The Last Voyage: To India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

Elizabeth Wilson, who came originally from Rockhampton, was the wife of Mr. Watson, the owner of some small schooners engaged in the bêche-de-mer trade, whose head establishment was at the Lizard Island. Some time in 1881 she persuaded her husband to take one of his vessels on a tour of inspection, leaving her with a child of two years old and a couple of faithful Chinamen in charge of the Lizard Island. Mr. Watson set forth very reluctantly, only yielding to his wife's assurances that with firearms in the house, which she well knew how to manage, she would be in no danger. Soon after her husband's departure, however, the natives came across from the mainland in great force, killed one of the Chinamen, and wounded the other. When it became dark the brave woman hastened to provision one of the square iron tanks used for boiling down the bêche-de-mer, and embarked in it with her babe and wounded retainer. Nothing could be more clumsy than such a craft, 4 feet long by 3 feet wide, and perhaps 1½ feet high. She put water-bottles on board, and with only a shawl for sail and an oar to steer with set forth on the calm sea, towing, however, a little dinghy behind, in case of her iron vessel proving too unmanageable. The trade-wind carried the tank thirty miles out to sea to one of the Hawick group; but she was prevented from landing there by the threatening aspect of the blacks in possession. She drifted a little further to a neighbouring island, where the spring tide carried the tank up so far inland that she could not launch it again. This was the more terrible, as a very few miles further would have brought her to the lightship. There were no blacks on the island, to which the tank had been carried. Mrs. Watson had sufficient provisions, but apparently no water. They all must have died of thirst just before an abundant rainfall. Three weeks later, when their bodies were discovered, there were pools of fresh water around them. In the meantime Mr. Watson called at the lightship and recognised his own dinghy, which had drifted thither a few days before. He immediately set out, accompanied by Mr. Fitzgerald, and soon reached the little island, where he found his wife's body, one arm still clasping her child, and the other hand holding a loaded revolver. Her diary lay close by, and told the sad story almost up to the last moment. The dead Chinaman lay near the tank. The bodies were put into rude shells and taken to Cooktown, where they were buried. The poor woman's diary and the tank are preserved in the Museum at Brisbane.

Thursday, August 18th.– We gave Cape Sidmouth a wide berth and passed Night Island, going close to Cape Direction and Restoration Island, which latter is exactly opposite the narrow opening in the Barrier Reef through which Bligh found his way in 1780, in an open boat, after the Mutiny of the 'Bounty.' Bligh gave the name to Restoration Island to commemorate his escape from the mutineers. A little further to the north took us abreast of Providential Channel, through which Captain Cook entered with the greatest difficulty in 1770. He arrived outside the Barrier Reef, rolling heavily to the swell with no wind, and finding it impossible to descry a single opening. Hope seemed at an end, when, providentially, Captain Cook espied from his masthead what looked like deep water between two rocks, through which he safely steered his vessel. From Restoration Island to Cape Weymouth we were considerably exposed to the sea, and rolled about a good deal until we got into the shelter of Weymouth Bay. Passing Fair Cape, we reached Piper Island at about eight o'clock, and anchored for the night, close to the lightship, alongside which there was another small steamer. The last fourteen miles had to be done in the dark. This was a time of great anxiety for Tom, for the passage was narrow, being only about half a mile wide in places, and the current was strong. It blew hard all night, and we longed for the sheltered anchorage of last evening.

Friday, August 19th.– Early this morning Tom and some of the gentlemen went on board the 'Claremont' lightship. After breakfast we landed on the reef. It is a bare heap of sand and coral, save on its highest part, where a few tufts of coarse grass are growing. Here we found a native of St. John, New Brunswick, brought up, as he told us, by foreign parents, engaged in the business of collecting bêche-de-mer, or dried sea-slugs, for which there is a large demand in China.

This white man had in his employ thirty natives. He had five fine boats, which are constantly at work inside the Great Barrier Reef. The money embarked in this enterprise had been advanced by a bank at Cooktown. Bêche-de-mer commands a high price. We were shown the accumulated casks full of this unattractive edible, representing a value of many hundreds of pounds. Lee, the head of this establishment, was living in a shelter formed of tattered canvas and battered sheets of corrugated iron, but he evidently possessed the power of command and organisation, and was not without education. He produced the Admiralty charts of the coast and Barrier Reef, with large additions to the delineation of the reefs from his own explorations.

Bêche-de-mer is of various qualities. The best is worth 120l. per ton, the next 100l., a third quality 90l., and a fourth from 80l. to as low as 30l. per ton. The bêche-de-mer is a curious kind of sea-slug, rather like a sea cucumber. Its scientific name is Holothuria. It makes excellent soup, which is very nourishing, and is like the snail soup so much given to invalids in the south of France. In Cooktown the Europeans eat it largely, while in China, as trepang, it is a much-prized and high-priced delicacy.

We had a long and pleasant conversation with Lee, and Tom and I were both much struck with him. Tom was anxious to purchase for me a pair of large hawksbill turtle shells which he had seen earlier in the morning on the lightship, but Lee absolutely refused to part with them at any price. He said a man had done him a good turn in Cooktown, and he had promised him the shells. We suggested that it was possible, as the man was a resident of Cooktown, that he might get him another pair and let us have these; but Lee was quite firm, and said, 'No, I have given my word, and it would be very wrong to break it on any account whatsoever.' His charts were most interesting, and his own discoveries of new reefs and shoals were intelligently marked. I hope that for the good of the navigating world they may some day be incorporated into an Admiralty chart, but I trust not without due recognition of Lee's work. He certainly deserves the greatest credit for the careful and painstaking observations he must have made while cruising in his little schooners about the Barrier Reef. Many a shipwreck may possibly be prevented and many a life saved by his laborious and at present unrewarded exertions. Just before we were going away it seemed to suddenly dawn upon Lee that Tom was Lord Brassey. He asked the question, and when an answer in the affirmative was given shook hands most warmly, and was delighted when he was told that I was Lady Brassey and that the children were my own dear ones. He had all our history at his fingers' ends, and was extremely pleased to see the 'historical Sunbeam' and 'her spirited owners,' as he called us. Later on in the morning he tried to come on board the yacht in his schooner, but unfortunately missed the rope and so lost the opportunity of seeing the vessel. I was interested to hear from him a confirmation of our supposition that the island off which we anchored was the one on which Eliza Watson's body was found.

We landed on the leeward side of the island, and on going to the windward shore it was curious to notice the process by which these islands gradually become covered with vegetation. The whole shore just above high-water mark was covered with little seeds, beans, and various other atoms of vegetation which had been dropped by birds or cast up by the sea, and which in process of time will cover the island with trees and shrubs. The island did not look much bigger than half a dozen times the size of the yacht. At low spring tides the most beautiful corals and shells are found.

The blacks we saw on shore were a good-looking set of men, the finest in stature we have yet seen. Lee says he has to be most careful and always 'sleep with one eye open,' as they are treacherous. They would turn round on him at any moment if they saw a chance and did not know he was well armed.

All the inmates of the lightship came on board the yacht, with which they were much delighted. They said they could not have imagined anything like it on the sea, and thought they must have got on dry land without knowing it. We parted with mutual good wishes, and I have no doubt that the visit of the 'Sunbeam' will be a pleasant little incident, affording much material for conversation for weeks to come. We did not forget to give them some Ambulance papers.

We weighed at 11.30, and anchored under the Piper Islands an hour after sunset. Distance, eighty-five miles.

Saturday, August 20th.– All hands were called at four, and we got under weigh soon after, making Home Islands about seven. Thence we passed through Shelbourne Bay, by Hannibal Islands, and so off Orford Ness. The navigation here was very intricate, and necessitated much trouble and attention on Tom's part, and the taking of endless cross bearings and observations. At 11.50 we passed the s.s. 'Tannadice,' and exchanged friendly greetings. All navigators owe the commander of this ship gratitude for reporting the reef named after his vessel. It lies in a most dangerous position, and would doubtless have brought many a good ship to grief had it not been reported and charted. Soon after we started this morning we very nearly got on another reef. The wind blew fresh and fair, and the current ran strong. Tom chanced to be engaged taking some observations, and so paid, for a few moments, less attention than usual to the pace at which we were going; and in this hazardous interval the yacht very nearly ran on a coral reef that was only just a-wash.6

From Fern Island, an almost straight course through a narrow channel hemmed in by rocks, reefs, shoals, and islets, brought us to the entrance to the Albany Pass. The navigation is intricate, but the scenery quite lovely; the land on either side of the Pass, whether on the mainland or on the islands, being densely wooded. At Fly Point on the mainland our attention was attracted by some curious-looking projections on a hillside, which resembled an enlarged edition of Stonehenge, in red sandstone. On looking through the glasses we discovered that these projections were ant-hills of an extraordinary peaked shape, some of them being many feet in height.

The entrance to Port Albany and Somerset is narrow; and the strong tide and wind combined to knock up an unpleasant popple. At Somerset on the mainland, and immediately opposite to our anchorage at Port Albany, a pretty little station has been built, with a flagstaff in front of the bungalow. On our arrival the flag which was hoisted was dipped a great many times and a large bonfire was lighted, in order to give us, I suppose, a really warm welcome.

Sunday, August 21st.– The boat went ashore early this lovely morning to the large house we had seen last night. The station belongs to Mr. Jardine, a relative of the founders of the firm of Jardine, Matheson, & Co., so well known in China as well as along this coast. The station is for cattle, and they are gradually increasing its boundaries so as to be able to supply Thursday Island and the neighbourhood with fresh meat, of which they are lamentably in need at present. About twenty-five years ago Mr. Jardine drove a mob of 700 cattle from Rockhampton to this place. It took him and his party nearly two years to accomplish the journey, and they had to fight the blacks on their way.

The men who went ashore in the boat brought off some milk and new-laid eggs. There is excellent water here. The supply is obtained from two springs and a well, and as water is bad, scarce, and dear at Thursday Island, many ships come here for it. Last Sunday there were sixteen schooners in this little port. They are all away now at the reefs, but are expected back next Sunday.

We had Litany at eleven o'clock. In the afternoon I landed with the Doctor, and sat, or rather lay quietly, on the pleasant sandy shore for an hour or two, while the Doctor and the sailors roamed about and picked up many curious pieces of coral and some lumps of scoriæ, of which the whole island seems to be formed. There is very little soil beneath the volcanic matter, and it is wonderful how trees and plants manage to grow in such luxuriant fashion. Some cocoa-nut trees have been planted, which are doing exceedingly well, and I rested under their shade, looking up at the sky through the long, pale green leaves. The innumerable flies, ants, and sandflies were troublesome. But what can be expected in a land where the ant-heaps are ten feet high and twenty-four feet in circumference? While on his rambles with one of our men the Doctor saw a large snake four or five feet in length, which he vainly tried to kill; but the reptile escaped into a crevice in the rocks amongst the brushwood.

Tom, Tab, and Mr. Wright, in the meantime, went over to the mainland to pay a visit to Mr. Jardine. They found the sea rather rough in the narrow crossing, and after a stiff clamber up the hillside arrived at the house. Mr. Jardine was away, but his manager, Mr. Schramud, gave them some interesting information about the pearl fishery, and spoke of the trouble of establishing their station in old days. He took them round the paddocks where the bullocks are kept, and then a little way through the bush, where he showed them an encampment of aborigines which was much better constructed than usual. The centre hut was large, with nicely built walls and a substantial thatched roof of coarse dry grass.

The hut was divided into two parts, one section containing two beds slightly raised from the floor, and the other a few rough seats and a table, upon which stood a broken lamp and a drum, apparently hollowed out from a piece of wood. Mr. Schramud gave the drum to Tab, saying that its peculiarity consisted in the fact that, though the natives possessed no adzes or chisels, the wood was completely hollowed out, and yet it must have been done with knives of the most inferior description. He had often tried, unsuccessfully, to 'catch the natives at work' as he expressed it, in order to watch their method of dealing with such hard wood. On leaving the encampment the party returned to the beach and came across in the cutter to the island, landing in the nice little sheltered cove where the Doctor and I were established.

Shortly afterwards the Doctor and Mr. Wright started across the hills to meet the others, while Tom, Tab, and I returned, or rather tried to get back, to the yacht in the gig and the cutter, but the tide had fallen considerably, and the reef over which we had floated so gaily on landing, was now showing all sorts of nasty little jagged heads and rounded tops, both above and very near the surface of the water. It was not without many bumps and jars, and a certain amount of risk of finding ourselves firmly aground, that we fairly emerged into the open sea; then a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together against the swiftly running current brought us once more alongside the good ship 'Sunbeam.'

The rest of the party had still greater difficulty in getting off, for the tide was falling every minute, and the dinghy had to be sent off to pick them up one by one and transfer them to the gig. They seemed to have enjoyed their walk very much, and described the island as being covered with scrub. They saw a few animals which, though wild now, have evidently once been domesticated, and actually stumbled upon a family of little pigs. They climbed over the hill at the back of the landing-place and descended to the windward shore, where they found a stretch of beautiful firm white sand, extending for some distance along the coast, indented by many pretty little coves and bays, in which however there was not much flotsam and jetsam to be collected. Mr. Wright and the Doctor had also been to the windward beach, but by a different route, which led them through a valley full of extraordinary ant-hills. From their description this place must have looked like a veritable city of tombs, something like the view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. I was sorry they had not taken a camera with them, although we had already taken photographs of isolated ant-hills. The Doctor saw another snake quite as large as the first, but it also escaped before he could get within striking distance of it. Perhaps it was just as well it did escape, as we heard afterwards that they are venomous, in fact deadly. There is no cure for their bite, and though they get out of your way if they can, when once attacked, or if you chance to stand between them and their hole, they fly at you most viciously, and their bite has generally fatal results.

We had evening prayers on board at six, and after a quiet evening's reading, went to bed rather early.

Monday, August 22nd.– I sent ashore this morning, by the men who went for the milk, a few books and Ambulance papers for Mr. Jardine, in return for which he sent me several beautiful pearl-shells, some of which had curious corals growing on them. Mr. Schramud paid us an early visit. He was much interested in the Ambulance papers I had sent him, and said he always had a good deal of amateur doctoring to do, both for himself and others, when out in the bush. He gave me a vivid description of how on one occasion his horse, usually a quiet animal, first threw him against the trunk of a tree, breaking his leg in two places, and then, instead of standing still for him to remount, bolted off to the station, seven miles away. Mr. Schramud crawled to the nearest tree, stripped some bark off with his knife, padded it as well as he could with some portion of his garments, and with two straps which he fortunately found in his pocket strapped his leg up, making what he described as an excellent splint or cradle. He then proceeded to drag himself on his hands and knees through the bush towards the station, a terrible journey, for he had not a drop of water or food of any kind with him. Some hours passed before the people at the station, seeing his horse come home riderless and guessing an accident, set out to trace the tracks of the horse through the bush by the light of a lantern, and found him with much difficulty.

We had great trouble in getting up our anchors this morning, for they were fouled in every possible way, and it was nearly eleven before we started and were fairly steaming through Albany Pass towards Cape Yorke, on our way to the Thursday Island group. Cape Yorke has been described as the seat of Government in these parts, but is a melancholy looking place, and can never have been of any importance. Tom did not quite like taking the inner and shorter channel to Thursday Island, so we went to the north of Wednesday and Hammond Islands, and arrived at the back of Goode Island, where there is a signal-station and lighthouse, from which they signalled a kind welcome and an offer of a pilot, which was declined with thanks. We then rounded the island and proceeded to Normanby Sound close to Friday Island, and, after a tremendous tussle with the tide, finally reached Thursday Island and anchored in Normanby Sound just off Port Kennedy, the name given to the capital of the island, after the late Governor of Queensland.

Thursday Island is one of an extensive and intricate group. The chief building material used in the settlement is corrugated iron, embellished by verandahs supported on wooden posts and nattily painted, making the little dwellings look both pretty and comfortable. The Residency is a larger bungalow on the top of a little hill, and half a dozen fairly good houses cluster round it. Then comes a row of stores along the sea-face, and a few more houses stand at the back. A soft sandy track runs in front of the stores, but there are no roads, and consequently no vehicles, and no draught beasts. There is no communication, except from the visits of occasional steamers, nor are any provisions obtainable, except canned meat and fruits. The vegetables are grown by the invaluable Chinese, on some of the islands opposite. Even the water, of which the supply is scanty, is condensed. The only servants available are people of colour. The ladies have to do everything for themselves, and children of eleven and twelve years are frequently trained by the force of circumstances to become as good cooks and housemaids as many a well-paid servant at home. A gentleman living here said to me the other day, 'How little do our sisters in England know the way we live in some of the colonies! I am very glad you have come out, Lady Brassey, for you will be able to describe, as we cannot in letters, the really hard, rough life we lead here.' For those who are well and strong, and can enjoy roughing it, constantly knocking about in a small schooner from island to island, with often nothing to eat except cocoa-nuts and yams, the life is not intolerable; but for those who are delicate, and not able to bear without suffering these conditions, it is indeed a very hard life. The women who bravely face these hardships deserve all our admiration and sympathy. In spite of the great difficulties, they manage to maintain a high standard of education and refinement. Truly their lives read a lesson to us all, and teach us how much there is to be thankful for, and how little real cause we have to grumble at many things about which we make a fuss.

Mr. Milman, the Resident, and Mr. Symes, the Commissioner of Customs, called upon us soon after our arrival, and took the rest of the party on shore to lawn-tennis, which must be a great resource here, for there is no sport of any kind. Mr. Milman has made a good tennis-court, and anybody who likes can play there every afternoon. The society on Thursday Island consists of two resident ladies, supplemented by occasional visitors, and six gentlemen. Besides this handful of English, Mr. Hall lives on Prince of Wales' Island, and Captain and Mrs. Stevens on Goode Island.

Mr. Milman was anxious to take us to Murray and Darnley Islands, in his little steamer the 'Albatross,' but she is at present looking for escaped convicts from New Caledonia, and it seems doubtful when she will return. The story about these escaped convicts is rather interesting. A boat's crew landed here the other day, with four men, who stated they were shipwrecked mariners. They were all examined separately, and told such inconsistent stories (even differing as to whether their ship had one, two, or three masts), that suspicion was aroused. Some were Italians, but one appeared to be a Frenchman, though he pretended not to understand a word of the language. They are undoubtedly escaped convicts from New Caledonia. Two own to having had another man with them, and say that when they landed he disappeared. The others will not acknowledge that the party was ever more than four in number, but the blacks have since reported finding a body on the beach twelve miles from where these men landed, near Somerset. There are still five men wandering about, who were hospitably entertained and furnished with food and clothes by Mr. Jardine, at Somerset, before he knew who they were, and three others were compelled to go on board the 'Claremont' lightship, through want of food, and were promptly shipped off to gaol in Brisbane. The 'Albatross' was the little steamer we saw lying alongside the lightship at Piper Island, on the 19th inst. She was then on her way to search all the reefs and islands for the five missing men. I hope it will not be long before they are brought in, for, independent of any other crimes they have committed, they must almost certainly have been guilty of a most brutal murder, and have killed their own comrade. It is wonderful how so many of these men escape. It is difficult to understand how they can procure boats, provisions, and sufficient water for the voyage of over 2,500 miles, that being about the distance from New Caledonia to Rockhampton or Cooktown. The run between New Caledonia and Australia is dead to leeward before the trade-winds.

CHAPTER XIX.

PRINCE OF WALES’ ISLAND

Tuesday, August 23rd.– I had a better night, and awoke feeling much refreshed. Most of the party went early ashore to see what this uninteresting town is like. Tom spent a busy morning with Mr. Milman, going into statistics, fortification questions, and so forth. In the afternoon we steamed across to the pearl-shell station on Prince of Wales' Island, managed by Mr. Hall. He has a nice bungalow there, and seems very busy and happy in his occupation, contriving to keep good friends with all the 'boys,' as the coloured labourers from Manilla, China, the South Sea Islands, and other places are called. These 'boys' are now busily occupied in unloading the shells from the boats and cleaning and preparing them for the market, which latter process we had come to see to-day. First we went to a small shed where about half a dozen 'boys' were employed, some in chopping and scraping the shells in order to reduce their weight, whilst others were washing and cleaning them with brushes made from the outside of the cocoa-nut husk, which, when split into strips, is excellent for the purpose, as it scrapes and polishes the shells without scratching them. The boxes stood ready outside for packing, each holding about two cwt. of shells, valued at 11l. per cwt. The number of shells varies according to their size, from sixty to sixty-five fitting into each box. On a table in the middle of the shed the shells were being quickly packed and nailed up, ready for exportation. They are just now higher in price, on account of the disaster on the north-west coast of Western Australia, which has temporarily crippled that rival station. From the cleaning and packing shed we went to another, where the diving apparatus is kept. This was sent out from England, and is exactly the same as that in use everywhere, being made to fit tightly round the ankles, wrists, and neck, with an immense superfluity of space in the middle to hold a storage of air. Besides this heavy dress, divers wear a belt with a large knife stuck into it, to cut themselves free from any obstacle their ropes may get foul of, and they also have a hook, to which their air-pipe is attached. In addition to an enormous pair of leaden boots, two heavy pieces of lead are suspended over their shoulders, one piece lying on their chest and the other on their back. They descend with great rapidity, and can walk, with the current, on the bottom easily enough; but woe betide them if the tender is not careful, for if their air-line catches in anything it is absolutely impossible for them to make any headway against the tide. Unless the men above are quick and clever enough to repair the mistake promptly, they are lost.