UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR A PASS.

March 31.

This day at dawn I sent out a party under Mr. Lushington and Mr. Walker to try if any pass through the mountains could be found, but they returned in four or five hours to report that it was utterly impossible for horses to proceed further in the direction we desired. During their absence I had made a careful examination of the stores and found that, even at our reduced allowance, we had only provisions left for twenty days; our horses were also reduced in number to twelve, but these, excepting that their feet were sore, were rather improved in condition than otherwise since the commencement of the journey.

CAUSES FOR RETURNING.

My intention had always been, when I found myself reduced to such an extremity as the present, to proceed for a few days by forced marches towards the interior, accompanied by four men, and then, returning to the remainder of the party, to have taken all together back to the vessel; when there I knew I could have got four volunteers to accompany me and, having loaded the horses with ammunition and provisions, I had it in contemplation to have started with them again for Swan River. But these projects became now impracticable from the declining state of my health, consequent on having started too soon after having received my wound, to the exertions I was obliged daily to make whilst labouring under its effects, and to the want of those comforts which contribute so materially to restore an invalid to health. Our allowance of food too had been but scanty, and, whilst I fared as my men, who, unshattered in health, had yet grown thin and weak under privation, I, in proportion, had suffered far more.

PREPARATIONS TO RETURN.

Mr. Walker, who was aware of my design, came to me today and said he felt it his duty to recommend me without delay to return to the vessel; that as long as he thought the risk I ran was no more than he considered a man who had undertaken such a service should be prepared to incur, he had refrained from pressing this advice upon me, but in my present debilitated state exposure even for a single night might very probably cost me my life. To this opinion I felt constrained to yield, and Mr. Walker, having at my desire repeated it in a letter this afternoon, I arranged my plans accordingly.

LIGHT EXPLORING PARTY SENT FORWARD UNDER LIEUTENANT LUSHINGTON.

The march in advance, which, had my health permitted, I had intended to make myself, was now deputed to Mr. Lushington: four of those men who remained the strongest of our enfeebled band were selected for an excursion of three days under him; after which we were to return to the vessel.

April 1 and 2.

At dawn on Sunday the 1st the party started; and these two days I occupied myself in making magnetic and astronomical observations. Our latitude I found by two meridian altitudes of the moon to be 16 degrees 0 minutes 45 seconds south, and our longitude by chronometer 125 degrees 11 minutes east.

REPORT OF ADVANCED PARTY.

April 3.

Mr. Lushington’s party came in at 12 o’clock this day, reporting as follows: That they proceeded about eighteen miles from the camp upon a course of 195 degrees from the north, and the remaining half upon a course of 155 1/2 degrees; that the whole of their route lay over a country utterly impassable for horses owing to the steepness of the hills; that they crossed a great number of under-features at right angles to their route, between which lay small streams flowing away to the westward, and which under-features were so steep in their descent to the southward that, in going down, the men repeatedly fell: both grass and water were however everywhere abundant; and they saw, in the spots where the grass was most luxuriant, the root which I found on the hill at our first encampment on the good land. The last point they attained was a lofty hill which ran out from a range to the eastward, from which range sprang also all the under-features that they had crossed. From this hill they had an extensive view to the northward, eastward, and westward. The land they saw to the northward is laid down upon my map.

THEIR DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.

To the eastward they saw nothing but ranges of hills, precisely resembling those that we had crossed since entering this mountainous district; and to the westward others of the same nature, but gradually falling in that direction, whilst on the other hand the land seemed to rise gently to the eastward, though they saw no very high hills in an easterly direction. To the southward their view was impeded by a very high bluff point, distant six or seven miles, and a line of cliffs under which they conceived that a river or an opening of the sea may run, but if so, it could not be a stream of great magnitude. Their view of the base of the cliff was however impeded by the under-features of the hill on which they stood. They also noticed, as a very remarkable circumstance, that there were no signs of these mountains having been visited by the natives. The first part of their route lay over an extensive plain, four miles in width, which bore no appearance of the great native conflagrations having ever reached it. This was so generally the case that, when they halted, they were unable to obtain a sufficiency of firewood. They saw a native dog of the regular Australian breed; kangaroos were abundant, but these as well as all other game were much less wild than any of the party had before observed.

The foregoing summary of the information brought back rests not on the report of any one individual but expresses the opinions of the party with regard to those points on which they were all agreed; and the only one as to which I have any distrust is that of the distance they went, which I believe to be overrated; having always found the estimates of every one of the party as to the daily distance travelled very erroneous, and sometimes more than doubled. This indeed is a mistake well known to be of common occurrence, and very difficult to guard against in a new and wild country, and when I consider the diminished strength of the men’s pedestrian powers, and the weights they had to carry, I am disposed to calculate that the total direct distance they made did not exceed, if it equalled, twelve miles.

WANT OF FIREWOOD.

Their report of want of firewood is singular as, in all other parts which we passed over, even upon plains of a similar character though not so highly elevated or so difficult of access, we had always found the ground thickly covered with trees which had fallen from the effects of the native fires.

The only remarkable circumstances about the spot we were encamped in were the great coldness of the nights and mornings; and moreover that exactly at nine o’clock every morning a cold breeze, in character precisely resembling a sea-breeze, set in from the south-east and lasted until about half-past three in the afternoon.

RETURN. COMMENCEMENT OF MARCH BACK.

April 4.

We this day started on our march homewards. I was afraid, from the appearance of the weather, that we might soon have rain, and, as a continuance of it for even three or four days might have prevented our passing the rivers for several weeks, it became necessary that this part of our march should be accomplished with the utmost celerity. I therefore made the first river before I allowed a halt for breakfast. On our route we passed the spot where, on the 29th ultimo, we had been compelled to kill the horse; the native dogs had already made it a perfect skeleton and scattered its bones about.

NATIVE AND HIS DOG.

I committed unintentionally this day what must have appeared to the natives a very wanton act of aggression: as we were passing the river, a dog, not of the Australian breed, came from a pass in the rocks on the opposite side, moving quietly towards us over some flat rocks; when he had advanced a few yards from the pass he stopped and looked back, so that from his manner I might have known that his master was near, but without reflection I fired and struck the ground close to him; he became alarmed and ran back in the same line he had come; I now took up my own rifle and just as he turned a point in the rocks I fired, and, although a very long shot, I struck him far forward in the shoulder. For a moment he staggered, then turned round and limped up a glen in the hills in quite a different direction. I had neither time nor strength to follow him, but on passing the river I found from the tracks that minute made that a single native had been coming down to the river with the dog, and had (probably from hearing the shots) turned sharp off to the right and made his escape into some bushes. This day the weakness of our last sheep obliged us to kill it.

CONTINUATION OF ROUTE BACK. CHANGE OF TRACK.

April 5.

I continued on our old track this morning until I had passed the other river, and then, quitting our former route, made a push straight over the sandstone ridge for our old enemy the marsh, as I felt sure after the present long continuance of fine weather that it would be now quite passable. We encamped this night on the sandstone range under a group of lofty firs, or rather pines.

April 6.

I found a very easy route over the sandstone, quite passable in fine weather, but after rains, I think, from the marshy nature of the ground, that it would present some difficulty. The marsh itself was perfectly passable, could without any difficulty be drained, and consisted of good and fertile land. A remarkable circumstance connected with it was the great depth of the beds of its streams, the banks in some places being fourteen feet above the existing water level, whilst I could observe no signs of the water having ever risen to that height. In the afternoon I once more struck our old track, which I quitted again in the evening. We halted a few hundred yards from two remarkable heaps of stones of the same kind as those I have before mentioned.

CURIOUS NATIVE MOUNDS OR TOMBS OF STONES.

April 7.

This morning I started off before dawn and opened the most southern of the two mounds of stones which presented the following curious facts:

1. They were both placed due east and west and, as will be seen by the annexed plates, with great regularity.

2. They were both exactly of the same length but differed in breadth and height.

3. They were not formed altogether of small stones from the rock on which they stood, but many were portions of very distant rocks, which must have been brought by human labour, for their angles were as sharp as the day they were broken off; there were also the remains of many and different kinds of seashells in the heap we opened.

My own opinion concerning these heaps of stones had been that they were tombs; and this opinion remains unaltered, though we found no bones in the mound, only a great deal of fine mould having a damp dank smell. The antiquity of the central part of the one we opened appeared to be very great, I should say two or three hundred years; but the stones above were much more modern, the outer ones having been very recently placed; this was also the case with the other heap: can this be regarded by the natives as a holy spot?

We explored the heap by making an opening in the side, working on to the centre, and thence downwards to the middle, filling up the former opening as the men went on; yet five men provided with tools were occupied two hours in completing this opening and closing it again, for I left everything precisely as I had found it. The stones were of all sizes, from one as weighty as a strong man could lift, to the smallest pebble. The base of each heap was covered with a rank vegetation, but the top was clear, from the stones there having been recently deposited.

PASS IN MOUNTAIN RANGE.

In the afternoon we proceeded on our route, travelling nearly north. After marching some distance we traversed at right angles a variety of under-features terminating in sandstone cliffs, but the hills on our right were composed of the same black rock as the chain in which Mount Lyell lies. Private Mustard being ill, I gave him my horse and tried to walk, but injured myself materially by so doing. We were obliged to encamp at the head of a large mangrove inlet.

April 8.

It being Sunday I halted all the morning and only started late in the afternoon. Our route lay through a mountainous country and consequently our progress was slow. Quartz was here largely developed in rocks. We halted this evening in a valley surrounded by mountains.

PASS MOUNT LYELL.

April 9.

We started at dawn and soon found that the valley we had encamped in was the true pass across the range of mountains. It ran in nearly a south-west direction to the foot of Mount Lyell. Here I halted for breakfast; and, on finding my position by cross bearings, which I was now able to do, and comparing it with my position by dead reckoning, was glad to find that the error only amounted to 150 yards. The valley we travelled up in the morning was fertile, connected with several other large ones of similar character, and contained two small lakes, or large ponds of water, the least of which was elevated considerably above the low ground in the neighbourhood. In the afternoon we crossed the mountains by a narrow neck, which is the best pass over this range of hills for anyone travelling to the south and east. We crossed our old track twice in the afternoon and encamped in the evening under a conical hill.

April 10.

Started at dawn, travelling nearly north-west, and crossed the heads of all the streams which I had before seen emptying themselves into the river Glenelg in the opening lying between Mount Sturt and Mount Eyre. Just under the point where we encamped for the night was a large marsh in which my horse got bogged and I had a severe fall.

CONTINUATION OF ROUTE.

April 11.

On starting this morning all the party insisted that they saw a hill, under which our old track had passed. I felt convinced that such could not be the case; and, had it been so, an error of four miles must have existed in my map: yet all were so positive of their correctness that I felt it would appear like obstinacy in me not to yield to the general opinion. I therefore quitted our direct course to make for the foot of this hill, and there convinced myself that I was right; yet, even when we had now passed it, proceeding on our route, I heard several remark, “We shall soon march back here again.” But this evening I had the pleasure of halting under the sandstone range, and the very hill we had wished to gain.

RECOVERY OF BURIED STORES.

April 12.

We marched early, and on the way passed more native tombs; when we came to the place where the horse had been left I found that, through inadvertence on the part of the man who led him, he had been starved to death, having been left tethered. This discovery shocked me much. Some of the stores which had been left where he fell and covered with a tarpaulinremained uninjured. We proceeded onwards to the camp where I had lain so long wounded, and, on arriving found all our provisions in good order, the natives apparently not having since visited the spot. We were not a little glad to find our preserved meats which had been left buried here. Halted for the night, and enjoyed our repast.

PRECAUTIONS ON REACHING HANOVER BAY.

April 13.

After digging up our supply of preserved meats yesterday we had made rather more free with them than was prudent in men who had been for so long a time compelled to subsist upon very scanty fare, and in consequence had been nearly all affected with violent sickness; and, as six of the party, including Mr. Lushington and myself, were now ill, we did not start very early; the remaining ponies were also so weak that they could scarcely carry themselves, and we therefore were only able to place very light loads upon them.

I have already described the very difficult nature of the country we had to traverse; but the roads we had previously constructed through it proved extremely serviceable. So little had they been injured that they formed a very fair and passable line of communication. Early in the evening we crossed the Lushington and halted at the summit of the cliffs which formed its northern bank.

April 14.

I sent the most efficient of the party back with the horses for the remaining stores whilst with four men I remained in charge of the tents.

ANXIETY ON APPROACHING HANOVER BAY.

Sunday April 15.

Our anxiety to ascertain if any accident had happened to the schooner now became very great: since such a circumstance was of course by no means impossible. As our position would then have been very precarious, and our only chance of ultimate safety have rested on the most exact discipline and cautious rules of conduct being observed from the very first, I thought it would be most prudent not to allow such a calamity (had it occurred) to burst too suddenly upon the men when they were quite unprepared for it.

Two of them were therefore selected and, accompanied by these, I started before daylight for the sandy beach in Hanover Bay; leaving the party to make the best of their way to the heights above the valley where we had first encamped, and where plenty of food and water could be found for the ponies; these, in the event of anything having happened to the schooner, would become the mainstay of our hopes.

These arrangements having been made we moved off through the rocky difficult country we had first encountered: every step we took was over well-known ground, in which no change had taken place save that there were evident marks of bodies of natives having been in the neighbourhood since our departure.

As I proceeded nearly in a direct line to Hanover Bay we encountered some difficulty from the broken character of the ground, but about eleven o’clock had gained the hilly country at the back of the beach, from whence however we could not obtain a view of the spot where the vessel lay. On emerging from the mangroves upon the beach we saw painted upon the sandstone cliffs, in very large letters, “Beagle Observatory, letters south-east 52 paces.”

REJOIN THE LYNHER. MEETING WITH THE BEAGLE.

No one who has not been similarly situated can at all conceive the thrill which went through me when these letters first met my eye; even had anything happened to the schooner, friends were upon the coast, and I knew that Captain Wickham, who had passed a great portion of his life in adventures of this kind, would leave nothing undone which was in his power to ensure our safety. We now hurried across the beach, and on gaining the highest part of it saw the little schooner riding safely at anchor. A gun being fired all became life and expectation on board the vessel; and whilst the boat pulled ashore we searched for our letters. These had however not yet been deposited at the spot indicated, and I therefore conjectured that we should find them on board.

On reaching the vessel we learnt that the mate was gone to the Beagle, now lying in Port George the Fourth but expected to sail this very day. It appeared that at 7 o’clock on the morning of the 8th the report of four carronades was heard on board the schooner; this was conjectured by all to denote the presence of the Beagle on the coast, but the echo ran from cliff to cliff with so many reverberations that none could tell from what direction the sound had originally proceeded. The silence of the night was not again disturbed; and those on board the schooner felt no small solicitude to know if their conjectures were correct, and if so in what direction the Beagle lay.

ARRIVAL OF THE BEAGLE.

The next morning the mystery was cleared up. Before noon a yawl was seen to round the headland and to stand across the bay in the direction of the mouth of Prince Regent’s River. As soon as the schooner was recognised the yawl altered her course, and Captain Wickham was soon on board the Lynher, making anxious enquiries for us and ascertaining what steps could be taken to assist us and promote our views.

From that time up to the present date the Beagle had lain in Port George the Fourth to take in wood, water, etc., and to await the return of Mr. Stokes, who was absent exploring the coast between Collier’s Bay and Port George the Fourth.

As there was no time to lose I at once started in a boat for the Beagle, and it was late in the evening when we drew near it. I could see anxious groups looking eagerly at the little boat as it drew near, and when at length we were recognised the hearty cheers that greeted us as we came up alongside plainly showed that the pleasure of meeting was not confined to ourselves.

RESULTS OF HER SURVEY.

As Mr. Stokes was hourly expected to return, and I was very anxious to know if he had discovered the mouth of the Glenelg, I remained on board the Beagle and, as all had much to hear and much to communicate, the evening wore rapidly away. The next day Mr. Stokes arrived, having seen nothing of the mouth of the river; this however in my apprehension arose from the greater portion of the time they were absent having been spent in the examination of Collier’s Bay, which was the point of by far the greatest interest and promise; and that consequently they were compelled, from want of time and supplies, to examine the intervening coastline less narrowly than its irregular character rendered necessary. What rather confirms this opinion is, that Captain King, in his survey of this part, states his belief, drawn from observation, that it is indented with inlets similar to Prince Regent’s River, now this is exactly the character of the Glenelg.

Mr. Stokes described Camden Sound as being one of the finest harbours he had seen; and, such being the case, it must undoubtedly be the most important position on this part of the coast. It lies close to the Glenelg and Prince Regent’s River, two large navigable streams; and I have already declared my opinion that I have never seen a richer tract of country than the extensive alluvial and basaltic districts in the neighbourhood of the Glenelg, and under the rare circumstance of lying between two navigable rivers which are separated from each other by so short an interval.

PREPARATIONS FOR REEMBARKING.

Soon after Mr. Stokes’s arrival I started for the Lynher, and the next morning repaired on shore. During my absence on board the Beagle fourteen natives had made their appearance near the encampment on the cliffs above the valley; they appeared however to have been solely attracted from motives of curiosity and a desire to visit our former huts. From the fearful disposition which had hitherto been evinced by the natives of these parts it was necessary however that every precaution should be observed. This was most carefully done by Mr. Lushington; and as soon as the natives saw that they were watched they moved off and were not again observed, although the smokes of their fires were visible in several points.

On the 17th we commenced our preparations for leaving this part of the coast. The stores remaining were all carried on board. We had but eleven ponies left, the greater number of which were so marked and scarred from falls amongst the rocks that they would have been valueless if brought to sale; besides which, to have cut and dried a quantity of grass sufficient for them until we reached the Isle of France would, in the burnt up state of the country, have delayed us many days, had we even succeeded at last. On the other hand, if left free in the bush, two good mares which were amongst them might possibly be the means of giving a very valuable race of horses to this country. These considerations determined me; and the companions of our weary wanderings were turned loose a new race upon the land; and, as we trusted, to become the progenitors of a numerous herd.

STATE OF THE PLANTS AND SEEDS LEFT AT THE ENCAMPMENT.

Our whole residence in this country had been marked by toils and sufferings. Heat, wounds, hunger, thirst, and many other things had combined to harass us. Under these circumstances it might have been imagined that we left these shores without a single regret; but such was far from being the case: when the ponies had wandered off, when all the remaining stores had been removed, and the only marks of our residence in this valley were a few shattered bark huts, young coconut plants, a bread-fruit, and some other useful trees and plants, I felt very loth to leave the spot. I considered what a blessing to the country these plants must eventually prove if they should continue to thrive as they had yet done and, as I called to mind how much forethought and care their transport to their present position had occasioned, I would very gladly have passed a year or two of my life in watching over them and seeing them attain to a useful maturity. One large pumpkin plant in particular claimed my notice. The tropical warmth and rains, and the virgin soil in which it grew, had imparted to it a rich luxuriance: it did not creep along the ground, but its long shoots were spreading upwards amongst the trees. The young coconuts grew humbly amidst the wild plants and reeds, their worth unknown. Most of these plants I had placed in the ground myself, and had watched their early progress: now they must be left to their fate.

REEMBARKATION.

Amidst such thoughts we resumed our course down the valley and embarked in the boats; but had not proceeded far when a dog belonging to one of the men was missed and, as we could not abandon so faithful a companion, a party returned to search for it, and the dog was brought safely on board.

SAIL FOR THE MAURITIUS.

We then weighed and sailed for the Isle of France, where we arrived on the 17th May without having met with any circumstance on our voyage worthy of record.