Читать книгу An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island - John Hunter A.A. - Страница 18

Table of Contents

Depart from Robin's Island, and anchor in Table Bay.--The sick sent on shore.--Arrival of the Alexander transport.--Provisions procured for the settlement at Port Jackson.--Departure of the Sirius.--In great danger from a violent tempest.--Arrives safe at Port Jackson.--Tables of the winds, weather, variation of the compass, &c.

As soon as the ship was anchored, we sent a boat with the first lieutenant on shore to the island, for such news from Europe as the commanding officer there might be able to give; I wished also to know if Governor Van de Graaff was still at the Cape, and if Colonel Gordon was still commander in chief of the troops in garrison there.

The officer commanding at the island was exceedingly civil to the lieutenant who went on shore, and gave him every information he could; but it was unfortunate that the one could not speak a word of English, nor the other understand a word of Dutch: however, it was observed, that he wore a large orange cockade in his hat, and although he could not converse, he made the officer sufficiently understand, by broken expressions of half English and half Dutch, that the English and Dutch were very good friends again, and that the French had no connection at all with Holland: from all which I conjectured, that some considerable changes had taken place in the affairs of the republic, since our departure from England, and that the Stadtholder had been reinstated in all his rights.

On hearing what a long voyage we had come, the officer was so kind as to send a basket of such fruit as his garden afforded; which, (to make the dejected sick well assured we were really in port,) were sent down and divided among them, for until then some of them very much doubted.

In the morning of the 2d of January, with a fine breeze from the northward, we got under way, and sailed up to Table Bay. I had generally understood, that the depth of water between this island and the anchorage in Table Bay, was so very considerable as to be unsafe for anchorage, in case of being becalmed, or otherwise not able to reach the proper anchoring ground. I was the more inclined to believe that to be the case, from never having seen the soundings laid down in any chart of this bay, except where ships commonly anchor: I therefore, to ascertain whether that were the case or not, determined to go up under an easy sail, and to keep the lead going; the soundings were regular, and the deepest water was 15 fathoms; the ground was hard and probably not very clear, but still there is anchorage, which I did not before know.

At ten o'clock in the morning, we anchored in Table Bay, in seven and a half fathoms, and moored a cable each way. As soon as the ship was secured, I sent an officer to wait on the governor, and to inform him of the business I was come upon: he very politely informed the officer, that there was great abundance of every thing to be had, and that I had nothing to do but to signify in writing the quantity of each article wanted, and directions would be immediately given respecting it. His excellency also took that opportunity of sending me information, that he should in a few days, send a ship for Amsterdam; and, that if I had any dispatches to forward, and would send them to his house, he would answer for their being delivered into the custody of the British ambassador, at the Hague, as far as the safety of the ship could be depended on.

The governor also confirmed the political accounts we had (though imperfectly,) received at the island: he sent me the treaty of alliance formed between the Kings of Great-Britain and Prussia, and also that between the States-General and these two sovereigns, which was a very pleasing piece of intelligence. Every person here, either military or civil, wore a mark of their attachment to the Orange party and the old constitution; the former by an orange cockade, the latter, by a bit of ribbon of that colour, either at the breast, button-hole, or sleeve.

Immediately after our arrival, I directed that sick-quarters should be provided for the sick, which was done; and the invalids, to the number of forty, were landed under the care of Mr. Worgan, the surgeon of the ship. Their expeditious recovery was of much consequence to the service upon which I was at that time employed; and it was also of consequence to that service, that they should be perfectly recovered before they were taken on board again; as we had yet a very long voyage to perform before we could arrive at any port, after leaving the Cape. When we arrived in this bay, we had just twelve men in each watch, and half that number, from scorbutic contractions in their limbs, were not able to go aloft.

Every person here, with whom any of the officers fell in company, spoke of our voyage from the east coast of New Holland, by Cape Horn, to the Cape of Good Hope, with great surprise, not having touched at any port in our way, and having sailed that distance in ninety-one days.

I was now very anxious to get some account of the transports, which, under the command of Lieutenant Shortland, the agent, had left Port Jackson on the 14th of July, 1788, and which I was sorry to understand had not been in this bay: for I thought it highly probable, that as their route was to the northward, by the Molucca Islands and Batavia, they would certainly touch here in their way home. It being now seven months since they sailed, I was apprehensive for their safety; particularly when I considered the very weakly condition of some of their crews, by the scurvy, when they left us, and not a surgeon in any one of the ships. This must be allowed to be very improper oeconomy in the owners of those ships, when the extent of the voyage they had undertaken is considered, together with the well known impossibility of their being able to procure seamen, or any recruit of strength to their ships companies, in that inhospitable and far distant part of the world.

I cannot help here taking the liberty of saying, that it is much to be lamented, when ships are hired for the service of government, to perform such long and trying voyages to the health of those employed in them, that it is not made a part of the contract and practice, that they carry a surgeon; for I know well, that seamen, when taken ill upon such long passages, are, at the very idea of being without the assistance of a surgeon, (although careless and void of thought at other times, when in perfect health,) apt to give way to melancholy, and a total dejection of spirits; and that many a valuable subject has been lost to the country by such a trifling saving. Out of the nine transports which were employed on this service, one only had a surgeon; and that one, had she not been bound upon some other service, after leaving Port Jackson, would in all probability have been without one also.

On the 5th, a Dutch India ship arrived here from Rio de Janeiro: by this ship I received information of the arrival at that place of two vessels from the east coast of New Holland; that they arrived singly, and in very great distress, from sickness, and the death of many of their people; that the first which arrived, had her name on her stern, (Prince of Wales, of London;) from which circumstance, there could be no doubt of its being one of our transports: the other vessel was also so well described, that I knew it to be the Borrowdale store-ship. The officers of this India ship observed farther, that they were so weak, that had they not been boarded by boats without the harbour, they had been unable to bring their vessels into safety.

These ships, I apprehended, had parted company with Lieutenant Shortland, soon after sailing from Port Jackson, and had then determined to go to the eastward by Cape Horn; but they were wrong in my opinion, (and I judge from my own experience,) after passing Cape Horn, in preferring a port at Rio de Janeiro to the Cape of Good Hope, which last place, I have no doubt, they would have reached in less time, and with considerable less fatigue to their sickly crews; beside the advantage of being able to procure more seamen, if they were in want; which I apprehend they will find much difficulty in obtaining at Rio de Janeiro.

As westerly winds are prevalent between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, if it should so happen that these winds blow more from the north-west than the south-west quarters, their progress to the northward would be but slow along the coast of South America; but from both these quarters it is fair, if bound over to the coast of Africa: and farther, with respect to a passage to Europe, they would have been more conveniently situated at the Cape of Good Hope, than at Rio de Janeiro, for making that passage with expedition; for at Rio you are within the limits of the south-east trade, and upon that coast are consequently to leeward; so that you may be obliged to stretch as far from thence to the southward as the latitude of 30° 00' south, and sometimes 32° 00' along that coast, before you can tack and stand to the north-east, in order to be able to cross the equator far enough to the eastward, to ensure a tolerable passage across the north-east trade; but at the Cape, you are far to windward, and steer to the northward with a large wind.

On the 19th, a small Dutch frigate arrived here from Batavia; from which I learned, that Lieutenant Shortland had arrived at that port with a single ship, about the beginning of December, in a very distressed condition; that he had buried the greatest part of the ship's company, and was assisted by the officers and company of the above frigate to secure his vessel and hand the sails, which he could not have done without assistance; and that he had been reduced to the necessity, some time before he arrived, to sink the other vessel which was in company with him, for the purpose of manning one out of the remaining part of the two ships companies; without which, he never could have reached Batavia with either: for when he arrived there, he had only four men out of the two crews, who were capable of standing on the deck. I was now particularly anxious for the arrival of Mr. Shortland at the Cape, that I might have something more authentic than these reports to give Governor Phillip, on my return to Port Jackson.

By altitudes taken for the time-keeper, since we had been here, we found its error to be 1° 31' easterly, and Brockbank's watch erred 3° 01' easterly also; from which I conjecture, that the very cold weather which we experienced some time before we reached, and for a considerable time after we passed, Cape Horn, had affected the watch's going: when we made Terra del Fuego, it appeared to be about 1° 00' to the eastward. I made a present of a dog from New South Wales, to a gentleman who came on board, and thought it a curiosity: it was taken by many who visited the Sirius for a jackall, as it was much of that make and colour.

On the 18th of February, to my no small satisfaction, (for I was preparing to sail the next day,) Mr. Shortland arrived in the Alexander transport. I was going off from the shore, when I discovered the ship coming round Green Point; I rowed directly on board, and his people were so happy to see their old friends in Table-Bay, that they cheered us as we came alongside. I now received from Mr. Shortland an exact confirmation of all the intelligence which I had received concerning him from the officers of the Dutch frigate. The two ships which I had collected some accounts of from Rio de Janeiro, he told me, had parted company with him two days after he left Port Jackson; and that he was nineteen weeks and four days on his passage to Batavia.

On the 20th of February, I sailed from Table-Bay, after having taken on board twelve months provisions for the ship's company; and, in addition, about six months flour for the whole settlement; together with various stores for the colony, and many private articles for the different officers, &c. &c. in short, the ship's hold, between decks, every officer's apartment, and all the store-rooms were completely filled.

During the time we lay in Table-Bay, I received many civilities, indeed many marks of the most polite and friendly attention from Governor Van de Graaf, Colonel Gordon, and many other officers of this settlement.

Before we embarked any of the provisions, we heeled the ship, to endeavour to stop the leak, which had kept the pumps so much employed during the voyage, and which I mentioned before, I was in hopes of being able, in fine weather, to get at, and stop at sea; but, after several attempts, we found it impracticable: we were now so fortunate as to get at it; it proceeded from an iron bolt, which had been corroded by the copper, and by the working of the ship had dropt out, and left a hole of more than an inch in diameter. A wooden plug was put in, and covered again with copper. But beside this leak, there were many other smaller holes, which were occasioned by the decay of long spikenails with which the skirting-board (which secures the upper edge of the copper) had been fastened on, and had gone quite through the main plank of the ship's bottom. All were closed, as far as we examined, and the ship for the present made less water, but was not so tight as formerly; it was therefore my intention, upon my arrival at Port Jackson, to represent to Governor Phillip the necessity there was to lighten and examine the ship some distance below the wales; that such defects as we might find might be remedied while they were trifling.

The time-keeper, which I have already mentioned to have had upon our arrival here an error of 1° 31', seemed, during the time we lay in Table-Bay, to have gradually recovered its original rate, (viz. 4"-77,) it was now losing 4"-78; this served to convince me of the justice of my conjecture, that it had been considerably affected by the very cold weather we had near Cape Horn.

After we left the Cape of Good Hope, we had, for three weeks, strong gales from the southward, with squally disagreeable weather, which sometimes reduced our sails as low as courses; we did not meet with westerly winds quite so soon as I expected, or as we had done the last time we made this passage. In latitude 38° 30' and in the meridian of the Cape, we had, for two days, a current to the northward of 44 miles each day; and in latitude 40°, and longitude 22° east, we were, in two days, set 68 miles to the southward, and by the watch, 60 miles to the eastward, more than the log gave. In latitude 41° 50' south, and longitude 28° 09' east, the wind shifted from the southward to the north-north-east, and blew a very strong gale for two days; it then settled in the north-west quarter.

At that time, being in latitude 43° 00' south, and longitude 37° 30' east, we found the variation of the compass had encreased as high as 32° 20' west, before we had reached as much east longitude as we found that variation in last passage; but we were now in a higher latitude, as will appear by the variation table which is annexed at the end of this chapter.

On the 20th of March, having sprung the trussle trees of the main-top-mast, we struck and unrigged them, and fitted new ones. On the 22d, we had a very heavy gale of wind from north-north-east and north, with a prodigious high broken sea; our course (east-south-east) being at right angles to the wind, we kept the ship in the trough of the sea, which occasioned our shipping several heavy seas, and made me very apprehensive for the safety of the boats and booms; I was therefore under the necessity of laying the ship to, under a balanced mizzen, for about four hours; when the wind shifting suddenly to north-west, enabled me to bear away and set the reefed fore-sail.

It continued to blow very hard all night, and we shipt much water, but the ship having a flush deck, no weight could lay on it, the only danger was that of filling the boats; to prevent which, I, after this gale, had them turned bottom up; the ship now made about as much water as she did on the former passage. The wind continued in the north-west quarter, and blew strong until the 8th of April, when it inclined a little to the eastward of north for two or three days, but it had not so much easting in it as to be unfavourable for our course. On the 16th, we were in latitude 44° 45' south, and in longitude 135° 30' east; and at night we perceived the sea spread over with luminous spots, resembling lanthorns floating on its surface; when nearly about the same longitude on the last voyage we discovered the same appearance upon the sea: this observation may have its use, and serve as a hint for your being at no great distance from Van Diemen's Land. On the 20th, we had a strong gale from west-north-west to north-north-west, which suddenly moderated in the night, and veered round to the westward, with a light air at south-west by south, by which we were encouraged to make all the sail possible; but we had no sooner got every thing set, than the wind veered round to the southward, and began to blow; in a few hours it increased to a very violent gale of wind.

We were now in latitude 44° 29' south, by account, and longitude 144° 30' east, being so near Van Diemen's Land, and so well to the southward as I supposed we were, I had no doubt of being able to cross it, and, availing myself of this southerly wind, to run along the coast to the northward, and reach Port Jackson in a few days; but as we drew near the meridian of the south cape, the gale increased to a mere tempest, attended with thick hazy weather, and a most astonishing high sea; this brought us under a reefed fore-sail, balanced mizzen, and the three storm stay-sails.

At day-light on the morning of the 21st, the fore, main, and mizzen stay-sails were all split by the violence of the wind; by this accident we were reduced to the reefed fore-sail and balanced mizzen; and for some time we were under the necessity of handing the fore-sail, the gale still continuing to increase rather than abate; and inclining to the eastward of south, was in our situation at this time particularly unfortunate: for we were now so far advanced to the eastward as to hope that in a few hours we should have been able to have made a fair wind of it, if it had continued to the southward.

I still flattered myself, that we were so far to the southward, as not to have a doubt of passing some distance to the southward of Rock Swilley, and consequently at a sufficient distance from the south cape, which is the southern point or extremity of this promontory; for this rock, or ledge of rocks, is not less than fifteen miles from the south cape, and we were now about its meridian, both by the longitude carried on from the last lunar observations, which were taken five days before, and by our time-keeper, from which our situation had been determined since these observations, as long as the sun was to be seen in any part of the day: it now blew a most violent gale of wind, with thick hazy weather.

It may not be improper here to observe, that three days had now elapsed without a sight of the sun during the day, or a star during the night, from which we could exactly determine our latitude; but as every allowance had been made for the drifting of the ship to leeward, under a very low sail, and an exceeding heavy sea, and for every other disadvantage attending such a situation; there remained not a doubt with me, or any officer on board, but that we were near half a degree to the southward of the south cape, and as the distance from west to east, across this promontory, is not more than a degree and a half of longitude, or about twenty or twenty-two leagues in distance, (that is, from the south-west cape to Tasman's Head) we had every reason to think we were near round it; but at half past three in the afternoon it cleared a little in the horizon, and we saw the land bearing east; the haze was such that we could not well guess the distance, but it was very near; on this we wore the ship immediately, and stood to the westward.

The wind had now got to south-south-east, but continued to blow with great violence, the ship upon this tack lying up south-west, we set the reefed main-sail, and at half past six we saw the land again, through the haze close under our lee bow, and the sea breaking with prodigious force upon it it, was impossible to weather it; therefore we wore the ship immediately, while there was a chance of having room for doing so. I now found that we were embayed, and the gale not in the least likely to abate, and the sea running mountain high, with very thick weather, a long dark night just coming on, and an unknown coast I may call it, (for although it has been seen by several navigators, it is not yet known) close under our lee; nothing was now left to be done but to carry every yard of canvass the ship was capable of bearing, and for every person on board to constantly keep the deck, and attentively to look out under the lee for the land, and as often as it might be discovered, to wear, and lay the ship's head the other way: but as we knew not what bay, or part of the coast we were upon, nor what dangerous ledges of rocks might be detached some distance from the shore; and in our way, we had every moment reason to fear that the next might, by the ship striking, launch the whole of us into eternity.

Our situation was such that not a man could have escaped to have told where the rest suffered: however, whatever might have been the private feelings of each individual, I never saw orders executed with more alacrity in any situation; every officer and man took his station for the look-out; and, the ship being wore to the eastward, notwithstanding the strength of the gale, the close reefed fore and main top-sails were set over the reefed courses.

Fortunately at this instant the wind favoured us near two points, and the ship lay better up upon this tack, than her course upon the other had promised, but still the weather was so thick, the sea so high, the gale so strong, and so dead upon the shore, that little hope could be entertained of our weathering the land. We stood on to the eastward, and the ship, to my astonishment, as well as to that of every person on board, bore such a press of sail wonderfully. We had, about midnight, run back the distance made from the first land we saw to the second, and perceived, through the haze, the looming of that land under our lee, nearly on the beam; this advantage we had gained by the shifting of the wind two points. We now stood on, and I had hopes that this might be the most projecting land; but at two in the afternoon, as I was looking from the quarter deck very anxiously to leeward, I observed the looming of a high and very steep point of rocky land, and the sea foaming with frightful violence against it. I made no mention of it; but just at that instant it was discovered by the sailors stationed forward, and they called out, "Land, close under our lee;" I replied it was very well, I had seen it some time, and that as it was now upon our beam (which it really was, for I discovered it through the main shrouds) there could be no danger from it, we should soon pass it: if this land had been seen a little sooner, the fear of not being able to weather it might have occasioned our wearing, which would have been unfortunate, as the weather just cleared up at a time when we could see that no danger was to be apprehended from it.

The ship was at this time half buried in the sea by the press of sail, since she was going through it (for she could not be said to be going over it) at the rate of four knots.

We soon shot past this head, and from the course we had made, I was convinced it was Tasman's Head, which is the eastern point of a bay, of which the south cape is the western, and was called by Tasman, Storm-Bay. The first land we had seen was within the bay, on the east shore, not so far out as Tasman's Head; and the western land, under which we wore at half past six, was the south cape.

After passing Tasman's Head, we kept our wind still, and carried sail, in order, if possible, to weather Maria's Islands, which lay about six leagues to the north-east, for we had no sooner got round the last head, than the wind headed us, and we fell off from east by south to east by north; had this change taken place a little sooner, it must have proved fatal to us.

At eight the next morning, we passed to the windward of Maria's Islands, which, from the haziness of the weather, we did not see until they were upon the lee quarter. If I had found it impossible to have got round those islands, it was my intention to have stood back to the westward, and have got sight of the land, between Tasman's Head and Adventure-Bay; to have run along the coast, close in, until I found the opening of that road, and there to have depended upon our anchors.