A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook
Title: Western Australia: a history from its discovery to
the inauguration of the Commonwealth
Author: J.S. Battye (1871-1954)
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Title: Western Australia : a history from its discovery to
the inauguration of the Commonwealth
Author: J.S. Battye (1871-1954)
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
A HISTORY
FROM ITS DISCOVERY TO THE
INAUGURATION OF THE
COMMONWEALTH
BY
J.S. BATTYE, LITT.D.
PUBLIC LIBRARIAN OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1924.
***
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON, EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, COPENHAGEN, NEW YORK, TORONTO, MELBOURNE,
CAPE TOWN, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, MADRAS, SHANGHAI.
HUMPHREY MILFORD PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY.
...
PREFACE.
In view of the prominent part taken by Australia in the recent war, and
the enthusiasm which the achievements of the Australian Forces have
aroused throughout the Empire, the story of one of the great States of
the Australian Commonwealth may not be without some general interest.
The work has been the result of over twenty years' research, undertaken,
in the first instance, in conjunction with the Registrar-General (Mr.
M.A.C. Fraser) and his Deputy (Mr. W. Siebenhaar) for the purpose of
checking the historical introduction to the Year Book of Western
Australia. It has since been continued in the hope that it may prove a
contribution of more or less value to the history of colonial
development. In the prosecution of the work, the files of the Public
Record Office, London, were searched, and copies made of all documents
that could be found which related to the establishment and early years of
the colony. These copies are now in the possession of the Public Library
of Western Australia, which contains also most of the published matter in
the way of books and pamphlets dealing with the colony, as well as almost
complete files of the local newspapers to date, and the original records
of the Colonial Secretary's Office up to 1876. All of these have been at
my disposal.
I have had, further, the opportunity of consulting official documents of
the Government, and, by permission of the Right Honourable the Secretary
of State for the Colonies, secured through the kindness of his Excellency
Sir F.A. Newdegate, have had access to all dispatches from the Colonial
Office to the colonial authorities up to the year 1901. So far as
possible every statement has been verified by documentary evidence, and
every care exercised to make the whole work strictly accurate.
In addition to those mentioned, I have to express my obligation to the
heads of Government Departments, more especially to the Under Secretary
for Lands, Mr. C.G. Morris, and the Surveyor-General, Mr. H.S. King; to
the Honourable J.W. Kirwan, M.L.C, for information concerning the federal
movement in Western Australia; to Professor Ernest Scott and Dr. R.C.
Mills for much helpful criticism; and to Miss M.E. Wood, of the Public
Library of Western Australia, for invaluable assistance in checking
references and in preparing the manuscript.
J.S.B.
PERTH.
September 30th, 1921.
***
CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
CHRONOLOGY.
CHAPTER 1.
DISCOVERY OF AND EARLY VOYAGES TO AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER 2.
DISCOVERY OF AND EARLY VOYAGES TO AUSTRALIA (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER 3.
ANNEXATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER 4.
1829 TO 1830. COLONISATION AND EARLY SETTLEMENT.
CHAPTER 5.
1831 TO 1838. ADMINISTRATION OF SIR JAMES STIRLING.
CHAPTER 6.
1839 TO 1842. GOVERNOR HUTT'S ADMINISTRATION. LAND REGULATIONS. PROJECTED
SETTLEMENT AT AUSTRALIND. ABORIGINES. EXPLORATIONS.
CHAPTER 7.
1843 TO 1849. DEPRESSION. LABOUR PROBLEMS. FINANCIAL CONDITION. QUESTION
OF CONVICT LABOUR. ESTABLISHMENT OF PENAL SETTLEMENT.
CHAPTER 8.
1850 TO 1853. TRANSITION PERIOD: FREE COLONY TO PENAL ESTABLISHMENT.
GOVERNMENT. LAND LAWS. FINANCIAL CONDITIONS. INDUSTRIES.
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT.
CHAPTER 9.
1854 TO 1860. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. IMPROVEMENT IN LAND
REGULATIONS AND CONSEQUENT AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL
EXPANSION. DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENSION OF THE CONVICT SYSTEM.
GROWTH OF THE COLONY DURING THE PERIOD.
CHAPTER 10.
1861 TO 1868. DEPARTURE OF GOVERNOR KENNEDY AND ARRIVAL OF DR. JS.
HAMPTON. CONVICT ADMINISTRATION. INCIDENTS OF THE SYSTEM.
PROGRESSIVE PUBLIC WORKS POLICY. CESSATION OF TRANSPORTATION.
EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM REVIEWED.
CHAPTER 11.
1861 TO 1868 (CONTINUED). EXPLORATIONS. OPENING UP THE NORTH-WEST. TRADE
AND INDUSTRY. NATIVE TROUBLES. AGITATION FOR REPRESENTATIVE
GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER 12.
1869 TO 1875. ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR WELD. CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES.
PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION. LAND LAWS. RAILWAYS AND TELEGRAPHS.
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT. EXPLORATION.
CHAPTER 13.
1875 TO 1883. AGITATION FOR ALTERATION OF CONSTITUTION. LEGISLATION. LAND
LAWS AND REGULATIONS. IMMIGRATION. RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT.
RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES. CONVICT ESTABLISHMENT. EXPLORATIONS.
MISCELLANEOUS.
CHAPTER 14.
1883 TO 1890. GOVERNOR BROOME'S ADMINISTRATION. LAND REGULATIONS. TARIFF
REVISION. FINANCES. RESOURCES, INDUSTRIES, AND TRADE. PUBLIC
WORKS: RAILWAY AND TELEGRAPH EXTENSION.
CHAPTER 15.
1883 TO 1890 (CONTINUED). GOLD DISCOVERIES: KIMBERLEY AND YILGARN
GOLDFIELDS. AGITATION FOR AUTONOMY CONTINUED. RESPONSIBLE
GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER 16.
1891 TO 1900. FIRST TEN YEARS OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. CONSTITUTIONAL
AND POLITICAL OCCURRENCES. PHENOMENAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
GOLDFIELDS. RESOURCES, INDUSTRIES, AND TRADE. LAND LAWS AND
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. GENERAL.
CHAPTER 17.
FEDERAL MOVEMENT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
APPENDICES.
1. DISPATCH FROM SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES TO CAPTAIN STIRLING,
30TH DECEMBER, 1828.
2. PROCLAMATION BY CAPTAIN STIRLING, DATED 18TH JUNE, 1829.
3. CONVICT SYSTEM.
4. STATISTICS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 1829 TO 1900.
5. PROSPECTUS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIAN COMPANY AND DESCRIPTION OF
AUSTRALIND.
INDEX.
MAP OF SOUTH-WEST SHOWING GRANTS OF CAPTAIN STIRLING, THOMAS PEEL AND
COLONEL LATOUR.
***
PLATES.
PLATE 1. DIRK HARTOG'S PLATE, 1616.
1616. DEN 25 OCTOBER IS HIER AEN GECOMEN HET SCHIP D EENDRAGHT VAN
AMSTERDAM DE OPPER KOPMAN GILLES MILBAIS VAN LUCK. SCHIPPER DIRCK HATICHS
VAN AMSTERDAM DE 27 DITO TE SEIL GEGHN NA BANTUM DE ONDER COEPMAN JAN
STINS DE OPPER STUIERMAN PIETER DOORES VAN BIL ANNO 1616.
Translation of the original inscription: On the 25th of October, 1616,
arrived here the ship Eendracht, of Amsterdam: The first merchant, Gilles
Milbais van Luyck: captain, Dirk Hartog, of Amsterdam; the 27th ditto set
sail for Bantam; under merchant, Jan Stins; upper steersman, Pieter
Dockes, of Bil; A.D. 1616.
PLATE 2. VLAMING'S PLATE, 1697.
1697 DEN 4 FEBREUARY IS HIER AEN GEKOMEN HET SCHIP DE GEELVINCK VOOR
AMSTERDAM DEN COMANDER ENT SCHIPPER WILLEM DE VLAMINGH VAN VLIELANDT
ADSISTENT JOANNES BREMER VAN COPPENHAGEN OPPER STUIERMAN MICHIL BLOEM VAN
T STICHT BREMEN DE HOECKER DE NYPTANGH SCHIPPER GERRIT COLAART VAN
AMSTERDAM ADSIST' THEO-DORIS HEIRMANS VAN DITO OPPERSTIERMAN GERRIT
GERITSEN VAN BREMEN TE GALIOOT HET WEESELTIE GESAGH HEBBER CORNELIS DE
VLAMINGH VAN VLIELANDT STUIRMAN COERT GERRITSEN VAN BREMEN EN VAN HIER
GEZEYLT MET ONSE VLOT DEN VOORTS HET ZUYDLANDT VERDER TE ONDER SOECREN
ENGE DISTINEERT VOOR BATAVIA. 12 (DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY LOGO ?)
Translation of the original inscription: On the 4th of February, 1697,
arrived here the ship Geelvinck, of Amsterdam: Captain commandant,
Wilhelm van Vlaming, of Vlielandt; assistant, Jan van Bremen, of
Copenhagen; first pilot, Micheel Bloem Van Estight, of Bremen; the hooker
Myptangh: Captain, Gerrit Collaert, of Amsterdam; assistant, Theodorus
Heermans, of the same place; first pilot, Gerrit Gerritz, of Bremen.
Sailed from here with our fleet on the 12th to explore the South Land and
afterwards bound for Batavia.
***
CHRONOLOGY.
1606:
Duyfken in Gulf of Carpentaria. First authenticated voyage to Australia.
1616:
Dirk Hartog in the Eendracht. First authenticated voyage to Western
Australia.
1619:
Discovery of Abrolhos Islands by Houtman.
1622:
Voyage of Leeuwin.
Wreck of Trial.
1627:
Nuytsland discovered.
1628:
Discovery of De Witt Land.
Voyage of Pelsart in Batavia.
Pelsart wrecked on Abrolhos Islands.
1644:
Voyage of Tasman to North-West and North coasts.
1688:
Dampier in the Cygnet.
1696 to 1697:
Discovery of Swan River by Vlaming.
1699:
Dampier's second voyage.
1772:
Voyage of St. Alouarn.
1791:
Discovery of King George's Sound by Vancouver.
1792:
Voyage of D'Entrecasteaux.
1801:
Flinders' voyage in the Investigator.
Voyage of Geographe and Naturaliste.
1802:
Geographe joined by Casuarina.
1817:
Voyage of Freycinet in Uranie.
1817 to 1822:
Lieutenant King's survey voyages on the North-West coast.
1826:
Occupancy of King George's Sound by convicts from Sydney under Major
Lockyer.
1827:
Examination of Swan River by Captain Stirling in H.M.S. Success.
1828:
Syndicate formed in London for colonisation of Swan River.
Decision of British Government to found colony.
Captain Fremantle in H.M.S. Challenger dispatched to take formal
possession of Swan River.
Captain Stirling appointed Lieutenant-Governor.
1829:
February. Parmelia leaves England with officials and first settlers.
May. Formal possession taken by Captain Fremantle.
Act 10 George IV ch.22, authorising establishment of Legislative Council.
June. Arrival of Parmelia. Proclamation of colony.
August. Foundation of Perth and Fremantle.
1830:
Legislative Council constituted by Order in Council.
Executive Council constituted by Instructions under Sign Manual.
1831:
Lieutenant-Governor Stirling appointed Governor.
Convict settlement at King George's Sound withdrawn.
Agricultural Society established.
First newspaper issued.
1832:
Executive Council, Legislative Council, Civil Court established.
Duel between Clarke and Johnstone.
1833:
First issue of Perth Gazette--now West Australian.
1834:
First definite petition for convicts (from Albany).
Native disturbances--Battle of Pinjarra.
1837:
Bank of Western Australia established.
1837 to 1840:
Lieutenant Grey's explorations.
1838:
End of Governor Stirling's administration.
1839:
Arrival of Governor John Hutt.
1840:
Western Australian Company constituted to form settlement at Australind.
1841:
Eyre's overland journey to King George's Sound.
Bank of Western Australia amalgamated with Bank of Australasia.
Western Australian Bank founded.
Arrival of first Australind settlers.
1845 to 1848:
Expeditions of A.C., F.T., and C. Gregory.
1846:
Retirement of Governor Hutt.
Arrival of Governor Clarke.
Discovery of coal.
New Norcia Mission established.
1847:
Death of Governor Clarke.
1848:
Arrival of Governor Fitzgerald.
Discovery of lead and copper.
1843 to 1849:
Petition for the introduction of convicts.
1849:
Western Australia constituted a penal settlement.
1850:
Arrival of first convicts.
1851:
Commencement of pearling industry.
1854:
Austin's expedition to the Murchison.
1855:
Retirement of Governor Fitzgerald.
Arrival of Governor Kennedy.
1856:
A.C. Gregory's expedition from the Northern Territory to Victoria Plains.
Anglican Bishopric established.
1857 to 1858:
F.T. Gregory's survey of the Murchison and exploration of Gascoyne.
1861:
F.T. Gregory's expedition to the North.
1861 to 1868:
Settlement of the North-West.
1862:
Dr. Hampton succeeds Sir Arthur Kennedy as Governor.
1864:
Roebuck Bay Pastoral Association.
Camden Harbour Pastoral Association.
1865:
Denison Plains Association.
1866:
Hunt's expedition to Hampton Plains.
1868:
Cessation of transportation.
Resignation of Governor Hampton.
1869:
Arrival of Governor Weld.
First telegraph line erected.
John Forrest's expedition in search of Leichhardt.
1870:
Representative Government established.
John Forrest's overland journey to Adelaide.
1871:
Municipalities Act passed.
Elementary Education Act passed.
First railway built.
A. Forrest's journey to Esperance.
1872 to 1873:
Expeditions of Giles, Gosse, and Warburton.
1874:
John Forrest's expedition to the north.
Departure of Governor Weld.
1875:
Giles' overland expeditions.
Arrival of Governor Robinson.
1876:
Escape of Fenian convicts.
1877:
Sir Harry Ord succeeds Governor Robinson.
1879:
Exploration of Kimberley district by A. Forrest.
1880:
Kimberley district opened up.
Sir William Robinson succeeds Governor Ord.
1883:
Sir Frederick Broome succeeds Governor Robinson.
1885:
Federal Council Act passed.
1886:
Kimberley Goldfield proclaimed.
1888:
Yilgarn Goldfield proclaimed.
Pilbara Goldfield proclaimed.
1889:
Great Southern Railway opened (built on land-grant system).
1890:
July. Imperial Act conferring Responsible Government passed.
October. Sir William Robinson succeeds Governor Broome.
Responsible Government inaugurated.
December. First ministry appointed, John Forrest Premier.
1891:
Murchison Goldfield proclaimed.
1892:
Coolgardie Goldfield discovered.
Fremantle Harbour commenced.
1893:
Hannans (Kalgoorlie) Goldfield discovered.
1894:
Menzies Goldfield discovered.
Midland Railway opened (land-grant railway).
1896:
Great Southern Railway purchased by Government.
1899:
Goldfields Water Supply commenced (completed January 1903).
1900:
July. Federal referendum taken.
1901:
Commonwealth of Australia inaugurated 1 January.
***
CHAPTER 1.
DISCOVERY OF AND EARLY VOYAGES TO AUSTRALIA.
Although a large amount of research into the documentary annals of the
world's history has taken place during the past half-century it is still
not possible to assign, with any degree of accuracy, a definite date to
the discovery of Australia.
From earliest times there have been traditions, probably engendered more
by the spirit of prophecy than by fact, of the existence of a Great South
Land. Aristotle, Strabo, and others have expressed the opinion that there
existed south of the Equator areas of land at least equal in extent to
those above it, and in the Astronomicon of Manilius (1:238 to 239) we
find the lines:
"...Austrinis pars est habitabilis oris,
Sub pedibusque jacet nostris."
These statements, however, were merely essays into the region of
probabilities, and had not any known basis of fact. But to come down to a
later period, it is possible to show from early manuscript maps and other
sources that this belief in a southern continent was entertained long
before the discoveries made during the sixteenth century. The Vicomte de
Santarem, in his Essai sur l'histoire de la cosmographie et de la
cartographie du moyen age, gives a list of these maps, upon which are to
be found vague markings of an inhabited country described as the
"opposite earth," which could not be reached owing to the torrid zone;
and he points out that "the cartographers of the Middle Ages have
submitted that as a reality which, even to the geographers of antiquity,
was merely a theory."* Unfortunately, every effort to discover
manuscripts that would bear out the assertions of these maps has so far
been without success. Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, as the
result of his travels, certainly did advance the claims of the Chinese to
the discovery of a Great South Land, and there is perhaps some
justification for the statement, as we know that for centuries prior to
the European advent that nation had established extensive trade relations
with the islands of the East Indies. That the country mentioned was
Australia is, however, out of the question. Marsden's** explanation is
probably the right one--that it refers to a portion of Cambodia, the
products of which are gold, spices, and elephants.
(*Footnote. Major, R.H, Early Voyages to Terra Australis pages 14 to 15.)
(**Footnote. Marco Polo, Travels: translated by Marsden (Bohn's Library)
Book 3 chapter 8 note.)
From the beginning of the sixteenth century, however, evidences of a more
definite character are available. By this time the Portuguese and other
navigators had found a way by sea round the Cape of Good Hope to the East
Indies, and were opening up avenues of trade in all directions. This
meant the continual passage of ships to and fro, and it is not unlikely
that many ships on their way to Java or other islands of the East came
within sight of portions of the western Australian coast.
A claim to the discovery of Australia has been made on behalf of
Magalhaens or Magellan, a Portuguese,* who sailed from San Lucar in 1519
by order of the Emperor Charles V, on a voyage round the world which
lasted until 1522, and during the course of which Magellan himself was
killed. Descriptions of this voyage were published by Maximilianus and by
Pigafetta in 1536, and the information contained therein was used by
Fernando Vaz Dourado in his atlas made in 1570.** In one of the maps in
this atlas there is shown a coastline which is stated to have been
discovered by Magellan in 1520 and which is claimed to be that part of
Australia. This claim has been examined by Major and Dr. John Martin, and
the result of that examination published by Major.*** Dr. Martin came to
the conclusion that the coastline was not part of Australia, but was
really part of New Guinea. He was strengthened in this belief by an old
map of Mercator, upon which he found some names upon the coast of New
Guinea similar to those upon Dourado's map. In Major's opinion the tract
laid down as discovered by Magellan "is, in fact, a memorandum or
cartographical side-note of the discovery by Magellan of Tierra del Fuego
and, from its adopted false position on the vellum it was subsequently
applied to New Guinea by Mercator."**** He admits that this surmise may
possibly be incorrect, but considers that the only alternative is that
the tract laid down is New Guinea and is clearly not Australia.
(*Footnote. Ayala, A. compendio geographico estadistico de Portugal,
Madrid 1855 page 482. Quoted by Major Early Voyages page 21. See also
ibid page 22 to
(**Footnote. Major, R.H. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 21.)
(***Footnote. Ibid pages 22 et seq.)
(****Footnote. Ibid page 26.)
Further support to the Portuguese claim, though not to Magellan, was
given by M. Barbie du Bocage in a paper read before the French Institute
in 1807 concerning an atlas drawn at Dieppe in 1547 by Nicholas Vallard,
an extract from which paper is given by Major.* Having compared this
atlas with other contemporary atlases, Barbie du Bocage came to the
conclusion that all must have been copies from original Portuguese maps,
and consequently that the discovery of the continent of New Holland
belonged to the Portuguese. When, at a later date, Major considered the
question of the discovery of Australia, six maps bearing upon the matter
were known. Of these, four were in England and two in France.** Upon
these there is shown a large coastline to the south and south-east of
Java, separated from that island by a narrow strait, and to which the
name Java la Grande is applied. A portion of this coastline bears a
distinct resemblance to the north-west coast of Western Australia. This
forms presumptive evidence, as the maps are all sixteenth-century maps,
that navigators of some nationality had come within sight of the mainland
of Australia during the first half of the sixteenth century.
(*Footnote. Ibid pages 35 to 45.)
(**Footnote. Ibid pages 26 et seq.)
In many respects the maps are similar, and give evidence of having been
derived from the same source. From the fact that although admittedly
French they contained names that looked like gallicized Portuguese, Major
argued,* following Barbie du Bocage, that in all probability the original
discovery was Portuguese because the Portuguese predominated at that time
in those seas, and also because the French were not likely to have given
Portuguese names to territories which they had themselves discovered.
These considerations led him to "regard it as highly probable that
Australia was discovered by the Portuguese between the years 1511 and
1529, and almost to a demonstrable certainty that it was discovered by
the Portuguese before the year 1542."**
(*Footnote. Major, Further facts relating to the Early Discovery of
Australia page 6. Archaeologia volume 44.)
(**Footnote. Major, Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 44.)
A seventh map, by Pierre Desceliers of Arques, dated 1550, which came
into the possession of the British Museum in 1861, appeared to bear out
this contention.* Upon this map there is shown an island, occupying the
position of the Abrolhos Group off the west coast of Australia. Mr.
Delmar Morgan, in a paper on the discovery of Australia read at the Berne
Congress of Geographical Sciences in 1891 and reprinted in the
Proceedings of the New South Wales branch of the Royal Geographical
Society of Australasia for 1892, referring more particularly to these
islands, stated:
"The Portuguese navigator, Menezes, is commonly reported to have visited
this part of the Australian coast in 1527, but it is most unlikely that
he ever did so. Some authorities go so far as to declare that he actually
charted these islands and reefs. They were charted, however, if not
before, soon after his voyage, as they are marked on all these old
Australian charts, although the word Abrolhos appears on Pierre
Descelier's chart alone (1550). When the Dutch undertook their voyage to
the East Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope, in 1595, Frederick
Houtman, although merely commercial chief of the expedition, assumed the
title of Captain-General, and history falsely conferred on him the glory
of having conducted the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. In the
same way his name was prefixed undeservedly to the Portuguese discovery
on the western coast of Australia, but at what period it would be
difficult to determine."
(*Footnote. Major, Further Facts in the History of the Discovery of
Australia page 3.)
There are two points about this statement which detract from its value as
evidence of the Portuguese discovery. Menezes, during his voyage in the
year 1526 or 1527, from Malacca to the Spice Islands, was carried by
currents to the coast which has since been recognised as the north coast
of New Guinea,* but there is no allusion in any reference which we
possess regarding this voyage to a discovery of a great southern land.
Secondly, the name marked against these islands on Descelier's map is
Arenes and not Abrolhos. Collingridge** attempts to establish Arenes as a
corruption of Abrolhos, which is a Portuguese term for rocky projections
arising from the sea. This suggestion, which is scouted by Heeres,*** can
scarcely be regarded seriously. It certainly does not in any way add to
the merit of the Portuguese claim.
(*Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 44.)
(**Footnote. Collingridge Discovery of Australia page 192.)
(***Footnote. Abel Janszoon Tasman's Journal by J.E. Heeres Amsterdam
1898. Life and Labours of Tasman page 97 note 1.)
The conclusion reached by Major was accepted by geographers and, as he
says, "passed into history."* It was upset by Major himself in 1873 after
an examination of an engraved map of the world by Orontius Finaeus, dated
1531, which had recently come into the possession of the British Museum.
In the light of this new discovery he reexamined the names on the six
maps referred to and decided that they were in Provencal French and not
in gallicized Portuguese. This led him to "the inevitable conclusion that
Australia was discovered by Frenchmen, and chiefly by the men of
Provence, in or before the year 1531."**
(***Footnote. Major. Supplementary Facts in the History of the Discovery
of Australia page 15. Archaeologia volume 44.)
(****Footnote. Major. Further Facts relating to the Early Discovery of
Australia page 8. Archaeologia volume 44.)
On the whole, whilst the evidence points towards the acceptance of
Major's conclusion that the French were the first discoverers, it is not
sufficiently strong to enable it to be laid down as a fact. It does,
however, seem to establish the point that something was known of the
Australian coastline prior to what is regarded as the first authenticated
discovery, which was made by the Duyfken in 1606. This contention is
strengthened by the statement to be found in Cornelis Wytfliet's
Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum, published in 1598:
"The Australis Terra is the most modern of all lands, and is separated
from New Guinea by a narrow strait. Its shores are hitherto but little
known, since after one voyage and another that route has been deserted,
and seldom is the country visited except when sailors are driven there by
storms. The Australis Terra begins at 2 or 3 degrees from the Equator,
and is maintained by some to be of so great an extent that if it were
thoroughly explored it would be regarded as a fifth part of the world."
The remainder of the sixteenth century was allowed to pass without any
definite step being taken to increase the knowledge of the new country.
That there were courageous spirits imbued with the thirst for discovery,
who sought fame rather than the mere accumulation of wealth, is not to be
doubted, but there is no record that Australia ever claimed their
attention. The great majority of the adventurers, of whatever
nationality, found more than sufficient occupation in exploiting the
treasures of the Indies, and preferred rather to gather in the riches
that were certain than undertake the search for those which were vague
and chimerical. Those who were not content with the mild excitement of
profitable trade found ample outlet for their buccaneering tendencies in
looting one another.
Still, the spirit of discovery was not dead. The seventeenth century had
scarcely opened when the tail was once more taken up, and resulted in the
discovery of Cape York Peninsula by the Dutch vessel Duyfken about March
1606, followed by the discovery of Torres Straits and a portion of the
mainland by Torres in a Spanish vessel, the Almirante, about August of
the same year.* From this time we may safely say that the existence of a
southern continent was definitely known, although its coastline was still
indefinite and unexplored.
(*Footnote. Major. Early voyages to Terra Australis pages 74 to 75 and
80.)
Western Australia was, and indeed from its geographical position must
have been, the first part of the continent to become actually known,
lying as it does just off what was then the main trade route to the East.
No better evidence can be found of this statement than a study of the map
showing the prevailing winds. We notice that south of the Tropic of
Capricorn the general direction of the wind is from the west, while just
above the tropic we meet the south-east trades and monsoonal
disturbances. Mariners but doubtfully acquainted with the seas in which
they were sailing would have a tendency, after rounding the Cape of Good
Hope, to go east as far as possible before bearing northward to Java and
Timor, thus hoping to secure the benefit of the wind in both directions
and to avoid, if they could, the area of disturbance. This would apply
particularly to the Dutch, whose information of the route was first
gained by the study of navigation and not by its actual practice; and it
explains in great measure the frequency of Dutch names on the west coast
of Australia. It is more than probable that the first knowledge of the
new continent many of them had was when they felt it under their keels.
It is curious to note how great a part the struggle for the control of
the East Indian trade played in the gradual determination of the
coastline of the continent. Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, and
French in turn endeavoured to come from the commerce and resources of
those regions of marvellous wealth, and from the possible discovery of
the Abrolhos by Menezes in 1527 we have the same procession of
nationalities in the progress of Australian discovery.
Early in the seventeenth century we find important changes taking place
in the political conditions of Europe. The great naval strength of Spain,
and the mighty influence consequent upon it, had made her, in the
sixteenth century, the dominant power in the Low Countries, and a
successful rival of Portugal in the trade of the world. With the new era,
however, the glory of Spain was rapidly to wane, and the nation so long
trodden under the Spanish heel was not only to become free but to
challenge both her naval and commercial supremacy.
The long-striven-for and hardly-won independence of the Netherlands had
roused all the strength and energy of the people, and the dogged
determination that had ended Spanish oppression found continued
opportunity in the desire to lift Holland to a proud position among the
nations. The northern provinces were free, but Spain had for the time
regained control of the southern, and had made her implacable hatred felt
by repeated acts of cruelty, from which many of the inhabitants sought
relief in flight. Among these were a number of Antwerp merchants who had
for many years been indirectly connected with the trade to the Indies.
The opposition of these men was strengthened by two of the most potent of
human passions--the bitter hatred of exiles and the fanatic attachment to
religious faith. They saw that Spain could best be crippled by curtailing
her overseas trade or by depriving her of it altogether, and that in the
result the southern provinces might be freed and the Protestant faith
strengthened.
This, at first the idea of a few, gained general support when the
Spaniards forbade Dutch traffic with Spain, which even during the wars
had never altogether ceased. Geography, hydrography, and navigation
became subjects of earnest study, and schools were formed with the
express purpose of endeavouring to find a way to India and other Spanish
possessions. The outcome of this movement was the foundation in 1602 of
the Dutch East India Company, under whose flag many important voyages and
discoveries were to be made.*
(*Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis pages 76 to 78.)
Of the Dutch voyages prior to this time no certain information is
available. The English Ambassador at the Hague in the time of Charles II,
Sir William Temple,* gave it as his opinion that "a southern continent
has long since been found out," which he said was "as long as Java and is
marked on the maps by the name of New Holland, but to what extent the
land extends, either to the south, the east, or the west, we do not
know." To the same authority we are indebted for the declaration that the
Dutch East India Company "have long since forbidden, and under the
greatest penalties, any further attempts at discovering that continent,
having already more trade than they can turn to account, and fearing some
more populous nation of Europe might make great establishments of trade
in some of these unknown regions, which might ruin or impair what they
have already in the Indies."** This statement has been vigorously denied
by the Dutch, but the fact remains that of the voyages made by the
Company little was known until the publication of the instructions issued
by the Governor-General at Batavia to Tasman, on his second voyage in
1644. This curious document was found by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770 when
turning over the old archives at Batavia, and was published by Sir
Alexander Dalrymple in his Collections Concerning Papua. From it we learn
that in 1606 the Duyfken made the first AUTHENTICATED discovery of that
great land*** which at the instance of the famous navigator, Matthew
Flinders, is now designated Australia. The Captain of this vessel, Willem
Jansz, prepared a careful chart of the voyage, showing that he sailed
along the coast of New Guinea, then went southward along the coast of
Cape York Peninsula to Cape Keer-Weer (Turn again) but was prevented from
landing even for water owing to the cruel and treacherous nature of the
savages, who murdered some of the crew. The results of Torres' voyage not
being known at the time, the captain considered that the whole coast
traversed was a portion of New Guinea.
(*Footnote. Temple, Sir W. Works, London 1720 volume 1 page 163.)
(**Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 163.)
(***Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of
Australia page 3.)
The second voyage, according to the Book of Dispatches, was that made in
a yacht from Batavia by order of the Fiscal d'Edel in 1617. Of this,
however, nothing certain is known, as the journals and remarks could not
be found.*
(*Footnote. In the portion relating more particularly to the Dutch
voyages, the author is chiefly indebted to the following authorities:
a. Major, R.H. Early Voyages to Terra Australis.
b. Heeres, J.E. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia,
1606 to 1675, London 1899.
c. Historical introduction to the Official Year Book of Western
Australia, 1902 to 1904.
The last named was submitted to Dr. W.G.S. Byvanck, the Chief Librarian
of the Royal Library at the Hague, who made various corrections which
have been incorporated in the text. Dr. Byvanck's original letter is
filed in the Registrar-General's Department of Western Australia.
530/97.)
No further attempts at discovery were made from Batavia until 1623, but
in the meantime outward-bound ships touched at various portions of the
coast in 1616, 1618, 1619, and 1622. Of these voyages but little
information is now available. The most important of them all, from a
romantic as well as from an historic point of view, is that of Dirk
Hartog in 1616, commanding the ship Eendracht, of some 360 tons burden.
Having entered the roads leading into Shark Bay (so named at a later
period by Dampier) this navigator discovered and named Dirk Hartog
Island. The large island at the entrance to the bay then, or
subsequently, named Dorre Island was also discovered by him, as well as
the portion of the mainland opposite which, if not then named, was
certainly known as Eendrachts-Land as soon afterwards as 1618.* On the
north end of the island bearing his name Hartog left a tin plate as
witness to his visit. This was nailed to a post and remained in position
for nearly a century before being again seen by the eye of civilised man.
It bore the following inscription:
"On the 25th of October, 1616, arrived here the ship Eendracht, of
Amsterdam: The first merchant, Gilles Milbais van Luyck: captain, Dirk
Hartog, of Amsterdam; the 27th ditto set sail for Bantam; under merchant,
Jan Stins; upper steersman, Pieter Dockes, of Bil; A.D. 1616."
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 8. Some doubt as to the authenticity of Dirk Hartog's voyage, based
chiefly upon researches by Mr. George Collingridge, has been raised by
the Reverend J. Bryant in the Scottish Geographical Magazine for March
1917 volume 33 pages 120 to 121. Mr. Collingridge's argument, however,
scarcely seems to combat the evidence of Heeres (Part borne by the Dutch
in the Discovery of Australia) or the fact that Eendrachtsland is marked
on the chart of Gerritz made in 1627.)
To continue the history of this plate, it may be said that when Van
Vlaming, captain of the Geelvinck (of whose voyage it will be necessary
to speak later) visited the island in 1697--the first visit, so far as we
know, after the erection of the plate--he took the original plate away to
Batavia, replacing it by a new one, on which the old inscription was
copied and the following new one added:
"On the 4th of February, 1697, arrived here the ship Geelvinck, of
Amsterdam: Captain commandant, Wilhelm van Vlaming, of Vlielandt;
assistant, Jan van Bremen, of Copenhagen; first pilot, Micheel Bloem Van
Estight, of Bremen; the hooker Myptangh: Captain, Gerrit Collaert, of
Amsterdam; assistant, Theodorus Heermans, of the same place; first pilot,
Gerrit Gerritz, of Bremen. Sailed from here with our fleet on the 12th to
explore the South Land and afterwards bound for Batavia."
(The above are translations of the original inscriptions. See Plates 1
and 2.)
Still another century later, in 1801, during the French voyage of
discovery made by Baudin in the Geographe and Naturaliste, Van Vlaming's
plate was seen. The two vessels became separated, and Captain Hamelin, of
the Naturaliste, sent three men onto Dirk Hartog island for the purpose
of signalling the other ship. The boatswain on his return from the island
brought back the tin plate, which he had found on the north point half
buried in the sand and close to an oaken post to which originally it
seemed to have been attached. Hamelin copied the inscription and then
replaced it in position on a new post. He also placed on the north-east
of the island a new plate giving the name of his ship and the date of
arrival.* The old plate remained for a while longer, but was not to be
found when King** made a careful search for it in 1822. It afterwards
transpired that Freycinet had removed it in 1818 and had deposited it for
safekeeping in the museum of the French Institute at Paris. This fact is
recorded in the minutes of the Institute for 1821, but apparently the
plate has been lost, as every effort since made to discover it has been
futile.*** The same fate was believed to have befallen the original plate
of Dirk Hartog, which had been carried to Batavia. Fortunately, however,
it was found in 1902 in the State Museum at Amsterdam by Mr. F.F.L. de
Balbian.****
(*Footnote. Peron. Voyage de decouvertes aux Terres Australes 1801 a
1804; Historique volume 1 pages 194 a 195.)
(**Footnote. King, P.P. Narrative of a Survey of the Inter-tropical and
Western Coasts of Australia 1818 to 1822 volume 2 page 180.)
(***Footnote. See letter from Dr. A. Grandidier, Secretary of the
Institute (filed in Registrar-General's Office, Western Australia.)
(****Footnote. Western Australia Year Book 1902 to 1904 page 4.)
Reverting now to the historical narrative, it would appear that in July
1618 the outward-bound ship Mauritius* made some discoveries on the west
coast, more particularly of "Willem's River" (probably the Ashburton)
near the North-West Cape. As the journals and remarks were lost, no
further particulars of this voyage are available.
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
pages x, 12 to 13.)
In the following year, 1619, a fleet of eleven vessels under the command
of Frederick Houtman, in the Dordrecht, claims to have discovered a
series of reefs lying off the west coast, to which the name Frederick
Houtman's Abrolhos* was given. These consist of a cluster of rocky islets
with surrounding reefs, and are situated west and north-west of Champion
Bay. It is very doubtful whether this was really the first discovery of
these islands.** It will be remembered that on at least one map of the
sixteenth century they are vaguely defined, and the term Arenes given
them. Major*** is of opinion that there is no evidence that Houtman ever
visited the group at all, but that the islands were named after him, in
1619, by Jacob d'Edel, to whom their discovery was really due. This view,
however, must give way before the researches of Professor Heeres,**** who
prints two letters from Houtman, both dated Jacatra, 7 October 1619, the
one to Prince Maurice and the other to the managers of the East India
Company. In these he describes his visit to the islands. "On the 29th"
(July) he writes, "deeming ourselves to be in open sea, we shaped our
course north-by-east. At noon we were in 29 degrees 32 minutes southern
latitude; at night, about three hours before daybreak, we again
unexpectedly came upon a low-lying coast, a level country with reefs all
round it. We saw no highland or mainland, so that this shoal is to be
carefully avoided as very dangerous to ships that wish to touch at this
coast. It is fully ten miles in length, lying in 28 degrees 46 minutes."
(*Footnote. The term Abrolhos is a contraction of the Portuguese abri
vossos olhos (keep your eyes open) a most necessary precaution, and a
term applied by them to outlying coastal dangers.)
(**Footnote. See supra.)
(***Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 86.)
(****Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of
Australia pages 14 to 16.)
The supercargo of the Amsterdam, one of Houtman's fleet, was Jacob
d'Edel, or Dedel, after whom the portion of the coast between Shark Bay
and Champion Bay, then discovered, was named Edel Land. The letter
forwarded by this supercargo from Jacatra to the managers of the East
India Company, bearing the same date as Houtman's, has perhaps a peculiar
interest for Western Australia, as it contains the suggestion, certainly
the first, that the new land from its general appearance might prove to
be gold-bearing. In it, inter alia, d'Edel writes, after describing his
meeting with Houtman at the Cape and their journey together till they
"came upon the south lands situated behind Java":
"We anchored in 14 fathom in 32 1/2 degrees latitude, the bottom being
level and hard; in full sight of the land the sea was 100 fathom deep. We
used our best endeavours to make a landing, which, however, could not
conveniently be done owing to the steep coast...We then made all sail,
and the wind coming round a little we stood out to sea, not deeming it
advisable to continue longer inshore in this bad weather with such large
heavy ships and such costly cargoes as we had entrusted to our care, and
with great peril to lose more precious time; but being contented with
having seen the land, which at a more favourable time may be further
explored with more fitting vessels and smaller craft. We have seen no
sign of inhabitants, nor did we always keep near the coast, since it
formed large bays which would have taken up much time. Still, we kept
seeing the coast from time to time until 27 degrees we came upon the land
discovered by the ship Eendracht, which land in the said latitude showed
as a red, muddy coast, WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE SURMISES OF SOME OF US,
MIGHT NOT UNLIKELY PROVE TO BE GOLD-BEARING, A POINT WHICH MAY BE CLEARED
UP IN TIME."*
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 16.)
The next voyage of interest was that of the Leeuwin in 1622. This vessel
rounded the cape since known as Cape Leeuwin at the south-west corner of
the continent, and continued along the coast as far east as King George's
Sound. The name Leeuwin's Land was applied to the portion then examined,
and on Gerritz' map it is said to consist of "dunes with trees and
underwood at the top" and "lowland seemingly submerged by the tide."*
(*Footnote. Ibid page 17.)
On 5 July of the same year there arrived at Batavia a boat containing ten
men, who formed part of the crew of an English ship, the Trial; this was
followed some few days later by the pinnace of the same ship with
thirty-six men on board. The men stated that they had lost and abandoned
their ship with ninety-seven men and the cargo on some rocks in 20
degrees 10 minutes southern latitude and in the longitude of the western
extremity of Java, that the ship ran on the rocks at night time in fine
weather, and that they had met with the accident through following the
course of Dutch ships.* It is probable that while right as to latitude
the sailors were considerably at fault in their longitude, as the rocks
have since been identified as the south-west portion of Monte Bello Reef,
which runs north and south to the north of Barrow Island. A Dutch yacht,
the Hasewint, was instructed to search for the place, but for some reason
it never made a start. The instructions given to the commander of the
yacht are of a most interesting nature, and had the voyage been carried
out in accordance with them, the history of Australia, or at least the
western part of it, might have been entirely different. The captain
received orders to give names fitting and worthy from a Dutch point of
view to the places he should visit, and to take possession of them in the
name of the United Provinces. That of course, had it been done, would
have meant annexation by the Dutch of practically the whole of Western
Australia, as the orders embraced the whole coastline south if necessary
to 50 degrees southern latitude, and eastward as far as possible if the
coast turned in that direction. From the standpoint of future British
settlement it is perhaps fortunate that the voyage never took place.
Apart from that phase of the question, however, the voyage would have
been productive of great results, and a more or less definite knowledge
of the possibilities of Western Australia would have been known to the
world nearly two centuries earlier. The thoroughness with which the
voyage was conceived and the advantages hoped to be gained may be
gathered from the following extract from the instructions:**
"The main object for which you are dispatched on this occasion is that
from 45 or 50 degrees, or from the furthest point to which the land shall
be found to extend southward within these latitudes, up to the
northern-most extremity of the South Land, you will have to discover and
survey all capes, forelands, bights, lands, islands, rocks, reefs,
sandbanks, depths, shallows, roads, winds, currents, and all that
appertains to the same, so as to be able to map out and duly mark
everything in its true latitude, bearings, and conformation. You will,
moreover, go ashore in various places and diligently examine the coast in
order to ascertain whether or not it is inhabited, the nature of the land
and the people, their towns and inhabited villages, the divisions of
their kingdoms, their religion and policy, their wars, their rivers, the
shape of their vessels, their fisheries, commodities, and manufactures,
but specially to inform yourselves what minerals such as gold, silver,
tin, lead, and copper, what precious stones, pearls, vegetables, animals,
and fruits these lands yield and produce."
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 18.)
(**Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of
Australia page 19.)
Farther on they were directed to inquire as carefully as possible into
the question of whether the land would yield gold, as had previously been
suggested, and also to endeavour to procure and bring back to Batavia
some of the natives.*
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 21.)
The expedition failed to set out owing, it is said, to unforeseen
causes,* but the existence of the instructions is particularly valuable,
giving as they do a complete and comprehensive statement of the Dutch
colonial policy of the time. The principal end in view may have been, as
was stated, that of discovery, but there is ample evidence that
commercial interests were not lost sight of, nor were possible political
results altogether overlooked.
(*Footnote. Ibid page 21 note 1.)
The next mention we have of the new land was that made by the captain of
the Wapen van Hoorn in the same year, 1622. This vessel had left Texel
for the east in the previous December, and on arrival at her destination
reported having been "in extreme peril near Eendracht Land."*
(*Footnote. Ibid page 15.)
The knowledge of the west coast was extended during 1623 by the Leyden
and the Tortelduyff, both of which reported having sighted the South
Land. In the same year Arnhem Land, including the present Northern
Territory of the Commonwealth, was discovered by Jan Carstensz. During an
attempt at exploration some members of the party were killed, and the
expedition returned with the information that "in this discovery were
found everywhere shallow water and barren coasts; islands altogether
thinly populated by divers cruel, poor, and brutal natives, and of very
little use to the Company."*
(*Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 45.)
Nothing further is known until 1627, when the Gulden Zeepaard, under the
command of Francois Thyssen, sighted the south coast just beyond Cape
Leeuwin and made an exhaustive examination of the coastline for about one
thousand miles eastward, giving to the part explored the name of Nuyts
Land,* in honour of the chief passenger, Pieter Nuyts, who was afterwards
Ambassador to Japan and subsequently Governor of Formosa. In Nuyts Land
was embraced all that territory lying at the head of the Great Australian
Bight.
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 51.)
In the second half of the same year, on 22 July 1627, the
Governor-General of the Dutch Indies sailed from Table Bay with the ships
Galias, Utrecht, and Texel. All went well up to 10 August, when the
rudder of the Galias broke, and the ship becoming unmanageable, the other
vessels passed out of sight. Repairs being effected, the next day she
proceeded on her course alone, and on 5 September came suddenly upon the
Land of Eendracht, which by the reckoning of the chart should have been
nearly 350 miles farther east. The Governor's experience on this voyage
and his nearness to shipwreck led him to request the Company to give
particular attention to correcting the miscalculations in the chart--a
work that seems to have been very urgently required. Accuracy of
observation and charting was therefore enjoined upon succeeding captains,
with a result beneficial alike to navigation and geography.* Towards the
end of 1627 the Wapen van Hoorn, which had been in peril near the coast
of Eendracht Land in 1622, again sighted the same portion of the coast,
although, according to the chart, the land should have been in quite a
different direction. This fact led to observations being taken which
helped to make the chart more correct.**
(*Footnote. Ibid page 52.)
(**Footnote. Ibid page 53.)
Early in the following year Captain de Witt in the Vianen, homeward
bound, touched the shore on the north-west coast in the neighbourhood of
the present town of Roebourne, and after making a cursory examination for
some fifty miles gave it the name of De Witt Land.*
(*Footnote. Ibid pages xi, 54.)
The same year, 1628, was also to witness the commencement of one of the
most important and exciting voyages made to the new land. On the whole,
the history of early Australian discovery is a calm and quiet story,
without trace of adventure, recording nothing of an eventful nature
beyond the sighting and superficial examination of stretches of isolated
and uninteresting coast. But there are some exceptions, and perhaps the
greatest of these is the tragic voyage of the Batavia, whose passengers
and crew formed the first white settlers on Australian soil, albeit
involuntarily, and for many of them with dire results.
The relation of this voyage, probably compiled from Pelsart's Journal,
was first published in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1647, and was repeatedly
republished during the succeeding few years. It was used by Thevenot in
1663 in compiling a French version for his Receuil de divers voyages
curieux, and all English accounts were merely abridgements of this until
1897, when Mr. W. Siebenhaar, of Perth, undertook a complete translation
of the Dutch account. The description of the voyage is taken from that
document.* Pelsart's Journal was recently published by Professor Heeres,
but the fact and particulars of the shipwreck were omitted as being
already sufficiently known.
(*Footnote. This was printed in the Western Mail (Perth) Christmas Number
1897.)
In 1628 General Pieter Carpentier returned safely from the East Indies
with five richly-laden merchant ships, and this, combined with the fact
that the Government had recently succeeded in releasing three ships from
an embargo laid upon them by the English a year previously, led the
authorities to determine to send another fleet of eleven ships to the
East, with which General Jacob Specks was to sail. Two ships and a yacht
being soon ready to sail, the senate sent them to Texel so as to lose no
time. These vessels were the Batavia (under Francois Pelsart) the
Dordrecht (under Isaac van Swaenswyck) and the Assendelft (under Cornelis
Vlack). They left Texel for their destination on 28 October 1628. With
the details of the first part of the voyage we need not concern
ourselves. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except that the ships
became separated, which was so usual an occurrence as to cause little
excitement. The Batavia continued her course alone, and on Whit-Monday, 4
June 1629, reached southern latitude 28 degrees 28 1/3 minutes, about
nine miles from the mainland. Here the ship was amongst the perilous
banks of the Abrolhos, and shortly before sunrise she struck the reef.
The usual trials and tribulations attendant upon shipwrecks occurred,
intensified by the drunkenness and lawlessness of the soldiers and
sailors, but eventually the whole company was landed on two small islands
situated about three leagues from the ship. After considerable
difficulty, provisions and merchandise, including treasure, were landed,
but it was impossible to secure sufficient water. The forty people on the
smaller island had only eighty cans, and the 180 refugees on the larger
had even less, so that from the beginning the scarcity of water had to be
faced. On this account a great deal of dissatisfaction arose,
particularly as there was no water to be found on the islands, and very
little hope of securing any until rain came, or unless the ship went to
pieces and some of the barrels were to float to the islands. Some of the
crew desired to take the boat and search the other islands and the
mainland, but Pelsart was not at first favourable to this idea, feeling
that he was responsible for the safety of both the people and the
merchandise. Ultimately after much pressure he yielded, and it was
decided that they should try the mainland for water, and if they found
none to continue the voyage to Batavia to seek assistance for those left
on the islands.
Before carrying this resolution into effect, the commodore (Pelsart)
wished to sail across to the other island to acquaint the people there
was the decision arrived at. The crew at first objected to this, but at
length were induced to start. When nearing the other shore, however, they
renewed their objections and definitely refused to land, evidently afraid
of some untoward result. Pelsart was therefore compelled to return to the
first island. The next morning, in company with some others, he set out
early, after leaving a note of their intentions, to search for water. For
three days they sought among the islands, but without success. Such fresh
water as there was in the rocky holes of the islands round about had been
spoilt by seawater during the storm. Then, on 9 June, they steered for
the mainland, but were not able to land owing to the roughness of the
coast and the persistence of the storm. Many efforts were made to effect
a landing, but without avail, "for the breakers were too strong and the
coast too steep and jagged, without any foreland or inlet, as is usually
found on other coasts, so that it seemed to them a bare and cursed
country, devoid of green or grass." The current bore them farther to the
northward than they desired, and on the 14th, on approaching the coast,
they observed a good deal of smoke, and endeavoured to run in, hoping to
find men and water. To land being impracticable on account of the
breakers, six men determined to swim for the shore, and all succeeded in
reaching it. A day's search left them exhausted and unsuccessful. In the
evening "they happened upon four people, who were creeping toward them on
their hands and feet." These fled upon the approach of the sailors, who
on their return to the boat described them as "black savages, quite
naked, leaving themselves uncovered like animals." The next day they were
fortunately able to land, and managed to collect about twenty gallons of
water. They next resolved to go farther inland in the hope of securing
more in the mountains, but the search was vain, as there was no
appearance of water, "for behind the mountain chain the country was flat
again, bearing neither trees nor vegetation nor grass, and being
everywhere covered with high anthills built of earth, which in the
distance were not unlike Indian huts. There were also such multitudes of
flies that one could not keep them out of one's eyes." They next saw
eight black people, each carrying a stick in his hand. These approached
them to a musket shot's distance, but "when they saw our people coming
toward them they took to their heels and would neither speak nor stop."
Oppressed by a sense of his own danger and fearing for the safety of
those left on the islands, Pelsart followed the coastline in the hope of
reaching the river of Jacob Remmessens,* which according to his charts
was close at hand. North-easterly winds prevented him from reaching it,
and finally he determined to try to make Batavia for assistance. This
difficult task he accomplished and after sighting Java on 27 June,
reached Batavia on 5 July. The next day he made his appearance before the
Court, and having informed the Governor-General and Council of his
misfortunes, requested speedy help to save the shipwrecked people, and to
secure as much as possible of the merchandise. In a few days the frigate
Sardam was assigned to him, and after manning and victualling her he left
on his return to the Abrolhos on the 15th of the month.
(*Footnote. No definite date can be assigned to the discovery of this
river. As Heeres points out, it must have been known before 1628 or 1629
as it is mentioned by Pelsart, but could not have been much earlier as
the name is not found on Gerritz' charts of 1618 and 1627. Modern maps
show no river of any size at that point. It is possible that Exmouth Gulf
was mistaken for the mouth of a river. J.S.B.)
In the meantime, however, there was great trouble among those left behind
on the islands. After the shipwreck the supercargo, Jerome Cornelisz,
with several accomplices, had formed the intention of refloating the ship
and using her for piracy, a trade which in those days was far from being
unremunerative. To this end they remained on the vessel for some ten
days, until, in fact, she began to fall to pieces, and they had
considerable difficulty in gaining the shore. Cornelisz then, as
supercargo, took command of the company, which at that time was spread
over three islands. This distribution on three islands rose from the fact
that a few days previously some of the men, in charge of a soldier,
Webbye Hays, had gone off to a third in search of water.
Realising that the Batavia could not now be used for their purpose,
Cornelisz and his associates determined upon the murder of all those
opposed to their schemes, and upon the seizure of the yacht in which they
expected Pelsart to return from Batavia. Selecting those upon whom he
could depend, a contract was made out to which they agreed. The wording
of this bond, really an agreement to commit wholesale murder, is so
curious that it may be interesting to insert it in full:
"We, the undersigned, in order to take away all distrust that exists or
might exist amongst us, bind ourselves herewith, ON THE SALVATION OF OUR
SOULS, AND ON THE SOLEMN OATH THAT GOD SHALL TRULY HELP US TO BE TRUE TO
EACH OTHER IN EVERYTHING AND TO LOVE EACH OTHER AS BROTHERS; also
promising not to do each other any injury whatsoever in person or
possession without first verbally declaring to each other the breach of
the peace, in knowledge thereof we have signed this contract on the 12th
July, 1629, on the island Bataviae's Kerkhof."
The signatures followed. They then proceeded to murder all those on the
island with the exception of thirty men and four boys, so that the name
of the island as set down in the contract--Batavia's graveyard--was both
sinister and significant.
Meanwhile, Webbye Hays and party, who were away looking for water, were
after twenty days successful in finding it, and made three fires as a
signal. As this happened to be on the day of the general murder,
Cornelisz and his friends were probably too busy to notice them. Some who
escaped the carnage managed to get across to Hays on rafts and take him
the dreadful news. Having with these reinforcements some forty-five men
under him, he resolved to place himself in a position of defence from
attack. Those on the remaining island, either not being aware of what had
transpired or being too weak to defend themselves, were attacked by a
party of Cornelisz' ruffians, and all but seven boys and six women were
murdered. The chests of merchandise were then opened, and the worthy band
attired themselves gaudily in scarlet cloth, with gold and silver
embroidery.
The ringleader, however, recognised that there could be no safety for him
until Webbye Hays and party were put out of the way. Consequently, having
assumed the title and authority of Captain-General, he sent an expedition
of twenty-two armed men against them. These were successfully repulsed by
the practically defenceless band. Cornelisz then had recourse to
strategy, and by letter secretly offered some of the men large rewards in
return for treachery. These letters were shown to Hays, and a trap was
accordingly laid. Cornelisz was induced to come to the island to settle
the terms, and on arrival he himself was taken prisoner and some of his
men killed.
At this stage, 13 September, the Sardam with Pelsart arrived at the
Abrolhos, the commodore being pleased to find from the presence of smoke
that some at least of his people were still alive. Before he could land,
Webbye Hays and three others came on board and gave him an account of the
whole tragedy, further informing him that the ruffians were already on
their way to surprise and seize the ship. These, when they arrived, were
captured, a fate which also quickly befell the remainder of the band. An
examination into all the circumstances was then and there made, and as
carrying the miscreants back to Batavia would have meant crowding the
frigate too much, Cornelisz and those closely associated with him were
put to death on Seal Island, after being subjected to the refinements of
what one almost feels compelled to admit was well-merited torture. Among
them they had murdered no fewer than 125 innocent people. The frigate
then returned to Batavia, stopping her course to maroon two of the
conspirators on the coast near Champion Bay. These two men were the first
white inhabitants of the continent so far as is known. It is curious that
the first white settlement in Australia also consisted of persons largely
of the same class.*
(*Footnote. The instructions issued to the commanders of the yachts Klein
Amsterdam and Wesel, which were sent out in 1636 for further
investigation of the north coast of Australia, contained the direction to
grant a passage home to the two Dutch criminals put ashore on the west
coast by Pelsart. See Heeres, Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of
Australia page 66.)
During the years following, particularly in 1629, 1632, and 1635, various
places on the west coast were either touched at or sighted by Dutch
ships, but these did not contribute anything new in the way of
information.* The next important voyage was that of Abel Janszoon Tasman
(who had discovered Van Diemen's Land in 1642) and Franz Visscher, with
the yachts Limmen, Zeemeeuw, and De Brak. It was for this voyage, which
took place in 1644, that the Dutch Book of Dispatches, previously
referred to, and from which much of our knowledge of the voyages of the
Dutch East India Company is derived, was compiled. The object of the
expedition was to explore the north-west and north coasts of the new
continent, and to proceed eastward to determine whether New Guinea was a
separate island or part of the mainland. Tasman's Journal of this voyage
had unfortunately been lost, so that such information as we possess about
the voyage is rather meagre, and is taken from a work published in 1705
by Burgomaster Witsen, who quotes Tasman as the authority for his
statements. These refer chiefly to the natives, who are described as
"possessing rude canoes made of the bark of trees, but no houses; to live
poorly, go naked, and eat yams and other roots."**
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 62.)
(**Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 98.)
From the map published by Thevenot in 1663, which it is said was forgery
taken from that done in inlaid work on the pavement of the new Stadt Haus
in Amsterdam, we may get a fair idea of his route. He certainly did not
ascertain whether New Guinea was separated from the mainland,* but he
examined the northern coastline from Arnhem Land to Exmouth Gulf, taking
in De Witt Land and part of Eendracht Land, and embracing the districts
now known as the Kimberleys and the North-West. He also appears to have
landed in what we call Carnot and Roebuck Bays. To him we owe the name
New Holland, which was applied by the Dutch only to the western portion
of the continent, the coastline of which had been fairly accurately
determined. The part to the east, which was still thought to be connected
with New Guinea, continued to be called South Land.**
(*Footnote. Tasman, Abel Janszoon. Journal edited by Heeres Amsterdam
1898 page 117.)
(**Footnote. Ibid page 118 and Chart Number 1; also Heeres, Part borne by
the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia page 12.)
From this time to the end of the century the interest of the Dutch in
coastal exploration seems to have flagged. The sterile nature of the
country promised but little in the way of wealth, and though the
territory was still included in the lands of the Dutch East India
Company, it was left undisturbed to the occupation of the savages. An
exploratory voyage was made by the Leeuwerik in 1648, and in 1649 the
Vergulde Draeck, laden with rich merchandise and money, was wrecked in
latitude 30 degrees 40 minutes and 118 lives were lost. In the hope of
securing assistance, seven of the survivors managed to reach Batavia,
leaving sixty-eight behind them to protect the cargo and treasure. Relief
ships were dispatched in 1657 and 1658, but many of these met with
disaster of one kind or another, and all returned from the search
unsuccessful. The first of these vessels, the Witte Valck and Goede Hoop,
sailed down the coast for some distance, but returned after losing a boat
and eleven men. The Vinck, from the Cape to Batavia, was instructed to
search, but also failed. The Waeckende Boey and the Emeloort visited the
mainland in 1658 on the same mission, but with abortive results.* The
first of these vessels foolishly abandoned a boat and fourteen men during
bad weather, and only four of them got back to Batavia, the remainder
succumbing to incredible suffering and privation. In the same year the
Elburg joined in the search with the same negative result. Many of these
ships observed wreckage of various kinds floating about, which evidently
came from the Vergulde Draeck, but nothing was ever heard of the
unfortunate castaways. There was, however, some result from the attempts
in improved charts of the coastline.**
(*Footnote. Rottnest Island was discovered during this voyage of the
Waeckende Boey (see Heeres page 79) but was not named.)
(**Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis pages 105 to 106;
Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia pages xii,
73 to 76 and 81.)
Some twenty years later the Vliegende Swaan* coasted the north-west of
the continent on her voyage from Ternate to Batavia.
(*Footnote. Ibid page 82.)
CHAPTER 2.
DISCOVERY OF AND EARLY VOYAGES TO AUSTRALIA (CONTINUED).
Up to the end of the seventeenth century English maritime enterprise in
the Pacific Ocean and Southern Seas had been almost a negligible
quantity, confined chiefly to occasional voyages of adventure; and any
English interest in, or even knowledge of, the new South Land could
scarcely be said to exist. Curiously enough, that English interest was in
the first place stimulated by one who at that period of his life was in
every respect a buccaneer--William Dampier. But pirate though he
practically was, he had some of the qualities of a hero, and he possessed
that faculty for accurate observation that made his remarks and opinions
on places visited of special value to his country.
Born in 1652 of a respectable family in Somerset, Dampier as a young man
gained some experience of the sea both in the merchant service and in the
navy. In 1674 he went to Jamaica to assist in the management of a
plantation, but the life was so devoid of adventure that in the following
year he went back to sea. In 1697 he joined the buccaneers and made
various expeditions in the Pacific with the avowed object of plundering
the Spanish settlements. Some four years later he took service with one
Cook on a cruise round the world. Finding that the vessel was too small
for the purpose, they ran along the coast of Africa in the hope of
meeting a more suitable craft. At sierra Leone they fell in with a Dutch
ship carrying thirty-six guns, and without qualms of conscience forcibly
took possession of her and ran out to sea.* Dampier's narrative says
nothing of this, but would lead us to believe that the voyage was one of
discovery only, instead of being, as it really was, one of piracy. Cook
died in 1684, and Davis, who took his place, joined forces with a Captain
Swan of the Cygnet, and for twelve months they scoured the South American
coast in company. After that they parted, as Swan wished to try the
Mexican coast and then go across the Pacific towards the East Indies.
With him went Dampier, filled, according to his narrative, with a desire
for discovery. Reaching the Philippine Islands in June 1686, they
remained there until early in the following year, when dissatisfaction
became rife among the crew, owing partly to the prolonged inactivity and
partly to the methods of Captain Swan. In the end Captain Teat, the chief
mate, with a number of the crew, amongst whom were the surgeon and
Dampier, sailed away with the ship, leaving Swan and about thirty-six men
stranded on Mindanao.** After a course of piracy in the China Seas and
the East Indian Archipelago, they decided to turn to the south, intending
to touch at New Holland in order to "to see what that country would
afford us."***
(**Footnote. Dictionary of National Biography sub nomen Dampier.)
(**Footnote. Dampier. New voyage round the World third edition London
1698 pages 372 to 374.)
(***Footnote. Ibid page 461.)
The landing took place in the north-west corner of King Sound, at the
spot now known as Cygnet Bay. Here the ship was beached for cleaning and
repairs, and it is curious that apparently by accident the captain found
the one place on the whole north-west coast suitable for that purpose.
During the stay there, lasting until 12 March, Dampier appears to have
found the society of his fellow-buccaneers uncongenial, and to have
occupied his time in making a careful exploration of the surrounding
country.
"New Holland," he tells us, "is a very large tract of land. It is not yet
determined whether it is an island or a main continent; but I am certain
that it joins neither to Asia, Africa, nor America. The part of it that
we saw is all low, even land, with sandy banks against the sea; only the
points are rocky, and so are some of the islands in this bay."*
(*Footnote. Ibid page 463.)
Dampier's observations on the country and the natives are singularly
correct, and have a particular value as giving the first definite and
accurate information known concerning any portion of this vast continent.
The soil he describes as dry and sandy,
"destitute of water, except you make wells; yet producing divers sorts of
trees. But the woods are not thick nor the trees very big. Most of the
trees we saw are dragon-trees, as we supposed, and these, too, are the
largest trees of any there. They are about the bigness of our large apple
trees...and the rind is blackish and somewhat rough...The other sorts of
trees were not known to any of us. There was pretty long grass growing
under the trees, but it was very thin. We saw no trees that bore fruit or
berries."*
(*Footnote. Dampier. New voyage round the World third edition London 1698
page 463.)
Of the natives, whom he must have observed with very great care, he
writes:*
"The inhabitants of this country are the miserablest people in the world.
The Hodmadods of Monomatapa, though a nasty people, yet for wealth are
gentlemen to these, who have no houses and skin garments, sheep, poultry,
and fruits of the earth, ostrich eggs, etc., as the Hodmadods have; and
setting aside their human shape, they differ little from brutes. They are
tall, straight-bodied, and thin, with small long limbs. They have great
heads, round foreheads, and great brows. Their eyelids are always
half-closed to keep the flies out of their eyes, they being so
troublesome here that no fanning will keep them off...They have great
bottle noses, pretty full lips, and wide mouths. The two fore teeth of
their upper jaw are wanting in all of them, men and women, old and young.
They are long-visaged...Their hair is black, short, and curled.
"They have no sort of clothes, but a piece of the rind of a tree tied
like a girdle about their waists, and a handful of long grass, or three
or four small green boughs full of leaves, thrust under their girdle to
cover their nakedness.
"They have no houses, but lie in the open air without any covering, the
earth being their bed and the heaven their canopy...They do live in
companies, twenty or thirty men, women, and children together. Their only
food is a small sort of fish which they get by making weirs of stones
across little coves or branches of the sea, every tide bringing in the
small fish, and there leaves them a prey to these people, who constantly
attend there to search for them at low water...There is neither herb,
root, pulse, nor any sort of grain for them to eat that we saw, nor any
sort of bird or beast that they can catch, having no instruments
wherewithal to do so.
"I did not perceive that they did worship anything. These poor creatures
have a sort of weapon to defend their ware or fight with their enemies,
if they have any that will interfere with their poor fisheries...Some of
them had wooden swords; others had a sort of lance. The sword is a piece
of wood shaped somewhat like a cutlass. The lance is a long straight
pole, sharp at one end and hardened afterwards by heat. I saw no iron nor
any other sort of metal."
(*Footnote. Dampier. New Voyage round the World third edition London 1698
pages 464 to 466.)
After leaving Cygnet Bay, Dampier desired to proceed on a voyage to
England, but this did not meet with the approval of his companions. A
quarrel occurred, and in the result he, with two others, was put ashore
on the Nicobar Islands.* Here they suffered many trials and privations,
but ultimately succeeded in getting away, and in 1691 Dampier arrived
back in England after an absence of nearly nine years.
(**Footnote. Dampier. New Voyage round the World third edition London
1698 pages 482 to 483.)
Some years passed without incident until the Dutch became anxious about
the fate of a missing ship, the Ridderschap van Holland, and in 1696
Willem van Vlaming was instructed by the East India Company to proceed
with the Geelvinck and two other vessels to examine carefully the South
Land or the Land of Eendracht and also to inquire into the fate of the
Ridderschap van Holland, which had left the Cape for Batavia in 1694.* On
Christmas Day, 1696, they sighted land, and on 29 December anchored off
the shore of a large island, upon which they landed on the following day.
On exploring it they were struck with the large number of rats'
(wallabies) nests to be seen, and gave it the name of Rottenest Island.
Some pieces of wreckage were discovered, but there was nothing by which
they could identify the vessel they were endeavouring to trace. From the
higher parts they could see the mainland distinctly, and from the smoke
rising here and there from among the trees they gathered that natives
were present. On 5 January 1697, Vlaming with eighty-six well-armed men
landed on the shore somewhere in the neighbourhood of Cottesloe Beach,
and going eastward came upon what they described as "a large basin of
brackish water." On the banks of this they met with traces of natives in
the shape of footprints, a fire still burning, and a hut that would have
disgraced a Hottentot, but the aborigines themselves were not to be seen.
They camped near the fire, and on the following day separated into three
parties for exploratory purposes and went off in different directions.
They met again at night having made no discovery of any importance beyond
proving that the "basin of brackish water" was really a river. On the 9th
they brought the ships in and anchored just off the mouth of the river,
which Vlaming and a party explored on the following days for a distance
of some fourteen or sixteen leagues. They were rewarded by the discovery
of numbers of that hitherto unknown prodigy of Nature, the fabulous black
swan mentioned by Juvenal. Several specimens were examined, and three
were taken alive to Batavia. From the presence of these birds Vlaming
named his discovery the Black Swan River. However, having, according to
the narrative, "found neither good country nor seen anything worthy of
note," Vlaming continued his voyage northward, examining the shore
carefully for traces of the lost ship, and occasionally landing to make
some exploration of the coast. On 4 February they reached Shark Bay, and
on Dirk Hartog Island found the plate previously referred to. This they
took away, leaving another in its place. Resuming the voyage they reached
the North-West Cape, and on the 21st of the month set the course direct
for Batavia, after firing guns "as a signal of farewell to the miserable
South Land."** To Vlaming thus belongs the discovery of the Swan River,
the most important so far of all the discoveries on the mainland.
(*Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia
page 83 note 1. Also Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 107.)
(**Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis pages 120 to 133
extract from Vlaming's Journal. Vlaming's Journal was not printed by
Heeres because it had already been printed in 1701 and a translation was
included in Major's Early Voyages to Terra Australis.)
Meanwhile Dampier had not been idle. For some years after his arrival in
England he was engaged in preparing a record of his voyage and adventures
from 1683 to 1691. This was published in 1698 as A New Voyage Round the
World. From it the English gained their first accurate knowledge of these
new South Lands. At this time the Government had decided to fit out a
ship for an exploratory voyage round the world, and Dampier was
recommended for the command. He was accordingly directed to draw up
proposals for such a purpose, and suggested that as little was known of
the Terra Australis an examination of that territory should be included.
The suggestions were approved, and Dampier was appointed to the command
in 1698.*
(*Footnote. Dictionary of National Biography volume 14 page 4.)
Dampier left England in the Roebuck on 14 January 1699, and after
touching at the Canary and Cape Verde Islands directed his course to
Bahia in Brazil. From that port he made a long sweep round the Cape of
Good Hope towards the west coast of Australia.* His first intention was
to proceed westward through the Straits of Magellan or round Tierra del
Fuego, in order to begin his discoveries upon the eastern and least-known
side of the Terra Australis. He found, however, that it was not possible
to go that way, as owing to the time of the year in which he left England
he would have been compassing South America in a very high latitude in
the depth of winter.** He therefore went eastward round the Cape. The
same reason, the fear of severe winter weather, made him decide to go
northwards along the coast of New Holland instead of southward.*** It is
interesting to note that if Dampier had adhered to his original intention
it is more than probable that he would have had the credit of discovering
the eastern coast of Australia.
(*Footnote. Dampier. Voyage to New Holland in 1699 London 1703 pages 2 et
seq.)
(**Footnote. Dampier. Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland in 1699
London 1729 page 124.)
(***Footnote. Ibid page 125.)
On 1 August Dampier sighted land, and on the 5th anchored in the bay to
which, owing to the prevalence of sharks, he gave the name Shark's Bay
(now known as Shark Bay).* Some eight days were spent in making trips to
the mainland in search of water, but without result. During this time he
surveyed a portion of the Bay and collected a good deal of valuable
information about the coastal country, as well as interesting data
concerning the fauna and flora. He tells us that the land was gently
undulating, with stretches of sand along the seaboard, changing to a
reddish soil of sandy nature farther inland. Upon this grew plants,
grass, and shrubs, but no trees above ten feet in height. Of the tree
blossoms blue was the predominating colour, and small and beautiful
flowers of various hues, different from anything he had previously seen,
abounded everywhere.** The only large birds were some eagles, cormorants,
pelicans, gulls, and ducks. The land animals were few in number,
consisting in the main of kangaroos and lizards. The kangaroos were new
to natural history, and Dampier's description of them is the first known.
"The land animals," he writes, "were only a sort of raccoons, different
from those of the West Indies, chiefly as to their legs; for these have
very short forelegs, but go jumping upon them as the others do, and, like
them, are very good meat.*** The only other animals he saw were large
lizards (or guanos, as he terms them) against which, as food, the
sensitive stomach of a buccaneer appears to have rebelled.
(*Footnote. Dampier. Voyage to New Holland in 1699 London 1703 page 124.)
(**Footnote. Dampier. Voyage to New Holland in 1699 pages 121 and 122.)
(***Footnote. Ibid pages 122 to 123.)
Water not being available, he decided on the 14th to continue his voyage
north, keeping as close to the shore as he could in the hope of finding
more fertile country and an abundant supply of water.* From time to time
he sent the boats ashore for supplies, but only once did he obtain
sufficient to replenish the casks. On the 21st he reached some islands,
now called Dampier Archipelago, situated off the present town of Cossack,
and on the 31st again landed some 150 miles south of his former anchorage
in Cygnet Bay. Here he had a small brush with some natives, in the course
of which a sailor was speared and a native shot.
(*Footnote. Ibid page 129.)
Being still greatly concerned about the shortage of water, and disgusted
with the sterile nature of the land, Dampier felt compelled to abandon
any further exploration of the coast.* In accordance with this resolution
he set sail early in September for Timor and New Guinea. On the voyage
home the Roebuck was wrecked on the island of Ascension, but the
navigator succeeded in reaching England, and in 1703 published an account
of his voyage.
(*Footnote. Ibid page 154.)
His observations with regard to the coast and the information he brought
back concerning the country and its inhabitants have been proved to be
remarkably reliable, and may be regarded as some compensation for his
failure to achieve fully the actual objects of his mission. Whether the
new land was a succession of islands or a continent was a question yet to
be solved, and the passage between New Guinea and Australia was still
unknown.
His unfavourable reports about the land and his opinion of its wretched
inhabitants, whom he described as "the miserablest people in the world,"*
did not give any encouragement to the Government to pursue its
investigations. Consequently we hear of no further voyages under the
English flag until 1770, when Captain Cook discovered and took possession
of the more fertile country on the east coast.
(*Footnote. Dampier. New Voyage round the World London 1698 page 464.)
A remark made by Dampier when seeking a passage among the islands of the
archipelago that bears his name, that "among so many islands we might
have found some sort of rich mineral or ambergris,"* has given rise to a
curious inaccuracy in many official and other publications concerning the
gold discoveries of Western Australia. It is stated that Dampier, a DUTCH
buccaneer, discovered gold on the north-west coast in 1688, and that on
account of this discovery the Dutch charts of the region were marked
Provincia aurifera.** Though the region is so marked on some of the
sixteenth-century charts, it is really the result of a geographical
blunder, due to a misreading of part of Marco Polo's De regionibus
orientalibus." This actually refers to Lower Siam, but was ignorantly
transferred by early geographers to an imaginary great southern
continent.*** Dampier was not Dutch. Neither does he make any mention in
his narrative of a discovery of gold. Had he done so it is scarcely
probable that English interest in the new country would have ceased after
his report.
(*Footnote. Dampier. Voyage to New Holland in 1699, London 1703 page
138.)
(**Footnote. Western Australian Year Book (official) 1902 to 1904 page
10. The statement is made in Western Australia in 1891 by F. Hart page
42.)
(***Footnote. Letter from Mr. C.H. Cook, Department of Maps and Drawings,
British Museum, to the Registrar-General of Western Australia--quoted in
Year Book previously mentioned.)
In 1718 one Hans Purry of Neufchatel, published a work in which he
proposed the establishment of a Dutch colonial settlement in the
south-west corner near Cape Leeuwin. This idea was submitted to the
authorities of the East India Company at Batavia and Amsterdam, and being
declined by them was unsuccessfully urged upon the West India Company.*
The inducements offered were not commensurate with the expense, and the
frugal Dutch mind was not prepared to spend money on something that
offered little or no prospect of return.
(*Footnote. Major. Early Voyages to Terra Australis page 115.)
Probably owing to the unpromising reports brought back by navigators,
Dutch interest may from this time be said to have ceased, though, as the
century progressed, Dutch vessels either sighted or touched at isolated
portions of the coast, and some had the misfortune to be wrecked there.
In 1711 the Zuytdorp* was supposed to have struck somewhere on the
Abrolhos, that area of extreme danger to early navigators, and in 1727
the Zeewyck came to grief on a reef in the same Group.** Of this vessel
numerous relics have from time to time been found by various explorers
and others, and they now form an interesting exhibit in the Western
Australian Museum.
(*Footnote. Western Australian Year Book 1902 to 1904 page 11.)
(**Footnote. Heeres. Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of
Australia page 91.)
In 1755 and 1765 casual Dutch visits were recorded, but they were without
incident.*
(*Footnote. Ibid page 91.)
Almost coincidentally with the cessation of Dutch enterprise France
became active in the Southern Seas. Thenceforward, up to the time of the
actual annexation and settlement of Western Australia by Great Britain,
the competing nations in these waters, as in so many parts of the world,
were the English and the French.
The first French ship to touch at any portion of the Australian coast was
Le Gros Ventre in March 1772, under the command of Captain de St.
Alouarn,* in whose honour the St. Alouarn Islands were named at a later
date by D'Entrecasteaux.**
(*Footnote. Western Australian Year Book 1902 to 1904 page 11. Note.
Doubts have been expressed as to the authenticity of St. Alouarn's voyage
in Australian waters. It is included here on the authority of Dr. A.
Grandidier, Secretary of the French Institute, who revised the portion
relating to the French voyages of discovery which was included in the
historical section of the Year Book. See also Proceedings of the Royal
Society of Tasmania 1921 pages 152 to 153.)
(**Footnote. D'Entrecasteaux. Voyage redige par Rossel Paris 1808 volume
1 page 177.)
For some years after this there is no record of any navigator visiting
the western shores. The discoveries of Cook in 1770, and his favourable
reports on the fertile nature of the country, had turned attention to the
eastern side of the continent, and whatever efforts were made in the way
of exploration were directed toward that part.
In 1789 the British Government decided to send out an exploring
expedition to the South Seas with the object of adding to the knowledge
gained by Captain Cook. Captain Henry Roberts was placed in charge of the
proposed expedition, with Lieutenant George Vancouver as second in
command.* Both these officers had served under Captain Cook. A vessel
then being built was purchased, named the Discovery, and fitted out under
Vancouver's superintendence.** In April 1790, when the vessel was almost
ready to proceed on her voyage, news was received that the Spaniards, who
in 1775 had extended their researches northward along the north-west
coast of America, had interfered with British commerce on that coast, and
had seized English vessels and factories in Nootka Sound. In consequence
of this the fleet known as the Spanish Armament was organised, and the
officers and men who had been appointed to the Discovery were placed on
active service. This caused the postponement of the proposed voyage. The
rapid equipment of the fleet seems to have had an effect upon the Spanish
authorities, who offered restitution for the depredations and an
acknowledgment of equal trading rights with Spain in seas over which that
nation had previously claimed exclusive rights.*** "It was deemed
expedient that an officer should be sent to Nootka to receive back in
form the restitution of the territories on which the Spanish had seized,
and also to make a correct survey of the coast from the 30 degrees of
north latitude north-westward of Cook's River; and further to obtain
every possible information that could be collected respecting the natural
and political state of that country."**** Vancouver, who had been
promoted to the rank of commander, was selected for this duty and was at
once appointed to the Discovery, to which was attached the armed tender
Chatham under the command of Lieutenant Broughton. His commission*****
directed him to proceed forthwith to the Sandwich Islands and there to
remain until the end of January 1792, awaiting further instructions with
regard to the Nootka Sound matter. If such instructions should not be
received by that time he was to proceed to the north-west coast of
America for the purpose of acquiring a more complete knowledge of it,
particularly with regard to water communications with the eastern side of
the continent and also with regard to settlements made by any European
nation within the area to be examined (latitude 60 North and 30 North).
(*Footnote. Vancouver. Voyage of Discovery 1790 to 1795 volume 1 page 7.)
(**Footnote. Dictionary of National Biography volume 58 page 96.)
(***Footnote. Vancouver. Voyage of Discovery 1790 to 1795 volume 1 page
10.)
(****Footnote. Ibid pages 10 and 11.)
(*****Footnote. Ibid pages 17 et seq.)
Vancouver and Broughton left London at the end of January 1791, and as
the choice of route was left to Vancouver's judgment* they went by way of
the Cape of Good Hope, and on 26 August 1791 they had their first view of
Australia--that of a conspicuous promontory with high cliffs dropping
almost perpendicularly into the sea. This they named Cape Chatham, after
the earl of that name, who at that time presided over the Admiralty.
Though describing the promontory as a cape, Vancouver was in some doubt
whether it was not really an island,** a doubt afterwards proved to be
well founded. Passing this and following an eastward course, while
keeping as near the shore as possible in the hope of discovering a safe
anchorage, they entered a fine natural harbour on the 28th and bestowed
upon it the name of King George III Sound. Landing on the 29th, they
noticed that there was a further inner harbour and a second extension
toward the north-east. The day being the birthday of the Princess Royal,
they named the inner portion Princess Royal Harbour. Vancouver then, in
the name of the king, took formal possession of all the country "from the
land we saw north-westward of Cape Chatham so far as we might explore its
coasts." On the same day the narrow entrance to the north-eastern
extension was discovered and the had been renamed Oyster Harbour, on
account of the number of oysters found there.***
(*Footnote. Dictionary of National Biography volume 58 page 96.)
(**Footnote. Vancouver. Voyage of Discovery volume 1 page 30.)
(***Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 35 to 36.)
The ships remained at anchor for about a fortnight, during which a close
examination of the harbours was made, and the coastline for some distance
inland explored. The land in places seemed barren or covered with a
"deadly green herbage, with here and there a few grovelling shrubs or
dwarf trees scattered at a great distance from each other.* This,
Vancouver admits, might not have originated from sterility of the soil,
but as the result of a bushfire which it was evident had recently passed
over it, especially as the surrounding country presented a far more
fertile and pleasing aspect. Fresh water was abundant, and kangaroos,
ducks, and fish not scarce. The climate was temperate and agreeable. Of
shrubs and plants a great variety was found, which "afforded Mr. Menzies
(the naturalist of the expedition) much entertainment and enjoyment."**
Natives they did not actually meet, but one or two deserted villages were
seen, as well as single habitations, giving them the impression that the
aborigines were a wandering people, trusting greatly to the natural
products of the soil for food, and not expert either at hunting or
fishing.
(*Footnote. Vancouver. Voyage volume 1 page 34.)
(*Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 51. Note. In 1883 a wooden tablet was
erected by the Governor, Sir William Robinson, over an old well on the
beach by the channel connecting Middleton Bay and Oyster Harbour. This,
it is believed, marks the spot where "George Vancouver, an illustrious
navigator, watered H.M.S. Discovery in October 1791.")
Before leaving the Sound, Vancouver deposited on the mainland opposite
the anchorage a sealed bottle containing a parchment record of his visit,
and a second bottle containing a similar record on Seal Island, where he
thought the natives would be less likely to get it.* Flinders, during his
visit to King George III Sound in 1801, made a search for these bottles,
but was unable to find either of them. On the mainland, however, he found
a piece of sheet copper inscribed "August 27, 1800. Chr. Dixson--ship
Elligood," from which he inferred that the bottle had been previously
discovered and removed.**
(*Footnote. Vancouver. Voyage volume 1 page 40.)
(**Footnote. Flinders. Voyage to Terra Australis volume 1 pages 54 to
56.)
After leaving King George III Sound, Vancouver and Broughton continued
their voyage eastward along the south coast until they reached an island
to which the name Termination Island was given, owing to the fact that
through want of time they were compelled to terminate their researches
along the Australian coast at this point, and to proceed "without further
delay towards the Pacific ocean."*
(*Footnote. Vancouver. Voyage of Discovery pages 42 to 44.)
In addition to the places mentioned, Point Possession, Cape Howe, Mount
Gardner, The Eclipse, Breaksea, Seal, and Michaelmas Islands, and nearly
every prominent headland or island from Cape Leeuwin to 122 degrees east
longitude owe their names to this voyage, which, from the standpoint of
accuracy of observation and attention to detail, was one of the most
important made to the shores of Western Australia.
About this time the French Government began to be anxious about the fate
of the expedition under La Perouse, which had not been heard of since
leaving Botany Bay in 1788. The general impression was that the
expedition had met with disaster, but in order to have the matter cleared
up two ships, the Recherche and the Esperance, were fitted out for a
search and placed under the command of Admiral D'Entrecasteaux.* Leaving
France in September 1791, D'Entrecasteaux proceeded by way of the Cape of
Good Hope and reached the coast of Tasmania, anchoring in Storm Bay on 21
April 1792. From there he went to the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, and
the East Indian Archipelago, and then turned southward down the coast of
Western Australia. He did not, however, sight the Australian coast until
December 1792, when he came within hail of a point which was named
D'Entrecasteaux Point, lying north-west of Chatham Island. Continuing his
course to the eastward, he skirted the coast as far as Termination
Island, where he sheltered from a storm, and then turned off to Tasmania
again.** Several places on the south coast were charted and named on this
voyage, to which the discovery of the Recherche Archipelago is due.***
(*Footnote. D'Entrecasteaux. Voyage (Paris 1808) volume 1 page 19
instructions.)
(**Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 177 et seq and Atlas Chart Number 1.)
(***Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 180. Note. Labillardiere, the botanist,
who was one of the naturalists attached to the expedition, also published
an account of the voyage.)
English maritime activity in the Southern Seas was now in full swing, and
English association with the new South Land definitely established.
Perhaps no one did more to bring about an accurate knowledge of, at any
rate, the coastal districts of the continent than Matthew Flinders, to
whom we owe its present name. Though we are concerned only with his
connection with the west, he was responsible for the discovery of
practically the whole of the south coast. In many respects Flinders was
not unlike Dampier--if we except the latter's buccaneering proclivities.
Bold and intrepid as an explorer, he was at the same time a careful
observer, shrewd and painstaking, as well as accurate in detail, so that
the information he procured proved of the greatest value in extending the
vague knowledge then existing concerning this still practically unknown
country.
Flinders left Spithead on 18 July 1801, in the Investigator, the old
Xenophon, a sloop of 344 tons. On 7 December he reached what he termed
Cape Leeuwin,* as being the south-western and most projecting part of
Leeuwin Land, and from there to King George III Sound, where he arrived
on 9 December, he carefully surveyed the intermediate coast, naming
various points. He remained at the Sound for some days, which were spent
in charting Princess Royal and Oyster Harbours, and in establishing
friendly relations with the aborigines. A short vocabulary of the native
language was prepared, and information collected as to their habits.
Their manners he describes as "quick and vehement and their conversation
vociferous, like that of most uncivilised people. They seemed to have no
idea of any superiority we possessed over them. On the contrary they left
us, after the first interview, with some appearance of contempt of our
pusillanimity, which was probably inferred from the desire we showed to
be friendly with them.**
(*Footnote. Flinders. Voyage to Terra Australis volume 1 page 49.)
(**Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 56.)
Flinders left King George III Sound on 5 January 1802,* and proceeded
upon his voyage eastward. In the course of his voyage he completed the
discovery of the south coast and made careful charts of the whole.
(*Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 74.)
On board the Investigator with him were Robert Brown, well known as a
botanist, and William Westall, the famous painter; while one of his
officers was (Sir) John Franklin, afterwards Governor of Tasmania and a
famous explorer, who ended his career amid Arctic snows.
For one thing Flinders will always be remembered--that he gave to
Australia her present name. Various appellations had been bestowed upon
her--Magellanica, Java la Grande, Great South Land, and Terra Australis.
After Tasman's voyage in 1644 the western portion was called New Holland,
the eastern still retaining the name of Terra Australis. Subsequent to
Cook's discoveries the eastern part received the name of New South Wales,
the remainder being still New Holland. The meridian dividing the two,
according to the patent to the first Governor of New South Wales, was 135
degrees east longitude,* almost identical with the old line of separation
laid down after Tasman's voyage. Having proved the east and west to be
parts of one continent, Flinders readopted the name of Terra Australis
for the whole, including New South Wales and New Holland, and, in its
most extensive sense, Van Diemen's Land as well. At a later date, in
1814, in the published account of his voyage, he suggested the name
Australia, which he had previously used in correspondence, "as being more
agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great
portions of the earth."** After this the name came into general use for
the continent, though in official documents, even up to 1851, it
sometimes included Tasmania.***
(*Footnote. Historical Records of Australia series 1 volume 1 page 1
Governor Phillip's first commission.)
(**Footnote. Flinders. Voyage to Terra Australis volume 1 page 3 and
note. See also Professor Scott's Life of Matthew Flinders chapter 30, in
which the use of the word before Flinders' time is discussed.)
(***Footnote. Scott. Life of Flinders pages 428 to 429.)
Following upon the knowledge gained through the voyage of
D'Entrecasteaux, the French Government determined to send out a further
expedition, which left Havre in October 1800, with the object of more
fully exploring the coast of New Holland and collecting scientific
information concerning its natural history and inhabitants.* This
consisted of two vessels, the Geographe under Commodore Nicholas Baudin
and the Naturaliste commanded by Captain Hamelin, with whom was
associated Lieutenant Louis de Freycinet. The ships reached the
south-west coast in 1801, and many of the topographical features of that
portion of the continent bear names which identify them with this
voyage.** Having been driven out of Geographe Bay by a storm, the vessels
became separated. Baudin in the Geographe went to Shark Bay and from
there worked northward as far as Cape Leveque, leaving the coast at that
point for Timor. Here they were joined by the Naturaliste, which,
according to Freycinet, had waited at Rottnest for a time expecting the
arrival of the other vessel. Whilst waiting they had devoted some days to
the exploration of the Swan River with the intention of tracing its
source. They seem to have reached the junction of the Helena with the
Swan when the leader, M. Heirisson, felt compelled to return, as the
provisions were running short. The name of a member of the party being
Moreau, the title Moreau Inlet was bestowed upon the Canning River, while
the islands upon which the present Perth Causeway stands were called the
Heirisson Islands. The view from the top of Mount Eliza was described as
particularly striking and beautiful, and the fertile nature of the soil
about Guildford was commented upon. At the point where they abandoned
their journey up the river, about sixty miles from the mouth, the stream
was narrow, only about eight feet deep, and the water salt.*** Leaving
Rottnest they made a further investigation of the entrance to Shark Bay,
and on Dirk Hartog Island Captain Hamelin found the plate left by Vlaming
more than a century previously.****
(*Footnote. Biographie universelle (Paris 1811) volume 3 page 538 and
Nouvelle biographie universelle (Paris 1853) volume 4 page 771. See also
Peron, F. Voyage de decouvertes aux Terres Australes 1800 a 1804 (Paris
1807) volume 1 chapitre 1.)
(**Footnote. Peron. Voyage volume 1 pages 66 et seq.)
(***Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 178 to 184.)
(****Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 194 to 195.)
In November 1801 the two vessels left Timor for a more detailed
examination of the Australian coast, and after a survey of a portion of
Tasmania and the islands of Bass Strait, arrived at Sydney during the
latter part of 1802. A small ship, the Casuarina, was chartered there and
placed under the command of Freycinet.* Baudin then, with the Geographe
and Casuarina, explored that part of the south coast known to the French
as Terre Napoleon and proceeded onwards to Western Australia, making
detailed examination of most of the western side of the continent from
King George's Sound in the south to the Holothuria Banks in the extreme
north. The care bestowed upon this work may be gauged by the number of
prominent features of the west coast which still bear French names.**
(*Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 417.)
(*Footnote. Peron. Voyage volume 2.)
No further record exists of any voyage to Western Australia until the
year 1817, when the French Government dispatched Captain Freycinet in the
corvette Uranie on a voyage of discovery and scientific investigation. In
the course of this cruise Freycinet anchored in Shark Bay (called by the
French le Baie des Chiens Marins) towards the end of 1818. He then
proceeded along the north-west coast on his way to the islands of the
South Seas, calling at Sydney on his return. Judging from the letters of
M. Arago,* one of the members of the expedition, the Western Australian
coast failed to meet with their approval. "Its outline," he says, "is
uniform, without breaks, almost without difference, and always very low.
At the first view you take in an immense distance; but beware of looking
for any enjoyment. This search would be merely wasting your strength,
without finding the least relief."
(*Footnote. Arago. Narrative of Voyage round the World 1817 to 1820
Letter 53.)
The number of French expeditions that touched at one part or another of
the western coast of Australia began to arouse something like suspicion
in the English mind, and consequently the British Government started to
take a livelier interest in that part of the continent. The completion of
the survey of the whole coastline, so ably begun by Captain Flinders, was
deemed to be of utmost importance, and in 1817 the Admiralty in
conjunction with the Colonial Office decided upon an expedition for that
purpose.* Lieutenant Philip Parker King was appointed to the command,**
and from that date until 1822 was busily engaged in carrying out the
work. In pursuance of his instructions King left Sydney in December 1817,
in the cutter Mermaid, of only 84 tons, having with him Allan Cunningham
as botanist, and as officers Lieutenants Bedwell and John Septimus
Roe,*** the latter of whom afterwards became the first Surveyor-General
of the colony. The cutter reached King George III Sound on 20 January
1818. Here King remained twelve days, which were spent in procuring wood
and water and making various excursions into the surrounding country,
giving Roe his first experience of what was afterwards to be his life's
work--the survey of Western Australia. The usual directions led down by
the Admiralty about the planting of seeds were carried out, but without
permanent effect, as three years later not a trace of the garden was to
be found. Leaving the Sound, King was prevented by sickness among the
crew from making any further examination until he reached the north-west
coast.**** This was then accurately charted and various points named. At
the same time excursions to the mainland were made at various places, and
friendly intercourse, wherever possible, established with the natives. On
4 March he anchored in Nicol Bay***** for the purpose of making
researches, and then went along the north coast and on to Timor, after
leaving which he made all speed back to Sydney to replenish the stores.
Two important questions had been set at rest by this voyage--the openings
behind Rosemary Island and the nature of Van Diemen's Gulf.****** Owing
to the loss of the anchors, King found it impossible to make a detailed
examination of Exmouth Gulf or land upon Depuch Island,******* so
favourably noticed by Peron. Many rivers, bays, and ports had been
discovered, and the exploration of the interior had revealed good
pastoral country. "The thickly-wooded shores of the north coast," says
King, "bore a striking contrast to the sandy, desert-looking tract we had
previously seen, and inspired us with the hope of finding at some future
time a still greater improvement of country between the two
extremes."********
(*Footnote. Earl Bathurst to Governor Macquarie Dispatch Number 87 8
February 1817 Historical Records of Australia series 1 volume 9 page
207.)
(**Footnote. Ibid.)
(***Footnote. King, P.P. Narrative of a Survey of the Inter-tropical and
Western Coasts of Australia 1818 to 1822 volume 1 page 38.)
(****Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 20.)
(*****Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 52.)
(******Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 144 to 145.)
(*******Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 145.)
(*******Footnote. Ibid volume 1 page 149.)
The Mermaid left Sydney on the second voyage in May 1819, and in the
following September reached Cambridge Gulf, so named after the Duke of
Cambridge.* Here King thought he had made a great discovery, believing
that it must terminate in a river of some kind. Instead of that he found
it barren and useless, the surrounding country being devoid of
vegetation, the soil sandy and salt, the water undrinkable, and the gulf
itself tailing off on all sides into a series of mud flats. Leaving there
he sailed westward along the north coast, examining and naming as he
passed Sir Graham Moore Islands, Eclipse Islands (from an eclipse of the
moon taking place while there) Vansittart Bay, Admiralty Gulf, and Port
Warrender.** At this point King decided to leave the coast for the time,
the scarcity of water and the absence of provisions having caused
sickness among the crew. He therefore set sail for Timor, and thence
returned to Sydney, having examined on his trip a further 540 miles of
the northern coastline. In the following year a third voyage was
undertaken for the purpose of extending the survey to Warrender, and in
the course of this York Sound (after the Duke of York) Careening Bay
(where the ship was repaired) Prince Regent River, and many other places
were named and examined.*** A serious leak in the cutter compelled King
to abandon the work, and he returned again to Sydney, arriving there at
the end of the year, having narrowly escaped shipwreck at the entrance to
the Heads. Unfortunately, owing to the unseaworthiness of the cutter, the
amount of work done on this survey was but small. King's desire to
complete his labour was, however, unabated, and in 1821 he again left
Sydney for the north-west coast, this time in the brig Bathurst,
purchased for the purpose by the Government. With a larger vessel and an
increased crew, the expedition was much better equipped, and the
commander was able to spend a longer time at the scene of his operations.
The coast, as far down as Cape Latouche Treville,**** was examined and
surveyed, after which King sailed across to the Mauritius to refit,
returning at the end of 1821 to King George's Sound.***** From there he
sailed along the west coast, checking many points of previous surveys
until he arrived at the Swan River, where he anchored for a while.
Resuming his voyage he examined, with a good deal of accuracy, the
intervening shore until he reached the Abrolhos, and finally Dirk Hartog
Island. Here he landed and searched without success for Vlaming's
plate,****** and then proceeded northward to Cape Leveque, thus
practically completing the survey of the whole Western Australian coast
from King George's Sound to Cambridge Gulf, with the exception of that
part lying between Depuch Island and Cape Villaret. What Cook, Bass, and
Flinders had done for the eastern and southern coasts, King, following
upon the earlier Dutch, French, and English navigators, had done for the
western and northern, so that the Admiralty was in possession of fairly
comprehensive charts of the whole Australian coastline.
(*Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 306 et seq.)
(**Footnote. Ibid volume 1 chapter 8.)
(***Footnote. Ibid volume 1 pages 412 et seq.)
(****Footnote. Ibid volume 2 chapter 2.)
(*****Footnote. Ibid volume 2 page 119.)
(******Footnote. Ibid volume 2 page 181.)
With Lieutenant King the long line of discoverers may be said to have
ended. Practically everything in the way of interior exploration had yet
to be undertaken, but the few voyages that afterwards took place to these
shores were in the nature of looking for satisfactory places of
settlement rather than of discovering new territory, or else were for the
purpose of checking and correcting existing surveys.
CHAPTER 3.
ANNEXATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
Although the existence of the western side of the continent had been
known for certainly two, and possibly three, centuries, it was not until
the third decade of the nineteenth century--some forty years after the
foundation of the colony of New South Wales--that the British Government
decided to take steps to found a settlement there. That the matter had
not previously engaged the attention of the Home authorities was in all
likelihood due to the unsatisfactory reports of the new territory brought
back by navigators, who, confining themselves to the uninviting
coastline, seem to have had neither the time nor the inclination to make
any examination of the interior, and so missed the fertile inland
districts. When, however, a strong suspicion arose that other nations
were casting their eyes towards the Southern Seas, the English Government
seems to have realised that a few settlements on the eastern coast would
be deemed scarcely sufficient, in the opinion of others, to establish a
claim to the whole of this vast continent as British territory. There is
very little doubt that the settlements at King George's Sound and the
Swan River were, in the first place, due to the activity being displayed
by the French in Australian waters.
It was rumoured that Captain Baudin had contemplated establishing a
settlement on the southern coast or in Tasmania in 1802,* and an
exhaustive examination of the north-west coast had, it will be
remembered, been made by Freycinet in 1818. In 1825 we find that another
expedition consisting of the Thetis and Esperance, commanded respectively
by De Bougainville and Du Camper, was cruising along the southern coast.
These voyages gave rise to the belief that France, recognising that
maritime power depended greatly on the possession of suitable colonies,
was looking for the opportunity of establishing a settlement in
Australia. The belief may have been further strengthened by a suspicion
that in the minds of Frenchmen the Napoleonic dream of an Indian conquest
had not, perhaps, altogether vanished. In that case a colony on the west
coast of Australia would, in conjunction with the Mauritius, have formed
a strategic base of some value. Such a colony would also have been the
means of introducing a formidable competitor into the trade relations
then being fostered between India and the newly-established penal colony
in New South Wales. Whatever the reasons may have been, there is no doubt
that they aroused in the minds of members of the British Government a
fear that the French were looking for suitable places of settlement on
the western coast of Australia. The Secretary of State, Lord Goderich
(afterwards Earl of Ripon) writing in 1833 with regard more particularly
to Western Australia, said:
"The present settlement at Swan River owes its origin, as you may perhaps
be aware, to certain false rumours which had reached the Government of
the intention of a foreign power to establish a colony on the west coast
of Australia. The design was for some time given up entirely on the
ground of public economy, and would not have been resumed but for the
offer of a party of gentlemen to embark in an undertaking of this nature
at their own risk, upon receiving extensive grants of land and on a
certain degree of protection and assistance for a limited period being
secured to them by this Government."**
(*Footnote. Rusden, G.W. History of Australia volume 1 pages 326 et seq.)
(**Footnote. Dispatch to Governor Stirling 8 March 1833 Number 21 filed
in Governor's Office, Perth. See also Accounts and Papers 1840 volume 33
page 69.)
Further, Lord John Russell* tells us that, during his tenure of the
Colonial Office, a gentleman attached to the French Government called
upon him and asked what part of Australia was claimed by Great Britain,
to which he replied, "the whole." As Russell was Secretary of State for
the Colonies from 1839 to 1841, it seems strange that that question
should have been asked at so late a period, though it is possible that
scientific researches of French navigators at the beginning of the
century may have been present in the Frenchman's mind.
(*Footnote. Russell. Recollections and Suggestions 1875 page 203.)
Unfounded as the suspicions have since been proved to be, they were
undoubtedly strong enough at the time to move the British authorities to
take action. The movements of the French were closely watched, and at the
same time settlement both in Australia and New Zealand was pushed on, so
as to deprive France of the chance of gaining a foothold on Australasian
soil.
The fear of such a possibility caused General Darling to draw the
attention of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the matter and
ask that steps be taken to avert it. Recognising that in case of dispute
Great Britain would have difficulty in establishing her claim to the west
coast, he forwarded a letter in which he said:*
"It will not be easy to satisfy the French, if they are desirous of
establishing themselves here, that there is any objection to their doing
so on the west coast, and I therefore beg to suggest that the difficulty
would be removed by a commission describing the whole territory as within
the Government."
(*Footnote. Rusden. History of Australia volume 2 page 6. Probably
contained in a letter to Under Secretary Hay, dated 9 October 1826. See
Historical Records of Australia volume 12 pages 639 and 700.)
(The territory of New South Wales, it may be mentioned, extended westward
only to the 135 degrees east longitude.) On 1 March 1826, the Secretary
of State, Lord Bathurst, addressed one dispatches upon the subject to
Governor Darling, and, at the same time, wrote a more or less private and
confidential communication.* The first of these dispatches instructed the
Governor to commence immediate preparations for the formation of a
settlement at Western Port, using whatever means he might think best. In
the second dispatch Darling was instructed to endeavour to procure
correct information respecting the country immediately adjoining Shark
Bay, ostensibly for the purpose of establishing a base to which convicts,
reconvicted of lighter crimes at Botany Bay, might be sent and "that
possession may be gained of a port which it may hereafter be found
important to have retained." In the private communication the secretary
said:
"The sailing of two French ships on a voyage of discovery have [sic] led
to the consideration how far our distant possessions in the Australian
seas may be prejudiced by any designs which the French may entertain of
establishing themselves in that quarter, and more especially on that part
of the coast of New South Wales which has not as yet received any
colonists from this country. I allude to that line of coast which extends
to the westward from the western point of Bathurst Island in 129 degrees
east longitude...As this tract of shore is understood to be for the most
part barren and devoid of all circumstances which could invite a
settlement, it is probable, if the French Government should entertain any
serious intention of forming an establishment on that side of the
continent, any island with so advantageous a port as Western Port would
not be overlooked by them...In giving those instructions you will observe
that I have carefully avoided any expression which might be construed, in
the event of the instructions being hereafter referred to, as an
admission of there not having been a preoccupancy by us before the French
may have admitted to establish themselves there, and you will regulate
your language accordingly. The establishment to be formed at Shark Bay,
is, as you are aware, partly for a different object, but it is equally
necessary that our projects in that quarter should not be anticipated."
(*Footnote. Published in Historical Records of Australia series 1 volume
12 pages 192 to 194.)
The advice of Darling to regulate his language probably explains why
there was no public proclamation of any intention on the part of the
Government to establish a settlement.
On 11 March a further dispatch* was sent to the Governor asking him also
to have an examination made of the country around King George's Sound, as
it might possibly prove a better locality than Shark Bay. In all
probability these dispatches were forwarded by the same ship. At any
rate, they were answered by Darling on 10 October 1826,** who stated that
in his opinion King George's Sound was totally unfit for the purpose even
of a penal settlement, as the communication would be at all times tedious
and difficult, and during a part of the year hardly practicable.
Communication with Shark Bay would be still more difficult and very
expensive. He added that he was informed that the country around both
Shark Bay and King George's Sound was perfectly barren and destitute of
vegetation, and concluded, "the French would, therefore, find it
difficult to maintain themselves at either of these places."
(*Footnote. Published in Historical Records of Australia series 1 volume
12 page 218.)
(**Footnote. Ibid series 1 volume 12 pages 639 to 641.)
Notwithstanding his expression of opinion, however, he took immediate
steps for the purpose of carrying the instructions of the Home Government
into effect. Three sites for occupancy were determined upon--at Raffles
Bay, Western Port, and King George's Sound--and on 9 November H.M.S. Fly,
accompanied by the brigs Dragon and Amity, sailed from Sydney to
establish settlements at Western Port and King George's Sound.* The
contingent for the Sound was on the Amity, and was under the command of
Major Lockyer, of the 59th regiment, who had with him Captain Wakefield
and a detachment of the 39th Regiment, as well as twenty-four convicts.
In the instructions given to Lockyer** he was told "to avoid any
expression of doubt as to the whole of New Holland being within this
Government, any division of it which may be supposed to exist under the
designation of New South Wales being merely ideal, and intended only with
a view of distinguishing the more settled part of the country. Should
this explanation not prove satisfactory it will be proper in that case to
refer them to this Government for any further information they may
require." If it should so happen that a landing had already been effected
by the French, "you will, notwithstanding, land the troops agreeably to
your instructions, and signify that their continuance with any view of
establishing themselves, or colonisation, would be considered an
unjustifiable intrusion on his Britannic Majesty's possession." The party
arrived at King George's Sound on Christmas Day, 1826, and landing on the
following morning proceeded to select a position for the settlement. The
exact spot where the British flag was hoisted, from which the whole of
Western Australia was claimed as belonging to the Crown, is unfortunately
not precisely known. It was somewhere at the base of either Mount
Clarence or Mount Melville, near both of which there still exist some
indications of the early settlement. Very meagre information concerning
the little colony is available beyond the diary kept by Major Lockyer***
during the first four months of its existence. From this we learn that
the Sound was used largely by American and other sealers and whalers, who
plied their vocation among the islands along the south coast and as far
up the western coast as Rottnest Island. With these Lockyer had, from
time to time, a good deal of trouble owing to their ill-treatment of the
natives. From the condition of the settlement in 1831, when the convicts
were withdrawn and the establishment placed under the Swan River
Government, it is apparent that very little progress was made during the
four years of its existence. This was probably due to the fact that it
was far removed from civilisation, and was wholly dependent for supplies
and information upon occasional visits of ships from Sydney. The soil
does not appear to have lent itself to such desultory attempts at
cultivation as were carried on. The poor results from tillage may be
gauged from the fact that on more than one occasion the colonists were
reduced to privation owing to the delayed arrival of vessels with food
supplies. Lockyer returned to Sydney in April 1827, leaving Captain
Wakefield in command. This officer was succeeded in turn by Captain
Barker, who retained control until the convicts were withdrawn, and the
idea of a penal settlement abandoned. This took place by proclamation
dated 7 March 1831. The withdrawal of troops and convicts was due to
various causes. One of the conditions laid down by the Government in 1828
regarding the then proposed settlement at Swan River was that no convicts
were to be sent there. Those who entered upon the scheme did not
consequently relish the presence of a convict establishment within the
borders of the territory. Then the commission i