° 53′ south: the lead was put over-board, but no bottom found at 50 fathoms. Our situation being to the south of Sandy Cape, we steered a point more west, in the hope of seeing the land before night; it being my intention to keep near the coast from thence to Port Jackson, that by landing, or running the boat on shore, we might escape foundering at sea should a gale of wind come on. At sunset, the land was visible to the westward at the distance of four or five leagues, and we then hauled up south, parallel to the coast; the night was fine, the wind light and fair, and at daylightMonday 29. the tops of the hills were seen in the west, at the same distance as before. Our latitude at noon was 26° 32′, and a high hummock upon the land, somewhere between Double-island Point and Glass-house Bay, bore W. ¾ N.
Our favourable breeze died away in the afternoon, and we took to the oars; it however sprung up again from the northward, and brought us within sight of Cape Moreton at sunset.(Atl. Pl. IX.) Towards midnight the weather became squally with heavy rain, and gave us all a thorough drenching; but the wind not being very strong in these squalls, our course was still pursued to the southward. After the rain ceased the wind came at S.S.W.; and the weather remaining unsettled, we tacked at daylightTuesday 30. to get close in with the land, and at noon anchored under Point Look-out. This was only the fourth day of our departure from Wreck Reef, and I considered the voyage to be half accomplished, since we had got firm hold of the main coast; for the probability of being lost is greater in making three hundred miles in an open boat at sea, than in running even six hundred along shore. It would have added much to our satisfaction, could we have conveyed the intelligence of this fortunate progress to our shipmates on the bank.
The necessity for a supply of fresh water was becoming urgent, for our remaining half hogshead was much reduced. There were about twenty Indians upon the side of a hill near the shore, who seemed to be peaceably disposed, amusing us with dances in imitation of the kanguroo; we made signs of wanting water, which they understood, and pointed to a small rill falling into the sea. Two of the sailors leaped over-board, with some trifles for the natives and one end of the lead line; with the other end we slung the empty cask, which they hauled on shore and filled without molestation. A shark had followed them to the beach; and fearing they might be attacked in returning, we got up the anchor and went to a place where the surf, though too much to allow of the boat landing, permitted us to lie closer. The cask of water, a bundle of wood, and the two men were received on board without accident; the natives keeping aloof during the whole time, and even retiring when our people approached, though they were without arms and naked. It is probable that the Indians were astonished at the comparison between the moderately white skins of the sailors and their own, and perhaps had heard of my expedition to Glass-house Bay in 1799, in which I had been provoked to make one of them feel the effect of our arms; and had they attempted any thing against my two men, we were prepared to have given them a volley from the boat which would probably have been a fearful confirmation of the truth of the report; but happily for both parties, we were not reduced to the necessity.
On rowing to Point Look-out, to continue the voyage, I found the wind so fresh from the southward that the greatest fatigue at the oars could advance us little; we therefore ran to leeward of two rocks, lying a mile and a half north-west from the extremity of the point; and having anchored there, arranged the boat so as that every person might take a better night's rest than we had hitherto been able to enjoy.
Wednes. 31.At daylight, the wind being light and variable, we proceeded along the coast by using both sails and oars. The weather was dull, and prevented an observation at noon for the latitude; but a sight of Mount Warning at dusk showed that our progress was equal to expectation. We then had a gentle breeze from the north-eastward; and at ten o'clock, passed close to a projection of land which I supposed to be Point Danger, without seeing any breakers; it is therefore probable, that the reef laid down by captain Cook does not join to the land, for we kept a good look out, and the night was tolerably fine.
September.
Thursday 1.At five on the following morning we passed Cape Byron, with a breeze at north-west, and at noon had made a hundred miles by our reckoning from Point Look-out; the observed latitude was then 29° 16′, and the land near Shoal Bay was three leagues distant. We continued steering to the southward, in high spirits at being so favoured by the northern winds, which there was so little reason to expect; and at eight in the evening reached abreast of the Solitary Isles. Friday 2.Smoky Cape was in sight next morning; but the wind coming round to south, and blowing fresh with thick weather, we tacked towards the shore; and at noon landed behind a small ledge of rocks, about three leagues short of the Cape. The distance run these twenty-four hours was eighty five miles, and the southwardly current had moreover given its assistance.
This ledge of rocks lies on the north side of a point upon which there are some hummocks; and on ascending the highest, I saw a lagoon into which the tide flowed by a narrow passage on the inner side of the point. The pandanus grows here; and as it was a tree unknown to Bongaree, this latitude (about 30° 45′) is probably near its southern limit. We took in a supply of fuel and gathered some fine oysters, and the wind dying away to a calm in the afternoon, rowed out for Smoky Cape; but on reaching abreast of it the wind again rose a-head; and at one in the morning we anchored in a Small bight at the extremity of the Cape, and remained until daylight.
Saturday 3.The wind was still contrary on the 3rd, nevertheless we stood out and beat to the southward until four in the afternoon; when the sea having become too high for the boat, we anchored under the lee of a small projecting point, eight or ten leagues to the south of Smoky Cape; which distance had been gained in about ten hours, principally by means of the current.
Sunday 4. On the 4th, we again attempted to beat to the southward; but the wind being light as well as foul, and the sea running high, not much was gained; at noon the weather threatened so much, that it became necessary to look out for a place of shelter, and we steered into a bight with rocks in it, which I judge to have been on the north side of Tacking Point. At the head of the bight is a lagoon; but the entrance proving to be very shallow, and finding no security, we continued on our voyage; trusting that some place of shelter would present itself, if obliged to seek it by necessity. Towards evening the wind and weather became more favourable;Monday 5. in the morning, the Three Brothers were in sight; and at noon I observed the latitude 31° 57′, when the middlemost of these hills bore N.N.W. and our distance offshore was two or three leagues.
(Atlas,
Pl. VIII.)At this time the wind blew a moderate sea breeze at E.S.E., Cape Hawke was seen soon afterward, and at eight in the evening we steered between Sugar-loaf Point and the two rocks lying from it three or four miles to the south-east. Tuesday 6.At four next morning, passed the islands at the entrance of Port Stephens, and at noon the Coal Island in the mouth of Port Hunter bore N.W. by N.; the wind then shifted more to the southward, with squally weather, and both prevented the boat from lying along the coast and made it unsafe to be at sea. After struggling till four in the afternoon, with little advantage, we bore up to look for shelter behind some of the small projecting points; and almost immediately found it in a shallow cove, exposed only to the north-eastward. This was the eleventh day of our departure from Wreck Reef, and the distance of Port Jackson did not now exceed fifty miles.
At this place we slept on shore for the first time; but the weather being squally, rainy, and cold, and the boat's sails our best shelter, it was not with any great share of comfort; a good watch was kept during the night, but no molestation was received from the natives. Notwithstanding our cramped-up position in the boat, and exposure to all kinds of weather, we enjoyed excellent health; one man excepted, upon whom the dysentery, which had made such ravages in the Investigator, now returned with some violence.
Wednes. 7.A cask of water was filled on the morning of the 7th, and our biscuit being all expended or spoiled, some cakes were baked in the ashes for our future subsistence. At eleven o'clock, the rain having cleared away, we stood out to the offing with light baffling winds, and towards evening were enabled to lie along the coast; but the breeze at south-east not giving much assistance, we took to the oars and laboured hard all the following night, being animated with the prospect of a speedy termination to our voyage. The north head of Broken Bay was in sight next morning,Thursday 8. and at noon the south head was abreast of the boat; a sea breeze then setting in at E.N.E., we crowded all sail for Port Jackson, and soon after two o'clock had the happiness to enter between the heads.
The reader has perhaps never gone 250 leagues at sea in an open boat, or along a strange coast inhabited by savages; but if he recollect the eighty officers and men upon Wreck-Reef Bank, and how important was our arrival to their safety, and to the saving of the charts, journals, and papers of the Investigator's voyage, he may have some idea of the pleasure we felt, but particularly myself, at entering our destined port.
I proceeded immediately to the town of Sydney, and went with captain Park to wait upon His Excellency governor King, whom we found at dinner with his family. A razor had not passed over our faces from the time of the shipwreck, and the surprise of the governor was not little at seeing two persons thus appear whom he supposed to be many hundred leagues on their way to England; but so soon as he was convinced of the truth of the vision before him, and learned the melancholy cause, an involuntary tear started from the eye of friendship and compassion, and we were received in the most affectionate manner.
His Excellency lost no time in engaging the ship Rolla, then lying in port, bound to China, to go to the rescue of the officers and crews of the Porpoise and Cato; I accompanied the governor on board the Rolla a day or two afterwards, and articles were signed by which the commander, Mr. Robert Cumming, engaged to call at Wreck Reef, take every person on board and carry them to Canton, upon terms which showed him to take the interest in our misfortune which might be expected from a British seaman. The governor ordered two colonial schooners to accompany the Rolla, to bring back those who preferred returning to Port Jackson, with such stores of the Porpoise as could be procured; and every thing was done that an anxious desire to forward His Majesty's service and alleviate misfortune could devise; even private individuals put wine, live stock, and vegetables, unasked, on board the Rolla for the officers upon the reef.
My anxiety to get back to Wreck Reef, and from thence to England with the greatest despatch, induced the governor to offer me one of the schooners to go through Torres' Strait and by the most expeditious passage to Europe; rather than take the long route by China in the Rolla. This schooner was something less than a Gravesend passage boat, being only of twenty-nine tons burthen; and therefore it required some consideration before acceding to the proposal. Her small size, when compared with the distance from Port Jackson to England, was not my greatest objection to the little Cumberland; it was the quickness of her motion and the want of convenience, which would prevent the charts and journal of my voyage from being prepared on the passage, and render the whole so much time lost to this important object. On the other hand, the advantage of again passing through, and collecting more information of Torres' Strait, and of arriving in England three or four months sooner to commence the outfit of another ship, were important considerations; and joined to some ambition of being the first to undertake so long a voyage in such a small vessel, and a desire to put an early stop to the account which captain Palmer would probably give of our total loss, they proved sufficient inducements to accept the governor's offer, on finding his vessel had the character of being a strong, good little sea boat.
The Cumberland was at that time absent up the river Hawkesbury, and the Francis, the other schooner, was lying on shore and could not be got off before the following spring tides; on these accounts, and from the Rolla not being quite fitted, it was thirteen days after my arrival in the boat before the whole could be ready to sail. This delay caused me much uneasiness, under the apprehension that we might not arrive before our friends at the reef, despairing of assistance, should have made some unsuccessful attempt to save themselves; and this idea pursued me so much, that every day seemed to be a week until I got out of the harbour with the three vessels.
Governor King's answer to my communication respecting the shipwreck of the Porpoise and Cato, and the orders under which I acted in embarking in the Cumberland, are contained in the following letter.
Sydney, New South Wales, Sept. 17, 1803.
SIR,
In acknowledging the receipt of yours with its inclosure of the 9th instant, whilst I lament the misfortune that has befallen the Porpoise and Cato, I am thankful that no more lives have been lost than the three you mention. I have every reason to be assured that no precaution was omitted by lieutenant Fowler and yourself to avoid the accident, and I am equally satisfied with your account of the exertions of the officers and men after the loss of the ships, both for the preservation of the stores and maintaining order in their present situation; nor can I sufficiently commend your voluntary services and those who came with you, in undertaking a voyage of 700 miles in an open boat, to procure relief for our friends now on the bank; and I hope for the honour of humanity, that if the Bridgewater be safe, the commander may be able to give some possible reason for his not ascertaining whether any had survived the shipwreck, as there appears too much reason to believe he has persuaded himself all perished.
No time has been lost in prevailing upon the master of the Rolla, bound to China, to take on board the officers and seamen now on the reef, belonging to the Porpoise and Investigator, and carrying them to Canton whither he is bound; on the conditions expressed in the agreement entered into with him by me, and which you have witnessed. For that purpose I have caused a proportion of all species of provisions to be put on board at full allowance, for seventy men for ten weeks from the reef; I shall also give to lieutenant Fowler the instructions for his conduct which I have communicated to you, and direct him to consult with you on the measures to be adopted by him for executing those instructions, as far as situation and events may render them practicable.
And as you agree with me that the Cumberland, colonial schooner of twenty-nine tons, built here, is capable of performing the voyage to England by way of Torres' Strait, and it being essential to the furthering His Majesty's service that you should reach England by the most prompt conveyance with your charts and journals, I have directed the commissary to make that vessel over to you, with her present furniture, sails, &c.; and to complete her from the stores of the Investigator with such other articles as you may require, together with a proportion of provisions for six months, for ten officers and men. And on your arrival at Wreck Reef you will select such officers and men as you may judge necessary, lieutenant Fowler having my orders on that head.
After having given every assistance to get the people and as many stores as can be taken on board the Rolla, and given the commander of the Francis schooner such orders as circumstances may require, for bringing those who may choose to be discharged from the service and as many stores as she can bring, you will then proceed to England by the route you may judge most advisable and beneficial for His Majesty's service. On your arrival in London you will deliver my letters to the Admiralty and the principal secretary of state for the colonies.
In case any unforeseen circumstances should prevent the accomplishment of the voyage in the Cumberland, you will take such measures as may appear most conducive to the interest of His Majesty's service, either by selling the vessel, or letting her for freight at the Cape or elsewhere, if any merchants choose to send proper officers and men to conduct her back; and in the event of your being obliged to dispose of her, you will account with His Majesty's principal secretary of state for the colonies for the proceeds.
I am, &c,
Signed)Philip Gidley King.
The small size of the Cumberland made it necessary to stop at every convenient place on the way to England, for water and refreshment; and I proposed Coepang Bay in Timor, Mauritius, the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena, and some one of the Western Isles; but governor King objected to Mauritius, from not wishing to encourage any communication between the French colonies and Port Jackson; and also because he had understood that hurricanes often prevailed in the neighbourhood of that island, about the time of year when I should be passing; he left this matter, however, to be decided by necessity and my judgment, and gave me two letters for the governor of Mauritius, to be forwarded from the Cape, or by the best opportunity. At those places in the Indian Seas where I might stop, he requested me to make inquires into the facility of obtaining cattle for his colony, with the price and the traffic with which they might be best procured; and to send this information by any ship bound to Port Jackson.
Every thing being prepared for our departure, I sailed out of the harbour in the Cumberland on the 21st at daylight,Wednes. 21. with the Rolla and Francis in company. Mr. Inman, the astronomer, had taken a passage in the Rolla with his instruments; and of the thirteen persons who came with me in the boat, captain Park and his second mate were on board that ship, and the boatswain of the Investigator with the ten seamen composed my crew in the schooner. We had a fresh breeze at south-east, and the Cumberland appeared to sail as well as could be expected; but the wind becoming stronger towards night, she lay over so much upon the broad side that little sail could be carried; and instead of being tight, as had been represented, her upper works then admitted a great deal of water. Thursday 22. Next morning, the wind having rather increased than diminished, I found we should soon be obliged to lie to altogether, and that if we passed Port Stephens there was no place of shelter for a long distance where the schooner could be saved from drifting on shore; the signal was therefore made to tack, and at dusk the Rolla and Francis ran into Port Stephens. Not being able to reach so far, I anchored in a small bight under Point Stephens, in very bad plight; the pumps proving to be so nearly useless, that we could not prevent the water from half filling the hold; and two hours longer would have reduced us to baling with buckets, and perhaps have been fatal. This essay did not lead me to think favourably of the vessel, in which I had undertaken a voyage half round the globe.
Friday 23.Next morning I joined the Rolla and Francis; and it being then calm, we did not quit Port Stephens until the afternoon. At night the wind again blew strong from the south-east; but the desire to arrive at Wreck Reef overcoming my apprehensions, the schooner was made snug and we persevered. Our inability to carry sail was so much the more provoking, that this wind was as fair as could be wished; but whilst the Cumberland could scarcely bear a close-reefed main sail and jib without danger of oversetting, the Rolla went along under double-reefed top sails in great tranquillity; and to avoid parting company was obliged to keep her courses up, and to back a top sail from time to time.
Saturday 24.The wind moderated next day, and allowed us to make better (Atlas,
Plate X.)progress. It afterwards veered round to the north-east, and prevented us from fetching more than ten miles to the east of the reef by Mr. Inman's time keeper, when we came into the proper latitude. We bore away for it, however, on Oct. 1,October.
Saturday 1. and ran more than a degree to the west; when finding no reef or bank, it appeared that we must have been something to the west of Wreck Reef when the time keeper showed ten miles to the eastward. This obliged us to work back again, and it was not till the 7thFriday 7. that we got sight of the ensign upon the top of the bank.[1]
It was six weeks on this day that I had quitted the reef in the boat, for the purpose of seeking the means to relieve my officers and people. The bank was first seen from the Rolla's mast head, and soon afterward two boats were perceived under sail; and advancing nearer, we saw one boat make for the Rolla and the other returning to the bank. The Porpoise had not yet gone to pieces; but was still lying on her beam ends, high up on the reef, a frail, but impressive monument of our misfortune.
In the afternoon I anchored under the lee of the bank, in 18 fathoms coral sand, and a salute of eleven guns from it was immediately fired, the carronades of the Porpoise having been transported from the wreck. On landing, I was greeted with three hearty cheers, and the utmost joy by my officers, and people; and the pleasure of rejoining my companions so amply provided with the means of relieving their distress, made this one of the happiest moments of my life.
The two boats we had seen, were the Porpoise's remaining cutter and a new boat constructed during my absence; it was just completed, and lieutenant Fowler had this morning gone out to try its sailing against the cutter. My safe arrival at Port Jackson became a subject of much doubt after the first month; and they had begun to reconcile their minds to making the best use of the means they possessed to reach some frequented port. The Rolla's top-gallant sail was first seen in the horizon by a man in the new boat, and was taken for a bird; but regarding it more steadfastly, he started up and exclaimed, d—n my bl—d what's that! It was soon recognised to be a sail, and caused a general acclamation of joy, for they doubted not it was a ship coming to their succour. Lieutenant Flinders, then commanding officer on the bank, was in his tent calculating some lunar distances, when one of the young gentlemen ran to him, calling, "Sir, Sir! A ship and two schooners in sight!" After a little consideration, Mr. Flinders said he supposed it was his brother come back, and asked if the vessels were near? He was answered, not yet; upon which he desired to be informed when they should reach the anchorage, and very calmly resumed his calculations: such are the varied effects produced by the same circumstance upon different minds. When the desired report was made, he ordered the salute to be fired, and took part in the general satisfaction.
My plan of proceeding at the reef having been arranged on the passage, I immediately began to put it in execution. The people were assembled on the bank, and informed that such as chose to be discharged from the service might return to Port Jackson in the Francis schooner; and that the rest would be taken on board the Rolla and carried to China, with the exception of ten officers and men whom I named, to go to England with me in the Cumberland, if they would risk themselves in so small a vessel; for notwithstanding what had been discovered of the bad qualities of the schooner, I determined to proceed, at least so far as to reach some port where a passage might be procured in a better vessel without losing time. The determinations of all were required to be given on the following day; and in the mean time we began to take on board the few stores necessary to complete the Cumberland for our voyage, and especially to fill the holds with water, of which there was yet a good quantity remaining on the bank.
Monday 10.On the 10th, three days after our arrival, the Rolla had received the people destined for her, with part of the provisions and stores; and the Cumberland was ready to sail. All those whom I had named, with the exception of my clerk, volunteered to go in the schooner; viz., Mr. John Aken, master, and Mr. Edward Charrington, boatswain of the Investigator, my servant, and seven chosen seamen. A cask containing what had been saved of my specimens of mineralogy and conchology was taken on board, as also the charts, books, and papers of every kind, with the instruments received from the Navy Board and the sole time keeper which had not stopped.
Mr. Denis Lacy, master's mate of the Investigator, desiring to return to Port Jackson, he was charged with my letter to His Excellency governor King; and I gave him an order to command the new boat. It was about the size of the Cumberland, had a deck, and was called the Resource; and we manned her with a part of those people whose choice led them back to Port Jackson. I ordered Mr. James Aikin, commander of the Francis, and Mr. Lacy, to take on board for the colony as much of the stores as they should be able; and on their arrival, to make a statement to the governor of the condition in which they might leave the Porpoise, and what remained on the bank.
The officers journals, which were to be sent to the Admiralty at the conclusion of the voyage, had not been demanded at the time of our shipwreck; lieutenant Fowler was therefore directed to take all that were saved belonging to the officers embarked with him in the Rolla; and lest any accident should happen to the Cumberland, I committed to his charge a copy of four charts, being all of the East and North Coasts which there had been time to get ready; with these he took a short letter to the secretary of the Admiralty, and one to the Victualling Board inclosing such vouchers as had been saved from the wreck. To Mr. Inman I gave the remaining instruments belonging to the Board of Longitude, reserving only a time keeper and a telescope; the large and most valuable instruments had very fortunately been delivered to him before we had sailed from Port Jackson in the Porpoise.
These matters being arranged, I pressed captain Cumming to depart, fearing that a change of wind might expose the Rolla to danger; but finding him desirous to take off more provisions and stores, I made sail for a bank or rather islet seven miles distant, at the eastern extremity of Wreck Reef, for the purpose of collecting sea-birds eggs, and if possible taking a turtle. The Rolla joined on the following day,Tuesday 11. and I went on board to take leave of Messrs. Fowler and Flinders and the other officers and gentlemen; at noon we parted company with three cheers, the Rolla steering north-eastward for China, whilst my course was directed for Torres' Strait.
With the time keeper, Earnshaw's No. 520, I had received from lieutenant Flinders an account of its error from mean Greenwich time at noon there Oct. 6, and its rate of going during the fourteen preceding days, which were as under.
No. 520, slow 0ʰ 9′ 49″,35 and losing 34″,13 per day.
The latitude of Wreck-Reef Bank was ascertained from eight meridian observations from the sea, and four from an artificial horizon: the mean of the latter, which are considered the best, is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
22° | 11′ | 23″ S. |
Longitude from sixty sets of lunar distances, of which the individual results are given in Table VIII. of the Appendix No. I. to this volume, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
155 | 18 | 50,5 E. |
The longitude of the bank, as given by Earnshaw's No. 520 on Aug. 28, eleven days after the shipwreck, was 155° 4′, 14″,6 with the Port Jackson rate, or 14′ 35″,9 less than the lunar observations. In laying down the Porpoise's track on the chart, this error has been corrected by an equal proportion, according to the time of each observation for the longitude.
Mr. Flinders deduced the variation of the compass from observing the sun's magnetic azimuth a.m. and p.m., when equal altitudes were taken, and comparing the mean azimuth at corresponding altitudes with the true meridian; this method is probably not the best, and the results from two compasses differed considerably; Walker's compass, marked No. 1, giving 9° 17′ east from ten observations, and that marked No. 1, 13° 54′ from five observations. The first is undoubtedly the best, though possibly not very correct.
There are here two regular tides daily, and it was high water on the day of full moon at 8ʰ 50′ in the morning; the rise was six feet two inches, but the night tide will probably reach to eight, or perhaps nine feet at the height of the springs.
Some account was given of Wreck-Reef Bank before quitting it in the boat, but I had not then acquired a knowledge of the whole extent of the reef. It is about twenty miles long, and from a quarter, to one mile and a half in breadth; and consists of many distinct patches of different magnitudes, the six principal of which are from four to eight or ten miles in circuit. They are separated by channels of one mile to near a league in width; and in the two easternmost I found from 8 to 10 fathoms, and nothing to prevent a ship passing through in a case of necessity. Four of the six larger patches have each a sand bank near the middle, which do not appear to have been lately covered by the tide; and they are now more or less frequented by sea birds, such as noddies, boobies, tropic, and man-of-war birds, gannets, and perhaps some others. Of these four banks, two lie to the west and one to the east of that near which our ships struck; but the eastern bank is the most considerable, and most frequented by birds; turtle also land there occasionally, and this bank was not improperly called Bird Islet, being now covered with coarse grass, some shrubs, and a soil to which the birds are every day making an increase.
Bird Islet being to windward of, and only seven miles distant from our bank, it was frequently visited by the gentlemen during my absence. Besides sea birds of the species already mentioned, they procured many thousand eggs; and also four turtle, of which one weighed 459 pounds, and contained so many eggs, that lieutenant Fowler's journal says no less than 1940, large and small, were counted. These supplies, with shell fish gathered from the reef, and fish, were a great resource, and admitted of a saving in the salt provisions; as the occasional rains, from which several casks were filled, did of their fresh water. The trepang was found on Wreck Reef, and soup was attempted to be made of it; but whether our cooks had not the method of stewing it down, or that the trepang is suited only to the vitiated taste of the Chinese, nothing good was produced.
Oats, maize, and pumpkin seeds were planted upon Wreck-Reef Bank, as also upon Bird Islet; and the young plants had come up, and were in a tolerably flourishing state; some of these may possibly succeed upon the islet, but upon the bank it is scarcely to be hoped. The cocoa nut is capable of resisting the light sprays of the sea which frequently pass over these banks, and it is to be regretted that we had none to plant upon them. A cluster of these majestic and useful palms would have been an excellent beacon to warn mariners of their danger; and in the case where darkness might render them unavailing in this respect, their fruit would at least afford some salutary nourishment to the shipwrecked seamen. The navigator who should distribute ten thousand cocoa nuts amongst the numerous sand banks of the Great Ocean and Indian Sea, would be entitled to the gratitude of all maritime nations, and of every friend to humanity. I may be thought to attribute too much importance to this object in saying, that such a distribution ought to be a leading article, in the instructions for any succeeding voyage of discovery or investigation to these parts; but it is from having suffered ourselves that we learn to appreciate the misfortunes and wants of others, and become doubly interested in preventing or relieving them. "The human heart," as an elegant author observes, "resembles certain medicinal trees, which yield not their healing balm until they have themselves been wounded."[2]
- ↑ The want of my journal has prevented me from stating any particulars of this passage very correctly; but I have lately obtained a sight of Mr. Inman's observations, and it appears from them that his time keeper (Kendal's No. 45) erred 31′ to the east on Oct. 1, and that on the 2d a.m. our corrected longitude was 153° 52′. We ran westward till that evening, and must therefore have gone to about 153° 25′ or 1° 54′ west of Wreck-Reef Bank; and as no dangers were seen, this shows how completely the Reef is separated from the great Barrier of the coast; a point which it is of some importance to have ascertained.
- ↑ Le cœur est comme ces sortes d'arbres, qui ne donnent leur baume pour les blessures des hommes que lorsque le fer les a blessés eux-mêmes. Chateaubriant's Génie de Christianisme, Episode d'Attala.