1 May to 8 May, 1836

On Sunday the 1st. of May, 1836, we left the City Canal, Blackwall and were towed down the river in the Nelson Steamer to the [tooltip color=”grey” text=”The Nore is a sandbank in the mouth of the Thames River outside London. It was a hazard to shipping so a lightship (a ship carrying a light similar to a lighthouse) was anchored there from 1793. The light warned ships away from the sandbank and provided a marker that showed ships where they were.”] Nore [/tooltip] where a contrary wind compelled us to anchor at 7. p.m.  At 8 p.m. the breeze freshened and increased to a gale which detained us till Tuesday when we again weighed and made fast in the [tooltip color=”grey” text=”A steamer is a steam ship or steam boat. Small paddle steamers were used to tow ships in confined waters such as the Thames estuary.”] Steamer [/tooltip]. We finally cast off from her at the North Foreland on the 4th. at 1 p.m. and made sail with a moderate and fair breeze down Channel, taking our departure from the Lizard on the following Sunday.

On the 9th. and 10th. we passed many fragments of wrecks, some covered with barnacles and others of recent date. From this time nothing worth noting occurred till Sunday 15th

From this time nothing worth noting occurred till Sunday 15th. when at 5 a.m. we made the Island of Madeira which we passed about six leagues to the Westward with beautiful weather, but the distance was too great to observe any other feature of the Island than its extreme height, the summit appearing far above […]

On Wednesday 25th. we saw St. Antonio – one of the Cape de Verds – and on the following day, the Island of Brava.

June 3rd. Lat.4.35.

We [tooltip color=”grey” text=”To speak a ship is to communicate with it by voice or signals.”] spoke [/tooltip] the ship ‘Zenobia’ from Calcutta and it being [tooltip color=”grey” text=”Without wind.”] calm [/tooltip] the Captain and several of the Officers dined on board of us. Mr. Bluett, the Surgeon of the Zenobia, came to see me as I was very ill labouring under severe Palpitations, the result of excessive vomiting. I did not conquer the seasickness till seven weeks after leaving England and by this time I was reduced to a perfect skeleton.  Bluett promised to call on my dear Friends in London and give them some account of me as I was too ill to write….

On Wednesday 8th. June we crossed the Equator and the usual absurd ceremony was performed on all the uninitiated except myself – my state of health and giving the Ship’s Company a [tooltip color=”grey” text=”A form of British currency, the gold sovereign has been minted to exacting specifications since 1817. Each sovereign contains exactly 7.3224 grams of gold (22 carats). It was worth nominally one pound.”]sovereign[/tooltip] exempted me –

We rounded Cape of Good Hope on the 12th. of July. On approaching the Latitude of the Cape we were attended by hundreds of albatrosses and Cape pigeons. I succeeded in taking several of the Latter with a hook and line but the former were far too wary. These birds were our constant companions till […]

This [Amsterdam Island] was the last land we saw till Wednesday 17th. August when we made Kangaroo Island. It was very indistinct and the weather being thick and squally we again lost sight of it till the following day when at 8 a.m. we saw the whole of the South Side of the island. The […]

…  I started after breakfast to explore it with my gun on my shoulder… The soil being very poor and sandy at the mouth of the river but gradually improved as I proceeded up so that we may expect better land in the interior. I have had tolerable sport with my gun shooting sufficient seafowl for the Mess Dinner tomorrow. Returned on board at 5 p.m. and having very satisfactorily appeased my appetite I shall now turn in.

Friday, 26th. August.

I again went on shore this morning with Jacob – a young surveyor – for the purpose of shooting at salt lagoon about eight miles along the shore and a more unpleasant and fatiguing walk I never remember. The heat was excessive and our pocket pistols were soon exhausted. We made a diligent but ineffectual search for fresh water, but I was determined to proceed to the lagoon which we reached about midday. Here we were very much disappointed finding instead a fine sheet of water covered with wild fowl, a miserable salt swamp – merely an inlet of the Bay – with nothing on it but screeching curlews and these so wary that we had no chance of killing any. The Island even at this Season swarms with mosquitoes and today they have bitten me so unmercifully, giving me rather an unpleasant idea of the pleasures of the summer season. On our return we penetrated a little way into the bush and here found the trees very similar to those at the Eastern side of the Bay. The Clematis grows in great abundance which together with a species of Mimosa, having very much the smell of May, imparts a delicious fragrance to the air. This, however, does not compensate for the want of water which is here very distressing. The wells that have been dug near the tents producing after much labour nothing but salt water. I hope to God we shall find better cheer when we visit the main – this is dreary enough and I begin to sigh for Old England with all her faults and all the dear Friends I have left there.

Saturday 27th August.

Some of the settlers came on board this morning bringing with them for sale two of a small species of opossum called by them “Wallobees”. These animals are anything but tempting to the sight having much the appearance of an enormous rat. They, like the opossum and kangaroo, are provided with a pouch for the reception of their young on the appearance of danger, and it is a curious fact that most of the quadrupeds of this country have the same appendage. Disgusting as these animals were to our eyes they were excessively grateful to the palate after having lived so long on ships’ fare. I breakfasted on board the “Duke of York” off hot rolls and ham so that I have come off sumptuously in the provider line today and stand well in the way of doing so tomorrow as Hill and myself with the boat’s crew have just caught two superb fish in the seine. There must have been a great mortality among the kangaroos on this island since Flinder’s time or he must have mistaken the walloby for them as we have not seen one and the Sealers say there are none

The Bay has presented today a singular scene of bustle and merriment on the occasion of a wedding on board the ‘John Pirie’. The ceremony was performed by the Captain after which the happy pair proceeded to the tents where the marriage dinner was prepared. Our crew was invited to the feast which wound up with one or two amicable fights, amongst which the Bride and Bridegroom were conspicuous. The afternoon being very fine I went on shore for a walk but was very soon driven on board again by my implacable enemies – the mosquitoes. They use me very ill and cause me so much irritation on my skin that I am obliged to scratch for half an hour at a time and the consequence is that the bites soon degenerate into ulcers. I have been diligent in my search for Butterflies for dear Melliora but have, as yet, been very unsuccessful. There are, however, some very good shells on the beach and I hope soon to make a collection for her.

Went on shore this morning to see a patient at the tents and after refusing a pressing invitation from Mr. Bird’s Eye, one of the Settlers, to dine on walloby and new potatoes, returned on board to clean my gun and make preparations for an early start to the river tomorrow. I picked up two […]

Started at daybreak with Field and Jacob to shoot along the banks of the river and to see something of the interior of the Island. After the first two miles we were gratified by finding a flat of very superior soil to any we had seen extending many miles on each side of the stream. […]

Went on board the ‘Duke of York” at 7 a.m. this morning and was much pleased to find my patient better. Returned to my own vessel after breakfast and have been mending old clothes best part of the morning. The Sealers again visited us this morning bringing with them two native men and a woman belonging to the Main. These men are brothers and one of them is the father of the woman who lives with the Sealers on this Island. They were much better looking than we had expected and probably are a good specimen of their tribe – their stature is about 5’6” and their limbs very small – their complexion dark copper-coloured – their features are coarse but exceedingly good-humoured, occasionally giving way to immoderate fits of laughter especially when we gave them brandy and tobacco of which they seemed very fond. They have large flat noses and exceedingly long beards – their hair is not woolly. They are a very ignorant and indolent set of men depending entirely on their women for the means of subsistence which are very uncertain and which probably accounts for their emaciated appearance.

Repeated my visit to the river and have had excellent sport, but was hurried on board by the appearance of a ship in offing which we took to be the long expected “Cygnet”, but found, on her showing her number, that it was the “Pelham” that had put to sea two days before – we […]

Went on board the “Duke of York” and as Frill [Field?] was very ill remained on board all the rest of the day.

I have not left the vessel today as it has been blowing a gale and the weather has been in other respects as disagreeable as it was yesterday. Field, I am happy to say, is better. My occupations have been reading, mending old clothes and cleaning my gun.

This morning I heard that the “Duke of York” was to sail tomorrow for Van Diemen’s Land, consequently I have remained on board writing a letter (No. 1) to my mother.

Before breakfast I again visited my patients on board the “Duke of York” and at the tents on shore I have had the satisfaction of dismissing from the list two which I am endeavouring to get sent to the hospital at Hobart Town. One of these is suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism and […]

… We have hired one of the Sealers and his two native women to go to [tooltip color=”grey” text=”the Mainland”] the Main [/tooltip] with us, and as they have capital dogs they will answer a double purpose, that of providing fresh food, and by means of the women conciliating the natives should they prove hostile. The Sealers living on Kangaroo Island are Englishmen – some of them having deserted their ships to settle here – and others being runaway convicts from Sydney. We were given to understand that they were little better than pirates, but were agreeably surprised to find them a civil set of men and they will be of much use in forming a colony here. For their honesty I cannot answer as we do not put temptation in their way. Some of these men have whale boats in which they frequently cross over to Cape Jervis from which place they have at different times stolen the women who now live with them. These women are very clever at snaring game and fish for their Keepers whilst the men remain at their little farms on the Island. One of these by the name of Walland has a farm about seven miles up the river which does him great credit as he has several acres of flourishing wheat and most of the English vegetables. He has been fourteen years on the Island and is called the “Governor” – he has two native wives.

We left Nepean Bay at 9 a.m. this morning to proceed to Gulf St. Vincent, but at 3 p.m. it fell so calm that we were obliged to drop anchor about halfway across the passage – There was a fine breeze all the morning but as it was not fair, which together with the tide […]

Weighed at daybreak and after a very pleasant sail came to at 1 p.m. just under the western side of Cape Jervis in a Bay affording good shelter except for North-West winds. The land from the ship had a very promising appearance and when we landed, which a party of us did after dinner we […]

We weighed at daybreak and ran in a mile nearer the beach and after breakfast Hill and I with the jolly-boat’s crew took the seine and our guns on shore, but with both were equally unsuccessful. We however had more time for examining the country and the more we saw of it the more we […]

Remained on board all day as the weather was not tempting and I felt fatigued with yesterday’s ramble. The women returned this morning with a fine kangaroo part of which Hill and myself dined off. All the rest of the Officers dined on shore at the tents. They have been busy digging up a piece […]

8 p.m. Sunday, 11th September. Our Sealer and his women were dispatched this morning to Encounter Bay to endeavour to engage some of the natives to take care of the garden during our cruize. I have again remained at home all day. The weather is again fair, the wind having moderated.

9 p.m. Monday, 12th September. This morning Field and I started with the jolly-boat after breakfast to try our luck with the hook and line and in the course of two hours we caught sufficient fish for all hands. Among them were the Bream, Cavaheros Rock-Cod and a very curious looking fish called by our […]

10 p.m. Tuesday, 13th September I have spent this day much in the same way as yesterday i.e., in the forenoon preparing fishing gear and the afternoon in making use of it and have been equally successful. “The Parrot-Fish” has been eaten by some of the crew and has proved wholesome.

Wednesday 14th September.

This morning, the weather being beautiful, Field and I started after breakfast with our guns and penetrated nearly three miles into the interior which considering the height of the hills we found a very long and fatiguing walk. We met with no sport but the views from the top of the hills were beautiful. The soil in the valleys is excellent but that on the hills is shallow and mixed with rock and stones of many kinds, viz: lime-stone, coarse slate and an inferior kind of marble. We found some fine Cypress and Cedar trees, likewise daisies similar to those found in English meadows. Flinders mentions a peculiar feature of the country which we found very striking in today’s excursion. I allude to the combustion which a great part of the trees have undergone and which I can only attribute to the passage of the Electric fluid and not, as some have said, to the burning of the bush by the natives. My reasons for coming to this conclusion are first, that the same phenomenon exists in Kangaroo Is. Where there are no natives: and secondly, that the trees thus found are for the most part isolated, there being no traces of combustion around them – indeed I have in many instances found a large tree reduced almost to charcoal surrounded by and close to a cluster of others in a state of vigorous health. There are many speculations on this subject which will be, I doubt not, soon set at rest. If lightning had been the cause we shall most probably see its most recent effects in the summer and our intercourse with the natives will satisfy us as to its being their handywork or not. We dined at the tents and then came off.

9 p.m. Thursday, 15th Sept.

After we had turned in last night Captain Martin came on board on his way to Kangaroo Island from his trip up the Gulf. He gave us a very favourable account of the country and the few natives he met with were peaceable – but as we are going the same road in a day or two we shall be able to judge for ourselves. After breakfast Martin, Hill and myself went on shore to the tents and had not long been there before our Sealer returned from Encounter Bay bringing with him eight of the natives who promised to take care of our garden. These men are much the same in appearance and belong to the same tribe as the two we saw on the Island. There were no women with them except those belonging to the Sealers. It appears that the small-pox commits great ravages against them as three of them were deeply pitted and one has lost an eye from the same disease. Two of them had congenital malformations – the most singular – of the arm, there being in the place of that useful member a shrivelled stump not more than ten inches in length with three small appendages the rudiments of fingers at the end of it. They are all more or less tattooed in a very rude way, the principal incisions being on the back and two very large ones of a similar shape over each blade-bone. Their faces are free from these mutilations which are made with pieces of flint. This tribe is a very small one – a great number being carried off yearly by disease and a still greater number being put to death shortly after their birth. They hold a …[pages torn from journal]

…The [tooltip color=”grey” text=”A light, narrow ship’s boat that could be rowed or sailed.”] gig [/tooltip] has returned without having found a passage to the mouth of the river – the day being too far gone to admit of a further search this evening…

Sunday, 25th September.

Both boats went away this morning to find the mouth of the river but they have as yet been baffled in their search – a deep channel was seen this afternoon from the mast-head taking a circuitous course nearly parallel with the shore and Field who took the jolly-boat to sound in it believes it to be that of the river, he does not, however, think that there is depth enough for the [tooltip color=”grey” text=”A sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts.”] Brig [/tooltip] as in some parts of it he only found five feet at low-water, what the rise and fall is we have not ascertained. Colonel Light intends to make an early start tomorrow and I hope he will be more successful as it is far from pleasant lying at so great a distance from the land without being able to get a run. Bradley, our Boatswain, has been discharged from duty today for insolence to the [tooltip color=”grey” text=”First officer directly coming under the command of the captain. Ships’ Mates were responsible for supervising watches, crew, navigation and safety equipment, and sometimes even served as the ship’s doctor.”] First-Mate [/tooltip]. This is the first rumpus we had had since we left England.

9 p.m. Monday, 25th September. Colonel Light has at length found the mouth of the river which is a considerable one, but he of opinion that there is a larger one higher up the Gulf described by Captain Jones and as it would detain us two or three weeks to survey this one properly he […]

…Colonel Light is of opinion that we have passed all the rivers on this side of the Gulf and that the one he went to yesterday is the one described by Captain Jones – the distance we kept from the shore while running along it renders this highly probable. Colonel Light intends to retrace his steps and while the [tooltip color=”grey” text=”A sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts.”] Brig [/tooltip] keeps at a safe distance the surveying boat is to run close in so that nothing in the shape of a river can thus escape us…At daybreak this morning I went with the boat to haul up the net which we had left in the water all night – we found it full of fish but our disappointment to see nothing but dog-fish and sting-ray. Of the latter, bad and coarse as it was, we ate heartily at breakfast. It is not unlike Skait and I have ordered some of it to be hung for a day or two to give it a fair trial. The former were a very disgusting looking fish resembling the dog-fish of the English shores in all except the head which was bony and in shape like a gurnet. Anything in the shape of fresh provisions is so acceptable that, uninviting as these fish are, we intend having some fried for breakfast tomorrow. We have had no kangaroo for some time not having had an opportunity of landing our women and dogs.

9 p.m. Lat 34.46 Wednes. 28th We weighed at 9 a.m. and returned to our last anchorage where we came to at 1 p.m. The Surveying Boat kept close inshore but has discovered nothing new. There is a great doubt after all as to there being a river here as what was taken for the […]

Thursday, 29th September…Pullen has returned with the surveying boat but is not certain as to the non-existence of a river, having seen a deep wide creek which he did not examine. Captain Light intends going himself tomorrow…

Friday, 30th September. I have not left the ship today. Colonel Light and Pullen left early this morning. It has been blowing a fresh breeze from the North-West all day which has been very warm with a fine clear sky. The thermometer has risen to 700 in the cabin.

Colonel returned early this morning without having discovered any river, but there are many creeks running inland from the Channel in some of which the water is brackish…

Sunday, 2nd October. About 9 p.m. last night the wind again shifted to the S.W. and increased to a strong gale which has blown ever since. As the wind was right on shore we let go another anchor and veered away so much cable that this morning we ran foul of the surveying boat that […]

Monday, 3rd October. Some of our Officers having imagined they saw the mouth of a larger river about two miles to the southward of us, we weighed anchor after breakfast and the Brig proceeded in the direction indicated while another party which I joined, walked along the shore a distance of six miles without finding […]

9 p.m. Tuesday, 4th October.
Remained on board all day. Colonel Light has been four miles up the river with which he is much pleased – the water is very good and it abounds with teal and other wild fowl. On the plain to the right of it he discovered several fresh water lagoons some of which are nearly a mile in length. The mouth of the stream is Lat. 34.59.

9 p.m. Wednesday, 5th October.
I have not been on shore today having been busy [tooltip color=”grey” text=”casting lead for his gun”] casting balls[/tooltip], cleaning my gun and mending my [tooltip color=”grey” text=”underwear”] inexpressibles[/tooltip]. Claughton and Jacob who took their guns up the river this morning have returned with two brace and a half of Teal – the second fresh meal we have fallen in with this week. This worth recording as fresh meals come so few and far between and I am sorry to say some of the men are beginning to suffer for the want of them.