Great numbers, and where the bays and harbours are so numerous and
convenient, for carrying on this lucrative employment. I believe scarcely
a single vessel fishes any where off these coasts, which are entirely
monopolised by the French and Americans, who come in great numbers; there
cannot, I think, be less than three hundred foreign vessels annually
whaling off the coasts, and in the seas contiguous to our possessions in
the Southern Ocean. I have generally met with a great many French and
American vessels in the few ports or bays that I have occasionally been
at on the southern coast of Australia; and I have no doubt that they all
reap a rich harvest.
Among the many relics strewed around Fowler's Bay, I found the shell of a
very large turtle laying on the beach; it had been taken by the crew of
the vessel that I met at Port Lincoln, and could not have weighed less
than three to four hundred weight. I was not previously aware that turtle
was ever found so far to the southward, and had never seen the least
trace of them before.
Chapter XII.
LAND THE STORES AND SEND THE CUTTER TO DENIAL BAY - PARTY REMOVE TO POINT
FOWLER - LEAVE THE PARTY - BEDS OF LAKES - DENSE SCRUB - COAST SAND
DRIFTS - FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR WATER - DISTRESS OF THE HORSES - TURN
BACK - LEAVE A HORSE - FIND WATER - REJOIN PARTY - SEND FOR THE
HORSE - COUNTRY AROUND DEPOT - TAKE A DRAY TO THE WESTWARD - WRETCHED
COUNTRY - EALL IN WITH NATIVES - MISUNDERSTAND THEIR SIGNS - THEY LEAVE
US - VAIN SEARCH FOR WATER - TURN BACK - HORSE KNOCKED UP - GO BACK FOR
WATER - REJOIN THE DRAY - COMMENCE RETURN - SEARCH FOR WATER - DRAY
SURROUNDED BY NATIVES - EMBARRASSING SITUATION - BURY BAGGAGE - THREE HORSES
ABANDONED - REACH THE SAND DRIFTS - UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO SAVE THE
HORSES - SEND FOR FRESH HORSES - SEARCH FOR WATER TO N. E. - RECOVER THE
DRAY AND STORES - REJOIN THE PARTY AT DEPOT NEAR POINT FOWLER - RETURN OF
THE CUTTER.
November 20. - THE wind being favourable for the boats landing to-day, I
sent the overseer with pack-horses to the west side of Fowler's Bay, to
bring up some flour and other stores for the use of the party; at the
same time I wrote to the master of the cutter, to know whether he
considered his anchorage, at Fowler's Bay, perfectly safe. His reply was,
that the anchorage was good and secure if he had been provided with a
proper cable; but that as he was not, he could not depend upon the vessel
being safe; should a heavy swell set in from the southeast. Upon this
report, I decided upon landing all the stores from the cutter; and
sending her to lay at a secure place on the west side of Denial Bay,
until I returned from exploring the country, near the head of the Great
Bight.
