Chapter 3

M. Baudin died: Captain Hamilin, of the _Naturaliste_, returned to the Mauritius. He eulogised the conduct of the colonists to extravagance;[17] but it is mortifying to find, that soon after, having captured a small English settlement, he burned the property he could not carry off; and invited upon deck the ladies, his prisoners, to witness the devastations of their late peaceful dwellings.

The misfortunes of the distinguished navigators, whose success has been recorded, fully equalled their fame. The fate of Cook belongs to a story which mingles with our early remembrance. A child need scarcely be told, that after a career eminently glorious to his country and profession, while attempting to restrain his men who were firing to protect him, he fell by the dagger of a savage.

His colleague, Captain Clerke, who attended him through all his expeditions, did not long survive him. Resolved to complete his instructions, he remained in the neighbourhood of Kamschatka, which hastened the crisis of a consumption. He was buried beneath a tree at the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul, and an inscription pointed to his grave.[18] This was found by M. Perouse defaced, who restored it. On his arrival at Botany Bay, he interred the naturalist of his expedition: the memorial he set up was destroyed by the natives, and Governor Phillip repaid, by the substitution of another, the honor done to his own countryman.[19]

De L'Angle, the companion of Perouse, with eleven officers and men, lost their lives by a misunderstanding at the Navigators' Isles: the manner of his own death may be inferred from the native tradition.[20]

The end of D'Entrecasteaux and Huon, was hardly less melancholy: both commanders were buried by their crews; the admiral at Louisiade, and Huon at New Caledonia. The vessels were detained by the Dutch at Java, and many of the seamen died in captivity. There the calamities of their country became known to them: some sided with the royalists, others with the jacobins, but few regained their native land; among these, however, was Labillardière.[21]

The fate of Captain Flinders is already told; that of Dr. Bass is involved in obscurity. A rumour that he was alive in 1812, in South America, was circulated in London.[22] In the colonies it was reported, that the vessel in his charge foundered at sea; others alleged that he attempted a contraband trade in the Spanish colonies, was taken prisoner, and with his companions sent to the quicksilver mines, and there died.[23]

The whale-boat of Bass, which first swept the waters of the strait, was long preserved at Port Jackson. Of its keel snuff boxes were wrought, and regarded as valuable relics. A fragment, mounted with silver, engraven with the particulars of the passage, was presented to M. Baudin, as a memorial of the man whose example had stimulated colonial discovery.

Flinders[24] predicted that the name of Bass would be conspicuous among the benefactors of mankind: the glory of his own will enlarge with the value of his discoveries. They resulted not from accident, which may give reputation to success without merit, but were the reward of prudent enthusiasm. A small community cannot, indeed, rear a monument worthy the destinies of their names: private memorials may be perishable, like the sympathies which inscribed them, but a future and opulent era will display the moral grandeur of their enterprise, and posterity will pay public honors to their fame.

At the cost of £250, Sir John Franklin erected an obelisk on the rock of Stamford Hill, Port Lincoln, with the following inscription:--

This place, from which the gulf and its shores were first surveyed, on the 26th of Feb., 1802, by MATTHEW FLINDERS, R. N.. commander of H.M.S. _Investigator_, and the discoverer of the country now called South Australia, was on 12th Jan., 1841, with the sanction of Lieut.-Colonel GAWLER, K.H., then Governor of the Colony, then set apart for, and in the first year of the Government of Captain G. GREY, adorned with this monument, to the perpetual memory of the illustrious navigator, his honoured commander, by JOHN FRANKLIN, Captain R.N., K.C.H., K.R., Lt.-Governor of Van Diemen's Land.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: The following is its title:--_Journal of Discovery, by me, Abel Jans Tasman, of a Voyage from Batavia for making discoveries of the unknown South Land_, 1642.--_Burney's Chronological History_, 1813.]

[Footnote 2: Discovered in the year 1505, by Don Pedro Mascarequas, a Spanish navigator: he gave it the name of "Cerné." It was uninhabited, and destitute of every species of quadruped. In 1598 it was visited by the Dutch Admiral Van Neck, who finding it unoccupied gave it its present name, in honor of Maurice, Prince of Holland. In 1601 a Frenchman was found on the island by a Dutch captain. He had been left by an English vessel, and had remained two years subsisting on turtle and dates: his understanding was impaired by his long solitude. The Dutch had a small fort, when it was visited by Tasman, which is represented in the drawings that illustrated his journal. The Dutch afterwards abandoned the island, and it has passed through many changes, until it was conquered by Great Britain.--_Grant's History of the Mauritius._]

[Footnote 3: Probably their fires: had they seen them, they could not have fallen into error respecting their height.]

[Footnote 4: "The same romantic little rock, with its fringe of grey ironstone shingle, still shelters itself under the castellated cliffs of trap rock, on its northern and southern horns; embosomed in its innermost recesses by a noble forest, whose green shades encroach upon the verge of the ocean. It is less than half-a-mile across, and nearer its northern than its southern extremity, the sea has cast up a key of large grey rounded ironstone, which interrupts the equal curve of the beach, and doubtless marks the spot where the ship's carpenter swam ashore."--_Gell's Remarks on the First Discovery: Tasmanian Journal_, vol. ii. p. 327.]

[Footnote 5: _Cook's Voyages._]

[Footnote 6: A folio edition of _Cook's Voyages_, published in the last century, at the "King's Arms," Paternoster-row, London, contains the following sentence, which, as perhaps the first example of invention in reference to the country, may deserve remembrance:--"Stately groves, rivers, and lawns, of vast extent." "Thickets full of birds of the most beautiful plumage, of _various notes, whose melody was truly enchanting_. It was _now_ the time (29th January!) when nature poured forth her luxuriant exuberance, to clothe this country with rich variety."--Vol. ii. p. 425.]

[Footnote 7: _Voyage of Perouse_ (translation). London, 1799.

Letters buried in a bottle, beneath a tree in Adventure Bay, were found by Captain Bunker, of the _Venus_, in 1809, to which he was directed by the words, still legible, "dig underneath;" and supposed, from his imperfect knowledge of the language, that they were left by Perouse. In this he was mistaken: they were deposited by D'Entrecasteaux, at his second visit. _Bent's Almanack_, 1828, adopted Bunker's mistake: it was copied by Mr. Widowson, who adds--"these letters were dated one month after his departure from Port Jackson, and led to the opinion that the expedition must have perished on some reef of Van Diemen's Land. In consequence of this idea, the French government in 1791," &c. The first mistake can be allowed for; but not that a discovery of letters in 1809, prompted an expedition in 1791.]

[Footnote 8: _Hobart Town Gazette_, 1827.]

[Footnote 9: _Flinders' Introduction, &c._]

[Footnote 10:

Position of Low Head:--Lat. 41° 3' 30" S. Long. 146° 48' 15" E.--_Flinders._]

[Footnote 11: _Collins_, vol. ii. p. 183.]

[Footnote 12: _Remarks by Robert Brown, F.R.S. Appendix to Flinders_, vol. ii. p. 533.]

[Footnote 13: _Flinders_, vol. ii. p. 275. Jorgenson, the Dane, who was a seaman on board the _Lady Nelson_, tender to the _Investigator_, stated, in his rattling way, that she was in good condition, and absurdly insinuated foul play. The _Investigator_ was cut down, and returned to Europe in charge of Captain Kent, R.N.]

[Footnote 14: _Quarterly Review_, 1814.]

[Footnote 15: See _Flinders_, vol. i. p. 305.]

[Footnote 16: This statement, after Rev. Mr. Gell, is erroneous. Mougé died from diseases occasioned by the climate of Timor, and the hardships of the voyage (See Peron's work). He arrived in an exhausted and consumptive state: when he attempted to land (20th January, 1802), he fainted, and was instantly conveyed on board. He went no more on shore, but to the grave. He was buried at the foot of a tree, at Maria Island, and the name Point Mougé was given to the spot.

On the 17th January, the French were attacked by natives at Swan Port, and Mougé was probably of the party. A native attempted to snatch the drawings; "then to strike down our weak friend, when he was prevented by those who ran to his assistance." The French say, they loaded them with favors, and did not avenge this violence. It is, no doubt, this account which Mr. Gell confused with the death of Mougé.]

[Footnote 17: "The famous northern confederacy placed England on the verge of destruction, and Captain Hamilin had reason to fear that he should not have been allowed to remain in port, or at least should be refused succour; but the English received him with liberality, _grande et loyale_: the first houses at Port Jackson were open, and the whole resources of the colony were at the disposal of the French captain." "Oftentime did they repeat that excellent maxim, that France first inscribed on the code of nations: _causa scientiarum causa populorum_"--the cause of science is the people's cause. So writes M. Peron; but the benefit of these sentiments was denied Captain Flinders.]

[Footnote 18: _Cook's Voyages._]

[Footnote 19: _Tench's Narrative_, p. 99.]

[Footnote 20: "The _Astrolabe_, M. de la Perouse, and the _Boussole_, M. de L'Angle, were lost on the S. W. side of Manicolo. On one stormy dismal night, the oldest natives state, the vessels were blown upon a reef. One was a complete wreck by day-light, and all hands perished! From the other, however, some of the crew managed to effect a landing, when many of them were massacred as they gained the shore, the natives taking them for white spirits, with long noses (their cocked hats being considered a part of the face!). As soon as the unfortunate mariners were proved to be human beings, those that had escaped death from the waves and the savages were allowed to remain unmolested. A small vessel was built from the wrecks, which spot Captain Dillon saw; and as soon as the bark was ready, the survivors, with the exception of two, left Manicolo, and have never been heard of since! The natives further represented, whilst on the island, that the strangers were continually looking at the sun, and taking their usual observations. So late as six years ago, the two Frenchmen were alive; but one joined a party of the natives in a war, who were defeated: the other died at Manicolo about three years since. Captain Dillon has secured several nautical instruments, many silver spoons, a silver salver, which are all marked with the _fleur-de-lis_; a pair of gold buckles, some China ware, a Spanish dollar, a piece of the ornamental work of the stern of a ship (with the arms of France) much decayed; several brass sheaves belonging to a frigate's topmast, a composition pump, copper cooking utensils, a large quantity of iron knees; the silver handle of a sword-guard that was taken to Calcutta in the _St. Patrick_, which led to this important discovery, and which bears the ciphers of the unfortunate Count; several large brass guns, which were found where one vessel was totally wrecked; together with about four or five tons of other valuable and recognisable articles. Most of the houses, or huts, were found to have bags suspended to their sides, and those contained human sculls in a decaying condition; but whether they were of European or aboriginal extraction, in the absence of an able phrenologist, could not be ascertained."--_Sydney Gazette, January, 1828._

The following curious relation, is of a dream of John Maatzuiker, whose name is given by Tasman to a rock on the coast. On the 11th of Feb., 1662, he dreamed, "that he saw Arnold de Vlaming, member of the council of India and admiral of the fleet, who sailed for his native country on the 23rd of December, 1661, in extreme danger, and heard him call several times for help." The dream was repeated: "he then remained awake, noted the day," &c., "sealed it, and gave it to the other members of government." "Accounts were brought from the Cape, that the same day his ship and some others had sunk with man and mouse." "The paper still remains at Batavia, or did twenty years ago."--_Collection of remarkable Dreams, by Dr. Wm. Greve._ Amsterdam, 1819. The story is taken from _Old and New West Indies. By François Valentijn_. vol. iv. p. 312.]

[Footnote 21: Rossel, the editor of _D'Entrecasteaux's Voyage_, on returning homeward was captured by the English, and being a royalist was employed in the admiralty; but when emigrants were permitted to return, he went home, and was patronised by Napoleon. His account of D'Entrecasteaux is more favorable than that in the work of Labillardière.]

[Footnote 22: _Penny Cyclopædia_: art. Bass.]

[Footnote 23: _Ross's Almanack_, 1835.]

SECTION II.

The settlement of New Holland was proposed by Colonel Purry, in 1723: he contended that in 33° south, a fertile region would be found, favorable to European colonisation. He offered his theory to the British government, then to the Dutch, and afterwards to the French; but with little encouragement. His views were submitted to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, who replied that "they could not judge of countries they had not seen."[25] Thus the project slept, until the great English navigator in 1770 gave certainty to what had been conjecture.

To Dalrymple, the hydrographer, the impulse of this enterprising era is largely due. He fully believed that a vast southern continent must exist, to balance the antipodes. So firm was his conviction, that he defined its extent as "greater than the whole civilised part of Asia, from Turkey to the extremity of China. Its trade would be sufficient to maintain the power of Great Britain, employing all its manufactories and ships." The position of this region of fancy was traversed by Cook, who found nothing but ocean. The doctrine of terrestial counterpoise was disturbed; he, however, alighted on a great reality.

The description of New South Wales by Cook and his companions, which charmed the public, attracted the attention of the crown; and Botany Bay, named on account of the variety and beauty of its vegetation--long known through Europe as a region of gibbets, triangles, and chains; to be celebrated hereafter as the mistress of nations--was selected for a settlement. 565 men and 192 women, the pioneers of a larger division, were embarked under the charge of a military force composed of volunteers; comprehending, besides the staff, sixteen commissioned officers.

The fleet consisted of H.M.S. _Sirius_, _Hyena_, and _Supply_; six transports and three victuallers: they assembled at the Motherbank on the 16th March, and sailed on the 13th May, 1787.[26] They touched at Teneriffe, and then at the Cape. Separated into two divisions, they reached their destination within forty-eight hours of each other. On the day of their junction, dense clouds threw a gloom over the sea; but they rejected the omen, and believed that they had seen "the foundation, and not the fall of an empire." Having found the bay unsuitable for location, they proceeded to examine the port called after Jackson, a seaman, who observed it from the mast, and immortalised his name. As they passed the capes, which form an entrance, they were in raptures with the scene:--the tall mouldering cliffs; the trees, which touched the water's edge; and the magnificent harbour, four miles in length, begirt with a luxuriant shore.

It was on the 7th February, 1788, that the Governor was inaugurated: an area being cleared for the purpose, the military marched to the ground with music, and colors flying; 750 convicts, 212 marines and their officers, were assembled. The standard of England was unfurled, the commission of Phillip, the first governor, published, and the courts of justice proclaimed. The usual formalities being complete, Phillip turned to the prisoners, and declared his intentions. He had resolved to cherish and render happy such as might deserve his favour; but to allow the law its course with the impenitent and unreformed. In such language we discern the sentiments which prevailed: banishment, not punishment for past crimes, was implied in the cheering alternative. From that moment he possessed authority to manumit not less absolute than the sovereign, but immeasurably more power to avenge.

Those who first entered New Holland, and witnessed the elevation of the royal standard on the shores of Port Jackson, described in terms of despondency its barren soil, barely compensated by its salubrious atmosphere. Contemporary political writers looked coldly on the infant establishment, as the diseased and hopeless progeny of crime: one, which could never recompense the outlay of the crown, either by its vigour or its gratitude. The projects entertained, in connection with commerce, were the growth of flax and the supply of naval timber, both of which had been reported by Cook as indigenous to Norfolk Island. "When viewed in a commercial light," Captain Tench observes (writing in 1789), "the insignificance of the settlement is very striking." "Admitting the possibility," he continues, "that the country will hereafter yield a sufficiency of grain, the parent state must long supply the necessaries of life. The idea of breeding cattle sufficient to meet the consumption, must be considered very chimerical." Such desponding sentiments mostly attend the first stages of colonisation; but in a much later period, the enterprise was regarded with scarcely less suspicion: "Why," said a celebrated critic, "we are to erect penitentiaries and prisons, at the distance of half the diameter of the globe, and to incur the enormous expense of feeding and transporting its inhabitants, it is extremely difficult to discover. It is foolishly believed, that the colony of Botany Bay unites our moral and commercial interests, and that we shall receive, hereafter, an ample equivalent in the bales of goods, for all the vices we export."[27] With what obstinacy an idea once mooted is cherished, may be inferred from an opinion afterwards expressed by an authority of still greater pretension:--"The most sanguine supporter of New South Wales system of colonisation, will hardly promise himself any advantage from the produce it may be able to supply."[28] Its corn and wool, its timber and hemp, he excludes from the chances of European commerce, and declares that the whale fishery, after repeated failures, had been relinquished!

It is not less instructive than pleasing, to notice the past epochs of opinion: we find consolation against the dark clouds overshadowing the future, by discovering how many forebodings of ancient seers have vanished before the light of the event.

These discouraging views were not, however, universal. Many distinguished men imagined an advancement, which our age has been sufficient to realise. To commemorate the foundation of the colony the celebrated artist, Wedgewood, modelled, from clay brought from the neighbourhood of Sydney, an allegorical medallion, which represented Hope encouraging Art and Labor, under the influence of Peace.[29]

The French, however, always represented this colony as a masterpiece of policy; an element of Anglican power, pregnant with events. Peron, when dwelling on the moral prodigies of the settlement, declared that these but disguised the real objects of its founders, which, however, could not escape the discernment of statesmen: they saw the formidable germ of great revolutions.[30]

The expedition of Baudin was connected by English politicians[31] with a project of French colonisation. His instructions directed him to inspect narrowly the places eligible for occupation, and it was expected that an Australian Pondichery would become a new focus of rivalry and intrigue. The special injunctions to survey the inlets of Van Diemen's Land, seemed to indicate the probable site of an establishment so obnoxious.

Dr. Bass had, however, already examined this country with similar views, especially the margin of the rivers. To him no spot on the eastern side of the Derwent appeared to equal the neighbourhood of Risdon Creek, around which he observed an expanding area of fertile land. He delineated not less favorably the valley of the Tamar. This country he considered preferable to New South Wales: with a greater proportion of fertile soil, more amply supplied with water, and well adapted for colonisation.[32]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 24: _Introduction._ p. 120.]

[Footnote 25: _Literary Chronicle_, 1822.]

[Footnote 26: The incidents of the voyage are related by Captain Tench.]

[Footnote 27: _Edinburgh Review_, 1803.]

[Footnote 28: _Quarterly Review_, 1814.]

[Footnote 29: On this medal an author, quoted in _Phillip's Voyages_, ventured a poetical prophecy, which has at least the merit of truthfulness:--

VISIT OF HOPE TO SYDNEY COVE.

_Written by the author of the Botanic Garden_, 1791.

Where Sydney Cove her lucid bosom swells, Courts her young navies, and the storm repels; High on a rock, amid the troubled air, HOPE stood sublime, and wav'd her golden hair. "Hear me," she cried, "ye rising realms record Time's opening scenes, and Truth's unerring word: There shall broad streets their stately walls extend, The circus widen, and the crescent bend; There, ray'd from cities o'er the cultur'd land, Shall bright canals and solid roads expand. Embellish'd villas crown the landscape scene, Farms wave with gold, and orchards blush between; While with each breeze approaching vessels glide, And northern treasures dance on every tide!" Then ceas'd the nymph: tumultuous echoes roar, And Joy's loud voice was heard from shore to shore. Her graceful stops descending press'd the plain, And Peace, and Art, and Labor, joined the train.

_--Governor Phillip's Voyage to Botany Bay._]

[Footnote 30: Vol. i. p. 12.]

[Footnote 31: _Quarterly Review._]

[Footnote 32: _Collins's New South Wales_, vol. i. p. 180.]

HISTORY OF TASMANIA.

FROM 1803 TO 1824.

FROM 1803 TO 1824.

SECTION I.

The establishment of a settlement in Van Diemen's Land, perhaps thus hastened by the jealousy of a rival power, was at first chiefly intended to relieve Port Jackson. Fifteen years had elapsed since its foundation, and from six to seven thousand prisoners had been transported thither: dispersion became necessary to security--to repress alike the vices of the convicts, and the growing malversation of their taskmasters. The want of prisons, or places of punishment, and the indolence and intemperance of emancipist settlers, endangered authority.