1773 Cook and "had long engaged the attention, not only of learned men, but of most of the maritime powers of Europe." In pursuit of this object, he sailed south among the icebergs with as much prospect of discovering another continent as Frobisher had of finding the "golde mynes" he was sent to search for in the northern seas. Judging from this instance, speculative geography in the days of George the Third seems to have been no wiser than speculative gold-mining in the days of Queen Elizabeth. It seems to have been assumed by the geographers, after the publication of Cook's Second Voyage, that the question whether Van Diemen's Land formed part of New Holland Furneaux's or not had been satisfactorily settled by Captain Furneaux. accepted. The introduction to the account of that voyage, published in 1784, after quoting Cook's statement that he could not determine the question, proceeds to say :— report But what was thus left undetermined by the operations of his first voyage, was, in the course of his second, soon cleared up; CapJumping at tain Furneaux, in the Adventure, having explored Van Diemen's Land from its southern point along the east coast, far beyond Tasman's station, and on to the latitude 38°, where Captain Cook's examination of it in 1770 had commenced. conclusions. "A deep bay." seen, but not known. This statement, however, is not supported by Furneaux's account of his voyage. He tells us that he discontinued his northerly course at latitude 39° and steered for New Zealand, by doing which he just missed the discovery of the straits. In the latitude 40° 50', the land trends away to the westward, which I believe forms a deep bay, as we saw from the deck several smokes arising aback of the islands that lay before it, when we could not see the least signs of land from the mast-head. Thus, while Furneaux was making up his mind that "there is no straits between Van Diemen's Land and New Holland, The straits but a very deep bay," the straits in question lay right before him. Had he been really intent on settling the matter, he could have done it in a few days. It was an easier thing, no doubt, to write "there is no straits between New Holland and Van Diemen's Land," than to sail along the coast and prove it. But if it is difficult to understand how a professional explorer could so easily satisfy himself on such a point, it is not less surprising to find the geographers of the day readily accepting such a statement as a satisfactory settlement of the question. How little attention was devoted to the matter may be seen from another singular assertion in the introduction to Cook's Third Voyage, published in 1784 :— : 1773 at fault. It is no longer a doubt that we have now a full knowledge of Geographers the whole circumference of this vast body of land, this fifth part of the world. Of the whole circumference in question, one portion only could be said to have been at all known-the strip of coastline explored by Cook. So far as the rest of it was concerned, the knowledge possessed in his day was confined to the very meagre information obtained from Dampier and the Dutch navigators who had touched at different points of the coast-north, north-west, and south. But they did not pretend to give the world anything like a full knowledge of the country they had visited. Even Dampier's narrative, pre Dampier. cise as it is when compared with the accounts left by the Dutchmen, is more like the composition of a traveller seeking to gratify the curiosity of his readers with strange tales, than the journal of an explorer devoted to geographical discovery. He seems to be largely responsible for the indifference with Result of his which the exploration of New Holland was regarded in Europe, even down to the days of Captain Cook. The picture he had drawn of the country was discouraging in the extreme; and yet his examination of the north-west coast was but a superficial one at best, extending over a limited time and confined within a narrow range of very observation. The prevalence of an unfavourable opinion Exploration with respect to the character of the country will probably Holland account for the neglect of its exploration. If it had been regarded as a matter of any importance, instructions would have been given to Captain Cook, or to some of his contemporaries, to explore those portions of the coast-line M description. of New neglected. 1770 Cook. Three routes. Cape Horn. Cape of Good Hope. which had not been visited by the Dutch. But no such instructions were given; and, as it turned out, the exploration of the eastern coast was rather a matter of accident than design. Before he sailed in the Endeavour, he was instructed to explore New Zealand after the astronomical observations at Otaheite were completed, and then to return to England by such route as he should think proper.* When he had completed the examination of the islands, he had to determine which of the three routes before him he should take on his voyage home. I had myself a strong desire to return by Cape Horn, because that would have enabled me finally to determine whether there is or is not a southern continent; but against this it was a sufficient objection that we must have kept in a high southern latitude in the very depth of winter, with a vessel which was not thought sufficient for the undertaking; and the same reason was urged against our proceeding directly for the Cape of Good Hope with still more force, because no discovery of moment could be hoped for in that rout; it was therefore resolved that we should return East Indies. by the East Indies, and that with this view we should, upon leaving the coast, steer westward, till we should fall in with the east coast of New Holland, and then follow the direction of that coast to the northward till we should arrive at its northern extremity; but if that should be found impracticable, it was further resolved that we should endeavour to fall in with the land, or islands, said to have been discovered by Quiros.† * Cook Voyage towards the South Pole, general introduction, p. xx. passed nearly six months-from the 6th October, 1769, to the 31st March, 1770-in exploring the coasts of New Zealand, during which he sailed round them and ascertained the existence of the islands it comprises. But he was only four months on the coast of New South Wales, nearly two of which were passed in the Endeavour River; so that his available time for exploration was limited to two months-one-third of the time devoted to New Zealand. The reason for his careful examination of that country may be found in "a favourite opinion amongst geographers," since Tasman's time, that New Zealand was part of a southern continent. The existence of such a continent was contended for by de Brosses and Dalrymple on the ground that the ascertained body of land in the northern hemisphere required a similar extent of it in the southern, in order to balance the globe. Hawksworth, vol. iii, pp. 432-3. Compare Sydney Parkinson's Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, 1784, p. 124. PHILLIP AND HIS STAFF.* Governors. Ir is not possible to estimate Phillip's position in the colony 1787-92 accurately without some reference to the principal members of the establishment of which he was the head. Each of these men bore an active part in carrying on the work with which the Governor was entrusted, and the services rendered by them in their several capacities deserve some distinct recognition. Two of them, Hunter and King, succeeded Three him in the government of the colony, and a third, Collins, became Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land. In their cases as well as in his, it is necessary, in order to understand the course of events, to ascertain as far as possible the character of the individual as well as the nature and extent of his work; but to do this requires us to trace each man's career from the beginning, as we find it recorded in the annals of the time. So far as the principal figures on the stage are concerned, there is not much difficulty in doing so, owing in a great measure to the fact that they left behind them a good deal of useful material for the purpose in the shape of their own journals. They stand out distinctly enough. That Phillip was, on the whole, fortunate in the selection of colleagues made for him in A good England may be admitted, notwithstanding the complaints he had occasionally to make. With one exception-that of the commanding officer of the marines-they appear to have been all more or less active, if not enthusiastic, in the performance of their duties. He had a personal friend as well * Post, p. 520. selection. 1787-92 judicial troubles. as an efficient officer in Lieutenant King of the Sirius, whose services at Norfolk Island proved of no little value to him. On the other hand, he was painfully hampered by the want. of cordiality shown by Major Ross; while his difficulties were often aggravated by the fact that the head of the Military and judicial department was by no means qualified for the post in which he found himself installed. With these exceptions, Phillip seems to have had little reason to find fault with his officers. Had fortune so far favoured him as to secure a zealous co-operation on the part of the military, and a wise as well as a humane administration of justice, many obstacles would have been removed from his path, while his work would have been made comparatively easy. CAPTAIN His book. First on the list stands Captain Hunter of the Sirius, whose Historical Journal forms a valuable contribution to the history of the colony. The work affords good evidence of an intelligent if not of a highly cultivated mind, and it shows in a very conspicuous manner the great interest he felt in the foundation of the colony. Recollecting that naval officers in his day were not usually men of much educational attainments, Hunter's book deserves to be regarded as a highly creditable performance. The strictly nautical details to which he could hardly avoid giving a prominent place in its pages, show him to have been an accomplished as well as a careful seaman, although he was unfortunate enough to lose the Sirius at the very time when her services were of vital importance to the starving population of Sydney Cove.* "Shortly after his arrival in England (in 1801), Captain Hunter was appointed to the command of the Venerable, seventy-four guns. When cruising with that vessel in Torbay, one of the seamen accidentally falling overboard, Captain Hunter humanely ordered her to put about to pick him up. In executing this manœuvre, the vessel missed stays, ran ashore, and was wrecked. Captain Hunter was in consequence brought to a Court-martial for the loss of the vessel, but was honourably acquitted. In the course of the trial, it is reported that, when asked what had induced him to put the ship about in such circumstances, he replied (for he was a good man rather than a worldly wise one) that he considered the life of a British seaman of more value than any ship in his Majesty's navy.' He was afterwards promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral."-Lang, New South Wales, 4th ed., vol. i, p. 65. |