The beach on which the boat struck was a low sand, surrounded by sandhills, which did not even afford firewood; but had it been ever so abundant, we had not the means of kindling a fire; we therefore ascended the hill, and lay down on the sand to pass the night. It was raining heavily, and I being the weakest was placed in the middle between my companions. We suffered much throughout the night from cold and hunger; and next morning, when day broke, we found the boat had gone to pieces, and that some few of the things in her had drifted ashore.
We then went down to the beach, and found three bags of flour, two of which were totally spoiled; but the salt water had not penetrated above two inches into the third. We therefore emptied those which were spoiled, and each took from twenty to thirty pounds of good flour, being as much as we thought we were able to carry. We still imagined we were far to the southward of Port Jackson.
Four or five days before we were wrecked, we saw many flying fish and dolphins, and caught one or two of the former; but it never struck us on that account that we were to the northward of Port Jackson. Accordingly, after making a wretched meal of flour and water, which we mixed in a bucket that had drifted ashore, we set out along the beach in a northerly direction, and continued to walk, as expeditiously as our weakness would allow, till near dark.
We then observed a native path striking into the bush, which apparently cut off a bluff head before us: this we determined to follow, and in a short time we saw before us a black woman and child, carrying water in a bark vessel. Fearing that if we were seen, this woman would alarm her tribe, we concealed ourselves till they had passed, and then continued our journey.
There were several large huts near where we saw the woman; but the men were probably employed in fishing, as we did not see any. After proceeding about a mile, we reached the beach on the other side of the head; and on leaving the bush saw a large hut, near which was a boy amusing himself by throwing a spear at some crows. There were a great number of native dogs round the hut, but they did not appear to notice us. After a short time the boy turning round saw us, and instantly ran into the hut, from which a man now made his appearance. He hastily snatched a spear from the side of the hut, and then took hold of the child with the intention of running into the bush; but a very large woman ran out, and throwing the child on her back, instantly disappeared. I now called to the man to stop, when, to our astonishment, he answered in good English, “What do you want? Do you wish to kill me?” and then followed the woman.
This circumstance convinced us that we were in the neighbourhood of some English settlement, and gave us great spirits, as we had now hopes of shortly reaching some place where our wants would be relieved. It will be afterwards seen that we were wrong, and we could never account for this Moreton Islander’s being able to speak English, while the natives of Moreton Bay appeared never to have seen a white man before. I then desired Finnegan to go into the hut and fetch some fire, which he did; after which we proceeded, intending to stop at the first fresh water we fell in with. This happened in the course of a mile: it was a shallow pool about six inches deep. Here we made a fire, and having mixed some flour and water, made cakes of it, and set them down to roast.
While thus employed we saw some native dogs, which appeared to have followed us from the hut; and shortly afterwards I saw a man’s head peeping over the bank behind us, and then two or three more. We beckoned them to approach, which, after some time, they did, when we offered them some cake, which they pretended to eat, but immediately spat it out again. Their number now amounted to about twelve; and they began to feel us about the breast and shoulders in a manner that greatly alarmed us: we therefore prepared to move again, as soon as we had finished our meal. They now became very urgent that we should return with them to the huts we had first seen; but we persisted in proceeding to the northward.
They had nets on their backs, with which they made signs that they would catch fish for us; but when they found we were obstinate, some of them prepared to accompany us, and one or two of them took up our bags of flour to carry for us. We proceeded about a mile with them, when we came to another set of huts, into which our conductors invited us; and on our consenting, they appeared quite happy, dancing and singing around us. They then made a fire, near which I lay down to sleep with my bag under my head, while one of the natives remained, as if to take care of me, and keep up the fire. My companions went into one of the large huts, where every sort of attention was shown them, and passed the night there. In the morning, after having breakfasted on some of our cakes, we again set out, accompanied by our kind, friendly natives, who brought us down to the beach, and again seemed very anxious that we should return the way we came, but they did not offer to use any kind of force. We, however, determined to proceed to the northward, supposing that that course would ultimately lead us to Port Jackson; and when they found we would not return, some of them, as before, accompanied us on our way.
After proceeding about three miles, they led us into the bush, where we found more huts. Here again they wished us to remain; but after sitting with them about an hour, we proceeded much against their wish, accompanied by one of their number.
We walked along the beach, and passed several more huts, but the inhabitants did not appear to take any notice of us. At the last of these huts our guide left us, pointing out another station at some distance, and making signs that, by proceeding, we should fall in with a canoe. He also took us to a rising ground, where he indicated a point of land at some distance, which (as the place where we were appeared to be an island) we imagined to be the mainland.
We then proceeded till about three or four o’clock in the afternoon, when we found near the beach four or five large huts, apparently deserted, and there being a good run of water near them, we resolved to pass the night there.
The next day, finding that the natives did not appear, we determined to remain till the following morning, in order to refresh ourselves a little. We then again proceeded on our journey, and continued travelling along the beach for the following five days, without meeting any natives, or anything worth notice. Our feet being sore, we were not able to walk far at a time, and we helped out our flour from time to time with cockles and other shell-fish, which we met with in our way.
On the fifth day we arrived at a high sandy point, where we found our further progress stopped by a channel about three miles wide, through which the tide appeared to run very rapidly. We were now certain that we had been thrown on an island, and our thoughts were therefore directed towards the means of reaching the main land. At the back of the sand-hill, we found a small well of fresh water, which had been dug by the natives; near this we made a fire and passed the night.
We observed fires on the opposite shore, and early the next morning we kindled a large one down on the beach, which being seen by the natives, one of them passed over in a large canoe. As he approached, however, we retired behind the hill; and when he had hauled up his canoe, he made directly for the fire. We then made our appearance, but no sooner did he observe our colour than he ran back to his boat, and jumping in, pushed rapidly off, shouting and roaring with all his might.
In the meantime, another canoe was launched from the opposite side with two men, who met the first about half across the channel, and they then both paddled towards the place where we were sitting. When they had landed, we were unwilling to approach them, lest they should again be frightened, and therefore remained sitting quietly by our fire. The three men then approached cautiously towards us, and, having examined us at a distance, returned to their boats, and made signals with some pieces of bark to those on the opposite shore, when two more canoes pushed off, with five or six men in each; and, as soon as these had landed, the whole party, to the number of fourteen, approached us. They were perfectly naked, and had neither spears nor any other kind of weapon with them. They still appeared shy of coming near us, but at last one man came close to the fire, and on our making signs, two or three more followed his example, and in a short time the whole party had formed a circle round us. Parsons happened to have a pair of scissors which had belonged to Thompson, and their beards being very long, he commenced cutting them, which appeared to delight them greatly. They remained an hour with us; and on rising to go away, we got our bags on our backs, and prepared to accompany them. This, however, they did not seem inclined to permit, but ran down quickly to their boats. We then endeavoured to secure one of their canoes, but they were too quick for us, and jumping in, pushed them rapidly away. We now began to despair of being able to quit the island, and returned very unhappy to some deserted huts, which we had seen about three miles before we arrived at the point.